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Rank: Advanced Member
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That guy can splatter mud all day without consequences. The first time a rolling swell double-bucks that barge and dredge while he's down low "being smooth" causing him to stick those teeth through the side of the barge he would probably hear comments like "that operator sucks!", followed by an involuntary change of employment.
Mike
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Very impressive.....
I do have one question though......Why is this classed as a Backhoe when the hoe end and attachment is clearly facing the front?
Joe
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Technically it's an "excavator" arrangement rather than a "shovel". Excavators are commonly called backhoes or trackhoes. Of course, maybe that's the back, I'm not a dredge man!
Mike
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I was just wondering as we in the more commonly refer to them as Excavators or 360's....
Joe
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The man running that machine is very smooth indeed, also for something that size many times electric pilot controls are used. I have been on the largest hyd machines in the world, from RH 340's to RH 400's and I have operated an RH 400 shovel and an RH 340 hoe. Not for hours, but I did operate them, and controls in machines like that feel much differenent than a construction size machine beleve me. Ask one of the mining operators and fitters here.. they can tell you. To master a big machine like that and be very smooth takes some talent. They are not fine grading machines. And like mining, they are not loading tri axles or tandems. I drive dump trucks for a living and I know all about that end of it. Like I said, that man is good, and very productive. Like Christian says, three seconds added up times how many passes an hour? times howmany hours?,etc, etc. In operations that size seconds count. Trust me the man running that machine is the best at his job that can be found I would bet. Bryce, Yes sir that is as big as a 400 or bigger. The power units are in the barge hull, twin QSK 60 Cummins. The whole thing can be seen inside and out in the 6 minute video from DeDonge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mp2gBbhuNI That machine is twice the machine of a 996. Both in metal and innovation, a true purpose built dredging excavator I would say. Jan De Nul has three of them ordered
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Wow, the whole argument/comment about a sucky/sloppy operator is completely off base here. Watching the video, I see the operator dumping the bucket nice and easy into the barge. The only thing making splashes are the huge chunks of mud falling off the bucket as he swings the bucket. Also, any mud that gets splashed on anything out in a dredging environment will be washed off with the next wave or storm.
Let's do some rough production estimates to see what an extra 3 seconds of time per cycle amounts to. Assume 2 shifts of operating, with 20 hours a day of productive digging, average 30 CY per bucket with average cycle time of 1:45. That's 105 seconds per digging cycle, about 686 buckets for the day, yields production of 20,570 CY moved.
Throw in an extra 3 seconds per cycle to "lower the bucket gently" and you have 108 seconds per cycle. You now have 667 buckets for the day. Only 19 buckets difference doesn't seem like too much, but considering that you only got 20,000 CY, you've lost 570 CY of production for the day. Of course, the bigger the bucket is, the more each second matters in production. Also with lowering the bucket even more, you get a slightly higher change to make contact with the barge. All it takes is one strike in the wrong place to do some damage that adds even more cost to the project.
I'll take a faster, "sloppy" operator in a dredging project like this any day over a slow "gentle" one as long as he or she operates the machine in a safe manner.
- Alex
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i dunno, still looks like he's beating the hell out of the barge, but what do i know? 
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Dropping some mud or slop into a barge is hard to consider 'beating the hell out it'. Compare that to dumping a full bucket of rock into a haul truck with a shovel in mining and you'd really be talking about beating the hell out of something  - Alex
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I dont know much about dredging operations or the type of work that goes on in water but from driving big diggers all day for a living I can only imagine what it is like, the momentum of the full bucket would be huge and to be going flat out and then try to pull up by counter slewing would put enourmos pressure on the machine and as for being on water you would be rockin and rollin at the best of times so I would say slow and steady wins the race as you dont need to be throwing a big machine like that around on the water, I spend most of my time on a RH120E a great excavator but if you try to throw her around when you arent sitting dead flat its worse than riding a bucking bull the same principal would apply with the BA1100 but it would be 10 fold as you are on water, and to be honest if you took the side out of the barge I reckon you would have a bit of explaining to do! thats just my opion but I dont know very muchwhen it comes to that type of work all the same its one hell of a machine!!
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JoeE wrote:23 and got it all figured out eh?  Yeah, I had it all figured out when I was 23, too. Since then, I've learned enough to know I don't have it all figured out.... 
- Andy
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[quote=Dirtman2007]Great pictures. I've got a question though. Why on all the large excavator( mining) are the two boom cylinders turn upside down? [
/quote]another reason the lift cylinders are upside down is to simplify the hoses and hard lines.they avoid a bunch of plumbing on the front of the rotating bed and put them on top of the boom. they will actually last longer up there and are easier to design the fit to the machine.check out all the hoses where the boom meets the rotating bed ,I bet they are all the same.makes it a lot easier to work on.
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Very cool photos Tim, thanks for sharing.
As far as loading a truck easily... For an on road truck I agree you want to go easy, they don't take the same kind of punishment as the off road trucks will, but when your loading even off road trucks let alone a barge, time is money, its all about getting the most yards moved as you can in a day. Our ME operators are always trying to find ways to shave off a few extra seconds.
It's funny though I posted a video a while back of our old 385 loading 740s on youtube and about half the replies where the same, saying he was being sloppy, etc... I'm only 25 though, what do I know?
regards,
Jim
regards,
Jim
"Once again, concussion by safety" -Mike Rowe
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Thanks to Tim for posting the pics!
I don't think the operator is dumping the bucket too high at all. Look at the photo of the bucket where you can clearly see the barge. It's not that deep. The load does not go down inside the barge, it rests on the deck and is contained by the sideboards.
Dump on the edges, the middle will take care of itself.
Never look down on ANYONE! Unless it is to lift them up.
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Cool pics,and the operator is awesome.Smooth and steady when working on water.When he dumps the bucket,you notice not one fluid motion,but rather a creeping type spill.If he dumped it quick that barge would move 4-6ft in a second.So not only would you hurt your oilers.But you could flop her,it looks wide and steady,but its still very top heavy.
The guy with the dangerous job is the oiler walking around that engine and Hyd. pumps room.If one of those high pres.Hyd. lines blew with him up close,he'd be cut in half.
And then you'd still have your fire hazzards,of being caught in that engine room.
TFS Tim, great post.
IF YOU LOVE WHAT YOU DO, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORK A DAY IN YOUR LIFE...
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Gball.
I think your missing the point, its all about the material being dug, dropping 50 tons of rock into a normal truck will damage the bed and the driver but after the first load is in to provide a cushion you can be a bit more caviier about it, the mud this machine is digging contains a lot of water which tends to fly out on impact rather than stay in one lump, think of it this way, get hit by a balloon filled with water, with in reason you will get wet, get hit by a rock of the same volume you get hurt, I agree smooth is good but I think you are out of context, besides as been pointed out, no operater gets to run this with out being good.
regards
Kevin
PS as for snide remarks...Girls please.
regards
Kevin
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