Colorado Digger wrote No I didnt, might have been ok, but it just didnt grab me. This week doing alittle clearing along the Sacramento River. Next move over to the American then the Feather for some levee work. Last week built a creek crossing for a bridge widening job in Roseville. With some crack fixing on my thumb and a little dental work. Next will be a little strip mall demo. Then the wk of the 21st start wrecking 15 houses and out buildings along with sidewalks curb and gutter and streets plus 86 trees. That should carry us thru the 1st of the yr. There ya go CD, and I will update with pics as we go.
looking good thanks for the fotos. looking good. i am beat.:notworthy
ohh ps. it is time to do some rack mounting instead of dental work.:tong
Nice rack C D always enjoy seeing pictures of nice racks. Did you get a new excavator, that your guys are fueling? If so we need more pictures.
Heres a few of the Feather River site.
looks like Nordic. I worked on the levees for them 4 years ago
Good eye, we are doing the clearing for them at several locations.
I ran a 600 Deer and blade for them . Hence the human 600! They have very well maintained equipment! Axel runs a tight ship! If ya see little Jason the asian looking guy tell em Kevin Post says howdy. He usually ran the 1250 long boom. We also both ran the 385 in my profile pict. I ran nights he ran days!
Heres some house demos were doing in Santa Rosa Ca, during, after, garage find, and the next house to go.
Heres a few from the same spot as the last pic one day later.
Man thats pretty slick cleanup of the crawlspace and to leave all the blocks in place, whats the secret to that. When I've done demo I usually try to fall the house within its on perimeter and crush it right there which usually ends with a few blocks being loaded in with the debries. You must throw everything outside and pull the floor system off in big sections??
I also keep the house within its footprint, this on had a garage attached that I could drag the demo onto to process and load out, thats the right idea with the floor, doesnt always go as planned. It also doesnt hurt that I have one of the hardest working and best laborer with me as well. As far as the FP I like to leave them stand to haul out latter with the concrete. Again doesnt always work out.
This is Monday morning Dec 5, we are wrecking 15 houses and a small community center plus removing about 70 trees, we will also remove streets and sidewalks. The next is Friday the 10th. We plan on being done Tuesday the 13th.
looking good nice to see that you are busy. where are the last set of fotos taken? regards, cd
That was in a little town called Live Oak, just north of Yuba City on Hwy 70. The job before that was in Santa Rosa.
I was invited last wk to a demo project at a collage, tearing down old dorms. The job is being done by the last company that I worked wages for, before I went on my own in 86. So I am here hrly. The buildings are all conrete constuction with trace amounts of asbestous in the paint. So everything has to be burrito wraped and sent to a designated land fill, even the soft demo, so everything is mixed (thats why the loads look so contaminated). Funny thing is the asbestous is so minute that once it leaves the site it is no longer considered hazardous(osha on site worker protection). We seperate and bundle the rebar for recycle.
Interesting work as always ddigger. Is that an old Kenworth cabover in the second pic? You just don't see many cabovers anymore.
Great pics, as always. What college is that at. Looks kinda messy with all that asbestos. Just a trace I guess. Any more demo on the horizon? Lemme know. Hope you are doing well. Hello to Ryan too.
CM1995 wrote Is that an old Kenworth cabover in the second pic? Hey Wolf, thats at UC Davis, Davis CA. Yeah the asbestos is making it a pain. We have 5 of the 12 buildings completed now. Ryan is on the Airport Demo, but I will pass along the greeting. I know we have several more demos in the near future, but I havent bothered to ask what they are yet. I know that some are located at Clear Lake. Yes CM1995, thats what that is. He is an owner operator thats been around forever. The old truck looks like heck, but it is one of the most well mantained trucks you`ll ever come accross.
Things are coming along nicley, things have dried up making cleanup a bit easier. These pics are from nearly the same spot. And for those with an eye for detail whats differant about my machine?
Looking Good Looking good as always. Great shots. Looks like a great job. I will post some pictures of the Doyle Drive bit. They are taking down the approach ramp to the Golden Gate Bridge, over the Presidio, built in 1936. Supposedly they have 40 excavators lined up to take down the entire approach over next weekend. Caltrans extravaganza. Your tax dollars at work!!! Don't know who the contractors on the Doyle Drive job are, does anybody out there know who is doing the work for Caltrans? Should be interesting.
Maybe PenHall for the demo . Bay Cities has a lot of dirt work there & Treasure Island. I can't remember who else I hauled for over there last year. The chaos of 40 excavators banging away has to be a sight
Got your proper little round mirror back in place of the "will-fit" rectangle one clamped to the stalk. Nice work, as usual.
Penhall is a good thought. I'll check it out and let you know who has 40 excavators tearing down the Doyle Drive. Gotta be awesome.
The company doing Doyle drive is Ferma Corporation. We hauled 2 Cat 385's and 1 Cat 5110 excavator up there this morning. I heard discovery channel might do a special on it.
Hey prenn, any more pics of the loads?
sorry I didn't take any today. That picture of the 5110 was actually an old one. There are a few more of it on this thread I'm hauling one of the 385's out next monday and taking it to the UCLA medical center, I'll remember to take a pic.
Does Ferma actually have 40 excavators, or are they subbing out to other guys too? That is amazing if they got 40. Wow, how they have grown. Is EBI gonna be there too? How about Silverado, I think they did some of the demo/earthwork for the Bay Bridge project. Who else?
Ferma is the only demo company there and what I heard was that they are using 35 of their own and renting 5.
That is so impressive about Ferma. The little company that could. I hear they also got into real estate development in Silicon Valley and have made a ton of money that way too. Way to go Bruno, you are a talented guy.
Here you go... Sorry to hijack your thread ddigger.
Hey no worries, its just nice we have a place to share our interests, and see whats going on in our trades.
So, did you haul out both of the 385s and the 5110? I noticed that one of the 385s broke down Friday night, the one with the LaBounty shear on it, and they didn't get it back up and running. One of the guys from Peterson also told me that the 5110 was gonna get the long reach put on it and used for a high rise demo somewhere in San Francisco. Do you know where it went and what building they are going to do? That would be worth checking out too. Awesome work. Very impressive hauling job. So where exactly did you take what equipment? Btw, you were right about them bringing in their own 35 pieces and renting 5 others. A couple of the rentals came from Zaccor, and I noticed they covered up the Zaccor name and put a magnetic Ferma sticker on it. One of the other 385s came from a Cascade Mountain or something. Very impressive. I think the whole city of San Francisco is proud of Ferma for what they accomplished over the weekend. Great company and a bunch of great guys.
We just hauled out the one 385 so far. And today we are loading up the 5110 and it is going to UC Berkley tomorrow, not sure if its getting all its boom there. They are going to demo a hotel in SF with it, I forget the name though and don't know when its going to happen. Sorry It was definitely impressive! Yesterday morning when I loaded up the 385 at Doyle dr, Ferma told me that the job went so well and they were on such a roll, that they demo'ed more than what was required over the weekend.
Well we have been rolling along pretty steady since I finished my portion of the Davis demo. Removed several hundred big trees out at Beal AFB, Cleared a site in Lodi. Last week in Rockland made this little group of yukes go away. And now this wk were doing a couple thousand ft of curb gutter and sidewalk removal.
