Favorite piece of equipment to run

[boaterri]

An old Deere 450c track loader with a back hoe attachment.
Back hoes are fun too.

 

[Welder Dave]

It appears the D89 winch can be used on a D9 or a D8. The D9 would have significantly more holding power though. A D8K by itself would likely be pulled back well before getting close to max. line pull which is based on an empty drum. I read somewhere the D89 winch was rated at 90,000lbs. pull so maybe the 103,000lbs. listed is theoretical line pull. The cable would likely still be like piano wire at far less than max. pull.

 

[chidog]

I call it an under designed winch, it should be rated at full drum to 150,000 pounds line pull or more, can always tie with guy wires to pull more. When I did major winch recovery work on a job I'd dig in for more pull and to stop moving the cat, and it was only a D7.

I noticed they also made a yarding version, for yarding with a D8 or 9.

 

[Mike L]

My favorite piece of equipment

 

[Welder Dave]

I call it an under designed winch, it should be rated at full drum to 150,000 pounds line pull or more, can always tie with guy wires to pull more. When I did major winch recovery work on a job I'd dig in for more pull and to stop moving the cat, and it was only a D7.

I noticed they also made a yarding version, for yarding with a D8 or 9.

Each pulley block doubles the line pull. They pulled one excavator out with a 5 part line. Figured it was over 250,000lbs. pull. Need to pull on something really solid on the stuck machine with that kind of pull. I've also heard of hooking to the track pads when a machine is buried in slop because that's all they can get to.

 

[Chevoldsmoyota]

Not a ton of experience…. Backhoe, skidsteer and now a mini excavator. I don’t love the backhoe, but humility aside, I am quite good on the skid steer. I always wanted a mini excavator, but couldn’t afford one for many years. I was surprised when I finally got one that I still preferred the skidder! I made a grader for it and use that in most instances instead of the bucket. I also built a tree spade for it. For a small machine, it packs a big punch!

I remember hearing that what you enjoy doing as a three-year-old is a good indicator of what you will do when you grow up. While I make no claims of being “grown up” I did play with Tonka trucks and tractors when I was three!!

 

[Pops52]

My favorite machine to "load" was an old D-7G. I did cut some roads on a friends ranch and of the small dozers I ran, I liked the JD 550J the best..

 

[Ollie]

run a hoe all the time. Really liked a good d8k with a 463 scraper with winches set up tiptop cutting slopes and doing the final trimming

 

[HardRockNM]

I’m not an operator, but I enjoyed the thrill and pure mechanical violence of the 70’s era of ridiculously loud and clanky wheeled logging skidders. Not the grapple ones. Winches and twisted bird nest cables with jaggers.

A single joystick for steering. Foam on plywood vinyl seats. No windows, no HVAC.

Two-stroke greatness, crankcase fumes, cedar oil and fir pitch. Old growth bark soaked in hydraulic oil. That should be a perfume.

Sounds like they share some DNA with LHDs of the same era - coincidentally my favorite things to run. Air-cooled Deutz power, loud as all hell, no kickouts, no electronics, open station, and tons of fun. Smells like oil, wet rock, and powder fumes.

 

[JD955SC]

Not an operator

I get bored quick running most machines in dirt

I like forestry especially mulchers. I wish I had a chance to really go at some big stuff with a big mulcher. Testing new setups for tuning I was limited to reaching over the fence into the overgrown unused lot next to us

 

[Steve Frazier]

I can't say I have a lot of experience on different equipment but I have run some different machines. I owned a Deere 410 TLB for 10 years and my Cat 248 skid steer for 25 years. I got very comfortable running both and feel they became an extension of my hands. I still have the skid steer.

I've run excavators up to 40 tons, not a lot but enough to run them fairly well. I was on a D3 sized dozer for a couple days, got the job done but I'm sure others could have done it better.

I've run wheel loaders of a number of different brands. I worked for a construction company in 1980 that sold a lot of gravel. We had to load our own trucks. They had an old Cat 950 loader that was so sloppy it scared me to drive down the road. They also had a Deere 844 loader that was only a year old. That machine was a dream!!!! Quiet, smooth and tons of power. Something about the controls just came naturally to me and within a couple weeks I was operating it as well as the seasoned veterans. That loader is my favorite machine to have operated. Unfortunately it had transmission problems, it had to be replaced frequently.

My least favorite machine to run was a roller. Just too boring for me. The same company with the loader did roadbuilding and I sometimes ran the vibratory roller to compact the base material.

 

[Catsparky1]

can't say favorite because I didn't run them but a couple of times but I will say most unique was
Melroe 880 and Champion 100T
This was for McCoy in so cal in the late 80s .
very lucky to get a chance to run them .
I watched both of them get painted McCoy green and white in Calabasas when they were brought in for a one mile square grading project. 10 mil cubes. nice little job for McCoy !!!!

 

[Welder Dave]

can't say favorite because I didn't run them but a couple of times but I will say most unique was
Melroe 880 and Champion 100T
This was for McCoy in so cal in the late 80s .
very lucky to get a chance to run them .
I watched both of them get painted McCoy green and white in Calabasas when they were brought in for a one mile square grading project. 10 mil cubes. nice little job for McCoy !!!!

Do you have any pics.?

 

[Catsparky1]

No sir Dave . Only camera I had at the Time was the round disk Kodak and just to in the moment to take pics .

 

[DDoug]

A J-3 is fun to "operate" especially in the summer with the door down and the window up.

 

[Legdoc]

Kubota SVL-90, No EGR, no DPF, no DEF. Most universal machine we have.

 

[nicky 68a]

Cat D8H/K and ccu powered scraper box.
Stripping topsoil on cool spring morning.

 

[Old Doug]

I have run a lot of stuff but one job i was on i drove a Cat 740 haul truck. It was fun because there wasnt a lot of thinking to running it. I was on the night shift we would haul around 100 loads a shift . The day shift i under stand there was more stuff going on traffic and other stuff but they only hauled around 30 loads a shift. I always wondered if the day shift guy when he reset the counter believed it .