While I don't do stuff near as cool as most of you I figured I'd start showing what I do on a regular basis. I'd like to name my favorites on here, but being a father of five I've learned to avoid hurt feelings haha. I manage equipment for a small excavating company. We run a D11N, D7R, D5G, D65, Steiger 485 HD with two 19 yard pans, two 210 Linkbelts, 110 SD roller, champion grader, 627B and a couple water trucks. I do all the service work and 99% of the repairs. Just did steering clutches in the 11. I also do a lot of work on the side as the owner hired me away from myself. Strange I know! I'd love to get into boring. Not many do it here. I've always done fab work as well. I enjoy it. Today's post is a quandry for me. Serviced the Steiger. Last oil drop was the Trans. Pulled the plug, heard splash followed by a thud. Right away I knew it wasn't normal. Reached in my drain pan and pulled a chunk of a tooth out. Heck if I know where it came from. Now we're stuck trying to decide when to tear into it. New Trans or rebuild? 4,526 hours. We've had it maybe 1,000-1,200. New Trans is $39,000. Parts are steep. Gasket set $2,000, gears $800-$1,200, one shaft I priced was $3,100 and clutches are $85 each. Yikes! We have slopes to finish on two bridges in a month and 110k yards to move this fall. Here's what I found..... Junkyard
Yair . . . Junkyard. I know the feeling . . . we were talking about 'dozer final drives on another thread. I think I would be guided to some extent as to what you find in the filters. If it was not for the piece of tooth the that plug does not look abnormal. I have seen a piece like that come off the top pinion of a newish final drive and due to "financial pressure" the owner took a punt and the tractor went on to do pretty normal hours. It is always a value judgement. If the unit remains in service to see out a job or a season sacrificing a filter for dissection and/or dropping out a bit of oil every couple of days could give some insights as to what's going on and provide a small measure of "insurance". All the best with it. Cheers.
That's a fairly respectable size fleet you're keeping up with. :drinkup That definitely looks like a piece of gear tooth. The scary part about that stuff is you have to ask "did it get broken because a shaft bearing is down which caused improper teeth mesh?" High speed come apart and grenading gets expensive real quick.
I agree 100% with both of you! Haha. I have the old filters I planned on cutting them open today but then one thing lead to another and I forgot lol. Ever happen to you guys? I didn't see anything else other than the tooth that concerned me. Did see some trash in the hydraulic side of things that left my scratching my head as to what it could be. Not knowing how this machine was cared for prior to our ownership leaves a lot of unknowns. With my luck the offending gear meshes with two others and is currently trashing them! Dealer claims parts aren't hard to get. My concern was cracking it open, tie up half the shop and then not get parts for weeks if not longer. I may just flip a coin haha. Filters will help me decide. We road the machine from job to job if it's not far and now that I've discovered this issue I'll have nightmares of what could happen in road gear if something lets loose. I guess we know worst case scenario is $39k for a Trans but if we scrap a good core there's another $20k! Makes his old 627 look a lot better. We bought three about five years ago, one failed, cannibalized it for the other two, another threw a rod so two became one. Now the one has a cracked rear Trans housing and has been sitting at my shop for about a year. The fleet keeps me out of trouble I'll say that. I need a truck like TomV has. I never have enough room or crane. It needs to be 60% service truck, 20% lube truck and 20% welding/machine shop! Back in my trucking days I passed through K-town quite a bit. Learned of my daughter Alex's conception there in the summer of 2003! Boss is looking at a couple 30 ton haul trucks, a little Linkbelt 8 ton excavator and another big dozer, D10N I made the mistake of showing him. Supposed to fly down and look at it this week. Also mentioned some 10 wheel dump trucks after a hellacious bill for hauling borrow on the last job. Just what I need! Junkyard
Oh No, chasing dump trucks...I don't need that headache!
I take care of four, a good friend has a small company doing utility work. I never owned any. I'm not sure which is smarter the dump truck or the short between the seat and the steering wheel! Around here they're all retired OTR trucks so they're not made for the work they do. Lots of suspension bushings, crossmembers and power dividers. I think working on my older brothers truck broke me of wanting any. I hope he decides against them. If he adds all that be better budget a helper for me! Or some more tools that help me do things a little quicker! Willie, what hydraulic test setup do you use? Accumulated over time or a kit? I've gotta get something better than the menagerie I have now. Junkyard
This was a couple weeks ago, bolts broke in the master on the D5. On a slope. Under a power line. I got it back together, welded the master enough to get it up on the flat and then finished welding it together. Some may turn their nose up at that lol. We didn't have time to piddle with extracting bolts at that very moment! Junkyard
Oops two of the same for some reason!
Here's my "busy work". 210 burnt a few months ago, been stripping it down for spares and we will scrap what's left. It technically makes three 210's I guess lol.
If you're referring to pressure testing, well, if you work on different brand machines, which it sounds like you do, you're going to have a menagerie of stuff like I have. All the different brands have all manner of connectors and fittings.
Cut the Trans filter open today, lots of chunks the appear to be clutch material or some other non ferrous crud. Every pleat had trash in it. A few stray metal shavings but nothing catastrophic as far as metal. Me thinks it's time to dig into it. They ran it about 4 hours yesterday. I'm tempted to have them run it a day and sacrifice another filter to see what it's doing. In the shop today trying to finish up a clutch, rear main, oil pan reseal and rear end housing welds on a Pete. Man it's a lot cooler in the shade with a fan!!! Junkyard
Working on a truck today, realized I got ahead of myself so I had to drain Trans. No problem, take top off clean bucket and drain. Except the exhaust goes right below the oil drain. Here's what I did to solve the problem. Might help one of you someday! Junkyard
Also a good way to catch any steel particles in the oil!
Man that oil looks clean!
This truck has been a thorn in my side for awhile. Owner keeps changing his mind on this and that. Wanted a different PTO on it. I had stuck the Trans back in with the plate over the PTO opening. Just before I stuck the shifter back in I filled it up, then saw the PTO sitting on the tool box. Forgot to take my plate off and install the PTO. I like to get them together just enough to run and check things out before I button it all up. I drained it back into the bucket and went home before I really messed up! The heat here is terrible this week. Junkyard
I know how that can be trying to get a straight answer out of some bosses! I know at least one PTO maker recommended installing a PTO and after shimming it to start and run it for a short time with no oil and no load to see how it sounded. Rattleing sound too much gear clearance, whining sound too tight. Nice and quiet, put oil in and button it up!
It all started when the driver said "I have to rev it up to get the trailer to lift". He failed to mention they had it loaded from stem to stern with shale on a 39' trailer. I did some research turns out the PTO is running the pump a little slow. No other driver has complained or over loaded it for that matter. Somethings just stick in their heads I guess so now we play musical PTO. Also had some "help" changing the clutch. They didn't pay attention to the discs. Orientation or the fact that the recess in the flywheel was insufficient for the disc to set it correctly. Simple things you can check a lot easier as it's going together than figuring out after the fact! Junkyard
Here's a new fun project. NOT. Operator calls, hey the left track is loose again. Strange I looked at it the other day. Says it's making a popping noise too. It was late Sunday afternoon. I said park it I'll take a look first thing tomorrow. Drive out to it, look at tensioner, it's out where it usually is but track has slack in it. Now I'm suspecting pin or link. Get to looking around and wouldn't you know it...... Oh and he bought a dump truck Friday...... Ugh Junkyard
Oh come on, show us the rest of the track. I'd love to see em all like that, "rails and pads are servicable, pins and bushings have 2% life remaining"
Haha. They're actually not bad, that was a surprise when I found it. They all measure to spec, 12-1/2" or whatever it is. I'd say the pin froze and wore through the link. Been waiting for Cat to call me back for 2-1/2 hours. We don't have a track press and we haven't found one cheap enough that he wants to jump. I've been busy with piddly stuff while I wait. Blow out air filters, fix the A/C condensate drain, fix the dipstick, I see I have a ripper cylinder in need of rebuilt. Always something! It's been slow the last week or so, I'm due for a cluster! Junkyard
Cat field service is a week out so we pulled the track and sent it in to their shop. That's quite a job! Here's another shot of the pin. Junkyard
Is that supposed to be rotating bushing? The bushing has a gouge in it, looks like it popped first and then due to lack of support the pin sheared?
Couldn't tell you what is supposed to move and what isn't. Some of the undercarriage stuff is new to me. Nige, tctractors or somebody like that could tell us I'm sure. Junkyard
Yair . . . What happened there Nige ? That's a new carry on to me. Cheers.
I see CAT on the one link, can't read the part number tho....
Went by cat today, the one pin was almost gone. Ordered four links, some pins and seals. No oil in that one and the one in front of it was dry too. All the others are ok. $2,600 and should have it back tomorrow. Not too bad all in all. Who wants to help assemble it? All the heat and humidity you want and maybe even a few beers! Haha Junkayrd
Be glad to help, just send me a couple first class air tickets on the next Delta flight out!
Delta? They're on day two of a cluster! Haha. Idk how I'd explain that charge to the bean counter. Consultant? Lol. In centra NY how far are you from Watkins Glen? I raced there year before last, going there again this year. We do the old course through town as a parade. Awesome experience! Junkyard
The Glen? maybe hour and a half ride from here. Not a bad ride down on the bikes. Do try to avoid it during race weekends as the normal traffic in the summer is bad enough. Back when I was a kid I got there twice when they were still doing the Formula 1 racing there. One time was for practice day and the next time was the actual race. A couple things always come to mind about those times.One was watching the Ferrari team trying to start up one of their cars. They were having no luck. Next thing I saw was them giving it a shot of starting fluid and it flared up and they had to put it out with shop rags! They finally went all high tech. Tied a rope to the front A-arm and the other end to a Ford Galaxie and took off down the road to the track. Reminded me of something my brother and I would have done with our old Chevy lot car! The other time I was there I believe it was the first year Honda had run a car in F1. As I recall they were plane white cars. Well seems someone forgot to tighten some fasteners that held the front body parts on because shortly after the start of the race it flew off but they kept running for the full race. Don't thing the cars back then had anywhere the aerodynamic designs of today so it probably was not that big a deal.
Yes sir, The Glen. I love the area up there. We spent the Sunday after the races going to a brewery, a distillery and a vineyard. He!! if I can remember what happened after that! Haha. It's a great track, fast but not a lot of run off area. When you come through turn 1 and work your way through the esses towards the bus stop it takes a big pair to hang your foot off in it because that Armco barrier gets might close in a couple spots. I ran good there and finally had my car right and ended up braking a rocker arm. One off Nascar Jesel shaft mount so I was done. Ended up driving another car for a friend and I made the podium in our class. Which may very well have been because there were three or less cars in it! Upstate NY I enjoy. That little piece surrounded by water and bridges you can have. Been there a couple times working and it's a nightmare. F1 and aero is an interesting evolution that killed some drivers before they figured it out. At one time CanAm cars were faster than F1. I liked their rules, two seats and a body that covered the tires. That's it. We had one for awhile. 1,600 pounds and 650 HP which equaled stupid fast and scary as he!! I'll stick with my old NASCAR stuff. Heavy but relatively safe. Junkyard
Figured I'd update things. Got the track back from Cat. Stuck it on Thursday. All is well. Operator ran out of fuel yesterday, right before it rained. Got it going in the muck and crud but not before it shorted a battery terminal out so bad it almost melted the post off. Our battery terminals will darn near touch the cover. Is that normal? We use 4D batteries. Got a call today that the blade won't hardly lift. I suspect cylinders. I can hear one bypassing. Guess I'll pull them tomorrow. Owner told me to put my big girl panties on we have tons of work coming up and he's going to add two more 10 wheel dump trucks, another finish dozer, an 8 ton excavator, skid steer and another compactor. I said budget a swamper for me so I can attempt to keep up! Sheesh! Here's the offending track pin from the other day. Junkayrd
Wow, you're kidding right? Was the fuel gauge working? Even if it wasn't, that's still no excuse to run a machine out of fuel. My superintendent is anal about keeping machines full for all the various reasons. He told me a story once of when he was a teenager running a skidder for his father. He ran the old Timberjack out of fuel a few hollers over from the landing deck. His dad made him tote 5 gallon jugs not just to get the skidder running again but to fill up the entire tank. Hard childhood lessons are priceless.
The combines are so close to what we can scale that we would run them almost out of fuel and DEF if we had to cross more than one scale. Fully fueled/def'd combine weighs almost 2k more than mostly empty. It would have been easier to work out if we had a pump with a meter on it. I'd keep a couple jugs of def around in case i was off.
Gauge doesn't work in it. We always fill up each shift. Fuel tank was empty but truck was on the way. I'd guess it was 2/3 to 3/4 when he started. We always stop and the fuel truck tops the equipment off and then fills the tank. For whatever reason he didn't do that. The ole girl is thirsty, I'll take a tank more or less to run a shift. I should have reminded/made him. I was running the D7 and stopped because I knew I was low starting the day. We burn 2000-2500 gallons a week on this job depending on which machines are there and working. I couldn't tell you the last time I ran a machine out. Oh well, it all pays me the same right? Lol Junkayrd
Ran onto these pics on my phone. D11 vs our D5G. Kinda funny to me! Junkyard
Hydracheck makes some nice t fittings for testing.
Nowing75, I've seen their sets and REALLY like them. Boss may buy a set whether he wants to or not! Being a non winged guy, ever been to the Chilli Bowl? It's a blast if you haven't. Today was fairly normal. Loaded D11 lift cylinders and took to Cat for rebuild. Came back and dug into my electrical issue on the D11. Key switch good, one start relay good, one bad. Replaced master. I'll pull starters tomorrow as one is dead shorted out. Went and took shells off compactor to finish preparing for gravel and asphalt at the bridge. Fixed a flat on the grader. D5 will need undercarriage soon. D7 needs a roller. Compactor has a helluva an electrical gremlin. Stops on its own and locks the brake on. Machine cools off and it'll go again for a bit. Sometimes the rear drives, sometimes it doesn't. Gotta love it! Junkyard
On your Tractor with the broken tooth, any way to look into it without taking it completely apart and use a camera or bore scope and see what things look like?? Not familiar with that tractor but there has to be a place to get a scope into it and just fish around to see if you can tell where those came from, if nothing else, you need a good bore scope anyhow, might be worth a lot if its not bad enough to do a tear down. Just a guess but a clutch pack if you have clutch linings in the filter, the tooth probably came out of the housing in the clutch pack along with the linings, probably the clutch packs you use when loading the pans is where I'd look first if you can see inside at all. A pack would be a really cheap fix if you can narrow it down. I'm not sure about where those clutches are at?? do you need to do a complete tear down to do them or check them?? Just guessing probably way off, but you asked for thoughts and idea's.
Randy88. It's funny you say that about the camera as I was just trying to talk the boss into one yesterday for that very reason. I think you're onto something with the clutch material and the tooth. I hadn't really put those two together. We have one operator that's like a bull in a china shop when he's in that tractor. Smooth as silk in a track hoe. There are a couple good size places I can snake a camera in to have a look around. We haven't used it since I discovered that, haven't needed it but we're about to do some slopes which we will be loading the pans with a hoe to it should be easy duty and I can let them run a few days before I cut another filter open. Thanks for the input!! Junkyard
Junkyard, I don't know what you make but you need a raise. You sound stretched pretty thin.
Lol. I'm already the highest paid employee lol. I do what I can and take time off when I need to for the kids etc. Some days it's a bit much though. I don't know if I'd want more $ or a helper. I've crawled under the 11 about 50 times today getting the starters out. I'll pay for it in a couple days I'm sure. I don't know how he did it for so many years without a full time mechanic. Crazy thing is I enjoy it.....most days. Junkyard
Well this guy must be treating you fair. Making more money can be nice but being trusted and appreciated make up for a few extra coins at the end of the week. I know where I worked for years employees were treated almost like family then when there were some changes in middle and upper management that all changed. We were told flat out one time by the area manager that if we don't like working for him there were ten guys waiting outside the gate that would love to take our jobs and he went on to say that he could train a monkey to do most of the work we do. Funny thing is in the last couple years when they needed to fill a job opening our supervisor, not the guy who said those things, always had a problem getting anyone to apply for a job or one that could pass the drug test! One guy actually asked if he could come back in a month to take the test and another guy was given a tour of the quarry and immediately told the boss,"NO Thanks, not for me!" Must need to get a better brand of bananas!
It takes a certain person to do this job. Field mechanic is one thing. Add in the occasional debates over what course to take, what tools we need, what job is priority etc is tough. Sometimes I back off and do it his way and sometimes I stand my ground. He's not a mechanic so I often feel like a service writer at the car dealer trying to explain to a customer why they need this or that. Then there's the occasional question about the receipts I turn in for parts. Never had an argument over it. I always cover my butt. There are times I want to say "go push dirt and leave this stuff to me". Some things were let go waaaay to long and I'm playing catch up. I like a challenge for some darn reason. Junkyard
I don't know how old you are , but let me make a suggestion. I am over 40 now and have done a lot of labor or ground man work myself. I have put entire lateral fields in by myself , just replaced the u/c on my 943 by myself except for putting the rails on. You need a helper or you are gonna end up like me , knees hurt , lower back hurts taking Naproxen almost daily to keep the pain down. That said , its hard to find someone who will work like this these days and I commend you for that. It kills me at times when I see 3 or 4 people doing a job I would do myself. The other day we had a primary conduit to lay , about 3 hundred feet. I dug it , put the pipe in , the tape in and blew a string in it myself. Took me about 3 to 4 hours. rode by a new commercial jobsite , 4 guys laying 3 , 4" conduits that were 60' long. 3 guys watching 1 dig. Keep the stories coming and picks. I like the 11 and 5pic looks like the 11 took a dump.
Dickjr Thanks for the compliment! I'll be 38 in 10 days. For whatever reason I've always worked harder than most and like you I've managed to do the job of two or three guys fairly often. I know what you mean about the knees and back. Already there lol. This year I have noticed it more, even my eyes are slipping a little. I find myself stopping and reminding the older me that I probably should use the crane or stop jumping off this or that. Junkyard
Found some more pics. D11 stuck, pushing dirt and the steering clutch swap a couple weeks ago. Also loading the track last week. Don't be laughing at my $10 hat! Junkyard
I have one of those Wally World hats too for when you just can't get in the shade to work on something. I used it last Friday when it was 109° when we were re-flooring the lowboy. I bought it to use when shredding with an old tractor with no umbrella. I wouldn't believe that wrecker truck was actually any help getting that D11 out of the mud if I hadn't seen a pic. Is that an excavator in front being used as an anchor?
I think the excavator was helping pull in that pic. If I remember correctly it ended up being a deadman to keep the wrecker from pulling itself in. Quite the cluster. Not sure what possessed the operator to bail off in there in the first place. If memory serves its one of the better ones we have. I guess we all make mistakes from time to time. Thankfully other than than that hoe burning a few months ago we've been fortunate. Today I'm trying to figure out why my hydraulic air compressor won't build air correctly. I think the separator is plugged up. Feels like it weighs 10 pounds. Service kit on order. I'm enjoying a slack day! Junkyard
Yair . . . d9gdon HeavyEquipmentForums Sometimes it doesn't take much . . . and this is a good illustration of a bare azzed tractor needing rippers or a winch. Cheers
No I never made it to the chili bowl. Might have to venture out that way but I'm not a good spectator. Stay safe
Scrub, I googled the ground pressure of a D11N (21.6psi) compared to a D9G (14.7psi). That's a big difference, plus the suction of the mud on a tractor that's over twice as big. I did give him credit for not sticking it up to the doors though.
Large wreckers have pretty potent winches, a larger rotator is good for about 76 tons. The nice smooth mud indicates dozer was down to its belly. Cat was stuck, now it is unstuck, mayhap the Wrecker did its share!
Nowing....it's worth doing at least once. It's not like it used to be in the early days. It's kinda like Knoxville in that making the A feature is a win in and of itself. I have some good connections if you want to get in last minute. You can always get pit passes but seats are another story. The ventilation used to be so bad you would come home smelling like exhaust bad. They'd even stop the races, open up the doors and get some COLD fresh air. Now they have some super duper fans they use to keep it liveable. I know what you mean about spectating when you are a driver. I struggle there too. Especially watching tracks I've run on.....I always feel like I could do it better! Junkyard
Yep, set down on the belly plates for sure, if that dozer had fallen through and was up to the gunnels it would have taken some major work to pop it out like a cork instead of sliding it out.
It's been a few days since I've posted. Haven't done anything exciting lately. Until this evening lol. Started a 0-dark-30 this morning. Just about to call it a day around 3:00. Then I get a call saying scraper tractor blew a hose. Run out and find a hose about 20' long running from one nearly inaccessible place to another. Got it out, hauled butt and got to the parts place just before closing. Got back out to the field and started to fish that stiff PITA into place. I had seen some rain north of me on the radar. Drop, drop, drop and then the bottom fell out. 45 minutes later I'm soaked, hose is in, no leaks, oil topped off. New problem is I'm a mile of the slickest crap you've ever seen from the road. One steep little hill to go down and turn at the bottom. Creep down it, so far so good. Then my right front finds a rut and it's all over but the pulling! Ugh. Nice 15 hour day. Walk the rest of the mile to the road trying to call my daughter to pick me up. For some random reason a buddy saw the gate open and came splashing in and picked me up! Junkayrd
Been there, buried that! Have a better one! :drinkup
Hey, look on the bright side, not all days are that bad. Some are even worse. At least it was stuck with the painted side up.
That sucks. I had a similar incident and tore the front end off of a 6 month old F350 Lariat. Pop up storm drenched the site before I could get down a fairly steep, very slick hill. Two choices - go straight off the end of the road where it made a sharp 90 to the right or try and save it. Managed to get sideways with the rear hanging over the drop off and the left front buried into a 3' cut wall. If you're in this business long enough you're eventually going to tear something up, this time all you got was stuck.:tong
Yep it could have been worse for sure. Once I felt it lay over to the right I quit. I knew there wasn't anyway it was coming out under its own power. Almost dark on top of that. I've been lucky over the years to avoid any major damage. I guess I got greedy yesterday and wanted the tractor up and running so they could keep making progress. Ah well. We've all done it, will do it again I'm sure! Junkayrd
That's the way some days go. Somehow it rarely happens first thing in the morning, I think sometimes I have more sense then. At the end of the day, I think "sure I can get out". Went to a site yesterday. Water standing around all over in the 3' deep ruts the bricklayers forklifts have made. It looked like a mud pit for a demo derby. hvac contractors need a 6,500lb air unit set. Somehow I don't think a 95,000lbs crane on some truck tires is coming back in here boys. Are you sure? Yes, I'm sure.
I know I probably posted this some where on this forum before but Junkyard's story reminded me of one from way back. Company was just starting to get serious oil sampling and they decided to have one person go to each plant and draw samples from everything to be sure they were all taken right. This day I was to hit two or three quarries/gravel bed around this part of the state. The last place for the day was a small gravel bed with a couple front end loaders and small Cat scraper a old 619. Got there a bit before quitting time and was almost done taking the samples. Boss asked if I needed help, "Nah, just pulling two more and I'll be gone!" He said "Swing gate shut and lock it when you leave." Got the last sample from the 619 and jumped in truck to leave, pulled around next to the stock pile and that's when I learned that nice smooth round gravel stone can be as bad as sloppy mud. Truck sank right in to rear axle. No problem right? Loaders and the scraper there to pull it out! Well two problems, they lock keys in office at night and at that time I did not have any Cat keys in the truck! Oh, and this was long before there were cell phones and this place was remote enough it probably would not have had a signal anyhow. After looking over the situation a bit I saw that the disconnect switch in the 619 was right near the seat of the machine, could reach it with no problem. I then shorted out the two terminals with an old bolt and was able to also reach the heat/start switch at the same time. Just needed to run the 619 around facing the front of the truck and hooked up a chain, yea at least I had that much, back it up and popped the truck up on to solid footing and I was free to go.
We ended up pulling it all the way out with the 7. It was so greasy the rear of the truck would slide to the low side of the road. 3 hours later I can almost drive back to the 11 to put the lift cylinders on. One bad barrel and an 1/8" wear on the piston so it's partially scrap. Been on the 7 about 30 minutes scraping muck out of my work area. We park on the downhill slope so it's more or less like pond silt. It'll suck your boots right off! Back in my heavy haul days they'd want us to go in some really nasty places. Like the tracked machine or RT crane I had on would care about getting muddy but my highway rig would sink out of sight I'm sure. Not even close to enough flotation or traction! Junkyard
Ok boys and girls I need some help. Mostly reinforcement more than anything. The D11 still isn't right with freshly rebuilt cylinders. We don't have the creep we had before. It'll hold itself up for a long time now. Before it would bleed off really fast. Here's my issue, still won't lift the blade at idle, you have to go pretty much wide open to get it up. All the cycle times per my book are slow, blade lift is slow by 50%. I changed the hydraulic filters. Lots of trash from seals etc. Both relief pressures are low, tilt side should be 2,900 it's lucky to get 2,500. On the ripper it's 2,400 at best. Spec there is 2,800. I'm beginning to think we have an issue in the control valve. Load check or make up valve hung up and dumping off some of the pressure and flow. Pump isn't that old, couple years and maybe 3,000 hours. Let me know what you guys think. 74Z0279 is the S/N. I don't see any major hydraulic leaks or external hose issues. A little leak at the pilot valves but that's it. Thanks! Junkyard
id start by dropping some oil from the tank drain and see if theres any sign of debris from a pump, thrust plate, steel swarfs, aluminum if its an aluminum body? does it have a suction filter? how about an inline filter between the pump and c/v? just cause a pumps not old dont mean its not bad again, if a system has a failure it can be costly if not cleaned properly. sounds like you have got some trash jamming a relief up or a safety valve not seating.
Have you looked at the quick drop valves that live on the end of the lift cylinders?
Hours mean nothing when it comes to pumps, I've had pumps not run a week and others run for 10k hours, its got more to do with what has gone through the pump than how many hours its been in service. I'd start at the pump end myself and work out from there, you might just be chasing the end result not the problem if that makes sense. Just a suggestion
Both quick drop valves were rebuilt when the cylinders were done. I like all the ideas, it keeps me from getting tunnel vision thinking it HAS to be X, Y or Z. Plus when I tell him what it is and I'm wrong I can throw you guys under the bus! Haha. Just kidding. I'm headed out there today to drop some oil and see what it looks like. Several recent issues are finally making him a believer in oil samples. I was pondering digging into the control valve today, if I have it out and hoses off the pump isn't much more work to drag out and take a gander at. It acts a lot like it did when the pump died last time, very slow blade lift and no real power to lift when trying to feather out a push. I will dig in and update with my findings. Thanks all! Junkyard
Opened up the hydraulic tank. Some trash in there from seals but not any metal. Pulled one relief and had some metal flakes in it. Spent an hour cleaning and decided to pull the control valve and take it to the shop to clean it and inspect. Also, a tidbit I discovered today. When the last pump was done, by Cat, no through cleaning was done. Also, the cylinder we found that was grinding the piston on the barrel was most likely doing it then. This was the first time the cylinders had been done since he bought it. I fear a considerable amount of contamination. Cat recommends complete tear down, cleaning, reassembly, filter cart, fresh oil, run short period and change oil/filters again. I haven't found a smoking gun yet just trash here and there which makes me wonder how many other nooks and crannies are hiding metal filings. Weather permitting I think I'll pull the pump tomorrow and see what it looks like inside. Several hoses could stand to be replaced while I'm in this deep. Thoughts on the cleaning process and filter cart? Swab hoses, disassemble and clean components? Go as far as ripper control valve? Pilot control valve? Or find a bad pump, clean what I can within reason and then filter cart? Thoughts, opinions and experience welcome and appreciated! Junkyard
Interesting that "NOW" Cat is thinking the system needs a full cleaning and filter cart! But then maybe the guy who found the bad pump had suggested that at the time but was overruled by someone, either at Cat dealer or guy who was paying the ticket. Not being there to know the full story I don't want to accuse someone too much. Guess the only thing you can do is tell the guy paying the bill what you know in your heart needs to be done having first hand knowledge of the contamination. And I would say to protect yourself I'd make that in the form of an email and printed out letter just so you are not blamed for a future failure if your suggestions are not followed. Also don't forget to include the oil cooler and anything else that the oil touches.
You can't throw the consultants under the bus until we've been paid, its kind of a unwritten rule on here, besides some of us think he should trade it off for a new one, those come with a warranty and the owners problems are solved, then run the other options by him, it helps make those look really cheap compared to a new machine option. LOL As for the oil sampling, that's a great program to do, I'd recommend it to anyone.
Well its easy to recommend a complete tear down and cleaning its quite another to do it effectively I guess I have never seen cat or anybody else actually do that for a pump replacement
To a degree I feel like you could introduce more crap into the system than you remove. It's not like we can load it up and run by the car wash! Lol. I do think all the steps Cat suggested are a little on the extreme side. Knowing that this could potentially be a second pump I do think we need to spend a little time cleaning and inspecting but I don't know that I would go crazy and strip the machine. My thoughts were the control valve because I'm a little suspicious about trash in it, the pump for obvious reasons, and some hoses. Possibly before I bust it off after that run the filter cart on it? Any idea what the cart service costs? Thanks guys! (I assume guys, don't want to offend any ladies.) Junkayrd
Maybe I did not word it very good. That was why I said the person who could see the contamination first hand would need to make that decision. There is a big difference between a pump that is just weak and one that had a catastrophic that put a couple handfuls of metal in the system.
All that it would take is a piece of fragment you are talking about to run across the valve plate and barrel to make your pump inefficient
Just about have the pump out. How does something this big have bolts that are hard to get to? Lol. You'd think they'd all be easy to lay your hands on. Oh well. I'm anxious to get it out, washed up and apart to see how bad it looks. I expect some obvious wear. I sure hope it's something definitive! Junkayrd
Yea, sometimes the bigger they are the more stuff they put in the way! Like the front end loaders where you have to pull the cab right off to remove a hydraulic or transmission pump!
Well I'm far from an expert....but I suspect this pump is trash. Junkyard
?With that kind of damage on the trust plate that pump would sure be below spec. on output!
Comprehensively Donald Ducked would be my considered opinion......
Reman, rebuild, replace, pick your poison. I've seen a lot worse, but not in a relatively new pump....
I think the previous owner was a run-to-failure type. 3000 hours isn't a very long life for a pump so either they didn't get it clean last time or your bad cylinder loaded the system with trash. Either way, not going to be quick or easy. I think you said that was a 74Z D11N, they replaced that pump 3 times in that series and it's been replaced with an altogether different one I guess. I didn't chase it through SIS but I didn't see a reman. I'm sure it subs to a new number. It makes me wonder if they didn't have some sort of problem with them. I'm sure if you asked the dealer, that would be the first time they'd ever seen or heard of one of 'em giving any trouble though LOL.
Hey junk yard from them pics I don't see enough leakage to not lift the blade at half throttle what do the relief valves look like and what's the suction side of oil passages to that pump look like. She might be out of spec but your describing major leakage how hard is it to plumb a flow meter ( large one ) maybe would of been worth it to get someone to flow the pump ? I bet mikebramel? Might have some ideas
Excellent observation Sir.
Id do my home work on this one keep looking for other sources of internal leakage or suction issue and if nothing else was found I'd be every familiar with system.so trouble shooting from that point is easy because When customer comes over after expensive parts have been installed and it's still not fixed I like to say we got that fixed and this is also bad vs telling them I don't know lol
I'm digging deeper tomorrow. There was a lot of trash in the control valve too, mostly seal material and a few bits of metal. I haven't flushed the body of the valve yet, I got it tore most of the way down before I decided to call it a day. Lots of wear on every surface of the pump, the sleeves where the shafts run, the gears on one side are sharp enough to shave with. Tomorrow I'm going to pull hoses out, some are near failure so I might as well get them while its relatively easy. Current owner is a run to failure mindset too. I've gotten to the point I take a butt chewing for something proactive vs a failure. The small section of the pump didn't look terrible. It's marked 04/88 so it's hung in there! May have a pump found, waiting on a call back. I'm debating how deep to get into it. It's a months worth of work away from being done on this job and becoming a yard ornament for a year or so. He's leaving town and said "get it running good enough to work for a month". Threw me his credit card and said I might be gone 10 days, might be 30. It's for sure a pump, some hoses and depending on what the cost is maybe a run through the filter cart. Old that old nasty milky oil needs to come out I know that! Trash from the pump and trash in the valve. Junkyard
MMM, crunchy... I think that's supposed to be a 160 gallon pump, as rmllarue91 observed that pump should probably still be giving you enough to make it work, just slower maybe? As I said earlier it should be replaced, but I have been known to pull rabbits out of hats when they only needed the machine for "three days" Checked all the reliefs and cartridges all over for missing/blown O-rings right?
It works as in the blade will go up and down. Once the oil is up to temp it's really slow and will not raise with any load on the blade. You have to stop, back out of the push and rev up to get it lifted. I haven't seen anything so far other than trash from the bad blade lift cylinders. I suppose it's possible that I have a combination of issues getting me low pressures and slow cycle times. Bad pump, bad oil, and a valve or two bypassing a bit spilling off what little flow I have with the worn pump. Like a friend said the other day, "It's a witch hunt now!" Junkyard
Found a pump for a later 11N, it uses an additional hose from the tank to help lube the bearings and thrust plate. Seems like a simple modification. Certainly the least expensive route. Cat wants $4,300 for a reman pump. Still debating and dreading the clean up process! Junkyard
I saw that update. There is also another (later) update that uses an 227-9383 pump from the 11R in place of the 6E-5294 that was used on the 11N S/N 74Z1051-Up and which can be retrofitted to your machine by making the lube line upgrade you refer to. To use the 227-9383 you still need to do the lube line upgrade. Refer to Service Mag SEPD0706 dated 27/10/2003. You also need to change the pump suction hose to suit the new pump Part Number.
The 5294 is what I got along with the parts to make the retrofit. Found one from a place we get parts time to time. Price was reasonable. About 1/3 of what Cat wanted. Not sure when it arrives. Plenty to do in the meantime! I'm still pestering the bean counters for SIS and ET. They're about to buy another finish dozer which will almost certainly be a Cat. That would make three machines in need of ET in the event of an issue. Also discussing a skid steer and 8 ton excavator which may very well be Cat. Plus more darn dump trucks. Decided to go easy on myself today and service the one, adjust the clutch and do an annual inspection. My wife won't recognize me coming home clean! Junkyard
So much for clean. I good friend in the dump truck business needed help changing a rear spring on his truck. I spoke too soon! Try that with your two year old running around the shop..... Sheesh. Junkyard
LMAO, been there done that, a fresh out of the shower, ready for bed 3yo granddaughter runs into the shop, pigpen leaves 15 minutes later. Yup, grandpa made a list. Ed
In the 30 minutes or so he was out there with us he ended up looking like he crawled through the firebox of a coal fired locomotive. I don't how he finds the dirtiest stuff he can. Other then he comes by it honest. I hope in another 10 years he still enjoys it. I'd like to teach somebody all the little things I've learned. Hate to think about knowledge passing with each generation. One funny note, I have a 6 pound Wilton hammer I LOVE. Something about the weight and handle length it's like we were meant for each other. Driving the bushing out last night my buddy watched me swinging away. When I got done he said that was 51 hits, no misses. You're surgical with that thing! Junkyard
He needs a little brother, toss a dog into the equation and things happen at warp speed.
Gotcha covered there, he's two, brother is six, dog is a little over a year. Five kids in all. Never a dull moment in my house! Oldest starts college next year. Geez I'm not ready for that! Junkyard
What length handle do you have?
The 4 yo granddaughter has a 2yo 96lb golden retriver......care to guess who ends up on their butt all the time? Ed
Here's my favorite hammer. If it was as easy to carry as my pliers I'd take it everywhere!
We've got a fair amount of clearing work coming up. I enjoy logging some before they trash all the good lumber and burn it. I set myself up with an old M1031 military truck that I got from a local fire Dept. It works good for all my saws etc. Anyway, I was piddling last night checking all my supplies and remembered I had my dads old Homelite. A very small saw as he never cut much and was tighter than the bark on the tree he was cutting. So I drug my 660 out and stuck his little saw along side of it. Made me giggle. Of course I had to send him the pic too! Junkyard
24", Thank You. Bob
You're welcome Bob. Sometimes napa puts them on sale. That's where I got mine several months ago. They say the handle is unbreakable. I like that it doesn't transmit the impact to your hands or arms. Junkyard
I've got one of those little Homelites, with a 14 inch bar. Have had it since early 1970's. Actually thinking about converting it to a 12 inch bar to use trimming trees around the property. Not going to cut down any big oak or maple trees but nice an light to use one handed.
My dads is mid to late 70's. I have a matched pair. The other came from my uncle. It's got a little longer bar than dads. Both still run pretty good. I don't have a loop for one and dads wouldn't cut butter like it is right now. When I was a kid I thought it was huge! Not knowing anything about them it scared the heck out of me, noise, smoke and the thought of being dismembered! Junkyard
my dad buys those little homelites and super 2's whenever he seems them to keep his running or to have spares when he fries one or worse he uses them to delimb and cut off the usuable firewood from the limbs , saves him hrs and gas in his good saw
I wish my chainsaw habit was little ones. Always seems to be big ones. Found a nice Husky 2100 the other day and another 660. Why? Beats me. We seldom see anything that a 28" bar won't cut. I would like to build a mill someday and that 2100 would be good for that. We don't see big saws around here very often. The 210 got downwind of a burn pile and that's all it took. Poof. We had ordered a new undercarriage for it two days before it burnt. Guess we were lucky in some respects. Owner sure likes his Linkbelt excavators. I seldom do anything but service them and replace an occasional o-ring. The D11 represents half my workload when it's on a job. Junkyard
Fairly uneventful day today. Had Cat out to measure undercarriage on D5 and work up a quote. Scraper tractor hand called and said I think the rear end just exploded. I drove out and was pleasantly surprised as it had just sheared a bunch of bolts off which allowed the rear end to change pinion angle to the point the driveline bound up and sheared the ujoint cap bolts off. So I get to extract four long big metric bolts that I can hardly get to. Should be fun. Noticed today my air compressor wouldn't hardly build air. Noticed it wasn't really sucking in very hard. Took the intake filter off and the little spring loaded valve or whatever it is was stuck and not letting air in. Cleaned it up and she works like new, quick recovery and 150 psi. To add insult to injury my 302 Airpak has been acting up, won't idle right, idle up under load etc. Called Miller and found out stepper motor has been changed twice since mine was built. Gave me part number and said dealer should give it to me free of charge. I like that machine but it's sure got a lot of electrical stuff. Half tempted to throw my SA200 on but I don't have room! Once I get to work on the scraper I'll snap some pics. Junkyard
It's been crazy busy lately. Got the D11 back together. Lots of disassembly, swabbing hoses etc. Buttoned it all up, threw in a set of clean out filters and put her back to work. I expected a leak or two having had basically every hose off it it but so far she's made me proud. Moved to the scraper tractor, got the bent bolts out, fought to get the rear end lined back up and the bolts in, fixed the driveline, fixed the hydraulic hoses, rebuilt the remote valve while I was there as it was leaking between the sections pretty bad. Drove it around some to let things settle, tighten bolts, drive around some more, snug the bolts again. It's still not settled back into position correctly so I can work on extracting the four bolts in the back that created the catastrophy to begin with. Got the burnt 210 cannibalized as well, the D11 had pushed everything around it so we had to get it off the island so he could finish. Upcoming jobs are undercarriage on the D5, a couple hoe buckets to repair and a bunch of machines due for service. Even though it's still in the 80's and 90's temp wise we've also started to cut some wood, I hate watching them clear nice wood and smash it into a pile and burn it. I worked about three hours yesterday and have about 3 cord worth of logs piled up. No good saw logs in this stuff but there are some nice oak and ash still standing that should give me a few hundred board feet to mill. I'm anxious to get to the next job as there should be some nice Walnut and white oak there. Junkyard
Curious, what do you do with the lumber you want to mill??
Junkyard, do you have any Amish communities nearby? When I get logs like that, anything useable really, I haul them to the sawmill, come back when they say and there's nice bundle of wet lumber to haul away for probably less than it would cost in gas and chains. They're set up pretty well for it around here, roll the logs through, roller conveyors for the lumber and pallet jacks and hoists to move the bundles. Yard trees that might have hardware are no problem, just tell them which ones to saw last and they'll put on an old band for those. Even the new bands are only $40 if you've got some walnut that you want sawn tight. You don't get to enjoy the process as much, but that's what cutting firewood is for. Or fishing.
Randy88, I mill them to build various things. It's a throwback to my childhood. I loved helping during the whole process, felling to whatever we built out of the lumber. I don't know what it is about it I enjoy so much. Might be the satisfaction of telling somebody about the process from standing timber to my cabin or whatever. My stepdad has a cabinet shop so someday I hope to give him some slabs with lots of character to make tables or benches out of. Delmer, there are quite a few Amish around here. I'm sure several of them have mills. If I was ever in a volume scenario I'd probably work through them to cut some for me. I hate to see all that timber cleared and wasted. I enjoy the time in the woods basically recycling what would otherwise be wasted. Hoping for oak and walnut logs as the prices are up right now. Might make a little walking around money. My oldest boy and I piddling while the older girls are home with mom. Junkyard
Hey junkyard, From all the saw's I see you have, I was wondering what your favorite mid size saw is. I use a sthil ms460 and I really love it. I think a 36" bar strains it so I stick with a 25" mostly. I also have a 30". Have you used a 460/461? I am looking for another saw as a spare? I have thought about a 660...Also do you use Oregon chain or sthil?
Yep sure have. I have a 461 that I love. It's my go to saw, it's been ported and squished. It'll get with it. I usually run a 25" bar, sometimes a 28" as most of our stuff isn't that big. I also just put a cool saw together, 440 with a 460 top end. It's a salty little booger, I got it not running right, pulled the cylinder to see the ringlands beat out. Cylinder was probably useable but I decided to stick a top end on it and who doesn't want a little more juice? I didn't do much porting on it, just cleaned things up a bit. I'm still breaking it in, ran the first tank of fuel through it yesterday. As far as chains I think the Stihl hold their edge longer than the Oregon but I use both based on what kind of deal I get on them. I like my 660, it's heavier and will work you harder than the 461 but when you need to run a big bar it's right at home with a 36". It's also been ported and squished. Do you run a skip chain on the bigger bars? I generally run a full skip on 28" and longer bars and am pleased with the results. Your second saw will depend on what size timber you get into. At least if you stay with Stihl you can share bars and chains if you stay with the same pitch and gauge. The majority of mine are 3/8" .050. I have an oddball bar on my MS390 that's 20" 3/8 .063. The only other .063 is the 2100 husky. If I had to pick two saws out of my collection I'd probably take my MS390 and my 461. Best prices on Oregon chains is a place in IA and if you watch EBAY there's a guy in OR that has deals on Stihl chains and bars. Often you can buy chains and get free bars based on the price paid vs retail. Just my .02 Junkyard
No, I have not tried a skip chain yet. I just keep my chain razor sharp and keep the rakers ground a little to much. If I get into big hard wood I have to hold the saw up a little so that it does not grab too much tree. It will fly threw pine and I can cut all morning long as long as I keep it out of the dirt. Hickory and red oak dull the blade a lot faster for me than pine. The last hickory I got into was so hard I lost 3 teeth off my chain. It was an old worn chain but it was still cutting but I was down to about the last sharpening on that one any way. I will keep what you said in mind. I am leaning towards another 461 or 660. I almost had a kick back that I lost hold of the saw on. Late in the day, hands covered in dirt and sweat and grip starting to go. So much vibe my hands basically hurt. Slowed me down a little. I respect my saw. I also had it kick straight back out of a bore cut and punch me right in the chest, with the back of the handle. Felt like a grown man punching me. Thanks.
They'll hurt you. And if it ever happens it will be before you even knew what hit you. I've watched lots of guys act like it's a race. I don't get that. Also, on chains there are some that are made to limit kickback and there are pro chains that don't have any of the little safety features. All I have are full chisel pro chains. They work best and aren't terrible to keep sharp. It does help to keep the rakers cut down, I think .035 below the cutting edge is the standard spec. Too much and the chain tries to get too big of a bite. I saw another post you made about making your own chains, as long as they can be bought reasonably priced it's almost not worth the time. I do carry a breaker in case I muck up a long one I can make a good short one out of it. Try for a 660 if you can, the newer saws have some electronic stuff on them I'm not a fan of although a budy has a 661 and it's never missed a lick. It won't run with mine though haha. I also was never a fan of chaps until I saw them save a guy from a potentially nasty leg injury. Get some and wear them if you don't have them. Feel free to PM me if you need contacts for chains or whatever. Junkyard
660 is a nice saw but gets old lugging it around all day long, had a 460 we loved but kept scoring the jug and piston all the time, traded for a 461 and everyone loves it, don't ask me why, but its the saw everyone wants to use and fights over to get to run, all around handy is what I call it, enough power to get any job done, but light enough to not break your back. If your wanting a new 660 you'd better get one soon, many dealers can't get them anymore, only the new 661 with the electronics on them, some love them others hate them, never ran one myself so can't say either way. Been thinking about trading for a new 661, but just can't seem to let the old 660 go for some reason, basically it was the first big saw I've had I liked to run and been a great saw for me, call me stupid but don't want to end up with another lemon like many of the past saws have been for me. I run a 36 inch bar on my 660, 404 chain and its all she can do to run it, skip tooth would help, but I buy chain in bulk and make my own chains, everything but the 36 inch bar is regular chain and I don't want to mess with skip tooth chain for just one bar. We also run some 3/8 .063 chain, and for 3/8's it gets the job done, but won't stand up or last like the 404 will. We've pulled over 30k board feet of lumber off clearing jobs over the years, another 5k this year alone, hire it all sawed and bandsaw guys are hard to come by that stick around and keep going it seems, I've worn out five over the years it seems, told the one I have doing it now, I'm bad luck, everyone so far has got out of the business who works for me, he just laughed and told me it comes with the type of work and has nothing to do with me personally. The amish near me do pallet lumber only and are not really interested in sawing logs for finishing lumber, quite a few of them have blade mills and not band mills. Stihl chain is the only chain to get, nothing lasts or stands up like stihl chain does, tried them all and have always ended up back with stihl, but beware, its so hard its about impossible to sharpen by hand, we use a grinder for all the sharpening.
Finally getting a breather around here! Got the tractor rear end lined up and began the exciting task of getting broken bolts out. Top two came out ok, bottom two fought all the way. Drilled them all the way through, heat, every penetrating oil known to man, more heat and they won't budge. They're about 1-1/2" inside the housing so getting anything welded to them isn't a viable option. I decided to get an annular cutter, stick the mag drill on there and drill the suckers out. Worked like a champ. Tapped some new threads and buttoned it all up. Oh, while I was wrestling the tractor I had to break off and replace a turbo on the 11, it just about threw a scrap iron fit, I'd say 3/8" end play, just started chewing on the cold side housing. Reclaim is winding down, maybe 20 days and the D11 will be done. Then it's slopes and finish grade. Equipment is begging to collect at the shop since the other big job is almost done. We have some little ones then it's the big bridge after the first of the year. I have the D65 Komatsu to basically rebuilt front to back, top to bottom. A bucket to rebuild before it gets totally trashed. Thumb to put on one of the 210's. A bunch of stuff to service blah blah. Mostly busy work. Nothing photogenic lol. I do like iron parked at the shop since I live there, makes things nice. My boys can watch and hopefully learn and I can keep an eye on the boys who come calling on my girls! Haha. After a summer of chasing major failure after major failure I welcome the break! Even managed to get my old 706 Farmall running. Drug it out of a fence row last year. Stuck an injector pump on it, changed the fluids and went to work mowing with a brushhog I dug out of a pasture, filled the gearboxes and greased the U-joints and away we went. I figure I have $600 in the rig. Nothin better than an old Farmall with a straightpipe. My wife calls it "crusty". Junkyard
Well it's continued to be fairly quiet. Getting the D65 tensioners resealed, new idlers, blade pivots etc all rebuilt. Moved a 210 and the D7 yesterday on a trailer owned by a friend of the boss. Close to the pit I felt something funny. Went the last couple miles to the job. When I got out to untie the dozer I saw what I felt, right frame rail at the transition had a bit of a structural failure. Junkyard
Is it rusting from the inside out. Found a spot on ours on the main beam justin front of axels that had a build up of moist dirt and rusted a hole in the beam from the inside out
That's a bad little break. That's the worst thing about borrowing equipment. Obviously this isn't a new problem, caused by abuse on your part. But, it still happened while it wasn't in the owners use. Not quite the same price wise, but I had a guys chop saw borrowed. It got knocked over, and the handle broke. Not only did I have to buy him a chop saw, but I have to buy one for me too. If I borrow something, and it gets damaged in my use, I end up feeling/ being responsible. It can be a strain on a otherwise good business relationship. Going to just fire up the welder and patch it back together?
We haven't decided what course of action to take yet. He had been looking for a newer trailer so we will see what he decides. Bossman offered to fix it for the owner, they've borrowed and broke so much of each other's stuff that I don't think they even worry about it anymore. Not much too exciting going on, several piddly hydraulic leaks, couple PM's which entailed throwing the operator out so I could have the machine long enough to get it serviced. I say PM it's no so much preventative as it is POST as in past the hours it should have been done. I'm working on a better system to keep things serviced but haven't found one that doesn't have me working nights and weekends. Sometimes our work and locations are so random it's hard to plan. Got a call yesterday the scraper tractor broke the hitch. Basically the bottom support frame acted like a shear and broke the 1-1/2" thick drawer right where the saddle for the hitch was spliced in. All the welds were nice it was just a poor design IMO. Headed to get some 1-1/2" plate to build a larger support under it to get that stress point away from the edge of the hitch, basically the saddle part was cantilevered off and over time it reached the maximum number of stress cycles and snapped right off. We cleaned it up, beveled it and welded it up yesterday, forgot to get pics. I'll try to snap a few as I build the new support. D11 has another bad pin, this time we will have Cat come press it in the field. I'll take pics of that too. Funny how stuff gives you fits near the end of the job! Oh and to complicate things I'm moving within the next few days. Sold my house and have one being put in at my shop. Can't wait to be right there! Junkyard
Things have been quiet for the most part. Cooled off a bunch here. Got a really good job offer with a drilling contractor so I made the tough decision to go to work with them. Union benefits are hard to pass up with a family as big as mine. I'll be the field mechanic and lowboy hand. They had a couple guys retire so they made a spot for me. I'll start after New Years. When I get settled in my trucks I'll post some pics. I'm special, a service truck and a haul truck! They've got some cool iron, IMT, Lodril and Watson. Plus some new fangelled drill I forget the name of. Junkyard
Uh hum...that's not the best way to start off as their field mechanic. What type of drilling do they do?
It's got an unusual name but the machine is really cool compared to the other stuff they have. Tracks retract and by the time everything folds up it's legal width and height with a tad bit of rear overhang. It's not like the IMT where you have to pull the kelly bar and stuff to haul it. When I ran my lowboy I hauled for them quite a bit so it should be a pretty seamless transition. They do highway stuff, rail, cell towers, transmission lines you name it. If there is a hole to be drilled and they can make some money doing it they'll do it. A good friend of mine has worked there for about 12 years and loves it, they take care of their guys. I think they are up to 10-12 different drills and about 10 acres of various tooling. 6 crews if memory serves. Two full time welders, three drivers and a couple mechanics. They work in OK, KS, AR and MO. The shop foreman is a friend of a friend. Small world sometimes! Should be some cool pics! Junkyard
Willie59.....in case you were wondering it's a Soilmec. I start after the holidays so I'll be sure to post pics. Happy Holidays all! Junkyard
Good Luck in your new job
Thanks. I'm looking forward to it. Good mixture of driving and wrenching. Great people too. I've done my own thing so long it's gonna take some getting used to! Junkyard
Hmm, foundation drilling and piling rigs. Usually quite a bit of other machines and supplies tag along with those rigs.
For sure. Full compliment of support equipment, cranes, skidsteers, trucks, trailers, hard facing on tools etc etc. They are very proactive on maintenance so that should be a change compared to the "run to failure" mindset I've been around. I'm excited. Did all my paperwork and drug test today as a matter of fact. Junkyard
As long as the cup you pee'd in did not melt your gold. Good luck.
I did study hard for it! Junkyard
soilmec seems to be half decent, been around a few of them. the eletrical box is a little shock the first time you open it up..
I've heard stories of the electrical stuff on them. Support is supposed to be excellent. I'm always up to learn a new language! Lol. Junkyard
Started the new job today. I was slowly going through the truck working on inventory, cleaning this and that when an operator called in, busted the kelly bar on an IMT 180. Loaded a spare and swapped him out. Maybe I'll get some pics of the new ride tomorrow. I added a 1-1/2" hydraulic torque wrench to my personal collection today. Pawn shop advertised one on CL so I snatched it up. Good to 7,900 ft lbs. They had 3 1-1/2" wrenches, this was the middle size. It'll do what I need to do. Now gotta shop for a pump which of course leads to hollow ram cylinders and then a track press Junkyard
Best to you on the new job. ENJOY!
Here's the new unit. It'll be a week or two before they shuffle drivers and trucks around then I'll have pics of the haul truck too. Junkyard
Sweet! :notworthy
How do you feel about Brand F? I did not hate them too much but I sure enjoyed KW, but it is up to the boss what he wants to buy.