Great to see you are busy Great to see your nice and busy, doing some damage to trees around the state. The tree huggers must hate you, watch out for them LOL, although nobody seems to upset to see the yukes come crashing down. Let me know when you got some cool buildings to wreck. Take it easy. Hope you are staying cool on these hot hot days. All the best.
Heres another clearing job for a rd widening project.Seemed like it took longer to cut the bench to the trees than it did to do the clearing. And if you clear the low side, then you gotta do the high side. Monday well remove a couple thousand ft of gaurd rail, then its on to the next one.
nice looking fotos buddy, how dry is it out there? staying plenty busy this year huh? that 330 sure is giving you her monies worth i see. i don't know why i am so worried about my link belts at 7000 hours each, can't plan on them lasting as long as a cat i guess. regards,cd
Thanks CD, yes work has been nice and steady, in fact we already have about 3/4 of next yrs work on the books allready. Things are dry but its our normal summer pattern. As far as the 330 goes 22.000hrs and counting, no issues and the air still blows ice cold, bless its heart. Hope things a going well for you this season as well. Take good care.
that is truly amazing about your a/c working so well. you must be really good about keeping your cab buttoned up to keep the dust out. i can't imagine how many seats you have been through. have you tinted your windows as well? i know up here at 7000 feet the machines can struggle to keep the cab cool. i saw some fotos of a swiss digger and he had a large umbrela mounted on the front left corner of his cab, prolly helped quite a bit with the sun take it easy and be safe! regards, cd
We cleared this site the otherday. Went back by today, its easy to see the topside guys are not having as easy a time of it as we did. Hope they had a rock clause.
With that many drill rigs you bet your check they have a rock clause. I just got tangled up in some verbage with my rock clause. Great to hear you have work for next year. Sure beats organizing the bolt bin.
Picked up an old caddy the other day! Heres another pic from the same spot, this was for a levy widening project. Everything had to go away. Differant wrecking half a trailor court while the other half was still occupied. Not the best of areas either.
Heres another now ya see it now ya dont.
Beautiful. Love to see those great demo shots. Must be pretty recent, seeing the rainy day shot. Keep up the good work, let me know next ones, and I'll take some shots. Hope you are doing well.
Good eye Wolf. started Noon Friday and finished on Monday in the rain. Rumor has it that we have a couple of demos in the bay area coming up pretty soon. I will keep you posted.
I started to clear a bunch of dredge ponds for what will be another new subdivision, that makes 3 this yr good sign I`m thinking.
That was a nice little metal building. Why did they tear it down DD?
Small fire inside, owned by the U.S. Forest Service, need I say more.
Glad to see you are busy. We just lost a Demo bid. No worries, we are a lil busy at the moment. So do you think you will stay busy through the winter? regards, Cd
Its hard to say, there are some good projects going to happen this winter, I have allready been contacted about one of them so there is a good chance.
Good luck with all of your bids!!
Today was a little clearing for a bridge widening project.
Day three and done. Kind of a pain, had to pack every bit accross the crane mats with the excavator & load highsides way above me stareing into the sun nearly the entire day.
Howdy Digger, It sure looks clean down there. Nice precise work! That must of been a major pain loading tubs into the sun. Don't tell me you were sitting down below as well? regards, CD
Thank you, and yes, I was on the slope no less, you can see my tracks in the lower right hand corner. Glad that one is over.
Now were doing some tree removal demo and clean up for a freeway expansion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jobmbmyjZyo&feature=share&list=UULXKdWU26zB0BVpUaprhahw
You sure did a number on the little trailer. Did you get the buest up those old sheds in the background too? Pretty massive trees you took down How old do you think they were When are you coming to do some damage in the Bay Area It's all good Brad.
Yes we demoed and cleaned up everything, infact finished this morning the rain on Friday kept us out of the job site. I doubt those trees were all that old those ukes grow like weeds in good soil.
Nice job DD. Did the meth heads strip the siding on the trailer or did the groundsmen get to it first? I demo'd an old trailer with my 953 a few years back. Started at one end and stripped the frame out like peeling a banana. Some of those old house trailers frames are fairly heavy, worth your while to take it across the scales. Is this a widening of an existing freeway or a new road expansion?
How much are you paying for dyed diesel out there?I am paying $3.90 or so per gallon. Do you haul your on fuel daily? You must So you have a spot where you fill up with a card. Our drive is usually about 45 minutes long, so we hit the Co-op at 7am and are on the road bye 7 or so. I used to like to start earlier but up in Aspen you cannot start till 8am anyhow. I will be out your way next week..Santa Rosa and Gualala regards, cd
I'll jump in on a small thread hi-jack. I paid $3.57 for off-road, $3.77 for on-road today.
I paid 3.79 this morning at my local card lock where I get a preferred customer price for being a long time and good customer ( I pay my bills on time ) also I dug the tank holes when the built 25yrs ago. This last job was 2hrs away so we just stayed in motels, 30 to 45 is the norm. I carry my fuel daily as a rule. Enjoy your trip out here, crab season is in full swing right now so you should have some good eats while your here. I am going out of Bodega Bay in the morning. I did a couple of jobs in Santa Rosa this past yr. How long you gonna be out here? Have a safe trip.
going crabbing in the morning? what a life! it must get old packing that much fuel for a 330, espescially if you are really getting after it.
Its all I know, and I wouldnt trade it for anything, ok maybe for crabbing! If you get close to the Auburn area let me know, I`ll buy lunch, dinner, a beer, what ever you might have time for, or come enjoy a meal here at the house, your choice.
Thanks for the invite! Don't know if I will be out that way on this trip, but I will try to plan a visit on one of my future trips. I remember a classic bar in Auburn i visited years ago. Good look crabbing! regards, Cd
This yr is looking very good we have allready started clearing for a small 15 lot subdivision. Have some demos and a 300 lot subdivision to start in Feb. Its still a bit wet so I have to pack everything to where we can load out. Hope the work picture for all of you is looking good as well.
Glad to hear things are looking good. This year may just be better than last.
Brad: Let me know when the demos get going in February. I got a big contract to take some more demo pictures and would love to get some shots of your jobs. [email protected]
Will do wolf. The last job also included abandoning an old hand dug well which we back filled with bentonite. And it also yeilded next yrs fire wood.
filling the well The well it is pretty amazing. The work in the stone is quite impressive. Imagine the back breaking work of the people who built that by hand. When do you think it was constructed and by whom. Another really cool thing you encountered on the job. Thanks for sharing.
Started a nice little demo today. Heres a little time line. 7:00 am 12:00 pm 4:00 pm I`ll have the rest on the ground in the morning and start loading out & pulling concrete in the afternoon.
Looks like a neat project, all steel construction? How many hours on the 330 now?
Nice project. I wish I had the salvage rights to all that steel.
The office area in the front are stick built. The old girl now has 22,685 hrs, had to put a new starter in last wk, Cat wouldnt stand behind the old one(original), go figure? In only copper wire so far were at 4800.00 bucks. I will let you know what the scrap brings when I am done. This morning will be the start of day 3, did not haul yesterday but will today.
dd, pretty impressive on that 320 with that many hours. Has the engine or hydraulic pump ever been overhauled?
Its a 330l, and no never been touched. Heres a shot of the end of day 3, jobs getting smaller.
Looks good. When you get it in piles like that, will you load it with the 330L or a loader of some type? Is the demo work bid by the job or estimated tons or another method?
