Well, I guess its been around 3 years or so I have been following these forums, Every day/night, I love reading every ones story's, and browsing the countless pics. Especially reading Nedly and FastDirts threads keeps me motivated and really inspires me to push forward, no matter how hard times get. I honestly hope to be where they are one day. Im currently 22 years old, I come from a family that was big into coal stripping and anything related back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I grew up around equipment and couldn't see doing anything else with my life. My Goal all through school was to start my own company, no matter what it took. I operated for acouple contractors throught the years, and decided I wanted to make my dream a reality. I had acouple side jobs that I used my dads 580C to complete, and decided I wanted to purchase a machine on my own, after all the 580 is a good hoe, but a skidloader and a mini is the way to go! After talking with my dad, I decided I needed a Skidloader, even though I was itching to buy an excavator:cool2 My uncle is in the pool business, and had a Takeuchi that I loved, Dad had Bobcat and Case before, but I fell in love with the power and feel the Tak had. Before I bore you all typing on and on ill share acouple pics, This was the first machine I purchased on my own, My 07 Takeuchi TL140, the day Groff Tractor delivered it right to my door! It had 1500hrs on the meter, they gave me a 6 month warranty and a not so nice payment book!:drinkup I really wanted a TL150, but there were none anywhere in site, This 140 has really impressed me so I cant complain. Before I even used it, I wanted to change the oil, and fuel filter, I also purchased a set of forks
Before the machine went to its first job, I wanted to clean up our driveway some, I didn't have my own dump truck at the time so I borrowed paps F700
Good luck in your endeavor, you sound like you have the drive to make your dream a reality.
Great wat to start it off! Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you. I loathe greasing equipment, but I still find every zerk and make sure they take grease. Build your empire a step at a time and before you know, you'll have every toy, er, tool you need Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
Thanks! Those pics are from 2 years ago, I figure I'll try and keep the pics somewhat in line. I'll upload more later, I'm out and about at the moment in freezing rain, this weather is crazy.
This is gonna be good. I cant wait to hear the rest of your story and to see all of your pictures!
Western Pa, huh? Groff sold me 2 TL150s. Contractors Connection sold me the first TL150. IMHO, a TL150 is just too damned big. Need a 6 ton trailer, for starters. Slowly switching over to Kubota SVL75s. TL150s aren't bad machines, but Tech support for Takeuchi is worthless.
Heres the first job the Tak was on, a buddy of mine built a new house, and he needed a sandmound installed along with gas/water, drains etc. I also dug a round pen for his horses. The 941 is a friends machine I borrowed, boy was it nice, completely gone over and tight. I really want to buy it off him.
Im from Monongahela, I see your from Monroeville. I was just out your way Sunday by the mall. and I know what you mean about the 150s being heavy, the 140 is heavy enough to get the job done. I would love to try out the new Kubotas, there sharp looking! I wish I could say I had all that equipment, maybe in time.
I found this pic from my younger days, dad used to take me to work every weekend! That 9 dwarfs me! He wanted all the topsoil from the round pen spread around his house, it was a pain with the clods, but after tracking it in it looked good Heres the sand mound with clay cover Just recently purchased this trailer, couldn't pass up the deal and I use it more than I figured I would Its first load was my Cummins, I put a B&W hitch in the Dmax
My pap had 11 Brockway tri-axles back in the 70's. We have 5 left, although in rough shape, I would love to restore at somepoint. I was browsing Craigslist last July and just happened to come across this jem, a 1971 361 Brockway! I didn't even hesitate to go look at it and talking with the owner, he used to work for my Pap! What a small world. I bought it and drove it home the next day, I plan on restoring it completely, but don't have the time currently. It has a 238 Detroit with no power steering :bash But its fun to drive,the Eaton 13 speed shifts like a dream. I plan on putting a 335 Cummins in it out of another Brockway.
good for you man. im 24 now and started out just like you. keep pushing forward all this hard work will pay off later
Nick, When you get that Husky restored you need to make a trip down near me, Cortland NY. Every year they have a truck show on main street,lots of Brockways there I hear. Some day I'm going to remember which weekend it is and get there! Have heard about it for many years and it seem like the news get to me the monday after the show:Banghe PS and your's is a real Brockway not a re-badged R model Mack!
