I had said a while back in my new member introduction that I would maybe do a small piece on the family business, which my grandpa started with his brother in 1947. As I am getting more familar with photo resizing and posting I think I might just do a nice thread, and keep adding photos and short stories about each and the history of the biz. Let me know what you think. In 1947 two brothers Otto and Fritz Jean of Darlington Wisconsin purchased a lime mill and a dozer to crush ag lime for their brother in law Al Ruef who owned Al's Trucking. Their first dozer was a T-6 with no blade, they fabricated the entire thing, including the hyds. and soon moved to a TD-9. In 1953, with the business expanding to earth moving as well the brothers hefted out $14,000 for a brand new TD-14A International. The first lime mill they owned was hand fed, wheel barrowing rock and dumping it in to the mill. The second mill had a feeder table on it but it was still loaded by hand. Quite a lot of work to achive the goal of making ag lime. Here are two photos of the 14A, the first when it was brand new(my grandpa is on the right) and the next when he sold it in the mid 70's. Thanks Trbo
ok, well a few view but no response. I guess I'll see how the next few go. Jean Construction Inc. is primarly a earthmoving company, building sites, dams and waterways, and road construction and re-construction being our primary focus but have done everything from housing lots and basments to water and sewer projects, even some building demolition and house relocation. Few more pics, these from a road project a few years back. Notice the date on the one photo(my uncle has this enlarged and framed, titled "Such a beutiful fall day") Trbo
Great stuff....keep them coming Trbo
Thanks for taking the time to do that Turbo. Its nice to hear from folks that keep in touch with their roots. There's alot of information to be gathered from the good ol' days. :thumbsup
Here is a few photos of somthing I have seen done by my uncle and dad many many times, a very dangerous project of taking down silos. I myself have only seen one time where one didn't go the way it was intended to and thankfully we were not the ones doing it, and more so that no one got hurt in the process. Trbo
Looks like your business has come a long way in the years. Keep the story going, it is always nice to hear how a business grows. Dwan
Thanks Dawn, I am going to start posting on my Photobucket account more, as it is quicker for me to load them, as some of them are off the dig cam and to downsize them makes them really small. Trbo Here are a few of a driveway we installed last year. 8/10ths of a mile long, a steep hill, and a stream crossing, plus some trees to remove. http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff123/EZTRBO/Jean Construction Photos/Stevenson Driveway/
Great pics and family stories. I like to hear and see other peoples history. :drinkup
Over the years we have been involved in many projects that we are very proud of and I still drive by many of them today(alot before my time), and still love to point them out to bout anyone I am with, even the better half, who knows every single one we have done(lol). But according to my grandpa, one of the largest and most demanding projects we have ever done was in 1970, with the building of Lake Joy, near Belmont Wisconsin. That year Otto Jean Construction moved over 85,000 yards of dirt to construct a large recreational pond. At the time OJC had 3 dozers(TD-14A and two 15's), a Wabco self loading scraper and just bought a brand new 860 JD for the project. I belive a few dozers from Uncle Al(Al's Trucking) were also used as two dozers were hooked up with pan scrapers and one dozer was equiped with a sheeps foot, my dad was 16 and that was his summer job, back and forth across the dam, leveling out the dirt and compacting it, along with help from the rubber tire scrapers. To this day it is one of the largest man made lakes in the area and continues to be a very popular travel spot. Trbo http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff123/EZTRBO/Jean Construction Photos/Lake Joy/
Great stuff trbo, keep the stories and pics coming!:drinkup
Just found your post this evening'it was down aways from the top of the forum.Nice job and interesting to hear about the beginning of the company. Your work is my kind of work,so we have something in common along with Dirt Dogg!!!!!!!:drinkup Got a few pic i could post,but would have to use by digital camera and retake the pictures to post them since i don't have a scanner.I have done it before and they didn't turn out to bad. Thanks again for shareing.Take care!Denny:usa
Hey trbo. I see in the second pic of you taking down the silo that there is a hole notched in the side. Did you do that with the dozer or did you use a sledge hammer. I've taken down several clay block and concrete block silo's using only a sledge. People think I'm crazy when I tell them that. Notch it like you would if using a chain saw and it falls exactly where you want it to.
Have you used a cable and run it through the holes and pull it over?
The hole was knocked in with the dozer, on the usual type around here(stave) we usually take about 5 or 6 of the bottom rings off and get a hole knocked in. I myself have only been around twice with using cable, first time it twisted(the silo) and almost fell on another building. The other time, was after a tornado went through, top half blown off and the farmer wanted to pull it down himself, so they put a cable through 4 or 5 hoops and pulled, all it did was pull off until it got to where the silage was and stopped. Used the torch and the excavator to tear the rest of the hoops and staves off and then toppled the silage. Seen one time a guy tried to drop it like we do with the dozers, Big hole tapered down to both sides, with a sledge hammer, his center hole wasn't large enough and when get knocked enough staves out on the sides, it went to about a 75degree angle and stoped, wedged on it self. We ended up bringing our excavator out and gave it a nudge from the back, and luckily it was far enough that it went the way it was starting. No matter when where or how they are always dangerous. Trbo
Great stuff! Thanks for sharing your story
Great stuff TRBO...Thanks for sharing!
Arch Plate Culvert Thanks, I will work on gettig some more pics loaded onto my photobucket account. Quicker than downsizing them here, although I know that some of you can't see them. Sorry Trbo Heres a few from an arch plate culvert we put in last summer. Nothing wild but some neat photos none the less. It took longer to get the ok from the DNR than it did to do it and after it was all said and done, she thought it was wonderful(so why the 2 year hassle for a 2 day project). http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff123/EZTRBO/Jean Construction Photos/Arch Plate Culvert/
I know this one's old but hey I'm new...but nice pics, your grandpa, uncle, and father must be proud that you're continuing the tradition. Got any other pics?