I do it all with the excavator. Its bid by the job, but many things are considered in the process. I loaded out 5 steel loads and 4 loads of soft demo today.
You & the 330L get some serious work done in a day. Are the loads you are referring too tandom axle dump truck loads? or fith wheel dump trailer loads? Do the soft demo loads go to a landfill? I just bid 2- 1200sq' houses w/ partial basements to demo at $3500/ house but did not get the job. There was no steel in them to salvage either. I was unsure of the amount of tons of soft demo that would be generated, is there a formula for estimating this amount ?
Looks like a really cool demo job. You did a great job with it. Pictures are awesome. Sorry I couldn't get up there in time, but thanks for the call and I will catch you on the next one for sure. Have a good one, and thanks, as always!
We use highside end dumps for the steel and soft demo, lowsides for the concrete. Yes we do use a sqft type formula on the soft demos and for the steel structures its more of a swag. (scientific wild ass guess) That big building only ended up being 7 steel loads. Which returned roughly $19.500. With our operating costs here,we could never do a demo for the prices you shared. Here a demo like that would be more in the $11.000 to $13.000 range per house. Good luck and hope you have a great season.
I see you use the same formula I use sometimes. Even with our lower operating costs there is no way I could do a 1200SF house for $3500 either, if that included hauling the debris off.
I couldn't come close to making a profit at $3500 for a 1200 sq ft house either. The dump fees would be about $2000, not to mention the trucking.
Thats impressive, goes to show what one owner, one operator and good maintenance can do!
x2. Good old Cat machinery and a good owner operator. Thats too bad about that starter.
Finished the demo on Monday, Tuesday we started clearing for a new subdivision. The first thing is to clear for the utility easements, tight area so I had to pack most every thing out to load.
Finished that last one on friday, and started another one on Monday the 15th wrapped it up today. No sooner had the last of the trees on the ground, and the topside guys were mobeing in with thier iron. Heres a little action shot of a bit of tree pushin. http://youtu.be/pb3tWLBGxWE
Yair . . . A question for you excavator blokes. Why can't you lift a pushed tree out of the hole and then end push it like with a dozer . . . even if it was pushed hydraulicly with a series of motions with the stick? Cheers
Thats easy, way to messy. That crushes limbs into the ground, gathers grass and dirt breaks and twists limbs. Which makes it tough on the saw guys. We get paid for the green waste and sell the logs as well. On these clearing jobs its all about keeping things clean including the sight when we leave. When a tree hits the ground the saw guys cut the big limbs and I carry them to a landing spot centrally located between a group of trees to be removed, to minimize clean up and ease loading. Heres another example. http://youtu.be/h-m26F5Tb-A
Yair . . . ddigger That may be the case with some timber but it happens here as well. An eighteen inch bluegum or iron bark that I would tip out with the dozer, poke the corner tip into the centre of the root ball and clatter off with it in second gear takes forever with a thumbless excavator . . . drives me crazy warching LOL. Cheers
I could not imagine doing clearing without a thumb.
I love having a thumb for Demo and Clearing. For digging and such, I don't feel a thumb is required. I hear you on trying to keep everything clean, pushing the trees around with a dozer just spreads the mess around. Nice to see you are busy. Regards, CD
Are you a one man operation DDigger? Thats pretty cool, you seem really busy with just that hoe. Don't see to many one man/ one machine operations around here. Think it would be nice to be able to make a living that way. Nice work too, and would also never see a 11 moved in for a sub divison job. Def do things differently in CA.
Thanks CD looks to be a great season. I hope yours is as well. 390eric, yes I am a one man show since 1989,the land Clearing outfitt that I do so much work for only uses owner operators, and I am the first one called and for the most part the only one unless we get several jobs going at once. I have been doing work with them since 89 as well. They are union as am I, allthough it doesnt matter who I work for. And then I have a handfull of outfitts that are always happy to have help. As far as the 11, trust me its gonna be needed the job is all lava cap with 2 to 3ft boulders cemented inside its tough stuff to work in. The old girl is at Cat rite now as I developed a leak in the seal on my swing transmission on the last job, and I also suspect that my slow return valve is beginning to fail. The next jobs not untill next Monday so its good timing.
I have yet to see something like that here. I like that idea for sure, guess its just like running any company, but it still seems different to me. Think it would be nice to do something like that.
Well I quit the best job I ever had to do it. And wouldnt change a thing. Its not for everyone, and you need to be very confident in your ability. But if A guys gotta work its a great way to spend your days. Oh and a good women is a must! Mine is the brains of the outfitt, I just pull the levers.
Very well said!:notworthy A good woman that understands the ups and downs of this business is the key to being successful.
Started a small tree job at UC Davis this morning. You would think collage kids and professers could read a road closed sign, they cant!
The mobe must have been more than the day rate on the hoe.
Of course, they can't be bothered to read!! How many trees you pulling out? Big ones? Best wishes.
The problem was you were being politically incorrect by tearing down that tree. They were too distracted by that to read the "Road Closed" sign.
Jobs like this actually,pay pretty well. Wolf all in all it turned out to be about 43, those Monterey pines were about the biggest. We used climbers on a few, and had to grind a few stumps that were to close to utilitys to pull. And we did get scolded more than a few times for removing the trees.
I'm sure the tree huggers and leaf lickers were having a fit at you pulling out the trees. Haha on them! Love it.
I know a guy on here who got to doze some Torrey Pines down in San Diego, when he was testing out a big machine, and he said the Sierra Club just went wild. Haha. It's all too funny.
Personally I never find it funny to knock down trees. It's planned out and sometimes they need to go, it just part of our human existence on this earth. Trees grow, trees die on their own and sometimes we take them down. I think it's our responsibility as contractors and operators to do what has to be done but not be careless or callus. Don't get me wrong, I'm no tree hugger in the current societal definition but more a steward. A steward understands the balance that needs to be maintained. A steward cares for his heard of cattle but sends them to slaughter when it's time.:cool2
Well said CM. Even if a tree needs to be taken down for a very good reason it's sad to see the old ones fall in just a few minutes with a saw.
Even thou I do make a huge part of my living removing trees, it does often sadden me. Not so much when its nonnative or invasive spiecies which is the case most of the time. Here in California native plants are for the most part mitigated at about 10 to 1(for every one removed 10 new ones planted). That being said, I do have huge respect for our enviorment. As I know Wolf does to.
Yair . . . Very well said CM1995 I doubt there would be anyone on this board who has knocked down more trees than I have. It was my job it's how I made my living but somehow it never seemed right to walk into a five thousand acre paddock and chain it fence to fence. Cheers
Been busy as can be pretty much since mid March, what I haven't been is good about taking pictures or posting. So here are a few from recent jobs starting with a little homestead that I made go away in 3 days last wk, to make room for yet another subdivision. It had 2 houses a garage and a small hay barn. Next we moved to the City of Woodland Ca, where we removed a bunch of trees buildings, block, tin buildings a couple stick built houses and an old barn. To make way for a new Superior Court building, we also removed a the curb sidewalk and gutter around the 4 block site along with a bunch of concrete slabs.
I also included a picture of one of the highsides we use, it calks out at 89cuyds, and has axel scales that are accurate to within 50lbs. We have also done a lot of clearing jobs and tree removal type work as well. With no end in sight for the rest of the season. I also snuck in A little under ground in the mix. Worked in some real healthy poison oak and found a few rattle worms as well.
