Levers to joystick

[Mounty]

Been looking at this wheel loader in Europe and only negative is it's lever controlled on the hydraulics. 2 levers are 3rd & 4th service. They've said they could fit a 'David Brown Hydraulics' joystick for about £600. Hopefully not the David Brown controls I'm thinking of. Low houred machine, good idea or not??

 

[aidan]

Thats a volvo is it

Standard fingertip controls ?

The older ones were oil over oil hydraulics, not sure about that machine. Nice light controls they were too.

 

[Mounty]

Correct, a Volvo L50H. Not much experience with them but would be hard to go from a joystick on current one to levers.

 

[Chae1]

I loved driving Volvo l120 with levers.

Much better than Hyundai shovel with joystick

 

[Blue.]

Correct, a Volvo L50H. Not much experience with them but would be hard to go from a joystick on current one to levers.

I’ve three telehandlers and two mini pivot loaders on joysticks and a Volvo shovel on levers,the Volvo set up is the best of the lot,F/R to the side of the levers it’s a dream to drive.

 

[John Deere 8530]

I loved driving Volvo l120 with levers.

Much better than Hyundai shovel with joystick

I second that. Used to drive a cat 972G and then a 980H, both on finger tip controls and were so much responsive and precise than a newer Hyundai with a joystick.

 

[John Deere 8530]

Correct, a Volvo L50H. Not much experience with them but would be hard to go from a joystick on current one to levers.

You'd soon get used to it. Quite easily work 2 levers at a time accurately and soon learn to use 3 without any issues.

 

[newholland]

Don't change it. Drive it for a week using the levers and you will be fine. I went from joystick to levers on a volvo L180 and the levers are good.

 

[Mounty]

Ok, wasn’t expecting that bias to the levers so maybe I’ll investigate a bit further. I think these models have a return to dig function. Is that still likely to be the case with a lever model?

 

[John Deere 8530]

Ok, wasn’t expecting that bias to the levers so maybe I’ll investigate a bit further. I think these models have a return to dig function. Is that still likely to be the case with a lever model?

Yeah you'll just click the lever back past the detent and it'll return to dig.

 

[dynosoar]

Another vote for the levers.
one aspect is that you are braced and kind of insulated from machine movements because your hands rests on the lever platform whereas the joysticks can be effected by body movement more easily i think.
i used to train operators and used quite a lot of Volvo shovels. It often surprised me that even quite experienced users were not aware of the forward reverse shuttle switch next to the levers.
this has to be engaged and is automatically disabled if the column shuttle lever is used
the are also float and detent options.
Great machines and often pricey for a reason

A

 

[jamesy]

As above, I used to have occasion to drive a Volvo L150, Cat 966F & G at a Quarry and got on fine with the leavers having been used to joystick loaders

 

[JohnnyF]

Correct, a Volvo L50H. Not much experience with them but would be hard to go from a joystick on current one to levers.

You’d be surprised how quick you get used to levers…!
Jumping off our Volvo L90H or even the L220G on to the brand new JCB TM with joystick instead of levers seems horrible and uncomfortable.

 

[Dave W]

Been looking at this wheel loader in Europe and only negative is it's lever controlled on the hydraulics. 2 levers are 3rd & 4th service. They've said they could fit a 'David Brown Hydraulics' joystick for about £600. Hopefully not the David Brown controls I'm thinking of. Low houred machine, good idea or not??

I reckon you’ll have 15 mins on that and say feck the old joystick

 

[nick...]

Leave them as they are.so simple to use.Volvo are the benchmark for shovels so they know what they are doing
nick...

 

[BRB John]

I’ve three telehandlers and two mini pivot loaders on joysticks and a Volvo shovel on levers,the Volvo set up is the best of the lot,F/R to the side of the levers it’s a dream to drive.

Are you saying that the knob closest to the chair is actually F/R? If so that's a pretty neat maybe could do with like an orange knob to differentiate it though.

Okay probably not quite the same but I've got a loader on my 398 and it works just off the levers and it works great even if the levers are a bit slack with age...

Don't dismiss it before you've tried it.

Joysticks are over rated fingertip control is so much more comfortable.

 

[Chae1]

Are you saying that the knob closest to the chair is actually F/R? If so that's a pretty neat maybe could do with like an orange knob to differentiate it though.

Okay probably not quite the same but I've got a loader on my 398 and it works just off the levers and it works great even if the levers are a bit slack with age...

Don't dismiss it before you've tried it.

Joysticks are over rated fingertip control is so much more comfortable.

It's on a rocker switch if I remember right.

I never used it, just used LHR.

 

[Mounty]

The knob closest to the chair is the 4th service. There is a rocker switch for F & R to the right of the levers. There is also another F/R switch on the left hand armrest.

In TFF opinions I trust. Bought unseen!

 

[Blue.]

The knob closest to the chair is the 4th service. There is a rocker switch for F & R to the right of the levers. There is also another F/R switch on the left hand armrest.

In TFF opinions I trust. Bought unseen!

If it has f/r on the left armrest has it got cdc steering (joystick steering)?

I’m sure you won’t be disappointed,Volvo shovels are in a class of their own.

 

[Lazy Sod]

When I bought my JCB Loadall in 1984, it had quite a few levers all in a row. There were extra ones because the machine had hydraulic locking for the attachments and a pick up hitch. I reduced the height of all of them by about and inch except the ones for the lift and crowd to reduce the possibility of pulling the wrong one. The front carriage one I made even shorter, as I didn't want to risk accidentally tipping off an attachment and possibly snapping the hoses.