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Oddball Heavy Equipment


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I don’t need a trencher but a little articulating tractor could be handy.
My father had one of these Bolens Estate Keeper lawn tractors when I was a kid. These are just internet photos, though.

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He had the mower and snowblower attachments. Unfortunately, the snowblower was a heavy sumbitch and the articulating link in the middle of the tractor wasn't really up to the forces of it. It broke once and he had it welded back together. When it broke the second time he trashed it.

I loved that thing. Made me feel like I was driving one of the articulated loaders I'd see at the local quarry.
 

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I’ve seen pictures and videos of twin D8’s but never a triplet. Quick innerwebs search returns mixed info between the triplet being a fake or real.

Similar thinking. Some of the innerwebs said it was just a photoshop and other places said there was only 1 tripper made total.

Twin wise, I think there was only 5 of them made from the factory and retrofit kits sold for single D8’s to become twins.

The triple is fake. Impossible to get power from the center engine out to the tracks. Twin worked because it's technically fairly simple, although I expect it was slippery and had a tendency to break final drives since you're putting double the power through them.

Incidentally, Peterson relatively recently build a new one using restored D8 parts and the original conversion drawings from their files. Not sure where it would up.
 
The triple is fake. Impossible to get power from the center engine out to the tracks. Twin worked because it's technically fairly simple, although I expect it was slippery and had a tendency to break final drives since you're putting double the power through them.
Makes sense, probably just edited this picture: Iron Profile: The Caterpillar D8 Through History - Classic Construction Models
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Incidentally, Peterson relatively recently build a new one using restored D8 parts and the original conversion drawings from their files. Not sure where it would up.
Interesting.

Aaron Z
 
The triple is fake. Impossible to get power from the center engine out to the tracks. Twin worked because it's technically fairly simple, although I expect it was slippery and had a tendency to break final drives since you're putting double the power through them.

Incidentally, Peterson relatively recently build a new one using restored D8 parts and the original conversion drawings from their files. Not sure where it would up.
But it’s on the innerwebs as a triple, so it legally has to exist :homer:
 
Kinda funny how they've come full circle with those "no skid" attachments. :laughing:
 
That's for orchards.
Tight turning without plowing up the dirt.

Speaking of orchards, someone should find some pics of those toyota pickups that got bobbed/shortened for orchards.
 
Thought it was stupid until I saw how it swivels.
It's still stupid.

Not sure what it gains you over a conventional wheeled ex while being way less stable and versatile than one though I will grant them the benefit of the doubt since excavators as we know them weren't as tried and true back when they came up with that thing.
 
It's still stupid.

Not sure what it gains you over a conventional wheeled ex while being way less stable and versatile than one though I will grant them the benefit of the doubt since excavators as we know them weren't as tried and true back when they came up with that thing.
“Conventional wheel excavator”? Do you mean tracked? I would say it’s much faster moving.
 
No, a wheeled excavator is a thing. I usually see them in scrap metal yards and places where a big grabber needs to roll around on asphalt.
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Yeah, and I'm guessing he hasn't spent much time on one. They're almost worthless to rotate without the outriggers down, and even with them they're still pretty sketchy.
 
Yeah, and I'm guessing he hasn't spent much time on one. They're almost worthless to rotate without the outriggers down, and even with them they're still pretty sketchy.

Can you feel how much you are pushing its limits like on a tracked machine.
 
They're almost worthless to rotate without the outriggers down, and even with them they're still pretty sketchy.
Now imagine how bad that french thing is with the tiny narrow wheelbase.:laughing:

You couldn't do any of the loading and unloading shit from flatbed duties that you frequently see wheeled excavators doing. Well you could, just with way lower capacity for the machine size.
 
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