Now that is a nice ditch to work in. How do you get the slopes so nice?
Those are some awesome wrecking jobs, Brad. Nice work, man. Glad to hear things are going so well for you, and would love to take some shots of the next one you do.
Nice pictures and good work ddigger! Hope to see lots of pictures on your job.
I Like your pictures... It's nice to see the equipment in action instead of chained down to my Lowboy. If you want to see more pictures check out my web site. http://crumbleytrucking.googlepage.com/
DDigger, How's work going? You must be busy. Regards, CD
Yes Sir, slammed, in fact heading over close to where I think you said your folks are, to start a job at the Healdsburg Airport in the morning. Its just north of Santa Rosa on 101. Its been a really good season so far with no end in sight for a while, and about 1/4 of the yrs work for next yr already on the books. Me and the old 330L are still chugging right along. It looks like you have had a pretty decent season yourself. I hope it continues for you. Thanks for checking in.
Thanks for that. I checked out your site, very nice setup. How is work in NM these days?
Well, busted out the little clearing job in Healdsburg. Had 5 days in it, did it in 3. These are shots of one of 3 locations on the site. A cloud shadowed the last just as I wanted a picture, of course.
Did a little infill clearing job right in town last wk, site for a new retirement home. We have done several sites for these type of projects this yr. Pretty basic, 288 trees, concrete and ac demo, and an old pool that a homeless guy had taken up residence in.
15 houses and out buildings along with sidewalks curb and gutter and streets plus 86 Where are the 15 houses and out buildings along with sidewalks curb and gutter and streets plus 86 trees you are going to wreck? Think I could get a few pics of that? Let me know. Thanks, Brad.
Wolf that job is already done (we did it) and new stuff built. I am waiting however on word on another one very similar with 15 houses (in Elk Grove), should hear within about a wk. I will keep you posted.
So this latest project is not one of my more favorites, We are clearing and cleaning up a mile long stretch for a light rail expansion project, which involves removing fences, sheds, trees, gardens, and all the trash the folks have been dumping ever since they found out the RR was taking 35ft of their back yards. They were all paid pretty well, but most folks are renters and not nearly as happy as their landlords. Plus the entire job is under 2 different sets of power and utility lines. This is looking ahead. This is looking back. And this stretch must be a troll road.
ddigger, I imagine you aren't making a lot of people happy, tearing out every thing. One thing you can tell where you have been. Wires are always a pain in the rear to deal with. The only good part is you can see them. I only had one job this year where I had to dig beside the fiber optic wires. I loose sleep for a night or two before I have to dig close to them.
I know what you mean, I left out the part about the gas line and fiber optic lines that also run the length of the job, so close to some of the stumps that we have to flush cut em and grind em.
Thanks for the fotos, glad to see that you are busy. Weren't you talking about getting a newer hoe? How is the old girl holding up? Regards, CD
Thanks CD, were slammed. Yes I am still daydreaming about a new machine, probably this yr. Its just the old girl bless her heart just keeps doing everything I ask. We finished yesterday, but not before I folded in half and threw away a 75 vega GT. This morning it streetscape, sidewalk curb and gutter removal and load out, next to live traffic.
Great pictures. What are you looking at for a new hoe?
I cant seem to make up my mind yet. After sitting in this one for nineteen years its hard to find one that feels right!
Love the car pictures, you really did get it folded over perfect. Looks like a very interesting job in an interesting place.
curious what the hours are on her, and what if any major repairs you have had to do?
Right around 26,000hrs as far as major repairs. I would say none, have never touched the motor, pumps, or swing gear. As far as normal stuff sure, resealed rams, swing transmission, final drives, replaced undercarriage, and rebuilt track adjusters a time or two as well as rotator manifold. Rebuilt the thumb a time or two and wore out 4 buckets & several sets of pins and bushings. All normal wear items and nothing that I would consider major. And 98 percent of the things I did have been elective, or planned for. I can only think of 2 times that I have lost time due to a break down (not counting hoses). I have lost more time to theft and vandalism than machine failure.
26,000 hours is very impressive,did you buy it new? Ever since I saw that pic with the rattle snake, I can't help but think that they must be all over those brushy areas, I hate snakes@
It was close enough to new only a few hundred hrs, It depends where we are but we do run into a fair amount of rattle snakes through out the yr, The only time we kill one is if its injured or there is simply no place to put it where it wont be a danger to others, otherwise we always move them out of harms way.
So are they pretty tolerant of humans? How intimidated do they have to feel to strike?
Not speaking for ddiggers west coast versions but ours on the southeast coast aren't too tolerant of humans but will give you a warning rattle. Cottonmouths are a different story - mean as hell and aggressive.
We're fortunate up here, there are rattlers around but not near us. I'm scared to death of snakes, never seen a venomous snake in person so I don't know how I'd react but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be pretty lol!
Ours are about the same some are a bit puckish but most just want to get away. The biggest problem is for the labor not seeing one while picking sticks, as they don't always rattle and don't have to be coiled to strike. One yr early spring we found a mallard hens nest in the rite of way, one of the guys was going to gather the eggs to incubate (he always saves everything he can) the more eggs he removed the more it revealed that about a 3 footer had slid in and under some of the down to take advantage of the free heat. So you never know where one might be.
Started a nice one this week. Going to wreck 13 houses and remove all the trees for yet another subdivision. I have already removed all the trees and fences and trash from the rear of the houses. Will start the demos on Monday, after the houses are gone I will tip the trees over in the front yards where the houses used to sit due to the power lines along the road. Not very exciting but its January, so I`m not complaining! The picture is not the best, but you get the idea.
Had a good week, only 2 houses are still left standing. and only lack 2 more foundations to pull to be caught up to the 2 houses I demoed today. We haven't touched the garages yet as they had no asbestos so concentrating on the houses with trace amounts so we can cut the asbestos guy loose. Its such a joke he is required to be onsite during the demos, but never even gets out of his truck. Finished the week in the rain which never hurts when demoing old houses.
Oh I almost forgot, our HEF member Wolf came and hung out on Wednesday and took some pictures, which I am sure will be much better than mine as he is a professional. He is a great guy and we were happy to have him on site, even showed up wearing all the correct PPE`s.
Nice, neat work. I enjoy seeing your progress pics as it's good to see someone that knows how to demo and keep it clean during the process. It kills me when I go by a demo site and they are pulling the walls down to the outside and making a helluva mess to clean up afterwards. I hired an end dump for the last demo I did, 60 CY. An end dump is the most efficient way to remove debris quickly IMO. Also had some 40's for metal and ended up hauling some debris in the 40's to towards the end. From the pictures, I am assuming the brick, block and concrete goes to a separate landfill or is recycled? Our State reg's allow concrete with no rebar or mesh protruding, brick, block and cured asphalt to be used as beneficial fill and is basically not a regulated waste. We always separate our debris as we have dump sites that take this material for a small tipping fee. We don't have but a handful of hardcore recycling yards in my area due to being located in a very limestone rich area, aggregates are cheap.
Work has been crazy busy so far this yr. Just finished clearing a large site for a new prison. Now we are clearing and doing some concrete demo at an old cannery to make room for another subdivision. The its off to demo a subdivision that was never finished and fell victim to the economy and vandals. Hope everyone else is doing well too.
