i rolled a mini excavator

[steveh2112]

i want to tell my story as an example of what not to do with a mini excavator rental

i rented a tiny 2000lb machine and didn't realize how unstable it was. it turns out it has a feature to make the tracks wider but the guy that dropped it off didn't tell me that.

so i was driving it across the face of about a 10-15% grade slope when the ADMIN LANGUAGE EDIT thing tipped on its side. (i also drove over a small log on the uphill side which made the lean angle greater). i jumped off and was fine and turned off the engine pretty quick, i'd say 10-15 seconds.

so obviously first mistake diving across the face of the slope, i should have either gone up and down like tacking and gybing a boat, or cut a level path to drive on.

anyhow the machine looked ok, it landed on very soft dirt and leaves and i was able to get it upright pretty easy with a comalong on a nearby tree. then my next big mistake, i tried to start it, didn't realize oil was in the cylinder. that bent the rod.

so the rental company just charged me $800 for the repair, he said i should have called them before trying to restart and the mechanic would have checked it out and it would have been fine.

oh well, live and learn.

[tawilson]

Sounds like they were pretty reasonable about it. Now ask them how much to buy it. Lol

[mike_belben]

glad youre okay.  

[alan gage]

Glad you're ok. Accidents make life's best lessons when you survive them.

I rented a 6k mini (2nd time I'd rented it) and after getting it off the trailer had the 8 year old boy I mentor sitting on my lap helping running the controls. There was an ash log in our way so we picked it up, swung the boom to the side and then extended the boom to set the log well out of the way.....and over the machine went.

Thankfully the extended boom acted as a prop so it didn't go over all the way but there we were with my feet braced on the roll cage and an arm around the kid and thinking real hard about which of the unfamiliar controls did what. Thankfully getting it back on its feet was no big deal and then it was back to work but it was an eye opener for both of us for sure.

Alan

[Jeff]

Happy you are able to tell us about it.

[farmfromkansas]

Glad you were smart enough to turn the motor off.  Neighbor kid was driving a skidsteer for a guy, tipped it over, crawled out and left it running.  Guy had to replace the motor. 

[petefrom bearswamp]

Glad u r OK
sounds like a couple of hard learned lessons of which I have had many

[Ed_K]

 Had a baby excavator here yesterday digging ditch for our solar aray guy talked up a good story of all the equipment he run. What a mess we have now to clean up. Couldn't even flatten the bucket to move the dirt back into the hole an smooth out the lawn.

[maple flats]

If he truly knew how to run that excavator, all you'd have not is a slight mound over the trench, which would settle and be fine in a few months.
Knowing how to run the controls is far from knowing how to run it.

[Al_Smith]

Just because it has tracks doesn't mean it won't tip or get mired in the mud .Traveled that road myself . I won't bore with the stories but they are many .