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Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 5:30 pm
by Cov fletch
Hi , my first post so please be gentle , a mid terraced house job I'm currently quoting has very bad access being about 90 metres from the road to the job ( large patio ). 40m of that is steep uphill, 30m of flat ,then 30m bI need to.remove 5.1 cubic metres of muck + import 10m of hardcore . The doorway to all of this being 900mm wide !!!! ( great !! )
Does anybody have any experience of small tracked dumpers ? I've been looking at the JCB HTD5 model .
Any feedback would be greatly apreciated !
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:06 pm
by lemoncurd1702
Put it this way they're a damn sight easier than a wheel barrow, think shovel vs mini digger.
Is the door a garden gate, I wouldn't fancy going back and fore through a house as they do have a tendency to jerk a bit as you change direction, not to mention the mess the tracks would make.
As for the slope I have used them climbing a 4m ramp onto the back of a tipper lorry which is about as steep as feels comfortable.
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:06 pm
by GB_Groundworks
i have a 5 ton yanmar tracked dumper things amazing floats on mud and goes up anything that aside
the tracked barrows are ok in the right hands but like to tip over on cross falls but probably the best thing for your job.
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 7:04 pm
by digerjones
Have you thought of conveyers. Used them on a job like yours. They worked well
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 7:06 pm
by mickg
I have used a tracked dumper what will fit through a doorway, yeah they are very good being high lift into a skip and you can fit about twice the amount you could into a wheel barrow but they are not as quick as you think they would be as you can walk faster but they get the job done with very little exertion
it was the type what you walk behind and push the 2 levers forward to go forward and pull back to reverse or to turn using a combination of forward and reverse, like Giles says you need to be on level ground and not do anything stupid like track sideways up a gradient otherwise you will tip it over
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 8:45 pm
by lutonlagerlout
our concrete people reckon we barrow with 3 of us twice as fast as another firm that use the little tracked walk behind dumpers
I like the control of a human being and a barrow
I did a path 4 years ago that went from 25ft up a slope to 80ft up the slope up a steep back garden
all the gear had to be handballed up the slope
I would say add an extra week for a labourer moneywise
LLL
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:25 pm
by lemoncurd1702
Thing is LLL when you're on the mini digger its great if you've got two on the barrows but when one of them's on holiday or whatever you can only pick your nose for so long while your waiting to refill.
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:29 pm
by dig dug dan
i think you need one of these:
Sod barrowing by hand up a slope,this thing holds half a ton.
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:33 pm
by dig dug dan
are you hiring one or buying?
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:35 pm
by cookiewales
Have used them on steep drives more to move setts there a godsend and don't pull calfs out 
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:42 pm
by r896neo
Its the most common thing i hire probably. A wee high tip affair like this one
http://www.balloohire.com/products/1ton-high-tip-tracked-dumper
2 trips will shift a ton bag so compare that to 10-12 barrows and over any sort of distance you save a lot of time.
Also the material to go out to a skip is the same saving time wise.
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:48 pm
by dig dug dan
thats the hinowa, which has many flaws, mainly the fact that it will not tip properly into a skip. the bucket does not go forward enough.
That said, you can stand on it.
When i asked why it was you cannot stand on mine, the reply was that because it is made in this country, its not allowed to have a platform on it, yet an imported machine can!
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:46 pm
by lemoncurd1702
I hired one like yours Dan and it loaded pretty well, like you say it pushes right into the skip, my only gripe is with the speed control where the fast button is a far reach from the main controls.
The machine we were using jcb had a tortoise/hare function on the forward levers which made it easier to control, and if you steered, it automatically slowed down. But that was about it, one track was faster than other(reason had to change) and didn't have the height or forward reach.
Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:51 pm
by Cov fletch
Blimey wasn't expecting that much info !!! Thank you everyone !!
Yeah as mentioned by dug dan , I'm looking to hire first just so I can make my own mind up ? But to be honest you have all got me half way there already , I mean moving 500kg each time over the distance I have is a enough convincing !
I'm based near Coventry so looking for hire firm with tracked dumpers , only one at the mo are jewsons .
Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 4:13 pm
by dig dug dan
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