Sure looks pretty. You are going to have to keep this one out of the buffalo herd for a few weeks.
Well my old ford 750 had 315k on it. Little rough inside. Drove ok. Gutless like most trucks that size. First thing I noticed in this FL is it's like a greenhouse. Lots of glass and no tint. Drives good, still gutless. Alison auto in this truck. Kinda nice. Everything is clean, room to spare so far but I tend to grow to my environment so I'll end up packing stuff in I'm sure. Not very fuel efficient. Maybe 6 straight driving. I do like the fact that the selector knob will actually change where the warm air blows! My old ford just kinda blew from wherever. I never drove it far and it took the chill off. The mindset here is a 180 from my friends place. I'm still going to help keep his big iron going so I'll have to remember who I'm buying parts for so I don't over or under do it! I'll keep it polished up, the ** crew takes good care of things so there won't be any complaints for a little time spent keeping the image up. If there's a better place to work doing this I'm not aware of it. I feel lucky to have this job and also being able to help my friend and not leave with bad blood. I lost a little sleep over that. It's going to be lots of hours certain times but I enjoy it. Best of both worlds. I worked so hard to get all his iron into shape I sure hate to see all that go away. Junkyard
A couple quick snaps from today. Pulling maintenance on an IMT 180, adjusting the slides, greasing, fixing a limit switch, getting the master pin back in the track, replacing some hydraulic line clamps etc. Nothing exciting just routine work. Junkyard
Keep up the good work and keep posting. For us with small iron it gives us a target.
Thanks. After years of the big iron I've decided it's not much different than small iron with a couple exceptions. Everything thing is stupid expensive and you can't handle anything without a crane or a forklift. It's interesting to see how the Watson drills work compared to the more modern and fancy IMT or Soilmec. Two radically different approaches to accomplishing similar results other than the IMT and Soilmec can go a lot deeper. First thing I noticed is they run all the tracks TIGHT. I guess with tools on the kelly bar they're really nose heavy and can walk out of them pretty easy. More to come I'm sure! Junkyard
Love those IMT units, we had a 2 pins in the swivel area on the boom break over the summer on a 270, talk about a pain in the turd cutter. Hope you're liking the new job, I may be in your neck of the woods doing some work in pryor soon.
I've worked in Pryor a bunch. My shop is about 15 minutes away. Actually on a job now with the Soilmec. Looks like a slick rig. Sure is easy to haul. They seem really happy with the IMT's. I love it so far, lots of variety. Shop work, field work, welding and driving. Perfection if you ask me! What's going on in Pryor? Is it the "client" nobody can name? Lol. Junkyard
I was playing around with the slow-mo camera today and made a still pic after I videoed the clean-up spin.
Close quarters today..... I'm ready to be back in my service truck. I don't mind helping the drilling crews but it's far from my favorite thing to do.....
Next time they want you to work in the crew tell the operator to get out so you can set down. You will be probably back in the service truck in short order.
OIH you might be onto something there. In a related note when I got in his truck this am he said "your f&:kin coveralls are in the bed. Don't leave those nasty stinkin things in here again. They smell like you haven't washed them in two years". I politely asked him what they smelled like. He replied like grease and oil and ****. I said oh ok I thought there might be something wrong with them! He shot me a go to he!! Look and asked where the $;&kin room receipt was. I handed it to him and thought to myself...ah it's going to be a great day! Maybe those stinky bibs did the same thing?!? I have to move the rig Monday or Tuesday then go back and service it next time they have a slow day. It's past due....I bet he may have gotten his *** chewed for that last night or this morning and that made him grumpy lol. Who knows, he's a hot tempered feller anway. I thought about the washing for awhile, it's been a lot longer than two years haha Junkyard
Routine week. Serviced the Soilmec, serviced a Watson 3100. Have to run to KC next week and replace a couple hydraulic pumps on a 3100 and service one of the LoDrills. To properly service and inspect the 3100's it takes me 1-1/2 to 2 days. They're simple machines just lots of moving parts and areas where bolts can loosen up, wear areas etc. I'm slowly getting the eye for problem areas. Really enjoying the work, people and the variety. Spent a little time Friday working on my friends W900A. There's not much I haven't done to his truck over the years. I take pride in the clean roadside inspections he gets from time to time! Junkyard
That's a nice old A model! What is the specs on it?
1980, Don't recall the wheelbase, 300" or so. 400 Big Cam, 13 speed, 3.70's. Over the last couple years we've done interior, stainless work, rods and mains, air bags, brakes, tires, dump valve etc etc you know how it goes! It's a clean truck. When he got it the interior was orange, I kinda liked it but he couldn't stand it. Junkyard
Came up to KC to replace hydraulic pumps on 3100 and service the LoDrill. Watson was a "hurry up" job. Mechanic from Topeka shop found metal in pilot filter which usually means one of two pumps. When I got up here we had the oil sample discussion. He said they wouldn't have caught this problem in time. I threw the BS flag and said if the metal is big enough you can see it with your eyes samples would have started showing abnormal metal hundreds of hours ago. He just didn't get the concept of consistent sampling and the pain it can save you! He also busted my chops for how I was setup with my truck. Saves me walking around so much. Not trying to lift the Queen Mary. Actually crane was just to save my back, pumps aren't THAT heavy just in an awkward spot. Got the pumps changed, tank cleaned out, pilot filter and return filter changed. Loaded it up ready to depart tomorrow. Weather was nice too.
Curious being they had a mechanic there why they sent you to replace the pumps. Did the guy feel a little stepped on that you were there?
OIH. I'm sure that could be some of it. He's an opinionated feller. We had the pumps in joplin and it needed to be done asap. He's been kinda screwing the pooch lately from what I understand. Rumor is he's about to retire so he's probably having bittersweet feelings also. He's been around a long time. For the most part he did his thing with the tank etc and I swapped pumps. The owner called me and said he'd be there. Proceeded to tell me if he's holding you up, motivate him. If he's in the way move him. If he pisses you off send him somewhere else. The owners brother was there also, he said you'll have backup if you feel the need to make a statement. It all went well. I get along with the Topeka mechanic so I wasn't worried about it. There's definitely some drama around. I don't do drama. I just work. I think the conflict is between the foreman in Joplin and the Topeka mechanic. Why? Beats me. Is what it is. Either way I love it so far. How's the weather up there? I have a friend that lives in Northfield so I usually get regular updates. Nice in KC today, almost tee shirt weather. Junkyard
Glad the new job is going well Junkyard. It's always stressful switching jobs, you don't know where all the minefields are, until you step in a few of them, or just go stomping around in all of them, whatever the case may be. I'm not much for drama either, we're all just trying to get some work done.
Not bad for winter. Got up to 28F today and we got 5 inches of snow with a bit of a breeze. Cooling off as -1F predicted for a high tomorrow with a wind chill warning. This February sun is starting to get a bit of power in it now so it will be mud vacation before we know it. Finished the log sale I was on so fired up the slasher today and drove the old 250 Cummins to the new wood sale. Mill is about full and may quit buying any time now until after spring road restrictions go off in May. Don't really matter, I'm adicted to spring ice fishing anyway.
Cold is coming here. Finished in KC about 11. North wind had some teeth. Then I had to chase some parts in and around KC to fix a rig sitting east of KC. Got that done and by 4:30 I could see my breath. Says low of 28 tonight up here. I'm sitting with the family at the farm where I was born in the giant town of Bates City. It's a dot on the map but it's home. Glad it worked out to catch a night here. Headed back to Joplin tomorrow to dig into something else. Crane Op, it's been pretty seamless so far. I tell the boys to save the drama for their mammas I'm here to work. If we get any down your way and need a crane I'll do what I can to throw some work your way! -1 yuck. Don't miss it. Fishin sounds good to me! My boys love it as long as their attention span will keep them engaged. Junkyard
A sharp truck with a good driveline! Sounds like any old truck, tractor, or piece of equipment when it comes to a never ending project but keeps getting better as you go.
My old 359 was like that. Once I did all the big stuff it was always a light, air leak, little custom knickknack etc. One of these days I'll start on my 63 Autocar. Also may have stumbled into a slick little B-61.
Did some work on a buddy's rolloff truck. Service, motor mounts, cab shocks, hood pins and bushings etc. Every time I leave there he drags something out and asks if I can use it or if I have something it will fit. Several guys I work for do that. Anybody else experience this phenomenon? Because we can fix stuff and make something out of nothing do they think we can use it? Hope the value is removed from their bill? Just want to keep us happy because they like how many times we've saved their butts? Lol. Thoughts? Junkyard
Most of the stuff I get offered I already have sitting on my junk pile in one form or other...I just tell them this fact and say I don't really need another "whatever" to keep it company...then they understand.
I find that because I collect, fix and build stuff, that stuff falls my way. Some comes with obligation, most does not. We have a small property and have even been offered a surplus building. Bits of steel for the pile are most common. Cam
Sometimes it is useful stuff. Sometimes you're thinking *** do I need that for? Saving yourself a trip to the dump? Lol. Then there are the "gifts" that turn into money pits. You can have it, it was running when I parked it...... On the other hand a year or two ago I was given a go cart frame. My son and I have spent quality time building it. He's learned a lot. He will be 7 in April. By 10 I think he will know more than me! Junkyard
Have had a few of those money pits. Worst gift giver was my Dad, " you can use this" so being a good son, I took it home and most went to the dump. Cam
You guys are lucky that you can use the word give. People offer me a good deal on old iron that for some reason I think I need, have to save it from the scrapyard, but they usually need more work than was thought and the project list just gets longer and longer. He whoms widow has the biggest estate auction wins?
Pretty close to my Dad's motto.
Fairly quiet week. Mostly shop work which consists of loading/unloading tools, repair of casing, core barrels, augers etc. did some wheel bearing work on a couple trailers, ran up north of the federal pen in KS to bring a load of tools back, spent half a day cleaning and lubing ratchet binders (that was a sloooooow day). We have a Watson 3100 that needs tilt cylinders rebuilt. I see no reason to send them out, shop is split 50/50 on doing in house and sending out. They wouldn't be bad to do. They generally send em out. We had a driver leave dunnage on a job and they had some nails sticking out. I guess another contractor stepped on a nail and supposedly it made it through his boot into his foot. So we also spent half a day pulling nails from all the dunnage on the yard. Felt like a carpenter that day. We chock and chain every single piece on every single load so some of them you feel like you framed a house when you're done. I know it's the calm before the storm but I'd prefer something a little more challenging than what we're gotten into so far. I know I know. Be careful what you wish for!! Still loving the variety and how well I'm taken care of. Junkyard
I've had a crane operator painting on my lowboy trailer for the last week, he's no happy camper either, but I like to get the guys their 40 hours, and it needs done, so painting trailer it is.
Yes sir. Same here. I also think it's a way to weed out a guy or two if they complain too much. The driver that pulls all the floats hauling tools is very much a "I'm a driver not a x, y, z". He asked me what I thought about pulling nails and cleaning binders. I laughed and said it's easy work and I make the same wage. I'd clean the toilets if they asked. All in a days work.
Well it's like one of my old bosses would say from his days in the Army, "You get paid the same for marching or fighting!" Some day the marching can be a little boring but then that seems good when the option is laying under an excavator in a mud puddle with a couple of inches of hydraulic oil floating on the top trying to change a hose and not contaminate the whole system!
Fairly busy week. Couple days on one job with two IMT's looking them over while they were idle. Simple things, fuel leak, grease, change kelly bars on one, move some tools around. Ran up to KC and swapped bars in Lodril. Serviced a few machines. Normal stuff. Started building my personal service truck in my head. When I start building it I may start a new thread. I'm either gonna use a W900 I have or a 379 Pete a friend is wanting to trade for a lowboy I have. It'll be a shop on wheels for me so it's gonna be big, something like Tom has. I hope the only thing I have to buy is the crane. The rest I have or will build. I have several ideas for it I haven't seen done. There might be a reason for that! Lol.
How about a small pony engine to power a hydraulic circuit to run air compressor, generator, and provide remote hydraulics for tools/testing cylinders ect. I do not understand the logic of high idle the main truck engine for hours to run a PTO like Vanair ect.
I plan to do something like that. Hopefully it ends up with a small self contained power pack to run crane, compressor etc. I'd much rather have a little diesel quietly running than the whole truck. I've got a freshly rebuilt Perkins 4.236 sitting in the shop I could use as a matter of fact. Have a radiator out of a small RT crane that would be close to right. I wonder if anybody has an old twin disc PTO laying in their boneyard that fits it....? endless possibilities!
I have three different Twin disc clutches in the machine shed. What is the bolt spacing on the top two bolts and size of bolts. I will see if one will fiit. I don't have a Perkins to measure.
I'll measure tomorrow when I'm at the the shop. I've actually got a selection of available motors. Most are just too darn big though. 180 cummins, 250 and 350 cummins. I may have to buy a traditional SAE bellhousing for that Perkins as I think it's bare and originally had a ** setup for use in an old forklift. I wonder what's on the back of the 4.236 I have in my SAE400. It's another project waiting in the wings too! I'll get back with info hopefully tomorrow. Thanks OIH.
Here's a bellhousing reference chart I found. Should help determine what you have. SAE BELL HOUSINGS MADE EASY No. Diameter No. Bolts Hole Diameter Size 1 20.875 12 .469 7/16 2 18.375 12 . .433 3/8 3 16.875 12 .433 3/8 4 15.00 12 .433 3/8 5 13.125 8 .406 3/8
Found a 180 Cummins with a twin disc PTO sitting in the boneyard at work. Negotiating its release..... Funny thing today, I was at Walmart doing my weekly truck supply restock which means I was buying junk food. A lady stopped while I was loading it in my truck and observed how I had it all stacked in there. She laughed and said "how much junk can one man eat?" I told her I'd be back next week at the same time to restock. Her eyes about popped out of her head. I guess people don't realize what it takes to be out there for who knows how long and it what kind of conditions. I like to graze rather than eat big meals anyway. I wish I could have caught her reaction on video! A funny note is all the guys know where the "Scooby snacks" are and that's the first place they go when I pull up to fix their rig. Junkyard.
Are you talking 180 as in a 1950s something precurser to the 220 Cummings. Wonder what that was used for in its first life. Pump maybe? I can't remember ever seeing a Cummings on a Kelly but then I forget a lot. I've been way busy for a retired guy and have not got to the shed to measure my Twin Discs. That is a cool chart. I am fishing tomorrow as my wife promised some fish to the old ladies in a local assisted living and today they asked where the fish was. The honeydo list never ends. I will try to get out and measure my clutches on Thursday.
Haha I know all about the honeydo's. Add my five kids and it's a wonder I get anything done at all! This one is in the upper of an old military crane. Yes it's old cummins like a 220. I may not use the motor but there's tons of parts laying around that would be handy. They used to have an LDH drill that was a 180 or 220. It's funny that I'm the only young hand there that knew what the motor or clutch even was. One of the 30+ year employees came out and said I'll be darn that's a 180 it came from blah blah blah. I know as much or more about old stuff than I do current. There's a 555 cummins but it's stuck. I may see if I can free it up or how bad it is. I see all kinds of projects there. The only reason I think they save those old cummins is for their Bucyrus Erie crawler crane and the old truck mounted LDH. Everything else is later model Cat, Cummins or Deere. Gotta keep those ladies happy! Junkyard
Checked my Twin Disc pile today. As near as I could measure I believe I got a #1, 3, and a 4. The 4 is on a great running 3-53 power unit with a tandem hydraulic pump setup. The other two are not attached to anything at this point. I Have the drive discs for the flywheel with them also.
Are you reducing inventory? I'd be interested in the #1 and the #4 with the 3-53 if you want to part with it as a combo. Thanks for looking.
The #1 should be surplus as I am going to put the 242 Ford Dexta power unit into my Pettibone Super Six high lift that has a super tired Fiat transplant in it now. The 3-53 is low hour and runs nice. I just borrowed the blower off of it to use on the one I sold that had the broken vane. Still looking for a replacement blower or may rebuild this one if need be. $300 for complete rebuild at Northern Engine. I may sell the power unit as i am down to using just one part time machine with a 3-53 now.
I'm interested if/when you decide to part with them. I've got a couple ideas in mind the little power unit would be useful for.
A little variety this week. Ran a crane today pulling casing, setting cages and loading tools. I love running them when I get a chance. They asked if I could run it, I said yep no problem. When we called it a day today they said you didn't run it you operated it! Nice compliment I thought. It was a little 30 ton Mantis crawler. Have two Watson drills to move tomorrow. Can't beat the variety! My service truck went to the dealer on the hook yesterday. It's got a TCM issue if I was a betting man. It limped for awhile then it wouldn't do anything. Oh well. Junkyard
What kind of mechanic lets someone else work on their truck?
I usually drop mine at the mechanic with a long list whenever I go on vacation. Never have time to fix it myself. I usually regret it if I try.
Well it was a combination of being overruled by the shop foreman and having more work than we can shake a stick at. Plus the truck that is up in Topeka is supposed to be coming to Joplin soon. I'm not really sure how much we could have figured out. I checked all the obvious stuff, fuses, connections etc. The two codes I was able to extract from it during the brief period it worked were both TCM related. That and the fact that the symptoms were so darn erratic makes me think is computer or it's hormonal! Junkyard
Junkyard, Besides your efforts are probably better invested in fixing or maintaining more production related equipment. My boss at the quarry limited how much time I spent working on any of the licenced pickups, said he would rather have me working on a frontend loader or haul truck.
I'm just pulling his chain guys . I'm the same way about the pickups, the big iron is what makes $, and in today's computerized trucks, they're worse to keep running than the big stuff.
Yeah, even thirty years ago with the emissions checks to retag gas vehicles and whatnot I convinced the owner to farm all the pickups and vans out to the experts on that stuff, left me and my ragtag crew to keep anything big or dirt related crawling forward most days. Doing a clutch on a Kenworth was our idea of light work
Yep that's pretty much how we do things. It ended up being the TCU or TCM I call it one they call it the other. Anyways it's back to work. Moved a couple drills today. Headed to Little Rock with one Monday then maybe to OKC to move one in town there. It'll be interesting to see how they juggle which seat my *** is in! Haha. Junkyard
Spent all week in the haul truck, moved a couple 2500's and a couple 3100's. The 2500 went to Little Rock Monday and came back yesterday. Construction on I-49 had me routed 412-62-65 down to 40. Hard pulling, lots of tight curves and hills. Scenic but not fun heavy! Other than that just another week of work. Junkyard
Nice- got you out of those oklahoma flats into some good hilly country. You were close enough, I could have bought you lunch. There are a few nice hills on 65 and 412 both, plenty of gears and jakes help.
I knew you'd appreciate the hills and curves seeing as how they're in your back yard! 4 hours down the easy way and 7 back per my permit. Oh well I get paid by the hour! Think there's some trash in this relay valve? A buddy was having brake problems on his trailer. Both valves full of trash and two of the four chambers were about to spit the spring out the front!
We had troubles with a rt613 not wanting to range shift. I sent two of the guys out there- told them there's a air filter somewhere on that transmission, I remembered it being a brass screen thing. My mechanic sent me these pictures: We installed a whole new regulator filter assembly, and they cleaned the one shift piston, but it still wouldn't shift to high. I spent some of today cleaning all the range pistons and air shift slave stuff on the transmission, I took it for a little test drive and I think I've got it.
It's amazing how much crud will collect over time. Begins to make the air dryer and filter look more important. Even with proper maintenance there's always something on older trucks that bites you!
Had some variety this week. A little wrenching, fabricating and driving. On one of the Watson 3100's we had a radiator support break the bolts off in the head. Not very well designed IMO. After tearing it apart I realized the A/C compressor bracket gave me a lot more meat to work with and was held on with 7/16" bolts in shear as apposed to the 5/16" bolts holding the bracket to the front of the head. So I did a little cutting and welding to rearrange things. We are swamped. I'll come in the yard in one truck, grab my stuff and jump in the other and head out. Lovin it. Junkyard
Cool thread! Seems I'm the telehandler guy this week at work. Rather be working on gensets but I can't really choose what breaks so I'll take whatever.
Thanks. Our stuff goes in spurts too. Have an IMT on a job that the operator swore was struck by lighting. After pondering what happened I'm fairly certain tracking down into the hole to drill he had slack in the kelly line and when it slid down it did so hard against the line and fubar'd the harness and solenoid for the rotary which caused it to blow fuse after fuse. I did learn which relays to pull to operate it enough to get the boom layed down where I could work on it. We have a ton of different iron from the rigs to skid steers, cranes, trucks, pickups, vibra-hammers etc so it pays to be well versed in stuff! I get paid by the hour so I'll drive truck, turn wrenches, clean the toilets whatever! Haha Junkyard
The variety only adds to the job, I have always felt. That's a good attitude saying you will do what ever they want you to do. So many think they are hired to do just one thing and anything else is beneath them. Thinking like that should keep you employed a long time!
That's what I love about working for rental shops. Variety. Pumps, generators, excavators, skid steers, manlifts. Even have a few D5's and 924's in the mix.
In OKC today servicing an IMT and making a few minor U/C repairs. Site is right across the street from the bombing memorial. In a couple weeks it will be 22 years since that day. Hard to believe. I remember thinking as it happened this will be the first major event that really hit home for me as a young man in high school. Kind of overshadowed by 9/11 but it was still a dark day in this country. If you're ever in OKC come take a look it's a moving experience. Junkyard
Typical week. A little trucking, a little wrench turning. Had some hydraulic leaks on an IMT 220, had to replace the wear bars for the rotary. Also has two welders there with me for two days building up the lugs in the rotary, they were waaaay out of spec. Ran into an interesting deal on it. In the process of changing an o-ring I realized the hole the fitting threaded into wasn't tapped clean all the way around.....a small portion didn't have any threads at all. Came home this evening and did and idler and tensioner reseal on a friends dozer. About 3 hours start to finish. I like flat rate jobs! Junkyard
Neck deep in the rotary of a 3100 Watson today. Machine was noisy while drilling, found a broken tooth in the right angle drive so we tore all the way into it. Loose bolts on the ring gear etc so we're checking it all, cleaning parts etc.
Caught it just before self destruct?
Yeah, we've been hearing it slowly getting worse. Finally decided to swap rigs and bring this one in. Found a missing tooth on a gear in the right angle drive so while we were at it we checked the rotary out and resealed it. Nothing technical just big hunks of iron. I'm a little out of practice on my safety wire, it started to come back. Only poked my finger once! Junkyard
Nice job on the lockwire. It's something of an art to get it right. It was taught to me many years ago by a guy I worked with who used to be a helicopter mechanic on the Ark Royal.
Thanks, I did a few and stood back and it didn't look right to me so I started over and got the hang of it again. As I did them I laughed to myself thinking somewhere an aircraft mechanic has a very unsettled feeling but has no idea why! Too many twists and snap, too long and you don't have it sitting right for the tails to go through the next bolt. I had twelve sets to do so I got it down by the 12th one. It could be 6 months before I do it again. Junkyard
Some older Cat diffs use lockwire and I've seen some hilarious examples.
I've seen quite a few that were not even close to right or that would even serve the intended purpose. I have also seen some that were works of art to me. Each twist was the same number and same pitch for lack of a better word. A lot of the surplus Nascar race parts we get are wired slick as can be.
I used to do a lot of lockwiring back when I did shovel work. There's a neat little tool they have for doing the twists and it works pretty good. I've got to lockwire a bunch of bolts on a 15 speed Roadranger I'm rebuilding and I wish I had the tool still.
If you see the old videos of right after the blast, the cranes on scene along with many of the backhoes and personnel were predominantly from the company I used to work for. The Federal building was only 2 blocks from our Southern Operations headquarters. Later on when the government tried to square up, the owner of the company said there will be no charge, its the least one can do for our country and to help out humanity. He was a bombardier in World War Two and a patriot that knows no bounds. He still goes to the office most days now at 94 or 95. We got small bonus checks that year due to them costs. A few complained but it was the right thing to do in my book.
OIH it's funny you say that. Sitting there remembering that day I thought to myself, I wonder who did what they did out of duty and who did it for profit. The greatest generation is truly that and I hope like hell some people carry that legancy on. Absolutely the right thing to do, a true class act. 92U- I do have a cheap set of safety wire pliers. They twist great but don't cut worth a flip. May need to upgrade them. It's always something with tools! Junkyard
I never did invest in a set. I always used the tool cribs. After a month of working on shovels I decided I'd stay long enough to put some money away and move on. Really wasn't my cup of tea. Too many chiefs and too much standing around waiting for my liking. If a guy put 6 hours in on the tools in a 12 hour shift he was considered flat out lol.
Lots of places that way. I'd love to work on that monster stuff. I wouldn't work well in a deal like that. I may not go WFO for all 12 hours but I darn sure would work more than 6! We've drilled some jobs where they have to slow us down because we're too far ahead of the guys setting cages and pouring mud. That's our standard pace. We can flat bury crews if we want to. Different strokes for different folks I reckon.
Its definitely fun when we worked 6+ hours. Biggest electric mining shovels in production. Everything from taking oil samples up to splitting them in half to replace swing rollers and center bushings. We got paid the same whether we sat or worked so it wasn't too bad. Nothing really technical though, mainly grunt work with using feeler gauges and other tooling to align and shim gearcases. I'd definitely do it again in 20-25 years as a slow taper into retirement.
Twist the wire all the way to the hole. Single strands of wire break easier. hugs, Brandi
A little more weekend work. Friends little JD dozer. Been using a bottle jack as a tensioner for quite some time. Tore it down, rails are shot, holes in bushings, master pin was about to fall out. Top roller was T-totally fubar'd. Strangely enough idler is good, sprockets are good. Not sure about bottom rollers yet, didn't get that far. Junkyard
That is by far the roughest u/c i've ever seen. Makes me appreciate my junk.
Had electrical issues on the Soilmec yesterday. It was dumb luck I was on that site when it acted up. Code was for the crowd circuit solenoid overload. After watching the operator and listening to what he was describing I asked him to try rotary up and down, fault then went to that circuit. Odds of both being faulty at the same time are slim. Common denominator to them is the right joystick and the deadman switch. Tore into it and discovered the loom wore through and a cute little wire grounding out against the steel plate holding the valve. The diagnosis was aided by the fact the previous mechanic chased a similar issue awhile back and found a similar condition in the left joystick. It did take him and the Soilmec wizard three days to find it..... Either way he was fixed and drilling again. Junkyard
Loaded up to do a little truckin tomorrow. Downtown Tulsa no less. Compared to IMT and Soilmec the old Watson drills are ancient technology wise but man they can sure punch holes in the ground and they darn sure don't quit when a 16 gauge wire shorts out. Simple to work on but not quite as easy to haul. Junkyard
Drive safe and have a nice day staying clean. May the road turds stay in the other lane. Clean looking rig. What is in it for grunt?
Thanks It's a 6NZ Cat. It's a 2013 they bought as a glider and had it built. Not a bad truck overall, 20 front, 46k 2 speed rears, double frame. At least there's no emissions bs on it. At least the rain has stopped for a bit so maybe I'll stay dry tomorrow. Cold wet sob today. Junkyard.
Never really rained up here, but it was misting and blowing pretty good most of the day. Felt more like fall than spring.
Enjoy the rain. Snow dabbling here yesterday. Supposed to get 14" in the next few days. The weather folks say we are in for a beauty.
Well I will be sure not to mention the 83ºF temp we had today here in Central NY!
They're calling for 5-6" of rain starting tomorrow afternoon. On top of the 5-6" we got last week. Rivers and creeks are FULL. Frost on my truck this morning in Joplin. Crazy spring Junkyard
Good find on the control wire. Drive safe in the rain.
It was a little luck on the wire. I was in the zone that day I guess lol. Got lucky and stayed dry today. They missed the forecast a bit. Looks like rain tomorrow.
I've been nicknamed here..... I guess it's because I'm not afraid to dive into the nastiest job and I don't keep my truck spotless inside like others They stuck it in the haul truck behind the little peep window. Junkyard
Not bad. He always sticks with it and gets the job done. Does not pay no attention to the BS either.
The only explaination I have for someone having a spotless truck is that they don't work. I mean I keep my truck presentable looking and organized but at the end of the day, its a work truck. I don't have time to keep every speck of dust off the dash lol.
It doesn't help that I have two, the service truck and haul truck. Most of the time I roll in to the shop in one and out in the other. They're not that bad, the top guys there are very particular about their stuff so the example is set by them. I keep it clean but not spotless like them. I don't have the time or energy. I'd love to have them call me, "are you on the way yet?" My response "nope cleaning my truck I'll get there when I get there". Holy cow they'd come uncorked over something like that! I did have time to pull the floor mats out of the haul truck and wash them, vacuum it out etc. It was due for service so I knocked it out today. Headed to southern Oklahoma Monday to a bridge job on Greasey Bend Rd......oh the fun I could have with that!!! 108" hole, not sure what they're doing on a bride that ends up that size, I guess we will know Monday! Junkyard
Nice looking equipment there. I used to drive haul truck and service truck to but just got to much and the boss always thought I didn't keep things clean enough. Now the haul truck driver keeps it clean and shiney and he says oh you just clean it when you get back to shop like ya that works nice when need to work on a dozen more important things! Do you know what that semi tractor weighs? We was looking at something like that besides with a little bunk and not the 2 spd rears.
With the lowboy I'm 52-53k empty. That trailer is heavy. I'd say the truck is 24-25k. That rack is heavy and it's packed full of chains, tools and rigging. I had a similar Pete a few years ago with a 48" bunk and it was 23,500. Junkyard
If it makes you feel any better my nicknames are pig pen and pooh bear.
I think it looks good. Get it laminated and tape it in. Better yet get one of your kids to color it first.
At the end of the week I give my service truck a good cleaning. During the week I just keep up on best I can. Toss out empty pails, broken parts etc.
I get the business end done each time I come back, dump oil, trash filters etc. Inside gets it whenever I find myself sitting waiting to work on a machine or something like that. I don't wash them very often and that's what they give me **** over. I turn it back on them and ask why the yard guys didn't wash it while it sat for a couple days. They'll wash every other darn thing on the yard. Oh well, I wash it at home at turn in hours for it
Rumor has it that at some point there will be a vinyl decal on the haul truck and my service truck.....
Had a guy on our crew at my last job we nicknamed Pig Pen, He actually looked kinda like character. He was one of the best and hardest working guys I've ever had on a crew. Maybe the other guys are a little jealous.
Could be, I was hired by the owner and got pushed past all the normal indoctrination if you will. I had a history with them as I used to haul their drills when I was trucking. I also know several guys that work there so I was connected to so speak. Hell they even paid my fee to the union to save me all the meetings and apprenticeship meetings etc. It really is a perfect job for me. I turn wrenches and haul the big iron. If all they can bust my chops over is not being as neat and tidy as them I reckon I'm doing pretty darn good! Junkyard
My dad, the boys and I went to the steam and gas engine show today. Wanted to see them plow but it was too wet. Snapped a few pics and have a video but I've yet to figure out how to get it to post from my phone. TD, picked up the AC book there from a guy selling manuals and whatnot
At first I was thinking those were some of the "new" equipment your boss had bought for the company! Always like the steering setups on those old machines, just some old chain hooked to the ends of the axle and then wrapped around a big pulley back on the frame. But at least in the next to last picture they did get "fancy" what with those spring action steering dampers! Can you just imagine if the guys who ran that equipment when it was the newest thing were around to day to hear operators complain about running a machine with no air conditioning or heaven forbid the Radio/CD players not working!
Nice pics. I know a fellow in Ellensburg where I use to live that had a miniature steam tractor like that one in the pic. He has a massive collection, several Hart Parr tractors. And a one only very odd walk behind tractor that was bought and used by the Overlake Blue Berry Farm. He has the original bill of sale and shipping papers for it when it came by ship to Seattle around the Horn. Truck Shop
There are two antique tractor shows just a few miles from my place. Both have steam engines and old tractors. Last year they hooked up three steam engines with flat belts, to a huge fan, to show how they used to do it to increase the horse power. Neat to see two flat belts over one pulley going from one machine to another.
I've been in the haul truck pretty much all week, headed to Topeka this morning to load some tools and bring them back to joplin. Spent yesterday afternoon doing busy work more or less. Helping change various bits in some tooling I ran onto one rock auger that had a bunch that were stuck solid. Rust and that fine rock dust set like concrete and weld. So when all else fails we take a large nut, around 2", weld it on the offending bit and hammer back and forth with a 1" gun while somebody else pecks on the pocket and sprays penetrant. At some point it begins to move a bit and eventually it'll spin and come out. Usually goes without a hitch but today there was a casualty lol my good ole Sioux 1" gun had a catastrophic failure. Ah well I'll go find another.
Dang, that's a bad break. Is it possible to get parts for that gun?
I'm hoping so, assuming somebody still services that brand. They used to be part of Snap On. Hopefully I can find parts, it's a good gun. Hits hard and it was cheap to start with, bought it on eBay. I almost bought a new 3/4 gun may just get a new 1". Oh well!
Maybe this will help; http://www.siouxtools.com/pricelists.php
Just file a new anvil out of a D9 axle stub.
I haven't even started to dig into finding parts for the gun. Piddling in the shop this morning I was digging through some old tools etc and it reminded me of a funny story. About a year or so ago an elderly lady stopped by and asked if I'd be interested in some of her husbands tools, she was raising money to move into an assisted living center. I said sure, followed her home and looked things over. Bought a GIANT fab table, 1" plate top (6) 8" pipe legs and it's 4'x10'. Stupid heavy. Anyway, there was a job box locked up. I asked her what was in it and if she had the key. She didn't know, no key. So we haggled on price before I opened it. I cut the lock off and it was full of tools, lots of Proto, tons of files and large soldering irons, dial indicators etc. I think I paid $350. I got it home, dug through it and found at least a 100 pounds of drill bits. In the corner was a .30 cal ammo can. I opened it up and it was full of pill bottles. Upon closer examination they were full. I started reading labels, they were all old, 2003-2005. Oxycodone, methadone etc! Lord knows the street value of them. I suppose somebody was hiding them from somebody else! I called my sheriff buddy and some come get the crap and dispose of it. Never know what you're gonna find!!
Shouldn't your company replace "your" gun? I don't know your situation but if you're just getting paid by the hour and using your tools.
A lot of companies do pay an annual tool allowance. One outfit I worked for paid $500 every year regardless of how many tools you bought. The one I'm with now pays $750 but I have to produce $750 worth of tool receipts in order to get it.
Well the company I worked for had an "unlimited" tool allowance! Yep you were "allowed" to buy as many as you wanted to pay for! The good thing was they supplied any of the big things like 1 inch air tools and sockets and they did have a 3/4 inch drive set but I had my own that went up to 2 1/4 or so. Also provided anything over 1 1/2 in end wrenches and micrometers and specialized tools like Cummins timing tool an such. Overall not too bad a deal.
I was told when I started moving into my truck, if there's anything you need go get it. I'm sure they'd replace it, at least repair it. Hard to beat this place!
I can buy as many tools as I want. They only cough up a maximum of $750 reinbursment once a year. I'm allowed to keep those tools.
Had to change hydraulic pumps on a 2500 today. Right pump quit. I haven't dug into it yet. Based on the lack of trash in the tank and filters I feel as though it may be related to relief valve. I expected a good bit of metal. It wasn't run long that way so I suppose it could be bad inside and we just caught it early. If I tear into it I'll post some pics. Start to finish swapping pumps, draining tank, cleaning suction filters, cleaning tank, refilling with oil and testing....8 hours. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.
A good days work.
Not bad. Spent the morning washing that rig, I think you could spend an entire day on them and still miss stuff. After it's clean you end up getting it dirty again greasing it, lubing the slide and ring gear, cables etc.
If it has both, "guaranteed problems."
Just finished a 15 hour day. Started in Joplin, worked a few hours and got called up to Topeka. Scheduled tomorrow off a month ago..... Get up to Topeka and get the rig fixed. Stop by the office there and head south. I've more or less drove for a living going on 20 years and close to a couple million miles. Drove through one of the best/worst storms I've ever seen! Killer light show, stupid rainfall, I'd say 60 mph wind and marble size hail if not a bit bigger. So 6 hours in the field working, 9 driving and I'm home so I can get one kiddo through kindergarten ceremony tomorrow and watch the oldest graduate high school that evening. Oh joy I did score a Snap On 1" ratchet on EBAY the other day. Plus some detroit manuals and a couple Cat manuals. Am I the only one who buys them to learn about something I MIGHT work on.....? Junkyard
I would but I'm cheap so I just read random stuff on SIS when I'm bored.
One of these days I'll have access to SIS....I'd be into all kinds of stuff on there. Although I do like getting my hands on a real book. Either way I like discovering new stuff.
My friend and former boss sent this pic today. I'm headed up tomorrow to see if it can be saved without too much trouble.... Junkyard
I'm no expert but I think its flooded.....
You should take a new decal with for it providing you can get it out and cleaned up. "Sink-Belt"
How did that happen?
So is this the one that caught fire last year? I remember something about a link-belt and burning. I'm guessing one of the heavy rains caught them out?
This is the one that replaced the burnt one. Operator wanted to leave early Friday I assume and didn't pull it up to high ground, we got torrential rain Thursday and Friday. We knew it was coming. I'm afraid it's going to be an electrical nightmare. I hope it's pumped down enough tomorrow we can get a halfass idea of how bad it is. Doesn't look good. The air filters are pretty high so maybe it hasn't ingested a bunch of water but if it has we can deal with that easy enough. Really my only major concern is electrical. I'm not sure what his plan is. I know it's insured but after the burnt one I'm not sure how it'll go. I'll update tomorrow after I get a look at it. If anybody has any words of wisdom I'm all ears. Getting the motor dried out if need be isn't a big deal to me. Neither is the hydraulic or fuel systems. Preventing or mitigating electrical damage is my main goal at this point. I hope I can help him save it and a potential insurance nightmare. Junkyard
From look in the picture the water line on the dirt looks like it was much higher than the engine .
Pull all the electrical connectors, blow them out and put them back with dielectric grease.
Yeah I'm afraid it was pretty well covered when they started pumping. Not good. Plus, as bad as I want to help him I have a FULL week next week so extra time to help is not very plentiful.
No, You are not. I buy manuals for stuff I want to add to the line up. I wonder if I will ever use my D9 and 666 stuff. I sure would like to. I also buy manuals when I come across them at sales for little or nothing. I would hate to see them tossed in the trash because sooner or later someone will need them.
I ended up with a Kent Moore detroit master tool catalog, V-71 and inline 71 series service manuals, a 627B parts and service manuals as well as a D7G parts/service all for about $100. If anybody has or finds any two stroke tools for sale I'm interested. Kits or single tools. I'd love to need to 666 books. Even the older 9's would be cool. I haven't done much work on the older flat track machines thus the need to bone up on procedures. I also did some trading for an OTC pump to run my hydraulic stuff. Based on spec I think it might run my 1-1/2" torque wrench too.
I will keep a eye out for you here in jersey if I come across any .
Junkyard ,old-iron-habit or anyone in need of help. Feel to hit me up if you need manuals on stuff .I have all kind of stuff from older to latest stuff that can be emailed . thanks Ed
Did the machine have a master battery disconnect that was turned off? Otherwise your probably going to find a bunch of fried circuit boards. I've been through 3 excavators and a Hyundai loader that went swimming, that was by far the usual problem, even down to the HVAC door motors. I'm sure that Link-Belt does not have any in-cab modules that are watertight. The hydraulic system is sealed and pressurized so that should be clean, and the engine is easy enough to clean out. But... the swing bearing will probably be full of water and possibly some sediment. We just greased and greased turning the house a few degrees at a time. seemed to work ok.
Sorry to see the pictures junkyard, I've looked at some flooded cranes as a project, but always walked away because they just looked like too much work.
It does have a master but I doubt they shut it off. They didn't used to be in the habit unless it was a machine that would kill the battery overnight. He says it's going good but I don't know if that means they're getting water pumped or if by some divine intervention it's not that bad. I plan to swing by on my way to Joplin later and take a gander.
So any idea of where the "Sink-Belt" operator is looking for his next job? I'm sure he won't be using this place in his resume!
Funny you should ask. He just bought a dump truck off a friend of mine and was asking me about what all he needed to get his authority. He planned to run it with a driver and continue to work for Weaver. I think now he might be getting his CDL and driving it...... He's a good operator just doesn't always think. He was the one running the burnt machine as well...
Well they got it going before I made it out there. He says it's running but has some electrical issues to work out. Ya think?!? I think he got lucky. I sure hope they were cautious as they prepared to run it.
Scares me sometimes when people will get too anguish to get something going and not want to wait for the mechanic to check it out! Hope they at least checked for water in engine oil and air filter. If there had been some of that dirty water in the intake and if fired up then swallowed even a cupful of water it could lock up the engine and do all kinds of damage. Also if any of that dirty water had got into the engine oil and now is mixed in with the oil again bad news! But at least they can't blame you as they cranked it up before you got there! Have fun with the electrical stuff!
I agree. I'm a little concerned that they didn't take the proper steps to prevent damage. He's not the most patient person in situations like that. At the end of the day it's his monkey, he can f$&k it any way he wants to. I'd have been considerably more deliberate than him. As long as it took to pump it down and the time he told me they had it "running" I can't see that they spent much time going over it. Oh well, lessons to be learned I'm sure! Junkyard
Let's see here....not much exciting this week. Haul truck Monday and half of Tuesday. Brought the Soilmec back to the yard for some TLC. Found a couple hydraulic hoses that need swapped. One fitting looked like a fairly standard flange type -20. The other was a female swivel but didn't look JIC or flat face. Did some digging and it's a DIN type fitting. A few phone calls and found some, spendy little buggers. Being this machine is eye-talian (have to do the proper okie phonetic spelling) I wanted to make darn sure I had the right fittings before I tore into it. I've serviced that machine several times but never really had a need to pour over it other than the broken wire a few weeks back. One thing I like is the rotary itself has a nice big check plug with dipstick. Also, two magnets in each corner near the drive motors I assume to catch the crud in the gear to gear areas. Pulled them, never had been as we seldom have the rotary down where you can get to them or clean enough to even see the caps. They were about 4-5" long and have a perfect layer of what I'd called normal shavings on them. I could see that style be awful handy in some other gear applications, much better than a little magnet in the end of a pipe plug. These look to be #20 British pipe maybe the next size down. Wednesday I ended up going to change the fuel pump on a Watson, sent me in the haul truck so I could fix and then bring the crane back from that job. Ended up staying and helping the welder get the pins fixed in the sub of the kelly. Brought the crane home, hit the shop about 5:30. Foreman says "you ain't gonna like this......." I'm headed to KC this am to put brakes on a trailer that got DOT'd and didn't pass. Personally I think it's the controller in the truck pulling it and not the trailer itself. I think all but the operator that stayed up in KC are off today. No big deal I'll take the hours but I had kind of let my guard down and was thinking I'd have a nice clean short day today! That's what I get for thinking!!! Grrrrr Have a great holiday weekend y'all and remember why we celebrate it! Oh and btw, PA track and welding is a SUPER guy. Not sure if he wants his name shared, he may have already stuck it somewhere. If you guys need help or parts in that area please patronize him. Junkyard
That should be an easy gouge and weld no? needs more penetration?
Yep hog it out, clean it up and weld out. Banging the bars does that. This particular job has a 4-6' layer of rock about 18-20' down. Those Watson's are some rock drilling sob's but they'll shake and break a lot of little stuff loose. When you hit the right speed and crowd those core barrels setup a cadence that helps fracture rock but man it fractures a lot of other stuff too!
We have DIN fittings on Sennebogen machines we sell. Sometimes they show up on oddball stuff. They look real close to BSPP fittings if you have never been around them. FYI the o-ring on the tapered snout can give out and leak. It won't matter how tight you get the fitting, it's still gonna leak. And those o-rings are a size that doesn't match up to anything else. An o-ring kit for DIN stuff might come in handy...
That's very good to know. This is my first experience with this style fitting. The IMT rigs like their British pipe. Thanks for the heads up!
Finally got back on the little JD dozer today. Owner is doing the one side. Complete. Rail, rollers, sprocket, new idler and swap pads with new bolts. Why one side? Don't ask me! It doesn't work but a 100 hours a year if that. Oh well. I had the old track in a U, should have taken a pic then but you can still see how bad it is. The old rail is gonna be my mailbox post. Any cool ideas for the box itself? Wish I had enough pads to build one. Actually I think I have some triple grouser pads out back from the burnt hoe. Junkyard
I don't know about the box but I like the look of the rail bent like that. Leave the pads on it so you can see what it used to be. Bend it as far to the side like it is bent in the picture as you can before welding it. Then cut the top off straight so the mailbox will still be level.
If I wasn't reusing pads that would work cool. I need to dig through my scrap pile and see what I have. I want one that when hit I come out the next morning and whatever hit it is sitting there with fluids hemroging out of it!
After a long night of watching the storms go through I think I have a cool idea for the mailbox. I'll shorten the chain so I can make a full loop like it's on a machine and end up at a good height, idler at the bottom and sprocket at the top. I'll go get a small underbody tool box, 18"x18" or so. Put the mail slot in the back of it, fab a small lip off the top to keep the rain out and then the door will be at the back and I can keep it locked. Never had mail taken that I'm aware of but you never know. I'll set a post or two I can slide in the rails and bolt/weld it solid to keep it from growing legs and going over. Thoughts?
You could give your mail carrier a key as well so they can put bigger packages or envelopes in the box that won't fit through the slot. Saves them having to come up to the house and throw it on the front steps.
That thought crossed my mind too, 99% of the time it's the same carrier. I wish scrap was higher here, I've got a pile of idlers and whatnot that need to go away. May make them into front weights for my old 706 Farmall. It's a bit spooky mowing the slopes I have. I'll make sure and save pics of the build when I do it.
Moved the Soilmec to a job in Ok today. One of those "paddle faster I hear banjos" sites in the boonies near the lake. Oh and the only way in was a 3 ton bridge or a 10 ton bridge
So I'm guessing you took the 3 ton bridge as it would be cheaper to replace if it failed!
Lmao. Yeah and it was the least objectionable way in. The 10 ton was the lake Eufala dam! I would barely call the 3 ton a bridge. I could spit across it. It only saw an axle at a time unsupported. Whenever I see a cell tower job I know it's gonna be fun!
Maybe 15 years ago i was putting up hay on an ACoE lease and noticed there was decent sized AT crane that seemed lost, but i left them alone till they tried to get up on the dam road which has a 20 ton limit. They were trying to get to a cell site up near the dam, but access is through the section road on the backside of the hill.
I'm headed to get the Soilmec tomorrow, drop it at my yard, head to southern ok to move an IMT to the other side of a bridge. 300 yards as the crow flies, 20 miles practical. Then to another job and grab the other IMT 180 and take it to Joplin. That'll kill my week!
Junkyard, Nice work. I thought i was being updated on this thread from years ago but now i come back to HEF and see i have been missing things. Gonna take a bit to get caught up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!TIO
Thanks! The new site is kind of a pain but we make do Your thread is the one that inspired me to start my own. You and TomV are my secret idols.... I have a ton of respect for a lot of the guys I routinely interact with but as far as independent field guys you two rock! I'm slowly gathering stuff to do my own deal. Talked to a guy tonight about doing their boring. Glad to see you back!
Good to see you back TIO.
Junkyard What line bore getup do you have? In looking to get in to it. Have to see how it shakes out with the start of summer season.
I haven't actually picked one yet. I think I'm going to start simple and move up from there. Most of what I've been asked to tackle are buckets, dippers and fairly simple smaller stuff so one of the kits with the bars and tooling to be run by a mag drill should get me started for a reasonable amount. A man sure can tie a ton of $$ up in one really quick!
Also glad to see TIO back.
Junkyard your crazy. I like it.
Aren't we all? Lol. Like Waylon said..."I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane". I'm sure my wife and daughters would agree and share some interesting stories. My boys are growing up to be just as crazy! Especially my youngest. He's wilder than a March hare!
Damn right.
Moved the IMT today, headed to KC Monday to get our HPSI hammer and take it down to southern OK then return the rental to KC. Scored an unused Detroit diesel tool kit off eBay that showed up today. Headed to Okc tomorrow to buy what is supposed to be a good head for a C15 I have in need of one. Haggling with a guy on a 60 ton hollow ram cylinder that's been used a couple times, if that. Slowly adding to the aresenal.
Looking at the boring bars that I've seen machinists come up with, its more a matter of good quality materials, 4130 or 4140 solid bars, msc for the round hole to square tool bit adapters, lock screw and feed screw added in and then dial indicate the bit. Good bearings and off you go. Takes a couple hours to make a bar, maybe make a couple common ones, drive it with a lovejoy off the mag drill, start building up your bar and bracket set.
That's more or less what I was leaning towards. I have a couple guys that could make my bars and finding the various cutting tools isn't hard. Bearings and brackets are easy too. Most likely it'll be thrown together like all the other stuff I have!
I made one a couple years ago ordered tgp shaft and drilled and broached. Drive it with your Milwaukee that drill . One thing I would like is a bore welder as I hate hand welding. Have only used a few times but gets the job done.
I think a bore welder is all but a must have. I did talk to a guy that's developed a bore welder that will be very reasonable cost wise. I won't say who or anything as I'm sure he will let us all know when it's ready for sale. I'm wanting to get my hands on some stuff so I can learn on my little projects or on something less critical like a bucket. My old boss wasn't wanting to do his buckets right but they've hit some serious rock and now wants them all done up like TomV and TIO do them. I'll take all the side work I can get, or that my family will tolerate lol
I would be intersted in the welder when it's done.
Do you think he's on HEF? lol he's got a slight addiction to the iPad........
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/82432287 This is the part I was thinking of, makes a round hole into square without broaching, make it a press fit and you're all set
Plenty of windshield time this week, up to KC today and got the hammer and decided to squeeze the exciter on there too. I may or may not be a little heavy.... Down to the job tomorrow, swap hammers and move the rig then back up to KC weds.
I really like paint matched headache rack/chain box. First one I saw was a guy on here with a white and brown W9. Don't know if you've seen any of his posts, but i know you'll appreciate his handle. HeavyEquipmentForums
Heck yeah that's a good one! I've always like the Brunners racks but since Larry retired and sold the place the quality isn't what it used to be. Hard to say how much I spent there over the years.....:-/
Busy week for me, three FULL days in the haul truck. I think I ran about 1500 miles. Spent Thursday and Friday in the shop. Normally we're off early Friday but it giving the IMT a once over I noticed the master pin coming out of the track. So I proceeded to fix it. Well the button head grease nipple wouldn't seal right and when you'd get about 3/4 tension of it grease would puke out. Called Cat and had them send a drawing and based on that this button head and associated changes were not Cat equipment. Tear into it and find that the button seals to the cylinder with British pipe. Last person to install used the wrong size sealing washer and the OD would not fit into the recess nor would the ID seal the threads properly. After the right washer it sealed correctly and I proceeded to pump grease until my arms fell off. Reminded me of the MX days when you rode hard and your arms pumped up on ya! Managed to score a hollow ram cylinder off CL while I was in KC. Feller even met me while I was unloading the hammer. 60 ton, 6" stroke. Barely, if ever, used!
Nice looking ram
Love them handles!
You'd have a helluva time moving and using it without the handles. It's ALL there for what it is.
Ladies and gentleman there is something seriously wrong with how people are trained for a position in parts. Go to a local parts store, won't say which lol, ask for a couple 1/4-20 bolts 6" long. Parts "person" grabs the Dorman book to look up a number..... for a bolt...... Can't find what I asked for, not even close to the correct section of the book. When they walk away I grab the book, find the numbers for grade 5 and 8. Offer the number when they come back, look them up. Don't have either. I ask about all thread. 5 parts "people" behind the counter give me a blank stare. Old retired parts running feller walks out from the back and goes down an isle and comes back with what I asked for. He the proceeds to comment, "Hope I don't get fired for that". I quickly replied fired hell I'd promote you! What the actual $&@! Are they teaching these people? It's a bolt for petes sake! Not a head bolt for a Hall Scott or a blow off valve for a JI Case steam engine. Grrrr
Well if it is anything like around here, nothing! And it's not a new thing, but seems to be getting worse all the time. Way too many people in the education business have very low regard for people who work with their hands. I had a personal bad experience with this way back in 1965-66. The county had just started what they call BOCES, basically a trade type school with classes in everything from food service to carpentry and auto mechanics and heavy equipment. The mechanic course sounded like fun to me as I had always liked taking things apart and once in awhile getting them back to working condition. So When this new type of school appeared I was already to sign up. Then the person who was called our "guidance counselor" , a term I reject to this day, told me "no way!" you're too smart and should be going to college! Come on I was a low "B" student if that, did pretty good in math and science but that's about it. I did play the community college game and almost got my degree but nothing really interested me till I heard the quarry my dad worked at and I had worked a couple summer at while going to school was starting a shop to do their own repairs for several quarries they had in the northeast. Managed to hang in there through all the mergers and management changes and retire almost 45 years latter. As a side story to this my brother after 20 years in the Air Force and a few years teaching math ended up being a principal at the BOCES school in the next county! He talks about the poor attitude that is still rampant with the schools that think a trade school is a dumping ground where you stick the kids that are not working out in "normal school". More than once he would ask a "guidance counselor" who was trying to dump a problem student on him if they really wanted little Freddy the doper to be working on the brakes for their wife's or daughter's car. "Well NO!" would be the reply, "Then why do you want us to give him a degree in auto mechanics?" Getting down off my soap box! Oh if you need that blow-off valve this guy may be able to help:
It just amazes me the kids don't seam to know anything when they get out of school. Every shop around hear needs mechanics and the teachers still push collage for a degree that they will not be able to get a job in.
