Schaeff Walking Excavators

[CascadeScaper]

Hey everyone. Anybody have any experience with a Schaeff walking excavator? A guy around here had 2 of them a few years back, he sold one in about '98 and then sold the other about 3 years ago, a couple years before he completely closed up shop. He had the HS-40 models, one with pilot controls and one with 4 lever backhoe style controls. I got a chance to operate one a few years back, they are slick machines. The front outriggers extened out and to the sides as well as up and down. Also, the rear tired outriggers went side to side and up and down. He had a hydrualic thumb on both, extendable stick, a winch mounted on the stick just above the thumb, and it was a mid-mount pivoting boom like a mini-excavator. His machines however did not have the smaller drive wheels on the front outriggers like the new models have. His was strictly moved by lifting and pulling, although the new drive wheel system would be much faster on flat ground. Just wondering if anyone has found a market for these machines. This guy was doing contract work for Dopplmayr the German ski lift company digging pads for the lift towers at Jackson Hole and a couple other resorts. Needless to say, he did alot of shoreline and rockery work as we are situated in a valley along a lake, he did quite a bit of forestry work as these machines are very low impact, and he also did alot of very steep slope work. I've pondered the thought of going this route a few years from now after college is all done instead of doing the usual buy a dump truck and backhoe route. Here's a pic of the new ones, he had this size of machine.

 

[glsahl]

you called this a "walking" machine? you mean the wheels have NO drive power?
it's a cool looking critter,i can think of places it would be handy,but i've never heardof the brand.

 

[CascadeScaper]

The 2 smaller wheels in the front are drive wheels, but the larger ones in back do not propel the machine. Like I said, the smaller wheels only really help you traverse flat ground where this machine really serves little or no purpose, it is a completely specialized machine. Schaeff is a german brand and is now merged with Terex, so I imagine parts availability will be a little easier.

 

[Taylortractornu]

I beleive taht now the large rear welles are powered the ones in the picture have planetary hubs like the drive wheels on a milling machine. A friend of me had one of these the other day on his rig taking it to florida, he takes several down there as they use them for cleaning out canals. They usually hav large 24 in disks on the little wheels well in front of them for use as flotation pads. I operated a Menzi Muckall for for a an auction once had the 4 stick control. I didnt raise it up but it was a nice machine knida old though. I thought of building a smaller version for use in my partime landscaping business just for lake work. Kaiser also makes a large 4x4 version of thiss machine. My friend says alot of these are forsale in florida cheap one time he brought one back on a back haul that had sold for 8500 dollars. H built a thumb kit for it a few years ago. THe owner moved somewhere down south of here doing canal work. I think what had his machine so cheap was the salt water had minorly pitted some of the sheetmetal on the cab. Im looking into one for lake side work.

 

[DR RPM]

The machine has been around for quite a while, was called the kaiser (spelling) spider the climbing backhoe, very interesting machine. :bash

 

[digger242j]

I know they've been around for quite a while. My uncle once worked for an outfit that sold them, and I think he's been gone almost 30 years now. I remember that he had a demonstration movie (yeah, nobody had heard of VCRs yet either), that we watched. Among other nifty feats, it showed the machine climbing about a 6 foot high vertical concrete wall. At that time it was called the Kamo 3X.

He thought it was a pretty good machine, except that the engine was pretty much a throw away type. It wasn't good for more than a few thousand hours and then it was cheaper to replace than rebuild. No power at all to the wheels. If I recall correctly, the two stabilizers swung together to form sort of trailer tongue, and it could be hooked up and towed on the rear tires. On site, you had to do all the moving around with the hoe.

Just last year there were a couple of them working a mountainside only a couple of miles from here. It's an area prone to falling rock, and they were way up the side of the hill (almost a cliff), picking away at the loose rock. I never had the time to stop and get pics...

 

[CascadeScaper]

Sounds like there is more history to these machines than I thought! I've seen pictures where this guy I know had taken his HS-40's, they are truly amazing machines. I really like a challenge and could really see myself putting myself into a dangerous situation just for kicks, while getting paid! :thumbsup I think around here there could be a potential market for these machines, problem is that developments are taking hilly terrain and flattening it, so single house building sites on naturally challenging terrain are becoming few and far between, so the need for a cliffhanger might not be the best machine for new home excavation, but more specialized forestry, rockery, pond, river, and lakeside work could be a potential market to shoot for.

 

[DR RPM]

We have the video as well, very interesting :bash

 

[badranman]

Found this. Hope buddy gets paid good! :eek2

 

[bredsjo]

I am the proud owner of one out of three Kamo 3x in Sweden. Its a quite intresting machine but Im am for the moment trying to find all pieces of the engine wich broke down a couple of years ago. Is there anyone hwo knows if there is any firm hwo sels spareparts to this machine in the US? Or if the only chanse is by contacting Kamo?

 

[digger242j]

Bredsjo, first, welcome to the Forums!

As I posted above, my recollection is that I was told the engine was not a very high quality part. (At that time I was still in school, and not involved in the construction industry, so I have no first hand experience.)

Can you tell us what company manufactured the engine? Even if nobody knows where to get parts for that specific model of machine, maybe someone will know of a parts supplier for that particular brand of engine.

Did you use the machine much before it broke down? I'm sure we'd be interested to know what it's like to actually operate one.