Is the last pic the sub division your going to demo!? Those look to nice to knock over......
These are nice pictures Digger! I think everyone that made it through the last few years is in for a good time. I know it is different all over the country, but we are in the same boat. Pretty busy right now and things are busting loose. How bout the new Hoe?? Used iron is going up and up and I don't see you in a 336e. Keep us posted. Regards, CD
Thanks CD, I`ve been shopping around a bit, its just hard to pull the trigger when me and this old girl still get along so well. It does look like I may qualify for a program thru the air resources board, that would pay for a large portion of the purchase price of a new machine, as mine is old enough not to be able to be retrofitted. And yes LT-x7 those are the ones, never finished, tweekers have had there way in em. Same developer still owns the site. I think they are going to repurpose the site and go with higher density. One time quite a few yrs ago, we tore down 100 brand new homes, many finished in Sun City due to faulty concrete. With zero salvage allowed, that was tough to take.
Digger, The State of California in going to buy you a new hoe? Or even pay for half? No wonder they are broke, but good for you. I'll be in Santa Rosa the first weekend of June, it will be exciting to see all the new work going on. The last few times I have been out there hasn't been a whole lot going on. Denver is going crazy at the moment and the work in the mountains is picking up as well. I am trying to be careful about buying a bunch of new equipment but a lot of my stuff is getting older and harder to take care of working in all the rock. Thanks for the pictures, CD
Same here. Work is picking up and the phone is ringing. My iron is all older (10+ years average) but in good shape. I am not confident enough to stick my neck out anymore than I already am. Newest machine is a used 2011 321 with 1800 hours on it when I got it and have put another 400 on it since Oct. Cautiously optimistic is my current business model.
I hope all you guys pick up more and more work. I am here in the Pittsburgh area, we are turning stuff down at my company. Within the last year my company has bought a d6n, 3 kobelco 350s, another cat 815, a 735 artic truck, 2 more wheel loaders, and just picked up a brand new d6t last week. The rest of the equipment was used but low hours. This marcellus shale boom has done wonders with us. We do no work involved with it, but the pipeline companies come in and buy stuff up and trade it in way too fast. I am talking less than 1000 hours. My company owner is buying this stuff left and right. He is looking for a 349 to replace my 480 kobelco. I cant complain about it. I hope your guys companies continue to grow, think its only going to get better from here. Feel like there is a lot of great company owners on here I would love to go work for. I love watching things get better.
Finished the job at the cannery on Tuesday, and on Wednesday started clearing for a 162 lot subdivision. Here`s a couple shots of the start of the project. I will update as it goes along. Cat brought me this to try out for a week. At least there is no poison oak on the site. Ha!
And the new machine is proving to be pretty handy to have around. As baby`s top ram started to leek last week.
How did you like the 329E?
To soon, jury`s still out. Only been a day. Everything seems nice when its new.
Isn't that the truth.
Just my two cents but you might want to try a Volvo. We have run Cat excavators for years and we tried a Volvo. Great machine to operate, easy to service and great on fuel and good price. We bought a 300D and love it. Chris
Thanks for the reply, I worry about product support in my area. You just don't see any of those around here. I`m not sure where our nearest dealer might be. How many HP is that machine, and whats the weight?
It is 227 hp and the weight is right at 74000. Volvo has taken over the excavator market around here but like you said, you have to have a dealer to back you up. It really is a pleasure to operate.
Dealers are in san leandro and Sacramento. Every dealing i have had with the one in San leandro hasn't been any worse than CAT. Parts man is very helpful and easy to work with, prices are high but what parts arnt these days. I think theres dealers in fresno and turlock too
This ones been here a minute!
look's like your back on your machine what did you think about the new one or did you figure out how much play and how slow your old one is that's what normally happen's when I get on something new some how you start justifying a new one
Yes, I am back in mine, the new one was ok. But the best way to explain being back in baby, is being out of town, and finally getting home and back in your own bed. I`m not one to allow things to get sloppy, and shes never seemed slow, plus the way I have the thumb set up, and having the reach back, it felt great. Its going to be hard to find the right fit.
And the payment, don't forget about the payment. What does a 329E run - $275-300K? When I priced 320E's out they were right at $200K. Personally I didn't like the E's due to visibility, I know they have cameras but it just feels claustrophobic with that big ass wrapped around you. The cabs are nice and spacious though.
I bet your wife accepted the fact you had another women in your life a long time ago. Regards, CD
Ha! Yes, in fact she encourages it! But after 37yrs she knows she`s still #1 CM1995, that machine, but with a better thumb, out the door 295.000 and some change. It had 48hrs on it when I gave it back.
Well here is a few from the same spot a week ago. Things are changing. And this has been here a minute 2.
I see a Link Belt...? I'm sure it's not yours Digger since you bleed kitty yellow. Nice shot's, good work!! I'll be out June 5-9th in Santa Rosa. Regards, CD
The link belt belongs to the guy with the grinder, you can see me way back in the distance, we are about at the half way point on the clearing. Should you make it to Placer County in June maybe we can grab a bite and a beer.
what kind of grinder is that a bandit 3680? Enjoy seeing your posts! Cheers
Thanks, it is a bandit, as many yrs as we have used this guy to grind for us you would have thought I would pay better attention. Heres a better picture of it. If I remember I will find out in the morning.
seeing as it doesn't have tracks does he use a truck to move it around on site or does he have a valve for the air and drag it with an excavator?
That 330l is sick. But have you considered Link Belt? The 300x3 or 290x2 are both great hoes. Very fuel efficient with tons of power.
Thank you. Ha, funny you should ask. I am very disappointed in my local Link Belt dealer. To make a long story short, slow response times on questions, via email, a week on average. I went ahead and opened an account which they required for a demo, no big deal. Then they want me to furnish insurance again no big deal, had my insurance gal call there`s to handle the docs, There`s was extremely rude to mine, and they will accept nothing less than full replacement value on a brand new machine, which will cost me 3500 for a wk. Well I am not paying that, for them to try and sell me a tractor. I called and told them so. There response was gee sorry you feel like that. That was 2 wks ago and never heard another word. I wasted over a month going back and forth with them, thru out the whole process, I always had the feeling that they had no interest in dealing with a small contractor. Turns out I guess I was right. So for now LB is not an option. Hitachi225, He does both depending on the distance. He has an air compressor mounted on the grinder which he also uses to blow out filters and to run air tools when changing teeth.
That sucks lol. My local deere dealership is like that. Have you considered volvo, the cheapest of all of them but still good. As is kobelco
Sucks for them ddigger, you would think they would want to sell a machine??:duh This is really what it gets down to with "brand loyalty", the dealer and how they treat you. Business relationships are the key in how a contractor views a particular brand, because when you boil them all down there's not much difference between the main manufacturers and the products they make - cheap knock offs not included. For me it's Cat. Not because I fall into the mantra of "Cat is great - everything else is bad" but rather how my dealer treats me as a small contractor and the relationships I have with my salesman, his boss (my former salesman), the parts counter, the guys pulling parts in the warehouse and the field service mechanics. We have known each other for a while and they go out of their way - even for a small time operator/contractor like myself. Deere, Cat, Komatsu, Bobcat, Kobelco, Case etc all have good machines and all have problem machines that shouldn't have been let go off the drawing table. Everyone has a horror story for a particular machine if you've been in the business long enough. Just for reference, we don't have a LBX dealer in the state.:beatsme
Your right about everything you said CM, my salesman at cat is the best. I may go ahead with the 329 even though I wasn't completely sold on it, for the reasons you stated.