In Europe a certified tradesman takes as long as a college degree. They are treated with respect and usually make a good wage. The U S used to let the large companies run their own apprentice type programs for skilled trades but that has pretty much gone by the wayside. Cost cutting you know. I guess down time is free on the assembly line.
Where I started out as a mechanic helper the boss running the shop always said he wanted to train his people in his way of doing things. He did a good job of getting about half the guys in the shop into a factory week long training session every year and at least once a year he would bring in one of the local dealers to give onsite training. Then as new management took over those schools and onsite training got less and less. They finally got to the point about the only "training" was when a dealer had something they wanted to sell the company, like Cat ET. That would be maybe a half day sales meeting with a few basic training hints thrown in to make it look good. That plus the push to outsource as much work as possible to as we were told "Put the liability for a repair failure on to the outside contractor in place of us."
Anymore most outside shops mean eminent failure, at least to me. At one time you could trust a dealer to do it right and stand behind it. Not so much anymore. I'd rather invest in equipment and training to run my own maintenance and repair facility than rely on somebody else. It goes back to training and somebody investing in the next generation. With any luck my boys may work into that role. My 7 year old sits down with me and reads the Allis Chalmers book some evenings. With exposure to me and an interest in learning lord knows what he might accomplish. I think many companies have gone for the almighty dollar and neglected the style of service that was in place not so long ago.
Industry is very aware of this problem... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ch-the-u-dot-s-dot-about-vocational-education
Well I won't say I or anyone else at the shop while it was going full bore never made a mistake or had a repair failure. But it would have been rare and in a couple cases the result of trying to save money by using some aftermarket parts to save money or to be honest once or twice when following orders from a boss who thought you could replace welding and boring a pin hole in a Cat front end loader with a coating of epoxy and a new bushing! The first couple years after they more or less closed the shop for doing work for other quarries and fired everyone but yours truly we did go though a period where anyone who could bid a job low enough would get it. Like the shop that won the bid to rebuild a 3408 Cat engine and when our truck got there to drop it off they had to hunt around for a way to pick it off the lowboy! The last couple of years it did get a little better as company started dealing with for the most part two different shops. both of those started and run by former Cat dealer mechanics who also had hired a couple of the other guys away from the local dealer. Still I know the cost for the work they do is at least three to four times what I was making an hour. But I can understand that as those shop owners have lots of expenses I did not have to deal with working for the quarry. I might have to find some time to stop by and see them to hear their side of how things are going! I'll make sure I don't show up in anything close to work clothes or else they might try to put me too work!
We're all gonna make a mistake here and there. I'm sure you guys know a good shop pretty quick by either conversing with them or by just nosing around. Doesn't take long to get the feel for a place if you know what to look and listen for. Most I walk into I can tell pretty quick if I'm going to get what I want out of them. The places I choose to have work done on cars and whatnot know how I am about things and it's even a running joke at one place. Cummins in Joplin is a freakin joke. I begged the foreman to let me fix the truck we took there. Wasn't running right, N14 cummins. I tinkered with it a bit on the job site I loaded it at. I was sure turbo was shot and fairly certain we had one bad injector. It also needed rods and mains. I never saw the bill but when I had to tell them we wanted the overhead run on all 6 cylinders not just the covers they had off in search of the issue...... I'm thinkin properly advertised and operated an independent shop would make a killing. 90% of the mistakes I see are stupid simple **** that a properly trained tech would not make. Also, for the love of God train your damn service writers! The KW dealer in Tulsa has some really sharp guys. Good enough that more often than not you can pick their brain and not even have to drag a mechanic into the convo. Rant over.....for now
Oh and I played with the equivalent to a mechanic's puzzle today. They washed one of the IMT's last week and had all the belly plates off of it. So I had a bucket of bolts and 10 different plates to get back on the right way. Kind of fun and kind of a pain!
The local Cat off-road dealer has and had some good people on the parts counter. The best guy was a mechanic who for some reason decided he wanted a change of job. Most of the time as a mechanic he worked in what they called the "spec area". Some one else would remove the engine, transmission or other component and he did what needed doing. One time I had something like a 3306 with the sleeve metering injection pump that was leaking oil at the governor. Called, I believe his name was Steve, anyhow in a couple minutes he explained what to take off and what to leave alone and how to be sure the governor weights were in the right place and he made up a kit of the gaskets and seals. Made me look like I actually knew what the heck I was doing!
Same thing happened to me. "Guidence Councillor" says I'm an idiot for wanting to pursue a career as a heavy equipment mechanic and I should become a lawyer. Glad I stuck to my guns. I'm not sensitive or PC enough for an office environment and I'd rather be 50 kilometers out in the bush changing a blown hydraulic line in -35 than in an office cubicle.
Not sure I'd like the -35ºC! Now make that +35ºF and the job might take much longer than the boss expected!
One of my favorite rants, the parts department makes the dealer more money than any other in a normal year, yet they get the least respect. Training? Nuh uh. Parts techs are either an entry level spot for someone destined for sales, etc., or they're hired on the 3P principle, Present, with a Pulse, and a Pencil, that's a parts man. Why do you think the big outfits want the contractor or mechanic to look up and order their own parts? I takes twenty years and a decent wage to grow a good parts man, much cheaper to let the customer do it, and nobody to blame when they get the wrong stuff. It's a thankless job all around, as one coworker used to say often "Ain't nobody when they were a kid said "When I grow up I want to be a parts man!""
So true. I did it for awhile when I first got into the whole shop scene. I did pretty good mainly because I had the aptitude and am good with numbers. Back in the days when you used a book and the counter was solid books from one end to the other. I still have all them
There are a few parts men at my store that have squirreled some of those books away. "Before they reformatted the book and wrecked it" they say. Or "they don't print this any more" I go there for generator engines which are often like car engines except something made in 1995 would have commonality with a car engine made in 1965. So sometimes those paper books are the only way to figure it out.
Repost of what I hastily put in the wrong damn post! Grrrrr
So is there going to be a problem having it ready for the morning? Looks like you have most of the major parts to reassemble it after a quick buffing of the crankshaft.
Yep I'm gonna have TD walk me through the finer points of his block patching method and see what I can't do with it. A few passes with some emry cloth and I think it'll hold a set of bearings.... This motor was just worked on by Cummins maybe a 1,000 miles ago. Damn near burnt the truck down when it blew. The wrist pin retaining ring was hanging from an air line under the truck and the pushrods came out of the block. If the boss sells it I'm gonna repower with an 8v71 I just happen to have captive I've seen motors go but other than a couple race motors I've scattered I haven't seen a big diesel fail that spectacularly.
DUDE! I hope thats not the Cummins N14 you were talking about?
Yes sure is..... When we called cummins we got the long uncomfortable (for them anyway) pause ahhhhhhh well get it towed in and we will do a failure anylsis. I laughed and said I can do one right here, the f$&kin rod is in pieces and there are windows now on both sides of the block where that particular rod used to reside. Don't need NASA or the NTSB for this one!! I proceeded to tell him I'm the easy one to deal with, get out your checkbook because I doubt the owner wants a motor at this point the truck has fire damage. Freakin awesome and FUBAR at the same time!
From the pictures its a N14-- Wait- Junkyard beat me here- Story of my life- day late and a dollar short.
Lol! Good ole ***-a-part!
Most spectacular engine failure I've seen so far was a 6.7L ISC Cummins in a forklift. One of the rod cap bolts on #5 cylinder appeared to have fatigue fractured and broke off. Crank blew the rod right out the side of the block.
That's a good one. 10 years ago we had a JD combine that threw the rod out and it landed by the fuel tank on the back of the machine. If I recall I think they had something like 350 engines fail in those machines. drilled the oil passages in the crankshaft bigger for more oil flow. Apparently they didn't think that would weaken the crank.
So after seeing the bucket of parts the feller doing the failure analysis said that's all I need to see. Give them a new motor. Gee thanks captain obvious. I told you that in words and pics a week ago! So the ole ford is gonna get a new motor.
Stumbled on this today. Look familiar? https://imgur.com/gallery/TNOFn
Driver to dispatch, 'hey I've got a little oil leak, no I didn't hear any unusual noise'...
Funny story today. Sitting in the A/C at the shop I hear a siren in the yard. Walk out to see one of the local volunteer fire dept water trucks. A friend's brother climbs out and tells me it won't build air. He mentioned they just did a head gasket on it so I snoop around and quickly spot the short hose from the intake manifold fitting to the hard line supplying clean air to the compressor wasn't hooked up and it was folded over and pinched perfectly blocking the intake for the compressor. Didn't snap a pic because my phone wasn't handy and didn't want to poke fun at the fire dept boys. Can't say I've ever seen that before.
I carry BW air governor...lots road side rescues for ca$h. Fuel filters etc.
Me too. I was all but convinced the governor was acting up but upon further examination I was wrong. As clueless as they are about air brakes I'm impressed the head was on and engine ran without puking fluids everywhere.
When I read your post I was hoping it was the air compressor head, not the engine head.... On the other hand I use a semi retired race car guy for my engine work and while he is great with the insides of engines, he has a ways to go with some of the external stuff we deal with. The upside is he knows what he is doing, so you basically just have to explain it to him and he will have it figured out if it is something he has not seen before.
One thing that did concern me was when they asked me if they should run the overhead. I asked if he meant rerun it. He said no we just bolted everything back on where it was..... I advised them to pull the valve cover and check it. The head was shaved a few thousands as well as a few valves getting some work. I bet it comes back for me to do as they figured out I was off until Wednesday.....
Brought home a new toy yesterday. Needs some TLC but it'll be sweet when it's done. I have another SAE400 that's got a better chassis and sheetmetal so between the two it will be nice someday. This one runs great and welds good. Many many thanks to DMiller in helping me get it picked up and storing it a few weeks! I owe ya!
Take two and make one nice one.
Just the thing to make the neighbors happy! Just need to get it going and spend some time running the Air-Arc gouging out the cutting edge of a loader bucket!
A red face! Never have been sure what that signifies but know the Lincoln motor generator snobs like it! My dad has 3 SA 200's with continental gas in them, I learned on those things. Is that an auxiliary generator of some sort hanging off the side?
Yep, there's a Dayton generator that somebody stuck on it at some point. Fairly well mounted but I will most likely take it off. I think between the two it'll make a nice machine. I'll have it blasted and painted, get new face plate made, maybe move the gauges and starter switch etc. Nothin would sound better than a 2-71 running at full song and a gouge zapping away! Most of my neighbors wouldn't think anything of it..... I love the 200's and wanted one but for gouge work it's hard to beat these old 400's and with a 2-71 it's perfection in my book!
400 with 2-71, good machines, I have one with IMT 37cfm water cooled compressor...mounted on trailer Lincoln SAE300 Diesel is for-sale in the area $1,200.00, if anyone is interested..
IIRC, it's something about all copper windings, and being able to hold a really consistent arc with a lot of control. The pipeliners really go for them. But I'm no expert.
Stan, I've thought about the most logical compressor to add to this machine. I have an extra T-30 IR but that's not enough air in my opinion. I'd like to be over 40 cfm if I could pull it off. I wonder what LTL freight would end up costing on that SAE300. That's not a bad price.
I just left California yesterday. I could have thrown it on the bed of the F-550. Dang.
That very same thought crossed my mind!
Hard at work in MN with OIH.....
You did get a Non-resident Permit to catch those fish right? I remember back in the 1970's being up at my aunt and uncle's resort near Cohasset Minn. they liked reading the report of all the people from Iowa who got caught either with too many fish or just lack of fishing permits. Local paper had a couple columns for names and fines.
Yes sir we got the married couple 14 day non-resident. Law and order that's my motto ;-) Pulled the starter out of his 931 today. That was a chore.
Do you mean you and OIH are a couple now?
Haha you could interpret it that way! Lmao
Went on google for OIH, does it mean Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia (pain tolerance) ?
To be absolutely correct he would be saying that Mrs. Junkyard is one heck of a fisherwomen.
(Oh I see...)
Workin on a pony motor swap today.....
Got the pony motor rearranged for OIH's machine, made some gaskets and have it about 80% installed. Might have it busted off today, tomorrow for sure. Still have to finish pulling the 8v71. Got the 931 going this morning.
Nice july weather down ther to? Could almost run the heat at home.
We did stick some wood in the boiler last night. 90's at home. Miserable hot. I've worn a sweatshirt the last two days!
93 in Nashville today. Feels like 104.
59 degrees, in summer? Maybe I need to work summers up there and winter's down here. It was a hot corker here again today.....
66 here on the left coast... had to take my sweatshirt off about noon...
It will be a shock to come home I'm sure. Although when they say it's hot I'm thinking to myself, you'd spontaneously combust in OK! Or get freaked by a man made earthquake! Pullin the 8v71 now. Funny how some bolts just come out and some are tighter than dicks hatband! It's been a great relaxing week
What i've learned here is all I need is a fishing spot and some detroit bits and you'll visit.
Not too far from the truth! I get near Lawrence fairly often for work anyway.
Got the 8v71 pulled. If you'll notice the wife's Escalade in the background...... how many green leakers have been pulled working out of the back on a Caddy?
Isn't there a nice looking, new yellow tandem axle trailer sitting around up there? You could have just hooked on to it, and had him pick it up sometime this winter, when we have acceptable weather. Were they out of old tires up there too? I've taken to hauling engines in a old tire after someone suggested it to me. It seems like blocks always walk out on me, even if I spend a hour screwing them all together and cross tying them. Last two I hauled I just threw them on a old tire, and one strap across them, and let them ride, except for the 6v92 I brought home a while back, it had a allison on it, and those have a nice flat pan to hold them upright.
I'm sure we could have scrounged up a tire and I may regret not going that route by the time I get home. We shall see! Fished again tonight, I'd say 16-18 nice crappie.
You also have to me a master fish filleter. Oh that's not all. You have to be a master at turning fish into fillets and also a great chef. We ate good. One handy thing is that Jeff can back the boat in on the first try. Actually we kept 27 crappies last night. Ran out of bait minnows and the crappies were hitting on the bare jigs with skirts. Jeff did comment at one point that he was going to change his skirt to a pretty one. Another perfect evening on the water with a nice breeze and no mosquitos. Jeff and his wife hit the road a bit ago. We had a fun week and Debby and I really enjoyed their visit. After stuffing on deep fried fish, grilling brats, and generally eating to much as a habit, I hope he can make it through work Monday with the weight he is now carrying.
Been in the shop all week other than a quick drill rig move. Serviced a Lo-Dril and an IMT. Worked on one of the skidsteers that had an intermittent no start. Pulled the belly pan, tilted the cab etc and finally found the culprit. The wire to the solenoid had rubbed on the starter enough to short out and actually begin to arc through the aluminum housing. Been that way quite some time I'd imagine. Pretty full truckin week coming up. Drill to KS and then an IMT to Tx for a repaint. Plus I pickup the truck that scattered the cummins a few weeks ago. Miserable hot around these parts. Heat index over 100 next few days.
Did you get the 8V 71 back safe?
Yep rode back nice, snugged straps a few times but that was it. It's still on the trailer, I need to build a nice stand for it until I get around to using it. It was funny, everytime we stopped for fuel or whatever people always asked what it was. Of course they'd ask what I was going to do with it. Told one guy it was going on my lawnmower. He said damn how big is your yard?!?
I would have said it was a repower for my snowblower, tell them you heard this next winter would be a bad one!
Haha yeah that would have been perfect. Haven't lived north of the snow belt in many years!
Dang Junkyard, I was starting to worry. I had not seen a post on this thread since you got back home. I got to thinking maybe the lard we added to you last week was melting off and making it impossible for you to work without cleats. At least the boss let you stay in the shop to adjust to the heat and get over your "depression" about having to return home. It been in the 90s here also and we got 3.5" of rain Monday evening. A small bear holed up under the apple trees in the front yard during the storm. BIL said Timber seen it out the window and was barking at it and wanted to be let out. Be safe and stay hydrated my friend.
It's been an uncomfortable week for sure. Hasn't been much going on other than routine stuff. Nothin real challenging. We're spoiled in the shop, we have yummy electrolyte freezer pops to munch on. Hydrate and cool down all at the same time . We do have a daily quota of two per person but the foreman can't count past 10 with his shoes on so that's easy to sidestep We did have a debate over grease earlier in the week. We use a brand on most everything that works well but on the Lo-Dril kelly bearings it's not worth a flip, a little heat from drilling and it drops right out. I got some extended service stuff that's supposed to be very tacky (much like myself haha) so we're gonna try that. We had just put new bars in the drill and despite a thorough hand greasing before install and a liberal greasing through the zerks after they were run almost dry on an 18' hole. It's always somethin..... Gonna try my hand as a glass man tomorrow on an IMT window. It's been quiet enough one operator has been waxing rigs all week and may end up doing the same next week. Stuff sure comes out nice. He's got more patience for that than I do!
It's kind of nice when everything is fixed enough, that someone is waxing rigs, but then the worry is that there's not enough to do..... . Stay cool today and tomorrow, they say next week should be a little cooler.
It's our normal midsummer slow down I'm being told. Nobody seems too worried about it. There are a few idle rigs but there's plenty on the books coming up. I think once it cools down a bit it'll kick back off. We stay plenty busy in the shop.
I just try to keep in mind the British explorers of the olden days who used to traipse all over the poles and Africa and Australia and New Guinea traveling in wooden ships and lugging wooden crates wherever they went. At least when it's a hot, or cold, or rainy day I can go home at the end of it and sit in my house. There is the one time last winter I heard a truck driver got stuck in the snow and had to sit in his truck all night because he had no communications and everyone had gone home just figuring he was working late.
Back in the 70s on a bridge job near St. Cloud on a Friday about 3 on a cold rainy day the boss said, lock the place up and let's get out of here. It took me about 3 minutes to lock the tool traler/crew shack and hit the road for home 100 miles away. About 7 that night the super whom lived fairly close went back for some paperwork he needed to send in. He noticed the front window bars half out of the dark crew trailer and the glass broke. He called the cops and when they arrived they heard yelling from the trailer. Turns out our state inspectors had gone in our trailer to do there reports as their heat was not connected yet. They had been stumbling around in the dark trying to find tools to break out. I locked them in when I locked up. I got some grief over that one for a while.
You may want to check the "drop point" spec of the grease you're using against any new grease. The "drop point" is the temperature that the grease turns to liquid. The spec comparison may save you a lot of time in trial & error
We used to use Pennzoil "Adhesoplex" great stuff... so of course they quit making it.
That's what we did, had the oil supplier bring us specs and pricing. Compared them all etc. It wasn't like ooooh I like the smell of this one or the color of that one haha.
I think old used pile hammer grease would be the best. It always took about 6 weeks to wear off of me back in the day. Of course as you know I am a grease magnet.
Yes sir. Like a retriever to a pond. You run into the machine shed and bail off into the dirtiest, greasiest spot you can find
Sounds like we're related OIH.
I'm just as bad, he wouldn't share the filth with his guest! Haha. I earned my nickname at work for sure. Pigpen
Went to dinner with the wife and youngest. Had to run to a buddy's and fill out an annual inspection form. On the way back to my shop I stopped to get stuff to stock my cooler. This is what I came out to.....couldn't resist snapping a pic of it......think she rolls coal?
Didn't you hang out to take a video. Them old Mercedes diesels were cool. A gal in high school had one which I believe was a 50 something model. It had wooden door framing under the sheet metal. It rolled coal every time she stepped on it.
That's weird, i saw a mercedes diesel with a hood stack last night too.
Took an IMT 180 to Tx for a repaint and 5,000 service (whatever that entails). Got the truck all cleaned up and snapped this pic once I got out of the site.
Nice rig. What kind of power and trans?
Cat C-15, 18 speed and 2 speed 46k rears. The former shop foreman had it turned down, not sure why other than he's a tool. It runs ok, not like it should. Next time I get a chance it'll get different fuel codes and a few other tricks I know.... It's a 2013 but built as a glider so no DPF or DEF which is nice. The trailer is a 2012 and that's the first time the booster has been on it. Hell the 4th axle hadn't been used until I stuck it on a few months ago to move a Watson 3100. I've certainly drove worse! I've put 20,000 miles on it since mid March and other than the Tx run I haven't left a 250 mile radius of Joplin so it's lots of back and forth over the same roads....gets boring.
Neighbor got over 1,475,000 out C15 @ 475hp pull freight trailers..
I've seen several go a million with proper maintenance. Like anything, take care of it and with a little luck it'll last. Of course that was before emissions....
660s repowered Detroit60 with Jake Brakes...8th gear just under 45mph with Cat 346 60deg
Man that's crazy. Faster than I'd go in one!
That 660 sounded awesome. They ran that same speed flat out when they were new with the original Cat engines also. I have always been amazed at how the axles even stayed under them when bouncing over the bumps with 60 plus yards on them. I would like to know the "moment" load is that they were designed for.
Those original ones would block the sun with a cloud of black smoke. I remember seeing them in action building the interstates in the late '60s and early '70s. With 2 or 3 D9G's pushing and those 660's belching smoke, it literally looked like a pile of tires were on fire...not too eco friendly in today's world. Looked neat as hell to a kid though at the time.
They sure do bounce loaded. That would take some getting used to!
I wonder how well they stop?
Stop good... just drop the bowl.... tends to make a divot though....
Almost instantly when drop the scraper bowl onto the ground loaded, if empty you'll be running with apron opened exposing the cutting edge that will dig into the ground. Operating scrapers, always keep the scraper bowl just high enough for ground clearance. Bootlegging on surface streets, tie worn out tires underneath of the cutting edge with a cable so you can still drop the scraper bowl to stop. Brakes non-operative; backed off or completely removed.
I ran an old Wabco with electric toggle switch to steer. When going down the road you always held onto the hydraulic lever to drop the bowl. The steer switch seemed to quit working when you were going down the road where you needed it most. It was usually the edge of the road or in the ditch before you could drop the bowl for brakes as things happened pretty quick, when they go wrong.
Long, long ago Flying down a haul road on a TS 24. Heap loaded with heavy wet clay. I always turned sideways in the seat and run both throttles with my left foot. The old scrapers had no lock blocks or check valves. As hard as it would run in 4th, and blowed a hoist hose. That pig stopped in a measured 17 inches. Ribs got the steering wheel and left leg the steering column. And a head to waist bath in hot hydraulic. Ahh, good times ! Man, we're havin fun now !!!
About the only experience with scrapers I had was driving a follow car while we were transporting one across New York State. Other than forgetting the transporter plates when we went to pick it up everything was going good. It was an older Euclid or Terex machine, for get which one but it was Euclid green and had a 12V-71 Detroit engine. Well as we were shooting through Auburn NY on the then new Route 20 by-pass we came to the rail road siding for the Alco Locomotive factory. That scrapper hit those tracks probably at close to 40 mph. Front end bounced up and then when it came down it left some major skid marks on the road. I did not understand what was going on as it continued to bounce and skid a couple more times then it pulled off the road. We, the alternate driver and myself, got out of the pick-up and went up to ask the guy driving what the heck he was doing. He said the machine had dropped from high gear right into low gear when he hit the bump of the tracks. After a quick check found that one of the battery cables had come off and being an electric shift Allison it had told the transmission to start over again in first gear! Cleaned the batt cable ends and reconnected and it started just fine, put in gear and seemed to move just fine. We went to MikeyDee's for supper and came back and drove it almost the rest of the way to it's new home. Had to wait over night to deliver as they were closed by the time we got there. Next morning after being parked over night on those hot tires the driver said it was like riding a bucking bronco all the way to the plant. And as I live only a few miles from those tracks I can recall those skid marks on the highway were very visible for over a year!
Hey Junkyard, Bouncy ride isn’t so bad; bigger the rubber better the ride, just like a mini-bike compared to MX cycle. Operating open ROPS machines you’ll feel a bit cooked at the end the day and everything you eat taste like diesel smoke! 3-axle scrapers don’t flip the nose around like 2-axle scrapers; little steering linkage wear and you’re continuously correcting...Cats, Euclid~Terex they’re all the same. Example video, watch the operator’s hand. Down Ramp claimed over 120 engines due to over speeds; dropped valves, broken cranks. Only way to control speed is ‘can-down’, e.g. dragging the scraper bowl, that caused Router Bits to wear out in 2.5hrs (ran Cat system out of replacements).
Jesus.... man wouldn't want to sneeze that close to the left edge, eh? Looks like they were moving a mountain?
Well....not having spent much time operating one I'd say they'd be putting a seat in one each time they did the bits! It's like anything, you'd get used to it and perhaps the camera makes it look worse than it is. Either way it takes some guts.
And here i thought this was exciting.
Tore into another rotary today. Preventative job. Checking ring gear bolts etc. They use dowels from the drive lug plate to the ring gear. Mofo's to get apart. Lots of heat and some custom made wedges (started life as 201 dirt teeth). I snapped a few pics when I started but in all the commotion I didn't get anymore. It was crazy with two guys beating wedges in and me on the giant oxy/fuel weed burner trying not to scorch them! Isn't it funny how stuff breaks loose about quitin time no matter when you start! Oh and I was misinformed about there being oil in it (eyeroll)
That misinformation happen frequently; ruin cone crusher gears, 'oh we checked the oil'...yep when the unit was new! hwy 1ton, same group(s) of 57Es, Independent and Peed. Indy's scrapers have side-boards, they're the contractor, Peed's do not they're rentals working by the hour.
So, pics of the ring gear teeth? Setting bearing pre-load: shims under cup? Curious minds want to know...
I'll snap some tomorrow when I get back to the shop. Been in the haul truck today. I did manage to get the old bear-lock nut off the pinion and clean that up to prepare to install the new one. This is the later model rotary so it's got 47 ring gear bolts as opposed to the one I showed awhile back that had 24. They've been known to shear all 24! A Watson might be simple but it'll darn sure drill some holes and is really effective in rock. Tomorrow's duties, assuming nobody else did them, will be to wash up the drive lug cover and main case cover, check ring gear bolt torque, get the pinion preload set and lock it down the the bear-lock. There are three big seals that need replaced and two require the big bottom bearing race to be removed. It's really easy to fubar those big seals installing them as well as assembling the rotary. It's a wonder I get anything back together correctly as often as I'm pulled out of the shop to move a rig. It's almost burnt me out again lol. At the rate I'm going I'll have 2 million miles in a few years.
2 million miles club; that is lots steering wheel time, LOL If you run into a problems drilling heat treated ring gears just use a solid carbide end mill. Setting pinion pre-load with press fit bearing cups that use shims; purchase extra cup(s) and use a die grinder with abrasive flap wheel and remove 0.0015" and grind a couple sloths so you can slip heel bars underneath to pry the cups out. Set pre-load and exchange the cups. Saves time. Installing seals, manual lathe is really handy to make seal installers. Some imports are reasonable to purchase without breaking the bank account. Careful with used, repair parts are expensive! Stay cool
I like that idea for the pre-load. This one uses that bear-lock for that. Something like 7-9 lbs force is what the book says. The end of the pinion shaft is threaded so I assume I can run a bolt in and lock it down with a jam nut then use a torque wrench. Only drawback at this moment is the rest of the gears are still on the housing so I'd have some friction there as well. They actually give two methods of checking preload. One on an assembled rotary and one with fresh parts. I'm kinda workin with neither lol. We discovered a few machines back that the instructions for the bearlocks are not correct and have since made the appropriate changes to technique and it's cured our problems. I'd love to have a lathe and mill. Well that and the knowledge to use them without creating a bunch of doorstops!
It aint too hard to get the hang of the basics, but you'll spend more on cutting tools, measureing tools and set up stuff than you ever will for a machine. It's like tooling up a service truck from zero, it gets expensive FAST. A mill and lathe are super handy around a heavy equipment shop. If you ever get a lathe and mill, go join Practical Machinist, it's the machinist equivalent to this site. The guys there are super knowledgeable and very helpful. It's a larger forum than this one, with a little more drama and silliness, but it's well worth putting up with.
I've looked around there some. Have several books on it as well. I've collected a lot of tooling here and there. I'd probably be in pretty good shape. I also have a good selection of measuring tools from building things and buying stuff from an older retired guy. I've got enough to be dangerous lol. If a deal I'm kicking around now works out I'll end up with 3 phase in the shop. If that's the case it will open up lots of machine options. Learning what to look for will become the new challenge.
I don't want to hijack your thread, and you may know this already; but not having 3 phase ins't the end of the world. You can run a 3 phase motor on single, but it won't start it. To start it you have to supply power to the missing legs with capacitors or get the motor turning over by hand or with another motor. You can also build or buy phase converters. The simplest are just 3 phase motors with a small motor to start it spinning and then hit it with the single phase voltage. You can also get what's called a Phase Perfect, which uses electronic magic to make three phase from single. Touted as being nearly 100% efficient (97% IIRC) and makes more balanced power than what you get from the power company.
No worries. I've seen and used converters before. If this takes place there will be welders and a rather large press running off of it. I'm right off the highway so getting it run shouldn't be too bad. The main thing I seem to see in regards to machines are 3 phase are pound for pound cheaper on larger machines due to the lack of 3 phase in most places. May or may not be worth it. I wouldn't do it just for that reason. When I was a kid we had an irrigation motor burn so we converted to electric motors for the pumps and ran 3 phase for it. I couldn't sleep for a couple weeks after being used to the old Allis Chalmers motor barking all night about 300 yards from my window
Yeah 3 phase is generally less attractive to the hobbyists, also machines that weight more than 5k lbs are general less attractive to the home shop guys. But in a machine shop mass is everything, so generally the heavier the machine the better.
I have the space, the machinery to load/unload and possibly the power. When I worked for the crane company we set lots of machines. Spent many hours on my knees as we skated them here and there. It is a pretty low priority at the moment. Oldest moves into her dorm Sunday.... sheesh
An exciting time. I didn't care for the dorm myself, but it's very convenient. My last day of summer class was yesterday and now I've got to pay my tuition bill for the fall this week.....
We/she are lucky. I'd say 85-90% of her tuition etc were covered by scholarships or grants. For the school she's going to the cost my wife and I will incur is minor compared to the education she will get. I never did the full college experience. A couple years at community college was enough for me. Summer class? Over achiever haha
Haha, as if. My degree plan has a minimum course load of 17-20 hours a semester, I've found that it's nice to be able to get some sleep every-once in a while, so I leave a class or two for the summer to make it easier during the normal semester.
That's an ambitious plan. Plenty of credit hours for sure. What degree are you working towards?
Mechanical engineering through the honors college, I'll be a junior in the fall. I want to say my coarse load for the fall will 19 hours, but only 9 of those are engineering classes and only 6 of those will be hard. Hopefully next year I won't have to take any summer classes.
Excellent. Good choice (not that my opinion matters ). I should have done that myself. I've self taught a lot of that stuff over the years though. Just enough to be dangerous lol. Mainly structural stuff for trailers and whatnot. Deflection, section modulus stuff like that. You can go a lot of places with that. If I'd have stayed in trucking my next step was to find a young aspiring engineer to help through school so I could design and build a lot of equipment.
That's pretty much why I'm doing it, even though I really love turning wrenches and running equipment. I want to be able to stuff and know it's safe with out just going crazy and over building. Also want to try and take some civil engineering classes if possible, be useful to be able to design concrete structures and foundations a little better than I can now. Also the Uiversity of Houston (where I go) has like a 98% percent placement rate for mech engineering, that along with an average starting salary of 60-80k make it worth the slog to get the degree.
Started to clean and inspect the rotary and wouldn't you know it.....got sent back out to move rigs. A day in the life haha. I ordered all my parts, checked things out and it all looks good. I'm going to replace the ring gear bolts and the new ones will be drilled for safety wire. The bear-lock is on but I won't lock it down until we're almost back together with it. A thorough cleaning when the time comes to assemble it. No rush on this one, boom will be gone for awhile getting repaired.
Another nifty trick I learned this week..... I was helping one of the guys who's been with ** for going on 30 years. He goes back far enough he was around in their early masonry days. We were building new sideboards for a little flatbed truck they just got. He asked the welder to cut him some pieces of rod, 3/32 or so I'd guess, and sharpen one end like you would a tig tungsten. We were using 2x8's so the rods were a bit over 9" long. The whole time I'm asking myself, *** are those for? As we cut the boards to length he marked them on the edge every 4' or so. As I held them he drilled pilot holes. I still have no clue at this point. He then chucked one of the rods in the drill and proceeded to drill into the pilot hole until it came out the bottom. He curled the ends over and drove them into the edge to the point they were below surface and looked like a staple. I then realized he was doing that to keep them from splitting. I asked where that came from. He said they did it back in the day on scaffold planks. He then said, only real reason he did that here was somebody sure did a $hitty job of picking out lumber for the sides. Sure glad it wasn't me that picked the lumber! Learn somethin new every day!!
That's a great idea to help keep the boards from splitting. I have to put new boards on my dump truck will give that a try. Demo work is mighty hard on them.
Spent all week truckin. Moved three rigs and the water truck down by OKC. About 2,000 miles worth which doesn't sound like much....my body begs to differ haha. Other than passing through the shop Wednesday to get the water truck I was gone. Somehow managed to sleep in my own bed all week even! Had a drive tire blow yesterday. They were about toast anyway so this morning I got 8 new skins on the back. Continental HDL-2's. I like them so far (moved a rig today so they got a couple hundred heavy miles), a little more tread on the ground than usual width wise. Closed shoulder, chip and cut resistant so they should work well for our needs. I got almost 150k (148,025 in case you're keeping notes) out of the original drives. Not too shabby for a heavy haul truck. Next week appears to be all shop, possibly one rig move. On another note, I plan to start assembling my 63 A-car soon. Have to build the bed and whatnot. I did decide on paint colors. I'm going back a factory color, Whimbledon White. Planning on some red which is not factory but I like it. Viper red is what I had on my 359. Interesting thing about the white is Ford painted mustangs that color during the same time period. I plan to have the grill shell chromed and I will have it lettered and pin striped by hand. Maybe even some gold leaf Of course this will take the rest of this decade I'm sure no more free time than I have!! If anybody wants to help I have free beer and my wife is a good cook!! Haha
Junkyard, when you do your service truck...no reason to build the bed too high from the ground; axles center line height is okay. This Pete could be 2-3" lower. Service belongs to buddy (Okie), built it from scratch. Have hydraulic outriggers, just never enough time to install them, ditto wireless remote. AC is IMT under hood driven with hydraulic motor, build air @ truck engine idle speed. Lincoln 305G mounted in left front compartment, compartment top opens for adequate cooling air flow. Rig eats brakes with Cali traffic congestion, i.e. stop-go. 3306TA with Jake, 9 speed, 24.5 rubber, air ride (going to reinforce bag top mounts, they bend). Personally I wouldn't want a rig any longer, difficult to maneuver around on job sites. With my T300-14'6" 120"CA, I can park in compact car spots; handy when stopping by the bank, shopping mauls or stripper clubs Cheers
That's pretty darn close to what I had in mind. I've measured many different bodies over the years and kind of developed a hybrid of their dimensions. The kicker for me will be working around the crane I have. It's actually an old military wrecker, rotates and all that good stuff. It's crude but I have no doubt it'll pick all I'll ever need to. I have researched wireless remotes and have found one add-on system that seems to be the most logical to use. Kinda pricey but considering it currently has no remote at all it's a little easier to pay for. I will end up with a little more behind the rear axle I think. Just guessing my cab to axle is around 9'. I don't mind a little extra weight out back because the crane is in front of the rear axle and it's a 32,500 single axle so I'd like to soften it up as much as possible. It's a monster set of springs. I pondered swapping a different rear end in but I want to stay Dayton wheels. I've considered buying a truck but I literally have every single part for this truck short of the body itself. Working a regular job I've got nothin but time to build it like I want. A buddy has a huge press brake to make any panels I need plus he can blast and paint it for me as well. I like having a one off custom truck. The question is leave the 250 cummins or stick the 8v71 and 10 speed in it. Now's the time to decide. The cummins is fresh, so is the green leaker. Cummins is backed by the 5+4. If I did the Detroit I'd use the 10 with the 4. Now that our house situation is handled I actually have room to move in my shop lol. For about 9 months almost everything short of clothes was piled in half the shop! I could hardly park a pickup in it. Of course there's a 72 Corvette a customer brought to be built to FIA GT spec but that never materialized. My 05 dodge is in there in need of a motor but it'll most likely go outside. I'd say a third of the 50x90 is Autocar truck or parts for it lol. Most likely it'll be fall or winter when work slows that I'll get time to dig into the A-car. This time of year is nuts with kids going to school, after school stuff starting back up etc. Oh and there's another project I'll start soon and it'll get it's own thread. My friend, Tocci, that has all the old Macks wants me to build a replica of the wrecker bed his dad and uncle built in the late 50's for his B61. He found the actual truck about 15 years ago in upstate Ny. It's been sitting ever since in his shop. We did brakes and other stuff. I scoured dozens of pics and got all the dimensions I needed to have all the skirts built, the original booms were web style that they plated over. I will end up with square or rectangular tube with the ends beveled to match the taper. We have the winch and some other odds and ends. Should be interesting to watch....
Made some progress on the rotary today. Got the seals swapped, ring gear removed, holes chased out, everything clean and new bolts in and torqued. Still need to run the safety wire on them. A couple broken dowels to get out and I'm ready to assemble. Watched the eclipse through my welding hood today, most of it happened while I was on lunch so I wasn't part of the $694 billion they estimated as economic impact haha Caught a chunk of punch in the chest today while I was knocking a bearing off. Bled pretty good. Keep those burrs ground off!
Mind posting some info about that? I've got an F800 with a 17,000lb boom on it I'm going to eventually rig up as a goober service truck. I'd like a remote for it, right now you run that crane from a little operation station about 10' up in the air, hardly ideal for service work. I wanted to see it, but didn't want to be the guy carrying around a welding hood at school, so I just left in the truck. Had class when it was at the highest point, so missed it anyhow. The one that's gonna happen in 2023, looks like Houston will be pretty close to totality, so should be more interesting.
This is the one I thought seemed to have the best options. There could be better ones but I haven't found them yet. This setup ends up costing about $1,000 per function. You can get 3,4 or 6. My wrecker is the same way, a seat up high rendering it all but useless for being a mechanic truck. http://kar-tech.com/shop-kartech/off-the-shelf/ranger-system/handheld-ranger-system.html Eclipse was cool, I tried to take pics through my hood but it didn't work. I read an article they say the next full eclipse is supposed to be 2045 which would make me 67! There are supposed to be several in the meantime as well, just not total from what I understand. I ran my *** off in the haul truck last week, it was nice to be in the shop. Looks like I'll be there tomorrow too so I should have the rotary buttoned up.
Cool thanks. I'll have to look into the system, got the truck for next to nothing, and a remote would be a game changer. Truck only has 80k and once I repack the leaking boom seals, it'll be like new, so probably worth spending a little money. I was just going off a quick google search, if it's 2045, I'll still only be 48.
Good thing about that system is it can be removed and added to another rig if need be. Based on the torque of the actuators they'll most likely need a lever at the right ratio to operate your spools. It'll take quite a bit on the control valves I have! 3:1 or 4:1 I'd guess, possibly more. They're stiff big ole valves. Lots of volume and not a lot of pressure. You're just a pup! Haha. I suppose I still am in most circles
I'll send you guys each a box of napkins so you can wipe the wet from behind your ears. Keep rocking. I wish I had that young P*ss and vinegar again.
Yeah my spools are that way too, pretty basic old school little boom truck. Technically it's a digger derrick truck, but since the load doesn't care of the name of what lifts it, I don't either.
Hahah I don't know much about p&ss and vinegar, more like stupidity not to know when to leave junk iron well enough alone..... I wish I had half the experience and knowledge of you guys here.
You, sir, have more **** and vinegar than most men my age! Fellow members, don't let OIH fool ya!
Believe me, I have never had the sense to leave junk iron alone. I hope to never get that much sense.
We've been talking about remote over in the crane section, for running outriggers. The youtube video shows a guy who's using air cylinders controlled by the remote, to run the valve stack. Pretty slick. The wireless is only $370, for 8 function. They offer all momentary or some latching (press button to start function, press it again to stop function). https://www.controlallwireless.com/...-button-remote-system-extended-range-antenna/
I've pondered air myself. My steerable trailer had a nice little wireless remote that ran solenoids that in turn ran an air cylinder that move the steering lever. Issue in this particular setup was there was no feathering it. On or off. I'm a long ways off from needing it anyway lol. I may try to build it with air or something if I can come up with a way to have some fine control.
Here's what we use on occasion to grade the yard at work....
I went down a rabbit hole with that one Crane Op. Guy is trying to build an 8 ton sliding rotator.
I know a guy who has an old knuckleboom on his service truck. Runs it all with air from a tethered remote. Seems overly clunky and complicated to me but he's used to it. I'll have so damn much $ in my A-car that a few grand more won't matter!
Look at a Brand Hydraulics 36EFC stack valve.
Looks interesting at first glance. I'll read up on it. Thanks
IMO, probably better replace the valve stack A few of us will probably be ******* dead before your A-car is finished...by then maybe trucks will be auto driverless and run on political BS!
Lmao! Ya never know! It's probably going to get a makeover, valve moved and all that jazz.
Inspiration
Great video StanRus. I do have to admit I was wondering at the beginning, when the truck was positioned, why they had to pull an engine in a brand new machine that did not even have any paint wear on the bottom of the pan.
old-iron-habit, HEF viewers spotting machine switch; anticipated. IMT promo; mech’s typically step out of serv-trk and **** on the ground; mark territory 1st! Maybe this video will start a trend, actual job being performed instead crane lifting a cement block. Improving video as a promo IMO; positioning serv-trk behind the scraper stinger; normal positioning. Do away with all the supervising people and record a typical *******-elbows remove, repair, install with mech and sometimes-helper (varies). Enjoy holidays guys, cheers Stellar Tmax2 Aluminum 14ft body reduces weight 1440lbs...F550 size body Tmax2 11-1 84”ca 52”/60” side packs weight reduction 780lbs / $21,420.00 fob. http://www.hardworkingtrucks.com/stellars-aluminum-service-bodies-use-steel-where-it-counts/ Crane Operator Certification; The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today (8-30-2017) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to extend the employer's responsibility to ensure crane operator competency and enforcement for crane operator certification to Nov. 10, 2018. Junkyard; if your crane has integrated outriggers (crane pedestal-outriggers made together) you’ll need certification card on most jobs, i.e. property owner(s) won’t stick their necks out (liability). Normal serv-trk position for R&I rear packs on 57s; photo mech was solo!
so true...
Let's see here...nothing too awful exciting going on. Mostly trucking. Rotary is still waiting patiently on the shop floor. We've been slammed with work so I've been moving rigs and tools like there's no tomorrow. My 7 year old and I worked at the shop some yesterday re-powering an Ingersoll T30 compressor I have. Took 30 minutes to stick the motor on and have it running. Took two hours to get the darn unloading valve to function properly. I can say with certainty that the pop-off valves work properly!! When equipment sits around it sure turns to ****! My old bobcat welder took a days worth of piddling to get it back to working right. Parts that should move were stuck and parts that shouldn't were loose! I've had that thing for a good 10 years and it's only got 125 hours on it! I'll probably get my old F350 rigged out and stumble into a deal on a truck. Oh well. I hate not having my stuff ready for side work or repairing my own stuff. Maybe I'll post some pics of the ole girl. 99 with 325k on the clock. Cold front has worked through. Talking low 50's high 40's next couple mornings. I'll take it!
I know the feeling, my body is like that some days!
Hell at 39 there are mornings I get up and the first few steps with all the popping and cracking my wife will ask what I stepped on!
I had a bit of excitment today. We have some big Wacker tampers that needed repairs at a customer's jobsite today. Machines were waiting in their laydown. No info as to the issues and no one around to ask. Figured I'll give them a good visual and then start them up and see if I could find the problem. Well I sure found it alright. Throttle linkage was damaged and wouldn't allow me to put the pump to no fuel. Lowest I could get it was 3/4 throttle. So there's me trying to get this thing shutdown as its bouncing all over the dang place. Eventually wandered back to my truck and grabbed some vice grips to pinch off the fuel line. I didn't realize it at the time but my truck door was open too and all the dust I kicked up blew straight into the cab lol.
As Homer Simpson would say, Doh! I've had a few runaways myself. That is an amusing visual though, one hand controlling the all but uncontrollable and another digging around for pliers!
It was pretty dang funny. I first tried to beat on the throttle handle, then tried to rip the fuel line off the bottom of the tank but couldn't manage it. Even tried to force the throttle linkage off by hand. By that time it had already beaten itself 4 inches into the dirt so I figured I'd be safe to walk away for 15 seconds to get my vice grips without it trying to climb onto the hood of my truck. Next time I'm keeping my vice grips in my pocket.
I had that happen once. Tag said "will not stop". So i started it. They were right it would not come off wide open. This one had a choke so i choked it. Im sure i looked funny chaseing that thing a round on a hard parking lot trying to choke it..
Here's the ole LDH rig mounted on a Hendrickson chassis. V8 cummins upper. LDH drills were built by Hughes as in Howard. Kinda Stone Age compared to the newer stuff we have but there's something satisfying about drilling with one of those old rigs. The kelly winch clutch doesn't really do its job right until she's smokin a bit and you can see the heat boiling off It JUST fits in the well. 15' tall which isn't too bad to get around with. Another full week of truckin. Moved 5 rigs around and have a couple I know of next week. I'm about to clean my personal tools out of the service truck since it gets used in my absence and I question how much it is returned properly or at all! With our upcoming work load I don't see a break coming in the windshield time. Ah well it's easy hours and almost always a few hours OT each week. I was approached by a former customer to come to work for them and run their dump truck fleet (billion a year construction company). I'm really wrestling with the decision. Little or no travel, better $ but benefits are higher cost than union and not quite as good. I'm on the fence about it. In theory I'd be around home more for family stuff but I'd have more hours and responsibility (drama and bs!). It's almost a coin toss at this point.... Toodle-oo
That's a neat looking carrier. Spreading the weight around some with the stabilizers or just to keep the body roll down?
Yeah. It's hard to keep chains tight and it likes to rock and roll a bit if we don't run the outriggers down. Bad part of that is leakin all over the place. Kinda treats the deck lol. It is a cool ole truck. We drive it to jobs close to the shop. I love the boom swingin out over cars when you turn
You have make your own decisions but one thing for sure with the union, you have a much better than average chance of your pension being there when you retire. Way to many companies have taken advantage of today laws and stole the pension moneys. If you go get a honorary withdrawal first from the Operators so you can go back at any time.
It's funny you say that. I sat down this morning and went through my mail. I had my benefit statement for the quarter and the EOB's for the kids. After doing the math it would be very short sighted to make a change. I'm gonna stay put.
I can promise you, if you were over all that equipment they're going to work you about 80 hours a week because you'd be on salary...BTDT. But you have a big job title LOL.
For sure they would. I could give two chits about a title lol. I have it pretty darn good at **. I think I'll stay put for about 30 years.
That does look like a great old rig. There's a lot to be said for simple. I was at a explosive contractor a while back, their mechanic was complaining about their drill rigs. He loves their older rigs, he can bypass just about anything electrical on them, and keep drilling. The new stuff goes down from electrical gremlins, and nothing moves until its fixed.
Having old stuff like that and the new fancy Soilmec really keeps your brain sharp. One is about as complicated as an anvil and the other has more computer crap than Apollo 11!
Around here some years ago, a soilmec fell over and squashed the computer panel. Mega $$$ to get back up and running.
Bad ass !!!!
Here's ya another. Too many miles lately I've been digging into my old stash! Of music that is!
Had to put the Sony headphones on for that "Long White line" one, very cool, very. Good one.
Had "one of those days" today. Been a little quiet, I knew I had some rigs to move the next couple weeks. Decided I'd put the booster on the trailer and look it over. Slid under it to grease everything and noticed a tire with a bad spot showing wire. Darn. Slid farther and saw a brake shoe laying in the drum half sideways. ***. Jack it up, pull the two tires off that need replaced. Pull the other two off the offending wheel end, pull the drum. Both springs on the front side are gone. No sign of them. Shoes are 80% on one edge and 0% on the other lol. They ran like that long enough it egged the bushings for the rollers. It's been less than a month since I was under it last. It's run some miles. The missing springs made me wonder so I looked at the other 7 wheel ends, found three more missing the inboard side spring. Whadaya reckon caused it? Poor material leading to broken hooks? Those darn brake spring minions? One pair of shoes looked like it never had them in there.....did Trailking or the axle supplier f$&k up? Either way she's good to go. I'm headed to look at an IMT tomorrow that's got swing issues. Doesn't want to stop once you let go of the lever. It's not free like a crane, just slow to catch and hold. There's a lot of weight on those machines with the boom, kelly, rotary and tool. I've already had operator check soft swing switch, free swing switch, considered working conditions as well. It's down to solenoid issues or the brake itself. A little poking and prodding tomorrow and I should have it nailed down. Take care y'all.
I missed a auction nearby that had a 16V-92 that looked brand new that sold cheap. A friend was there and seen it. It had a clutch on it also. How does 4 smoking stacks and 900 two stroke horsepower sound in a rat rod.
Man oh man that would be sick. I'd modify whatever it took to make that work in a truck!
I would sell my "front seat in Hell" for a rig like that!
I don't know about selling a front seat but would like to chase it down some West Virginia roads with it pulling a load of logs. Not sure if my Sportster with the sidecar could keep up but it would be fun to try! Just imagining listening to the sound with a real truck driver walking it up and down the gears.
It's fun to ride with or watch a smooth driver. Set of sticks or otherwise. You don't see the antennas or cab flopping around. I rode with a guy years ago when I was a swamper. Smooth as silk. From that day forward I drove like him. I wanted to be so smooth you almost couldn't tell when I changed gears. Other than when I get in a hurry I'm like that. I've had plenty of practice! Easy on, easy off progressive shifts. Watching the "gear jammers" who call themselves drivers kill me. Damn cabs look like they're about to be flipped off the frame. I'd love to tame a 16V anything! V12 Cat or whatever. I've driven some mean trucks. One guy I knew had a SALTY KTA in an old W900A. Stupid HP and I have no doubt driven poorly it would spit the driveline into the next county.
And the same antenna shakers need new clutches 3 or 4 times as often to.
Moved 5 rigs this week by 4:00 today. Then drove 5 hours to southern Oklahoma to replace a hydraulic line on the Soilmec that runs through the boom up to the top of the crowd cylinder. I'll tackle that in the morning. Here's a pic of the big IMT 220 I moved this afternoon. Trailer didn't want to pick it up, had to track it all the way back then raise up. Relief was letting go about 2,700 psi. Might be a little heavy on 8 axles Bossman took it....if you want to know me by sight here's a chance to put a face with the posts
So I got the line changed out today. All 39' 7.5" of it . One end was easy it was a flange. The other was a DIN 20 heavy. Got lucky and a place about 30 miles away had the stuff. While waiting on them to make the hose I spotted their cylinder bench.....can't say I've ever seen one quite like it.....
Those guys learned from the same people I did- don't throw anything away, it all has a purpose. I wouldn't think of a old dozer as a bench, but I bet it doesn't move much when they get serious with a cylinder. By the way, what with all that mud? It's dry as a bone here, there was some showers on sunday, but it missed us by a couple miles. I can't hardly see in my shop yard from all the dust when I drive in.
Tulsa got a good rain weds. Idk how it didn't get to you, it rained in Joplin too. Must have stayed north of you as it moved east.
Just using that crawler housing until the parts for it come in? At least that how it works for me.
Me too! Never know when you might stumble into 3 or 4 other donor machines to complete one. How many of us will start looking for a housing to make a bench out of?
That mine overlook/museum in Hibbing that was closed when you were here was open again for a while. No tours, just the overlook and museum building. Newspaper article Thursday said closing for good today. Debby and I went Thursday before I forgot. They had a 16-149 out of a 170 ton Payhauler on display. Looks ready to run. Here's a few pictures. They are moving to a new location so they can mine this area. They say the new museum will be open in the new location in the spring. Should be in time for your next trip up. The picture of the half inch hose under the belly is to connect a hydraulic unit for the emergency dump. I wonder how long it took to fill them dump cylinders.
Gotta love the Detroit.. never been run to burn the paint off and leaking oil..
I want to know why they were hauling butter in the thing? Must be why it is yellow?
Did you happen to work on pipelines when you met that driver ? I have never heard anyone called a swamper since I worked on pipelines.
At that time I worked for a small crane and machinery moving company that did a lot of oilfield and pipeline related work. That's what they called me back then, among other things!
Here's one of them clutch burners beating on an old Jimmy
Just got done with a site specific orientation and OSHA 10. So a day and a half of sitting in a classroom. Wish it was tomorrow for the class as it's supposed to rain all day. Have the swing motor to pull on one machine and while at orientation site I took a quick look at one machine that's got a leak and will need an o-ring or two. I haven't come home clean two days in a row in years. When I walked in yesterday my youngest looked at me like "what are you doing home on a Monday?" It's funny the routine they get used to.
