Share some quick tips you've learned.... Like using the tiny colored phone wire to mark hydraulic hoses and fittings. If you have fought cutting rubber or belting with a knife, try this. Take a sawsall blade, grind the teeth off, then use a flap wheel or sander to put a knife edge on it. It will cut belting, thick stall mats, or tire side walls faster than you can believe. Now, what you got?
Sorry somethings are trade secrets, not giving up what took me so much time to figure out. And just don't care to make Chatgpt or any other AI any smarter. I bet others feel the same.
I use colored zip ties, not telephone wire.
Stay skinny--it's easier to fit in awkward places.
Stay fat. People won't volunteer you to go into awkward spaces.
Which means fat gets less pay.
If you work for a school district never get your school bus endorsement
Use oil in the cut when cutting conveyor belting or rubber. Lay the cut line over a 2x4 or other "lift" to help open the split. Makes cutting with a utility knife fairly easy. I like the sawzall blade idea - I will have to try that! Mess-Stoppers for hydraulics line plugging and/or vacuum pump (learned both of these on HEF). Cargo strap winches for everything - lifting, moving, adjusting, holding position and for load securement. Working solo? A good forklift is indespensible for HE repairs. MuleTape is the most versatile, strongest cordage that works everywhere but easily sheds a knot when done. I usually keep 3 different strengths on hand. Think 5 steps ahead on everything so that you don't get injured or waste time. Injuries ARE wasted time.
I noticed your judicial use of mule tape on your motor rebuild recently. Lol I don’t have any secret tricks, I have told them here already, so they aren’t secret.
Don't argue with a know it all. People figure them out fast enough
Learn how to turn it OFF, before you learn how to START it......
Well lets see there are 29 possible categories mechanically, I only answer to one, so that leaves me out and the rest in.
Wire harness repair. The woven harness looms are difficult to get into to make repairs. I really like this method to keep your razor blade away from the wires, potentially creating more damage. Straight pick and a good razor blade. Slide the pick under the woven loom and push it in a couple inches. Slide the razor blade up the pick cutting the woven material along the way. Keep the razor over the pick to ensure you won’t cut any wires. View attachment IMG_5520.jpeg View attachment IMG_5521.jpeg
Have you ever seen a tool to spread and or feed wire into poly loom by any chance? I always thought that would be a handy tool !!
Polar Wire sells a decent tool for split loom. It’s probably similar to the various types you can find on Amazon Part Fits Loom Number Diameter SLT-025 1" – 1 1/4" SLT-15 1/2" – 5/8" SLT-20 3/4" – 7/8" SLT-08 1/4" – 3/8"
Tricks--Engine/Transmission there really aren't any, either it's done by known successful industry procedures or it isn't. Short cuts are are normally unsuccessful in that area. * Time saver broken axle inside housing, use thin wall pvc or aluminum tube that just fits inside axle opening and slip over broken axle, have someone on other side shove it out with a long rod. * Although some know this some don't, installing 15" clutch. Load it in trans bell, only thing to line up is input shaft pilot. Saves a ton of time and body. *
Can't make any money at the hospital
Ya need a stitch ripper Works great on opening those looms.
We laid 5 miles of PVC irrigation when I was a kid, for overhead on a raspberry farm. ditch witch and then cut some hoes down to fit the slot, and grade it quick just get it even go go go. Handle across ditch set the pipe on and and glue and drop it in and run again. It was good to be young.
Card board is your friend, in many ways, you can keep clean laying on it. You can make patterns for fabrication with it. Put it on top of things to keep the dirt out. Can make signs with it. Can poke holes in it to id certain items like bolts etc. Can use it for padding and to separate parts from each other etc. And of course lay parts you wish to keep clean and not scratch (though not many care about that). It just has so many uses.
Yes you can if your a nurse or doctor.
Learned it here " The Suck Bucket ". Joe H
Was going to mention cardboard! I keep all the good Amazon boxes and my favorite are Chewy boxes. Have 3 or 4 under my truck right now, soaking up all the fluids that didn’t get caught by 3 drain pans. Right now getting ready to fabricate a valve spring puller as I just found #5 intake leaking Acetone last night, as I was cleaning the heads up for assembly. Need to lap valve and all my old spring compressors and lapping tools disappeared or retired.
Get pink xps foam and live a life of luxury laying on that......in the weeds
Brake parts cleaner is mandatory on all my repair endeavors but how many use HVAC foil tape to cover/protect fittings when you don't have the proper caps? The thick 3M stuff is usually the best. Pricey, but a roll lasts a long time and can be formed over fittings or other surfaces as needed. As long as the surface is oil free, the foil tape will usually stick and cover what you need it to. Keeps contamination out when used properly.
Yup. I've been using CAD (cardboard aided design) forever...
What is this fictitious phenomenon you speak of?
I work with a lot of young bucks and I try to instill with them to work single, not double. For example to hold tubing there is a several pieces of a stand to set up and they will often get the last piece out first and throw it on the ground, why do t you work from bottom up getting the first pieces out and putting them where they go so you only have to pick up each piece once, not twice.
You must be referring to my outdoor creeper.
That's discrimination!
Actually it's not, If a slender guy keeps getting the jobs that are tough to do and can do any job thrown at them in quick time with a very low come back rate, then he should get the higher pay, because the overweight guy takes more time because he can't reach into tight areas. I didn't cause the issue, just pointing out the obvious.
Cardboard must be one of the most utilized pieces of scrap that there is. VERY usefull. Cardboard, zip ties, cargo strap, cinch strap and Muletape for the win! I did not spill a drop on the customer's property when I rebuilt this cylinder today. No real tricks but just a little forethought to direct the spill that was coming.
