Spotted a Schaeff Walking Excavator

[TriHonu]

On the way to the local Fleet and Farm store I spotted this Schaeff HS41M excavator in the ditch. I belongs to Minnesota DOT. I was surprised to see it, since we don't have a lot of steep terrain in the Minneapolis/St Paul area.

The job didn't appear to need the capabilities of this machine. Maybe they were just out exercising it? :beatsme

 

[TriHonu]

A few more pictures...

 

[BrianHay]

Nice pics, thanks for sharing. I wonder how far out into that swamp he has to get to do whatever it is he is doing? Maybe they are using it instead of a regular machine because they would need a way bigger machine to be able to sit on solid ground and still be able to reach?

 

[TriHonu]

It did not appear they were heading into the swamp. They potholed some utilities at the roadside and removed about 6 feet of culvert. You can see the pothole between the orange drum and the left left drive wheel.

When I went by latter they had moved the machine over where the truck was parked. We were getting some rain and it continued through last night.

I have read your posts and your site. I find these machines very interesting. It must take a lot of skill to maneuver them on the steep terrain.

For non-demanding excavation, how do they compare with a TLB or smaller tracked excavator in reference to productivity and operating costs?

 

[BrianHay]

Side by side with any other machine in the same weight class the Spyder is a lot more productive. As for the operating costs I can't speak to much on that because this is the only machine I have ever owned so can't make a fair comparison. But what I do know is fuel consumption is likely close to the same but maintenance and repairs are probably a lot more. It has a lot of parts that are common to North American machines but I never seam to need anything common. Even the quick couplers on the hoses for attachments. To hook up my PowerGrip no one local had them so I had to get them from Switzerland. One male and one female connector was $400.

 

[TriHonu]

Were those couplers metric or just something specific to Kaiser? I think I would have searched for some adapters and switched to couplers you can get locally.

I keep spare couplers and hoses in the shop and you know, they only break when I'm using the machine...

 

[jlm335]

what are all the pedals on the floor for? and what are the controls like on that machine? and how do you actually move it around.. sorry for all the questions.. i have never seen one before.. well i have seen some work of yours on lwnsite brian.. but never more than that...

 

[dk8019]

This is the machine that I just bought! Thanks for the pictures!

 

[Graham1]

Might have been the only machine available to them. I have a couple of 1500kg ones and a 6000kg one, so they often do work a track machine could do as they are all I own.
For the size they have a lot of lifting power and with the extender dig a lot more reach than the equivelent size track machine.
Graham

 

[dk8019]

It's a fun machine for sure, and given that it can drive from location to location, it was probably more handy for the state.

 

[Graham1]

what are all the pedals on the floor for? and what are the controls like on that machine? and how do you actually move it around.. sorry for all the questions.. i have never seen one before.. well i have seen some work of yours on lwnsite brian.. but never more than that...

I have four foot peddles on my 6000kg. Extender dig, winch, drive, auxiliary/breaker. Leavers have extra 4 extra 4 way micro leavers on top plus extra buttons. The micro leavers work the legs, each one independently in and out and up and down and extending the clawed ones as well as the tilt and rotate of the tiltrotator hitch and the auxiliary flow through the hitch.
You need to concentrate to do what you want.
Graham

 

[rsherril]

First walking machine i saw was a drag line working a strip mine. Wouldn't want to road that machine any where.

 

[old-iron-habit]

On the way to the local Fleet and Farm store I spotted this Schaeff HS41M excavator in the ditch. I belongs to Minnesota DOT. I was surprised to see it, since we don't have a lot of steep terrain in the Minneapolis/St Paul area.

The job didn't appear to need the capabilities of this machine. Maybe they were just out exercising it? :beatsme

Nothing is to outrageous to charge the taxpayers in MN for. In 20 years they will sell it as surplus equipment with 300 hours on it because no one will know how to run it decent. So it will just set. Just like the Unimog's the state bought with tons of attachments a number of years ago. Seniority rules, not skills.

 

[dk8019]

Not far off, I end up getting this unit for around $16k. I would imagine the original cost was $250k or so. It's serving us well around our farm.

 

[70 eliminator]

Pretty awesome still serving well on the farm? I just got an hs40 and a parts machine and I'm trying to figure out if anybody I know has a manual do you know if the hs41 was Perkins or duetz power?