Tentman

Gidday Guys The purchase of the Komatsu PC20 I had arranged fell over due to the dealer trying me out with false oil analysis results - just a plain old fraudster. Anyhoo I'm looking at other machines and trying to get a feel for the "life expectancy" of the two tonne machines. I see a lot for sale at between 4000 and 5000 hours, so am guessing that's when its uneconomic for most "commercial" operators to continue to run them. What is the main "cause of death" for these, if I'm looking at machines of between 2000 and 3000 hours what is the most likely work I'd have to do to keep in going to 4000-5000 hours? My machine will be doing fencing work, so mainly used as a mobile hydraulic pump for a post knocker, with a bit of light digging occasionally between a lot of walking. What are the most common failure modes for mini's, is it bushes and pins, engine, hydraulics or drive motors and how are these affected by the work its done and maintenance its received? I know this is a "how long is a piece of string" question but I've never run diggers so am just trying to develop some "feel". Cheers Foster

Man - I'm hanging out for the arrival of my new machine in early October, a Komatsu PC20MR-2, it's primary function with me will really be as a mobile hydraulic pump for a post driver (knocker to most of you I guess) but I already have several jobs lined up including one or two like you pictured CS. It looks like you might have something between a tad and a whole bunch more seat time than me, so I have a fairly steep learning curve ahead. Cheers

Thanks Guys I've been down the tracked dumper line but they have very high running gear costs and are difficult to resell if they are converted. Guess I might have to live with slow.

Hello Gentlemen Some of the mini excavator models I'm considering have significantly different walk speeds on "high", and in fact vary by 30%. My machine used as a "mobile hydraulic pump" for fencing will do a lot of walking and it would be nice to be able to get a slow one going a little faster, if I could match the speed of the Cat 301.8C (5.6km/hr) with a Yanmar or Komatsu I'd be happy, is this possible and practical?? Can a final drive planetary be changed out with a different ratio - would it be cost effective or just horrific?? Thanks Foster

Hello Folks - I'm still on the hunt for a machine to drive a lightweight post driver - several threads later so bear with me. I've been offered an ex hire Komatsu as above at reasonable money, 2012 model, 2150 hours. Any thoughts or matters particular to these machines?? Thanks

Hello Folks Is anyone operating a TB23R ?? Its a bit weird, there is very little about them on the interweb (apart from sales stuff). I'm looking at a machine with 2700 hours on it, looks to be in nice condition and well maintained. Can anyone give me some ideas on how much one could expect to pay in repair bills/or work required to get it to say 6000 hours (aside from depreciation, routine maintenance and tracks). It will be doing light work operating a post knocker, quite a bit of walking however. There are not many of the 23R's about down here, we see a lot of TB016's, some with astronomical hours - one hire guy here has two with just under 8000 hours each, practically untouched!! Thanks Foster

Hmm - Don't I know that situation well - I'm in exactly the same boat right now, except that I'm fencing rather than doing tree work - too bloody slow. Incidentally I'm from Canvastown originally and have very deep family roots in Nelson! One thought - have you seen the flat deck ute set-ups the guys who work on large machinery are favouring just now. The tool boxes are on the sides with a large area of deck between. If your chipper would fit up the middle on the deck then you could put your trailer on a front hitch, back into jobs and blow stuff over the cab into the trailer. The guts is a flat deck ute gives you a heck of a lot more deck space than the more poncy ones. Foster

Gidday Timmy (from Southland). If a 2wd van won't push a trailer up due to traction then a caravan mover "won't have a snowballs chance in hell" of doing it as they are very low traction - and are basically as weak as weasel piss anyway. I used to live in Dunners so I know what steep (and particularly steep wet) driveways are. I'm going to ponder on it a while. Cheers Foster

Hmmm - I knew I shouldn't have used this thread - sorry CSS. Mathew - can you remind me what size hammer you are running (and if you used it on the TB016). Ta