I wanted a case demo and they wanted a credit app. as well. I declined after they came up with that b.s. The Deere dealer brought me a 624j no questions asked, I had never even met the salesman. I guess it is different anywhere you go. It really is about who you know and how they are going to make sure everything is right. Good luck!
Were still plugging away out west busy as can be, but its always nice to run into an old friend . https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1483900518535871&set=vb.1455499171376006&type=2&theater The clearing is being done in one of Granite Constructions Mining pits. I am clearing a mile long stretch of creek channel in an area that they have never mined. They built a new channel and relocated the creek in an area that they had mined and then backfilled. As soon as we are done in an area they move in with scrapers and remove about 35ft of over burden to get to the gravel layer.
Digger, I don't know if you would take a LB or not, but a bunch sold, all with plumbing in the 135-45k range. All X'3s with 1500-2500 hours. I would hope something like that would get you through the next 10 years. Regards, and make sure not to work Monday. Not even taking the trash out or cutting the lawn. CD
A LB would absolutely work for me. In fact I have a demo lined up in the near future. I will do my best on Monday, although what I put off today may have to happen tomorrow. Enjoy your holiday!
Well, I was low bidder at an auction this morning. So begins a new chapter. Hope my Cat doesn't get wind of it, at least till we finish the job were on now!
Sweet! Congratulations on the new hoe. I could say something dumb but will refrain.... Wow, It's gonna be like living in a different world. Hopefully it performs well for you. CD
Congrats! That is a good looking machine and hopefully will serve you well. Are you keeping the Cat?
Thanks guys, I may keep the cat for a bit, I have plenty of work for both. Just not sure I care to go that route again. My life is so simple the way it is, and I am ok with that!
I never regretted having a plan B either.
It's been a month how's the new ride going:update
I like this pincher. The company I work for uses a dedicated pincher and bucket. We can change out the bucket for the pincher in 15 minutes. Sometimes the pins don't slide worth a damn and a lot of sledgehammer work is needed to get it back through. We tear down anything from mobile homes to large prisons.
There's no Hoe like a track Hoe. My boss has about 40 of them, all Kumatsus and all bought mainly at Ritchie bros
columbia wrecking?
Carolina Wrecking! you know who your talking about! Charles and Johnny.
yeah you can't buy a 300 with in 250 miles of here cause they will be there to buy it buckets ,grapples. pulverizers and all
Do you have frameless dumps?
Between the holidays and working everyday I haven't had a chance to finish everything I wanted to do to it before I put it in service. Hopefully this wk end I will get everything finished. the weather is awesome here right now working on a big levee clearing job, so warm even these guys are active. I bring em back to my place where they are out of harms way. Even came across a rattler yesterday moved him out of the right of way, not home!
Are those garter snakes? We've got a rat snake that lives around the shop, never seen it just the skin molts. I need a couple of snakes that eat squirrels for back yard. You're a better man than me, that rattler would've been under the bucket..
Those are gopher snakes, they do a number on gophers and ground squirrels. I try not to kill any of them if I can help it.
that is a bull or a pine snake that you are holding there. I saw some beauties on the road in Utah this last summer but they had all been hit by a car before I could collect them.
the rattler would have died where I found it!!! I don't let those or copperheads live... no reason to take a chance on not seeing him & have him bite someone maybe even you!!!
I HATE SNAKES!!! just the pics give me the willys! Have you been running the new hoe at all? Congrats on that purchase, hopefully she will treat you as well as the cat!
Well believe it or not, I still haven't had the chance to use the new hoe yet, it seems every time I think its gonna work out, a job pops up that's either real close to where I am already working, or even farther from the yard in the wrong direction. I think maybe by the end of next wk the lowbed has to nearly go right past the yd and then I will make the switch. In the mean time the good ole 330l has been preforming flawlessly. Most of last week was spent removing 15 acres of grape vines. And yes I did relocate a bunch of snakes(no rattlers this time. Day one. Day four. Here is a load dumped at the land fill.
That last pic looks very familiar. Hauled 7 60CY dump trailer loads of brush this week to my dump to burn later. Is that the MSW area of the landfill? There's a front load truck dumping in the backhround is why I ask. Would've thought the brush would be sent to a C&D cell/landfill.
CM1995, I honestly cant say all I know is it is a county run landfill with the best rates around for us. The material is full of t posts and high tension wire, which I would think maybe a bear to deal with once the load hits the ground. As for me once its in the truck and tucked in I don't care where it goes!
The job sure did turn out good! That is the way to load a truck, not sure the guy on the dozer or compactor liked it much
That was a great read! I got to run a 330CL for a little bit this summer. Sure was alot bigger than my 160, I am looking forward to your comparison w/ the deere. What other equipment do you use for leveling everything out like on the completed grape vine job? Keep up the good fight!
Keep some of those grape vines for the barbeque! Burn them instead of charcoal. It gives a nice smokey flavor to the steaks. How many acres are you clearing in a day?
Hey ddigger, Back in the thread aways you talked about wanting a specific thumb setup on the new hoe you were thinking about buying. I noticed that your 330 has extensions welded to the tips of thumb? I do mostly demo and clearing and like the solesbees thumb I have, but could us a refresh on the thumb, the tips are wearing short. Could you tell me what you welded on yours or post some pics from the side. I like the way the extra curve looks, for holding brush and stuff. Thanks, have enjoyed your thread.
I wonder how the flavor would be for smoking ribs and butts?
Thanks guys, for the kind words. Let me start in order with the questions. Alaskaforby4, there was a 963 with a grapple on the job and we just took turns using my piece of 12ft long I beam that bring to jobs when needed. joispoi, I am with you on that I keep several different piles of assorted woods that I come across throughout the year for just that purpose. CM1995 I bet that would be great on pork in the smoker, my favorite is alder on pork and fish. Farmerlund, those were some shanks I found at a surplus type place, in the beginning they had replaceable teeth but they would not hold up so I just welded them on and hard faced them. As you can see I welded 2 of the tines on, and 2of them I cut notches in the tines and welded them in place so they would mesh with the bucket. It was by far one of the best things I have ever done. In fact I am already on the hunt for more so I can do the same to the new machine. I keep you posted on what I find.
Is the ground you cleared going back in grapes? I wondered if they was going to the crooked rows to maximize the sunlight.
This is all old news! Let's see the new baby working....About time pard. After you spend some time in it, I can't wait to hear your ideas, compared to the 330l.
Me too. I've been fortunate enough to have a few clearing sites over the last year that had pecan trees - my favorite smoking wood. Got a pile of it at the shop and my house. Never tried alder as it's not a tree we have locally but I'd like to try it.
No sadly its going to be another walmart. Soon CD, after this long it should be evident, that I`m not one to jump to soon.
