LGP Eddie

I'm liking that very much! Very neat winch and grab setup. I thought the Terex PT100 is now available in the UK? Eddie.

Thanks for the kind comments, I really wish I could have done the demo myself to show a little more of it's capabilities and how effective the attachments can be. The last bits of Rhodie on that cliff can't be allowed to drop, so there'll be something even bigger to finish it off! I really enjoyed the APF, some of the equipment suppliers had really put some serious effort in, but AC Price got the best in show from me! Eddie.

The Kubota made it down to the APF, but i couldn't go with it as I was tied up on a bit of a special mission. I did however attend Saturday and what a cracking show it was! Here's a video someone from another forum came and took of the Long Reach in action. I think he did a fair job of a video considering he runs a Groundwork company! Eddie.

Hard to explain without a diagram, but Doobin has got it. You cut a square hole in your blade for the box to fit through and ensure its shaped and welded to be a completely flush profile with the rest of the blade. No catching anything with the bucket, and certainly nothing that could contact anything else on the machine. A blanking plug could be fabricated, but little need in reality as the hitch and box will be easy to.push through a bit of muck in there. Eddie.

Looking good Stephen, must have been a cracking purchase for you? Here's my mount for monday, serious Rhodie basher! 15 Metre reach and Rubber Blocks on the tracks for working on the road. Any high hedges needing a trim! Eddie.

What you need to do is form what's termed a Receiver type Hitch. Basically a piece of box section welded into the blade at the required point, keeping it flush with the profile of the blade. The short piece of box will have a hole through it for a tractor type towing pin or the like. The tow ball is mounted to a plate with a suitable piece of box to slide into the 'receiver' and all that is required to fit or remove is pull the pin out. The box may get a bit of soil packed in it whilst in normal use but that's about it, and all digging duties against the blade can be done as normal. If you want a different type hitch or even just a piece of solid square bar with a hole for a shackle it's easy to do? Easy to fit another piece of box section on the back of the blade for stowage too, if theres not room to simply fit it in reverse? Some ideas here, as it's common for off roaders. 4x4 Receiver Hitches Eddie.

I assume you mean the Zago Ecogreen type shredder? I hired in the very large version many times and had brilliant success with it. It's quite surprising what will go through these, and what a nice product can be created. They're not massively horsepower hungry and very quiet in operation. I very much rate them, but make certain it has an Operator who will give it the constant attention it deserves for longevity. Eddie.

When will the Tajfun 600 finally be out? It would be nice if it was at APF? http://machines4u.cachefly.net/machinery/94/136694/Big-Red-RCA-600-JOY_1639568.l.jpg Eddie.

Very nice, but standard infeed and big tracks for me please! Something along the Farmi 380 hfc lines on 3 point linkage is what I need to jump up to if the Valtra comes through, but I just wondered what Bandit could put together with a similar brief? Eddie.

Couldn't really agree more, but absolute NO to any hand feeding! I don't do anything domestic so usually some other way of losing the last bit on site. My current Farmi 260 with conveyor is great, but hoping to finally have my own Valtra which could stand something larger, and I wondered what Bandit could put together of the same idea? 18" Drum would be lovely, but a big old donk like you say, and yes a compromise has to be sought until funds allow hopefully better solutions. Biomass SVC with Kesla crane on tracks for me please! Eddie.

Thanks, I think there's very limited choice 3 point linkage pto machines out there to suit the larger 'T' series Valtra's and roof mounts, especially with a feed setup ideal for the job. Eddie.

What would the feed size be for the 14", have they ever done a short conveyor on one? Eddie.

Got you now! Weights not much of an issue for me, and a good look around at the Confor show, had me pretty much convinced it would be first point of call when I was looking to upgrade, due to being almost a surplus of metal in them. Just out of interest what is the largest capacity 3 point linkage PTO machine you can assemble assuming 180hp+ available on the tractor, and plenty of linkage capacity? Eddie.

The remote transmitter weighs in less than 750kgs?? Sorry that bit lost me? A seriously nice bit of kit, what sort of £'s Eddie.

So what? In reality a 3cx or your average tractor wouldn't even bother with 3 tonne unbraked on the back? Just the usual box tickers and no sense to any of it! You're not even allowed to take an old moped in the front bucket to get home on! Eddie.

Yes a very good point, but I seem to remember this guy had got it all sorted, as it would really only be a case of JCB giving it the factory approval. Probably some under 20mph rule that gets you out of pretty much anything anyway? I know most used to make one to tow their vans on an A frame, so they had some means of getting home rather than having to tramp the machine back at night, but this got pretty frowned on by Vosa again! The stupid thing is it does absolutely nobody any harm, and actually reduces the number of peak time journeys made by such vehicles at low speed, causing tailbacks and frustration. I think it should be legal and encouraged? Eddie.

Yes it's a perfectly reasonable thought that's been done many times before in various forms. You need to google 'Plantpull Towbar' and do a bit of digging about especially in the images section. I couldn't get anything in particular to link to but it's there? The company website has now gone, so I'm assuming they packed up, but there is a mobile number knocking about certainly worth a call? Plantpull as you will find was exactly as you describe, a purpose made CE marked and 3.5 tonne rated towbar for the 3cx Backhoe. If you can't find the company and hopefully locate them (I think they were approx £450, but you're paying for the approval) then you will easily copy it from the images? Eddie.

