cat d9h semi u dozer with ripper also a balderson double edge material blade

Its actual first job with me is going to be rip up some hard pan out from the bottom of a pond the engineer wants 8000 more yards as they came up short on fill for the subdivision the pond is dug but the dam is not finished and the pipe is not in 4 to 5 acre pond, problem is the water, its got 2 to 3 feet of water wont get any deeper its running thru where the pipe will go will have to pump first then get in and start to move the muddy stuff and then take out 350' x 80' x 8' deep of hard pan.
The creek keepS feeding the pond and so do the new storm WHEN IT RAINS I will get some pictures when I get going on it my 8k will be there also.

Hi, Fiat41b.
The D9H did develop a bit of reputation DowNunder for tearing up the planetary final drives and for cracking the main frames around the equaliser bar area due the extra weight of the larger blade. The D9Gs did bust the occasional final drive here and there but the extra 25 hp of the 9H and extra capacity of the blade seemed to be a bit much for them at times. You will probably be O.K. if you don't 'unleash the beast' when ripping and be a bit careful when ripping hard stuff but most people don't buy a D9 of any series to NOT 'unleash the beast', do they?

If you do hang that Balderson blade on it for stockpile work later, I'd suggest making sure that you keep the ripper on the back end for balance and to help save the front idlers as those Balderson blades are a fair bit heavier than the normal Cat semi-U blade. Keep an eye on the main frame for the same reason.

Just my 0.02.

Thanks Deas
Its been a while since I have posted but its like I'm still trying to be a kid in the sand box.

I have a Kelly ripper actually (tag says d9h model) on it that came on my d8k it was a certified rebuild in 1990, I think we purchased it in 1994-95 nice machine cab and air I just put my first set of tracks on it we have only put maybe 2500-3000 hrs on it The tranny went out, some kind of seal it sat there finally I spent the 30,000 to fix it I removed the ripper and just put a draw bar on for normal dirt work I like that ripper especially dragging trees out of places you cant get behind the because of more trees. damn if you do damn if you don't. take it off then you need it
I just finished a repair or rebuild on a ejector wall it was broken or torn where the ram pins on it. copy of a 463f called a BRON 28yd dolly scraper really nice now I installed sequence valves and use the stock ripper control very smooth. its quite a load that 9h could use a box also.

Hi, Fiat41b.
Re the 'kid in the sandpit' feeling - I've had that for most of the last 60 years - - - - AND been paid for it.

I am familiar with the Kelly rippers - good solid units, but I didn't know that Bron made towed scrapers.. I had only seen their cable layers, drainage plows,etc. before. Busy little beavers. aren't they? I have just had a look at a few photos of some of them and they seem to be a fairly solid-looking unit as well. The only thing I didn't like about those I looked at was the top-heavy appearance of all that steel high up on the gooseneck for the bowl lift ram mounts and the apron control arrangement - reminded me of the old 'LeTurnover' drawn cable scrapers.

For those who aren't familiar with the Bron scrapers:

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Bron+scrapers&biw=1536&bih=690&tbm=isch&imgil=P6Rc_Xd5sQWkJM%253A%253B4uDSIqQrd57idM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.volvousedce.com%25252Fvolvona%25252Fconstruction-equipment%25252Fscrapers%25252Fbron-63f%25252F3ebd861d-e252-4666-ab3d-af8e7aff76ac.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=P6Rc_Xd5sQWkJM%253A%252C4uDSIqQrd57idM%252C_&usg=__IQtOXX3OsNk_Nsw9zjjYHEl_ijQ%3D#imgrc=P6Rc_Xd5sQWkJM%3A

and the Bron site:

http://www.bronrwf.com/pdfs/brochures/Bron_Scraper.pdf

That 28-yarder looks like it would be a good match for the D9 but you would have to remove the Kelly 'pick' to make it work at its best- not that taking a Kelly ripper off is all that hard.. Putting a hitch point on the back of the Kelly ripper frame would make it pretty hard to turn in heavy going. LOL.

That would have been interesting repair on the ejector ram mount. Do you have any photos of the damage and work involved?

Just my 0.02.

Hi Deas,

Maybe a small miss understanding its my d8k that has (had) the Kelly, the tag on the Kelly says model is d9h must fit both I have just a drawbar on the d8k now to pull the Bron and it is a b463f
The d9h I'm getting has a 4 barrel single shank my d8k will load that 463 plum full and spill over its a 2006 model scraper they don't make them any more but they can make you all the parts, they only made 10 or 12 463f in 2006 and 2007 they the got the ok from Caterpillar as the are very similar to cats 463f and some parts are interchangeable I gave $15,000.00 with its broken ejector, I got the ejector wall repaired at a fab shop and new steel plating on its face. it came with a new ejector cylinder that d9h would probably drag it around a lot easier when its loaded I did just about tip once when the front tire broke thru the pond floor had to get the d6 to give me a push I was worried about the 8k sinking the scraper was loaded with very heavy wet gumbo you could not even see the front tire drug it thru till it appeared again. left a deep rut that filled quickly with water.
That Bron has factory side boards a 436f cat sides don't have them as I was looking at pics maybe its a bit more.
Bron use to be in the business of converting cable scrapers to hydraulic. and heavy into plows

By the way my favorite video is that really big job that Leighton did its on you tube from the 1970's lots of d9h's called the Burrap contract

Hi, Fiat41b.
There was a slight misunderstanding. I had gathered that you had taken the Kelly off the 8K but I also thought that you were planning on putting it on the 9H. I didn't realize the 9H already had a ripper. Those 4-barrel Cat rippers are also a pretty good ripper, especially once you 'figger' out how to use the extra set of barrels to obtain the best shank pitch for the material you are ripping.

That Bron scraper sounds like a fairly easy loader if the 8K will load it to spilling over the sides.

Bron make a range of crawler rigs, mostly drainage plows, cable layers and a sideboom, and most of them seem to have Cat engines as standard although some have a Cummins option - now WHY-in-ell would any sane person wanna fit a Cummins instead of a Cat engine??????????

I have seen that Burrup Peninsula video. It is a good video. I have even downloaded it to my collection, which now runs to about 700Gb of machinery videos, mostly older machines but with a few modern ones in there too. The Burrup video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m60fY6fits

and another one that I had not seen bfore of moving a 120 ton cracker tower from Coff's Harbour on the mid-East coast of Australia to the Burrup Peninsula site on the West coast, about 3,300 miles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-WnGUZQLdU

Enjoy.

Just my 0.02.

Here is my D9H that I am getting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82vpa20KvA4

Hi, Fiat41b.
Thanks for that link. Having just moved house, I am on limited internet for about another week but I will watch it when I get the new plan in place.

Just my 0.02.

ok Deas,
I should have the machine sometime tomorrow then I will get some pics and when I put it in the bottom of that pond to root some earth out I will get plenty shots I keep raining.