ForConstructionPros.com

Attachments provide the opportunity to boost the productivity and flexibility of your equipment. But select the wrong attachment for the machine size and/or capabilities, and you can actually reduce your customer’s operating performance - or worse.

To avoid common pitfalls when pairing up equipment, it’s important to be aware of the limitations of both the attachment and the carrier.

Keep it stable

“Probably the most important specification for any type of machine is its tipping load or lifting capacity,” says Bill Sauber, business development manager - attachments, Volvo Construction Equipment. But you also need to understand how this is measured for the particular type of machine, since that can have a significant effect on the size of attachment that can be used.

For example, with wheel loaders and skid steers, tipping capacity is rated by measuring the load in the center of the bucket when it’s fully rolled back to its carry position. Moving the load center away from the machine will effect its tipping capacity.

“Sometimes an operator thinks that if a machine’s tipping capacity is 5,000 lbs., he ought to be able to pick up a 5,000-lb. object with a set of forks,” says Sauber. “But the center of gravity of the object may be several feet further forward than the measuring point on a bucket, and thus will overload the machine.”