Anthony Scarcella of Premier Plant Hire is one of the contractors looking for extra muscle in an excavator suited to work on tight space sites.
“Under 15 tonnes and a dozer blade of 2490mm, the Takeuchi TB 1140 is an ideal solution where unrestricted, round the clock transportability is a must. It’s probably the heaviest machine and certainly the best standard equipped in its class. This makes it well suited for contractors like us who require a gutsy machine that offers the benefit of 24/7 portability needed for frequent moving in urban traffic,” Anthony said.
In response to market demands, Semco has configured this high performance excavator with steel tracks and rubber pads as standard equipment to meet the CCF class 15 excavator category. Dimensionally, the excavator is closer to rivals in CCF class 10 and can be rigged with full rubber tracks.
“Its swing boom design lets the machine work in confined spaces, occupying less space and yet getting the job done with less traffic congestion. Featuring a heavy cast steel swivel joint, it can easily operate a hammer all day if needed.
“Clear vision is extremely important for us. The pivot point is in front of the operator, not right beside him. Another benefit is standard two way control pattern switching to make it easy even for a backhoe operator to command the unit with safety at the flick of a switch. Unlike the knuckle boom type variants with which it competes, this machine is highly durable and has outstanding stability, thanks to its lower centre of gravity, “He said.
“Unlike some short radius type machines that can be relatively unstable, the TB1140’s modest tail swing radius of just 2,000 mm means that, even in swing boom mode, this compact machine remains fully stable, even with a mud bucket over the side,” said Semco’s Graham Murphy.
“Thanks to three standard auxiliary hydraulic systems complete with fully piped and proportional control operation, any attachment can easily be operated smoothly and accurately. Both travel and swing motors incorporate multidisc wet brakes too; not just load check valves, so parking on a slope doesn’t pose any problem.
“In terms of safety, the TB1140 was probably the first machine in it’s class to offer a ROPS/FOPS cabin as standard; fast becoming a mandatory inclusion in many market segments. The full size cabin that can accommodate the largest framed people and has a full suspension seat with separately adjustable hand-control modules, climate-controlled, filtered factory A/C, low noise and radio with Aux jack.
“A heavy duty dozer blade is standard…with dual inverted ( protected) rams and actuation via a separate independent pump that ensures smooth predictable control at all times. This third pump also provides independent flow for slew function and the power in the slew is always assured, even on adverse grades where some machines struggle to swing,” said Graham.
Other benefits of the TB 1140 include an ex factory full craning system; ground level servicing; auto downshift on the travel motors to prevent overloading on adverse gradients, plus a soft engagement feature that eliminates jerky travel motions and an on board electric refueling pump.
