Interesting counterbalance

[uffex]

Makes me think of a Priestman VC20

 

[mitch504]

I guess it adds to the dipper lifting force

 

[uffex]

Good day mitch
You could well be correct, there is a video on the tube you can see it working.
Kind regards
Uffex

 

[Coaldust]

That’s weird. Thanks for sharing, Uffex.

 

[OzDozer]

The guy who worked out the geometry of that counterbalance must have filled up a whole wall with equations and calculations.

 

[Jonas302]

Is it electric or what is that cord/hose on the undercarriage

 

[CM1995]

One hell of a weld on the boom considering the passage way for the hydro lines. They had to incredibly stiffen that boom up to resist the forces applied to it.

 

[John C.]

I've had a couple of drinks tonight and that photo actually makes my heart hurt trying to figure out what i happening and what the purpose of the linkage set up is. I see a bug clamshell on the stick but I'm wondering if the linkage makes it so the machine doesn't fall over backwards when the stick is pulled in tight and the boom is raised all the way up.

 

[Old Doug]

Were ever this is being used they dont have OSHA .

 

[Diesel Dave]

I’m no engineer, but the forces on that stick must be right up there too

 

[crane operator]

The guy who worked out the geometry of that counterbalance must have filled up a whole wall with equations and calculations.

That was actually two welders in a shop with a couple boxes of 7018.

And to be honest, with the little of what I know on how counterweight acts, I think this mess is doing more hurt than help. Evidently the dipper cylinder won't lift that big clam, but I would think upsizing the cylinder would have been a better solution than this mess. That's got to bang around and get terrible jumpy, with how that's all mounted.

The counterweight moving toward the toes of the tracks as it goes up, is hurting more than helping for overall stability.

 

[CM1995]

I've had a couple of drinks tonight and that photo actually makes my heart hurt trying to figure out what i happening and what the purpose of the linkage set up is.

LOL John, I've had a few malted ones as well and wondering how that contraption stays connected together.

 

[OzDozer]

I'm thinking they're going to need a few more boxes of 7018 to fix all the boom and dipper cracking that is going to appear after a few hundred hours of use, with all that extra weight pulling on the dipper.

I mean to say, booms and dippers crack just from a sideways look, in normal use - let alone setting up that arrangement that is probably making the original design engineers shake their heads!

 

[John C.]

I've been around a lot of excavators in my lifetime and I can say with a fair amount of confidence that I have never seen a broken Komatsu boom or stick. I was also wondering about that cord to the side of the machine and wonder if it is electric. The counterweight does look oversized and I've been around plenty of long stick machines. That's why I speculated on the back of the machine being light maybe because it only has an electric motor instead of a heavy diesel engine.

 

[coalrulz]

This one appears to have a little more engineering for what appears to be a similar application

 

[uffex]

Is it electric or what is that cord/hose on the undercarriage

I dont know what that is

 

[uffex]

Good day
Here you can see the same principle from the 80's the Preistman VC20 as the arm reached out the counterbalance moved rearwards to maintain stabilty.
Kind regards
Uffex

 

[CM1995]

Were ever this is being used they dont have OSHA .

And they are "digging" over the drive motors..

 

[92U 3406]

The guy who worked out the geometry of that counterbalance must have filled up a whole wall with equations and calculations.

Or he just started welding things together as he went along and ended up with that.

 

[skyking1]

it is sort of reminiscent of these harbor cranes I saw in Rostock Germany in 2019. They would tend to hold the load as you boom down, to what extent you would have to operate and see. There is the whole load line to boom pivot factor too. Fun stuff. Lots of Math @OzDozer