Just as long as it wasn't your better half saying that!
I do think there are times my schedule being off interferes with hers....not always in a positive way!
Got the swing motor pulled today. Ended up ordering a new one. We have three machines with the same one so it will be rebuilt and set on the shelf. The drilling is hard on the brake so a spare isn't all bad. Not much to pulling it other than the extra crap IMT has around it. I managed to get the control valve up out of the way without removing any lines. You can see the strap holding it in the one pic. Nice to turn some wrenches after so many weeks in the haul truck.
That's a new one on me.
I've been following this thread for quite a while and only just noticed its "Junkayrd's Work Thread"
Yep like my typo lol. Kind of embarrassed but oh well!
Yeah that's the owner's OCD ways. I guess the pickups have been pulled over a time or two in other states because MO has them up front so that's his solution or method of prevention I guess you'd say. One of many quirks
I could not understand what you were saying took a bit of time then I finally noticed! Kind of like those test where they put duplicate words in to see if you notice. Took over a year for someone to notice or mention it here!
My content is so captivating....easy to overlook simple grammar! Haha
Do I get a trophy?
Hookid on fahonics workid four mee
Sounds like me, more than once I have had to resort to an old paper dictionary to get a word spelled right after trying several times to get my computer's spell checker to understand what I wanted to write!
Funny how sometimes spell check is on the ball and does what you want. Others it throws the most random word in there. I guess the good thing about kids in school is I'll keep my spelling and grammar skills sharp!
So today I'm actually at the home shop in Joplin. Serviced my tool truck, tore into a skidsteer. Had a water leak. Corroded hole in front cover. We hardly use it. My thought was JB weld and be done with it..... As you can see we went the hard way. Grrrr
Old Case 1845C? Biggest problem I could see is getting it clean enough to get the JBWeld to bond good. I think I would wash it real good in parts cleaner, then hit with strong soap in pressure washer and if you have an oven big enough to fit it in back it at something like 350º for an hour to try to cook the oil/coolant out. Then rough it up real good and coat well with JB and maybe heat a bit to cure it good. Oh if you need help timing that pump I think there is some guy down in SC who, if not busy putting up plywood, could help you with instructions!
1845 yes sir. I think there gonna take it to a specialty shop that welds exotic stuff for us and see what he can do with it. After that I don't know that the plan is. Used cover maybe. Haha yeah he might know a thing or two about it! As long as nobody turns it over it'll go back like it was.....I think
Are you OK it has been a while since your last post.
Yep I'm hangin in there lol. Been fairly busy at work and twice as busy at home. Middle daughter was her freshman class homecoming queen, then the next weekend was oldest daughter's college homecoming, then youngest girl's dance team pics and a party. Good lord. Too much for me! Add to that mom spending a couple days in the hospital and I haven't had two minutes to myself. Work has been the usual for the most part. Moving rigs pretty steady and addressing the occasional mechanical issue. Thanks for checking in on me!
So is mom OK?
Yep she's good. Guess I shouldn't have left that last post as a cliffhanger lol. I guess her heart meds were hard on her stomach and she ended up with an ulcer which caused low blood pressure and low blood count. Even after that her heart doc and GI doc argued over the meds she needs to take. A dozen tests, a transfusion and she's back home. Last I heard the docs were still arguing over what she should take. What f$&kin good are the heart meds if they cause this? Lol She'll be 70 in January, seems like it's too early for this ****! The old man is 73 and he hasn't spent a day in the hospital in my 39 years. I honestly couldn't tell you if he ever has! Other than when my sister and I were born and I'm not even sure of that! Thanks for askin.
Man, I must be getting braindead. In the post about the kids, when you mentioned Mom in the hospital, I thought you meant your wife, as in the kids mom. I was shocked as a heart condition was never mentioned when you guys were here. We will redirect our prayers in the right direction to "your" mom.
Well the wife has em too but not nearly as bad as mom does. They might get matching pacemakers if the cryo stuff doesn't fix things. Different issues but very similar treatments. Thanks for the prayers, can't have too many of those!
On a lighter note the ACMOC national show will be in San Antonio, Texas next year. We got the dates today and it is scheduled for October, 26th, 27th, and 28th. Maybe we can connect up if that's not to far from you. Always lot of cool and rare old Best, Holts, and Caterpillars at the show.
Sounds good. By then my new plan should be in place and I'll have a flexible schedule. I'd like to see that. If I catch traffic right I can make Austin in 7 hours.
Hey Junkyard, I have always enjoyed your thread. Sorry to hear about your mom. I can relate to your feelings about parents getting older. I am 47, parents are 81 and 79. They live about 1500ft away. we have two farmsteads with 15 acres of trees between them. my dad still cares for 50-60 cows. He does 90% of the work, me and my guy help out when he needs it. tough old guy. I always have the thought in the back of my mind, that things could go south for either one of them any day. Keep your chin up. Steve
It's always a reality check. I saw mom deal with it when my grandpa had issues and finally passed away. Saw my dad deal with it when my grandma passed away. Funny thing is you're learning a life lesson, you just don't know it. My grandma really held that side of the family together and my mom is very much like her. There was a large void when she passed away. I was living in MN at the time and always went through the farm in MO to see her, even if it was just for a few minutes. I think I was 21-22 at the time. There's a song that Colt Ford and Jake Owen do, "Back". When the he mentions his mom never letting him down, what will he do when she's not around, the thought of that knocks me on my ***! I'm sure it's many years down the road but it's sure been on my mind lately! My grandpa, dads family, worked 6 days a week his entire life. Went to bed after a days work and never woke up. He farmed, was a damn good carpenter and pretty handy wrenching on his old Farmalls. I think he was 74. My other grandpa was a cancer survivor, recovered alcoholic (long before I came along) and made it into his 90's. My great grandmother (his mother in law) damn near made 101. My great aunt, dads aunt, made it to 105! Just died this spring. We've got good genes that's for sure. I appreciate the words of encouragement. After my grandmothers funeral my cousin and I went out to tie one on. I was thoroughly inebriated and while standing in front of the trough somebody had scribbled on the wall "everyday above ground is a good day". I thought that was fitting given the scenario. My baptist aunt (cousins mom) didn't think much of me the next morning when I came down for breakfast about 3:00 pm!!! Picked my cousin's (my drinking cousin's older brother) son up from school green as a gourd riding shotgun in my cousin's pickup. He was about 9-10 at the time. To this day he remembers us wearing sunglasses even though it was a drury day and the radio was on very low to mitigate the headaches..... Damn that was a long winded meandering post!
So I attempted a video today while hauling an IMT 180 from Antlers, OK back to Joplin. I wanted to catch the hard pulls and switchbacks on the northwest edge of the Kiamichi mountains. Well I got a lot of blue sky, occasional glimpses of the road and it's 90 degrees off. However, it does have one redeeming quality. You can listen to a C-15 Cat workin. Turbo whistle, jakes and a throaty pull. So ignore my poor cinematic skills and listen to it chug through the mountain at about 160,000 gross.
Well, at least you tried to recorded it in correct orientation. The auto focus wasn't happy either.
No it wasn't. It's a good hard pull I was hoping that would show up. Oh well. Better luck next time.
A long meandering post is good for the cobwebs every now and them. It makes us people instead of just handles.
It amazes me in 2017 that a camera phone that knows everything else about you is too stupid to orient a video correctly when you are filming it like that.
Me too! Damn dumb phones! Haha
So my wife just sent me this pic of my 3 year old. She said he INSISTED on this for his bedtime book. For those who can't tell it's a Cat Performance Handbook
I think when he is five you will be buying him tools!
I'm actually surprised his older brother, 7, hasn't started wanting tools. I wasn't much older than him when I started getting tools instead of toys. They do build all kinds of stuff out of Legos. Natural progression I guess. It is quite handy that my 7 year old knows what various tools and parts are. Saves me some steps and often keeps me from crawling out from under whatever I'm in the middle of. They'll both be well educated repair wise. Hopefully well enough they choose a cleaner career!
The sound track was awesome.
I thought so too. I may charge the GoPro up and try a better setup to come back from TX with a rig next week. Catch myself in action
If you're going to use the gopro much I suggest getting ram mount stuff. Suction cup works way better and the rubber isolates the vibrations somewhat. https://www.rammount.com/part/RAP-B-166-GOP1
Well that's good to know, San Antonio is close enough for me for sure.
My friend Sasquatch uses a 4' pipe clamp secured somewhere on the machine and mounts his go pro to the pipe. It makes for lots of mounting options. It gives a unique perspective from a working dozer, scraper, or even a grader on the trailer headed down the highway.
I've got all kinds of mounts. When we raced we have them mounted all over the place. In car, outside the car, under the car you name it. I'll have to dig that box out and find my suction cup for the back window and maybe rig up one for outside too.
So I did my good deed this evening and worked on the wife's caddy. Oil change, plugs and wires. The engineer that puts V8 engines in vehicles is a sadistic son of a biotch. There's always ONE plug that's a mofo to get to. On her's it's #8. 10 minutes on 1-7 and 30 on #8. Didn't plan on wires but they were grown on so they got done when I mucked up #7. Been chasing oil consumption issues on it. I'm not so sure it wasn't whatever oil used at the last place she took it to. Hadn't used a drop prior to that change. So I decided to change myself and we shall see. If it continues to use it I'll do a leakdown test and see if it's rings or valve stem seals. I'm leaning towards seals. It's got 128k on the clock. If it's not seals I'm hoping I can pull it, tear it down and cylinders be ok. Hone and ring it. LS motors are usually pretty tough and have good longevity, strikes me strange to have one using oil at 128k. I don't know how it was treated the first 97k, that's what it had on it when I bought it for her. Doesn't leak and it's hard to see it burnt with a cat on it. On occasion I'll see a quick whiff of smoke at startup. Been so cool and humid here I'm not sure how much of what I see is oil smoke and how much is condensation. Anybody heard of issues on an LS? My forearms look like I got in a fight over a mouse with an alley cat!
What year and size engine? I have heard rumours that the cylinder deactivation mode on the 5.3L can cause increased oil consumption because 4 holes are dead and running cold during deactivation.
07 6.2L. Idk if it has the multiple cylinder displacement/deactivation or not. She's bad about letting it idle. I'm hoping it didn't like the oil they used or it had gone longer than it should have mileage wise.
Any more I think my time is more valuable than working on cars. I have a good mechanic. I take my service truck to him whenever I go on vacation with a long list of things to fix. That way I don't have to work on it nights or take a day off and sweat about getting it ready for the next round of service calls. I let him worry about it instead. Our car is the same way. Transverse V6, I don't like to do much more than change the oil and brakes if it is not too hard. I guess I am getting lazy.
Nr, 8 is a favorite of the engineers. "OK, make the AVAC bump 10% larger, that should really protect #8!" Time ratio of 8 to the rest is about the same on my 90 Bronco.
After all the cussing I dropped my ratchet and while retrieving it I realized a better way to access #8. I doubt I'll remember it or if I'll even own this one when it's due for the next set of plugs. It's too big to hand down to middle daughter who starts driving in a little over a year. I think this summer it'll get replaced. I'll have a damn fleet just for the girls!
My son's Cadillac CTS-V with a 6.2L will melt the tires off in the first couple of gears, but it's not stock either. Isn't that a Corvette engine that was dropped in the Caddy's?
I know the cars are similar to the vette. Even in her Escalade it's around 400 HP. For as big a vehicle as it is you can get going pretty quick. Pulls a trailer great power wise, stability wise sucks with the air ride. It's too squirrelly for my taste. She's planning on heading to AZ next week for a soccer tournament, hoping the next few days will tell me if the oil use was a fluke or we need to rent her something......
Check the bill if they replaced the PCV on it, damn one stop shops use Generic PCV units NOT engine matched. Saw it for the last twenty five years and not changing as people let them get away with it. I preferred Genuine GM on these. As to an overhaul, talk to guys that do these pretty often, they use crate engines, seems there is a problem with the heads once installed and torqued, take them off and serious crap issues with leaks/not fully seating/etc. after.
So...do you ever wonder why you're into being an operator or a heavy equipment tech? Well I know why and finally found photographic proof. When I was about 5 we moved from OH to IL. The day they were loading the truck there was a guy working on a track loader behind our house. I wandered out there and struck up a conversation with him. My old man comes out and the mechanic is sitting there watching me go in circles on the loader. So my parents snapped a pic of me on the machine and then with the mechanic. Damned if I know his name but perhaps he's a member and he'll recognize himself and his old truck! This would have been summer of 82 if memory serves.
Neat pics
I can remember working out of state of the art trucks as that one not so many years ago! All we needed then was a voltmeter, a ohm meter and a box full of wrenches, sockets and a impact for heavy work.
Fun day for me. Shop foreman is on vacation. Get a phone call that a rig has broken a kelly cable. Tool and bars are in the hole. Swivel and top of bars are 30-35 feet up. So I get a lift rented, load up the spool of cable and some rigging. I beat the lift to the job so we pull the old cable off and prepare a plan to pull the bars and tool. Once the lift gets there I rig the service winch to the kelly swivel. Won't quite lift it. So we rig a skytrack to the outer bars to help. Get the tool and bars out of the hole and over solid ground. Hard part is done. Re-spool the new kelly line and back in business. I don't particularly care for heights....
Heights don't bother me much. Falling doesn't bother me either. That sudden stop when you hit the dirt does make me nervous though.
Yep. Once you're high enough it don't matter how much higher you are. Acceleration due to gravity will only get you going so fast, once you're at terminal velocity you can sit back and enjoy the ride. It was a fairly soft site, I'd have gotten a good bounce or two!
120ft./sec squared; terminal velocity. Isn't the fall but the sudden stop!
Delivered the freshly painted IMT 180 to a job and stayed to help set it up. As I was about to pin the kelly cable to the bars I saw this..... So I got to change a kelly cable as well . It's not too bad on an IMT. It's 75' shorter than the Soilmec cable. Good times
What's up with all these failures, timing?
Just lucky I guess . Even heard that a Watson got a cable today as well. It's been awhile for some of these rigs so I think it was just a fluke. We watch them pretty close. Cable on the one I did today looked great so it was a shame it had to go. Not sure what would have rubbed the thimble like that. I suppose it could have been on a machine where the winch and crowd weren't in perfect unison and it allowed enough slack that the bars could rub the cable and swivel as they turned drilling. Just a theory. Also diagnosed a weird electrical issue on the IMT220. Machine wouldn't shut off with the key....everything in the cab stayed on regardless of key position. Dug into the fuses and main cab relay. Two different wires go to relay, one gets hot with key and sends voltage to coil, the other on the same stud, I assume gets hot and sends juice somewhere else. Second wire runs through a diode, I assume to prevent backfeed of voltage thus keeping relay closed and applying constant power to coil and in turn to cab. I suck at electrical so I was kinda stoked to figure it out . There's the pesky little bast@rd.
Damn Ford design, they used diodes to save extra service wiring on a bunch of machines in the 80's/90's including the F series and L series medium/heavy duty truck lines. Never saw the cost savings and the damn things are not always on parts layout diagrams.
What a week. I moved 7 drill rigs, our water truck and helped the guys drop a rotary out of an IMT so we could weld the lugs back to spec. I feel like a swaybacked lathered up ole horse! We tried a new way to weld it. We usually leave it up on the boom which puts you welding up fairly high. Dropping it and flopping it on its back makes it soooo much easier!
Over the last year or so my shop has become a rather large storage place which in turn makes it look damn near like a landfill. So this long holiday weekend I worked on cleaning up and organizing things. On my third rolloff, a good bit of that stuff was also things I cleaned up outside as well as crap I have in my 40' containers. I built a 8x24 enclosure so I can store things on top and create a tool room inside for welders, tool boxes, gun safe, ammo, service manuals etc. I am by no means a carpenter but it's square and just about wired so all that's left will be sheeting the walls in. Outside walls will be OSB from top down 4' and then I'll use some extra metal from my building to reach from that point to the floor to help with sparks and whatnot. A big shoutout to my buddy Josh, his dad and my dad for help along the way!
Oh, and another thing. I've got tire chains running out my ears. Quite a few sizes. Some double rail and some single. Also have about 12 steel 22.5 hub pilot wheels, 7 steel 17.5 hub pilot wheels and 2 17.5 aluminum hub pilot wheels. All the 17.5 are dual wheels. I've also got about 50-60 4" straps, a set of load levelers for a stepdeck on 17.5's, several tarps, a couch/bed from a KW studio sleeper that's never been sat or slept on! I'd post in the for sale but I think more people watch my thread so I'm getting more traffic here lol.
hey that looks awfully familiar he will be quoting stats in his sleep in no time
If it gets him a decent job and income why not??
Give me a call when you get a chance tomorrow. Lets talk wheels. Wondering about changing my little 32 ft dropdeck to 17.5s. Will that work?
Yep I'll give you a buzz on the way back out to the job I'm on. Should be around coffee time at Art's.
Drilled one hole yesterday. Fought us at every turn. Came out this am to set the cage and pull casing. Casing would not budge. Pulled all we could with service winch and it didn't move a bit. Last resort is to stick a kelly pin in the bars, hang an ear of the casing and bang away until she breaks loose. Here's the pin after working on one side. Most are 1"
Purty tough, manage to get it loose?
Yep we got it. Funny thing is the casing was only 52" long. It was hung in some good sandstone.
Sandstone, may as well been in a vise!!
So today I was back on the IMT I had changed the diodes in awhile back. Same symptoms. I turned the master on, had full power as if key was on. Slid the seat forward to gain access to the fuses etc. Everything shutoff. Hmmm. Slid seat back, stuff comes on. Slid forward and back several times with same result. Tore into armrest and reached down as far as I could on harness. Push down, power on, pull up, power off. *** Pulled the bellypan under the cab.....fuc&in rats nest! Massive pile of ****, foam, sticks you name it. Clean damn near a 5 gallon bucket worth of crap out and find the culprit. One wire was hanging on by a single strand. The other was half eaten. So I fought the connector and got the two broken wires out. Ordered a big assortment of pins and sockets, crimpers etc so I can pin new wire in and splice back into the harness. Even talked the boss man into letting me setup SIS and online parts. It will sure save me time! This machine sat several months after a job. When we loaded it we had to relocate a litter of kittens! Should have known when it acted up. A day in the life
There are an infinite number of pins and sockets used in these machines but if that is a true Deutsch brand connector I have had good luck getting just what I need on ebay. I sure don't want to have a huge tray of useless pins and shells so I try to get just what I need.
I just got the three basic size pins/sockets for the various gauge wire I run into. I can't see needing many plastic connectors as we rarely have issues with them. Other than a fan drive I had to reconfigure a plug for this is the only time I've had to mess with the connectors. We ended up ordering them from Lawson. Order online and it'll show up ups tomorrow. Can't beat that.
That was always my strong point, electrical. I have had pin connector crimpers and connector tools for over thirty years for Bosch, US builders a few other offbeat oddball connecting devices. In the 'Olden Days' these were not well assembled or sealed and usually turned green or blew up like were loaded with expanding corrosion foam. I cannot imagine all the foreign builder connectors that might be out there now.
Anyone remember the old Freightliners with all white wires or International with all black and either tape numbers or tiny inked on the wire ID numbers? Heavy equipment was always anyone's guess as to what anyone working on them used!! Always Loved finding a mass of Scotchlock repairs!! NOT!
Seems like the couple KW's we had had the all white wires too, I know a there were a couple trucks like that. Reminds me of one afternoon when I was trying to fix the wiring on one of the old Terex off-road trucks we had, R35-B, made in Brazil! They had all kinds of extra wires for different options I assume. I was getting all fed up following dead ends. All I need to do was have power to the basics like the electric shift tower, heater, dash. head and tail/brake lights and alternator. Out come the side cutters and snip snip snip! Boss came in while I was tossing wires right and left out of the cab. I think he asked if I found the problem! My reply was "No but it won't be a problem when I'm done!" Before noon the next day that truck was up and running and for the ten years we used it after that it never had anything more wrong electrically that a burned out light bulb or maybe a bad brake light switch!
Sounds like the old junkers we had at the local quarries, cranes, yard trucks, most everything had so much 'optional' wire we used to do the same haircutting to get down to what was necessary!!
I've got a FL in my boneyard that's like that. All white and the markings on them are long gone. Doesn't matter, it doesn't have a cab, trans, steering gear, axles etc. All that's left is the steer axle and the motor. I hate electrical stuff and it hates me!
I have a 1968 KW W900 in the shed that has all white wires with little aluminum bands that use numbers and letters. only thing I have seen like that.
Most equipment I work on (generators) has all one color wire with legends printed on it. My close in eyesight is still good so it works for me. In the old days they used to print just near each end of the wire though. That was not good if you had to replace a connector or termination. Often the legend would be lost cutting off the bad end of the wire. But nowadays they usually print it every couple inches so no big deal.
So my memory is not wrong, seemed to think it was the W-900's we had back then. Just checked old files they were a pair of 1979's. As I recall they were originally powered by 8V-92 and had been re-powered with Cummins. I know we rebuilt one to be a NTA420. The guys who drove it hauling stone over the road really liked it as they said it was not too hard to hit triple digits on the speedo, they nick-named it Triple-D!
Did some old school work today. We've got an old Bucyrus Erie crane on the Joplin yard. The twin disc torque converter has been getting noisy. After listening to it I think we've got a bearing gone bad. Looking in the filter canister I saw lots of shiny metal.....so out it came. Just arrived in KC to drop if for rebuild in the morning.
Who you using? When I was pulling these off the river tows they were being built at Hartford IL National Marine Service. They have changed hands a few times since then.
Palmer Johnson. That's who the old school crane guy we know suggested. I wanted to tackle it myself but like usual I was overruled. We need it fast yada yada yada.
Don't know them, probably been in this business longer than me.
First thing I thought of when I saw that top picture of the Converter was that it looked like something I saw on an old crane we had years ago. Then scrolled down to see "Bucyrus Erie"! Yep that's what we had I believe it was about a 1966 truck crane. Originally had Waukesha gas engines top and bottom. At one point Norm and I converted the top end to a 3306 Cat. Then after someone who could not understand how to drive the crane and managed to over-speed the truck engine to destruction that end got a transplant of the Cummins NT855 engine and trans out of old IH cab over truck sitting out back. Last I heard it was scraped because no one could figure out how to run it! Sad as the original operator who ran it when it was new could probably threaded a needle with 100 feet of boom on it and he took better care of it than most people would their personal car!
Old friction drives and LONG arm levers with stiff to press foot controls worked a operator pretty hard IF they were not used to the machines. Some were harder than others. Went to an 'Antique Equipment' show in KS one year, were using a old Bucyrus STEAM shovel, moved a WHOLE 1/3 yard with every scoop!! Steam motors, chain drives and the guy running it pretty much working his butt off! Grab this stomp on that, lean hard back on the lever or darn near lean forward out of the cab then smash down on a pedal with a heel, was awesome to watch how hard the old guys had it, nowadays the kids can't understand how anything got done as they WOULD NOT do that. There were even some of the "Old" Cat and Allis track dozers, a few with cable lifts, most were hydraulic.
It's a different world for sure. Heck just look at our LDH drill compared to a Watson then move up to the IMT. One works your butt off, one has a radio, climate control, level indicators, depth counter.....oh and it's quiet!
Thing is this Bucyrus Erie was all air controls. My boss who was originally hired as a crane operator, he had run just about all kinds including some big tower cranes, said that it was one of the nicest working cranes he had run last time he was in the cab. Unfortunately the crane was sent to another quarry up north and they did not have anyone qualified to run a real crane. Upper management people were and still are of the opinion that any dummy can be stuck in the seat of any machine. If the machine then does not do the job the machine is junk.
Ours is all air. Not hard to run if you know what to flip and pull, when and what order..... Even the big boss man will climb in and run the **** out of it. Wearing his penny loafers and sweater vest no less!
Must be a rare boss.
Now imagine that little monster sitting between a engine and reduction/reversing gear, two decks below the outside four+ feet clearance above it and not much room to either side, in a VERY VERY dark hell hole. Fleeting tow, Home built, on Alton Pool Mississippi River, 37' long 22' wide twin engines(DD 6-110) and a pair of generators(DD 2-53). Then imagine swapping a coupling joint in between the gear and twin disc standing on your head or trying to rig that little greased pig twin disc out of that hole thru a hand cut skylight!!
He is. Good place to work.
I can still remember my first day of running a dragline. The bosses son came out that afternoon, I was standing on the cat walk rubbing my legs. They ached from stomping on the pedals and from having my feet on the pedals when engaging the drums. He just laughed and then started to show me how easy it was, even ran it with his legs crossed and not even using the brakes except to get the bucket to dump where he wanted it too.
Back in another life I operated a Brownhoist locomotive crane. Travel and swing were electric , hoists and boom mechanical, air operated. Hoist brakes, no powerassist. Unloading scrap there was no time to lock the brake, left leg/knee took a beating
Junkyard, your internet famous now.
LMAO! I wonder when I'll get a check....haha. I had to pester him to put me on the dry erase board of shame! I love what he does. Seems like a great guy. Mom always said I was good at networking
OK, What's the story behind the dry erase board of shame? What did you do to get there?
Yeah I am curious Too!!
It's not really a bad thing. Each week he picks a few subscribers and gives them a shoutout. I had helped him with a donation for a friend of his that fell on hard times. I offer the occasional instructive (I think anyway) comment for his truck project. Seems like a really nice guy. I'll have to visit him. You guys would enjoy his YouTube channel.
Who is he?
jpaydirt is his channel. Jeff Anderson is his name. Blackfoot, ID if memory serves. Just kinda videos what he's up to on a weekly basis. Runs older Cat iron, has a W900A he's restoring. Running a 1693 motor. He's attempting to convert it from pre-combustion to direct injection. You'll enjoy
First week I've been in Joplin M-F in months. Kinda weird actually. Other than a quick trip up to KC with the torque converter I was shop bound all week. Turned off cold last couple days of the week. Before I finished getting all the wiring inspected and tidied up on the 220 I had to get some heat near it. I don't like the cold. Only reason I tolerate it is so I can burn stuff! I found a wood fired forced air furnace for my shop so hopefully I'll have it in soon. Gotta get some cleaning done, a shelter built for the furnace then I'll get it set, wired and blowing hot air! I've got plenty for wood cut and ready to split and have a lot of disease killed oak to get this winter to be ready for next. It was 12 degrees this am in Joplin. Yuck
I have watched several of his videos. They are pretty good.
I like how it was 9° colder in Joplin than up here. Forced air furnace sounds interesting. I would probably have to up my firewood game to keep that fed.
I need to sell him a complete 1693 its needs to go
If he don't buy it I might. I miss my old dinosaur motor! Nothin better than one of them cackling away...
Funny story. So today my son Wyatt, 7, and I were at the shop cleaning and organizing. I have a drum set that belonged to my middle daughter. He's been "jamming" on them. So I pulled up Youtube and found a video of Led Zeppelin "Moby Dick". He asked who they were, he knows their songs just not necessarily their name. When John Bonham goes into his crazy long solo Wyatt said "Man! He's GOOD!" Then rest of the afternoon I heard him trying his best to recreate the sound.....
Where have you been. I miss your posts. You have some very good tips and insites
Oh ya know. Work and the silly season. Part of the family traveling for soccer tournaments and part of it home. Work has been boring with the exception of being tasked with getting the electronic logs researched, bought and installed. I'm maybe 1/3 of the way installed so far. Not much going on at my personal shop other than a major major clean out and reorganize. It's overdue. I've got several projects I'm going to tackle in the shop. As simple as building some heavy duty saw horse style stands for heavy work such as cylinders etc. Need to build a new mailbox mount which will be an old track chain or some monster link style chain I have. Going to pull the SAE 400 off the trailer it came on and build a skid for it which will hold torch tanks, lead reels, tool boxes etc. Found another SAE 400 I need to get picked up. Been getting my trusty JCB forklift back into shape. Poor neglected thing. Got to where it wouldn't run, replaced fuel suction hose and cleaned the screen in the lift pump. Need to reseal or replace the primer, it leaks some. It's long overdue for a full service, ordered those filters today. Also I've been building a log splitter in my head for months, going to get something going there as well. Have a wood fired forced air furnace to install in the shop. It's never ending! I'll try to keep up with the upcoming fab and repair stuff. Maybe a video or something. May even do a short video of a shop tour. It's almost presentable now. It was so freakin bad that I could barely get my service truck in there just to park and it's 50x90!!! Thanks for checkin on me, I'm just pluggin away! Oh and BTW, I've got SIS now so I can help out. I bet kshansen will beat me to it though!
Does the wood furnace burn 4' wood or more normal sized stuff?
by the time i get a chance to attempt helping someone that doesnt have sis someone always beats me to it unless im browsing on the weekend
It'll take a 30" log pretty easy, maybe a bit longer. Didn't look real close, it's sitting at my buddy's place at the moment. I'm looking forward to having it up and going. Cheaper heat and I love to cut wood. I never put a stove in because I didn't want a fire inside the shop. This way it's outside, has a warm air return and then hot air through the box. Should be easy to wire, hardest part will be bringing myself to cut a couple good size holes in the shop walls!
I'm afraid it'll be the same for me. I'm usually driving or neck deep in something. It'll be nice to buy parts cheap at auctions or on eBay because I'll know what in my fleet the numbers fit I've got a box of Cat stuff that I have no idea of what they're for so it'll be fun to figure out if I can use any of it or what I can make out of it!
You buy sis for your own thing.. or work thing?
mystery parts are not easy to look up on sis unless there is some kind of trick to it. if i have an idea what it was for i will plunk in the serial number and drop in the part number but im only batting about 25 % doing that . i usually end up calling my favorite parts guy and ask him whats this part fit so i can go install it if it needs it , when he gets a chance of course
I finally beat them down at work and they let me get it. I don't have ET but I've only had Cat out for that once in over a year so that was a little harder to justify. We have 12 Cat powered machines so it'll be handy to look my own stuff up at work. Plus I can do some nosing around on other stuff as well. It's about like getting a passport or concealed carry with all the checking and approval they do to make sure you're not a competitor!
Yep that's how I go about it too. Not foolproof but helpful.
You arent kidding i have access to parts store and sis online for 3 years but after 2 and half years begging it felt like , i finally got a laptop and et which then gave me access to the rest of sis mainly the manuals , the only cat equipment we have that doesnt have an ecm is an old 140g motor grader , i already saved them enough money in wasted diagnoses time from the local cat store ti justify it , call service tell them codes and what is needed they come out put on the parts verify repair and leave . this is only for stuff i dont have time to actually do the fixxing on due to other things needing fixxing. I should have a helper in a weeks time that i shoulda had a year ago so pretty soon i will be doing catch up and blowing january budget im sure
One way to possibly identify a part on SIS is to go to the NPR option and put the part number in there. Not a great solution but might give a hint as to what it was used on. Seems like there are different levels of access on SIS as many times I'll be looking something up and will see a long list of Media numbers but when clicked on they come back saying " No Media Number Exists for the specified Media Reference.". Well why is it showing and highlighted in red letters?
I went thru Joplin the week after Thanksgiving and had my eye peeled for the nice Pete but didn't see it anywhere. I went down south of Poplar Bluff to pick up a scraper close to AR. On the Cat sis one thing I have found is up close to the top is a box with a red checkmark and if the box is marked it will only show the parts the machine came with and if it isn't checked it shows all option offered on that machine.
They've been keeping me close to the shop the last several weeks. Between the electronic log stuff and a couple big machines needing attention I haven't gotten much driving in. Have a rotary about put back together, I didn't tear it down but I watched another one of our guys start to assemble it. Did you torque ring gear bolts, why is that race laying on the table, that seal is backwards.....so now it's mine to finish It seems like we've always got a couple trucks coming and going. Just look for the big ** lol. I noticed that on SIS as well, uncheck the box and all kinds of stuff shows up. I'm anxious to play around with it a bit more.
Be careful unchecking the box. Very useful sometimes but it can also lead you down some dead ends. Ask if you need any help. I might start a thread with SIS tips and tricks. Does that sound like a good idea?
I think that's a great idea!
I would be all for a sis thread.
Yeah, me too. I need media access.
I would love to know more about SIS! 99% of what I know was figured out by accident! Trying to recall if I was given any instruction at all or if just an email with an address to go to log on. Like anything with computers knowing how the system "Thinks" is important. Trying to do a search for information can send you down all kinds of worm holes if you use a term that is slightly different than the person who set up the program. Hate to think how much time I spent just the other day trying to find a spec. for testing a glow plug. Never did fin anything on SIS, but did find a note I had made in a paper version of a service manual 20+ years ago!
awsome idea cmark
Couple new short videos...enjoy
Here we go; HeavyEquipmentForums
Merry Christmas everybody. Hope you have a great day and you're with the ones you love. Looking forward to 2018!
Merry Christmas back. And to all the rest here on HE too!
BTW, ran across this, is from Denmark
Merry Christmas to you and your family Junkyard. I always enjoy reading your thread.
Merry Christmas back atcha!!Really enjoy your thread here Junkyard and all the other threads like it.Any news on the Pete with the V12?
Nothin new so far. Planned on a quiet holiday but darned if we aren't busy as heck right now. I'm back at work tomorrow. Trying to get a Watson back together plus tidy up loose ends on the logs. Have several rigs to get moved. Hoping to get down there soon. A buddy of mine is wanting to go, he asked how soon. I said asap. He laughed and said I'll go until it gets warm. Why? I asked. Snakes he said. I threw a bungee cord with no hooks at him while he was mowing one day. He was off that lawnmower so fast, ghosted that sucker right into his stack of round bales. You **'r! And then some Italian mobster tirade! (All said with a thick NY guinea accent) Glad you all enjoy! It's been fun to share stuff. My boys are starting to understand some of it. It's nice to share with people who understand and appreciate what we've all learned, how we've learned it etc.
When my service truck came along I was supposed to have a say in how it was built. Part of what I wanted was a small lube skid with waste oil, bulk 15w40 and bulk hydraulic on it. I got zip. In fact they rushed it so much I don't even have pw/pl or power mirrors. Not even heated mirrors lol. It was off the lot, we're in a hurry! Grrrr
Funny story bout the snakes.I hate them things.Speakin of service trucks,I’ve got a 75 359 somebody weaseled a 3406a into that I’m planning on redo’in.Might need some adice
We had two 'Instructor' firemen that taught us for Fire Brigade at work, neither all too fond of slithering things. Found a dead almost mummified 6" long snake in the cooling tower pumphouse, set the damn thing on the dash of one of their trucks at the steering wheel head thru the wheel. Well the scream was louder than many of us expected, the wet pants were hysterical to the point almost none of us could breath. 50 years old and screamed like a little girl!! then the OTHER one pee'd himself. Training was over for the day.
My wife gave my mom the idea to have these shirts made. If you can't tell, mine says Junkyard and the boys say Junkyard's shop hand. Pretty cool idea!
Helluva crew you have there!!
They have potential.....I don't think it'll be hard to keep them out of trouble. Until they find girls!
It was a chilly mofo round these parts this morning. Had to move a couple rigs. The 3100 Watson DID NOT want to start. Finally got it going. Let it warm up. Got it moved then went to move another rig. Cold sure makes things harder. Did a little wiring work in the shop the last two evenings. Since the remodel/massive cleaning the south end will become more of the fab area so I wanted to have a 220 recep and a gang box with a couple 110's. I had a bunch of MC cable so I used some of that to make my run from the panel to the outlets. Easy running until it's time to wire the boxes. That 8 gauge stuff is stiff!! Good news is once I threw the breaker nothin sparked and all the receps work!! Yay me! Been pondering the teardown of the SAE400 I got this summer. Let me know your color thoughts. My hardcore OU family wants Crimson and Cream. I'd like to do something different, it'll get new gauges etc etc. Don't know that I'll go nuts with stainless but I'm open to any cool ideas y'all have! I've also found several other Lincolns I may snatch up to fix and resell. The good ole SA200's do well here. Let's hear ideas! Oh and BTW pumpguy....I've got more likes than you!
Crimson and Blue?
Your mention of old Lincoln welders and painting reminded me of something from years back. While working on some piece of equipment at one of our gravel beds up north of here I was talking to the superintendent and somehow the subject got around the the, I believe it was a SAE400 Lincoln welder in the shop. It had a real nasty red paint job. The super went on to tell me the full story about it. Seems a few years earlier they went to use the welder and it was not parked where they always parked it. After a full search of the plant they came to the realization that it had been stolen so they called the cops and filed a report. Well that didn't do much good except get in on record along with the serial numbers. Forward a year or so in time. Like many guys at the quarries and gravel beds in the small towns around here several workers are also volunteer firemen and EMTs. One day while working a fire at some guys garage not far from the plant one of the gravel bed guys happened to notice a Lincoln welder that looked kid of familiar but instead of the original grey paint job it had a quickie red paint job! Next day at work he mentioned it to the super who in turn contacted the cops who were checking on the fire of the day before. Guess what the numbers on the "red" Lincoln matched the ones on the missing one of a couple years before! Not sure if the guy got charged but he did forfeit the welder!
Its been just a little cool in my neck of the woods too, I had the heater on in the cab most of the day today, and I don't run it very often. They say cool over the weekend too. I did have the 6v92 plugged in, and it fires right off if its plugged in, but the other morning they had borrowed my cord after I left the jobsite. I plugged it in and climbed back in the pickup, told them I'd be back in a hour.....
Supposed to be in the 40's tomorrow, by Monday it's back down to single digits. *** man?!?!
I actually dug out the insulated bibs, and I don't wear those very often either. I've got to have my 35 ton on tuesday, and I think I'll start it up tomorrow afternoon when we get done, and try to get it into the shop before the weekend cold. I drove by it in the dark tonight, and it looks like I'm going to have to fix a tire on it this weekend too, I think I've got a tube for it. Everyone else at my place is already gone for the weekend, so I'll have to do it after we finish tomorrow. I need to make sure I've got a tube, if I don't. I doubt I'll find one on sat or monday. I know it will start easier friday afternoon than any other time this weekend, and for sure better if its inside tuesday morning, they're talking 10-15 degrees that morning. Far better than 20-30 below, but I don't know if I'm even running blended fuel. I didn't even ask when they filled the tank a week or two ago if it was blended. I'm sure I've got stuff setting around with summer fuel. One thing about that detroit, if you get it running, you don't have to worry about gelling up, you can wrap yourself around that tank after a hour or so and warm yourself right up. HOT fuel...
I've been in my insulated bibs or overalls all week and some of last week. I'd rather be warm than cold. Plus I can keep a little cleaner underneath. I wouldn't worry about the fuel unless it gets stupid cold like 0 or below. It's been many years since I had a fuel issue.
I haven't decided yet. Around here it's crimson and cream (OU) or orange and black (OSU). With a daughter at TU I could go with those colors but they're not cool. May use my old truck colors. Red and gray, they both has some metal flake in them. Looked pretty good. It's a long way from needing a color.....
Red and grey are the old factory colors aren't they?
Yeah more or less. You see a lot of red shop welders and even some of the smaller engine drives. Then all the bigger stuff is usually lighter gray (older) or darker gray even black on the newer stuff. That was one of the last new trucks I had built. Phantom Gray and Coral Red. Those colors had sort of become my calling card. Might as well keep some "brand recognition" going
Here's a quick video. I think I have the camera orientation issue figured out. I'm not too swift on some things
I like that gray a lot.
nice color you need a to get a bigger shop then I can have your old one nice video. oh I wasn't able to find any serial numbers on those ripper shanks I have but I'm positive that you gave me the correct part number thanks I appreciate it now its time to find one that's reasonable on price
Well I wasn't far off.....four machines wouldn't start. Two trucks gelled up and our bulk fuel was almost froze. It was pumping maybe 2 gallons an hour..... I put my head down, bundled up and all is well now. Some fresh batteries, fresh filters, a little heat and some jumper cables and everything that's supposed to be out running and working today is. It's the first really cold stretch we've had in years. We would dip below freezing a night or two but it's very rare to be single digits for days. Sure found a lot of weak batteries and untreated fuel! I had planned ahead on the haul truck, it got fresh batteries a few months ago as I felt like they were about trash. Started treating fuel last week when I heard the forecast. Plugged it in yesterday and she busted right off this morning. Several of our hands didn't plan that far ahead. If'n it was me and I was the big boss.....foreman and I would have a little chat about preparing for weather like this. You can't foresee everything but not treating fuel and taking the time to plug some trucks in strikes me as a mental error. They just want me from the neck down though.....
Might be over kill but where I worked any time there was a chance of temps near or below freezing I had anything that was parked outside plugged in every night. Very seldom had any that refused to fire right off. Some were a little sluggish to move due to cold oil and such. I did not have any input on what fuel was purchased so once in a while had wax plugged filters, mostly in machines that were not used very much and still had summer fuel in the tank when the 0ºF temps hit.
As many guys as there are living within 15 minutes of the hard it wouldn't have been hard to have one come plug stuff in. Ah well it's all handled now. Pretty rare for it to get this cold. Happening over a long weekend didn't help matters!
Saw this today on the turnpike when I stopped to bump tires and check chains. It's kinda hard to tell, it's three pipes on top. Top middle is wedged in and only held by straps and a couple small chocks. No belly wrap, stop blocks or anything else. How they gonna unload it without somebody getting squashed! 10 straps total. 6 over all of it and 4 on the bottom only. Sure looks lousy to me!
Really Really unsat to me, I would not have let them load that fifth pipe!!
Aw, if you've got a crane there to unload, throw some shakeout hooks on each end of that center one, put a little tension on it and then pull the straps. Only needed that one more piece to the jobsite, its not worth sending a extra truck guys.
That's about the only way. But even then it's sketchy. I'm sure some bean counter made that questionable scenario a reality.
Did a lot of driving this week. I was told Friday morning next week would be shop work. Did a little side work yesterday. A car hauler friend of mine that parks at my shop needed some welding done on his rig plus an annual inspection. One post up by the hood had some nice cracks in it right where the clearance light is riveted in. Other was back on the trailer where on of the columns is with a screw in it. I drilled the cracks, opened them up a bit. Welded them, smoothed them out then stuck some fish plates on them. Nothin exciting. He even had paint mixed so you can hardly tell I was there!
Gee!, could they have cut anymore out of that column? Wonder why it cracked?
It was thin too, I'd say it would be measured by gauge, wasn't thick enough to be a fraction of an inch. That whole trailer setup is spooky to me. They all run on screws. Nothing sets down on something solid. It kinda rocks and rolls side to side. His old trailer was all hydraulic so you lifted, adjust and they sat down on safety locks. I have a feeling it'll be back for more work. I did a fair amount to his old one.
We had two car haulers units for service in the 90's at the old Independent shop I worked for used cars and trucks, had bought used equipment from the companies that hauled for Chrysler in Fenton. Were ALWAYS welding on something, fifth wheels scared me the most, dangling inches off the ground, DEEEP gouge scars on the shoe plate, a great deal of side and fore/aft thrust on the mounts, we fish plated the stringers on those more than once.
I joke around with Steve that I don't need to charge him for parking as he keeps the yard graded for me!
Reminds me of the time I saw a car hauler hung up trying to pull out of a side street in town on to the main drag. Not a big difference in height but sure as enough for him. Tractor jerking back and fourth and just smoking the drivers! Not sure how he got free might have called for "Big Red" https://www.bigredtowing.com/
Serviced a LoDril yesterday. Pulled the radiator out of a Watson 2500 today. I think they built the entire machine around that radiator! Half a days work to get it out and about 100 #'s worth of hardware. When I was ready to boom it down an operator jumped on, fired it up and of course with no charge air cooler on it and lack of boost it smoked like a freight train and would darn near die. It sure rolled some coal!
Starters, radiators, belts and hoses.... I guess "they" figure those items never fail any more and don't need to be made accessible now.
They crammed a lot in a small package on the 2500. On the larger 3100 the motor and trans is offset out of machine centerline which affords a lot more room. Everything on a 2500 is inline. That still doesn't explain the complex arrangement of shroud, radiator and CAC mounts etc.
4bt or deere?
Post 697, enlarge the middle picture, filter says Deere
It's a little Deere. We've got a mixture of Deere and Cummins in the Watson rigs.
Thanks birken, I was just looking at the block structure, but I'm only familiar with the older cummins 4bt, and I didn't think it was that, good eye.
Do you work out of your own personal shop or company shop when you work on company gear? Care to share what your YouTube username is? Tried to find your video to send to a friend and didn't come up.
The vast majority of work is company work in company shop or on site. They do rent some space at my yard to store stuff so on ocassion it's more convenient to take care of it at my place, especially end of the week or whatever. I don't get interrupted as much! My channel is still private. The only place I've put links up is on this forum. Most are in my word thread. One of them is on its own thread. Which video you looking for?
The last one you did on the tire tools and shop but I mainly wanted to show him the tire tool so I can find it and just send a link. Thanks
Ken tool 29999 is the tool. I get them from Amazon usually.
That's a different looking fan blade on the Deere. Isolation mounted blades ?
Honestly I have no earthly idea. I've never really pondered the deal with that setup. I have to do some more work to it tomorrow while stuff is easy to get at, I'll see what I can deduce.
I discovered an interesting cause and affect thing today. Prior to tearing the rig apart to get the radiator out I fired it up and gave it a once over to make sure of what all it might need once it was down and inop. I noticed the belt tensioner bouncing like a pogo stick. Bearing was a tad noisy too. Today I pulled it off and being of curious nature I tore into it. Wouldn't ya know it the back side of the pulley was packed full of dirt therefore it was well out of balance. While I was chasing parts I decided to see if I could get just the bearing. Turns out I could. So it's all back together for less than $10 and good as new.
Nice!
Wouldn't it be nice if all the problems you run up against were so easy to figure out and fix? Don't worry, an electrical gremlin will bring you back to reality by taking 3 days and a handful of Prozac to track down.
I'm sure of it. No good deed goes unpunished!!
So Monday moving a rig I had my first bearing failure on a trailer hub. Now that makes me sound like a rookie but I guess I've been lucky. Going on 20 years driving haul trucks and about 15 of those years has been 8 axles or more. 1.5 million miles give or take. It happened fast! Looked back in the mirror as I always do quite often. Saw what I thought was a telltale sign of smoke. It's hard to see around those IMT's. Went maybe a 1/4 mile and looked again. Holy **** batman this mofo is on FIRE!! I was in roadwork about a 1/2 mile from my next exit to avoid the bridge we had worked on a month or so ago. Peel off and get down to a wide spot. Jump out and run back. It's a four alarm raging inferno. Flames are coming up between the wheel covers and the top flange of the wheel area. I grab my extinguisher.....it's frozen. Grab one out of the rig and get it put out before any tires explode. By the grace of god it was on the lift axle. I crawl under and back the brakes off so they don't sit there on that smokin hot drum and flash again once there's some air movement back there. I was off yesterday because it was so damn cold and the roads up in Joplin were crap. They're still crap lol. Pete gelled up on me this am about 15 miles from the shop. A fresh filter cured it. Got trailer in the shop and tore into it. Man oh man did I get lucky. A little careful torch work and I got what was left of the inner bearing off the spindle. Dressed it up and it doesn't seem any worse for wear. Oh and I replaced my broken 1" impact finally!
Need some positive vibes HEF members. Spent all night at hospital with the wife. Severe pancreatitis which in and of itself isn't terrible, just painful. However, they found a lesion on the head of her pancreas that concerned them so we will go have a biopsy next week. I'm not a terribly religious person but all the positive thoughts we can get won't hurt! Thanks all.
I'm not a religious person but I'll send positive vibes your way!!!!!
Posi vibes coming your way. Best wishes too.
God be with you in the trial you are going through. Darrel
Thanks! Never hurts to have people thinking of you and yours!
Positive vibes, my friend, and prayers too. I know how bad this waiting to here on a loved one is.
You have got mine to JY. I make a better patient than a by stander. Its easier for me to be hurt than watch loved ones . Best wishes.
Best of luck to your wife and family during these troubled times.
Thank you guys. It's harder because the kids don't know about the lesion but they can tell we are overly concerned. Oldest daughter doesn't even know. I did a bunch of research and what I have discovered is more than likely it's related to her immune system being weak. Could be a very convoluted diagnosis and course of action! I've got the younger boys with mimi (my mom). Trying to keep things as quiet and peaceful as possible so she can rest. Thanks again to everybody for the support.
Good vibes and plenty of optimism from me. Good Luck!
Ok let's change the tone.... While off work Tuesday I spotted a Miller XMT304 and 24A wire feeder on Craigslist. Asking $1,250 for the pair. That's a great buy. Text him and he was willing to bring to my shop so I could power up. Hoped to weld with it but wasn't sure what he was bringing. Had to change the plug and it powered up. After assessing the situation there was no quick way to adapt my leads to it or fix the mess as far as hooking the feeder up. So today I took a break and piddled at the shop. Got some ends and threw the feeder back on. Welded ok, decided to throw a spare gun I had on. Man oh man does it weld slick, the old gun was junk. I am waiting for a couple adapters so I can use my existing leads with tweeco style ends on it. I'm anxious to see how it burns 7018. So a little leap of faith buying it before testing worked out. I've had the shop for 10 years now and this is the first stick machine I've had that wasn't burning gas or diesel!! Plus I have a spare 12RC suitcase that didn't have a home because I sold my air pak. Now I can run it off the XMT. No more scratch start tig off an engine drive either. I'm wire feeder poor now! It'll save some swapping between solid wire and flux core. Not that it's a big deal or happens very often.
All the best my friend as to handling all that comes your way. Welders included. You fire up that SAE you bought here yet?
wishing you and your wife well! Cam and Shawn from south Langley BC.
Other than fire it up every week or two I have not moved it since I brought it home....I do have the skid designed for it and I will repurpose the trailer as the running gear for a dump. The 6-8 weeks Josh and I spent getting the shop into shape ate up time for stuff like that but the shop sure did need it!! First thing I'll do is have all the sheetmetal blasted, fix all the cosmetic I can and relocate gauges, starter switch etc. Also need to fix the throttle that's out of adjustment. Probably service it too even though they told us it was recently done. I'd care to wager it has 15w40 in it and I'd like to go back with the correct oil. I've talked to a gentleman rancher that may want a lot of pipe fence built so it'll start to earn it's keep. I'm anxious to use it. I still need to get up to KC and get the 400 that Doug has....maybe this week as our old twin disc is supposed to be done.
JY I will keep your wife in my prayers
Thoughts and prayers for the wife.
I really appreciate all the positive vibes. If nothin else I feel better lol. I'm hoping tomorrow brings a little relief for her. She's pretty uncomfortable. Thanks all!!
Thoughts and Prayers here too.
Thoughts and prayers here, as a guy your age with kids similar ages to yours I really can't imagine what that would be like. Sounds like a sweet welder setup, if it is like the one in our shop it will run 7018 vertical up like a dream.
Best wishes to you and your wife
Good vibes to you and yours, and the docs as well
You have my thoughts and prayers. Good luck!
Thanks again all. Ended up taking her back to ER last night and they admitted her. Nothing scary just helping pain management and hydration. A few more tests and whatnot.
Prayers for you and the wife!
Keep yer chin up and hang in there.
Thought I'd update y'all. Took the girls up to see her this evening. Her color was much better, they've found a combination that really helps the pain. They've also gotten some of the other issues headed in the right direction. She looks much better, 12 hours made a big difference. Should get all the test results and another visit from a specialist tomorrow. Thanks again for all the support!
Great news!
you & your wife are in my thoughts & prayers, its great to have family & friends in times like these. always keep a positive attitude
Good vibes sent! Ed
Prayers sent your way. GOOD LUCK
More progress today and they are fairly certain they know the cause. Evidently her gall bladder is attributing to the pancreas issues. A few more tests and once her pancreas calms down a bit they'll do the biopsy. Slow progress but positive progress nonetheless. Thanks again to you all!
Prayers from North Texas. May God's hand touch and heal. Hang in there,buddy
Like I tell the travelling religion folks that stop buy the shop & visit ........... Use my trucks & equipment to solve the simple problems life brings us . On the tough jobs prayer & positive thought all the way ! It works . Massive amounts of prayer & good vibes your direction Junkyard . Habit I got a long time ago was feel the wheel hubs with your hand after a haul on truck & trailer .Don't take but a minute to pick out a warm hub . Pretty low tech but you can spot a hot one pretty quick that way before the things burn up .
Thanks. I always walk around it and lay my hands on tires and hubs. It hadn't been 30 miles since the last time I had stopped. Just one of those fluke deals I reckon. Good thing is we didn't lose the wheels and hub. Bearings and a little labor was all it took. Dodged a bullet for sure!
We had one do that on our 55 ton Trail king, fortunately the boss had been pulling it and not me at the time, had to have Axle Surgeons come and replace the spindle and it took him a while because the axle tube was way thicker then a normal axle so he had a lot of machining to do to get the new one shoved in there. It was the middle axle so we dumped the air bags and chained it up. You did good on that one!
Junkyard, I also want to send some good wishes towards you wife! I can understand some of what you and she are going through as my wife has been dealing with kidney stone problems. A couple years back she had one on the right side laser blasted and from that procedure she came down with sepsis infection possibly due to not getting the right antibiotics. Then a couple weeks back she had to have ones on the left side blasted, new doctor, and she has been in pain since then and has to go in this morning to see if they can get some more out! Then will have to go in again in a week or so to have stents removed! Myself many years back had a ruptured appendix, doc sliced in and cut it out a week in hospital on IV drugs and I was good to go. Not sure if it's more the doctor or the way ones body deals with things but I know some can have a relative minor procedure that will kick their butts bad and another can have a serious problem and it's not much worse than having a tooth filling done! Hope things go good for your wife!