 

[bredsjo]

Bredsjo, first, welcome to the Forums!

As I posted above, my recollection is that I was told the engine was not a very high quality part. (At that time I was still in school, and not involved in the construction industry, so I have no first hand experience.)

Can you tell us what company manufactured the engine? Even if nobody knows where to get parts for that specific model of machine, maybe someone will know of a parts supplier for that particular brand of engine.

Did you use the machine much before it broke down? I'm sure we'd be interested to know what it's like to actually operate one.

Hi.

In my Kamo there is an two cylinder aircooled VM dieselengine. The weakest part in the engine is (according to the owner before me) the oilpump and the rubber hoses wich carries the engine from the filter to the pump. I havent operate the machine at all because I took the broken machine as payment for an old tractorengine. But I hope I will get it ready untill next spring.

 

[Dusty]

get some pics

 

[treemuncher]

Menzi 5000T2

Thanks to your post about the walking excavators, I finally found this site! Glad to be a participant.

I have a Menzi Muck 5000T2MT that I bought about 1.5 years ago as an experimental piece just to see if it was worth it to purchase a newer one sometime in the future. It had 2 control sticks per hand which really sucked being that I am used to my Komatsu PC200-6 with joysticks. I did some shop engineering and adapted the original controllers to a single joystick for each hand and now the little machine works pretty good. Menzi wanted just under $4k for joystick controllers so my $100 fix is working pretty well considering the options.

I have not gotten very proficient with this machine yet, although I don't bang my head on the ceiling as much as I used to. It is very touchy on the controls and you have to plan and think more than with a regular trackhoe. I have a rip-rap job coming up in the next month or so that I will have to use this machine on. Nothing else will fit into the work area and nothing else has the reach.

This model has a third wheel that provides road and flat terrain transportation so that you dont have to walk it in and out of the job. This speeds up work and makes the whole system much better. Another trick I use is to place the bucket into the bed of my Yanmar C60R and lift the front pads so that it is towed via the rear wheels. It is a strange looking beast, regardless!

The machine has serious terrain capabilities but it takes some time to get used to the movements and grow balls big enough to take chances on extreme terrain. I've also got a set of swamp tires and swamp pads for this rig. So far, I really like this thing. It is unique and a challenge to operate. It can perform jobs that no other machine can access or work on. Chances are, if the money gets right some day, I will purchase a newer unit and sell this one off. For now, it has been an enjoyable experience. I just have to see how crazy I can get with this thing!

 

[treemuncher]

Sorry folks, something went wrong with the photo editing. Let's see if these pics come through any better...

 

[itsgottobegreen]

Thats really cool. Never seen a 3 wheel version before

 

[Wolf]

Great looking machine!!!

 

[Countryboy]

Thats a good looking ex. Some of the more challenging equipment is more fun to run. :yup

 

[laketreefarm]

Menzi Muck 5000t

Hey Tree Muncher. If you remember 2 years ago I looked at your 5000 and put it on my wish list. You sold it before I could get my cash together, however I went on the hunt for one and found a 5000T identical to yours from the City of Detroit with only 950 hrs. in perfect condition. Been digging now for 2 years and it's got a 50 hour learning curve but is a hell of a digger. Just dug a Boat ramp down a 60 deg. slope and it was the machine for the job. I mounted a Klac system quick bucket release system on it and use it with a bunch of skid steer tools with a " Hookem-up" skid steer to excavator adaptor for site/slope grading/landcaping. The only thing I don't like is the single powered wheel on the back which spins out on wet ground pretty easily. I'm going to Florida next week to inspect a 6000T2m that got 2 wheel drive and joysticks though I do like the simple to maintain Case style controls on the 5000 series. Most older guys learned on Case Ck 580's with the same setup and it felt good to be grabbing the big controls after so many years of Joy sticks.

 

[laketreefarm]

Menzi Muck

I've run my Swiss made 5000T2 Menzi Muck for 2 years after seeing TreeMuncher's in action. Best digger I've ever run. Very fast. I had a 26,000# Komatsu wheel loader sliding down a bank into the KY River and caught it with a chain and pulled it back up deadweight up a 45 deg. slope with the Muck's boom. The only think I miss in comparison to a track excavator is blade grading ability. Since most larger 8ton and up track machines don't have blades then that's a moot point. The 10 ton Muck will outdig any machine it's size. I run 48" buckets and turn out a dump truck load in clay in under 10 min. on a steep slope or in 6ft of water. In common use in Europe and Asia pretty rare in US. Schaeff/Terex and Kaiser are the only other makers and also make very high quality handmade machines. Price of a new Menzi Muck is over $200K but used older ones can be found cheap as most operators are clueless as to their value. I paid $9500.00 for a 950 hr. machine in auction as know one wanted it. Too strange a concept for US operators. Florida is the hotspot as they're used by cities to clean canals and when they sell them no-one wants them. Parts for even 20 year old machines are available from menziusa the US dealer but prices are high due to the rareness of the machine. Most users use for steep slope work or in mud and water although we use ours in everyday jobs and our customers gawk when we show up with our Menzi Muck. We always get crowds wherever we operate around the public. The most profitable jobs are cellphone towers, ski slope work, pond clean outs, riprap placement, and brush clearing on slopes with a shredder on the boom.:Banghead