Cable Shovel Hydraulic Front Shovel (also called hydraulic excavator) Backhoe Front End Loader Front End Loader
F is the Bucket - note
that it is a solid unit. Dumping is achieved by rotation. Can be critical consideration in loading height G is Teeth - FELs known as whimpy diggers - load is spread over a bucket as wide as a machine - May have penetrating V Digging Motion of FEL
I, J, H, and E are the hinges
and hydraulics used for rotating the bucket - They provide limited dig motion C is a one piece arm moved by hydraulic cylinder D - Wide bucket - Rigid Arm - Limited Pivot on bucket Limited Digger Crowd Motion on an FEL
Crowd Motion is the Tires.
The machine drives Oh Cool forward It has a - Powered by Diesel Counter- Engine A Weight to help with Problem of Tearing up Digging Underfoot under wet Force conditions Hydraulics on arm competes with propel motion for power The Articulated Machine
Front End Loaders are
articulated which gives them their Y shape loading pattern
Mobility of FEL makes
great for cleaning up spills The Dilemma of Cab Position
Which side of the articulation
point does the cab go on? Put it in Front Driver has better view of digging He is in a better position to get squished if the pile collapses Very bad backing view - this machine moves fast The Other Choice
Put the Cab on the Back
Still a reasonable Dig view with less opportunity to get squished Still rather marginal on backing view - some things are just dangerous Vibration from motor causes operator fatigue Now putting cabs on flotation suspensions Hydraulic Front Shovel
Has a two piece bottom dump
bucket - Higher wear from two pieces - Bottom open eliminates need to pivot to dump - helps loading height - Can get a rock stuck too Hydraulic bucket opening for gentle loading - can position low over truck and open bucket at a controlled rate The Machine That Digs It Machine has two piece are and a pivoting bucket - Allows range of motion like human arm - lots of dig and pry for hard rock Can Selectively Pick Out Rock Layers - Can be valuable for acid or toxic layers or prep. of synthetic topsoil Hydraulics can develop 100,000 psi at the teeth The Machine That Swings This is a track mounted machine lacks mobility of FEL - Picks up load and pivots to dump into truck Tracks provide for low bearing pressure. Coupled with minimal movement is much easier on ground - especially when wet View Arrangements
Cab Location Provides Good
View of Digging Operation
Cab Location to one side
can be a view problem for loading a truck on the wrong side
Has a Low Built Upper
Structure to allow open top access to components - with 5000 psi on hoses you need it Other Machine Properties Power Supply Can be Diesel or Electric (often Diesel) Power is converted to hydraulic for most motions including propel Hydraulics allow trade off between power and speed at steady engine speed Very Gradable - Can Pull itself up with boom The Backhoe The Cable Shovel
Basic Design has changed litte
from the turn of the 1900s Spindly version shown here is stripping shovel. Was never popular outside Midwest and none built since 1969 - had more limited overburden range than dragline - operates on pit bottom so more vulnerable to water - had lower profit margin than draglines. The Mining and Quarry Version Tall Massive Machine So Can Load Almost anything with no loading height problem
Has Cables rather than hydraulics to drive
motions - Can move in tension but gravity needed for other motions - dipper door is tripped and swings open under gravity Is a track and pivot machine like hydraulic excavator - big inertia and slower moving Has same operator cab view problem as HE Has a full field shop on back Cable Digging Technique Has the limited swing up digging problem of the FEL
Dipper (not called a bucket on this
machine) does not pivot Cable connections avoid major shock transfers to boom - lets outlive the HE Crowd produced by either rack and pinion on boom or cable wheels - wheels preserve insulating boom from shock Powering Cable Shovels
Except for Mike Muligans Steam
Shovel all the big ones are electric Extension Cord Does Limit Mobility (one reasons for machine shop on back) New SCR and Frequency Control Systems offer good power control - even giant circuit boards Simplicity makes high reliability Comparative Advantages of Each Loaders We Are Offered to Consider
The following loaders are also to be
considered Cat 994F with a 24.5 yard bucket Cat 988BLog with a 38.66 yard bucket Cat 5230B with a 22.5 yard bucket Cat 5230ME with a 21 yard rock bucket Cat 345B L series 2 with a 3.3 yard bucket P+H 2300XPA with a 27 yard dipper P+H 4100 with a 56 yard dipper What Must a Good Loader Do?
It has to be able to handle the
material without tipping over It has to be able to get the load over the edge of the truck and preferably center and heap the truck It has to be able to fill the truck in a reasonable integer number of passes It has to be able to maneuver on the ground conditions and space available in the loading configuration My Decisions
I propose to disqualify all front end
loaders Trucks at the bottom of the 3rd bench will get stuck so the FELs will almost surely get stuck also FEL also has no chance of lifting high enough to load a truck on the top of a 30 foot bench. Actually anything that loads from the bottom of the bench will be down in the mud Im going to suggest a Back Hoe