I often wonder that as well. I've always bounced back quickly. Angela has battled autoimmune issues her whole life which makes it even tougher, that's why they're watching things so close. They're doing some more contrast tests this morning. I'd expect her to be there all week. Thankfully I've been working just west of Tulsa so I can spend time there in the evening. The human body is a strange thing. The doctor she has now is the head of the dept and asked a lot of questions and seems to have a course of action that reassures her so that's a good thing. One thing it's motivated me to do is quit traveling. I've worked on the road since I was 19-20. I'll be 40 this year. I've had enough! I need to be around to help her and be more involved with the kids. Long overdue. Thanks for the support! I've been showing her the thread and I'm sure she's probably been on here taking a look. Maybe she needs a MrsJunkyard membership! Haha
Found out today her gall bladder comes out. Once pancreas has settled down they'll do biopsy. She did get moved to a private room. They've moved her to a fluid diet so she gets soup etc. On another note, while she's not driving it I've been pulling some PM on her car. Oil change, replace the $87 HID headlight bulb, front brakes due to warped rotors. The last sorry sob to do brakes needs kicked in the giblets. He/she broke an torx bit off in the screw and just left it! Grrrr. I welded a bolt to it and got it done. It also recently thrown a low oil pressure warning at me. It's not low, no noise no change in anything so I'm assuming sensor or trash in the little standpipe it goes in. Did some research, most techs pull the intake to get to it. *** man?!? So I reckon that'll be my weekend job. Oh and it needs to rear air shocks, brake light switch to cure the inop cruise..... but it's paid for!
Thanks for the update Jeff. I was going to call you this evening but was thinking you are probably at the hospital. Our prayers are still gong your way. On the way to Lake of the Woods last Saturday afternoon we met a "Saturday" loaded log truck that was setting on the shoulder with a burnt looking bearing and spindle sticking out on the driver side steering tire. A full 1/4 mile up the road there was the tire out in a field along side the road. I would have hated to catch that one in the front of the F-350. A repair service truck was pulling up as we went by so we did not stop.
You can get it without pulling the intake if your arms are long and skinny!
That's what I'm hoping. Damn thing was going bat$hit crazy on the way to town. I figure it's fine or it'll scatter! Then we will do an LSX and an 80mm turbo....NOT lol
Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. We're makin progress!
Have to love people who do those things! On the Yamaha forum I'm on a lot they are always bitching about the PO's "previous owner" all kind of nasty crap is found on those bikes from back in the 1970's! And while we are talking about wives, mine went in for her second kidney stone procedure yesterday. As the doctor was running a few minutes late wife had extra time to talk with anesthesiologist, same one that work with her last time, after discussing all the problems she had with nausea the first time they decided on a different course of action. Last time it was several days before she could eat much more than a few saltine crackers at a time. Last night less than three hours after the procedure she asked me to run out to a local restaurant to pick up an order of Nachos with Roast beef! So what ever the guy used sure worked much better for her. I told her she should make a note of what was used so if she ever need anesthesia again she can let them know what works for her! Hope things work out good for your wife!
Another update, this is becoming quite the saga! Gall bladder comes out tomorrow 7:00am. Should come home tomorrow evening. Making positive progress on all fronts so far. Got most of the piddly stuff done on her car. Oil pressure switch cured the bells and whistles. Heated/cooled seats are functioning again. Replacement rear shocks should be here tomorrow so that will cure the bleeding off and almost endless running of the compressor. Haven't figured the cruise out, switch tests ok but research shows that to be the issue 99% of the time. Typical mechanic, work on everybody's crap but my own!
Good luck tomorrow, glad to hear they've got a plan. Prayers for your wife, you and your family.
Thanks, I hope this all helps her feel better overall. She's been hurting awhile. Hasn't been herself for quite some time.
Prayers for you and your wife Junkyard. Had a coworker had his gallbladder taken out and he was off for a while because of it. I have no idea if its the same but on my 2002 Ford F250 the speed sensor in rear diff was dirty and so the cruise wouldn't work.
Kinda slow with the update. She had her surgery yesterday morning and everything went just like it should. She should be home this afternoon and headed down the road to recovery. She's still got some pancreas pain along with post-op pain. Dr said third day is the worst so Saturday should be a blast! Haha. Another positive note is after reviewing tests doc says there's no lesion on her pancreas. My understanding of things is pain from surgery should be gone in a week or so, pancreas will begin to function normally a bit slower than that so she will have pain longer but when she's healed and functioning properly she will feel like a new woman. I'm hoping it's the last of this for awhile. Past couple years have been hard for her. Thanks again for all the support!
Maybe we should have started a new thread for this subject? "Wives in the Shop for Repairs"! Junkyard, glad your wife is doing good. This morning my wife per doc's orders removed the stent that was installed at the time of last procedure. She had been doing great up till then now a hour or so later she was in bad pain. Called doc's office and was told to take oxycodone pill he had been given and 800 mg of ibuprofen. That seems to have taken the edge off it for now so she can get some sleep. guess I'll have go out and get the firewood myself today!
JY glad to hear things went well.
Glad both of your wives are on the road to recovery, and good health.
In a way I feel like I have a newborn....well I don't have to change her diapers or anything like that. However I am waking her up in the middle of the night to remind her to take her pain meds. If she deviates from the schedule by much at all she's hurting. I think today she should round the corner and start feeling better. Forgot pics but went out yesterday and did some side work on a JLG 800A that has quite a few hydraulic hoses leaking. One was easy, maybe 3' long and I could actually see both ends from the same spot! The other came from the control valve, through the plastic chain, up the boom, through the knuckle and up to the main boom lift cylinder. It's gotta be 35-40' long. I addressed some other piddly things on it. It's a personal use machine so it doesn't have to be perfect but I'd like the owner to have enough confidence to use it and not worry about getting stuck up in the basket lol. It's got a cylinder leaking pretty good, it looks like a bit of a bear to get out. The whole entire boom would have to be supported to get it out. He may have to live with that leak for a bit, not sure what his tolerance is for parts and labor.
So I've started the rebuild of the SAE400 I got this summer. I decided to leave it on the trailer and build around that. I dismantled to really see what I've got to work with. I have another SAE400 that will now become a donor for the chassis as the one with the 2-71 in it is crap. Just fugly. Here's a few pics of the status of the trailer mounted and the donor machine. Donor has a 4.236 Perkins missing pump and injector lines. Motor is free but I know nothing else about it. I've been quietly looking for a cheap pump but haven't had any luck. Knowing my affinity for the Detroit I'll use it to have good bones for the 2-71 machine. After a lot of measuring only the motor mounts have to be relocated. Everything else is exactly the same so it shouldn't take much to get it swapped.
Looks like a neat project. If ya don't mind me asking, what's the scoop on the SAE 400 machine? I don't know a ton about welders, so in general, why this particular welder over others? I'm just trying to get educated, i dont know squat about them.
For heavy work they're hard to beat. Too big for pipeline trucks etc but when you have a lot of gouge work or run a high deposition rod like jet rod they're nice as you can really crank em up. There are newer nicer setups but these older 400's are a lot of machine for the $.
Playing with cylinders today. Tilt off an IMT and an outrigger off the old grove picker. On the IMT tilt you have to support the boom with the picker to relive load on them and drive the pin out. Not terrible once you learn the tricks. Later I'll be into an IMT rotary. New territory for us they generally don't give us any trouble. We shall see!
Yesterday morning I was all setup to tear into that rotary. Phone rings and another operator on a job in Tulsa blew a -20 hose so I took care of that, picked up my seals for the little grove and got it buttoned up. So baring any other distractions I'll be into that rotary today. My hunch is the failure occurred in the planetary transmission between the drive motor and the pinion that drives bull gear in bottom of rotary. We shall see!
Nice tip and video Junkyard ! But, I was disappointed you don't have any more videos on YouTube. Did I miss any when I looked at your channel ??
As soon as I saw the lead-in pic, I knew what you were going to say. I started kicking myself before the video started, because I bet I've thrown away 500 old Band-It clamps over the years, and never thought of it!
LMAO! I think I've got that many laying around. Tinkerer, I don't have many videos up and the channel is private. It's hard to decide what's video worthy lol. That and I don't need to **** the boss off makin them on company time! I'll go through my service truck for the next one and see if I can't find some other tips and tricks to share.
So the IMT rotary is turning into quite the cunundrum. I had it about half torn down today and have yet to find what I was hearing. I've pulled both motors, run them independent and together. Pulled the caps off the bottom pinion shaft supports and see nothing out of the ordinary. Pulled one trans apart, just the planetaries. The clutch on them is a booger and not a field job. So I ended up calling the IMT guru in Tx and he's coming up Wednesday. I have to get this machine going next week. I have a trans and drive motor enroute in case it needs one. Filter cart as well to clean things up, we didn't have a major failure but I think we averted one. I am stumped. Watson rotaries are easy. These are complex. Three speeds in the drive motor and two in the trans itself so a double planetary below the clutch pack. It's quite the setup. Should make for an interesting week!
I scored a few large impact sockets on EBAY and darned if one wasn't 1-1/2" drive which isn't a big deal as I have a torque multiplier and hydraulic torque wrench that size. I do use a 3" socket from time to time on the IMT tilt cylinder pins and wanted one I could throw on my 1" ratchet. So I made a sleeve to get 1-1/2" down to 1". Came out pretty good I think.
Is the inside of that socket cracked or am i seeing things
It's the way the socket was made, there's a bit of a recess so between the surface rust and shadow from flash it looks like cracks. I didn't notice that until you mentioned it.
Finally got into the IMT rotary today and my hunch of it being the lower end of the transmission was right. Man oh man did it eat some gears!
Looks like a dentist appointment is needed. One little piece of steel can make a lot of pieces in a hurry.
Lol one of the operators said it's got tooth decay! Thankfully the bottom set of gears is NOT in the hydraulic system. Top set is and they're fine. On a hunch I had already ordered a trans. Should have arrived today but weather delayed it. I'll order parts for this one and rebuild it. We have 3 IMT 180's and they all use the same trans. So that means there are 5 more after this one that could eventually fail. This was our first IMT and highest hours at 6,235. I'd like to think my keen ear caught this. I was hearing abnormal noises before it started the hard crunching. I guess you spend enough time around them and you learn what's not right and hear it without even listening for it if that makes any sense at all. I'm glad it's the lower set, that would be a lot of trash to clean out of the hydraulic system if the top had gone bad. I've already cut filters and they looked good. It does have a separate return filter before the main hydraulic system to catch garbage should it suffer a catastrophic failure.
I like you hear things without even listening for them. The old "whats different" thing. If only I was always smart enough to figure it out before it was to late.
More mindless IMT work resealing various piddly leaks. I don't think they could have packed anymore hoses in here if they wanted to!
Gee I thought my backhoe was bad. You had to remove a bunch of hoses to get to the one that needed replacement. All of them back in a narrow space. By the time I had replaced al of them I sold it.
Scary thing is I know which ones go where and what size and type of seals/o-rings go where. It's a fairly common spot for them to leak. Especially the rotary and kelly winch hoses as they see the most frequent use and highest number of cycles. Those hoses get to jumping pretty good. It is a pain, remove 3,4 or 5 hoses to get to the leaky spot. Most often it's the BSPP end of the tee where it goes into bulkhead.
Junkyard .. How do you fix the leaks ? Replace the o-ring ? Anything else ?
Usually yes. Most of those hoses are flat face o-ring. The most irritating leaks are the male ends of the tees that are BSPP. They don't have the angled edge to seal with a bonded washer. Sometimes an appropriate sized o-ring will do the trick. Sometimes you end up having to tape the threads like you would a pipe fitting from our side of the pond. Sometimes it's both. A few times I've had to replace the bulkhead fitting itself or the tee to remedy the situation. This particular time o-rings seemed to have cured it. I have one on the larger IMT that's always a problem. It's due for some new parts if they want the to drips completely gone.
The worst thing that I've ever seen for hoses jammed into one spot was a John Deere 200C excavator. I had to take apart the hydraulic manifold to replace some o-rings that were leaking between the two halves of it and there were 108 steel lines and hoses going into that thing.
And why is it when there is a leak on something like that the one that is leaking is the first one to go on and last one to come off?
Good ole Murphy has a lot to do with it.... The boom lift I worked on awhile back needed a couple tires so my buddy decided to bring his old B81 wrecker out to do the lifting. I snapped a couple pics.... You can tell by Wyatt how much we had it up lol. That's a tough old truck.
Good lookin B model!
That’s a nice looking wrecker it’s good to see you got a good helper with you
My IMT parts showed up Monday. We've been so busy moving rigs and whatnot I didn't open the crate until yesterday morning and ***k me the trans was missing the lower planetary gearset which is what we REALLY needed. Called the parts guy and got the "oh I guess I doesn't come with it". Good news is I had ordered parts to rebuild our old trans. Tracking said they'd be here yesterday. Well some showed up, bearings and seals. So here I sit again waiting on parts! On top of that I've been sick as a dog since Monday evening and the wife is back in the hospital again. She can't catch a break! After her gall bladder was removed she seemed to be improving but a few days later some new issues show up. I heard mention of a trip to Mayo. Something has to be done, she's been having issues for several months. I actually feel slightly human this morning. Between toughing it out at work and managing things at home I am BEAT!!! I also bought myself a service truck with a crane. It's a rough old girl cosmetically but I think the bones are good. When I get it picked up, today maybe, I'll post some pics. 1990 International L10 Cummins, 9 speed, 6k Autocrane, room for a welder deck up front. A little TLC, paint and some elbow grease and it'll do what I need for a long time.
I am a real believer in the Mayo Clinic. They start at the beginning and to a whole body diagnostic exam. While they do read the reports they do not go with preconceived notions from the referring physicians. Normally they have you there first think on a Monday morning for a consult and continually add tests and procedures all week as things develop. If you go, let us know, we are not that far away.
Don't tease us with new arrivals and then not post pictures...... Hope your wife gets to doing better. That will wear all of you out in a hurry.
I brought it home last night, I think I overdid it as I've been up all night. Can't keep anything down. Looks like I may have to breakdown and go to Dr myself. Ugh.
how you feeling hope your doing better along with the wife you should be getting a package next week I got some stuff I'm sending you in the mail today get feeling better cant wait to see the new truck you picked up
Thanks. I drug my *** to urgent care yesterday to find out I have strep throat. I'm almost 24 hours in on the antibiotics and I'm starting to feel better. Haven't eaten in almost 48 hours....I made some toast so we will see how that sits! Angela was released yesterday, she went to her sisters since I'm home and contagious. She's so weak I'll have to get better and then disinfect the house before she comes back. It's been quite an ordeal.
sounds like it the wife gets strep throat a lot that's not fun hang in there it will get better
Hang in there and keep yer chin up.
I'm hangin in there. Seems quite strange to be home alone in a house that normally has 6 or 7 people in it. Sounds like my folks may come by later and help clean some so I don't have as much to do before Angela comes home. For the last 4-6 weeks I've been spread pretty thin between working, trying to take care of the kids, taking care of the wife and making a feeble attempt at keeping the house clean. There's only so much this poor steering wheel holder/wrench bender can do! I've been working close to home for a month now and it's sure been a blessing with all the other stuff going on. Heck I haven't seen Joplin shop in a month. They send me what I need as they move tools etc back and forth to the site. I haven't had a chew for a couple days either. Think I'll have one now.... Take care everybody and thanks for the support!
JY hang in there, it's bound to get better.
Hopefully you didn’t get the strain of flu like I had.Took me 2 an half weeks to pull outa it completely!Get wellsoon.Lookin forward to the service truck pics
I feel like a new man. Little weak yet but not bad. Don't hype the service truck up too much! She's ugly but well worth what I paid. I've got several days moving rigs and the hammer first part of the week and then hopefully I can get the transmission back in the IMT. Heck I've probably got a days worth of paperwork to catch up on as well.
What a week. Nasty muddy mess and if it wasn't mud it was sleet and ice. A week of steady rain, sleet and ice has set us back considerably on all fronts. Looks like it will finally dry out a bit. I'm behind on work as I can't even get into the drop yard! On another note, wife is home and we finally know the root cause. Her thyroid was so low it wasn't even registering when they tested therefore her body had begun to shut down. As in the way it does when you've got one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel. The Dr said several times he didn't know why her heart didn't just quit with her existing issues on top of the thyroid. Scary stuff. It's going to take months to get her levels back up and the strange thing is just a few months ago her thyroid tested fairly close to normal so they're going to see if they can figure out why there was a sudden drop. I'll see if I can't get into something worth taking pics of or make another video now that things have calmed down slightly.....
Send some of that rain our way and lots of it to it's just been cold here for us they keep saying rain but it just moves on glad to hear the wife is doing better and they figured it out I was hoping my package would get there this week but with weather they said it might take a little longer keepon trucking
You can have all you want! Lol. We are so busy it really backed us up work wise. I went to a substation in KS Wednesday and loaded a rig. Went to leave Thursday and the county roads were so bad I left the rig. SOLID ice for 5-6 miles. Not worth even trying. Beautiful sunny day today though. Yesterday afternoon wasn't bad either. The boys and I went to the shop for a few hours and piddled around. I may go back today and work on my ugly service truck lol. I'm torn between fixin the truck it's on, buying a new chassis and one idea I had was cutting it off behind the cab and building a trailer out of it. We shall see!
I have liked the idea of a service trailer, but am concerned that I'd be more likely to leave it somewhere remote, and then some b---#%* would break into it or tow it away. Warm regards from over here, it's tough enough when someone is not well without having to deal with winter weather and mud and greyness, it's enough to wear you out hey. Hope it all brightens up for you and yours soon.
I've considered that too. It would be rare for it to sit somewhere longer than it takes me to chase parts or something. Just trying to keep from owning a fleet of vehicles if I can avoid it! I'm due for a newer pickup so that has me considering the trailer route. That's for the positive vibes!
Prayers for the wife, its not easy. Its hard to keep the attitude right when you don't feel well and are always at the doctor. I don't think I'd do the trailer, its such a pain if its muddy or crowded jobsite etc. We were pulling a gooseneck trailer all the time with a pickup as a rigging/support truck for my 70 ton. We got the ford f-450 set up for that now, and its so much handier. It is a extra set of plates and insurance, but it saves hooking and unhooking the trailer, and never having room to park it, etc.
Let's see where am I at work wise.....got the transmission back in the IMT rotary Monday. Spent the rest of the week shuffling rigs around. Hauled the new 190 IMT for the first time today. Spent some time looking it over, freakin DEF tank on it. Grrrr. A few filters match the 180's and a few new ones. We are slammed busy. Owner says we've got the most work contracted ever in his 30 some odd years of business. My mom likes to go to estate sales. She brought me a handful of wrenches. One Snap On 3/4 date coded 1964. One was a craftsman open end with 11/16 and 19/32. Don't see too many 19/32! The one pic of the crate doesn't look like much....there's over $20,000 worth of parts in there!
ALMOST a pickup bed full. Amazing what mechanisms cost these days.
I still have a 19/32 combination wrench that dad bought when I was a younger teenager. He needed it when we rebuilt the old D2. We install a clutch and put new bearings in the engine, along with new rails and weld on sprocket rings. I don't remember what bolts it fit though.
Do not have them anymore, any of you remember the British Standard Wrenches? I had from 1/4" to 1", they fit NOTHING but OLD British cars, motorcycles and trucks. 1981 had my first, only and last tune up on a 1951 Bentley, old British man brought it from UK to here to travel in as he was 'Accustomed' to it. Had all the pieces from Bentley to perform the tune, had all his own tools "In the Boot". Took a little time as you REBUILT the spark plugs re-using the threaded cup porcelain retainer and replaced the contacts on the points assembly. Was quite a experience, learned a lot of the custom hand made British cars that day, never saw the old Gent again.
A very good friend of mine, a mentor if you will, has always worked on older British stuff. Mainly Jags. There's a whole drawer in his box full of the funky British wrenches. We didn't use them very often but when you needed them you needed them. Boot and bonnet Knowing a bit about British stuff (Lucas Electronics in this case) you might get a chuckle of out a joke the British car collectors always tell. You know why the brits like their beer warm? All their fridges are made by Lucas!
Ah Lucas, the dark prince....
My damned 1975 AC 180 diesel has a Lucas starter, ignorant. I helped two neighbors one with MG B's(5) the other with two old XK E's, stupid side draft carbs were ALWAYS hosed up, had a sleeve valve like the crotch rocket carbs and the old Harley CV carbs but not near as nice to get set and balanced. Had four vacuum gauges on a support frame just to set those rotten bastards with, seemed like monthly. Can look in a box and see a wrench size without seeing the US measure on the side, can almost do that metric anymore, never ever could do that with British Standard. Another bud bought a Bentley with a roots blower sticking out the front on the end of the crankshaft, 1920's or 30's collector car. I never put a wrench to that monster, last I heard he had sent the engine block to GB for a main and rod bearing RE-Pour, not shells, poured Babbitt, ICK!!
If you have the right setup to set side drafts it's not bad at all. In high school I had a 280Z with triple Webbers on it. Added a header, swapped in a truck 5 speed and a 3.90 rear gear. Wasn't a 5.0 mustang that could hang unless they has made some mods to theirs. Outhandled them all. Obviously a 280Z isn't British but I learned those side drafts quite well.
Zeniths and Strombergs on the Brit machines, SUCKED butt. I believe Adam replaced the Zeniths on one MG with Webers.
A Weber is a quantum leap ahead of the aforementioned semi-calibrated leaks. IIRC there were Farrari's with six of them poised on top of the engine.
Absolutely. I fiddled with quite a few Jags and other British stuff. Always something with them!
When our old British bikes would not start, we would predict it was going to rain the next day. Them Lucas ignitions were so prone to moisture failure that they would not run the day before a rain.
You still have a bottle of Lucas magic smoke, do you have the installer as that was what self destructed after a single use!!
Don't ever let the magic smoke out! Haha
Junkyard, a white rig from your outfit out of the Topeka store was out here in '14 to drill holes for a cell tower for Hayden. Pretty big post hole for these parts. I was very impressed how there was basically no loose dirt in the bottom of the hole, maybe about 65" in diameter x 30' deep. It was about a yard of concrete per foot. I've got a welder like yours with the 2-71 Detroit, mine's badged Libby SAE 400, but Lincoln made. Libby sold a lot of stuff to the government. Mine is a 1968 on a factory Electric Wheel 4 wheel running gear.
Small world! White rig and a hole that big it was most likely a Watson 3100, probably unit V-311 unless it had a cab then it was 313. We've got a few tricks for cleaning a hole up nice short of sending a man down which we have to do on occasion. I spent several hours piddling with my 2-71 powered 400 this weekend. Fresh fuel, filters, fuel lines, fixed some broken welds on the chassis etc. The fuel had turned to **** on me. Smelled like varnished gas. I'm going to move the start button and gauges to the end panel and build a throttle linkage so I can mount it behind the cab of my beater service truck and still run it all from the end. I think s/n puts mine like 69/70 or something like that.
Speaking of beater service trucks, I haven't seen any pictures of this creature, and I've been sitting at this computer waiting..... Or are you waiting until you fix up the worst of it, then take the pictures, and call them the "before" pictures, because its really that bad?
It's pretty ugly lol. Saturday was the first time I've been at my shop for several weeks. It's been hectic around my house lately. I think I've got a couple from the ad.....yep I do. I'll throw them up.
That's not too bad, I was envisioning pink with green stripes or something. Looks like you've got room for welder and compressor? Dirt guy by me used to have a boom like that with the double winches, he said it was really stout, for what it was. No outriggers, or did they just steal them out from under it? You could make a rigger for that side pretty easy with a trailer jack and a beam going to the frame under the bumper. 466? or L10?
L10, 9 speed. Those old cranes are stout and lighter. Essentially the same as a lattice boom vs hydro. More finesse in it than my hydro at work. There's about 54" behind the cab. Should fit the SAE400 and my compressor. I need to fix the stack, I'd say somebody smacked it with the crane. It'll get a straight pipe. I'll get the wheels blasted and painted soon and throw on some caps and lug covers. I'm going to attempt to fix the paint on the cab and see if I can't massage the dents out of the passenger roof..... bed doesn't match truck but it's not a terrible mismatch. For $3,500 I can't complain. It actually runs and drives good other than I don't think there's a synchro left in the trans! Plus somebody did a hack job of stretching it so I'll have to address that with an insert and a crossmember most likely.
Looks like the same crane I've been using since 2001, Tough critters and half the weight of an equivalent Hydraulic model. Best part is you don't have to run the engine in the shop to use it.
Yes, all those parts of line on the boom up and down has got to be smoother than the hyd cylinder ones. Mine on the little ford 450 truck is not smooth at all. But that may just be the operator..... Looks to me like you did good on price too. At least you don't have to worry about putting the first scratch on it, you can just work it.
Look at all that room for a knuckleboom.
I never even thought of that, you could do a tandem pick by yourself......
I've pondered adding one. I've never used one. I need to play with the one at work and see what I think. It would sit right over the lousy frame splice so that would need attention but it's certainly doable. I know of a nearly new 12,000 Palfinger in TX I could get worth the $ although it would be dang near double what I paid for the truck! Moved a rig from one side of a bridge to the other today. Told the operator to leave the rotary up and the horse head pinned up we will move it assembled. I did take the kelly bars out, I don't think the trailer would lift it complete. It's about 120-125k ready to drill. It didn't like lifting the 220, it weighs about 112k.
I really want a knuckle boom on the next truck I build. They are just too handy.
You use one you will slap yourself for ever having used a straight boom!!
The nice thing with a knuckleboom is the push and pull ability. They aren't so handy if you have something and you want to go straight up and down, like setting a head on a engine, or dropping in a rear 3rd member, or a transmission in from the top. Now if you start talking about a knuckleboom with a winch mounted, I'm all in on that idea, you can do whatever you want. There aren't a lot out there like that, but there are some.
I know a guy that has one and he says he will never be without it. Being able to push and pull would be darn handy in certain situations. Pros and cons to everything!
I've had three trucks with the Autocranes. If my controls are on a cable I'd rather have that than a juice crane. One of my compatriots has the radio control on his juicer and I'm afraid I might like that better. I will say you don't want to do a whole lot of lifting just on the batteries with the electric unit unless you park the truck on a down hill slope.
I liked the cabled remote on a juice crane better than my wireless setup I have now. The deadman switch on the wired remote was where I had the finesse where my wireless remote it's in the little joysticks. I'm just not as smooth with it for some reason. Not having to drag the cable into a hole on a machine is sure handy though! I've been pondering a way to keep an eye on voltage so I don't leave myself dead in the water. It won't get used a lot so hopefully I don't ever have that issue.
I only killed the truck battery once. I had a good idea of what I could do after that and it never happened again. The big thing I didn't like about the hydros was booming down. The units I was around just had a hand valve on the cylinder. You could set it up for a heavy load and then wait forever when putting the boom down with no load. The AutoCrane was precise. I'll be waiting for the photos of when you get done with the build up.
Don't hold your breath! It's hard to say how long it'll take. I may stick it in the shop this weekend and start some of the paint prep and at least get the worst areas touched up. I think the next thing I'll address is the frame so I can build and install the welder deck.
May not be a bad idea to put a separate battery pack in just for the crane with a isolator charging circuit as on RV trailers. Batteries could be worked to death and not challenge the truck starts. https://www.batterystuff.com/batter...NBVtX0-Ggr-AkXPyN3a3hYLdnhY4XZdRoCeegQAvD_BwE
So today was what I call busy work. Grease machines, look them over for issues and try to be proactive. I spent the better part of a day crawling all over a Watson 3100. Piddly leaks, hoses rubbing, grease it, check gearboxes etc. While greasing the head shives, kelly swivel etc I noticed the kelly swivel pin just about to fall out. I got my handy dandy often made fun of 500# chain hoist and got some slack in the cable. If you're not careful that sucker with $hitwhip you before you know it! Once tension was off I removed the screw in pin by hand. No thread lock on it. Cleaned it all up, liberal dose of loctie and reversed disassembly. It was about 1-1/2 turns from falling out.
Wow, good catch! That would've ruined a perfectly good day for sure...
Man what a slimy mess!!
I love my quarter-tonner.
The three Watson 3100's we have are by far the dirtiest machines to work on. You get grease on you by looking at one. They serve a purpose though. The smaller 2500's aren't quite as bad but they leak and ooze stuff just the same. Losing the bars down a hole sucks. A man getting hit by them would REALLY suck. There's no power down on them. Gravity and a foot brake so it's kind of jerky even with the smoothest operators we have. Wouldn't be the first set we've fished out of a hole. Generally they don't drill the really deep holes anymore, the IMT's do those these days.
Great thread! Finally got it all read. I lived in Stillwater area for 9 years, but now I work for a farm a little southeast of Joplin. We've got some fields in Duenweg, but most are scattered southeast of there for about sixty miles. I hope I don't get in your way on the road sometime (I'm usually 17' wide and 25 mph!) I can only dream of a service truck and crane. My truck has a bed full of tools and a cab full of more tools with a spot almost big enough to sit and drive, and a 1000# HF manual hoist on a bed corner. It ain't much, but it's what I gots. The Cummins that scattered reminded me of the time I watched a 3406 irrigation motor spit a rod out the side. Bang bang bang,THUNK, then silence. "Hey, we don't have to pull the dipstick to check the oil, just look in this new inspection port." I hope your wife's health issues get resolved soon. Lots of people praying. Thanks for starting/updating this thread.
Glad you like it. I'd give anything to farm again. She's tryin. Some good days, some bad. I can't help but think all the positive thoughts and prayers are helping her. We've got a ways to go.
I've left two REALLY good jobs to go stir dirt. I don't get to work much ground anymore. I'm sort of foreman, mechanic, trainer, janitor, plumber, electrician, carpenter, and shoveler. My seat time is mostly planting and combining. We're starting to work ground and gearing up to plant corn. I get some slow time in Dec., Jan., and early Feb. then i'm busy as a "one-armed paper hanger" until the last soybean gets put in the bin. Some days I wonder why I left Tool-and-Die work and Electronics work, but then I hit a sunny, 70° day doing work that I love (outside) and I'm happy.
I helped run a farm from 98/99-2009. Loved every minute of it. I'd be happy to come help if you get short handed!!
Let's see here....was supposed to be off all week as I'm on full dad duty. Yeah that **** didn't happen! Haha. Moved a rig Monday, managed to have most of yesterday off. Moved a rig today. Headed to Joplin tomorrow to organize and send back extra IMT parts and hopefully install my new drawers while I'm there. Have not touched the beater service truck. I have paint for the wheels, gonna go flat black and throw some chrome caps and lug covers on it. I'll see what I can do to fix the missing paint. Going to "attempt" to clean up and spray bomb the bad part of the cab and see if I can blend it in worth a flip. I'm about to sell or part out that 05 KW I have so I'm half tempted to stick that 18 speed in the beater. The trans in it now doesn't have a bit of synchronizer left on any gear. Need to make sure truck is not super tall geared, not sure if the 10 speed in it is a direct or over. I think I've got enough chrome exhaust parts to stick a decent looking straight pipe on it. Better seats from the KW as well. It'll be a process! I'm alive and well going in 10 different directions at any given moment.
GOOD.
Finally got my new drawers in today. Got them arranged. Came home and promptly rearranged them! Lol
See, I've been thinking about your old international, frame issues, and I think I've got a little upgrade/ fabbing solution. It would be more work than I'd want, but I'm sick of it setting in my yard. I've got a frame, suspension and transmission. You'd have all the ground clearance you'd ever need. It would probably be a little slow. L10 and your cab and service body on the military frame and suspension. Only had 29,000 miles on it when I stole the 8.3 out of it. Of course this is all just to get it out of my yard and into yours.... 6x6- you could get to any nasty old mudhole to work on broken down stuff, no need for them to take it to a dry shop!
Hey man that's an idea! My buddy has the full cab version. It'll do 65 pretty easy. To heck with that L10 let's throw the 8v71 in it! I bet the full cabs can be had at auction. Do you have a title? I did a side job Monday I dang near needed that truck to get back to it!
I sent off for the title from the military when I bought them, but I don't know if I ever got one. I think they wanted a extra $500 or so for the final paperwork and maybe I didn't spend the extra $. I had 2 of them and got rid of one to a guy making a mud crawler. Also- microwave and tennis shoes in the service truck? You've probably got your lawn chair and umbrella stashed in there too!
Lol. I knew somebody would notice that. The guys like to heat their lunches up when I'm around. The shoes are an old pair just in case I fubar my boots or if my feet get to bothering me. There's all kinds of random crap in there I've gotten used to having over the years. I can get a title in OK pretty easy I think. Or it'll have whatever title the cab has if I mount something different on it.
So funny story. My daughter Alex will be starting high school next year. She has been picking electives and whatnot. They toured the two votechs around to see if there's any career path there they might be interested in. They walked into the diesel shop and her friend said "Ewwwww what's that smell?!?" Alex laughed and said "I know that smell, its diesel fuel and diesel fumes." Her friend asked her how she knew. Alex told her I've been around it all my life, probably in the womb even. There was one girl in the diesel class. Alex's friend asked where the bathroom was. The girl told her and made sure she knew to lock the door. Told her the boys always try to sneak in when she's in there!!! Here's Alex when she was about 6 months old and when I was about 26.....sheesh it's been a few years!
Hmmm, almost recognizable!! Alex will most likely do EXTREMELY well, if not **** off the instructors!!
That's a real "Happy day" photo, I bet it seems like the day before yesterday.
It really does. Hard to believe she's 14. Well that and she managed to survive with me as her father lol. She's a good kid.
Kids are on spring break this week so Wyatt his riding along today. We moved two rigs this morning and came down to OKC to move the 80 ton crawler. I snapped a few pics.
Junkyard, what kind of radius miles does this company travel to keep this amount of iron working, it impresses me that these machines are kept in work, big investments indeed. Do the operators travel to and from everyday or maybe stay near the job? Cheers
We generally run about a 300 mile radius from the main shop in Joplin. The owners have their hands in just about every type of drilling there is so it's keeps us busy. We do have some redundancy rig wise so we usually have an idle rig or two. Plus some are better suited to other jobs. Most of the time the operators and ground hands stay near the job. We get per diem etc so time out isn't bad. ** has been in business well over 30 years and is very well managed. There's tons of bridge work in Oklahoma right now plus a lot of building and pretty much every structure down here has piers under the slab.
You wore the lil helper plum slick there!!
He was having second thoughts when I woke him up at 5:30 this am!
Some of my best memories growing up were on days just like that dad has a few pics of me sleeping like that to I bet he earned his nap
I took two of my grandsons to the farm a couple of weekends ago. They got to scoop some dirt with a loader, ride in an articulated tractor, and get some seat time in an excavator. They had almost as much fun as I did. The six-year-old is pretty timid, but the four-year-old wanted to put the hammer down. I had to keep my hand on the swing joystick or he would have demolished the end of the new shop! Those are good times, but they sure go by fast !
Wyatt is the more methodical one. His younger brother, Will, is the crazy one. A buddy nicknamed him bam bam. That's about right for him! I bet he remembers this day for a long time.
Had a few hours this evening to work on my beater service truck. Got the back of the cab cleaned up and painted. I didn't do a stellar job because quite frankly I don't care lol. The welder will hide most of it and it's damn sure a lot better than it was. I figure I'll work my way around it. I need to address the hood, glass is cracked where hinges bolt in. I think I'll patch it up and then use a piece of aluminum tread plate to tie it together and hide the ugly.
Had a rain day today. This weekend I had done some welding on a customers trailer with my bobcat. Hate that stupid SOB so I decided the 400 is going in the truck. Threw some lead racks on it today and started what I think will be pretty cool. I'll show the start and keep y'all in suspense until it's done..... It was my buddy Josh's idea so he deserves the credit
Almost forgot. Was trucking along the other day as the sun came up and saw my shadow so I snapped a pic. Also there's one of a random occurrence of numbers with the engine hours and temp.
JY, The cab of the service truck is looking a hundred times better! What's going on with the compressor tank? Regards, Bob
Thanks. I actually changed my mind on color. It's not going to stay white. I'm thinking a flat dark color, maybe gray or something. The end result of the tank is a surprise....stay tuned. Which with my schedule could be 3 days or 3 weeks until it's done!
Dang, 6 more weeks of winter! Love the pics...reminds me of tagging along with my dad and making trips taking my son, too. You have a good lookin’ family! Thanks for sharing. Darryl
Thank you. I'm certainly blessed in that department. My girls would probably scold me if I put their pics up here! They don't show much interest in this stuff although my daughter Alex knows more than she lets on.
Great tunes...lookin’ nice there! Been grey w/ on/off rain here. Darryl
We've had 4-5 days of lousy weather. Today is nice it just started off cold. 27 I think when I left the shop. Up to 42 now with little wind so it's a nice day!
Getting a bit warm-ish going to hit low 90s in a couple of days...F-cold! Manufacturing more housing = more F-traffic and F-people. Last of the G series 57s
I watched that the other day so that is it for the g series any talk of them putting out another series
That video with Cash and the Pete makes me glad we have hills and curves in our roads! Do they actually bother with speed limits on a road as straight and flat as that?
We've got hills and curves too lol, that just happened to be a nice straight flat part of US400 in Ks. Easy video territory. Yep gotta have speed limits so they can write tickets! 65 there, I usually set the cruise about 70. We're back to funky weather. Had a little dusting of snow and about 10 minutes ago an earthquake lol. Lasted maybe 30 seconds, not real strong this time. Nothing fell it just rattled the blinds and stuff like that. Crazy
Next, 657Ks
I got in argument with my dad years ago. I told him he needed to go west on US 400. He tells me it doesn't exist. I tell him i'm looking at a sign for it. He tells me he's looking at his road atlas of KS and there is no US 400 and there is no highways west out of Wichita. He bought a GPS not too long after that.
Went to give a 3100 a once over today. Pulled up to a nice big puddle of hydraulic oil. Damn swivel finally gave up and started leaking whether it was running or not. So I got to pull, reseal, install and test today. Had to be done since I have haul truck obligations tomorrow and Thursday. Took a quick video of booming it up. They're kinda tricky. Winch brakes stick, you can two block the kelly or the service winch. Booming down and hoisting up can be fun if you inadvertently engage both winch drives. It'll break cables before you can even think to say oh ****!! No power down, just gravity so the kelly bars drop jerky. I may do a control video, foot brakes for the winches, air controls for winch up. We swap brake pedals service for kelly since most of our old hands are used to the way the LDH drills were. I'll post swivel pics next. It's not in great shape....
External leakage on swivel. Only two functions pass through, track drive and tilt cylinders. Once I pulled it apart I wasn't real thrilled with it. Called Watson to see what a new one would cost....they haven't ordered one for stock since 2007 and it was $12,000 back then! So this one got rebuilt. It's had some trash pass through. Thankfully most of the damage was not on sealing surfaces. 8 hours start to finish ain't bad.
That must not be your first one to tear apart, sure looks like it would take more than 8 hours to repair. Thanks for sharing, I sure enjoy seeing machines that I have never had the opportunity to be around.
Man vs Machine.
Junkyard, 8 hours start to finish ain't bad, it's excellent is what it is. Blokes like you keep the world running mate. As a machine owner driver that does most of my own repairs, a puddle of hydraulic oil under the machine in the morning gives me horrible sinking feeling in the gut, quite often followed by some swearing and bad thoughts of despair. This stage of the repair process can add a few hours/days to the hrs you mentioned. Once you get stuck in, it's amazing what can be accomplished!
Thanks guys. I did have some help. They sent me the seal kit and I made Don stay and help me. I knew it needed to be finished when I left. While I stuck all the seals on the spool he resealed the barrel. It helped having extra hands for the mount bolts too. Can't be in the belly and under holding a wrench on the nuts at the same time! We were lucky in that everything came apart and went together about as good as you'd expect. It's going to a job that one of the owners is on.....sure hope we didn't miss anything! We'd never hear the end of it!
It doesn't bother my stomach...I just pull out the company card and get parts! Haha. It's a different animal when it's your machine and your $$$. I've been there myself. Sometimes you can't stand around and stare at it, just jump in!! When I did the first IMT rotary trans that intimidated me a bit. I knew where the issue was, well I had a good hunch anyway. Swallowed hard and got parts coming. Sure enough I was right....this time anyway.
Holy buckets......
He needed some steering brakes...and some underwear.
Wow. I think when the front end started coming off the ground that might have been a hint they needed to rethink their plan a little bit...
Too late when it started coming up...should have gassed it to get in the ditch and ricochet off the bank or at least stall in the grass. I knew those brakes weren't going to hold when it went backwards. I don't think the driveshaft went until he stopped and tried to go again. Looks like a D9N?
He must have had no brakes on the trailer...how else could the truck have gotten that far up the hill with only the drives and yet slid backwards like that? Used up all available safety margin and then some.
A big part of why he started sliding back down the hill is static vs dynamic friction. Same thing would have happened if he spun out. I didn't see any tire smoke from the trailer. The trailer not having any brakes wasn't helping, but I'm not sure it would have mattered if they were working.
I've been in some pretty good binds like that over the years. Now I know how it'll go down! I bet they needed a new seat and he's headed to the Dr to get that one removed!
ROTFLMAO! In 2005 my wife and I were headed from Junction City, KS to Marshfield, MO (SW corner Missouri). (My wife is still driving the Chevy Astro we bought from Marshfield) We were going south on US 77. When we got to what we thought was east of Wichita, we ran into a wonderful road that wasn't on our 1994 atlas! It went east, and we were headed east, so we took it. Turned out it was US 400, constructed as a super 2. At that time it was probably the best road in the whole state. We quickly bought a new atlas.
KS road signage always sucked in the past and currently. Was on a road trip with the wife some years ago, got into Eldorado KS and missed the turn of US54, the damn sign indicating the turn was thirty feet from the intersection. Had not changed from when I lived Ft Scott forty years prior!!
El Dorado is fubar. Stupid truck route. The route into the refinery is a genuine cluster.
If the guy on the ground had a block or two to toss behind the wheels when he started off the road they might have saved it.
Rainy day in Joplin. Managed to finagle a rig and my truck under cover so I could swap a tilt cylinder. Have a punch list on this rig. It'll most likely finish my week out.
At least your not rolling around in the mud like a pig
By the time you pull tracks pads and climb all over it....it's almost as bad!!
Was just gonna say looks like plenty of mud rock and oil as well tight quarters to have all that I there.
Sad thing is that machine spent a day on the washpad! That yard turns to **** when it rains. That limestone gravel has been pulverized over the years so it's a soupy mess on days like we had. When it's dry the dust like to eat paint and any polished surface. I was told today that machine is my winter project. Complete rebuilt from the rotex up.......
You know a good hard chrome shop could weld up, bore, hone, and hard ghrome the ID of the rotary joint with the gouges. We used Housners in Madisonville, KY
I'll look into them. We have been discussing getting that repaired and how to go about it. All of the 3100 hour meters have turned over at least once if not twice. There aren't really any easy hours on them!
Not sure I would get it chromed, may lead to bigger issues if too slick internally to seal.
I looked into getting a swivel repaired like that. We ended up getting it cleaned up enough with a hone, but it was close. I think yours is too far gone for a hone. What I had decided to do instead of rebuilding mine was to just make a new barrel. Its just like a cylinder barrel, with holes bored into it and fittings welded on. Yarborogh in springfield was going to make it for me. I thought we could bore the holes, weld the fittings, then give it a rebore and hone just to make sure the welding didn't change interior dimensions. My old boss in iowa had two hard chromed to try to hold the air pressure portion of the swivel, and he told me it didn't work out for them.
We shall see. The swivel is one of many parts up there. Running the overhead today. Motor is down on power. Feels down on compression to me. It may get an inframe. New pumps, plumbing yada yada. It might be an out of service rebuild or it might get a part here or there......
I know it is hard to weld(preheat required) and a bugger to machine but high chrome content or high nickel even stainless 400 series steel pipe could be choices for a new barrel. All will require machining After the welding is done to remove the distortions in the barrel.
Boys and girls I have a cautionary tale for you. I was working on the big IMT 220 today resealing the kelly winch drum. Remove drive motor then plate with the brake on it. I had bars on the ground and slack in the cable. Spun the last bolt out and before I could even react I was wrapped up in my air hose and slammed against the drive motor I had hung up out of the way. It folded my arm like a pretzel. Had the crane not been supporting the brake and plate I believe it would have landed on me. I was on the ground before I knew it. I have no idea why it had that much tension on it..... So the moral is no matter how much you prepare or how many times you've done something it'll bite you in the *** when you least expect it! Picture doesn't do it justice. It hurts like hell and I'm damn lucky it didn't break anything. It's swollen pretty good as I sit here typing and enjoying my second barley pop. Stay safe guys!!!
I'd be draining a case!! Sometimes you just do not see the gorilla in the room that is about to eat your lunch. Got to be careful Bubba!! Could have just been weight of cables and built up rotational tension that sent them flying, cannot catch everything all that more to be careful around. Still makes my arm ache to look at!
Rotational tension is all I can figure. It's swollen quite a bit since that pic. I bet it's hurting tomorrow.
OW!!
Ouch! Glad it’s nothing more! Ice, elevation, nsaid and more barley soda! Darryl
So how do you avoid this on future units? Spool out some cable? I am glad that you are not hurt any worse than you were, but it still hurts.
Know that feeling ... I took a dive off the WABCO scraper one afternoon while working on it .... Out of reaction left hand grabbed the handle to break the fall & must have pulled something loose in the shoulder socket . Only thing that gave any relief was to lay flat on the cool concrete floor ..... Seen dog's do the same thing . After an injury they will find a cool place to crash for awhile . Get run over buy a car & hop in the creek bed to cool off in the water . Where's the creek when I need it .... Hand me another barley soda .. I don't heal up as fast as I used to ... Heal up fast Junkyard .
I'm not sure what the solution is but I'm going to investigate. I don't know if this was a fluke or we've just been lucky in the past. One thought I had was to release the brake with a porta-power and let it relax. I don't think the cable moved much, if any, off the drum. I think it was all in the wraps on the drum. I wanted to pick up a heavy tool and see if it dropped some like it was cynching the cable back tight on the drum. We had quite a bit of slack in the cable, more than enough, and the bars were on good solid ground. A man can never turn his back on this iron..... I haven't hurt so bad I wanted to puke in many years!
It’s always the unexpected that bites us. That blink of an eye, thing that leaves you wondering why. Be careful and always try to vigilant. Heal up quick!!
Junkyard, you are bringing back memories long buried in the pain centers. Find out what happened and then find a way to get the word out so others don't repeat the same thing. Take it a little easy for a day or two but keep moving that arm around. Once it stiffens it will take you a bunch exercise to work the soreness back out. That photo is still bringing back memories. Heal quick!
Glad it wasn't worse, it is amazing how fast things can and do go wrong. Hope there isn't any more than swollen and very tender for a few days.
Bummer, maybe a visit to the Doc. would help, maybe an X-Ray.
Junkyard, Hope the barley soda is working! Things like that can sure jump out and get you no matter how many times you have done a job! Kind of like my mishap a year ago. Got one of the old XS650 Yamahas running and figured a short ride down paved driveway was a good idea. Down to the road and back up giving a little gas in first. Seemed good then I touched the brakes. Combination of slight surface rust on front disk and maybe 15 year old tires and before I knew it I was doing a face plant on the driveway! Not sure which was leaking worst my face/front tooth or the right side engine cover. Not to mention knee and assorted other scrapes. A few snapshots from Doc. might be a good idea! Sometimes the swelling can hide other damage.
Ouch that sucks brown water will help heal that up quick glad you didn't break anything it could of been worse
Almost sound like the cable lay had a bunch of twist in it that was released when the unit came loose. Lots of stored energy in cable twist. Take care and hope you heal quick. Don't over use it and do more damage meanwhile.
I think that's exactly what happened. I made a full day of trucking and it doesn't feel too bad. If tomorrow ends up a short day I'll swing by the DR just to be safe.
I've seen some cable after newly spooling it on a drum, that you can see the cable keep "moving" around on the drum after its spooled. I've seen a drum move when removing the inner overrunning clutch on a grove winch also- they are the "brake" on that style of hydraulic winch. And that was with the drum sitting on the floor of the shop, with the cable laid out on the shop floor. The only way you could be sure it wouldn't have inner tension, would be to unspool the cable off the winch. That's not a quick job on a crane winch (with 500-700' or more of cable), unless you can put block in and a bunch of parts of line and then lay it on the ground. I don't know how much cable, and what style of cable is on the drill rig. Glad you didn't get really tangled up worse, or have it pop you off the machine. I think if it was actually broken, you'd know it by now. Its probably just going to swell up and be sore for a few days. It can sure happen fast.
I'd say at least 6 mandatory safety forms and a high visibility vest... In all seriousness, that's very scary. Hope it shakes off quickly.
The fubar part is the site we are on is STUPID with safety. So the second it happened we made a hasty retreat to our gang box so I could lay my feet up. Don't want those goofy bugars knowing what happened. I've had the ice pack on it so long tonight that I've lost a little motor function due to cold lol. It has helped with the swelling. We did do a JSA form....I don't recall it saying don't get $hitwhipped by the cable.....
I think the 220 has close to 200' of 1-1/4 or 1-1/2 no spin cable. I've seen them creep a little but this mofo came unwound like one of those cars you roll backward and let go. I've got a call into the super duper IMT tech I know to see what I can do next time.
Hey Junkyard, We need to make a run to San Antonio, Texas, sometime in mid to later May. Thought we would try to stop by. Hope to be on the bikes, weather permitting. Deb will drag her camping trailer. I will have to cuddle with the reptiles in a ground blind.
I don't see any reason we won't be around. I haven't taken any days off since I was up there. Once you have a rough idea I'll plan a day or two off. I'll show you around our little slice of heaven haha
That big cable is part of the problem, it has a lot of residual tension- it wants to go back to flat/straight (and you have it wrapped around a drum). And it being rotation resistant cable makes it worse, it holds much more tension in that situation than a standard cable. Do you know which rotation resistant cable it has on it? I usually use 8x19 rotation resistant, rather than 19x7. The 19x7 is super stiff, its hard to reeve/becket and it doesn't like to multipart either. It also easier to damage. The 8x19 is also a rotation resistant- not as much as a 19x7, but its much easier to work with, and we are always changing parts of line, block in and out, jib on and off etc, so its easier to deal with by hand. The 19x7 is just so much stiffer. They actually don't even recommend 19x7 for multi parting, because it doesn't deal well with cycle work in a multi sheave block situation. There's some newer more exotic stuff they make now too (swaged/ different wire and wire counts), and I don't know too much about that stuff, but I've done a lot with the 8x19 and 19x7. If it's multiparted all the time, just a old 6x37 or 6x19 is much easier to work with, and its much more durable, but they will twist a block up with loading/unloading weight, and you probably can't deal with that inside the mast. But they certainly won't unload like a rotation resistant. 200' wouldn't be that hard to deal with, hook a truck onto the becket and drive/pull it out. Put the truck in neutral and drag/power it back for tension on the winch when done (wind it nice and straight and seat it- I hate a messy drum). But you certainly don't want to deal with 200' of 1 1/2" by hand. Do they run multipart lines up on the derrick pulling the head in and out? or is it just single line all the time?
It's basically one part. Winch is down in the boom/mast area. It goes straight up, over the two pulleys on the horse head and straight down to the bars. I just looked up an old invoice for cables. 311' of 1-1/8". Doesn't tell me what the wire count is on there though. Somewhere I have a chart that tells us what to use.
Do you use a swivel on the single line cable or just hook the becket direct without a swivel? Hooking direct will often store a lot of torsional energy from the twist in the cable. Forty five years ago we used to take the swivel off on occasion for some at capacity single line picks. It kept the line from unraveling with twist on a near maximum line pull lift as long as you held the load from spinning. You had to be very careful when pulling the pin on the becket afterwards
It's got a swivel because the bars turn around the cable. On occasion when we un-pin from the bars the cable will have a turn or two of tension in it. I'm almost certain it was the natural tendency of spin resistant cable wanting to flatten out. Never dreamed it would have been that crazy!
Just got done at the doctor. Nothing broke just some tissue damage. Put me in a little compression brace to keep it from getting hurt worse. Wants me to come back Friday just to make sure it's still good then I'm released. Not like I'll take off from work until then lol.
Glad to hear nothing is broken.
That brings back memories when my 6 year old boy broke his arm ..... Ran to his bedroom & backed himself in the corner .... Went in to check on the situation and he was yelling " stay away from me & don't touch my arm ! " Now sonny .... This aint a barroom brawl ... Step out of the corner so I can look at your arm . LOL ! That's about the time ya realize it's broke & trip to the Doc's office .
Those darn kids do silly things. Other than fingers and my skull I've never fractured anything. They were worried the blow to my head would affect me. I told them that **** don't affect me much Affect me much Affect me much Affect me much..... Squirrel!! What were we talking about?
I don't remember.
