I know this wont pertain to you Northern guys but here in the South, the VERY unseasonably cold weather has put a pretty big dampner on the repair business.. especially the agriculture repair side of things.. When 3/4 of the state cant get in the fields to plow or fertilize, it sure has the "trickle down effect".. January is usually the slow period for fuel injection pumps but this year we were swamped and it was a roll over from December.. Dec. and Jan was all the overtime you could handle... but here comes Feb.. NOTHING TO DO.. Temps in the teens and hi's in the 40's/50's.. and enough rain to choke a frog... and 20-30mph winds.. Hell, I go in around 10am and leave around 4... with a 1hr lunch break... you can only mop the floor and clean machines for so long, before you go nuts.. I was just wondering how everyone else doing.. I might have to offer free shipping in my side business, just for something to do..:cool2
It's not so much the cold that's killing us, it the rain! When it rains once or twice every week there's not much I can do that's profitable. Take heart, it's only supposed to rain from Monday night til Wednesday afternoon this week, then dry til Saturday! I do have something I might involve you in next week, a no-start on a little New Holland / Iveco farm tractor.
Well atleast that's something to look forward too.. BE SURE to get the pump #'s off the side of the inj. pump..
We got slow due to the drop in the price of crude, but last week it picked back up and it looks like we'll stay busy at least as long as oil prices stay steady.
Already put the paint stripper soaked rag on it once, I can see most of the numbers now, one more dose ought to do it...
Its hit n miss mostly here. Last week I ran the dozer wed thru fri. It got what I consider cold enough to call it off Saturday. -1. Sunday was as cold which normally I take Sunday unless its a job needed or weather is coming in. Today we have 8" of snow as of now , its still snowing about 1" per hour. Needless to say not much going on. I figure with this 50 Shades movie and all this snow birth rates will sky rocket in December / January.
I'm selling some free advice, other than that I would be money ahead to stay in bed.....
I'm in Michigan Detroit area and we extremely busy. Bad part is we cant even work because of the cold. Like negative temps yesterday. But we are trying to get out there and get pipe in the ground.
- temps?? I don't like to leave the house if its below 50* and the wind is blowing..Lol I finished the last 2 jobs in the shop on Monday... should have stretched them out a day or two... think I'll go in around 10:ish today.. This crap is getting OLD.. REAL FAST!!!
And I just heard on the news that this is seventh warmest winter on record..... I think its because all the weather patterns have moved to the east and south. We've enjoy a tremendously nice winter up here. At least better than last year when it was below zero for 66 days straight.
Pap , Its going to -10* F here in central KY tonight. Normal highs are in the high 40s and lows in the high 20s low 30s. 7th warmest my ***. We have about 14" of snow also which is unusual as well. A day or two of snow is fun , kids have fun yee haw , but this is ridiculous. I'm ready for some warm weather , cold brews , and I got 72 golf balls for Christmas to loose.
The freeze/thaw cycle has us in mud down here with a "wintery mix" scheduled for Friday and Sunday. Frozen solid ground first thing in the morning and mud by lunch - not much dirt work going on.
well it was 25 below here the other day, which is unseasonably cold even for us... Needless to say, there isn't any dirt moving going on. Good new is that there is jobs being put out to bid, and I was able to snag one opening up as soon as the weather breaks, or at least I'm the low bidder so far. 2015 is looking like it will be a banner year!
I think 2015 is going to be a good year as well. I have a friend of mine thats a millwright at a local cement plant and they have been spending millions upgrading the capacity of the plant as their predictions for future cement demand is high. That's a good thing for us dirt movers.
I sure hope Stump and CM are right... it just looks dismal from where I'm sittin' at the moment... Going in at 10:00 AGAIN today.. I'll be darn lucky if I get 30hrs this week.. and I'll have to cash in some "sick time" to get there... Good thing I squirreled away "a big stack" of nuts before winter came..
CM that sounds like our normal weather. Depending on the site and what's going on we can roll on , cut down a few inches and its workable. I know your probably on a commercial site which requires compaction tests etc. Right now I'm slow , but I guess that's to be expected. Some guys are pushing snow , Last time I pushed snow I left some rub marks on a driveway and thought I was going to have to re pour it. And I cleaned the drive for free. Needless to say I'm not going to run out and get a bunch of drive ways to clear. Most places that pay well have contracts with landscapers anyway.
Dickjr I have two commercial sites at the moment. One ready for a proof roll of the pad - that's not happening anytime soon and another we are installing an underground retention system with very poor soils. We remediated the poor soils and currently installing the system. The soil is so bad that what we had to do it didn't matter if it was frozen or wet. Geo-grid, 1' of class 1 rip-rap and 1' of #2 stone just to get to sub grade in a 40' X 80' area. Pump, I wouldn't fret on the current situation as not many machines are working at the moment. The ones that are aren't getting many hours. Let the weather break and the machines will be going full bore and then things will "break".