Well I am happy to report that I am now on my second job with the new machine and it is proving to be everything I had hoped with no issues or any problems showing up at all. I have to admit that I have had a bit of anxiety since I bought it at auction and really you never know how you did until you get it out in a real work situation. That is now gone. The first job was removing a bunch of monster yukes and oaks for a new freeway exchange and bridge widening and the one I am on now is a parking lot demo with a fair amount of big concrete and a bunch of ac removal. I swear I have adjusted the seat at least 100 time trying to get it just right, after you sit in one place for nearly 20 yrs things just fit. Here`s a little demo we did not long ago that the GC shared with me. It only shows the first day, we left a bare lot including the big redwood trees in the back. I think we were there another day and a half. It looks best if you watch it full screen. http://youtu.be/CSe-luXu4XI
That's a great video CD! Well done on the demo. I like a nice, neat, thought out job site - it separates the hacks from the professionals.
Ain't that the truth.
is it the weight of the thumb that pulls it down over time? or do you have a leak?
Man, I can relate to that. I am sharing a hoe right now (day/night) shift, and am a little taller than the guy running it in the day, I'm sure we drive each other nuts for the first hour of the shift trying to find our "spot" again. Even when I'm a little more exclusive, I find it had to settle on one position for the first few days.
Last few days doing some clearing and homeless camp cleanup, the local PD came by to lend there support and thank us for what we were doing.
Awesome to have supportive cops. When I was young, my mom was good friends with our cheif, so grew up apprsciating what those guys do!
Your thumb must slowly leak down. It's cool how it's the only thing moving slowly in that video.
It surprises me, with so much going on in that post, that the thumb is what guys are keying in on. With as many hrs as that old girl has on her if she wants to relax, I`m ok with it.
Just about every time lapse i've watch you can see the thumbs leak down. I wonder if the aux valves are as tight as the others or they just wear faster. The boom and stick valves must be in good shape because i never saw them budge. Always impressed with how neat everything looks start to finish when you're doing demo. Good work and do some more jobs for that GC so we can get some more time lapse goodness.
The boom and stick have anti-drift valves bolted to the control valve or else they will do the same.
I'm not picking on the machine or operator just made an observation. Nice work he did on that demo. I like to watch good operators and cringe watching the bad ones. Some are so smooth and you can see they think about all of there next moves. Others just keep doing the same things wrong and jerking the machine all over.
I noticed and chocked it up as the thumb leaking down :beatsme - there was way more interesting things going on in the other frames.:yup There is nothing like a smooth running demo job where the structure is taken down and the debris removed efficiently, all in orchestra. Like a good dirt job where the trucks are rolling in on time, the compaction tests are spot on and at the end of the day you see what you've accomplished.
Amen. CM1995 No worries, Oarwhat. And the operator was me.
Great video of a clean job site. I'm not sure I'd want to work on your jobs, though...if it's not snakes, it's the cops. lol Love the pictures and the 350 looks good. Thanks for sharing.
The new machine is still working out real well, the quick coupler has allowed me to use this old bucket I bought about 17yrs ago, had the ears moved to fit my cat but the outfit built it wrong so it never fit. As luck would have it fits the 350 perfectly. It really came in handy for digging out and cleaning up the stumps on these big ukes were removing. I found the Keebler Mexican.
wow that is a serious tree!!
Good to hear the Deere is all you hoped it would be. I am guessing it is a bit faster than the 330? That is quite the tree. We would never be allowed to take down a tree that size around here.
Fantastic read! Good to see someone who does a neat job all day every day. This is what im running at the moment, yeah its a hyundai but shes not too bad. Atleast at lower hours. Good to see the deere is working out for you!
That's a lot of breath mints in that truck.
My land clearing and demo gig slowed for a bit, which is normal for the early spring. So I snuck away to help an outfit with a little pipe work. Didn't want you guys thinking all I did was tree pushing.
Wow! That is some good looking ditch. Nice to see pride in people's work.
That ditch looks great and I mean great. It's obviously a pretty deep ditch or a really small man down there.
Kinda makes a fellow wish there was a button on one of the joysticks to widen the bucket until you got down to the bottom trench width! Very nice work indeed!
No foolin huh, thanks for the kind words. I haven't dug pipe hardly at all for nearly 15 years. Kinda like riding a bike.
I came upon a bunch of pictures the other day of jobs that I never shared before some of which are a bit different. The first was an experimental erosion control project for the army corps. It was a total failure. I had to carve benches into the hillside which was a bit of a chore as I had to move a charge of dirt along with me to reach the top bench, once I had generated enough material it got a bit easer. They placed peeler cores on the benches and then fastened them together with cable and the planted willow cuttings in between each post (which were supposed to take root). When the Lake Level rose the whole mess floated away!
Next is a 5 million gal underground storage tank. Seemed like and endless chore, but it was good duty and interesting project.
Sounds about right. Back in the 80's LA County flood control opened up the outlet pipe on the Pacoima Dam in the San Fernando Valley during heavy rains. The water hit the other side of the canyon and made a huge mess of things. They spent millions to shotcrete the canyon wall using their own mix design. During the '94 Northridge quake the dam did fine, but I heard the shotcrete and steel fell off the wall to the canyon floor. Great pics by the way!
Here is a little stream bed rehabilitation in a city park. Last picture isn't very clear but slope is rebuilt and I am acting as a jack so we could change the tire on the bobcat.
That hillside work cutting the benches in is amazing. The storage tank pictures too. That is a lot of earth to move. Good work there.
Thanks for posting the pics. The bench job looked like it would be a real pain but it sure did turn out good.
Some interesting old pics ddigger, the benches cut into the sidehill sure is impressive! Glad to hear the new hoe is working out well for you!
Hi fast dirt, hows work going? Did you remove your instagram account? Always looking for updates
Woops wasnt meant for you. Duno how i managed that. Anyhoo, hows things for you anyway?
Work has been going on at a nice steady pace, nothing really photo worthy as of late. I did do a little home project that I thought you might get a kick out of. I built a gabion retaining wall around a pad I had cut a couple of yrs ago. I wanted something different than the standard retaining wall look. I built my own baskets. The wall ranged from 2ft to 5ft x 2ft thick. I used RR ties sunk 4ft deep for the strength and then built the baskets around them. I was pleased with the finished result.
Nice looking!
Just did a little gas station demo, started at 7am Thursday and wrapped up at 1pm Friday. Had a fair amount of interior walls and the back wall was a cinder block wall. It was 1 high side and one end dump load of soft demo 2 high side loads of scrap metal and 9 end dump loads of concrete. And as an added bonus almost 1700lbs of heavy copper wire and pipe.
You could not have asked for a neater cleaner job that that one. Looks great. I would be nice if the price of copper would go back up some time soon.
Nice. Were the tanks already removed or were they left in place? The best we're getting for copper here is in the $2.00 per lb range for #1. I've got about 500lbs of of #1 tubing that I'm holding onto.
The gabion wall looks great! Sure beats the look of a CMU wall, slumpstone or not. Is that an L39 you have there?
have you got settled in to your new office chair yet or do you still miss your old one
We're getting 6$ a kilogram for copper at the moment. Before xmas it was something like $7.50
Thanks guys, copper is down here as well so I just took it home and added it to the pile. CM1995, as far as I can tell the tanks are still in place. Clintm, yeah I have adjusted pretty well to the change and am comfortable again. JNB, Yes its a L39, very handy to have around. I have a four in one bucket and a set of forks, plus a mower deck as well as the auger. I only use it around the place it never goes out on a job. Funny story about it, my wife bought it for me for Christmas one year(without me knowing), the same year I bought her a Kubota RVT(without her knowing), needless to say we were very popular around the Kubota store that year.