Never broke a bone in over 68 years, did get a "separated shoulder" injury when I got t-boned while on my bike. About the only other thing close to a broken bone was when I broke off half of one of my front teeth doing a face plant in driveway last year. Talking about kids I recall a story about my older brother who when he was 4 or 5 falling out of swing. He got up and said "I'm OK" but then as he seemed to be in pain parents took him to doctor who found out he had in fact broke a leg and was walking around on it! And some people think he is the smarter brother!
Small list, Hit by a car at three, always and forever missing the top step at Grandma's and roll tumbling down her stairs(second to first floor) until moved at 9, hand caught in a wood jointer at 17, same hand tried to hack the little finger away with a corn knife at 11 from palm side, Great Aunt sewed that up wiith a quilting needle and Alum, tied the tendon back together to make the finger work with darning needles, rolled a VW at high speed at 16(my own!), took a 3/4" cold chisel to left eye in '87, fell off a Frt Lnr cabover '77 landed back first on blocking cribbing, do not remember that landing think I stuck it. Thrown from dirt bike, was that three or five times? Dropped a '78 Yamaha 650 at 45mph on rain wetted pavement, decided my Ass was getting too warm tried to stand up, hard to keep the feet moving rolling at 40mph, was still wearing the back brace from '77. Had a tractor on jacks crawled under jack I was at decided to leak off, almost got me. Have had cribbing pop out and hit me in the head, have almost passed out from heat prostration changing tires outdoors in mid August in MO in a quarry, only had twelve to r&r, I may have forgotten some, seems mind is not as sharp as used to be, Hmmmm. Did you hear something? Sounded like,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Oh Yeah.......... SQUIRREL!!
Well I was only mentioning broken bones! If I started a list of cuts and car/motorcycle wrecks now that would be a different story! So far the jointer hasn't got me but twice got a good whack at a finger with a table saw! DMiller mentioned a 1978 650, wonder if that is the one I have on the lift right now a couple signal lights have a major flat spot on the side! Worst motorcycle crash I did that was my fault was on a little 60CC Bridgestone this dumby was playing slalom racer with the dashed lines down the center of the road at 50 mph and found out why those hinged foot pegs would have been a good upgrade to the ridged ones on this bike. After a few tumbles I looked back to see upside down bike coming at me. We both stopped sliding before impact. Picked up bike and road it home. My story for years was that some animal ran out and I swerved to miss it. Hard to believe that all I got was some very bad skinned knees and elbow. One thing that almost pi$$ed me off is my helmet did not even have a scratch on it! Junkyard, sorry to get all OT on you! Glad you had doc check it out and no major damage although the soft tissue damage can often hurt worse and take longer to get back 100%
There is no OT to me! I love stories. I spent a good bit of my 4th grade year in and out of the hospital. First trip was a golf club to the head, 10 stitches. Next was a finger in the bicycle chain. Stitches and a severed tendon. Third was falling out of a tree house, fractured skull, concussion and a nearly broken shoulder. The fourth and best was two fingers in a lawn mower. My old man chewed my *** up one side and down the other!! There have been a few others. When I farmed in MN I was up on the junky old grain dryers we had trying to keep them going. Climbing down I missed a step and knew if I fell I'd catch all kinds of sharp stuff on the way down. I pushed myself off and fell about 12-13' on to frozen ground. I was out instantly. Woke up a bit later, not quite froze to the ground but close, and pulled myself up and slid over against a tractor tire. Neighbor drove by and thankfully stopped thinking it didn't make much sense for me to be lounging like that. A trip to the doc, another concussion but nothin broke. Same shoulder I landed on when I was 8 was black and blue for several weeks. About 12-13 years ago I was dismounting a 425 steer tire. Somebody yelled my name so I relaxed and it laid back over to the ground. Problem with that was it was about 3" farther to the ground that my arm was long holding the tire iron. POP!!! Goes the same shoulder I had landed on two other times when I was a younger man. So needless to say I have issues with that one!
Some will pick up on this, went to grab cab step handles, 79 K100C, arm kinda went between the tubes and the cab, not really holding anything I fell off the cab step. Next thing I realize my shoulder hurts, my hand is facing the wrong way, I am standing on the ground and two guys are trying to unhinge my arm from the grab handles. Old man I ran with knew I had a previous dislocate, he looked at me I shook my head yes and he rolled it back in. I will admit it here and now I pizzed myself. Did quit hurting so badly.
Either of you two fellas use "Lucky" for a CB handle?
Reminds me of a sign that used to hang in the hardware store when I was a kid. Picture of a mangy looking dog. Text says something like: "Lost dog. Blind in one eye, 3 legs, missing one ear, recently castrated. Answers to 'Lucky'" That was way before the internet, so I don't know how they got that sign.
Being on light duty I put the slack time to good use.....
After some trucking this week I got the pleasure of resealing an IMT control valve. Not rocket science just lots and lots of o-rings to change.
I don't trust myself with paint pens. I try to do everything with brightly colored zipties, but i'm also not taking apart 8 stack valve bodies. I had to cut the ones on the valve body off to retighten the ORB fittings.
I use telephone wire from underground lines that accidentally get damaged but i remove them when done cuz it looks bad. What is your source for the zipties and how many colors are available
My problem will colored stuff is I'm colorblind lol. Only a few I can distinguish. I use old phone cable we dig up for marking wire when there's only 3-4 lines to mark. Beyond that I have to take pics and make marks. I have a couple really good paint markers that can withstand a shot or two of brake cleaner before the will start to run or fade. In the past I've had to use a combination of colors and size to mark stuff so I could tell them apart ;-) I couldn't believe how much fine material had packed itself between the sections of that valve. Lots of fun to get clean before I went back together with it. Often times for me the simple act of marking things kind of burns it into my memory, short term anyway, so I seldom have to reference any marks to get it back together. If it sits long....all bets are off!
Home Depot sells a pack of 5 colors and 2 sizes for $10. I think it's 500 count. If you don't already have a set, get some flush cut pliers so the zip ties don't have sharp edges.
I got the colored ties at our NAPA dealer. Another trick I have used was marking with a prick punch. One dot on nut of hose and one on the fitting, Two and two , three and three and so on. Works best on assemblies of six or less connections otherwise it can get tricky. But if there are different size connections each size can use the same pattern. And with the colored ties for the non-color bind if you need more selections double up on the colors, red and green, green and blue and so on. And for those applications that are a bit cleaner and drier for wiring these work great: https://www.mcmaster.com/#electrical-wire-marking-stickers/=1csu2aw
I try to do big/little before i start doubling up colors, but with bigger hoses it's not really possible.
I know how it feels junkyard being color blind in the same I can't wire for crap hell I couldn't figure out on Sunday why my trailer plug wouldn't work on my truck my color blind butt wired it backwards I guess next time I will get my son out to tell what colors i have it's barley pop time
Get yourself a number punch set and stamp your cap and plugs as sets and a air engraver to scribe numbers on valve bodies, won't wash off. Bob
Yep already had that epiphany as I tore into this valve!
Damn mustang broke down on me and the boys tonight. As we sat waiting for my dad to come fetch us a lady walked by. I laughed and said boys you've just seen your first prostitute. They laughed and laughed. Then Wyatt says "What's a prostitute?" Gotta love pure innocence!!
First time in 24 years it's been on a trailer due to mechanical issues and not because we were headed to the track :-(
Got the pony fixed. Turned out to be the PIP sensor in the distributor. Essentially a Hall effect sensor, actually two in there. One for spark and one to fire injectors. It was quicker and easier to replace the entire distributor as you have to disassemble it to change sensor. $90 and I'm back in business. Can't complain after 24 years!
Is that similar to the "ignition module" used on the old 300 6 cylinder? Had a bad one leave me walking once.
I did the module and coil while I was there. Original to the car as well. This sensor was like a magnetic trigger or pickup in the distributor. It just tells the module and fuel system the motor is turning and it's ok to spark and fire injectors.
Nice looking trailer. Tilt?
No it doesn't tilt. It belongs to my second father (easiest way to describe the bond and association). He bought it several years ago when we were managing all the vintage cars. We got tired of using the 42' three car stacker to run a car to the paint shop. When we loaded it at Quiktrip a guy watched us, he walked over and said that was the fastest he's ever seen anybody load a dead car. We laughed and told him we've had way too much practice!
Nothing like a Ford ignition system.......go thru 3 pages of checks in the manual, "test with known good part". Ed
And he really means air engraver like this Chicago Pneumatic. https://www.ebay.com/p/CP9361-Engraving-Pen-1-1-CFM-13500-BPM/761135790?iid=381935504147&chn=ps Stupid expensive, yes. But priceless when you need to mark something. It will make you want to throw rocks at any electric engraver you see.
That's pretty slick! I've got a cheap electric one that I forget about most of the time.
It seems like a combination of coloured zip ties, steel punch letter/number sets for match marking, an engraver for parts that will end up in the parts cleaner (also for marking tools) and taking pictures for reference are needed for a "short term memory" that seems to be getting shorter. Regards Bob
All those things are great, if you can remember to use them.
Remember to use what, why? Regards Bob
Normal week. Trucking and wrenching. I found another kelly swivel pin about to fall out. Maybe the same feller worked on this one as the last one I discovered. Funny thing today. I delivered a 3100 to a bridge job in Depew. While I'm taking chains off this black Ford pickup honks and there are people hollering, waving and more less making asses of themselves. I'm thinking *** is about to go down here...... Turns out it's an old customer of mine and her daughter. Hadn't seen them in close to ten years. Small world!!!
And here I thought you were in heavy trucking and equipment repair business. LOL. Truck Shop
That's funny right there. I don't care who you are! My boys are wondering why I'm laughing so hard I'm about to cry!!!!
Scored some more manuals today as well as some tools from the local VFD fire chief. His dad was a heavy equipment mechanic and he’s finally cleaning things up to sell the place.
Any chance there is a service manual for an old 966 in there there's a guy on here who needs one. Looks like a good assortment of stuff!
I haven’t sorted through all of it yet. I do have quite a few others. I’ll sort through them and see what I have.
Ahh- I see a swench in there. I've always wondered if they really work on a real stubborn bolt. I think the military uses them for track changes out in the field, I've only seen them on military surplus sales.
DAYUM!!
I’ve been busy, built some shelves and sorted the manuals out. Dumped a good quart of dirt and crap out of them as I went. Also found a cool poster There’s all kinds of stuff. Mostly pipeline related from the late 50’s to mid 80’s. Lots of Cat, some Case, Deere, Bucyrus, Vermeer, Hyster, Carco, Allis, International etc. Awesome stuff!
What is in the MQ and Woodward books?
Either generators or concrete trowels etc. They weren’t in the stuff I got Saturday I just moved them from the floor to the shelf lol. I’ll look closer at what they are.
That was a nice score junkyard
Stop organizing, you make me feel bad. Good to see the vermeer manual. I went to high school in Pella, Iowa. That's where the factory is, my grandma on my dad's side was a classmate of Gary Vermeer, that started it all. He was a go getter of a old farmer that made a lot of different equipment. I actually did some work for him on his farms in my youth. My uncle worked there for years in the parts department. In a interesting tid bit, my mother's step dad, was Harry Ver Ploeg- who helped originally design the stump grinder. He and his brother (alonzo) and Gary are all listed on the patent. https://patents.google.com/patent/US2912022
Every once in awhile we get lucky
That’s cool. One of my old bosses helped Ditch Witch test their first setup many years ago. Stuff sure has evolved!
Trowels, screeds and other concrete stuff. A few sections related to the power plant of each machine then one for light towers and another for generators.
Started building myself a new mailbox. Went scrap dumpster diving at work today. #18 anchor bolt for a post. 22” casing drop for the box.
They Work very well
Your postman might object to that not being a regulation mailbox. Sometimes they get pretty offended. I like it though. The kids driving down the roads with one in the back of a pickup with a bat will sure think twice. It's big enough to make the flag out of an engine enclosure, heh heh.
Our rural carriers are independents. She won’t mind. It’ll save her trips to the porch with smaller boxes anyway. That and I only check it about once a week so she’s cramming **** in there by Thursday!
I would not put that heavy box out by the road. If someone hits it and gets hurt, you'll be on the hook. That's why they use wood posts and flimsy materials. But, you could put it up by your building for package drop offs. The Komatsu dealer here has an old truck bed tool box they use for drop offs and late night part pickups. They just give you a combination and your stuff is waiting by the gate.
It’s a four lane state highway with shoulders and a suicide turning lane. If they get all the way over to my mailbox it’s on them.
A lot of developments by me have 3' x3' square brick or stone mailbox "posts" - they look like guardhouses out by the road, so I don't think junkyard has much to worry about.
Sure. I just try to minimize my interaction with lawyers. My dad's shop is on a small country road, 55 speed limit I suppose (it's not marked). His mail box was hit several times. It's a flat, straight road. Still got hit. And customers would back into it once in a while. He moved it to the other side of the road next to a 6' diameter oak tree and solved that problem. Then people started hitting his sign. It's 10 feet off the road in the middle of the driveway. Again, flat and straight road. It was hit twice. I remember straightening it by heating with a torch and pulling the top over with an old wrecker we had.
People will always find a way to ***k other people’s **** up! Haha
I like it though. The kids driving down the roads with one in the back of a pickup with a bat will sure think twice. That was my thought d9gDon, will definitely leave a mark on whoever decides is a handy target! Buddy of mine, nuclear welder on two lane back road county road, mailbox sits on a cut out five feet off road lost four, made the last from Schedule 80 SS sheet pipe rolled to 'appear' as a regular parcel box, been dented Once, pieces of ball bat everywhere, kid in close by town had two broken hands in E-room but would not say how got them(from the county cops), also has splinters and the car was mashed up from hitting the ditch I would imagine as the first kid screamed, his football days were done for being stupid.
It's like using a rowing machine on the real stubborn bolts, but it IS cordless. Truly, it works well.
Just mount it to a truck rim, with lugs sticking out buried under the ground. That way it will have some give, and when it tips over the rim and lugs will make it quite easy to find the vehicle that hit it. A nice trail of oil is pretty easy to follow!
I’ve been pondering a “breakaway” mount. I’ve got more work to do on it so maybe something slick will come to mind. Considering Cat yellow and cutting out the old Pac-Man logo to weld on it. Or old school Detroit green with a little bottle of oil inside so it leaks properly! Haha
I put a 2"" pipe in for a mailbox post a number of years ago. Within a week I got a letter from the State Highway Dept that I had 5 days to remove it or they would remove it and I would be cited by the authorities. They cited chapter and verse of the code that said they must be wood of a certain size or less or a approved plastic alternative. They even sent me some sources to buy a plastic one. On a better note I got to Junkyards shop in time to give his buddy some crap and carry one end of them wrench and socket boxes when Jeff showed up. He made a real score that day.
Wrap your new post in pallet boards, look like a wooden post when done!!
Mail boxes or at least mine get hit pretty regular around here especially in the winter. Last track of how many times it got hit this winter, around a dozen! Mine is mounted on a wooden post in an old milk can and is free standing as down by the road the bed rock is only about eight inches under the surface. I think the wingman on the plow thinks he is doing me a favor by trying to clear snow away in front of the mail box. I have got the habit of keeping a spare box on the shelf so when one gets smacked I can just remove the dented on and screw on a repaired one. A couple times this winter called highway department and complained and they came out one Saturday while we were out and mounted a nice new box and even mounted the number holder on the top. Thing is when we came home I went to check the mail and first thing I noticed was the fresh damage to the box then noticed it was not one of the repaired ones! Yep they had replaced it and then the same day hit it! I called and thanked them for replacing it and then told them it had been hit again! Funny thing is despite a few snow storms since that time it was not hit again!
I find it interesting the conversations we get going on some of the most random topics When I lived in MN my mailbox was on a swivel, the plow would have been half in the ditch to get it....it wasn’t so much the plow itself but the fact that they were frequently plowing the county highway at 40-50 MPH and the force of the snow would spin the box when it hit! Plus I could remove it when I came south for a break from winter ;-)
What a small world. When I was going to college I worked 3 summers for a local commercial / industrial painting contractor (owned by a couple of my cousins ) as a painter's helper. One of my fellow helpers was the husband of Gary Vermeers daughter Mary who is the chairman of the board today. Mary and her husband were both going to Calvin College here in town. As for the mailbox post, the best one I've seen is a 10 inch pvc pipe painted flat black. I work for the county highway dept and our safety guy told him he had to remove that big steel pipe (which we assumed was filled with concrete) lol. It has never been hit that I know of. We typically don't care if the mailbox is bat proof ie some light gauge steel plate but the post needs to be breakaway. 10 inch pvc is okay. My box and post got taken out this winter - 1st time in 10? years. I then use a 5 gallon bucket filled with dirt or gravel with a short piece of 4x4. From then on, no snow removal for the mailman, just slide the bucket out closer to the road
In the mid 70's my Dad put in a 8'x4" hedge post buried deeeep for the mailbox post. I'm almost sure it'd b/c he had a pile line posts sitting around and needed a post rather than than any sort of real planning. Since he put it up, he's lost 2 mailboxes to baseball bats, but there have been 4 piles of safety glass from somebody hitting the post and the rebound taking out a window.
Former boss had kids taking out his mailbox.... Welded up one from 1/4" plate, used a 2 1/2" heavy wall pipe for the post. Cut the pipe in half, welded in a snowplow trip spring, added 6-8" spikes on it for good measure. Lots of oil on the road first time it got ran over..... Ed
I’ve been pondering a breakaway setup of some sort similar to signs on the road. Other than my own driver running mine over years ago I’ve never had an issue.
Rubbermaid makes a plastic mailbox that slips over a 4x4 wood post. A stout mailbox that has a wood 4x4 in a two piece post would serve the same break-away function. Like a fuse, the 4x4 is replaceable. Some guardrails around here have wood as the first two posts. Likely as a break-away feature.
Hi all, I'm usually on Forestry Maintenance but occasionally enjoy Shop Talk and today had a big chuckle about Bat Proofing mail boxes. I had no idea it could be such an issue. Last year (2017) while wandering some back roads in Montana I took some photos of mailboxes and have included them here.
Those are some good ones!
Don't buy a Rubbermaid one if you live in a cold climate. The colder it gets the brittler they get. When it gets down to single digits (F), they shatter with the snow off the plows, underbody or wing. Best, least expensive, and approved is a 4x4 wood post
I’ve been working nights on a turnpike bridge job. This is was greeted us when we came to work yesterday lol. The last pic is a piece of plastic about 35’ into the casing we had laying along the wall! Also a drive shaft, spring spacer and oil pickup tube laying around. ***?
Another...just killing time while we wait for lane closures. 84” shaft about 60’ deep. TD will be 66’ 8”.
Another video I shot last night of us setting the casing with the vibro-hammer. 84” 55’ long. The frames per second this camera shoots is similar to the hammer frequency so it looks kinda funky. Should get this hole poured tonight. I’ll try to catch a video of the hammer starting up, it’s kinda violent!
Ouch- did he have the Gmc blazer thing on the wheel lift behind the roll back? or did they hit each other and end up on the other side? I bet it was kind of rough coming over the jersey barrier.
My understanding is they made contact and both ended up over the wall. Struck me as an ominous start to this job! All the median work we’ve done I bet there’s been a couple hundred feet worth of jersey wall wiped out!
More details...car on the cage was being pulled by the rollback on a dolly. He tagged the wall in the median because the tail was wagging the dog and it was all over but the crying at that point!
I bet the rodbusters are going to be thrilled if they have to redo that cage.
It’s scrap lol.
(Unfortunately) I've been making several runs between Joplin and OKC. I drove right past there and saw your rigs. All I know is, that turnpike can be wicked. There's been an RV trailer go up like a bonfire, your incident pictured, and the other day there was a semi turned over in the construction zone. I was about 5 cars back from a little boo-boo where a small car plowed into a bass boat. Things happen quick at 75 mph!!
Hell in our area it’s 50 mph. Might as well mean 500 to most people! I see all kinds of people texting or fixated on us rather than driving!
I ALWAYS slow to limit speed especially when in the semi thru work zones, amazes me the quantity of duma$$es that do not and actually seem to accelerate thru them. As to this wreck, can say have seen my share of idiots towing what should not have been, not paying attention, not setting up tows properly etc. Try to stay well away from the morons but they seem to be breeding at a prominent rate!!
Junkyard, Be safe out there! Hate to think of what could have happened if that rollback was coming by while guys were on the site working. Maybe for work sites like that they should use "escort vehicles" Stop traffic and make them wait while "escort" takes say 10 through at a time. I have seen job where they had to close down to one lane of traffic for both direction where they would do this. So many guided through going north then another group guided through going south. Maybe even get a couple decommissioned cop cars with blow-up dolls in uniforms sitting in them parked at each end of site. Then to keep the locals in line replace with real live cops every so often!
Once they shut a lane down each way it’s not too bad. They’ve got troopers setting at each end of the closure and we see a trooper pass by a couple times an hour. During the day everybody runs that road like they’re at Talladega!
Maybe all construction sites should be equipped with those automated speeding ticket cameras. Around here you often see signs saying "Fines Doubled in Construction Zones" maybe change it to "Speeding in Construction Zone will be Considered Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Officers May Shoot First Ask Questions Latter!"
Don't know about your area, but in many states the construction zone speed limit is only in effect when the crew is there working. Unfortunately, Illinois is not that smart. Instead we have to drive 45 mph over half the state while no one is around and no work is being done. We have two seasons here, winter and road construction. But, our state is so broke and poorly managed that by the time they fix 1 mile of road, 5 more miles have been destroyed.
Have Cousins all over Bond County!! I KNOW!!!!
Michigan is that stupid as well, maybe more. If there's barrier wall, the 45 doesn't apply. I've asked MDOT higher ups how is the average motorist supposed to know that. Plus, when they are painting inside the enclosed canvas, how can the motorists see them. Stupid, stupid, stupid. In Indiana, the contractor has to turn on flashing lights which say something like workers present when flashing.
I’ve had several weeks lately where I haven’t gotten 40 hours. No complaints here, I don’t need the $.... This extra time has given me the opportunity to get some of my personal projects done. The mailbox, which will be located in my driveway thus eliminating the potential liability issue. I piddled with the SAE400, it wouldn’t weld the other night, so I flashed it and polished the armatures while I was in there. While cleaning things up I saw some short beams laying around.....and it clicked. I have the sketchy lookin trailer the 400 came on which would be ideal for logs and stick material like square tube, pipe, angle etc. so I built some bunks and threw them on. I’ll have it blasted and painted once I’m done with the fab work. Don’t laugh too hard at it . Free is hard to beat! If you’ll notice my guessets serve two purposes.....
JY, looks like your bunks might have your trailers GVWR maxed Regards Bob
Seeing as how there’s no tag....it’s got to be unlimited right? lol. I don’t anticipate loading it to the top of the stakes. I just took the small beam I had and quartered it. Down the road they may get cut down once it use it a bit. It looks like hammered **** but it pulls good. I doubt I’ll load more than 4-5,000 pounds on it at the most. Just depends on the logs.
So today I received and assembled a crane we have rented for a job. When tracking it I noticed one track was noisy and it seemed as though the pads were at an angle. Got the weights on it, set the computer, ditched the man basket. Decided to run it some before the guys needed it. Man that one track was noisy! Well.....here’s what I found. Top rollers are bent down and chewing on the rails, things are polished nicely. Called up the rental co and told them what we needed done. Same measuring point on each side plus you can see how it’s been chewing on the roller.
Will not last much longer at that angle.
That's a good catch on the undercarriage. Unfortunately on a rental machine, no one cares and no one notices. They usually run it until it breaks. I had a the chance to bare rent out my rt last year for a project, and turned it down. I would just rather have my guys run my machines. By the way- no new pics of the service truck? All that time off I'd figure you'd be on it. Not that I don't have a yard full of projects of my own, its just easier to think about your projects than work on mine.
I haven’t touched it! Lol. I’m not 100% convinced that it’ll stay on that truck. It may get parted out and the bed/crane stuck on something else. The rental co was on the ball from the minute I let them know. Tech was out there today and got parts ordered. I gave him a punch list of stuff I noticed and he was like damn man how much time did you spend on this thing?!? Lol. It’s my job to notice stuff my friend. I will say they’ve done the best they possibly can to get things handled. I did notice today that it doesn’t boom down very smooth. I set some cages and pulled some casing and it’s not happy when you boom down, especially cabling up at the same time. Maybe it’s a simple adjustment, idk.
Those Mantis are tough rigs. I bet thats a great job for one of them, follow the drill and use the same paths, no outriggers to mess with.
I’ve been cleaning out my old 8x12 shop office to repurpose it as a bathroom and laundry room. After throwing out a considerable amount of trash I found some stuff I had stashed in there......anybody with any vintage racing knowledge will not need an explanation....
Thought this was kinda cool....
Nice pic! Great way to start the day.. Have a great 4th, Darryl
You too! Stay cool. It’s warm!
Moved our biggest rig yesterday. Normally the bars come out, weight comes off, boom folded, rotary folded. We were moving on the ROW so I said ***k it. Drop the bars and I’ll move it complete. Had to boom up quite a bit to transfer weight back enough for the little 55 tonner to pick it up! I figured the weight as it sat 130k. Couple miles easing down the ROW. Had to load and offload twice due to terrain and a bridge we couldn’t track across.
Earned your keep with that!
Didn’t finish the week out with much excitement. A few more rig moves and some PM. Starter on the haul truck, Kelly cable on a Watson, changed 20 gallons worth of gear oil on the Soilmec. Rotary and all associated drive gears etc plus the winch drives. Some compartments came out pretty clean and some were NASTY!! Several vents were stopped up etc. Last week I spent two days on the Soilmec extracting broken hardware, full service, remote oil drain, a new door catch. Just the usual wear and tear. It’s got 2159 hours on it so it’s due for a little love. The old Watson’s are well over 20,000 hours these days. Tough old machines. A crescent and a BFH fixes them!
We had a storm blow in yesterday about 4:00pm. I made it to the shop just before the **** hit the fan. Snapped a cool pic and retreated to the shop where I finally figured out why I get water in one of the north doors! 60mph winds. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that building moan and groan like it did!
Yikes! I'd be looking for a hole in the ground to hide in! And watch out for that Dorthy kid and Toto, she'll drop a house on you if you're not nice to her!
I had unloaded around 1:30 up by Welch, 60-70 miles away and as I was heading back in I could see the storm building off to the NW and started hearing the warnings. It was a slow mover. I got back to the shop, went and ate a late lunch and upon returning is when it got sporty! It had all the makings for tornadic activity but never did produce any. Just some serious wind. Several years ago there was a tornado that passed by less than a mile south of me. I thought for sure I’d have stuff scattered everywhere. To my surprise not a thing was disturbed. I think the big hill on the SW corner of my property somehow influences the weather. At least I hope so!
Sounds about like Kansas. When the sirens go off we grab the lawn chairs and go look and see what’s happening. It’s amazing what a person can get used to.
Yep doesn’t even phase me anymore. Only once in 26 years here have I said oh **** this ain’t gonna be good.....I was right lol.
We have a new shop dog . I got him from a guy at work. He had been calling him JD for Jeff’s dog. I think I’ll keep the name. He’s a Texas heeler, half blue heeler and half Australian Shepherd.
good lookig pup
Good looking pup and a real good mix in the breeding department.
My last dog was a blue heeler. He made sure everybody knew it was HIS shop! I think JD will be a good one. We went for a walk a few minutes ago to measure a counterweight for Crane Operator. I think I wore him out!
Cure lil; guy.
Thanks! We shall see how his first night goes.....
I would worry less about how his first night goes, than where he goes on his first night. Nice looking pup though.
Cute pup, now the training begins.
He had a couple accidents but this morning after he ate I took him out and he did his business. We are training each other!
What a handsome boy! Be careful, the healer I had was smarter than me. Darryl
Back before I retired we had two greyhounds. I often remarked how on hot sweaty days that they were sleeping in the air-conditioned house while I was laying on the floor in the shop with a leaky machine dripping hot oil in my face that anyone that says "dumb dog" doesn't know what they are talking about!
My last heeler was really sharp. There were days he’d look at me like he knew what I was about to do wasn’t going to end well!!
I hope yours is a smart dog, ours that someone dumped out last year is the "dumb dog" that khansen is talking about. She won't bark at anything except her reflection in a chrome bumper. Which she can bark at all day long. That and she's long haired and sheds all over, so there's hair everywhere in the shop. Which I don't like. At all. The best dog I had was two dogs ago- still miss having him around. I think you'll be fine though- most heelers are pretty sharp dogs.
My grandma had a heeler that you would not exactly call smart, but she had some interesting heeler qualities. She was a fanatic for sticks. She could count pretty well. She also had a mouth that opened like an alligator. So you could grab 6 or 7 sticks and stand up on this hill and hurl them all down in the pasture. She would not take her eye off your hand until the last stick was airborne. Then she would go around and pick up whatever number you had thrown and bring them all back at once.
They all have their quirks. My last one, Bear, kept a close eye on my kids when they were young. He’d herd them away from anything he didn’t like. Strangers would come here and he’d stay between the kids and them. He HATED going home. Sat at my door and cried until it was time to come back to the shop. Cat killing machine! Hard to say the affect he had on the local population!
Look what followed me home today..... Courtesy of Old Doug I added another SAE400 to my collection. That makes three of them. Why three? Because it’s better than two!!! This one is gas powered. 1967 per S/N. Motor is free, brushes look good. Fuel tank is bad rusty inside but solid. Three of the four side panels are there, electric outlet is still there. Per Lincoln it was born with a magneto but at some point it’s gotten a distributor. I’m gonna dig into it a bit and see if she’ll run. Not sure what the amber light on top is all about. Maybe a low oil pressure warning....? It’s not hooked up to anything now. Interesting thing is the sheet metal is straight and still has factory hardware. If nothing else it’s a nice parts machine.
Ive got 2 400 s. 1 Sae 400 perkins powered ,cost me a whole 1200.00 . the other is a an Sam 400 perkins powered with an Ln7 feeder. Ill bet not many guys remember those . When i ask for 3/32 wire my supplier looks at me like im from mars. They are great machines.
I’d love to have a SAM. Not many of those around. Other than being big and heavy they are great welders. Heck everything I’m around is big and heavy so what’s one more big piece?
Good one! Who's the Miller Big 20 expert here while you're talking welders? Mine won't idle up when I touch the stick to metal...works fine on high idle. I know it did this before and a guy that worked for me fixed it, but I don't remember what he did. Don't give me no guff about a Miller either...I ain't no pipeliner. I'm sorry in advance.
I don’t care what brand it is lol. These 400’s just seem to find me! Is your Miller an older machine? I’d be inclined to think it was wiring or the idle solenoid itself....can’t say that I’ve messed with one.
Yes, it's a Big 20. I think it's in that circuit board at the back. It's a 1983 model i think. I just put a new idle solenoid on it.
How is your dog doing Junkyard? Another picture or two would be enjoyable to see.
He’s in time out right now for snapping at my daughter! Haha. We stopped for food and he was reaching for it, she held him back and he snarled and snapped at her! He’s in the cage pouting!
We still need a name....I haven’t landed on any I like. Suggestions?
Angus... Ed
Hey I like it. Of course I think of Angus Young....
Blue....?
You catch on quick.....lol Ed
Snapper
Angus sounds quite sophisticated. ( I named my Goldie Katerina but call her "Dog." She is OK with that.)
Another vote here for Dog. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footrot_Flats#Main_characters [link]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3opoCWqrEPI&feature=youtu.be&t=176 [/link]
Chopper. You know, the Junkyard dog from the movie "Stand By Me " ...
Would that be short for "No No Bad Dog!"? After he snipped and the daughter. Worst mistake I made a few years back was trying to take a rawhide chew away from our greyhound boy. We had two dogs at the time the 80 plus pound greyhound Stretch and the small Black Lab and what ever maybe 50 pound Beca. Stretch growed and chomped down on my left arm and Beca came to my rescue. I was bleeding a bit out of my left arm but Stretch was spurting blood out of both front legs and needed stitches in both! We all made up after a few weeks.
Had a Heeler, well, all up 3. Names were: Dubbo ( it’s a town in central New South Wales Kirby (named after Kirby Morgan diving helmets) Morgan (see above, also an Australian bushranger - Mad Dog Morgan)
What ever name you pick. Consider what the neighbors in earshot, will think, when you call him.
Yeah I considered that contingency! Come here you dumb %*%}%#!!!
Definitely not the name of Guy Gibson’s dog in the film The Dambusters.
Yeah I considered that contingency! Come here you dumb %*%}%#!!! Seems I have heard that before. Neighbor had a dog named F.U. was an outside dog and he called it EVERY DAY!! I vote Angus, or maybe Dingus(Dirty Dingus McGee), Dingfod would be another. At my last job one reactor operator was known as Dingfod. Damned Ignorant No Good Fkng Obstinate (also used Obnoxious)Duck(Ducks were trainees, old Navy term) Could substitute Dog at the end.
Hmm. What's that John Wayne movie where he has the Collie and he calls it 'dog'? He yells "DOG" and the dog attacks the guys. Yells "DOG" again and dog lets him go. There's another one where he has a dog too, 'The Searchers' maybe. Dog growls at the guy walking out of a building. Guy tells John Wayne to move the dog. John Wayne tells him to walk around him. Guy says something like "I ain't walking around a dog". Dog growls again. John Wayne says something like "A man has to do what he thinks is right". Guy walks around the dog. Good stuff.
I think it was Big Jake. My old heeler heard dog more than he heard his name. He knew my tone more than anything.
Look up at post #1092, it is the second link there.
Speaking on John Wayne....how about Duke?
Junkyard's work thread- what kind of nonsense is that- I never see any pictures of him actually working. I headed over there myself and caught him in the act, and got a picture for proof. Actually, I owe junkyard a big one guys, he came through for me with a counterweight from a old crane he's repurposing, and I can repurpose his counterweight. Thanks for all the help junkyard, I appreciate it. And about that lawn ornament I left in your yard- I'll try to get over there early next week. And before anyone jumps on him, he's just preheating here- he put his welding jacket, hard hat, safety vest and glasses, and face shield on before he actually started cutting. (After he burned all the hair off his arm).
And that dog he keeps posting pictures of, is a barking chasing chewing bundle of fun, all the things a heeler should be, and a keeper. He looks big in the pictures, but I think I could fit him in my boot. He's got a spot on his back about 4" around that looks like someone chased him down with a black paint spray can. So my naming vote is "Rattle Can". "Rattler" for short if you wish.
Now everybody is going to expect me to work!! I’ll take the yard ornament off your hands. I have a soft spot for them Glad I could help!
*****n drilling rigs!!
Black gold!
Well you can't say here's mud in your eye!
Dayum! Bubba!!
It should keep your beard from rusting. LOL
It reminds me why I don't miss core rigs
Worst part is I’ve done this particular check many times. I had the plug loose for awhile and figured it had released all the pressure. Worse yet is I was replacing the damn thing because the corners were all rounded and it wouldn’t hold an Allen socket anymore. Had to weld a nut on it. I swear it was a solid three count from the time I pulled the plug until it shot me!
He’s got it rough.....or should I say ruff? Lol
Worked him too hard!!
Ah yes Jeff, we have all been there. It's what we refer to as P S O. Pressure Squirting Out. Find it with fuel, oil, coolant, hydraulic, gear lube, or sometimes when you least expect it, after bad Chinese or Mexican food...
Wow looks like your dog is very upset, about something. Got to love a dog. I had a Doberman who would lay like that on the couch, then fart. He would look around, I swear it was like he was trying to see who did that.
That’s a good looking dog now you just need some cows for it to go and work with
Funny you say that. May have some pasture close to the shop so I might end up back in the cattle business. It’s been a few years since I had any.
I thought cows were part of the requirements for an adress in oklahoma
Almost lol. Years ago I had about a 100 pairs. Started traveling too much to keep up with them! Should have stayed with the cows....
Ain’t nothing like home grown beef come on
Well I think I’ve decided on a name for the pup. Certainly not the way I wanted to. Last night I lost a very close friend, mentor and father figure. I went to work for Kevin my jr year of high school. I worked 3-4 years straight for him. On and off after that. We always stayed in touch, I watched his boys grow up as I worked for him and he watched my kids grow later on. I learned a lot from him. The good stuff, how to treat people, when to fight, when to back down and when to know there’s **** that happens in life you can’t do a damn thing about. He fought a hard battle against pancreatic cancer. Almost two years. Never once did he complain. He just did what he always did. Worked. Smiled. Enjoyed the equestrian facility he built from scratch in 1971 at the ripe old age of 18. So now the vote is simple. Kevin it is. Perhaps Kev for short, that’s what his dad called him. The stories I could tell about what I saw with my own eyes and heard over the years. Very few knew his middle name was Jeffrey. The riders would always ask and he’d say it was J-Fred. RIP KJM P.S. I don’t mean to get deep but beyond a few friends I converse with I don’t have any other real place to vent so thanks in advance for lending me your eyes.
Sorry for your loss. Fitting name for your 4 legged buddy. Ed
Sorry to hear about your friend. Heelers are a weird dog, Usually a one man dog. My last Red would tolerate the kids but hated my ex wife... Well... Anyway Ellie was the last of a long line of heelers that my grandfather had for his cow/calf operation just before he passed. Had her for 18 years every day at work 'til one morning she didn't get up to go to work. Took that day off. I now have a Coonhound rescue dog that found me. He's a funny dude. Really smart and does some crazy stuff. He loves to put the ball through the fence so he can go out and run to bring it back.
Sorry for your loss I feel for you and fully understand, since I went through the same a few years back. While gone you will never forget so lives on just in a different way!
Junkyard, Sounds like a good way to honor your friend! Happy to lend a pair of eyes to read your story.
Thanks guys. This coming Saturday will be a get together at his dads place. That will certainly be entertaining!
Sorry to hear it Junkyard. I have had a couple really good older mentors and friends pass over the last few years and its never easy. One of the was a very good and creative machinist. I used to work in there engine shop and live in his basement during the winter for weeks at a time. Was a great experience and I learned a crapload of stuff. My wife says I have a very strange collection of friends. Ages from 80-20, I am 49. I have always told her I like hanging around people I can learn something from, sometimes its older with experience, sometimes a younger view of things will inspire a new idea. Lately I have found myself mentoring a couple younger guys with machining and welding. So I guess I have come full circle. learning and teaching. Amway's reading your post brought back so good old memories. Thanks.
I'm sorry to hear about your friend. My sympathies.
I also am sorry about the demise of your friend. How fortunate you were to have someone in your life like him. The world desperately needs more like him.
Couldn’t agree more. It makes me reflect on a lot of things. Namely what I could do better.
Sorry for your loss and thank you for telling the story!
You’re welcome. While we aren’t physically neighbors on here we seem to be a bunch of like minded people. I relate to a lot of what I read so it stands to reason, to me anyway, y’all might relate to things I’ve seen or done.
Absolutely!
Sorry to hear that junkyard. Sounds like a top shelf guy.
Junkyard. Sorry for your loss. Cam
Thanks guys. I appreciate it.
Also sorry to hear about your loss.Hang in there!
Your friend is the guy we should all aspire to be. I'm old and grumpy, but I love to teach new guys stuff if they really sincerely want to learn. I have one guy now that just drinks it up. Makes no excuses for mistakes, and gets me over when he is lost. He just cranked out a 3406E inframe and its a total success.
Sorry for the loss. Bad to lose a irreplaceable friend/mentor. At least you have the stories.
Sorry for your loss Junkyard. Went thru your area today and now I read you were remembering the life of a friend. Makes a person realize that we never know when that time will come.
Thanks. We had his memorial last night. It was amazing to see how many people came. Hundreds of them. Some I haven’t seen in 20 years. I always knew the bond we had but hearing things he had said to others about me made it even harder to cope with the loss. His boys are going to carry on his legacy the best they can. I offered to help in any way I possibly could. They laughed as I am only one of a couple people that know where everything out there is buried! Sure makes each day we have left a little more important.
I took the pic to prove I do wash my own stuff lol. It kinda came out cool. Drill rigs, trucks, clouds, tail end of the lowboy. Just struck me as cool.
Dang that’s pretty. From a non truck driver, do all three axels drive?
On this truck the back tandem does. The lift is just a dead pusher. I’ve had tri-drives and they SUCK! We do too many tight turns, county roads etc. it would be a nightmare. Plus I’m never over 160k gross or in poor traction so a standard tandem does just fine.
Purdy!!! OK so now you can show the girls that actually DID wash the truck!!!
How is the puppy dog doing?
He’s growing like a weed. He had a near death experience after he chewed up my handsfree for my phone! I’ll get some new pics tomorrow. He’s not the little squirt he was before. He’s going on 14 weeks old now.
Rawhide bones.....
They get big quick. Also growing teeth they have to chew.
He’s got chews. Just a pup that likes to chew anything especially after a little idle time alone in the truck lol. He’s a glove stealing little turd!
Just be careful with those rawhide chews! If a dog is too good of a chewer they can tear off too big a piece at a time and then it can cause intestinal problems. Each dog is different so just keep an eye on them. We had a "problem" with a couple dogs a few years back, a Lab mix and a Greyhound. Gave both rawhide chews and they started getting too into it so wife said maybe we need to give them a break. She took the chew from the Lab mix no problem. Then I made the mistake of not getting the full attention of the Greyhound. When I took the chew he decided next best thing was my right forearm. Well Lab mix decided to come to dad's rescue and despite the Grey being twice her size she soon had him under control but not before doing serious damage to the front legs of the Grey. You know those picture with blood spurting out a foot or more with each heart beat that's what we had on the bedroom rug. My arm was just a gentile drip! Off to Vet ER and got the stitches in Grey, four or five as I recall! Dogs got over it after a few days and Grey took a little time to warm up to me again. I think he thought I was mad at him, but I knew it was all my fault.
Wait til he decides your boots look a little TOO tasty!!!
He’s attempted them once before. Seems to avoid them so far. He did chew on my old Nike’s but with all the fallout there I didn’t really care!!! So far his little needle teeth aren’t terribly destructive to what he’s chewing on, just the skin he gets ahold of!
One of my old bosses long long time ago had a puppy and left it in the cab of the pickup got back from what he was doing and it looked like a foam bomb exploded- bench seat, seat belts, remember the old dashes that had foam/Naugahyde over metal? Down to bare metal. He was pissed at that pooch.
I sure hope he doesn’t reach that level of destruction. I don’t want to have that conversation with the boss man!!
Just on the seatbelt thing, we once put a blue heeler in the back of a 4wd wagon to travel a short distance. The wagon had belts for the extra foldown seats, and after releasing the dog we discovered both belts had been severed, as if by the sharpest of knives. There could only be one explanation.
Might be worth getting one of these: https://express.google.com/u/0/prod...MI7-_pkpvN3QIVlInICh18fwqOEAQYASABEgKzBPD_BwE All the Greyhounds we have transported and the two we have owned came equipped with one. Kind of an important thing when you have 4 or 5 strange dogs loaded in the back of your SUV!
Another random odometer moment lol. Jumped in this pickup to drive home yesterday and this was the mileage...
Dog marks speedo, e.g. dog **** cause errors.
I see it is still dang hot to.
I think that’s the last of our heat. Should start to cool down now. I sure hope it does!
I am ready for cold!!!
We sure cooled off in N. Illinois but the skeeters are still here, and hungry, too. If the breeze keeps blowing it's ok, but when it stops or gets close to sunset they are more like a swarm.
They haven’t been bad this year. Ticks haven’t been either. Just lucky I guess
Me to. The 10 o,clock news is talking snow showers for north of Bemidji, MN tonight. That's only 100 miles north west as the crow flies. Getting closer. Nothing but 45 degree rain day after day here. Mosquitos must have drowned this year, we never had hardly any.
Found these today 3-1/2 miles from my shop. One is an 8U and one is a 9U.
They look like they were put away wet But cool find those kind of things are dangerous they get a guy scheming on how "easy" it would be to get them running and how co they are after they run
They both run and operate fairly good. Pony motors need work so you have to pull start them. Really not in bad shape.
See it's an easy project lol
For sure! I’m starting my excavating company Monday! Haha. As far as machines that age they aren’t bad. Compared to other stuff....well that’s a different story
Hey, These machines can be worked on without the dealers computer. No air conditioned cab, must have only been run a wee bit in the spring and fall. I miss my 9U. never should have sold it.
Yup. I need a 54 X 100 addition on my 54 by 80 toy shed.
I swore I saw a 6 pin connector under the dash.....haha
It’s a necessity shed
So I moved trucks around to mow and spray some weeds. Of course the boys want to ride in them all. We made some laps in the old corn-binder service truck. As I worked on it I cut off the bent up stack and muffler. They love it loud!!
I do belive they enjoyed the ride
They often fight over whatever spot they consider to be the best!
My dog does that. He gets them softened up and then just swallows them. But he's big enough that it doesn't hurt him. Scariest moment I had with him was chewing away. Suddenly he was running around gagging like he was choking. I jumped up and tried giving him a dog version of the Heimlich. Pretty quick it was obvious that wasn't working. Turns out he got part of the chew stuck between his teeth in the roof of his mouth and could not get it out. I reached it and popped it out for him and he was right as rain. Luckily he's a hunting dog so he has a super soft mouth. No fear sticking my hand in.
I enjoyed the exhaust too, also the little screeches of delight from your passengers
We’ve gone to horns or antlers for our dogs. They last longer and don’t worry about chunks of rawhide. Darryl
Dog I had when growing up got a chunk of rawhide stuck in his lower tract, mom fed him a jar of petroleum jelly mixed with beef flavor, didn't take long, fed it to him outside!!
Getting on a plane this morning. When did people get in such a big damn hurry and lose what little manners they have? Geez we haven’t even taken off and I’m about ready to snap. They act like the plane is their own private jet. Rules don’t apply. Bump into you with their overloaded bags or giant ***! It’s comical lol. Reminds me of why I seldom fly!
Me as well, Hateful experience every time, people in general flying are rude and in some kind of self imposed hurry. I was just trying to save some time instead of driving, most time feel would've been better off driving.
If I can drive to the destination in 12 hours or less the truck is rolling
That’s generally my rule of thumb as well. This trip is farther than that and I’m driving a truck and trailer back so I had to suck it up and fly. I hate not being prepared. No knife or my pistol. Kinda feel naked without them!
good excuse to stop and buy new toys on the way back.
Ain't flying FUN!!! I will fly to Spokane to visit my Uncle, will fly to SLC to visit cousins and MAY fly for a short vacation to suit the wife but generally is on two or four wheels on highways. Headed to Atlanta (Ball ground) GA for a nephew's wedding soon, DRIVING as can get there faster than awaiting the plane, working thru the Security lines, getting luggage in and out of airport and then await the same crap to get back, to me is ALSO cheaper not that I am a cheapskate but I am!!. Figures to an 8.6hr trip down same back but lose an hour down and gain one return clock time so offset. Even if goes 9 hours ride time(Break stops) not bad.
It had been years since I went through an airport until the recent job I did to Hawaii. It brought back all the memories of why I hate airports and waiting in lines and the TSA and overhead bins and checking bags and smelly obnoxious passengers and having to pay for food on the plane and waiting to get off the plane and getting bags out of claim and trying to get back to your car or getting a ride out of the airport. The only good part of flying now days is being done with the trip.
I haven't flown in over 10 years. If I can't drive there, I'm probably not going. I'm not opposed to flying, I'm just opposed to commercial. The TSA and the people and the lines and fitting into a crowded seat, its just not worth it. I've thought about having my own plane, but I'm not sure about the "old dog new tricks thing". It would make it easier to see family, and I think I would enjoy it. I just have known too many guys my age, who have gone down with the plane they could finally afford. I do have a friend and a nephew in Hawaii now though, and the thought has crossed my mine for a vacation, but that's a really long flight. (edit)- John C. beat me to it......
The big island with a direct fright from Seattle to Kona was 5.5 to 6 hours. The travel day was ten hours. If you go to one of the other islands the usual path is to somewhere in California and then to Honolulu and with the layovers the shortest flight was ten plus hours. Take an IPad of smart phone. The in flight movies are through blue tooth now days. My trip was a project to consult on a machine repair and train the repair staff first and then have some time to roam the island. The trip was worth the flight but the flight was the worst part of the trip.
Flying lets you see just how much like cattle average people are. It's hilarious. Like boarding. As soon as the voice says anything about boarding they queue up to get on first. They'll stand in line for 20 minutes. All so they can get in the plane and sit in a cramped seat for another 20 minutes. I sit in the comfy seats at the terminal until the boarding agent threatens to lock me out. Flying sucks.
Last time on plane we were coming home from LA to New York with stop over in ATL. First off the traffic to the LA airports was ridiculous and I was riding a bus. Then you had to check in at one place and sprint to the other end of terminal to do the TSA dance. Finally get to board the plane and while opening overhead to store small carry-on a guys suit coat starts to fall out so I simply went to put it back in before it fell on the floor. Big mistake! He got all upset that I was wrinkling the jacket. To make it worse he was in the isle seat next to us. As we were some of the first ones on the plane I can only imagine how much more stuff got jammed into that all important jacket as the compartment filled up!
I pretty much refuse to stand in a line anywhere. If I can be in the front that's fine. If there is a long line I will find someplace else to sit. Like when lunch is served at some event. Half the time when the initial rush of people clears out, then they will bring out some fresh food to replace what was taken. So you wind up getting better food with no line.
Plus the portions sometimes get bigger as they don't want to have to cart the left overs home!
I used to enjoy flying commercial, then we flew to work on a private plane. No hassles that's how I got enough flight time to get my twin engine rating. Now I just about always drive, and enjoy every minute, other than big cities that are a traffic night mare. I always carry a knife, but can't at the airport. Now I carry concealed but can't do that at the airport. So I drive and can carry both except when going to Canada. Still better than having to deal with the TSA people who were sweeping the floors till they got this job, that went to their empty heads.
I retired from a airline will not fly because of the above stated reasons!
When did people lose their manners? Try New York or any larger cities worldwide. I fly business or 1st class. No cattle car economy BS. Lufthansa 747-8 business,seat 87A is my preference. 87A is window, 2nd row of seats @ top of stairs. Starboard side; Europe outbound from LAX gives good view of the coastline heading south then turning inland over the desert northeasterly. Seating layout is a bit different, lay flat seat with angled foot rest with divider. Okay flying with a friend but could be a problem with a MeToo type nut case. FA service has deteriorated compared previous years; maybe all the union strikes, whatever. Going to try 787; better cabin air supply, not air-bleed. Thinking less jet-lag issue if the cabin air quality is better. Enjoy your' trip!
Well I left my shop at 4:30am, took off a tad after 6. Landed in Vegas 9:00am local time. Piddled around until about noon and hit the road. Wasn’t real sure how far I wanted to get. Ended up stopping in Moriarty, NM which is about half way home, not too bad. I can tell you that after 16-17 hours with my *** in a seat I am SORE this morning. I think there will be lots of stops today to walk around. This trailer has wonderful steps that fold down making it super easy to walk in and out. Until some ******* parks so close you can’t fold them down to get out!! I picked a secluded spot to prevent this very issue!
You really can't make that **** up! All the room in the world and want to still be nice and close. It's like when you drop a trailer off so you can unload the material in the truck, no matter how many cones you put in front of the trailer or how far out of the way you park it, inevitably someone will park so it's next to impossible to hook back up to the trailer
Uffta! Took a moment looking at the picture to see the problem, how did you get out?
PITA Herders!!
Climbed over it fully expecting it to come unlatched and dump my *** out! Haha
Made it home about 7:30pm. From Santa Rosa to OKC I had a 35-40 mph north wind hitting me broadside. Made for a long day. 60-65 mph I could comfortably handle it. Any faster and a passing truck would really move me around. I’ll post pics of my acquisition in the morning, weather permitting. I am BEAT!
Junkyard !! Are you OK ??
Yeah. Shop foreman is in the hospital and down for the count the rest of the year so I’ve assumed some (most) of his duty along with mine. It’s been crazy trying to figure out how to get it all done this week. We are headed to Branson for the weekend and I already told mom not to expect me Thursday. She wasn’t very happy. Oh and one of our drivers quit....gotta love it! Haha
Hang in there. Get the boss to get you some help
We’re working on it but going into winter I doubt we get anybody else. Oh well. More OT for me!
TOY Money!!!
Not your' job to make other people happy, including females-wives!
In reality that’s true. To them....not so much!
After that snack he was ready for his colonoscopy....
After flying as many as 180,000 miles a year for work, I no longer get in airplanes unless there is no other option. Normally at airports I always check to see if the rental car return has there own TSA entry point. Minneapolis has a great one with no lines ever. I use it whenever I fly, rental car or not. San Francisco has no options but long lines. I have at times flown from Oakland to SFO just to avoid the SFO TSA mess. A total of 8 miles as the crow flies. Short flight but still worth 500 frequent flyer miles. They used to have a $49.00 flight.
LAX to SFO round trip in early 60s was $49-ish. Pre-Arab oil embargo 'real dollars'. Used fly up and watch the baseball games at Candle Stick Park. After a couple of trips; learned to take along a warmer jacket, the on-shore weather flow was a bit cool!
He’s growing!
I took two of our 6 week old Pyrenees down to see the girls at the bank. In about 30 seconds they (girls) were all on the floor in the lobby in their dresses playing with the pups. You should have seen the look on the face of the guy that came in to make a deposit.
My pup is a great wingman. Between him and my 4 year old boy I can’t lose! Lol. He spent a couple days with the girls in the Topeka office this week. They spoiled him rotten!