I always wanted to go to the Brockway show! I haven't had a chance yet but know people who have went. Here are acouple pics of our Brockways since you mentioned it, these were from 2008 when we used them to haul coal off road, no summer vacations for me in school! :drinkup Heres the 361, I drove this old girl for acouple months until my 761 was ready to roll, our driver Chico took over this one after me here was my 761 on the left, my cousin Donnies in the Middle (cant remember the model) and then Chicos 361 on right Heres Donnie getting loaded by my dad while I wait my turn And Donnie again loaded heading to the Barge loader
The trucks have been sitting since, we actually have to move them up to our shop, people have been claiming to own them, telling the guy who owns the coal yard that! :Banghead I honestly don't understand some people! They stole the Huskys off the hoods also, makes me so mad.... Any how, Heres my pap loading me from the right in our 992A While my dad puts a bucket on from the left side! And heres our D9G getting ready to go to the stock pile across the river, I believe this pic is from 2007 The cops shut down the roads for our 3 mile hike, sometimes it pays to know the Chief!:drinkup Again, these pics are from acouple years ago, we still have all the equipment, just been sitting
Looks like you grew up like me, every spare minute on a job site! Are you running your brockway or do you have another truck? Keep the pics comin!
I have so many pics, from years ago to current, Ill get back on track here alittle bit, for now!:cool2 Nedly, My Brockway is sitting right now, last September, surfing craigslist again I found my newest dump, a 1991 Mack RD690P. I was on lunch at work, and called my dad as soon as I found it, we went that night and I put money down on it, I bought it off Todd Cole who owns Cole Contracting, he is a SUPER nice guy, I told him my story and explained how I was getting started etc, he gave me an awesome deal, and waited 2 weeks till I had the money, guys gave him offers for it and he told them it was mine. I cant thank him enough for that, a true honest guy. I was looking for a tandem like your Granite, but couldn't find one that fit my needs. When money allows Ill be on the hunt again, but im in need of an excavator first. Heres the night I brought it home, after getting the plate and tittle transferred, my buddy Jon checking it out. She has 153,000 miles, and a horrible 7 speed MaxiTorq tranny..... Im looking for an 8LL to replace it currently. I swear every time I try working on something the shop cat has to investigate! Just doing PM on her, I put 2 new steers on 2 weeks ago. When I bought it, the shifter was tore and taped together, so I called Mack and ordered a new one and new Bulldog logo for the top.... Needless to say they charged me $250 for the shift knob, and $3 for the mack logo!! I recently had a powersteering issue, it was pushing fluid out of the resivour... so I called Mack again, they wanted $691 for a re man pump or $50 for the new seal kit! I told the sales guy no thanks, and picked up the same seal kit for $10 at a truck shop, what a relief... Today me and dad resealed the pump and put it back on... but I need to bleed the system tomorrow, its like 0 degrees outside now, im going to try and quickly get it in the shop in the morning, ill get some more pics of it then.
Looks like a sweet truck, does it have a jake?
Yup! It has a 275 Mack under the hood w/ Jake... Although at times the Jake feels weak, Im going to ask dad tomorrow if hell look into it with me. Being a single axel with that motor it runs like a beast, if only I can find an 8LL for it, the 7 speed is a low Rpm shift tranny, it sucks on hills and feels like the gears are too far apart.
Cool thread and nice pics thanks for sharing.
That's a sweet truck, I would love to get one like that. An 8LL will make it really sweet. Go to bigmacktrucks.com for answers to any question you may have about Mack's. Huge amount of info over there. We're going to need more pics. :thumbsup
Guys like that are golden. They do exist though, just hard to find. Like the pics and story. What kind of excavator are you going for?
Great truck, whats the gvw on it?
Well I just got home tonight, today was slow, ended up going to pick up a Case 1845C skidloader that was burned in a fire. Pap wanted it for parts for his. I snapped this pic at a truck stop on the way home, I was in a hurry since it was already 7pm I also found out why my Mack still wont steer after I put the pump back on.... I walked in the shop this morning, and my dad asked if I was forgetting anything from yesterday... He was holding a spring in his hand, the spring that is suppose to be in the back of the pump!:Banghead ointhead I cant believe I forgot to put it in but oh well, at least that solved the problem! I don't have any work for the truck at the moment so it isn't hurting it to sit. FastDirt, Im really set on getting a Takeuchi TB175, but if I cant find one, a machine around that size or alittle bigger... The reason for the 175 is it will suit me for multiple tasks, not too small, not to big, rubber tracks for on driveways etc . I was also looking at 160 Deere/hitachi/LinkBelts, or a 312 Cat. I guess when the time comes ill find the right one that will suit me. Im still trying to get completely on my feet, and find more work so if need be I can borrow a machine for now.
