"Rome wrote:

Hers a vid from you tube.

never thought of a dozer as a giant metallic drum.....or seen it till now....that impact ripper is beating that dozer like a rotten step-child

I wish I had some video of that xcentric ripper in operation. It is a beast. It makes that D11 look like pretty tame beast. I do have to give that operator some praise, pulling that ripper very well. Next to no track spin. Letting the ripper do the work. But I can see how it should be used for certain types of materials to rip.

Hi, 657cat.
You can find videos of the Xcentric rippers on Youtube:

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT'S an ORDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL.

Just my 0.02.

LOL I don't need those. We have ran one for five Years. Not much left of the Excavator to speak of. There is no part or component on it that it has not destroyed.

Hi Team,
I was lead to believe that you are supposed to use the excavator to hold and move the pick to different locations.
The excavator is supposed to apply a light downward force only, with no side ways pressure to the pick during hammering.
Used this way only a little impact is put back into the excavator. Also used this way most of the impact is absorbed by the weight of the main hammer assembly.
Of note also is to try and keep the tool edge sharp!

Usually the least experienced operators are given these mind numbing jobs with little in the way of correct operating instructions.

Correct hydraulic hammer usage instructions should all be in the Operator's Instructions for the hammer.

www.npkce.com/media/2122/h050-9650a-gh3-...tors-manual-6-13.pdf

As ever I stand to be corrected as I have only ever tested these after repairs.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

Yup that is how that xcentric ripper is to be used. It’s a hunt and peck straight in and straight out. Short bursts of 10 seconds or less. If the tip Is not moving down pick up and move over a foot or so and try again. If the tip is not moving the rock powders and starts melting the tip. Tips are a bit larger than a D11. When it is hard going a tip might make 12 hours. The D10’s working with it last winter were about a tip every 7 hours. If there is not enough down pressure put on the xcentric ripper it hammers out the stops beside the air bag and shakes the machine really bad. More pressure down is a lot smother. That’s how it is meant to be run. Air bag is set with the ripper standing straight stick vertical with enough weight on it to lift the machine a couple of inches. Then you set the air bag pressure to get a 7cm gap in the stop block assembly. Just the short list of repairs in 4000 hours.

Whole machine wiring harness 3 times
Fuel tank has been off 4 times to repair the bottom mounts the last time 1/2” plate used for bottom
Final drive spindles had the threads pulled off the main housing. That’s where we learned the finals must be ..pointing forward (that was in the first 800 hours that happened)
Hand rails have been replaced 3 times and welded numerous times
Bucket cylinder has been changed twice. Broke the rod and 3” bend the second. Cylinder flexes about 2” ..while ripper is vibrating.
Clamps that hold the longer steel line on the bucket cyl get changed every 150 hours or so. There are three ..on it. the short steel line on the barrel end port gets changed twice a year it cracks and leaks.
Hyd tubes over the boom have been changed at once. 2 or 3 sections have been changed 2 times or more.
..clamps and mounting blocks have been replaced or welded back on more than I care to remember.
It is on its third engine fan the blades shatter. Plastic type material. Recently the mounting for the hyd fan ..drive also broke off one end
Also lost the engine. Screws that hold the reed valves in the intake manifold for the egr shook loose and dropped into the cylinders. The manifold is put together so they can’t do that. They wore a hole in the aluminum

That’s just what I remember off the top of my head.

Hi 657cat,
thanks for adding some real life experience issues to this interesting and informative conversation.
May help someone in future.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

"Neil" wrote:

Your post prompts some more questions : )
- you mentioned an EGR and reed valves for the engine - does the ripper have its own engine?
- final drives pointing forward. What does this mean exactly? I'd assume that the ripper can only be used when the tractor is moving forward but maybe not?
- what's the bucket you referred to? Is it just a term and there's no actual bucket on the machine?

Hi Neil.

I hadn’t really meant to get this far off topic about non cat stuff but it’s ok. Ripper is a pin on attachment for the excavator. It is hydraulic driven 70 gpm from the hoe.
Most good excavator operators dig with the idlers forward under the cab to keep the forces of digging on the cheaper bushings in the idlers. When we first started with this ripper we overlooked the down pressure of lifting the machine up a bit to use the ripper. This put the weight and vibrations of operation all on the final drives an the back of the machine. (Counterweight end) a 30k lesson After 800 hours. After that repair we retrained the operator to keep the final drives forward and put the forces on the idler. We have run 3500 hours that way.

The bucket I refer to is the bucket cylinder of the excavator.