He was ready to go trucking this morning! I was letting things warm up, doing my logs and he parked himself there. He’s either pushing me or afraid I’d leave him!
Separation anxiety.
Lol. So far he doesn’t seem to have it. He’s puppy destructive but not rip the couch apart because I left him. He’s a good pup so far.
Give him time!!
I left a 4 month old chocolate lab in my truck for 20 minutes once. Bugger ate all the coily cords on my 2 way radio and old school hard mount cell phone, chewed up a corner of the dashpad, and gnawed on the shifter handle. Last time I left one in the truck. My next dog years later was a Heeler, she would lay by the front tire of the truck all day long doing field work, she was funny in the shop, I was torque turning Cat mainbolts and laying on my side on my "queen size" padded creeper and the dog was laying on the pad behind my back. I had her for 18 years as a work helper.
He’s gotten a couple phone chargers, my earbuds and some other odds and ends. He LOVES gloves. Steals em dang near off your hands!
Mine was a Malemute, would decide to get an attitude if left him alone. Ate the 5x5x3" tall wooden knob off a armchair when I had to make a emergency call to the station I worked, decided my VW park brake lever needed more non slip depressions when sitting at a friends house. Decided for my Mother her Rose bushes were mighty tasty, ate them off to the grade from 3' tall thorns and all. Loved Beef knuckles for treats, lasted around two hours before was little to nothing left, could hear the popping from inside the house as he broke them up(raw). His favorite toy, a riding mower tire(dismounted) thrown like a football he would run it down and fetch it back to gnaw on for hours like a massive squeaky toy minus the squeak. Could dig a crater 4'x 3' x 6" deep in what seemed seconds, could NOT locate a spoonful of dirt to refill the holes. I anxiously await the tale of a boot or pair of britches getting eaten! Would be a Perfect Pup for that!!
On the way home from work, stopped by market, purchased steak...feel asleep and forgot the steak was on the kitchen counter. Next morning, ops. Okay give the neighbor's shepherd the steak. Neighbors HAVE TO cook the steak before the dog can eat it.
One of the best dog toys I’ve discovered is the biscuit from a 30/30 brake chamber!
Guess I'm lucky with my 2 dogs, they treat my Suburban like a rolling doghouse. Had it in the shop the other night, unloading tools. Rear cargo doors open. The golden retriever was driving me nuts! Following me around, just up my azz. Finally realized, doors open and he couldn't get in, tools in the way. Opened a side door, problem solved. Ed
I unloaded a rig today in a soupy job site. Of course dog wanted out. Tried to keep him out of the mud. Stuck him back in the truck. Put my stuff away and came back to crap all over drivers door and my seat. Couldn’t blame the poor guy.....I’ve done worse myself!
My current Goldie has a addiction........BAGELS. If I have hone she will jump up/down, growl and snarl. until I share with her. Favorite toy is a plastic coffee can, she play soccer with it/ 6- 8 cans scattered over about an acre.
Nothin terribly exciting to report. We have several rigs in KC so I’ll be up here all week getting them taken care of. Major gremlins in the Soilmec. CAN-BUS issues. I have checked every connection, grounds and some sensors. I’m down the the alternator as that’s one code I have in the computer and it is overcharging a bit. There’s also a module on here that shows input from terminal 14.....but it’s not used nor are any near it. It also has a constant active code. 5-7 days from Italy plus a few more from CT to MO. Never would I have dreamed a drill rig would have WiFi and a mile of Ethernet cable!
Look like you are troubleshoot rockets going to Mars.
To me it’s entirely too complicated but what do I know! Funny thing is all but the generator and AIO.42 codes come and go as they please.....it did it yesterday just sitting there idling while I was looking at the schematic. It’s 100 pages!
Wiring connections doesn't look very off-road durable, dust, vibration proof.
The cabinet that particular module is in seals up well, positive pressure and desicant blocks. I agree that it’s a risky way to do things long term.....this rig has 2315 hours on it.
Junkyard: Have you rebooted the main computer and Ethernet card? This may require removing a fuse or the power. The risk is the program may crash on power off leaving you worse off. We find that this is most often the solution to a lot of industrial electronic devices. Lots of smart devices get confused and need to reload the program from memory in order to work properly. You will probably loose the fault codes so take a picture before you start. Good luck. Cam
We’ve done all the reboots and resets the tech was willing to walk us through. I decided after today to send out another rig and the factory is sending a tech out to help us get this thing figured out. I sure hope it’s not something stupid simple!!! Thanks for the tip, I’m sure I’ll have issues in the future.
Do you know if any of the code generating bits share a ground? I had 2 abraded wires intermittently backfeeding 12V to the common ground that would cause the same 10-12 codes all at once.
We’ve checked them too, so far I have nothing obvious....or even suspect.....
The insecure mechanic in me is worried factory tech comes and finds something STUPID simple. The rest of me hopes he’s stumped too and we figure it out together. We shall see! I buttoned up the Watson today. Finished resealing the accessory drive and compressor. Serviced it and discovered it’s got two old weak batteries so they got replaced today as well. Even had flurries today. It’s that time of year!
I know just what you are saying, you want it fixed but not by some tech who walks up and gets in fixed in no time at all. Sometimes just walking away from something and coming back will help you see things differently. Being there and learning from a tech will help you on the next problem. Good luck, keep the white stuff there, please.
We are expected to get 2-6" tomorrow. I could do without, too much left to do still.
I had a wonderful day you can relate to Junkyard. Replacing exhaust manifold on 14L Series 60 and five manifold bolts snapped off in the head. Spent most of the day drilling them out, two were in the back not easy to see or get to. Truck Shop
It’s always those back ones that have to snap. Slow and easy drills them out. Sure try’s your patience.
Ugh. It’s been awhile since I’ve had to deal with a bunch of broke off bolts......knock on wood! Last deal like that were the hardened dowels in the Watson 3100 rotaries. They tend to snap off and short of a diamond idk how in the world you can drill them! Good news today, I got the part for the Soilmec I ordered on a hunch. I couldn’t explain why I thought it was the culprit but for some reason my gut said it was. I swapped it out today and damned if it wasn’t the guilty piece! 10 codes all stemming from this one module. Too complicated for drilling a hole in the ground!! Old on left. The slight swelling of the case combined with a somewhat related code is what lead me to it....
The color on the paper of 1234 would make me suspicious. Got catch on a hunch. How expensive was that particular piece of high tech?
I’m not sure what the dealer charged us. I found them for sale through other sources for a few hundred. Dandy little piece of tech that shouldn’t be anywhere near a drill rig!
I guess the CAN could not catch the bus.
Lol something like that. Do you think it’s a short bus?
Not to offend anybody that’s a lawyer, but you can probably think a lawyer for all the electronics switches and gizmos that are there to protect “us“. Also, let’s not forget to leave out all the “sue happy” people too. All that electronic crap to drill a hole, push a mountain over, dig a foundation, or move earth from point A to point B, kinda depressing.....
It’s certainly a cause of the redundant warnings and safety features. Some of them you have to ask yourself, “what the heck happened that necessitated that warning?” Darwin’s theory at work if you ask me.
Almost as putting a Caution on a hammerhead, "Do Not Strike one's self with this device, can cause serious harm"!!
That CANBUS system still behaving?
Soilmec hasn’t gone back to work but it will be soon. The IMT I sent to the KC job will come to Joplin and have the low clearance attachment installed for a powerline job. Two holes in some HARD rock. Big IMT acted up today. I think it’s something to do with the ground level kill switch. Here’s a pup update. He was trying to talk me into sharing my pringles. That didn’t happen He’s up to a whopping 24 pounds.
The pup is sure growing, and looks like he is trying to get close to you. Sure a good looking dog!
He may even really Like you!!
I feed him. He has to at least tolerate me lol.
Sometimes Darwin's Theory is also accompanied by financial penalties......
Do they fine your estate? lol Sad thing is the fine gets more attention than potential death!
How can you say “no” to that face? Handsome little fella!
I’ve had kids long enough “no” is second nature!
Had my face in more High Voltage systems than I really want to remember. Rack up/down Circuit Breakers in the Power Station bigger than most safes, tall as refrigerators and weighed close to 800 lbs. 13,800v for the Reactor Coolant pumps(4), fed directly from the breakers, cross feed breakers one buss to another, most were 4,160v some a little smaller all the lower voltage as 480, 240 and 208 in smaller package panels. Had to wear the Flame Retardant (Retarded) gear when got ANY form or style even Close to an open panel, looked like Cloth coverall HAZMAT suits and weighed close to 40 lbs. Did get to go to AB Chance(Hubbell) Centralia MO for training as to what voltage and amps can do, horrific if in that failure mode. The suits were not to save you but to prevent serious burns or keep from sending a cooked corpse to the funeral home.
BTW, the name on these monsters was 'Magna-Blast' By GE.
Scary circuit breakers My buddy collected 2 free give away electric rope shovels, saying collects because they never operate correctly. 1 from 3M, 1 from Azusa Rock. 7200-13,800V 60Hz power req'd / using 7200V. Older DC shovels; kill power, unhook trail-cable, grounding before opening electrical cabinets to bleed off residual voltage' safety procedures and circuit lock-outs. Respect for the amperage-voltage, nothing dramatic Long term exposure to WiFi-cellular tower, cellular phone EMR is more dangerous
That’s some serious juice. You wouldn’t pee on those wires and walk away! Haha
Talk about those big electric shovels reminded me of a story my father-in-law told me years ago. He worked as a supervisor at a large quarry that was connected to a cement factory near Albany NY. They had a large electric shove to load the haul trucks at the quarry face. As will happen the power cord got damaged and needed to be repaired by cutting out the bad section and re-splicing it together. Electricians spent several hours doing the repair and when they turned the power back on the shovel would not work, that's when they found someone had spliced the two ends of the damaged section not the good section of wire. Good thing someone was not sitting on what they thought was the scrap section of wire. I may have some of the story wrong but that's what I recall him telling me!
I once saw what cutting an 11KV trailing cable feeding a dragline did to the end of a 16G moldboard. Blew about 2ft off the end of it and scared the **** out of the grader operator at the same time. Electricity's invisible and it bites. I try to stay well away from it.
We’ve seen what happens when drill rigs get into lines. I get spooked when we are drilling in active sub-stations. I swear I feel it lol.
There are fields present in sub stations, as you walk around will pick up a static charge where touch anything grounded will draw a arc. Can be spectacular arcs when REALLY dry out. For a FYI, That breaker above is sitting on a standard 4'x4' pallet the 'Stabs' on top are three phases in and three out are almost 4" across and a little over 14" tall, slip into a mating bushing inside the cubicle when rack Up. When racking these can hear the 'HISS' of the juice coming into the Line side stabs just before they make up. Made the hair stand up on the back of my neck EVERY Time and NOT from static. Could Hear it over the electric motor drive lifting the unit.
Yes you can feel it.
Local electric utility uses clean Basalt ballast in their switchyards, it gets changed out when its full of windblown dirt. I was in the right place at the right time to haul off 8 dumptruck loads of the stuff and put it in the yard. I was playing with a new metal detector that was supposed to find manhole covers and water boxes below grade, it went absolutely nuts in that ballast... Magnetized? I was trying to find a couple chunks of plate that had been buried in the stuff , Never could make it work there. Anywhere else it worked great.
I’ve seen it jump before from one thing to another. We drilled a hole by a control building one time. Grounded the rig and all that stuff. Second bite came up with wire on it. I asked the guy what that was. He said aw it’s okd stuff. Under his breath I swore I heard “I hope....” WTAF!
Electrician workshop had a sign on the wall until management could no longer see the joke. "Kamikaze Cable Cutters of Callaway Plant". We had so much buried, abandoned in place construction service wire, communications wire, MILES of conduits empty or loaded and then abandoned pipes and just Stuff that someone thought was funny to bury. The plant went to situate a additional water supply tank for Fukushima remediation, set in on concrete piers to bedrock, hit something metal so sent in a camera into the bore some 22 feet down. Once IDd they then set a plan to extricate the Chevrolet Carryall buried that had been presumed Stolen during construction. Took an additional two weeks to get it out, ruined but intact, it was hastily disposed of. Ground scans did NOT show any other 'Large Objects' the NRC could be less than impressed of. Story was a Enga was touring the site in initial construct days, drove the machine into a heavy work area, pedestal crane operator was directed to send the hook which was attached to the running Carryall's hitch then lifted on end and deposited in a cut being backfilled, a D7 and three pans then crushed and covered it up when the enga returned 'Nobody Knew Nothin' and the mystery began.
CBS Sunday 7:30 ET Fukushima mess
“Night shift must have grabbed that Ute!”
They just started teasing some new episodes. I’m anxious to see how good they are. Refined was awesome in the beginning but man did it get weird!
Just watched the 2nd episode on Facebook. Seems like it's actually going to have a storyline through the series, rather than unconnected episodes
I did too. My boys started watching until the F bombs started lol. I think they’re both great concepts if somebody will wrote a good storyline
Difference between mechanic and service technician? THIS
The original episodes were supposed to be teasers of a full length movie. Aussies are... creative with their speaking
I must be part Aussie!
No you just have Tourette's as I do!! And as most of our associates on here do!
And it is usually triggered by bump on the head or the wrench slipping at just the wrong time!
That picture looks like the nightmare under the hood of the Cat 980K they got at the quarry a year or so before I retired! Glade I got out before anything major happened to it! Just wonder what the bill is going to be when it comes due for major repair?
A LOT, start peeling the $100's early!! My thought as well on that 'Tech' Engine, appeared a Marine installation gone awry!!
In my neighborhood the service tech would change oil and filters. If it couldn't be fixed with a computer the service tech would lay off the job on a mechanic.
2019 Return of Two-Stokes. Two Pete test rigs operating in the real world by Walmart, Tyson Foods.
That's just a takeaway from one of these engines and they need too add more crap to it and make a four cylinder to get the power and torque up.
Fairbanks Morse built opposed piston two stroke diesels for decades, not a new technology and still as dirty just added catalyst systems to clean it up. The advantage by FM was getting the power from twin crankshafts to decrease the space needs. Were THE engine in the WWII and late WWI US Subs fleets.
Everything old is new again. JLG introduced a damper door to shut off engine intake air as a protection system: JLG NOW OFFERS POSITIVE AIR SHUT OFF SYSTEM Current Press Releases Wednesday, July 25, 2018 McConnellsburg, Pa. — July 25, 2018 — JLG Industries, Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation company [NYSE:OSK] and a leading global manufacturer of aerial work platforms and telehandlers, is pleased to announce the availability of a Positive Air Shut Off system designed to prevent diesel engines from having runaway situations. The positive air shut off system is ideal for applications where flammable materials could potentially be drawn into the air intake system, resulting in potential engine damage. “This optional system reduces the risk of potential engine damage,” said John Boehme, JLG senior product manager, telehandlers. “It completely blocks the engine air intake system, cutting off the uncontrolled external fuel source and the air required to keep the engine running.” It also provides emergency overspeed shutdown protection for diesel engines and is the most effective way to prevent a runaway situation. For more information about the Positive Air Shut Off system, visit www.jlg.com/en/equipment/telehandlers . To learn more about JLG, visit the company website at www.jlg.com .
Like a Fairbanks Morse 38 8 1/8 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairbanks_Morse_38_8-1/8_diesel_engine
Gee, wish Detroit Diesel had come up with something like that!
Opposed piston diesel engine, now that is a new idea, OH! WAIT! here is a scan of a page out of a book copyrighted 1936. I do like that this is called a "High Speed Diesel" that turns an amazing 1,200 RPM!
I worked on two FM 38ND8 1/8 emergency generator engines in the nuclear powered cruiser I was stationed on in the seventies. They had their problems with polluting the air, especially on startup. Because they had to be at seventy five percent power in about twelve seconds they were equipped with two injectors per cylinder. The white smoke coming out the hole in the side of the ship would belch enough fog to completely engulf a fleet tug boat that was tied onto us one time. A lot of coughing and red eyes on that tug when people started coming out from below decks. Those engines don't like running with no load or at low idle. There was a three inch drain valve on the bottom of the muffler to drain the oil that had collected inside.
High speed refers to piston speed per lineal foot and not RPM. The Fairbanks engines I worked on were high speed engines and only turned 900 RPM at high idle.
Here's a fine example of a Napier Deltic
I love the monster oddball stuff like that. In a related note I’ve always wanted an old truck with Hall Scott power. Even if just to look at! Some of the natural gas stationary engines I’ve hauled around were pretty cool too. I’ve got some monster Waukesha Pierce pistons laying around. I used the wrist pins for wedging tracks tight when hauling machines on a beam.
You wanna hear one (well two actually) at full noise...? Wind this video forward to around the 2:54 mark, turn your speakers up to full, and enjoy ..........
Fairbanks-Morse OP was knock off of Hugo Junkers Jumo OP series invented 1890 and still used as Sub auxiliary engines (nuke attack class). FM is owned (controlling interest) by MAN; MAN is owned (controlling interest) by VW and CARB's testing is supported by FM, Cummins, Daimler, Caterpillar, Kenworth blah, blah Scrolling list of members http://calstart.org/ Target 50% BTU fuel efficiency; Cummins with turbo-compounding and heat regeneration is @ 48.5%. OP lab engines are @ 50% plus and exceeding emissions targets. That it the reason for 2 Pete test vehicles; to determine how the engines perform under real world everyday operating conditions. 100 + yr old basic opposed piston design that was 30% more fuel efficient...IMO beats 4 cycle diesels with add-on this, add-on that and issues of reliability. CAT = Call Another Technician The late George Szabo (Norco-Fontana Calif...used military surplus parts) bid and won 5 Napier Deltic engines and spare-parts mid 80s. I researched cost for certified overhauls, $180-230K each; price killed that idea for George. @Jeff , In Norco front property decorations like horse drawn wagons, buggy, plows are okay. Old Fairbanks pop-pop engine, nope Attractive Nuisance code violation. PS: Video Dr. James Lemke
@ Truck Stop More cylinders, nope lose efficiency because cylinder over charging Cummins development 4 cyl opposed piston for Defense Industry Combat Vehicles Explanation @ 2:59
Well they better figure out how to make that potato masher make more HP and Torque or it won't sell worth ****.----Fact. But the biggest problem with engines like that are too many moving parts, always has been. First lesson for a design engineer-Keep it simple. Truck Shop
The other issue was there was no electric starter big enough to turn that monster 8 1/8 engine over fast enough to start it. All I've worked on or seen was an air start with air directly injected into the cylinders. Each engine had a huge air tank in the space that was fed by the same air pressure they used to fire torpedoes with. I don't remember the high pressure but the start pressure in the tank was around 300 PSI. Last item is the physical size of opposed piston engines. Two cranks makes for a tall motor. Here is a photo of some surplussed Fairbanks engines.
Looks like the ones they took out of our local municipal power house about 15 years ago. Our city owned utility buys power normally but fired up our generators manually when the weather got bad and power outages were more often than not going to happen. I would have liked to have scored one but they cut them up in place for scrap and ease to remove them. Now we got 3 automated 3516 Cats for backup to the purchased power from the big box store utility.
I was wondering about the physical size myself, as small as the engine compartments are on trucks these days and all the crap piled on the outside of that engine it must be a real turd to work on. The DD15 is bad enough jammed in a Cascadia. Look at the PacCar engine flop. Thread Hi-Jack Truck Shop
The Colt Pielstick engine/generators we had at the nuke were started by Compressed Air, had two compressor/receiver systems permanently married with multiple cross connect prevention systems, way too over engineered. Worked off 650psig average pressure, minimum for a roll off was 450psig. Had three rolls capability before ran too low to roll it off. They are actually sold/serviced by Fairbanks Morse in the US. Had to be up, running at speed(514RPM) and loading the emergency systems on the buss in 14 seconds, 6.2mw generators.
Cummins picked up a DOD contract last year to design an opposed cylinder diesel for use in armored fighting vehicles. Looks like the contract was a joint venture between Cummins and Achates.
I'm going deep into the cobwebs in my head, and I may be full of beans, but didn't the Brit's make some kind of crazy engine like the horizontal opposed engine being discussed here?
No worries on the hijack! We’re all here to shoot the **** and learn!
I seem to remember the slang name for the Brit engine was a comerknocker. I saw a video on here somewhere of a truck with one I think. Most likely something Nige posted.
Yeah the Brits had a penchant with over technified machines seemingly forever. Was a Commer Truck and engine, nicknamed the Commer Knocker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commer_TS3
BTW in that picture I posted, the Green pipe is 8" schedule 40 steel, the system it is off of is the Intercooler heat exchanger, the one at the end of the engine is the jacket water and there is a third LARGER unit on the opposite side Engine Oil cooler(the radiators for this). There is a manual Stop Bypass handle, I enjoyed being the tech to Test that function with the engine under full power, took Both hands and a braced foot to pull the governor off full fuel to bring the big pig to a stop. The governor is just to the left of that stop lever, Isochronous Woodward. The Yellow pipes are fuel, the air start feed is the lines converging on the T with the red handled half turn valves under the governor and lube oil pump. 750 gallons engine oil in this one.
The Fairbanks were about the same in size but didn't put out as much horsepower. The two in my photo probably were around 1,000 horses while the gen sets on the ship I was on were 1,450. The Pielstick when I got out of the service was advertised as one horse per cubic inch. We had Woodwards on those as well but the manual stop was a rack trip lever. Push the button on the end and move the short lever to stop and you could feel the snap as the racks dropped to no fuel. The Fairbanks on the ship had dry sump oil systems and the oil was held in a tank on the upper level of the space. It was 350 gallons and it really sucked to change oil. It had to be done with a little back and forth handle on a pump mounted on the wall putting out maybe a quart of oil with each stroke. That's an great photo. Those monster engines are impressive but today you see the same output in a lot smaller packages.
Cummins (Achates) OP 4cyl 8piston going into Bradley vehicle within a few weeks for DOD testing. Fairbanks (Achates) OP 5,000Hp + is in production Two-Stroke NOISE 37mpg, that is okay
Sounds eerily similar to a 6V53
Looks like you have to pull the whole front end off the truck to work on it.
Well that is nothing new....
Pretty much true on the nothing new, Ford and independents have been removing cabs to work heads on 6.0, 6.4 even the late 7.3 engines as was faster than working under the hood. Late model GMs I have heard are as bad or worse on the Duramax.
Nailed it....
Go Greyhound! Haha. Good luck in a drive thru with that! You don’t suppose it really is a 6v-53 with some fancy camouflage......
Drive thru, drivers shut off racket making engines @Mr. Miller Try this URL http://www.pielstick.com/ Pielstick Licensees manufacturing S.E.M.T series engines around the world over the years 38, currently 8. Complex design / Jumo 223 24cylinder 48 piston operating @ 4,400rpm; never reached that design intent. Link for Engine Junkies https://oldmachinepress.com/2015/09/26/junkers-jumo-223-aircraft-engine/
Well some of us do......
Would that be a bad thing?
First time I was in the local Ford dealer and saw a four door pickup with the body jacked up I could not believe it but then they told me that it actually took very little work, at least on newer trucks with no rusty bolts to deal with!
It probably takes little work the second time, after you learn what wiring harness tears in two that you did not see to disconnect the first time, but I don't know, I haven't passed up the year model 1997 yet.
Agreed. Once you done it...not so bad. Seems like a bass ackward way of doing it but that’s the world we live in! On another note.....site sure is on edge tonight. Some tension on other threads. Do we all need a group hug or something?
I am thinking a few rounds in the ring with gloves on! Boxing a little may take the steam out!
Maybe that too! I’m a lover not a fighter!
So we helped my sis move today. I’ve been hanging out upstairs with my boys and nephew. We started listening to music. Mostly newer crap. I said give me the phone....here’s the playlist Robin Trower-Bridge of Sighs Hendrix-Voodoo Child Led Zeppelin-Immigrant Song AC/DC-Let there be Rock Ted Nugent-Stranglehold and Great White Buffalo Peter Frampton-Do You Feel Like We Do (full 14 minutes) The Godz-Gotta Keep a Runnin Iron Maiden-Powerslave Santana-Soul Sacrifice (live from Woodstock) Motörhead-Ace of Spades Black Sabbath-The Wizard They are now fully indoctrinated and may actually have a chance in this world!!!
Rock is dead. Country died a long time ago. I have been watching a guy called Rick Beato on Youtube. Goes into modern music history and theory and why it really is awful today. The measurement he uses is the ability of a rock band to sell out an arena worldwide. It just doesn't happen any more. Rock stations closing down, changing format to something I don't care to listen to. But it is understandable. The guitar only has 6 strings. Country ran 50 years, rock ran 50 years, overlapping. Makes me feel old, stating that rock is dead but it really is.
does any one band play actual music anymore? they all make a helluva lot of noise
My old pastor, God rest his soul, said he did not mind these newfangled bands (this was the 1990s) so long as they made something like music, but he said some of them just sound like trash can lids banging together. I remembered that line all through the years, and apply it when I see fit. Trouble is, you can hardly find 2 metal trash can lids to bang together anymore, these days....
Truck question, do gland hands have to face rearwards (parallel with frame) when pulling a trailer?
Palm up or down?
We swapped an IMT 180 to the low clearance attachment yesterday. It’s not a terrible job but it takes about half a day....
Couple more, we have to leave the pulleys out to run the cable through....fancy rigging dontcha think? Lol
You should change them pulleys out and install sheaves. They will fit the cable and the cable will last longer.
There’s always one.....haha. It was a test. Yeah. That’s it. We’ve gone to rubber belting for the Kelly and service winch lines so there!
Now thats funny!!
Can I get a couple more pictures of that flatbed in the background? Looks close to what I've been planning in my head for the last year or so.
The one on the dodge? Yeah he lives couple miles from me, I’ll snap some for you when I see him next.
A British Deltoid engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic
Last week's spam Junkyard topic. This week's topic pulleys, crazy rigging and a bit of real-workin man's day. I really like the VICE FOOT STOOL, get me a couple inches taller part of the photo. I do that all of the time, approved way to slip and bust your *** hitting the ground hurts, landing on steel things is dangerous. Using service truck's workbench as a foot stand is typical when repacking scraper steering cylinders Typical RB Auction 'it won't shift scrapers'; but it was cheap, LOL Worn clutch packs, R&I trans-diff and convert to later drive shaft, reset pinion-bevel gear bearing pre-load etc. Always something
Master Mechanic sometimes helper, sometime my boss Richard D migrant from the last Okie invasion of Calif in 1989 after Cat dealership Albert ownership changed. Richard has removed 1,000+ transmission-differential assemblies, notice he keeps his body away from the load, bit of swinging does not hurt anything. Young tend to wrestle steel until they figure out they're wearing out their bodies; i.e. work smart, not hard, stay safe. Jeff, Keep your eyes open for a C-max / bore welder. Easy day to make $2k; $1600 welding-boring and $400 for new pins and thrust washers. Plus labor to disassemble and reassemble. BB tiny requires a bore welder; hand welding bores leaves bumps and irregular surfaces that will destroy carbide cutting tools or you're forced to use high speed steel and sharpen, sharpen. All gravy work
This was a good read.. been reading this whole thread off and on today. Brings back lots of memories. My dad owned a dirt const, company growing up, I spun wrenches for him till around 89 or so, then went to work on natural gas compressors. Mainly large stationary engines and compressors. Lot easier on the body, but a lot of driving. 60-70k miles a year. Went out on my own in 96, and still do 98% of my work on gas compressors, engine rebuilds, with a random job on dozer, excavator etc from time to time. Enjoyed the read Junkyard.. you are a busy man!
Thanks for reading! It’s been somewhat mundane and uneventful lately. I did turn 200k miles on the haul truck week before last. That’s about the highlight lol. Some of the latest work has been places I can’t take pics. The soilmec has been working well, running like a watch so the AIO.42 module was the culprit! Here’s the Pete at 200k and a remedial task for me....hauling a load of tools.
I drug my daughter out of bed to ride to Joplin with me. If you consider 10am drug out of bed! Here’s a before and after pic of her. One I think I’ve shared before. I did get her permission to share the newest one lol August 2004 Dec 2018
So is she driving the truck yet?
Lol unlike her brothers she wants nothing to do with it! Smart girl haha. I even asked if she wanted to make some laps around the yard. Nope. We do start driving lessons soon....god help me!
You are lucky. My oldest got hooked on trucks and equipment at 14 or so, I had her loading dumptrucks with the 821, backfilling trenches with the D6M and driving a little bit of truck here and there hauling stuff around on site. By 24 she and her hubby had matching his and hers Peterbilts hauling cattle.
Am a thinkin she got Momma's looks, better off!!
That’s awesome. Alex is too smart for the crap we do. She’ll be a dr or who knows what. She’ll surprise me now and then with what she’s learned. Even surprised some of the boys at school that think they know diesel.
She will be a hard act to follow for most little boys! Will take quite a head turner WITH a brain to catch her fancy.
two-strokes were mentioned up above. Nice to see one being driven like he'd stolen it ............ Moves right along for a 50-year-old truck.
I stumbled onto that video earlier today! It’s a hoot
That Foden sure had some style.
There are actually a few videos from the 5-year restoration project of that S21. The guy who restored it has his shop less than 10 miles away from where I grew up. HeavyEquipmentForums
I have a feeling that was not his first time driving a truck like that! Love watching someone drive like that makes it look sooo easy. Reminded me of the ride I had in an R Model Mack with a Tri-plex transmission. I had found a problem with a bad suction line for the fuel pump and driver suggested I ride with him on a 50 mile round trip just to be sure it was fixed. He drove that twin stick transmission and made it look so smooth you would think it had an automatic transmission! If you had ear plugs in and were not watching the levers you would never know he had changed gears and a good part of the trip was in city traffic!
All the tri-plex units I had worked on that long ago had three sticks?
Beautiful Truck. That has some real class. I take it the short lever on the right of the steering wheel is a splitter of some sort. Air?
One of those would be so cool for a service truck!
No Sir, 2 sticks with short positive stick travel. Spicer auxiliary trans 'shift tower-2 round rails' would wear out just from vibration. Two-Stroke OP Cummins ACE British Leyland L60 19liter OP multi-fuel was a flop. Maybe with CAD design aides the problems can be overcome.
Would not say there wasn't a three stick triplex but here is the shift pattern off the one's I'm familiar with, actually worked on many more of the Quadraplex(four speed compound 18 speed!):
Yep, intermittent bearing failed on the quad boxes often. Mack TriPlex, driver would have passed our drive test...No clutch usage allowed except to start off from 1st gear. Used B61 NH220 / Cozad to move D9G,Hs for years, lot of gear shifting. Repowering with NTC350, high school friend's throw away engine.
Well the Quadraplex's we had were almost all used in B-81's and DM809's used for stocking trucks in the quarries. The most common failure I saw was reverse idler gear, seems drivers could not be bothered to let truck come to stop before going for reverse. Maybe second most common failure was the PTO drive gear and PTO, again driver not letting things stop before engaging gears. Of course those failures did tend to spread damage to many other parts of the transmission!
I know this is probably nothing since you were in charge of the fleet but how much of that could be attributed to clutch brakes that did not work? I would always write up my own clutch brake, it would sometimes be fixed when it came back from the shop, let another driver take it out for one day and it was back to grinding again, or leaving the transmission in gear/clutch depressed at a red light, or trying to get the truck rolling under gravity before putting it in gear.
Yea, I'm sure there was plenty of blame to go around. I really don't think many of the "drivers" had any idea of what a clutch brake was or how to properly use it! As a side note most of the trucks had the clutch brake that worked on the countershaft of the main box. Those were back in the days before Spicer Angle Spring clutches!
At least those were easier to replace!! Kind of!
Needs a tuned up Cat C16
Not much new to report. It’s been quiet. A couple rig moves. Normal repairs for the most part. Have one Watson 2500 with a noisy Funk 28000 series pump drive. Trans rattles a bit too but it’ll go a long time like that. I literally spent a week on that rig just digging into stuff. Trans oil, pump drive oil, drive yoke and output shaft, triple 80 drive chain, grease the stuff the guys don’t take the time to grease. Run the OH, full service yada yada. I decided this week that I’m pouring an apron on the north end of my shop. I’m sick of the muck. Will go the width of the building, 50’, and at least 30 out. Maybe 40. Will also do a roof over it as well. Need shade and out of the darn rain. I don’t tolerate inclement weather like I used to! First winter in a couple years we’ve actually slowed down a bit. It helps me catch up on the more in depth inspections and PM work. I hope everybody survived the holidays and is doing well!
I owe you a apology. I cleaned up my desk and a bunch of papers. And lo and behold, what drops out from the stack of papers, but a nameplate for a CAT engine. It was only a 3208, but I guess I shouldn't be giving you a hard time, when I've got the same stuff lying around- that I couldn't even remember having lying around. Anyways I'll be having my humble pie for dessert today:
Built March 1985. Have you had the plate hanging around since then..?
No- and I don't even remember which engine it came off of, I haven't even had one around for 3-4 years now. I had both turbo and N/A. The 240 leads me to believe the tag was off a turbo, because I think the N/A one that I had was 230hp.
Heck I had forgotten all about it lol. Mine was close to that build date too. It was in my 85 359 Pete.
Here’s you another detroit
So my oldest son, Wyatt, is 8. He asked me Friday what he could do to earn some money to buy a game for his Xbox. He offered to sweep the shop for $5. I said how about I pay you $5 an hour. So Saturday and Sunday he helped me around the shop. He personally stacked a cord of split wood and cleaned up after I did some wiring work on a car hauler. Can’t tell y’all how proud it made me to hear him ask for work to earn money!
Great that he hung in there created some job ethics for future use, when he grows up. Probably even learned something, too.
He really pays attention. He wants to learn all he can. I don’t think there’s any way to keep him out of the yellow iron and whatnot now!
Did you withhold Income taxes, SS,etc so he would feel he had a real world job!
If he did that the poor kid would have only made 5 bucks for a 8 hour day lol That's pretty good tho I remember my dad asking me one time if I wanted to make 5 bucks a truck washing end dumps I said no witch was not the correct answer so I got to wash end dumps for free
Well....I came up to KCKS yesterday to check out a couple rigs that have been idle since October. All ran and started fine last I saw them sometime in November. One rig fired up after a few minutes with jumper cables. The other.....yeah not so much. It’s a Watson 3100 with Deere power. Gear reduction starter that finally gave up the ghost. Run and get a starter, swap it out and she fires right up. Runs until the fuel filters are dry and dies. They have 5 hours on them. I have no spares. Back to Deere, swap them and she runs great. Jump in the seat, it’ll build air but somewhere it’s froze because I have no clutch control or winch brake release. By then it was 4. So.....I stayed in KC. Didn’t bring my bag or my dog so it’s all my fault haha. Got some alcohol (for the air system, not me lol), I’ll see if between that and some heat I can get things thawed out. We warmed it up good yesterday. Oh well!
I bet that did get warmed up nicely in there, love the piece of duct, gets the heat right in.
It sure helps direct it and not get things too hot. Ended up with it on the platform today to help thaw the air controls. Tore into the dryer. Cartridge wasn’t even tight in there! Air tank was froze so I warmed it up and got everything drained and dried out best I could. Sure is hard on them to sit like that with all the temp changes etc.
Cold weather and things sitting for a while, pretty much the perfect scenario for having problems. The old guy that drilled wells had three heaters with pieces of duct work to heat up his truck in the cold. Spend a lot of time getting things to run, and stay running.
Getting deep into an IMT rotary. I’m too lazy to type so here ya go. I’ll get more video next week when I pop the top off and pull the pinions to replace the seals and bearings. The last sorry SOB that was in there broke all the forcing bolts off and man oh man did they use an INSANE amount of loctite! Enjoy and sorry about the f-bomb haha.
Dug deep into one of the power shifts on the big IMT this week. Decided to tear into one and inspect for wear and updates. It all looked good so it’s buttoned back up. It’s a job breaking one down, cleaning it up and getting it back together right. Hopefully no leaks!! The sections are machined and seal with flange sealant so clean clean and make sure everything is true.
Is the funky hatted little dude face with the TV tube in its mouth at the start of the video a test to see who is looking. Or is that a reflection?
Must be a reflection. I’m not sure what you see lol I don’t see it. There’s no test lol.
Look right below the 220 and the D in Drilling the title on the video as it sets on your post in 1384. Crazy. I thought you were spoofing us.
It’s gotta be shadows or something. It is weird looking with the motors laying up there.
I thought you stuck pinocchio in there.
Here’s the inside of the rotary. We may do the insert, checking with the big man to verify. It’s got almost 8,000 hours on it so it’s worn. It’s the piece the bull gear bolts to and it drives the bars.
Thanks junkyard I sure am enjoying the pictures and the videos that you are sharing. Never been around one I am figuring out how some of it works. What makes the two key ways look like they are cracked on top? Is it a flake of metal that is pushed up on top or the drive sleeve, or something?
I think what you’re seeing is where we have welded on lugs to build them back up to spec. They’ve been welded up several times plus the wear in the insert and wear on the bars creates an uneven wear pattern as the lugs don’t make complete contact. In 7600 hours it has drilled a lot of holes, most of them rock.
Just about got the rotary stripped down bare today. Figured out when our parts were shipped they forgot the locknuts for the bull gear bolts and sent us two top bearings instead of a top and bottom. Grrr I also decided to pull the table out of the frame because of the number of times you have to flip it to get it all setup right and not muck up a seal. 9.5 hours to pull two pins!!!!
Looks like it took a little heat to "persuade" those pins it was time to go!
LOTS of heat. Even caught my coveralls on fire!
I’m proud of this one. First complete IMT rotary rebuild I’ve done. New insert, top&bottom bearings, seals, power shift rebuilds, pinion bearings and seals. The whole mess. Even some fresh Cat yellow.
Isn't amazing how much a little paint makes things look. It looked like there was a lot of tear apart and assembly on that, but the easiest part was the paint that makes your work look better. Nothing wrong in pride of workmanship!
Krylon overhaul! lol. There was a good bit of teardown, cleaning, inspecting, holes to tap out, hardware to clean. The usual stuff for an assembly of that size and complexity. Of course it’s not truly done until it’s in the rig and drilling! Until then it’s an unfinished job. Funny thing is it started as a pinion seal job and turned into a complete OH. It was due so there wasn’t any time or parts wasted on it. It’ll go another 6-7k hours now.
Today was the moment of truth. A little mishap during the install yesterday had us waiting on a part. Once it arrived this morning I had it ready to test in a hour or so. We head to Springfield tomorrow to drill a vent shaft for an underground facility. I’ll get some video of it working when we get to drilling.
Good luck on the test tomorrow
Thanks! I feel confident the worst I’ll see is a leak somewhere once it gets hot and pressures are up. We ran it over an hour and it all sounded good. Temps were good. This job is a good test for it, hard rock drilling but not massive tooling. The next job will be a bigger test, 96” rock shafts.
Here’s an update on the rotary saga lol. I stayed with the rig after we built it weds. Drilled all day Thursday in the cold raw wind. Made about 40’ of which about half was rock. Ran perfect. No leaks, no noise and no temp issues. Couldn’t have been a better result after all the time and money spent to rebuild. I did do a brief video but it’s so windy and it was just watching the tool. The rotary is so high up that you don’t even see it in the frame. I’m finally content to pat myself on the back! We do have another machine that needs the pinion seals done so maybe I can cover the process a little better and show some of the tools I’m having made.
Nige that was awesome!
Yes! Now I'm trying to narrow down which member of the "A" team Junkyard would be???? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_A-Team_characters
A combo of Face and Murdock lol
Good mix!
Templeton "Face(man)" Peck was suave, smooth-talking, and hugely successful with women. and H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock was the best chopper pilot of the Vietnam War who is either mentally unstable or exceptionally good at pretending to be so.
Yup. Sounds about right. I know @DMiller can verify!!
Almost nothing better than a complete rebuild that works perfectly one first job!
Kind of scary almost!
Especially when you get back to the shop and find that snap ring laying on the bench under the shop rag!
That is awful thought!
I had my work area pretty well quarantined. I have had those moments though... oh **** is this an old or new widget? Lol I had several helpers toward the end so it was a little hectic trying to make sure things went as planned. Had to make a list and discuss with them to stay in order.
I’ve discovered that I don’t like help on a job unless it’s absolutely necessary to physically accomplish something Too much stress of wondering did something that was supposed to get done get done or did bolts that were supposed to be torqued actually torqued and all that
Had my first boss at the shop joke about pulling stunts on guys working on say a 4 barrel carb of hydraulic control valve. Said just drop a spring or some other little item on the workbench when they are not looking. Best time would be just as the unit was getting buttoned up! Not sure if he ever really did it but know we kept close watch on him and our work after that!
I laid out some ground rules with the helpers before we got into things. Most of the intricate stuff was done. I just needed muscle to help get the top cover back on. I do prefer to be alone to prevent an accident lol
Spring break again already!!
I see you have a stowaway!!
He loves this stuff. Comes by it honest!
I hope you’re paying him union rates for a helper......
You know it! He’s almost done with his apprenticeship! Lol.
Oreos sure pay more these days than I remember
Have you taught him how to toss a tiedown chain over the caisson yet? That's a art in itself. I remember tossing them over the loads of tree length logs. Not no more.
Cost of help goes up when he reaches the journeyman level.
We’ll start with straps lol
He about wiped out my snack bag and drink stash already! I can’t imagine how much he’ll consume when he’s a teenager!
The boy is really getting a taste of what dad does week in and week out. We’ve run about 1100 miles hauling three loads of tools and are at 33 hours so far for the week. Spent half of today in the shop servicing the haul truck before we loaded up for north central KS. He will be one tired pup when the week is over!!
I rode with my dad a lot when I was little.. was good times, and learned a lot. Dad had me on a dozer pushing dirt When I was a little fart. He wanted me to be a operator, but I preferred to wrench on them
So after four solid days of trucking I took Friday off. Came home and commenced to working my tail off. I’m going to build living quarters in my shop. First I have to make some room. I decided to rearrange the containers I have to make a U then put a roof over them. I can stick all my engine drive welders there, some extra stuff that just needs under roof, the forklift can park there as well. So I used a friends Cat I had just worked on, you know to verify all was well and there weren’t any leaks ;-) Of course for hoisting there’s nothing better than a Watson 3100! View from the pile of dirt looking south to a container that was already there. Using the rig to swing it around to become the west wall or bottom of the U Looking northwest after we set one side of the U I set the high cube on the south side so the roof will have a little pitch to it. I’ve got some purlin and metal leftover that will cover the U. Also some massive NOS pipe gates from a job that will keep people from driving something out. Anything in there will be so heavy you can’t carry it away. The third can on the left is 10’ away so a gate will go there to create another spot to lock in a trailer or whatever. Keeps honest men honest at best.
Looks good except you need a bigger area for all them welders you keep coming up on you going to store stuff in the containers also
They’re fairly full now. I need to sort through some of it. I’ve only got five engine drives lol. Of course I’m always shopping
Living quarters? Every thing OK at home?
Man Cave.
Both lol. I moved out a year ago. It was amicable and we get along well raising Will. Just one of those things I guess. 0 for 2 in the game of love! Haha I had Will helping me drill a couple holes today
I think you need a bigger drill for those holes it looks a little under powered lol
I thank my lucky stars that all my three sons were grown up when I split up with my ex. The youngest was 17. The fact that #3 son decided that he wanted to live with me instead of his mother gave me a nice warm fuzzy feeling, even though it meant resigning from my job to head home and be with him while he went through college. He's now 29 years old and has already bought his own place.
Dam, Junkyard the photo of the bore hole looks scary to me. Looks like the little boy could disappear in it.
It’s an 18” hole and at that point is was 3-4 feet deep. We were discussing how deep that was so I measured how tall he was and explained what would happen if he fell in. It does look deep in the picture. The way the pic is cropped you can’t see my right hand with a handful of his sweatshirt lol.
That’s the worst part of it with Will only being 4, 5 in July. I feel good in the fact that my 15 year old daughter still comes to my place every weekend she doesn’t have a school function. I’ve done a lot of things wrong but evidently I’ve done a few right too!
That makes me feel better, every so often we hear stories about kids falling down in abandoned wells and I tend to be nervous about things like that!
That stuff happens so fast even with guys that have been drilling holes for years. He wanted to see the bottom so we eased up to it. He was convinced we’d pull up some dinosaur bones! He’s learning just like his older brother. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to them helping me so they learn safety from day one. Always stay where I can see you. Assume the operator doesn’t see you and stay out of the way. Logical things like that we all have to be taught when exposed to things like this.
Those rules are good not just for say 10 year olds but everyone up to 70! and beyond. When ever I had to help train a new person on a machine I always told them that these machines don't give a rat's ass about you, they will chew you up and spit you out and not miss a beat.
I think about all the machines my dad had me running and repairing when I was that age, open belts, saw blades, no ROPS, fans running, blind spots with others operating, he must have had nerves of steel. Somehow I have all my fingers still, but I guess you have to tell them the rules and hope they listen.
Same with me on the farm. Anything we had would chew you up and spit you out. I tell all the new guys at work that are green to big iron very similar things. Even as long as I’ve done it I still get humbled like I did summer before last when the winch tried to remove my arm!
Only takes the blink of an eye for a machine to have gotten you, been there.
I knew you had his safety foremost in your mind Junkyard. I just shared my observation.
Understand comepletely where you were coming from. No worries
Like the time some dummy raised the body on a R-35 Euclid and decided to walk around the back of the cab. He then like an idiot stepped on the control rod for the hoist valve. It didn't take me, I mean him, long to understand that was not a good thing and he jumped to the ground. Also lucky jumping off truck let hoist valve return to hold position! Now I know what those pin holes at the back of the frame are for!
Always have respect for a machine, if you think you know everything there is to know about a machine watch out it is about to show you how little you really know. I have had a lot of close calls mostly when on the farm, and a few running heavy equipment. Usually when I was in a hurry and trying to cut a corner to finish faster, it will come back to bite you, big time!
I have a saying I often run by myself [Save 5 minutes] / [Lose your life] [Save 5 minutes] / [Risk destroying something expensive and irreplaceable] [Save 5 minutes] / [Get stuck in mud hand digging and slinging chains for hours] Most times I decide against the save 5 minutes course of action
I tell my boys and new hires something very similar. It’s often “what’s the rush, we get paid by the hour and you can’t work from the hospital”
I've shared about my young son helping volunteer at the local tourist RR. I always preferred him sitting in the engine with the engineer. That's also where he wanted to be, watching the engineer run the loco. Once he was 9-10 the engineers (one in particular) would let him run it with the engineer standing right next to him. He said my son as the best we had, cautious, careful and smooth. He always waited for instruction from the brakeman or conductor, never anticipated a move or got rushed. We always emphasized, we are here for fun, safety first and we have never had a serious injury. Another side story. We did a little mini convention and had a few other tourist RR's attending. We did a track work demo. My son was operating the tie crane. At dinner that night one of our guests was a track supervisor for the Wisconsin Southern and a volunteer for a tourist RR WI and was talking with me and my son. I knew Dick from other meetings. He says to my son, so what are you doing this coming summer? If you dad is ok with it you can come live with me and I have an operator job for you. I laughed and asked do you have different work rules in WI? Here in MI you need to be 18 to run equipment My son was over 6 feet and could pass for an 18 year old at 14 LOL
When we were growing up we were exposed to things when young, we actually played outside, and got enough minor cuts and scrapes to learn to be observant. Unfortunately kids today are over protected by parents and are only programed instead of taught to think in school.
Still wish we had had kids I could teach what I know to, try to give some away at times other times remember wrong but eventually sort it out. Loads of things WE all got to do kids today may never experience. Drove a hay truck, and worked hay crew was not good at chucking bales but could stack. Was driving farm tractors open station at 11, rough discing and used to be able to drag a fairly straight line. Mechanic, driver, power station operator, machining, electrician at times. All will be gone to waste when I am gone.
Over the last 30 years of work my real job had changed from actually building a hospital to babysitting subcontractors, cuddling designers, explaining their role to them, often showing inspectors their own codes, filling out thousands of pages of documents, and only God knows what else. I would not wish that on any child. On a positive note the last 4 years of retirement and the real people on this forum has gotten me mostly over it.
There’s no way I could do that. Not cut out for it!
Getting caught up around the shop. Got my roof put up on the containers and get some stuff moved in there. Major progress getting the shop back in shape. Tore into a 299D Cat today. Right side drive motor was acting like the brake wasn’t releasing. After eliminating the likely culprits I decided the motor needed to come out for exploratory surgery. Wasn’t expecting this......
Looks like you were able to find the problem or problems. Do you know what caused it, thou?
I have a couple theories. That’s the thinnest part of the swash plate so any rough use and quick full throttle direction changes could do it. Might just be a poorly cast piece or something done during the machining process created a stress riser.
Did the plate crack and erode or vice versa ?
I think it cracked and the little bit of time the machine was run eroded it based on the wear in other areas.
Junkyard, you sure have been quiet for to long, been to busy to share what you been repairing? Enjoy seeing what you are doing and your stories that go along with your pictures. Hope to see a post from ya soon!
I’m alive lol. I was just thinking it had been awhile since I posted. Between work, the kids and the improvements I’ve been making around the shop I’ve stayed hooked up. Work has been the usual stuff. Move rigs, service work and light repairs. All the rain has held the guys up a bit which means I’m stuck in Joplin shop. Around my shop I’ve finished my covered storage area, completed another round of purging junk out of the shop, started converting my old office (in the shop) to a parts room, moved my trailer outside for the warm season and may skirt it and build a cover so it can stay out year round. Just everyday stuff. Thanks for checking on me!
This is my latest endeavor in my shop. Converting my old office into a parts room. I still have some shelving to build but it’s coming along!
It will be great when its done. I have been try to clean out my storage trailer and i got another van box so i can park a jeep in it to get it out of the shop. I need to take a junk car and cut most of the roof off put it by the door on the trailer to throw junk in.Its not easy geting rid of stuff you saved back but it needs to be done.
JY, if you did not sign up for the Verizon internet deal it is about to disappear but the old ones should be grandfathered.
Funny you mention that. I looked into it and wouldn’t ya know they’re plowing in new fiber all around my shop. I found out because I gathered up a pile of their **** and returned it to them with an *** chewing. Then I asked what they were putting in lol. Not sure when it’ll be up and running but I might finally have reliable internet here! Thanks for the reminder!
Your former office is starting to take shape, be nice when done. I use a Hotspot for internet, it works but pictures don't load very fast, gets me by for now.
I have been using the Verizon thing for a while now, sort of a heavy iron hotspot. Partner has a cheap hotspot that works for him in the city. Works great but as I noted they are cutting off new sign ups in the next day or two. True unlimited, glad we got in when we did.
Junkyard, I am interested in how you built the roof over those containers. I’m gonna do the same thing at my place and am looking for ideas. Thanks
It was simple. If I had to do it again I’d change it up a bit. I set the containers square then ran the Z purlin across the gap, I was lazy and welded them straight to the containers. Bolted 2x4’s on top of the purlin to attach the R panel. One thing I’d change is putting the 2x4’s on edge like you would a joist. Overall it works and after the stormy spring we’ve had I’d say it’s solid.
I was looking into a shed roof between two, local lumberyard offered up a stepped truss to span the 20' gap and raise the roof to 14 feet to make room for the loader, something like $80 a truss on 24" centers, then add steel roofing
I pondered something like that....one can is high cube so I had just enough room for my JCB forklift. Everything else was laying around so all in I spent about $150 lol.
Curbguy … Might I suggest using metal trusses. I just built a shed with them on 6x6 posts. They have flats welded at the ends for top & side. That flat could easily be bolted / welded to the seacan sides. Standard sizes to 60 feet. It's an efficient use of materials.
Thanks guys, all very good ideas. I’m not sure when I’ll get around to it but, I’ll definitely use your suggestions
I’ve been running my *** off moving rigs and now the repairs have piled up. Trans in a 2500 Watson, rotary motor in an IMT 180 etc etc. I’ve been busy at the shop too, simple side work for my demolition buddy and I started building a roof over my 5th wheel to keep it out of the weather and cooler in the summer. Teaching myself to be a carpenter! Somebody even caught me in action when I wasn’t looking....
Who is the dude holding that level upside down?
Haha. Damn magnet won’t stick to that post! Kept falling off!
New toolbelt, shades, shorts and tennis shoes, you are sooo ready to be a framer.
And you still need more bracing!!! Doesn’t look sturdy enough!!!
Come on you guys
You know as I, put it out there likely to get stomped!!!
2x4s diagonally across your posts will hold them after they are plumbed.
Back to wrench bending. A couple weeks ago the “guys” pulled the trans out of the newest 2500. I have the pleasure of installing the rebuilt trans. Boy they sure did it the hard way. I went ahead and pulled the skid out with the engine so I could comfortably install the trans and mounts then put the whole mess back in. Way easier than standing up on the rig. I still have hoses to swab and coolers to clean out as well as some wiring to tidy up. She might be running tomorrow.
Less time to peel the Skid and install than to stand on head trying to get that trans aligned!! At least SOME Shade. Gonna wash out the crap hole?
What's new in Junkyards neck of the woods?