Looks some bit of kit, but you need to be able to run the crane from the driving seat to make these effective? I was told this particular one showed signs of a rollover at the auction, but may have been fully repaired now, as it looks tidy. That floating Hitachi is something else, and I really don't know why Land and Water would part with it at such low hours?? Eddie.

Thanks, It's really all I do, so can be very demanding when specifying. Take a look at this video of the Engcon system and EC-Oil in action. It's basically the same setup as my own, and may answer a few, or throw up more questions? If the Kubota doesn't make it to the show, you're still welcome to come and have a look if you're up this way. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffFrhZjDNwU]engcon EC-Oil - Svenska - YouTube[/ame] Eddie.

On my setup with Engcon Tiltrotator, the actual grab is picked up via a quick hitch under the Tiltrotator unit, and would be what you would call a 'fixed head' not 'free swinging' setup. Thus my bucket ram is still in full normal operation giving me the ability to still crowd the grab as if it's a bucket. The actual grab is plugged into the auxiliary pipes that are under the Tiltroator unit, via a centre swivel giving full 360 continuous rotation plus the ability to angle the grab 45 degrees either way. It all adds up to being able to manipulate the grab any which way via a combination of the three movements, and the neat trick on my Engcon is that it connects the auxiliary pipes itself without leaving the cab! As for the actual grab control, I have a choice of using non proportional buttons which I prefer as they leave my thumbs unhindered to tilt and rotate, or a fully proportional roller, which I save for very accurate work. It's all hard to explain without the machine in front of you, but there's a fair chance it may be at the APF and if anyone wants a closer look just ask. This joystick is very similar to my own, but I have additional rollers fitted to it! The only timber crane I operate regularly is Greg's Farma Crane, on two levers plus a single lever to operate the grab function. This has rotate on the lever and I have no issues with it? Eddie.

For what is supposed to be a bit of friendly take it or leave it advice over how a grab can be simply piped to an excavator, it certainly seems to get people a bit excited! My take on it, and no I don't need to list up my credentials, is that just about everyone has been correct so far? My preferred method would be to have the grab operation off the servo lever, via a simple 'T' into the bucket crowd ram setup and single tap. I think the grab operation is more intuitive on the lever to replace the bucket action and have no issues with a less accurate rotate. However as is very rightly pointed out, this may require some form of flow reducing to get the rotate to a controllable level that the operator is comfortable with? Doing it opposite if it suits you or you don't want to bother reducing flows etc will produce the better result first off, as obviously you get a controllable rotate plus a quick grab action without any further modifications? Like I say, it's whatever suits you and nobody is right/wrong as far as I can see? One factor nobody has throw in, is the fact that some may want to still pick up a short extension piece on their existing quick hitch to give more reach and variable geometry? This can be achieved by going for the Offset Boom controls instead of the Bucket Crowd? There should be little need to utilise the offset on grab work, and depending on machine you may have a nice set of two way pedals on the floor, one for offset and the other for auxiliaries. A simple 6 way solenoid changeover into the offset pipes and then follow the existing auxiliary pipes down the boom/dipper will give you two sets of auxiliary lines with which to operate the grab and keep everything else standard to pick up the short extension piece. It won't suit all machines, as some have offset on a changeover from slew on the servo lever. One thing I'd like to point out is that as excavators become more popular for such applications, people really need to keep their eyes open when purchasing for models that are especially suited for running attachments. Obviously if purchasing new, then all the manufacturers options can be looked at, but I can tell you with all honesty sometimes the importers themselves aren't even aware what is available, as the UK has traditionally been such a basic market in machine specification terms. Go to certain parts of Europe and you will see all manner of pipework hanging from machine dippers. If purchasing used, it's can be worth seeking out machines with the extra circuits, and if something like a Kubota with a single proportional double acting line via a rocker switch, plus a single standard double acting line via buttons, can result in a nice factory setup. Komatsu can be very nice in this respect an I was impressed with the new CAT of Stephens setup too. I'm very lucky to have the setup I currently have with virtually everything on proportional rollers on the joysticks including Tilt, Rotate, Tracking (Forward/Reverse) Tracking (Left/right) Blade, Gripper, Two speed Tracking, Changeover and Horn! I can stress enough, that a good intuitive setup, is a safer setup, plus will result in better production and a tidier job. Eddie.

Oh it was cool alright! Looked and sounded fantastic, often seen around town in Leek at the time, I'd have loved a go in it!

It's some bit of kit, but it'll never beat an ESARCO! There used to be an ESARCO running about in these parts, and it would literally stop traffic, some bit of kit and no worries with the steering lock! Eddie.

I thought it pretty trick myself Stephen? It seems to have a decent reach and capacity on the crane, which folds up very neatly completely, but could do with some form of front grab bar whilst out and in use. The butt plate/blade/winch setup looks tidy and combined with the clam bunk setup should shift some serious size timber. It's lacking either the facility to remove the bunk for a bolster bed, or would need to be equipped with a bolster trailer setup to move roundwood. The felling grapple looks unusual, in that it seems you can fold the cutting knife out of the way for traditional grab use? Hard to see in the video, I was trying to find out more? Certainly looks a power packed little beast that would multi task well and not make much mess? A nice big Bandit on tracks following you about remote controlled, plus a Chainsaw operator would see a really versatile clearance setup? Eddie.

Just found this beauty! Stephen will need a lie down after this!! I assume it's available and will be all CE marked etc good to go, just add bolster trailer! MIG-/MAG-Schweisser (m/w) Eddie.