Well there she goes out the gate for the last time, off to the auction, kind of a sad day. On an unrelated issue I am having problems posting pictures from photo bucket, which I have used many time in the past now says, invalid url, any thoughts?
Is it going to the Ritchie Brothers auction?
Yes it is.
Well the old girl brought 29.000 this morning, not bad for 20yrs and 25.000hrs, gonna miss her.
I know how ya' feel DD. As luck or unluck would have it I was working on an auto parts store directly in front of the body shop that was storing my '06 350 that was totaled by the VW bug. It sat there for two weeks as we worked the job and then one day a dirty beat up cab over roll-back turned off the highway and pulled into the yard. I told my guys - "he's here to pick her up". Now I had a brand new 350 sitting on the job that I love to this day but there were a lot of miles and memories that left that day on that wore out rollback.
Well, the old girl did you well. Someone got a good deal on your used machine. I hope they take care of it. I also hope your new ride gives you the same kind of service.
Hey ddigger, hope the new Deere is running good. Miss your Cat any?
Were getting along real well so far, its been a year this month. The only time I sort of miss her is when the fuel bill comes. Thanks for checking!
Glad to hear its been good. Does it burn quite a bit more fuel then the 330 did? More pictures are a added bonus too
any good demo going on?
Been a lot going on so I have had no time to post, plus my favorite picture hosting site died on me. I will try and get back into the swing of things. I am on a cool one right now it called the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project. We are removing the stilling basin at the base of the existing dam along with several thousand feet of the old steel pipe that comes out of the base of the dam. Its a big project and has a very small window to preform the work so we hit it in mass.
That is an awesome project digger! Looks like your Deere is in good company on that site as well.
Thank you it is, there is a lot going on in this hole. https://youtu.be/2s1nl68IHCs
That's an interesting project DD. There is nothing like a true craftsman.:thumbsup
Thanks for posting the video link, again that is a neat looking job. Only machines missing are Volvo and Komatsu.
We have a 800 Komatsu we are using for a dig out machine after we blast. Glad you enjoyed it.
Great looking project! Really enjoy this thread.
Wow, super busy hole!
Indeed, yesterday we finished! Twice the bid amount volume of material and double the loads hauled out, over 2000 loads and we still finished on our target date! Can you say change order?
Cha-ching!
I haven't posted in while, because I have been very busy plus my favorite photo sharing site went away. If sharing pics from my phone works I will try to catch up. After the dam demo I hooked up with an outfit that specializes in land fill work. The first chore was installing a big French drain, 3500 ft long and average death of 23ft it all had to be lined with fabric then contiuesly weld pert pipe in the bottom, then back filled to within 5 ft of the top with crushed rock. Before we could dig I had to move about 60.000 yards of overburden that was all loaded into 40 ton rock trucks.
Glad to see you back DD!:drinkup Is purpose of the drain to collect clean ground water or leachate? How's the Deere doing?
It's dual purpose, they wanted to make sure no water migrated either way. The machine is doing really well. Spent a good part of the year swinging a 60 inch bucket and it handles it no sweat even stacked with heavy clay. It is thirsty though.
Glad to see an update from you. Always doing something interesting. Glad to hear that the Deere is doing good for you. You should be used to thirsty since you ran a cat Kidding aside the Deere uses a lot more than the Cat?
Thanks glad to be Back. Yeah the JD burns just about twice what the cat did. I guess those 86 extra. horses gotta eat to. I was also involved in some clean up hazard trees after one of the fires last year. I needed a little more reach for some of it.
Nobody can ever accuse you of doing run of the mill jobs
been missing you too
At one of the sites I was tasked with getting an old D8 that had not moved in about 20 yrs on a low bed, wasn't to bad once I got the tracks to free up so it would roll. https://youtu.be/uW5pHbX5zoA
not bad looking for been parked that long:thumbsup
I just wrapped up on this project on the 1st. These rock dams are placed across sloughs in several locations in the delta several times a year for DWR, there purpose is to control tide water for the farmers to use for crop irrigation. Its a job I have been on several times over the years its just a matter of timing if I am busy or not when the call comes in. Boat ramps are also built out of the same rock, as the barriers are put in and DWR stations a guy at each location with a pretty much universal boat trailer 24/7 to shuttle boaters from one side to the other. A little foggy at times. Or the water hyacinth tries to swallow you up.
It seem like every year at least one stray boat shows up, I always offer free hull inspections. It gets a bit steeper and sketchier as we finish up as that rock is pretty slick. Then its pull the head gates and gather the signs.
Interesting job as always. How long do you work on that job and is that salt water?
The job for me it is usually anywhere from 3 weeks to a month this time was 3 weeks of 5/10s. I would call the water mostly fresh to a bit brackish all the fish are fresh water although its common to have a seal or two hanging around to feast on what we kick up. Its always one of my favorite ways to end the year, they always have me bump my rate a good bit and they insist on giving mine and every other machine an the job a bath before they leave. And as icing on the cake, I billed on the 1st had a check on the third.
I can see where you would like that job. Other than the water being a little brackish it sounds like the perfect job. Getting paid after two days is nice Sure beats waiting around 60 or 90 days!
It’s been a minute, sorry, things have been busy. Still at it with the 350, it’s a bit of a love hate relationship. Spent a fair amount of time at the Oroville Dam spillway, during the quote crisis stage. Sold a house and built another. The nature of my work has changed a bit due to a change in my customer base which has turned out to be a good thing. I do still get on some interesting jobs though. Also spent a good while doing fire clean up in Santa Rosa last year, sure the opertunity will be there if I want to go to Paradise this winter. It’s not the best duty. Hope you are all well.
Pics please
Good to hear from you DD and glad things are going well.
Thanks CM, looks like things are going well for you too. Hey AZ, what part of the state are you working in? A lot of your pics look like your in the Fountain Hill area. For the last 3 years I spend most of my time loading trucks in huge borrow pit at a landfill harvesting general fill and clay for use in building new cells. Also digging out overburden or contaminated soil in the new cell locations, as well as lowering ditches in the pit so we can stay above the water table. During what I refer to as the dirt season I drop the thumb and swing a 72 inch bucket. Heres the old girl loading 40 toners in the pit. https://photos.app.goo.gl/WXVn6cvefXzSMXtDA The next is at the Spillway, cant get much closer. Thats where I was working, loading boulders when they called for the evacuation. https://photos.app.goo.gl/iU24hqazLwdAeDir9
DD I work all over the valley sometimes fountain hills or north scottsdale sometimes way out west in tonopah just depends there is a little more than a 100 miles from the the farthest east I have gone to the farthest west I have gone but you have to travel far and wide when your a rent a whore
Amen! I used to live in Payson.
Didn't you move the wrong direction then your supposed to move from California to arizona lol
I took the long way, Colorado then here. I am up north in the open country. That all happened in the early 80`s. Who knew?
I got a text this morning that read, You’re excavator calved this morning!
I hope you have your excavator up on high stable ground. Looks like the heavens opened up and drained on you.
I've been out working in it the past couple days. "Takes twice and long and comes out half as good" my colleague says.
Congrats DD on the 10K mark! I've got a 321DL pushing 7K, hope to get 10K out of it.