Moving marble - GIF

[Jon]

Moving marble.



Previously:

heavy equipment moving granite
Marble gang saw GIF
Front end loader cleaving enormous slab of stone - GIF

[Frank S]

A few hundred more pounds of counter weight would stop that. When an operator has their machine that high off the ground anything can happen. a busted hyd hose ori if the forks were to slip out from under the load, the rear end and a lot of other components on the machine could be damaged beyond repair. Not to menmtion the operator could be seriously injured.

[olderdan]

I dont know much about earth moving machinery but is that diff casing damaged?.

[Frank S]

It does look as if a large chunk is missing

[hemmjo]

Yes indeed there is a lot wrong with that video. As mentioned previously, a broken hydraulic line could very well lead to serious damage.

The video reflects a dangerousl uninformed operator. The maximum force exerted to lift a load with a loader like that happens the instant the rear wheels come off the ground. As rear the wheels go higher, the lifting force actually drops. The center of gravity moves closer to the front wheels, thus decreasing the lifting power.

I think the odd looking rear differential housing is discolored from an oil leak causing it to look damaged.

I once witnessed a landscaping crew with a very small articulating loader trying to unload flatbed 18 wheeler filled with pallets of paving bricks. The loader could not pick up a full pallet. So the workers got an empty pallet, off loaded some of the bricks onto the empty pallet until they could pick up the pallet on the truck. A very logical but time consuming process. They did this to remove a couple of the pallets. Then someone got a "better idea". They got more guys and had them stand on the back of the loader as additional counter weight. That gave them enough lifting force to then slide a full pallet off the truck. They did not have enough guys so could not pick it up, so they backed the loader, sliding the pallet off the trailer.

The instant the pallet came off the truck, it fell, lifting the rear high in the air, the men hanging on for dear life. The pallet of bricks hit the ground, breaking a couple of the bands, allowing enough bricks to fall off, so the men were now enough counter weight to lift the remaining bricks. So the back of the loader came crashing back down. This sudden jerk caused some of the men to loose their grip and most fell off. The remaining bricks then pulled the front of the loader back down causing the remaining bands to break and the rest of the bricks to fall off. Now, being totally unloaded, the rear of the loader crashed back down once again. This time the frame of the loader broke at the pivot point. Lots or damage, fortunately no one was seriously injured. It could have been MUCH worse.

One of the most important things to remember about powerful, heavy equipment is that it is powerful enough to destroy itself if used improperly.

[Frank S]

Stacking guys to serve as a counterweight is never a good idea. for the reasons stated then thinking that just because you can slide a pallet you can off load it another case of bad judgement. Skid steers are arguably the most versatile piece of small earth moving equipment you can own with the multitude of attachments available for them. They are also deceiving when used as forklifts from the ground they can only lift a limited amount before standing on their nose, but from trailer high picks they have tremendously more power the problem is when trying to lower to the ground since the center of gravity shifts forward extremely quick. Older foot and hand operated skid steers were a coordination night mare for a novice the pedals controlled the lift and tilt while the hand control levers controlled forward reverse and steer. just like a zero turn lawnmower.

[KustomsbyKent]

I really hope that guy is just "showing" for the camera and not doing that on a regular basis. Either way, he's making a very dangerous situation for himself and others nearby.... a hydraulic hose that fails, or a cylinder that fails is going to make that go south real quick. Or a blip of the steering wheel causing the counterweight to move closer and further unloading the rear end. Plus the unnecessary stress and strain he's putting on the machine, it's going to have short life.

I've operated skidsteers for most of my life, and the first one we had, still have it, didn't have any sort of roll cage on it. We quickly learned that you keep your load close to the ground, especially when it's heavy. If the back end comes off the ground, which it did quite frequently, you keep it low and slow. That machine had plenty of lifting power, but not much power from the engine, so you learned to be efficient and smooth. Jerking the controls doesn't help anyone and is also hard on the machine. And yes it has the foot pedals for lift/tilt and hand levers for fwd/rev & steering.
If I was the boss and saw that happening, he'd be off the machine and get more training. Do that again, and bye bye.

I liked Hemmjo's story, those guys are extremely lucky they didn't kill someone that day. The machine breaking was a good lesson for them.

[imohtep56]

I like those tires...

[toma]

Old Egyptians moved stones in less dangerous and smarter manner.. I guess..

[Ed.Murphy@Dimide.com]

This reminds me of a song...