Hmmm let’s see here. Usual rig moves. On a rock job in AR that’s doing a good job of kicking our ***. Got our hands on a down hole hammer that’s been doing a great job of perforating the 96” shafts. It’s been freakin HOT. Just now starting to cool down. I’ll probably start piddling in my shop again soon. We’ve been so busy at work I haven’t done much but mow the grass there. I did manage to take a couple days off and even had time to harass DMiller on the way home from a little trip up to MI. I’m so ready to get out in the woods and gather up some firewood! What’s going on over there? Looks like the hurricane wasn’t as bad as they were expecting.
What hurricane? Just kidding. It rained for about a day, and we spent the next day shuffling equipment around so that the pipe and grading crews could work on other jobs. So we had it very easy here in the Raleigh area. Since the hurricane, it has been very dry and dusty, I can't even remember if it has rained since then.
Just saw your youtube clip of the DTH. So, the plan is to swiss cheese the 96" hole with the DTH hammer and come back with a 96" rock bit? Is this in the Ouachitas? I know there is some hard rock in those mountains.
More or less yeah. 8 24” perforations then we run a 36” auger to depth, then a 48”, then a 60”, 72”, 84” and finish with a 96” core barrel (giant hole saw). It’s a bridge on the buffalo river near Jasper. Dolomite or dolostone is what they call the rock.
That dolomite is some hard stuff broke a hammer trying to get thru that
I know exactly how hard it is. The now entering ouchita national forest sign is at the end of my driveway. Had to hammer about 3 hours on every culvert I put in on it
Then y’all know the misery we’ve been dealing with!
I've actually seen your jobsite. Seen it I guess when they were delivering equipment to it in the spring. And are y'all doing the bridge over by the Illinois river by talequah?
We’ve done some work over that way, I’m not aware of a current job there. It’s probably Tulsa Pier or Manhattan doing that one.
Holy crap I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I posted on my thread!! Where has the time gone?!?! Got a good one for y’all. Friends of mine own a dirt pit. They have a well used 320C Cat to load with. Always been a hard starter. They sold it a few years back and ended up buying it back for the dirt pit. They decided to put some $$ into it, offered me the work which I politely declined as I didn’t have time. They hauled it to Cat for a new monitor, stepper motor and cables plus addressing the hard start. It always took a snort of ether but once it started it ran great. No blow by, good power, no oil consumption etc. This will be important..... Cat does the monitor, stepper and proceeds to diagnose hard start. Come back to them after a compression test and say she’s wore smooth out and needs a new motor. They pass out and when they come back to conscious they call me. My first question was what were the numbers.....??? Once I saw those numbers I said bull f’n ****. We all know it wouldn’t run at all with those numbers. I asked if they looked into fuel system, checked blow by etc etc. Nope they condemned this engine on compression test alone. I told them load that sucker up I want to lay my hands on it. Upon getting the rig I pulled the CW and gave it a bath. First thing I noticed was the top of the motor was FILTHY. No way a tech had been there. Even Pigpen would have blown the big chunks off. Once in the shop I pull injectors, sealing washers have been in there a long time.....various hardware doesn’t appear to have been touched in many hours let alone a day or two ago. I call my injection shop connections and ask for a junk injector to build a compression tester. Meanwhile I send them all six injectors for inspection and any necessary repairs. He quickly calls and says they’re junk and he suspects pump is too. I run my test and all six holes hit around 340 psi. Hmmmm. Injectors come back, I stick them in and give it a whirl. It still won’t bust off but we suspected the pump anyway. It comes off, gets rebuilt. Cam was junk as were plungers and barrels. I throw on the new pump, don’t even bleed the injectors just hit the key and it starts before I can even let off. Of course she’s running WFO because the stepper calibration was for the old pump and now it’s waaaay off. I get that sorted and feel like I’ve got them by the short hairs on this deal. Monday morning we meet with Cat. Lots of guys looking for somebody to pass blame to. Tech isn’t in the meeting which didn’t surprise me as I feel like they were not being honest with us and he’d have outed them. Heated debate ensues for an hour. They assure us they’ll figure it out and get back to us. About 3:00 we get a call. Hey guys! We figured it out!! Our compression tester had a faulty hose. Are you kidding me? I believe I added a few adjectives when I said that. A 20+ year tech didn’t notice the hose pissing air and on top of that didn’t add 2+2 realizing that it wouldn’t run at all with those numbers. What the actual ****! This is Cat. I’ve always operated under the assumption that if anybody was going to do things right it was them. They tried or accidentally tried to cornhole my friends for $30,000 due to a bad compression tester hose?!?! I did have a rather heated debate with one of the guys at the injection shop. When the motor was warm the idle really loped, way more pronounced that the old Detroit’s would do when somebody monkeyed with the buffer spring. After chatting with Miller I called the injection shop and inquired about adjusting the buffer. Said inquiry resulted in an argument about how that machine controls the pump. Once I beat into his head how it worked he explained where the adjustment was. 1-3/4 turns and it runs like a Singer sewing machine and starts if you just look at the key. I can not believe how Cat has handled this. If a shade tree hack like myself can figure this out why didn’t they? And if they did know the truth and tried this BS then I have lost all faith in our local establishment. Rant over lol.
Nice you figured it out-----but damn that was a nice rant.
Great job the rant, nice work on the motor too! Cats got some 'splainin to do, that is sure disappointing to hear about those guys.
Sure hope that something else puts a burr under your saddle, or what ever it takes to get you posting again! I had figured that a Cat tech had to be pretty sharp, boy this one was a real looser!
Same thing, different business - engineering. I'm dealing with a consulting engineer for a year now. I'm volunteering my time to a all volunteer organization helping with their civil engineering stuff. I have to argue with him over every detail. I eventually win becasue I know what I'm talking about but it's getting real old. I want it done correct for my organization and the local government who he's working for. What is so hard about saying "that's a good suggestion, thanks for suggesting it". Nope, I get "we are not doing it that way". A few weeks / months later the contractor is doing what I suggested ...............
Wait a minute...bad hose on the compression tester but the dirt around the injectors was not disturbed? Did they put the dirt back once they finished testing it? Did they test a different machine? Did they even get the tool out of the box?
Exactly....blank stares when I asked the same question.
It's fairly common work around here. Nothing shocking about JY's story.
They charged for that test ?
I would ask the cat dealer to reimburse me for the mob fees and if I continue to use them I would ride it as long as possible I seem to have to fight with our dealer shops more and more about half assed work
What I am curious about is whether or not they dropped all the charges since they didn't do anything?
They did credit back all the diagnostic charges related to the compression test and hard start issue. About $800 or so if I remember correctly. The former field tech foreman is back there now in a higher position. I plan to chat with him off the record to see what he has to say. We’ve dealt with each other on and off for quite a few years and see things eye to eye in most cases. The more I think about it the more I feel like a good independent shop could put the squeeze on dealers. Just seems to get worse. When times were tough the let all the seasoned techs go and what they’re left with shouldn’t be changing oil at Jiffy Lube, no offense to their guys. I have worked with one tech from Cat that’s a good hand and one from Cummins that I’d hire in a heartbeat. That’s rare around here.
Every year I fix or follow more dealer bad repairs or diagnostics. I am going to guess from my observations that the dealer average experience is around 10-ish years. It only makes sense that myself or someone with more experience fixes or diagnosis their failures, just numbers. The shady stuff is pure BS and has zero tolerance. TIO
It doesn't much matter which dealer it is anymore either. I've been hearing bad about all of them in my area. A client recently bought a grader and the adjustments on the seat were stuck. Asked for a quote to free up the slides for fore and aft and loosen up the hinges in the seat back. Dealer said the suspension was worn out and it needed all new. Then they quoted 8 hours labor and $1,200 for a new seat. The sales rep was all apologetic hoping my client wouldn't tell him to keep the grader.
From all I'm told, that's pretty much standard operating procedure, especially that brand, might even be on the low side of costs. Just remember, that's only one instance that they got caught, most times they'd have swapped engines and installed a reman and away they went, nobody the wiser, with enough time, they'd have pulled the engine, sent it to one of their rebuild centers and waited, got it back and installed it, the customer never seeing anything or knowing any different. Pumps, finals, transmissions, torque converters, all the same way, but cheer up, it then comes with a warranty, which is a perk worth something...............right?? John is right though, they all do it.
Even though they returned the money for the diagnostic tests, wouldn't it be considered fraud? You hear lots of stories where auto repair shops tell customers (usually women) that they need a bunch of stuff done that isn't necessary. Trying to scam a customer for a complete engine is far worse and they obviously never even looked at it. Maybe it's another case where Cat corporate needs to get involved? In the most infamous thread ever Cat got involved and surprise surprise the dealer properly fixed the machine instead of making the customer pay money for the dealer to keep it.
If Corporate really is watching these threads maybe something will change. BAD publicity has killed more than one shop, more than one dealer and more than one manufacturer over the years
Most bills we get from far off places for mobile repair like the Dakota's or say Wyoming, Colorado for simple jobs is a rape. Such as replacing a 3030 brake chamber on a trailer. I buy a 3030 piggy back for $31.00 They charge as much as $140 plus $400 to install a complete 3030 and don't even cut the stem to the right length. Which I end up re-doing Even along side the road it's a 30 minute job.
Lets see...........Ive been telling you this for how long now?! LOL Sadly, this is a waste of time in most cases. But hey!......always worth a try! I know a FANTASTIC JD guy if I can convince him and his wife to move down here LOL oh wait!......I know a GREAT Volvo-Komatsu guy up in Chicago land that needs to move here too! LMAO This crap with CAT has been getting worse. Lets see if you get an honest answer from them................but I will tell you what their biggest issue is.......... They have very little experienced techs. Even their own field guys don't recommend their OWN shop! Those young guys are relying on that dam computer too much. If the computer cant tell them what is wrong they are completely lost. Company moral is at an all time low.
Yes, but what are they going to do? Phone all their dealers and tell them if they have been shady in the past to stop and be completely honest now. There that will fix it. All they could do would be to implement an extensive (expensive) audit program but with everyone's focus on quarterly profits.... However, independent repair shops can be shady too.
I have a 289D2 CTL that was down on power with about 600 hours on the clock and less than a year old. I took it to the local dealer. Leaking head gasket. They fixed it and we put it back to work. An hour in the engine blows to the point we have to drag it on the trailer. Take it back. New engine, no they rebuild the blown engine. Never can get a straight answer. My grand daughter and her boy friend. live with me and my wife. The boy friend is a tech at the same dealer on the heavy side. He told me the tech screwed up the head gasket repair causing the engine to blow. They rebuilt the engine under CAT warranty so they did't have to take the hit.
Reading this thread this morning reminded me of an experience Norm and I had years ago. Forget the exact details but our company had a DP8000 transmission out of an off highway truck in the shop and someone at Corporate level decided they should have the local Allison dealer come out and work on it in our shop not a major overhaul but replacing something I believe was in the converter or lock-up clutch section. Now Norm and I had rebuilt a few of the smaller CLBT 5800 transmissions and the only real difference between those and the DP8000 was the physical size of some of the parts. All I can remember is this "factory trained dealer wrench" spent most of the time watching while Norm and I showed him how to disassemble and re-assemble the transmission! This had to be something around 30 years ago so guess these problems are not all that new!
Corporate has done its fair share of shady deals as well with legal action that followed, with money handed over to quiet all the trouble down and pay off those in the legal right. I think if you'd a search of the legal system dating back to their inception and even before, they have a very persistent presence in the legal system, I believe it was a judge that suggested Holt merge with and create cat instead of duking it out in court constantly.
Kshansen, I can one up that, corporate from another brand sent out the engineers who designed the tractor in question, after a week of working on it, they gave up, unable to fix it, so they had enough clout to issue the customer another brand new tractor, identical model with identical options and took the unfixable one and voided the warranty and sent it to auction to be sold as is where is................with less than 100 hours on and less than a month old. Those that designed it had no clue how to fix it or what caused the problem, now that's a confidence builder if there was any, that was the last ditch effort, they'd gone through every single diagnostic person, technician and mechanic from the whole company first who all gave up first, then the engineers gave up as well. How about it, what happens once its off warranty and the customer still owned before it caused the problem in the first place and nobody to ever fix it??
I haven't posted in a while, but damn...nice work!!! I've had really great experiences renting equipment but I couldn't imagine relying on the dealership for diagnosis or repairs. Last dealer diag. was my friend had his Cummins boxtruck checked for an intermittent crank but no start issue, Cummins said he needed a new ECM- tried two other ECMs, same problem. The problem generated no code, so it was a tricky one...ended up being a $60 MAP sensor, WE FIGURED THAT OUT!! He spent almost $400 on that ECM diagnosis too.
I thought dealers still had to meet some sort of requirement with Cat. I don't think a computer can replace a compression tester. It certainly wouldn't hurt to let corporate know what the dealer is doing or not doing. After all it's still Cat's reputation. Cat might take a dim view of a fake compression test. Did the service manager or shop foreman know what was going on?
Witnessed a almost month old truck taken back to a dealer, they fought with the problems until that moment they threw in the towel. Owner got a BRAND New replacement, once gone from the yard the ID tag and ALL Electronics off the Lemon pulled then the frame cut in two places, salvage yard had it in two hours, they disassembled what they could and sold pieces.
In 2007 I had two company Pete's powered by C15's to inframe. First one no problems. The second froze the cam in the bearings, shut off before lock up. Called Cat {never heard of that problem they said} Called Freightliner dealer that parts were ordered from, head parts guy said {we had one lock up just like that about two months ago, seems cat had a problem with bearing installation on some of their reman heads. Cam will turn in the head when installed but no oil clearance-We will get you a another head, cam and gaskets} Called Cat back and talked to the same *******, {So Cat has never heard of a cam seizing in a rebuilt Cat head, that's funny I just got off the phone with Freightliner dealer said they had one do it in their shop and Cat parts rep said there was a problem with cam bearing installation on some remans}. -------------Crickets!
Sounds like one of the two stories you often hear from many sources be it trucks or computers or what not. #1 Never heard of one doing that! #2 Oh! thy all do that, it's normal!
Friend went into the Cummins dealer, a victim of the killer dowel pin. Gave the parts guy all the info, then watched him pick all the parts off a pallet out in the open...we don't see this very often...lmao. Ed
Hmmm...sounds interesting, can you elaborate?
Google cummins killer dowel pin....big issue on 5.9 engines in Dodge trucks. Ed
OH yeah I know the dowel pin, Ive done a couple, I meant the parts guy, but I realized...he must have been curious about how it failed, so was checking the parts out.. I got it.
I don’t know what all will ultimately come from it. The owners of this machine collectively own about 10 pieces of Cat iron and they grow their business each year....as long as they continue to keep parts inventory up its still hard to beat Cat here. They ought to pool their $$ and hire me!
Its hard to beat the parts sell, even if you have to take a good hard screwing every once in a while, in the end its still worth every penny they cheat out of you. Wonder if the owners have had the talk among themselves yet, "of all the stuff we've had fixed in the past, how much should it have cost vs what we ended up paying". In these deals the independent mechanic usually stands to gain the most, some call it lifetime job security.
I am not sure who suggested it, but it is well documented that neither would have survived without merging. Sure glad they did.
JY, Have you fallen off the edge? I've got a terra drill (tenex) that I was hoping to get some help from you. To start tenex wants $10,000 for the ring and pinion on the finale drive,T52938. Just thought you may have bin into some of these before.
I haven’t fallen off lol. I have sat on it with my feet dangling looking down....haha. I’ll see what I can find out about your drill. I know a utility company that uses them.
Junkyard did you ever see that old flatbed trailer that they had down were i took the welder? It may be long gone buy now.
Terry always has old flatbeds. I can ask him what’s around. Are you looking for something?
I am kind of looking but the trailer i want is setting on the back row the kind of trailer they dont put in there add. I need to go look around at some dealers.
I’ll ask him what he’s got for back row blue light specials lol
Thanks, just to let you know tennex called me back and had mis quoted the gear set it was only $2k so have that on hand and a local machine shop is making me a new carrier so that project is well on it way. Thanks for the offer and try not to fall over.
The day of a life as a field mechanic, I can completely relate to your daily stories, with the exception of the big D10 and 11s. Very cool. Really enjoy your stories and pictures.
Howdy all. It’s been a long time since I posted. Late last year I left the drilling company to run a shop in tulsa for a crane and rigging outfit. I was recruited for it and they put the full court press on me. I was sick of the travel so I ended up making the change. Started November 28th. Gave notice today and will load my tools up tomorrow. I’m going to do my own thing again. I got through the rough patch of life and ** absolutely helped me do that. My hope is to share my work on this thread with some regularity. Plan is about 75% shop 25% field but that may vary some. I’ve always had clients so getting work will not be an issue. Getting it all done will be! I slapped together a small service truck for the time being while I dig my old international out of weeds and get it up to snuff. More to come!
Sorry to hear you are doing the job shuffle. I have no doubt you will have plenty of customers shortly. Hopefully things go smoothly for you in the future.
Good luck to you.
I suspect will be like Vetech, SWARMED as word gets out.
Agreed. Junkyard having plenty of work will not be an issue. Best of luck and keep us posted!
Had the owner of the crane company followed through with his promises I wouldn’t have considered leaving. I was going to give notice Friday but I wasn’t done putting the trans back in a Cat 1255 so I did it late today after it was done and tested. Didn’t want to leave the other guys finishing my work. I’m looking forward to it. I don’t want to work myself into the ground. I want some quality of life. We’ll see how I do! Having gotten the new house done it sure made me realize how much I’ve missed traveling for 26 years. That and my daughter going off to college. She’s at University of Arkansas, started as Electrical Engineering but has made a slight switch to Industrial.
Good for you for doing what is best for you. Too many people will stay at jobs they aren't happy with or they were mislead into taking. It sucks getting taken advantage of or lied to. It can feel good to give these kind of employers the boot.
The last truck shop I worked at also did not follow through with the promises they made. It was funny when I was putting my boxes in the back of my truck they did not think I was serious when I put in my notice. Best thing they ever did for me otherwise I would have just stayed on not really happy with the job or the future prospect. Can't help but think it will work out for the better for you. Please keep us posted I'm sure you will get into some good stuff.
Sounds good Junkyard. Decision made What kind of service truck have you slapped together? Cheers
THANK YOU JESUS!!!! Now I got somewhere to send some of my bullsh*t. LOL Welcome aboard my friend..........Yell if you need help in anything!
Good Luck ! Pick the best customers and dont overload yourself.easy to say hard to do sometimes. Ive been afflicted with the self employment bug for over 30 years now,too cranky to work for others.
Good luck, if you get slow I’ve got a couple projects. Also- WTC MPP250 track press and Hytorc setup *Downsizing*Two listings* WTC MPP250 track press for sale Perfect working condition Comes on skid with job box for 120v electric over hydraulic pump and various tooling *Pictures to follow* Hytorc setup X2 1 1/2 drive heads and pump Comes with various inch and a half sockets and spare hyd... HeavyEquipmentForums
Not a far jaunt from E Oklahoma!!
Good for you Junkyard, I am betting you will have all the work you want, and more real soon. Looking forward to seeing what you are working on machines or house doesn't matter I will enjoy. I worked on the road on the west coast, had 6 states to cover a part of 3 others. Be gone for 3 weeks at a time. Finally got a promotion and only had to work 5 days a week. That only lasted for a little over a year my new boss told me I had to not tell my main customer what he was planning on doing. I told him I wouldn't tell them unless they asked, he said I will fire you if you do. Told him no you can't do that, because I quit. Best thing I ever did bought an excavator and other equipment went off on my own. Lots of hours, but I am my own boss.
Best of luck being your own boss, banker, and janitor.
Headed out to work on an old Capacity yard truck tomorrow. I got them patched together Friday evening. Discharge line was plugged solid with carbon and crap. Tomorrow I’ll pull the compressor to match it up. Never seen one quite like it, I don’t want to guess at it. After that I’ve got a Cat 315 to service and swap a condenser on then recharge. Sometime this week I also have a duramax coming in that’s using water but it’s not leaking externally. My guess is EGR cooler or a popped head gasket. Next week I’ve got a haul truck and trailer to get looked over, it’s a trade deal. He brings me rock for the yard.
I’ve got an 86 Chevy 1-1/4 4x4 former military truck. Flatbed with a homemade welder skid on it. Random boxes I’ve got all my stuff crammed in. Far from ideal but it’ll get me going until I can get the big truck fixed up. That’s gonna be a project! Thanks all for the well wishes. I’m at peace with my decision and I’m looking forward to it!
Went to find a leak on a little John Deere dozer today. Found some stowaways lol. Most lethargic squirrels I’ve ever seen. I thought they were dead until I reached in to evict them and they moved!
How was your week? I meant to give you a ring but got tied up
Not too bad. A little slower than I’d like but it gave me time to get the shop cleaned up and the rest of my garden planted. The steel plant is picking up now that they know I’ll show up when I say I will.
A little dental work on a 315 Cat. He does demo with it and uses the cheap teeth. Every so often I have to build up the shanks so they don’t get so loose the keys fall out. He can get a couple years out of these teeth.
Them squirrels weren't lethargic they were makin' little squirrels.
I wondered about that. Heckuva place to bump uglies lol.
After the teeth I finished an AC repair on the same machine. Went to his haul truck and swapped a brake chamber, fixed a trailer light issue (amazing what grounds do for circuits lol), fixed an air leak on the trailer, changed a hydraulic coupler on his 299. Doing that the pry bar I was holding the lines with slipped and smacked my eye. I bled like a stuck hog! Didn’t get back to the steel plant to finish the landing gear on a trailer. I’ll knock it out Monday. Tomorrow the oldest boy and I are headed to a truck show in Norman. My demo buddy has a job close to my house, he sent me a picture of an old GM dump truck. Late 60’s early 70’s. I wanted the 427 out of it but got to looking at it….pretty solid old truck. Might actually be worth fixing up. Bed isn’t bad, both transmissions are there. Either way some or all of it will live again. He’s got 4 or 5 jobs coming up I’ll lend a hand on either moving iron or shagging loads to the dump. We trade back and forth a lot.
Tool fabrication today. Steel co had a sky trak with a failed lower kingpin bearing. They don’t come out easy so I made a puller of sorts. The top isn’t far behind the bottom. Book shows grease zerks but these don’t have them.
Here’s the bottom. Got all the good out of this one!
Dare say got ALL the goodie outa that one!!
Got parts ordered. Going to attempt to save the bottom kingpin. They’re on back order, estimated shipping date is 5/11. Both will get new bearings, races and seals.
So are you a happy indy? We all want to know!
Popcorn at the ready!!!
Hell yeah I am. Should have done it a long time ago. In this particular case the timing was perfect. The change in my demeanor has been noticed by many. If I use some discipline financially I’ll be fine.
Hi Folks. Have not been on HEF or anything for a while. Fishing in t-shirt comfort made the winter pass quickly. Jeff, I've ben going to call you. As I tell everybody, remember to charge enough to cover everything, including investing in your retirement. I always view income as subsistence pay. The only true income is what we can invest to get out of working and still have a decent quality of life. If you are getting more work than you can handle, chances are your rates are not high enough. Good luck my friend, I know your skill set will be an issue in determining your work load.
This was absolutely a quality of life move. I’ve got a solid hourly rate, Vetech and Dmiller both consulted on that. I haven’t and won’t use borrowed money for anything. I’ve always had a retirement independent of any job offered 401k or pension. Before I made the move I sat down with my proposed hourly rate and broke it down into various categories so I can appropriate the income. Work is steady, my rate has weeded out a bunch of dump truck guys and that’s fine by me. I don’t want all the work. The steel plant has a fair bit plus a couple others I’ve always worked for. I’m in a situation where 15 hours a week pays the bills. I’ve got a couple other sources of revenue coming that are a bit more passive, a friend with a body shop needs a lot for the wreckers to drop cars so he’ll rent some space. Lots of things clicked for this to feel right.
Picked up the first piece of a new venture today. Gonna give it a whirl to see if I can make a buck.
Poop tanks? Bad Bob
Some kind of concrete form? Precast?
You’re both right. Septic tanks. Have a friend that has done installs for 30 years. His main supplier retired so the regional guy came to him which in turn sent him to me. On top of pouring tanks I may build some of the forms for the regional guy and his parent company. I’ll have three forms when they all get here plus I’ll need to build some small ones for the pedestals and whatnot.
All I know is this. There is a local co. near my shop that makes them by the hundreds with that same arrangement. Once I was on a job and they had to fill it with water in the pit that was still open for inspection, to prove that it does not leak. Well the whole side blew out. So there must be more to it than simply pouring concrete into a box. Not a good day when that happened. Had to fish a broken tank out of a muddy pit, repair the excavation, replace it with a new tank, held up the job that much longer.
The local guy here does 2 piece tanks, there's a groove in one piece and a key in the other. Roll of black snot goes in the groove and then together they go. Form doesn't look anything like what you have. Joe H
I think they're are 2 forms there a top and a upside down bottom. Bad Bob
Used to get the two piece ones, but both suppliers quit or closed their business over the years. They were well made and held up, as long as no one drove a concrete truck over the top. Looks like your puller worker Junkyard, even sweeter when you make something and it makes the job easier and works. WHen I saw the upper bearing I wondered how they knew it was bad, then saw the lower one and understood how they knew. Thanks for posting the pictures!
Yeppers. As it sits in the picture the form for the top is just resting on the form that when poured ends up being the bottom, sides and chambers. Pour the big form, finish what’s exposed on top, which is actually the bottom when in use, lay the plastic lids in the other form and pour it. Lots of aerobic setups around here, too much clay and shale to perk. BV, there have been some tank failures around here too. These forms have fixtures for vibrators, it’s been explained that with these tanks having the chambers it’s imperative we get all the air and voids worked out of it.
Well JY, you are about to get a crash course in cement and concrete. Your success will depend a great deal on your relationship with the concrete plant. If they send you junk, you will have junk in spite of your best efforts. I would suggest you get sample cans and develop a system of identifying cans and tanks for traceability. Then there is the whole cement type I/II and type IL issue. If your plant starts with the new type IL you won't have a change. If you start with the type I/II, some of what you learn won't apply to the new type IL. I have heard bonding on strand is significantly reduced with some type IL. I see a separate LLC for the concrete tank business.
Design, fabrication, and welding is right up his wheel house. He will do an amazing job.
^^^^^^ This. Keep the insurance separated as well.
A self employed guy needs a back up gig to help out in between . This could be a good one. I have been looking for one . I wish i could find something part time but they are few and fare between . There are all kinds of jobs but there all 60+ hours a week.
The place here has their own batch plant and mixer truck. They cast the tanks in a heated building so they can work all winter like normal. Big heating bill They receive full loads of cement and rock all the time. They have their own batch plant and dilapidated mixer truck that goes the 40 yards between the batch plant and the building. And they have a couple delivery trucks also. They have a yard full of inventory of all different optioned tanks as well as risers and other plastic stuff that people might like to buy.
I’ve looked at a lot of operations like that. Hard to say if it’ll grow into something with its own plant. I have an older retired friend that owned a concrete company so if that day comes he can help me put one together. Around here the plants can make plenty of mud, they just struggle with trucks and drivers. May end up with a truck of my own to haul my own concrete. We poured a lot of shafts when I worked for the drilling company, lots of towers etc. I know a little about it. The good thing is I know all the right people to help me get off on the right foot. I currently have an LLC that owns my shop property, I’m currently working as that one. The tank operation will get its own so we can keep the books separate etc. It’s a challenge to start a business without debt!
It's nice when you have an existing service business because cash flow from that, plus rice and beans, can help build/finance bigger ventures.
Just wondering do you have anything big enough to handle these tanks? Bad Bob
I have some advice on LLC structure and taxation. be back later.
Worst case if you want out finding a buyer for the form shouldn't be too hard. I know our precast outfit just bought two new ones $$$$$$$ They have us or their yard guy weld a plate with logo and year in all their forms so it's cast in the tanks and lids and their other big items.
Local company makes all the boxes for electric vaults, pull boxes, lids, etc seems to get bigger every year. Same as the septic tank outfit, pours in a big shed. One small truck 25 yrs ago, now 2 big hyabs, bigger shed, lots more cars in the lot. Good luck with it. Cam
Have heard concrete gets stronger with age and also it gets weaker after many many years. I know it's best if it stays moist and doesn't dry too fast. Wondering if things like septic tanks and cisterns need to age for a few month's or longer before they are handled much or installed? We had a 2600 gallon water cistern installed many years ago. It was 3 sections with grooves between them. They used something like tar or rubber to seal the sections. It was heated up so it could pour in the groove and then the next section was put in place. About 20 years ago I helped replace a septic tank. The one coming out was 2 sections. Each section had grooves cast in the corners so a steel cable sling could be used for lifting them. The grooves were angled so the cable would slide into them and not slip out. The new tank was 1 piece but used similar grooves.
Most likely will buy one of Crane Operators old cranes. He’s got a 25 ton that will work great on the yard.
I doubt anybody is going to wait longer than 28 days to ship them. They were shipping about as fast as they could pour them the last couple years up around where I am. Availability has been an issue with septic installs.
What do those tanks sell for in different parts of the country? Vs plastic tanks? Looking at Menards, Lowes & HD tanks vary from $1200 to $2000 for plastic. How many yards of concrete required? Joe H
Around here $3,500-$5,000 seems to be the norm. If memory serves its about 2-1/2 yards or so to pour a tank and lid. We’ve figured 3 so we have mud for the pedestals etc
The place near here has rows upon rows of inventory sitting around. All different sizes and config. Some of it sits for years before shipping out. Some has the concrete old and weathered with grass growing out the cracks. Still they are always making and shipping them every day.
JY I'll give ya' my $.045 (adjusted for massive inflation) on LLC's. Just my experiences after owning several small businesses over the last 28 years. I would create at least 2 LLC's at the stage you are in. One for the repair business and one for the laydown/ storage yard you might rent to the towing company. You need protection from liability from repairing equipment and from renting property which are completely separate risks. As the septic company comes to fruition I'd form a 3rd LLC for it. Having 3 separate entities gives you flexibility on taxation and profits in addition to liability protection. Each one of these businesses have different exposures to risk and IMO it is best to limit each category of risk. Will you be a single member LLC or have partners?
It’ll all be single member like my current LLC. Back when I had the trucking business we had stuff broke into different ones. Property, equipment and management then the S corp that was a shell operating the trucking. Thanks for the insight, sometimes important stuff like that gets lost in the weeds.
In Canada you have to have at least 2 directors/class A shareholders to form a limited company. It must be different in the US if you only need 1 shareholder.
They are talking about Limited Liability Companies (LLC.) which are not the same as Corporations (INC.) LLC's are more flexible, which is why most small businesses started in the last maybe 30 years use them.
I've been an LLC since 2010. From 1991 to 2009 was a DBA.........I was raped by the tax man every single year. .....and I have NO idea why my font changed mid sentence!
I just assumed you were very excited about your relationship with the tax man
Not just small businesses, we work for a billion dollar a year GC that is an LLC. Another billion + a year GC located here is also an LLC. An LLC structure offers the most flexibility for a company whatever the size however IIRC an LLC can never go public. For us small fries a single member LLC filing as an S-corp with the IRS works around the self employment tax.
Chrysler was an LLC before they turned into Stelantis or whatever it is they are now. Not sure quite how it works on something that big in scale, but anyway there they are.
Welp yesterday was a day! Did a quick service call in the morning. Ran to a demo job and helped cut up some truck frames. Saved a 427 tall deck with a 5+3 from an old truck. Then went to the steel plant. My trusty old 86 then started acting up….. It now needs a trans rebuild and new torque converter lol. Threw some tools into my little jeep and ran back to the plant to finish repairs. I’ve got two machines in the shop and third on the way next week. Steel plant’s yard dog needs the intake/after cooler pulled. I think it’s plugged up and the old girl can’t breathe. Now I’m deciding what direction to go truck wise….
I bought a 1000 gallon Norwesco plastic tank last year, $1450 from Winsupply here in New Mexico. I don't know what local for concrete is now. Who buys concrete tanks for that price when plastic is so much cheaper? Or is there something I'm missing? Joe H
Just saying that in Canada to be any more than a sole proprietorship you have to have at least 2 class A shareholders. One of them can have a big majority of the shares but there still has to be at least 2 to have an incorporated/limited company.
Pretty sure the OP is in Oklahoma ....
I haven't priced either option recently, but in 2016, concrete was cheaper per gallon. I bought a 2000 gallon, 2 compartment tank, set in the hole, for $900. A 2000 gallon, 2 compartment plastic tank was around $1400, and I had to haul it and set it in the hole. Big difference back then. Today, I haven't a clue. Concrete prices have gone sky high locally so it probably favors the plastic tank today.
That's why I mentioned it's different in Canada. The only time you can be a true 1 man show in Canada is a sole proprietorship.
We never see plastic tanks here. I know a lot of situations they have to use concrete. Beyond that idk.
In MO a great deal depends on type usage for Septic, Plastic is very seldom used anymore even as cheaper seems most regulatory statutes no longer allow. Concrete, about the only Foreseeable Durable tank.
Both here, but looking at the Menards site, they have tanks listed as being for one state only. Search Results for "septic tank" at Menards® Search Results at Menards www.menards.com Need more research before I know why, but something different. Joe H OK, looked at one of the tanks and found this So something is different but what it doesn't say.
Since we cant seem to drill our own oil anymore, and plastic products are made with a percentage of petroleum...........I'm thinking JY is at the entrance of a gold mine for the future. I just hope he remembers all the excellent advise I've given while he lights his Cubans with $100 dollar bills..
My Happy ALMOST retired Ass is right there with ya!!!
Got time to split this little Kubota. Weep hole was dripping hyd oil. I’ll get everything sealed back up and he’ll be back to work next week.
In 2013 I had the complete septic system replaced with plastic 1200 gal tank and two 75' runs. The guy who did it took over the business from his dad. All he installs is plastic anymore, inspected and meets code. $6,900 was the total cost with clean outs and drain rock. Took two days.
People who want their new septic system approved by their local county health department? Concrete only here AFIK, never seen a plastic tank installed in a septic system.
Everything here is concrete also. We set quite a few if they can't get the delivery trucks close enough.
Every septic system here in the county has to be approved for location {has to be no less than a hundred feet from a well} and approved for size {amount of bedrooms per dwelling}. Plastic is ok depending on tank design and who manufactured it. Not all are acceptable. If there is a old well near by {dry or wet} it will have to be decommissioned by a well driller and a log filled out sent to federal before a septic revamp or complete new system installed.
google says plastic is legal in Alabama & Missouri. Maybe not every county, although here it's the state that regulates it. Joe H
We see plastic here, works for bootleggers because it's lighter. I have seen a few slowly get crushed over years by the soil. I think concrete is a better idea.
Maybe those folks can get google to approve their system?
High water table= concrete. Put in two or three hundred and only one was plastic because there was no way the tank truck was going to get into the back yard. The excavator carried it back.
Or high level of solids in the fill(Rock) concrete. First Septic Tank I saw was as a kid, steel, knew when it failed as ground caved in and brown water came up. Those had no cleanouts.
Not much to report today. Met a guy at the shop dropping an 01 Dodge Cummins off for lift and injection pump swap. Got the next service truck in the shop to be setup. Drained the fuel, put fresh in. Fired the old girl up. Ran about 5 min then plugged the fuel water sep. None on hand. None in town. None in tulsa. ***. Had DMiller grab the three he could get since he’s coming down later next week. Ordered 3 off Amazon be here Monday. Then I went down the wormhole….. That little 6BT runs one filter, 33472. So I says to myself, self, we need a water separator primary then a good secondary. I know from past experience a 33358 will spin right on where the 33472 was. So I search filter bases, find what I want, order it and a couple BF1212’s. But wait, there’s more….. I want better than that little 10 micron 358. Same filter base I got will run a Cat 1R-0749 or 0750. So I put a second one in the cart. Why, you ask? Why not says I. So a few new hoses and I’ll ditch the factory filter head which on this ford is kinda wonky anyway. I’ll run a BF1212 or Cat 175-2949 primary and the 749 or 750 secondary. I have to plumb in a fuel tank anyway. Under cab step tank is rusty, on the passenger side and only 35 gal. I took an 85 gallon off a truck in my private boneyard and it’ll go drivers side. Truck is a 94 Ford F-600 or 650 I don’t recall. 6BT, Allison auto. Only drag is the Lucas Girling brakes. The little 5.9 still has the tamper screw on the pump….but not for long. It’ll get a fuel plate, governor spring kit, AFC kit and a little bump in timing. I love those motors!
It don't go fast enough? Or did Millers vid of the tatra cause you to need a service truck like that?
There’s not a thing wrong with it like it sits. I just enjoy tinkering with them. It won’t roll coal or anything like that. Maybe just a bit of a haze when you really lay into it.
Just pulling your chain.
Got the Sky Trak done yesterday. It leaves this morning and a Takeuchi TL150 comes in for a hub repair. Hoping to scrounge parts and not buy a complete hub as it’s a yard machine these days and doesn’t see a lot of hours. At some point I need to go order Kubota parts and drag that Dodge in here. Before all that though I need to run to the steel plant and pull the intake off the 6BT and see how plugged up it is. I haven’t gotten a call from Vetech yet lol. He must be waiting for that $2,000,000 wire transfer before he recruits me!
Junkyard, I hope you don't mind me posting this here. I made a pin puller like your kingpin bearing cap puller. I am batting .750, as I was able to pull 3 out of 4 pins with it. The Lull's left forward (lower) pin moves about 3/16 or 1/4 inch then seizes. I put so much tension on the bolts, they were indenting the cylinder ear. I got two "pops" while turning the bolts and stopped. I can tap the pin back in and it stops hard with that "metal bottoming out" sound, right where it is when installed. Is there a trick I am missing to get that pin lined up right with the swivel bearing? Or should I get a pro to come out with the right pin puller? hugs, Brandi
Sound as has a Step wear spot, get pin just moving but not to that stop point, if cylinder is sitting hard back pull forward on it, lightly then retry the pin pull. Stops again back off slightly, use a jack ot a jack bolt to reposition eye for negligible contact to pin and try again.
To build on DMiller's post, pull pin a bit then turn it. 90 to 180 degres. It might move the step beyond the ridge.
I agree with the above. Probably has a step worn in it. Get it part way out, almost to where it stops, give it a turn and then smack it from the other side if possible. Also, I assume the boom is supported? My main thought is your safety but also that the pin could still be in a bit of a bind from supporting a load.
I didn't think the boom had tension on the slaves. I saw for and aft movement in the pin to the frame, when I was prying it around with a pry bar. The right side came out without a whimper. All 4 pins spun when I ran a bolt into them. Tomorrow, I will try a little tension then spin the pin. Thanks. hugs, Brandi
In addition to what was said about, when you have tension on it, give a couple good hits with a hammer. Even if you can't hit the back of the pin, a good shock to the frame or pin boss can be helpful.
I'll do that. Thanks! hugs, Brandi
Hugs, eh?
Just my normal, standard signoff. hugs, Brandi
You might want to hug about a 10 pound slide hammer. Bad Bob
Don't see any signs of hot paint in your picture. Maybe some heat and a BFH will get that pin moving. If there's not enough clearance in between, get it moving, cut it off to make room then drive it through. A good air hammer can also be your friend once you get the pin moving.
Stinky, No heat yet. I just washed it to watch the pin as I hammered and pulled it the 3/16th inch it moves. The whole rod end bearing (attached to the frame) is moving with the pin and the metallic sound while hammering the pin is the whole bearing sliding over and hitting the far side ear of the cylinder. Sooooo, that tell me the pin is froze on the swivel. I don't have a gas ax so I guess I will have to punt, or go buy a torch. hugs, Brandi
A good sawzall with a Milwaukee Diablo blade would turn that pin into three pieces pretty quick. Then just knock the stuck piece out. An hr or two of saved labor will pay for a new pin pretty quick. If I couldn’t get that pin out fairly quickly I’d escalate things pretty quickly. Another point to remember, is that it cannot be tight if it’s a liquid.
I hear ya, but I am retired and decided today would be slow and methodical. It seems to be working. Out about 8 tenths of an inch now. Been tapping it in and pulling it out and hammering on the top and front of the bearing mount while pulling. I turn one bolt a hex or two and I see the whole pin pivot in the swivel. I tighten the other bolt a hex or two and the pin pivots the other way. So it looks like slow and steady is gonna win this race. I noticed the 3/8 inch puller plate bowed a little, so I turned it over and keep going. Also, the problem with liquid metal is I haven't been able to figure out how to reuse it. hugs, Brandi
Got it out. I want to thank Junkyard and everyone that offered advice here and helped me beat this pin and not call a heavy equipment truck out. Yesterday I couldn't spell m-e-c-h-a-n-i-c and today I are one. hugs, Brandi
Was there a step worn in it or was it just stuck?
No step, just stuck in the swivel. hugs, Brandi
Got the little Kubota done today. Made two service calls as well, one to the steel co for a no start on a forklift and a blown hose at the dirt pit. Not a bad days work. I have almost all the parts to go back together with their yard dog, probably do that Thursday. Tomorrow I’ll jump on the Takeuchi from my former employer. It’s got a final drive that’s shot and another dumping it’s gear oil. It’s an older higher hour machine so we’ll see what I can do to get it functional without spending a fortune. I’ll throw in a couple pics of the service truck. It needs a sign “under construction” lol. I need to get some steel and a few other odds and ends.
Welp….this little Takeuchi is not happy lol
OOOPSIE!!!
Priced all the parts to fix that one and reseal the other, genuine Takeuchi. Any guesses? Lol. That’s all the gears, bearings and seals for the one side and seals for the other. There are aftermarket options but I generally steer clear of them unless I don’t have an option. Owner gave me a budget to repair and with labor I’m still within it by a fair chunk. So….what’s your guess on the parts?
Boss says get back to work!
How far all those little bit manage to go? Is the oil in the planetary mix with the diffs or is there a separate hyd motor for each side? Sorry to be dumb but never saw one of those up close! Guessing wheel bearings and seal too? As for price just a wild uneducated one for parts would be $15,000.
$4-5000 to rebuild one side, parts only . . .
$3,400 for parts on the gear side, $560 for the seals on the other.
$2500 gear side, $500 seal side
Just shy of $8,100 for all the guts of the one and seals for both.
Wow. Dealer replaced an entire drive motor on one of our 279D's a couple of years ago and it would've been around $5K but was covered under warranty. Inflation sucks.
I’ve fixed 299’s cheaper but that has been a few years ago. Stuff is just stupid expensive these days. I understand why pop was always complaining about how much stuff costs lol
Someone priced a Cat CTL drive motor only a few weeks ago. $7200.
Thought you got a man hug didn't you! LMAO
Cheaper than Tak I guess..
Got a box fab’d up today. It’s not perfect but it’ll do what I need as long as I need it to.
New service trucks are cheap these days. Why not just go a quarter mil in the hole?
Lol yeah. Trouble is none are what I’d want if I dropped that much $$. Tom V’s is about what I’d do if I was going that deep. I do have a crane I need to get fixed and then sort out how/where to mount on there. It’s all unorthodox by current standards but it does what I need and I’m in it for a few grand.
Tom’s truck would probably run about $400k in today’s market
I was awarded a contract a long time ago and was told the reason why later. It was not because I was low bid but when the other bidders and I came to the job sight for the interview the other bidders all came in fancy outfits and I showed up in a plain old work truck. It's still the same now. Looks to me that your rig is set up to get the job done, I like it.
Figured I’d give an update. Got the steel plant’s yard dog all done, intake/after cooler cleaned out, new turbo, exhaust hooked up. Runs like a scalded dog now. Well…..maybe a 3 legged dog. Now that it builds proper clean air I’ve had to replace a bunch of valves that were plugged up with oily muck. Serviced one of their Combilift forklifts and the big Combilift straddle carrier. Also replaced injector seals as it had one puffing out the top. While I was buttoning that one up today their Sky Track decided to puke oil out of one of the boom cylinders. They’ll come off Monday for reseal. Another excavating friend/customer (the Kubota tractor owner) brought his haul truck and trailer in. There’s easily a weeks work on it. Then another called with a Komatsu dozer overheating and three other machines needing AC work. The Takeuchi was destined for the salvage guy then I happened to think to call their shop foreman and ask if they had any parts around for it. They did have a good used final and some seals so it’ll end up back to together and run until it won’t again then it’ll be a parts machine for their other old Takeuchi. The last one on the schedule is a Cat 320 for a property developer. Been sitting 10 years because the hydraulics quit. They’ve had various guys look at it, one condemned the pump so they shelled out the cash for that but it didn’t fix it. I was authorized 8 hours diagnosis time. Sounds like a fun one eh? Lol Here’s the haul truck list, I made one lap around it and this was what I saw without even getting on a creeper……
It sounds like the people are finding out you are back doing repairs, as the work is coming in. Good to hear that you have work and are busy. Keep up the good work and the work will keep flowing your direction!
Plenty of work for almost as many mechanics that want it anymore
Do you have the old welder up and running to mount on the truck? I was given another welder that had a fire . I havent went and got it yet but they say it burn the wires going down inside the generater case. I wonder if i can fix it ?
Without a doubt DM. Wish I could find one here. There is an independent shop here running 2-3 service trucks but he stays busy at the lime quarries and his rates are near Cat. Love to find a guy that's got a truck and could make mobile calls.
Yeah but who can afford a truck any more? I guess you need to build another one.
It could be a Chevy Luv diesel for all I care just as long as he knows the right spot to hit it with a hammer.
One of the regulars on here was showing his road service setup for 90% of problems out of the back of a pickup truck. But a behemoth service truck makes some things nicer. Unless you can't get it close enough to the thing being serviced.
Anyone see this one featured at Conexpo this year. I was up close and personal with it at the Doug Veerkamp Engineering open house last Saturday. It's a mid 50s model Pererbuilt that is100 percent CA compliant. They had a good 2016 doner chassis that was usedfor the drive train. The remote for the crane tell you the lifting capacity of the 30' boom at any spot you hold the remote. The truck is in the lowered, work, position in this picture. The truck can be raised up to 10 more inches for site travel. After a near future, truck show, it will get the shorter " work" stacks installed and it will be out working in the field with the mechanic whom was one of the two that built it.
OiH I did not see that at Conex this year. That's pretty damn slick.
Almost too nice! One of these days I’ll have one that I built…..
Mid 90s kw aerocab flat top, 12v71 or 92, 18 spd, tandem air ride with a 10-12k boom
The guy might as well just wear a Tux to work . . . how do you get anything done with something that snazzy?
There’s nothing wrong with taking pride in your ride! Summit truck bodies built a cool old 73? International service truck with a hellcat hemi a few years back for con expo. Last I knew it was still for sale. It’s cool but not at all practical.
It’s been a busy summer. Between my 5 or 6 main customers I don’t have any trouble staying busy. Steel plant calls me out a couple times a week, it’s always some oddball **** there. Yesterday is was their yard dog again, brakes wouldn’t release after you stepped on the pedal. I figured QR valve, swapped it and it still wasn’t right. Got to looking at things and they had the line for the service brakes plumbed to a supply port on the foot valve, swapped it to delivery and all was well. How it worked as long as it did I’ll never know. Biggest project of late is a D65 Komatsu that slowly overheats. Ran the normal tests and narrowed it down to the fan not turning fast enough. A little back and forth with Vetech and DMiller plus a hydraulic flow test condemned the pump…..which is not exactly easy to get at. Pull the hood, rops, cab and floor plate to get at it. Clean out several 5 gallon buckets worth of dirt, lots of air and brake clean to get it where I can work on it. I got the pump swapped today and the floor plate back on. I can test run it like that and once I’m happy with it I’ll put the rest of it back together. I need a crane! Shoutout to Vetech and DMiller for their help and Vetech for the use of his flow meter, mine needs some work. The valve to create a restriction wouldn’t do what it’s supposed to so I couldn’t check flow under load.
That looks like it would be a nightmare if you had to replace a hose or 2. It's amazing how much dirt gets inside of machines. Although outside looks like a nice place to be working on it.
Yes certain hoses would be a royal pain. There are removable panels but I’m not sure you can get the seat out with the cab on lol. Thankfully it’s a shady spot. It’s been over 100 the last two days with heat index around 110-115. I start at daylight and try to quit before the heat of the day.
Those seats will come out but they weigh 4 metric tons and it is tight. This heat is something else. Even the locals are complaining. I’ve been trying to be done with any heavy lifting by 2 pm or so.
I made it to 4:00 today and I was beat. Yes those seats are crazy heavy. I don’t recall what I had to wrestle one out of not long ago but I just about lost my cool lol.
Yeah- move from Maine to texas and you knew you were in for it. I’m blaming the heat on you
I take full responsibility and believe me I am being punished. To top it off, maine is having a cool summer.
My knowledge is Aged, Antique and often Obsolete yet I remember the least little pitiful small inconceivable issue that tends to take DAYS to find, Both Hands on, and in My greatly deficient mental capacity!!
The light at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of an oncoming train. I can certainly relate to that!
Murphy got me yesterday. Fired it up, ran it for a bit and a hose unrelated to the work I did sprouted a leak. It’s a very brittle original to the machine hose. Worst part is the back belly pan had to come down. So it was not finished yesterday. I got that hose off and called it a day early enough to get it made and turn in the pump core. Was going to work today but woke up and decided I need a break. The first part of my day was a quick brake shoe swap on the roll off truck, he lost a spring and the shoe was just riding on the drum. After that ran to a D51 owned by the same guy with the D65 to get the condensate drain tubes opened back up. He has called saying every time he went up or down a hill water was running out on the floor lol.
Self Cleaning!!!
It was 53* here this morning and rose to 89* tonight 57*.
It wasn’t too bad today. I’d say it got into the upper 80’s. Hot tomorrow though.
Rains returning, to drive the Humidity thru the roof, typical Midwest Summer.
Is that a D65 EX-15? If it is I hope the pump was your problem esp since you tore it all down. I had the same overheating problem on my dash 15 about a year ago. My problem ended up being a little solenoid type valve that controls the swash plate angle of the fan pump. IIRC (I'm just going off my memory. LOL) When one or both of the controllers senses something getting warm then it sends more electricity to the solenoid which gradually opens a valve that increases the swash plate angle of the pump which makes the fan turn faster. I sold the machine about 6 months ago and let my manuals go with it so I apologize if my terminology is not correct but that is pretty much how the system worked on mine. Like I said I hope the new pump solves your problem. If not I would look into that solenoid valve that I attempted to mark on your pic. Good luck. FWIW I used to lay awake at night if I knew I had to pull the seat out of that SOB the next day!!!!
Yeppers it’s a -15. Based on all the testing and erratic results I got between pressure test, flow test and running the tests with it manually set at 100% speed it had some internal issues beyond the solenoid. I wanted to tear into the old pump but it would have voided his core value and I wasn’t $1,000 curious lol.
Since it was a weird week I worked on my stuff the last couple days. Needed a work bumper on my beater truck. Scrounged up some material and had some stuff cut on a friends plasma table. Need to finish welding it and make the door latch rods but it’s close to done.
I've been friends with the Veerkamps for years. They are decent sized, and have built the business from scratch. They run about 70 or more trucks and a bunch of other heavy equipment. Every other year they host an open house at their restoration shop and museum. I was there in May for this years event. Good Christian family that gives a lot back to the community. There son Matt, another class act, has partially left the restoration shop and has taken over a lot of the business day to day operations lately so Doug and his wife can relax a bit. Lots of restored area logging trucks in the museum as well. They have some unique pieces and recently Caterpillar borrowed 5 for a year long display in Peoria. A couple are one of white ones that were experimental 1st one of a new series.
All of the Veerkamps equipment looks almost that good. They have been fortunate enough to to train a good workforce. Lead by example, they always say. The shop is in order as well every time I have been there.
I photo'd that at the 2023 Brooks truck show, it's a nice truck--a little too nice. *
Hard to believe it's mid 50's truck the way they fixed it up.
Lots like that now days, shops making body parts, expensive yes but available. Electronic controlled engines--that's another item quite common in old trucks.
JY needs to update this!!!
Dude it would be updated by the quarter hour the way things change around here. Building dump trucks, rebuilding buckets, reversing electrical abominations committed by people that should have their blue butt connector privileges revoked! We had a truck come in for a trans replacement per the owner. I drove it, shifts smooth and no grinding etc. Crawled under it, PTO is about to fall off as there’s no support bracket on the pump. Start poking and prodding. Carrier bearing is locked up and spinning inside the rubber, slip yoke is like a hotdog down a hallway. Never a dull moment.
Speaking of updates... thought you got tired of the forum.
I check in several times a day. I guess as I’ve aged a bit I filter my thoughts more and end up keeping them to myself lol. It’s a zoo here. Besides my usual work we have an excavating company running out of my yard now so that added a bunch more people and equipment to keep track of. We’re about 3 months in and I’m sort of getting a handle on it. I probably should start sharing the stuff we’re doing. Fair amount of bucket repair, lots of dump truck stuff from PM to complete builds. Have a truck in here that had a small fire around the starter so it’s getting rewired and whatnot. He does a lot of waterline work so we’ve done a fair amount of fab in the pump houses, casing under the road with vent pipes etc.
I was referring to Vetech. People are having withdrawal symptoms since he stopped giving updates in his epic thread.
Ah. Yeah nothing entertaining here. He’s a lost cause now that he’s experienced a climate controlled workplace.
Turned Pansy on us!!
What is this “climate control “ you speak of?
Actually using butt connectors instead of Scotch locks???
Some of both but we don’t speak of the electrical guillotine lol
Machine shop guys have to keep the temps consistent for the “machines” haha