Love it! I thought I was an inventor when I used a paper plate to drain the oil in my Electraglide without spilling a drop on it, with a paper plate. Same paper plate to add oil to the primary. lol
You have to have a chunk of card board when draining hot oil from a DD15 or C15/3406. Because the drain plug is horizontal, otherwise it's a lake.
That's pretty handy. My mower had one of those quick release tubes for oil but it was junk and leaked, but is a horizontal hole, I'll have to remember cardboard next time I change the oil on it.
Have you tried coroplast yet ? I pick up the old political signs the day after elections. Step up your game, better living with chemistry.....
Next time you guys are cruising through the heart of Dixie, stop at one of CM1995’s job sites and help yourself to one of his orange traffic cones. Cut the base off, then slice the cone lengthwise into thirds. Now, that’s a proper oil draining trough.
Halloween is coming, could use it for a Hi Viz witches hat.
Not mine, saw it somewhere the other day….hydraulic line plug and cap pairs with the same letter stamped on each pair to identify where each hose goes to.
I bought a couple of sets off Amazon and engraved matching numbers. JIC, ORB, flat face oring, pipe.
If you have dirt with rocks in it and want some fines for bedding, make a pile. carefully dump on top of it with your excavator or whatever, and the rocks roll down the sides and the fines stay in the cone on top. I demonstrated that in the commercial thread. I bombed the stacks directly and the rocks rolled away.
If you put ur socket on a cutting edge bolt thats not not sunk in on the bottom side like caterpillar cock the bolt sideways while running it out it will save you unraveling the torch.
Take pictures of everything on a big job label your bolt bags
When I have an intermittent wiring open I run a back probed jumper wire from each end of the suspect circuit back to the cab. I hook those wires to a Fluke 2 channel scope meter. This way I can see the exact voltage of each end of the wire. I sometimes find the circuit isn't actually open, but there is a resistance in the circuit. Maybe the drive is 8 V, but only getting 5 V at the solenoid. If the machine seizes up because of an alarm set, I just have to short the two jumpers together to make a shunt. An electronic controller may see a low voltage as an open circuit. All sorts of funny things can happen with new electronics. Some actually check the amperage of the circuit and will set an alarm if the voltage/amperage profile doesn't fit the design intent.
I learned of the vacuum pump on the hydraulic tank trick here on the forum. Geat idea but I never tried it until I saw a short reel on FB showing a quick build with the following components. That guy also had a ball valve added to his unit to open/close the hp air hose inlet. I went to change out the pump filter on the Menzi that is mounted below the hydraulic tank - worked great. Not but 2 drops spilled! Smoke Cone Adapter Air Powered Vacuum Pump I was concerned that the BSPP threads would be a problem on the pump unit but a good coating of thread tape and a firm tightening solved that issue with ease. Lightweight tool that I now keep on the service truck. A1 cheat code tool! Now combine that tool with Mess Stoppers (another trick learned here on the forum) and you have a winning combo for hydraulic repairs with minimal mess. Mess Stopper Plugs
If you want to have some fun with a young grandkid...............Spill a big bag of M&M's on the table and tell them to pick up ONLY the M's, not the W's.
I just use a shop vac with the hose on the inlet, it sucks it self down
While I have used the shop vac trick a few times as needed, there was one time the shop vac motor overheated and shut itself down. Always try and be prepared for a major spill.
I generally buy mine from cat. Theirs is really heavy stuff and i get it in 2" and 6" wide. I believe they have 12" also.
Have a temp sensor circuit acting up, but can’t warm up the component in a practical sense? Like this differential. The gauge appears to work until the diff comes up to temp with a load. Grab a baby bottle warmer from one of your baby mommas. Set the temp and place the sensor in it. Now you can wiggle test wires and check connections with the circuit working. This one had a partially broken wire about 6” from the sensor.
Great Idea. After getting that dirty you're going to have to buy them a new one.
Ah the old why is my turkey baster missing and by the way, what happened to my electric tea kettle? Whoops?
Boil water and put the sensor in it, 212 degrees
The bottle warmer lets you dial in a constant temp and allows you more time to troubleshoot. Lets you check accuracy across an entire temp range.
10-1 it'll thaw out frozen beers too. Just sayin'........
Like the thread title sez; Some tricks you've learned A few days ago I posted a photo of some contaminates the were in the bottom of new pail of hydraulic oil I had dumped in my hydraulic tank. I'm sure nothing went in the hydraulic tank. To prevent it from ever happening again I will pour the oil into a pail that I put a drain on. I used black RTV to seal the PVC fitting on the bucket. The drain is about 2 inches above the bottom of the pail to allow any nasty stuff to stay in the pail. A few
The picture of the bucket in my first post is missing.
You can buy or even make your own bulk heads I looked into two 5 gallon buckets of 15w40 and one had 3 snot gobbers in it and one had 1 gobber. I was telling my hand why I don't fill oil filters anymore because of that.
6.7M views · 155K reactions | Replacing an impossible water hose on a Cat. Yes you can call me a genius. I do. | Scotty's Trucking Replacing an impossible water hose on a Cat. Yes you can call me a genius. I do. www.facebook.com Not from here but clever. Joe H
Meh, if he was really clever, he would have put the hose clamps in first. lol
Sil Glyde & a radiator hose hook.
Did them way for years but this is clever. Silicone hose might be required, regular hose maybe no go. Hose hook, aka hemorrhoid pick? Joe H
Two hose clamps may have got in the way.
I guess if that tickles, I don't have those so--hose hook.
These things, but mine don't have a fancy red handle.
^^^^^ Love those things. Pull belts on with them and save hoses instead of cutting them with a razor knife.