The truck weights 17,900, and I have it Titled for I believe 36,500#... When we transferred the title, I switched the plates off my Brockway onto the Mack... Well the Brockway was titled for 63,000# combo for a tag trailer.... Cole Contracting had the truck at 36,500 and the notary wouldn't put the 63,000 onto my Mack because it would have to be inspected and ok'd to pull the trailer and combo weight. Needless to say I lost like $250 and I will have to pay it back to them when I get my tag trailer fixed and inspected to increase it.
1845s are worth more in parts than they are whole. Just bought another TB180FR. From Contractors Connection, with 1200 hr. That makes it my third TB180FR, and my 7th Takeuchi in the fleet. The slewing boom, vs the traditional on the TB175, makes them that much more versatile for digging against foundations, and curbs.
I ran a TB180FR when I worked for Walsh, it was a sweet machine, only had 80hrs on it. But for me starting out they are quite pricey. You didn't by any chance do a sewer job out towards Fredericktown/Denbo area acouple years ago? I worked for Walsh on Rt43 and the outfit that was doing sewer lines for a new treatment plant had Takeuchi CTLs and Minis, and many Cat hoes, I believe their company trucks were all red chevys.
You found me...yup, that's us. I was under that turnpike bridge (before the final deck connections were completed) when the earthquake hit.
Wow small world huh, I was running a RT750 Grove picker on Pier 1 of the river bridge... The guys radioed to me thinking I hit the pier with the crane and shook it, then we found out it was an earthquake lol
Ha ha, I remember when that earthquake hit. That was funny, I was ripping rock with our 8 and everybody comes over the radio,"There was an earthquake, did you feel?" I just laughed and said feels like an earthquake in here everyday.' Looks like you are starting out well, I like that little Mack sweet looking truck.
Its been awhile since ive been able to post, ive been so busy with everything, helping dad and pap out. Not much going on lately, hauling some scrap and doing maintenance. I ment to post this before but skipped it, last fall I installed Airlift airbags on my Dmax, they work awesome, I plan on getting a compressor onboard with a wireless controller in the future, but for now I routed the hoses through the back bumper. Here I used the Trailer and the Jack for the dovetail to jack my truck up to make room, worked perfect! I got alittle ahead of myself on the pics, last fall I spread some regrind on our driveway, it needs re graded and a runoff ditch cut this spring I also started planning out a new road to our hay barn, we have always just used this grass road which is fine, but when its wet its a mess. I cleared some brush, and im going to put a nice base in and gravel it when time allows this year, we have so much to fix on the fences and barns, the work never stops. The Barn is really hard to see but if you look about 1500 feet straight behind the Tak, you can just make it out. Figured I would throw in a group photo while everything was home
Sweet truck:thumbsup
Last week I finally got my Steering pump fixed on the Mack, turns out.... I put it together backwards!!:Banghead Live and learn! At least I know what to do now lol Paps 1845 is still giving us problems, The pumps are loosing pressure, we re sealed them and checked everything, filters etc, and it still has little power to the drive motors, Hes going to reseal the main pump as he thinks it is leaking internally. I took a trip to Groff Tractor for parts this afternoon, man I can only dream of owning a new Hoe, I hope I will one day. We have been getting so much snow, 3 inches today, on top of what we had so I decided to plow our shop, thank god for a heated cab!
Was on the Takeuchi site and seen those full rotation booms. What are they like? They are mounted to one side vs. a swinging boom mounted in the center from what I see. How are they for lifting? Nick385CL. Congrats on getting started. Looks like you are well on your way with what you have now and the shop facilities. How the hell are you going to buy a hoe if you keep buying dump trucks.LOL. Nice trucks, nice to see. Why do you guys want 8LL trannies. I drove a W.Star with one and just hated it. I was and am use to 15 speeds and when I had to drive that truck it took me 2 fullshifts (work shifts, not tranny shifts,grin) to somewhat get use to it. Then back into my regular truck and a month or two later I would need to drive that W.Star again and learn all over again. They arre suppose to be as close to bullet proof as a tranny can get. Again good luck on your endeavors and keep the pics coming. Cheers Lowbed Driver.
Any updates? Wanna sell your Mack?