Bit of a thread hijack but I'm working on a new knocker now, based on the one developed by Mark Hibberd for his 1.8 Tonne machine. His mount is about 1.02M up the mast for his Cat 301.8c and he's thinking of lowering it by about 150mm. I wonder what the optimum height is and how to determine it . . . is it based on the geometry of the machine's arm and stick, or how it's operated or both ?? If I can figure this out I can measure the machines I'm considering and make sure my mount height is optimal, or adjustable . I am also hoping to do the hammer control from the mast, anyone got ideas on how best to achieve that in a cost effective manner?? Thanks Foster

The whole thing is unimaginable now to me at least (but I suspect for most) however I think that we mustn't judge it by the standards of today. Just about every Commonwealth family will have a similar story to ours but it for us in NZ it's such a fundamental building block of our road to nationhood, and I think so important that the young folk understand . . . a big part of what grounds them if you like. My Great Uncle Robert lies forever at Cape Helles, (kia 8 May 1915 on the "Daisy Patch"), my namesake Great Uncle Foster was away on "active duty" 3 years and 300 days, my Grandfather was also at Gallipoli with his brother as a late reinforcement, and subsequently on the Western front for the remainder of the War. We have his letters to his wife to be (unusually he was in his mid 30's, turning 34 in action on the front line of the trenches, late 1916) and they are pretty unique given his somewhat different perspective to the younger guys. His dairy is now online, its very sparse so really of interest only to his very extended family (I have 58 cousins from his side) but very important to us. Lest we forget . . . we WILL remember them

A very interesting thread Guys, could I please have the benefit of your vast experience . . . I need a very stable mini in the 1.7 to 2.0 tonne operating weight class. All the machines I can find in this class are optimised for "access" with trackframes limited to about 1400 maximum, wether extended or not. Down here a lot of larger machines - 20 plus tonnes usually - have the trackframes widened (and sometimes adjusted for ground clearance) when they are to be used in forestry where operation on steep slopes is the norm. What would be the issues/problems (apart from transport and access) with operating a machine if I was to have a mini with a frame length of about 1900 widened out so the trackframe finishes at around 1600-1800 wide?? Would it give a noticeable increase in stability for working on slopes over a 1200/1300 wide machine ?? Thanks

Im a fencer and have several, off the top of my head a Makita DCS4630 (used everyday) an Dolmar 52 cc, a Husky 181 (start it like you stole it) and an ancient but indestructible Echo 45 cc. However to continue the humour, down here in NZ you can own as many rifles as you like and I have quite a few, most of which my wife isn't aware of. However there is a commonly held fear by gun owners which applies here . . . . "If I should die, please do not let my wife sell my rifles (chainsaws) for what I told her I paid for them"

Man - you guys have it sooo good - down here my colleague hit a sewing machine (one of the old black pedal type Singers) in a big old Macrocapa one very bad day. Macrocapa's grow really big (6-9' easy across the butt) down here in NZ and its common for farmers to "lose" stuff into hedges but a sewing machine !!.

Thanks Goaty I'm down in Southland (right next to Invercargill) so at the flatter end of the country but we do a great line in wet conditions. My kinghitter has a 340 Kg monkey and all up is about 1.3 tonnes so you can see why a lighter machine is on the shopping list. Obviously a lighter driver won't have all the "bells and whistles" of the Kinghitter, but I think I could do more than 90% of my work with it. Cheers Foster

Gidday Folks (from a long time lurker) I'm a fencing contractor down in New Zealand, my current main machine is a MF5445 with a Kinghitter S2 Expander (telescopic mast) driver. I work mainly on small holdings in the peri-urban area. This machine has an all up weight of an astonishing 7.1 tonnes, and while it performs wonderfully and is good to operate, the mud and mess it can make in a short time is not so good. Maneuverability is sometimes an issue, particularly working in the bush (forested) areas common here. Climbing on and off it 60-80 times a day ( I work alone) is a bit wearing on some days and certainly not good for productivity. So I've had a good look around and seen the tracked knocker machines that are available to you guys (we have some down here, nothing trailer-able) and am thinking of building my own machine. The big question I have is how much stability is needed. There are many tracked machines that would otherwise be suitable donors based on approximately a 1.0m track width but even with some sort of stabiliser leg/legs I feel they may be too narrow - yet one sees people using very small tractors with old style post drivers/knockers. Whats the minimum width (and base machine) you've seen a conversion done on?? Thanks Foster