Prairie construction equipment

[BertB.]

Yeah you really couldn't do this kind of work without them a GPS grade control system would be nice but is far too expensive. We have talked about a system like 'I Dig Best' but its hard to get any idea of how accurate the system is, and for a small company you hate to be a guinea pig and find out it won't work. We looked in to a system for the Kobelco and it was going to cost around $27,000CAD. After we finish ditching that same local legend with the older equipment will bring out a couple of his TD-18's and spread the muck if we cast it in to a pasture or farmers field. Things were going pretty good until the beginning of September then the weather went from hot and dry to cold and rainy....something you guys know a lot about. But what works best is if that ditching mud can sit in a heap for about 6 months to a year all that vegetation can rot and you get pretty decent dirt out of it, plus its much easier to spread.

 

[fred]

exact same laser receiver I use, it has the wireless remote in cab as well. Great bit of kit.

 

[BertB.]

exact same laser receiver I use, it has the wireless remote in cab as well. Great bit of kit.

Yeah the only bad thing about them is getting them set up in the morning, sometimes I have to stand on the back of the bucket to zero it. And I kinda hate having to have the stick plumb to get an accurate shot but its still faster and easier than hoping in and out to take a shot with the rod when the ditch or swamp for that matter is full of mud and water.

 

[BertB.]

Last year the Conservation District didn't have much work for us unlike this year. However they had a few beaver dams and a log jam that residents in the area had complained about. Nothing was really flooded as it had been a drier summer than what had been normal for the past 25 or so years. The first one I cleaned up had 3 tiers and a lot of stink! It took me pretty much the whole day to clean up and the main dam site was quite soft so reaching everything without sinking in to oblivion was no easy task. It was however a lot of fun taking the first couple swipes and getting the water running, I bailed out quite a bit of muck in to a pile for the landowner to use after it dried out and also reshaped the bank at every dam site as the beavers can really change the way the creek is and they mine out quite a bit of muck to seal up their dams. I also came across a large Snapping Turtle after the water level went down I don't think he was too impressed but the landowner had called me back a week or so later saying the beavers had built a new dam. lol But he had to go through the proper channels at the district to get the local trapper out before they would remove the dam again.

 

[BertB.]

This year we have been pretty busy so much so the boss rented a third machine which is a brand new Deere John 180GLC it's got a tier 3 JD engine which is a very noisy, and a real fuel guzzler in comparison to our Hitachi ZX160LC with an Isuzu engine. But because it is tier 3 no DEF and no DPF regeneration is required which I think is worth a lot. What puts it a part from a 160 is that it sits on the undercarriage from a 210 and has the boom from a 210 and maybe the stick but I'm not 100% sure on that. Something Clint and I were surprised by was that John Deere puts 3 fuel filter/water separators on it where as Hitachi at least on ours only has 1 and its kinda flimsy at best. It came with a 60" tilt bucket with a nice sharp cutting edge which is pretty nice and the hydraulics are very smooth and the cab is kinda nice but not as roomy as the Kobelco 210 we have and I still prefer. The larger undercarriage certainly makes it more stable but I'm not sure its really worth it. All in all it would be nice if the dealers were a little more 'with it' here so we could compare models like Hitachi, Case, Deere, and Kobelco but this is what we've got.

 

[BertB.]

The boss assured me we're not buying it and I don't blame him when we were quoted $240,000CAD and right away the dealer blames American steel tariffs. The so called quick coupler uses the traditional Canadian two bolt wedge coupler but that's a non-issue as we're just renting it for ditching and setting culverts. I'm still trying to sell the boss on an Eng-con system for the Kobelco or if we do replace the Hitachi I think the new machine would benefit greatly its just trying to convince him that's the way to go.

 

[fred]

Yeah the only bad thing about them is getting them set up in the morning, sometimes I have to stand on the back of the bucket to zero it. And I kinda hate having to have the stick plumb to get an accurate shot but its still faster and easier than hoping in and out to take a shot with the rod when the ditch or swamp for that matter is full of mud and water.

you dont have to be plumb with it, it works + or - 30 degrees of vertical.

Ah you have the 50W, the plumb correction is the 60W. Maybe upgrade time!

 

[BertB.]

you dont have to be plumb with it, it works + or - 30 degrees of vertical.

Ah you have the 50W, the plumb correction is the 60W. Maybe upgrade time!

No you do have to be plumb to get an accurate shot.

 

[fred]

No you do have to be plumb to get an accurate shot.

yes with the 50w you do, the next model up as 30 degrees either side of vertical. Maybe worth an upgrade as it does save a lot of time having to keep pausing to take depth.

 

[BertB.]

yes with the 50w you do, the next model up as 30 degrees either side of vertical. Maybe worth an upgrade as it does save a lot of time having to keep pausing to take depth.

No we had a 60 but it had an unfortunate accident and you have to be plumb to get an accurate shot. The best upgrade for us would be a machine control type system like 'I Dig Best'. We've looked in to it a couple times but its about $30,000CAD to get installed.

 

[fred]

No we had a 60 but it had an unfortunate accident and you have to be plumb to get an accurate shot. The best upgrade for us would be a machine control type system like 'I Dig Best'. We've looked in to it a couple times but its about $30,000CAD to get installed.

it definately does I have one!!

 

[BertB.]

Is that new? Ours sure as s**t didn't do any of that.