Keep working hard , it's all going to pay off in the end. Don't bite off more than you can chew, give the customer more than they expect and most of all , stay true to the big picture
Ive been so busy over the last month, I haven't had much time on my computer. I finished acouple jobs up that I have pictures ill upload. Im heading over the shop in an hour to change the fuel filter on the 140, it started cutting out on me acouple days ago. I have a very strange job to do tomorrow, headed out at 8am with the Mack n Tak. Ill be sure to get pictures of it! Should be interesting lol And Nedly you really like that little Mack! Its a great truck, if I ever get rid of it ill let ya know!
More pictures of the mack! Looks good.
Last week I picked up a French drain around a foundation. I had 3 tri-axle loads of 2b at the shop so I hauled them over with the Mack, and what was a plus was the homeowner bought it all and said any leftovers can be used on the driveway. I always deliver alittle more than needed just incase. My buddy stores his TB135 at my place and said I could use it, it did really well, but I cant wait to get my own mini. My buddy and helper Cody running the Tak and dad decided to supervise in the bed of the Mack And you can see the mud stain on the back corner of the machine ointhead It happens but bothers the hell outa me! Loaded up and leaving the shop, Cody pulling the 135 with his cummins Half way done with the house, I didn't get as many pics as I wanted, we were trying to get done before rain hit And the last shot I have of digging.
Yesterday me and Cody left at 8am to arrive at this job, The homeowner has a pool in the back yard that is old and hasn't been used in years, they wanted to fill it with gravel, have a sump and then topsoil on top to use it as a garden! I said ok well get it done:cool2 This was the tightest place the 140 was ever in! It was a nightmare and we didn't get out of there till 8pm! hauling the gravel and soil was 1.5 hours round trip.:Banghead
I used our 580C to load the topsoil back at home, and while im doing work Cody is taking it easy! The homeowner also wanted a small porch taken down and hauled off
Wait, they didn't want you to remove the pool first? That's interesting, guess its a good way to keep animals out of your garden.
Hill billy garden haha. What part of pa is that?
Yeah when he said he was filling it with rock I was picturing an old in ground pool Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
Pretty cool little read, it's another thread I'll have to keep an eye on. Best of luck to you! I'm close in age to you and am trying to get my foot in the door with small skid steer jobs along with using my truck and gooseneck. I get a few jobs here and there but nothing consistent.
Machines look cool. Any pictures of the walls your building?
I haven't had much time on the computer in awhile, work has been picking up and im busy as ever. I started digging pools for my uncle, hes been really helping me out. I have his hauling jobs as well as excavating. Its looking like a busy summer to come!:drinkup Im trying to get as many pics as possible. Heres a late night pic from acouple weeks ago, using his mini and his 130 Tak to load out dirt from a pool. Last week I picked up a Hudson Tag trailer, I have a 20ton Eager Beaver that needs some TLC, and Im planning on getting a tri-axle in the near future to pull it, so this Hudson will get me by till then. The ONLY thing I hate about it is how high it sits, I think the guy before put the wrong springs on it. Im making plans on getting it lowered down, it makes for very steep loading. I priced a new Moffett Tag from a local dealer, they wanted $9,000 which seemed good for how well built it was, but I saved over half of that money on this one for now, by the end of this year I plan on putting a down payment on a excavator, so anywhere I can save money I do. The Moffett was good for 19,000# on the deck, this one is good for 18,000#.
Recently I picked up a job excavating a pad for a future garage. I figured it was the perfect job for the Tak, when I delivered it the guy was surprised that was the only machine I was going to use, but was quickly impressed by how much dirt I could move with it. I tracked my lifts in with a full bucket, as he is waiting a year to build, hell have time for settlement if any. Im planning to have it completed this week, I hope dad can make it over to spread the base and then 2B on top. The weather has been crazy lately.
Great work Nick. Looks real good. How many machine hours did it take to complete ?
Been a while but any new pictures Nick? Really cool seeing someone close to my age making a go at doing this themselves.
I've been off the forums lately, I check in from time to time but rarely. I wish I could keep this updated more, I mostly just stay on Instagram. This is a side business for me and when I'm laid off from my regular job, I'm an operator by trade. Since my last post on here I've purchased a 2001 Thomas T45 mini, and a 1997 international 9300 triaxle. Work has been very busy thankfully, between regular work and my business. I've been struggling with a triaxle driver, they are very hard to find good ones, anyone I can trust put it that way. I'm slowly building the fleet up, being smart about it and not getting in over my head. I have a chance at a 1995 Kobelco 120 this year off a good friend, if everything works out that will be the next investment. If you want to check out my Instagram it is DurtymaxLBZ