Hi All ... Finally after 6 weeks of my backhoe/loader being down with a blown head gasket, I got it back to work this weekend. So I spent all day Saturday and Sunday working on my 1400' drive to the new homestead .. through challenging terrain here in central CT. See, the area is an old quarry site, so rock is abundant, exposed ledge, hills, drop offs ... etc. The area has loads of old woods roads which is what I'm using to move the gravel (old quarry tailings) from about a half mile away. Picked up an old Ford F-7000 single axle dump with a CAT 3208 over the summer, and an IHC 280A backhoe in Sept. See this is a solo effort, so I run the loader, then drive the truck ... repeat. Bottom line? ... I'm whipped ... beat ... tired as hell! Don't get me wrong, I never thought operating heavy equipment was easy ... just never thought I would be so exhausted after just a couple days of non-stop bouncing around in a couple cabs. Granted, I'm no youngster, but at age 50, I'm in decent shape ... for a desk jocky :yup So, to all you full-time operators out there, my level of respect has increased dramatically ... I salute you all. :salute ... I'm :notworthy I think it's Miller time :drinkup :usa JV
I'll let you in on a secret man ...we got apprentice's to run ragged Get one you'll love it ,,great stress reliever to :drinkup
Had one ... my 21 year old son, 'till he landed a job at a swanky restaurant! Now he's a night owl, busy chasing woman and boozing ... and rarely rises before noon now! I don't hold it against him ... he seems to think the food industry is where he belongs. I'll build the drive ... he can plow it for the next 20 years! :lmao
Ahh the innocence of inexperience!
Reminds me of my first summer running equipment. I was pretty damn tired at the end of the day! Not to mention how mentally burned out i got runnin big equipment in tight quaters. Working inches away from brand new McMansions gets the blood flowing! Hey JointVenture, where in CT are you? Sounds like you have an aweseome piece of property!
JointVenture, you are right, I get frustrated when the wife does'nt understand how tired I am after mowing the pastures all day, running the loader all day, or driving the dump truck all day. The biggest thing is where you are doing it all, if you could roll up and someone else load you it would give you a break. The other thing is what I learned on at the farm, when you are tackling a project alone and there are other projects in line you tend to hurry through them and that will wear you out fast! Also it is like working out, it will get better when your body gets use to it, you will still be tired, just not as bad as now!
I used to think that too until I made my years salary in 2 weeks.
Yeah i could dig all day long by hand and feel better than a day of jumping from machine to machine or driving the dump. I would never trade it for a desk job though!
Inexperienced? yes ... Innocent? rarely! I can imagine Kev ... and those houses are thrown up fast! Thanks Red Bank ... know what you mean about rushing, I'm fighting the calender (and weather) now, as soon as the snow starts to fly around here I'll be basically shut down. Been filling about a 10' drop-off, a section of the drive so I can get to all the timber I've cut that needs to get to the sawmill! Well, he's still young and may change his mind several more times about his profession ... :beatsme Yeah hammerdwn20 ... I understand, it's all about what the body is used to! I spent 6 years in the field with torch in hand cutting up commercial boilers and chillers for a demolition company, but I was in my twenties then Now I estimate commercial plumbing and HVAC in the office ... not bad actually, especially when it's 10 degrees out Thanks all :usa JV
operating, it's so easy even a caveman can do it.