CM.. That's kinda what I was thinking too.. Just like the rainy season.. Nobodys working the fields and when the sunshine hits, its balls to the wall.. And once they fire up the machines and figure out the winter has "gotten" the fuel.. it will be "katey bar the door".. I think "cabin fever" hit me... Been inside for toooooo long..... need some wind in my hair and waves in my face.. and a BIG OLD CATFISH ON THE LINE.. guess I'll have to wait till March..
As the saying goes>> BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.. YOU MAY JUST GET IT.. The rain finally stopped and the phones started ringing and the doors flew open.. had customers lined 3 and 4 deep at the front counter on Friday.!! Didn't get home till 8:30pm.. normally I leave at 4:00-4:30 if nothing is going on.. My cell was blowing up from side job customers and I have to work Saturday AND Sunday on their equipment.. and that's not to mention the pumps I received in the mail on Thursday from the wonderful folks on this site.. So as it stands RIGHT NOW.. 15 pumps in the shop.. 2 in MY shop.. and service calls ALL WEEKEND... March has come in like a lion.. lets just hope it doesn't go out like a lamb.. Hope everyone is staying warm and dry..TPG
Glad things picked up , it seems that any diesel shop that does good work and has reasonable prices should stay busy. The snow we had just melted off last night and today due to heavy rains , supposed to start snowing again later tonight at a rate of 2" per hour and snow most of the night. Ground is so saturated I don't see how any one is doing anything. Water is standing every where. This is an unusual winter for us for sure. I have bid a couple decent projects , if they go thru I will be this years work. I am however going to start holing some funds , if next winter is like this one I'm loading my stuff up and heading to southern FL.
I've got a parking to fine grade for sub-base with the saturated ground and rain/freeze cycle we have been in, I don't know when I can get back on it.:bash
My parts sales have been basically dead for four months now, I'm assuming because nobody's working, they're not breaking anything.
All of my jobs are on hold as well. Our wonderful black clay is saturated... more rain today and sleet coming down right now. I've gained ten pounds and watched about as much netflix as I can handle. I'm more than ready to get back to work.
I feel your pain fellas.. I'v been sittin on my butt for 28 days straight.. and NOW.. Holy Smokes.. I'm runnin from 1 end of the state to the other.. I worked on a 125' yacht today.. what a beautiful thing.. 80* and a 13mph wind.. tomorrow is 100% rain and Friday is hi of 45*.. Go figure..???
JNB, we're supposed to get the sleet tomorrow, highs in the 30's. It has rained so much that I don't know what dry dirt is.
Things are slowing down right now. The lumber market is flooded and the weather here has just broke so the snow will be gone soon hopefully. Problem is that overseas markets really dictate our sales and the Chinese buyers are TOUGH to make happy.
Ever since my back went out and I've had surgery, the phone never stops ringing.. I have to shut it off when I want to get some rest and back on to check msgs.. Sitting here in a chair watching tv is making me feel sick.. Just thinking about the thousands I'm passing up each week is making me depressed.. I guess I should be thankful I have a good woman to take care of me tho.. Even IF I was feeling better, I have no place to work... 2 days before my surgery, my whole shop went up in flames..!!! As the saying goes.. when it rains, it pours.. On a side note.. My neighbor has the same back problem.. He's retired and travels a lot.. The day before my surgery, he tells me he's headin' to FLA to get HIS BACK DONE.. Well he called today, and asked about mine and how quick the operation was from apt to actual surgery.. told him about 4 days.. apt on Monday, cut on Friday, home on Saturday.. He's been in FLA for 2 weeks..WAITING FOR AN APPOINTMENT..!!!!! He said he'll be back Sunday to get the phone # of MY DR..Lol
Damn . That's a bad streak for sure. Hopefully your back will get straightened out. I have a friend that pours concrete , by his self. He had a bulging disc , keep on working. I told him if he didn't quit it would push out and he'd be paralyzed. He stills pours by his self. He does flat work and will pour up to 150 yards a week. Does an excellent job to boot. That's bad deal on the shop. I hope your insurance takes care of it with out giving you a load of crap. The fall before last we remodeled our basement , 25 grand worth , it flooded a little over a year later , we just got most of the repair done last week. My insurance said they had to depreciate what had been done. The adjuster came back this time I was point blank on everything and then some. He put in his report He felt threatened in my presence. He should have. I stared that SOB down from arrival to departure. They allowed 40$ for me to hire someone to clean the tile flooring in the utility and bathroom. Who is going to come clean my tile for 40$? Hope things get better for you.
Work has been steady in Southern California for us. Beginning of the year was holding, but thanks to the drought and water restrictions now people are ripping up their yards to landscape in dirt and rock. When that takes off we might actually have to hire more people. :O