mental exercise

[tnmtn]

there are guys from all over on here so i am curious as to the diffrent ways this situation would be handled.

let's say there is a need to use a 14,000 lb. excavator on a very steep slope. you like like to have a safety wire of some sort hooked to it to keep it from sliding. locally this is done with the other end of the wire attached to a dozer on top of the mountain. this needs to be done in the most environmentally friendly way. ie. trying not to tear up any more ground than absolutely needed. any creative ways to hook up and belay the excavator with the wire and be able to maintain tension on the excavator as it moves up the slope? let's hear your ideas.

[Scag48]

Easy, get a dozer with a winch, problem solved. A D6 would probably be more than enough dozer to sling you down the hill. Get a set of 2 way radios and you're ready to rock.

[tnmtn]

thats pretty much how it's done around here. just curious if there are any other ways to skin the cat. dozers aren't the most enviromentally friendly machines.

[ProTouch Groundscapes]

you can use a lighter wire to actually retrieve the main working line to the ex from the dozer location or vice versa, keeps the men who have to run the line safer by using a much more workable line than the heavy stuff. Use a snatch on the excavator itself in order to maintain the tension and lower the necessary load on the winch of the dozer.

[tnmtn]

http://www.skidsteersolutions.com/BSGWA15_Skid_Steer_Winch_p/bsgwa15.htm

what about something like this with the skid being anchored from behind. trying to think this through in a way most of us that don't have the biggest equipment could do it.

[ProTouch Groundscapes]

and if you use a tree as an anchor with the snatch, you effectively get 30K lbs of line pull out of that winch with only a slight reduction in speed, which your not really concerned about im sure.

stick that attachment into the ground and you look to be anchored pretty well.

[RockSet N' Grade]

I hired a semi tow truck and hooked on to my 20,000 lb excavator and he winched me down the hill. At the end of the job, got winched back up. Dozer would do the same thing. Guess it all depends on your anchor vehicles hook-up/site conditions and access. Only thought I have on this........the bigger the better when it comes to an anchor vehicle.

[Gravel Rat]

If its crawling on its own power you need very little pull all you need is some tension. A winch on a F-450-550 tow truck will do the job.

Just like pulling a gravel truck up a steep road just keep some tension on the cable and pull slowly.

I don't know how steep your working on but if your machine has rubber tracks I can see your traction problem.

Excavators here your running the machine to the point it will starve itself for fuel on the slope or be uncomfortable to be sitting in the seat.

[bobcat_ron]

"snatch", that word always makes me giggle.

[YellowDogSVC]

I think a 12-15k winch on a truck or skidsteer mount would be helpful. Never tried that much weight up the hill but use a 9k winch often to get a 10k Bobcat (machine and attachment) out of mud all the time. Seems like you need tension more than anything.

[Gravel Rat]

"snatch", that word always makes me giggle.

I don't know how the term "snatch block" come from.

[bobcatuser]

I would try to find someone with a spyder hoe, like these guys.

http://www.spydercan.com
http://spyderhoesolutions.ca

[Junior M]

I would try to find someone with a spyder hoe, like these guys.

http://www.spydercan.com
http://spyderhoesolutions.ca
Ha, one of those guys is a member here..

[gammon landscaping]

why not just take the machine and make a road down the slope and fix it on your way out? if you are working on this slope you are going to mess it up any way. this is what we do all the time. it takes a while but if you are charging by the hour you are making the money and not giving it away to a tow truck/ attachment selesman. i don't think you will ever get to bill out enough to cover what that attachment costs