The last job they had Mike Rowe doing was working with a house moving company somewhere in the US sure had some old old equipment. The excavator they have is a old Drott the old Deere trackloader looked ancient. Their hydraulic pump system was mounted on some kind of trailer. The house movers that are in B.C. have good equipment they come in and do anything they want with the house. Some of them they jack 15' in the air and the house is sitting on cribbing and a new full basement is put under the house. These guys www.nickelbros.com move anything and everything.
I believe it was from some where around boston. It was your typical company up there. Old equipment, small company. I swear you see more 1950-60 equipment around boston, than anywhere else. :thumbsup The companies around there never get rid of equipment. Where around here if you got something that is more than 5 years old, you get looked down on. :Banghead
House movers in B.C. couldn't get away with that because time is money if a machine or truck breaks down it costs big time. The trucks the house movers in B.C. are the older heavy trucks and are geared with crawler gears. With everything else it all has to conform to Workers Compensation Rules etc.
Time is money everywhere but new does not mean it won't break down. If you have an old piece of equipment that still does the job then it might not be worth the investment of newer stuff. Its called being a "Yankee" which in New England means being thrifty and resourceful.
well your right there are some pretty old machines up here but if they work and are maintained keep them working cost less than a new one plus the new ones can still break down. The people who have all the newest and latest stuff are the big guys they use them then auction them off then when the next job starts they get another new set under warranty.
For us parts availability for old machines is non existant to get parts for a Drott excavator good luck. The company on Dirty Jobs probably don't do many house moves a year where the guys in B.C. will do quite a few in a month. What they were doing with the 350 Deere trackloader wouldn't have been allowed here. The machine had the ROPs taken off for clearance if the Workers Compensation inspectors seen us do that working under a jacked up house with a machine with out ROPs The job would be shut down so fast your head would spin and man O man your pocket book would be pretty thin it would be a easy 1000 dollar fine or more. It would be to the point you may even loose your business license.
Why get rid of a piece of equipment just because it is old. New or old, it will break. If you properly maintain and do routine checks, your downtime can be kept to a minimum. I have seen alot of companies go out and buy all brand new equipment and a year later they go belly up. We have dozers and track loaders from the 60's and 70's that work like brand new. They don't get used daily, so there is no sense in buying something brand new that will only get used 10 - 20 hrs a week.
I was told a while ago that the business owner can run equipment w/o ROPS FOPS etc. but can't let an employee run it. It might even have been OK for a family member in a family owned business to run it (like on a farm). It's been a while since I heard that so it may have changed (or been a load of crap). However - Do you really think that they didn't know that they were being videotaped? I doubt that they were doing anything on TV that was going to bring "the heat" down on them later...
not to mention the fact older equipment is easier to repair. i'd rather buy an older machine and charge the same as the next guy with that brand new machine,let mine pay for itself over and over and just run it till it dies then buy another older unit and continue the cycle. rather the money be in my pocket than the dealers.
We're talking about specialized equipment here that sees limited use. It would surprise me not to see older equipment, much of the older equipment is heavier duty than anything available new. And as has been said, is much easier to repair and maintain.
Doesn't matter who is running the machine, it is illegal to run w/o a ROPS. If a person is using it on their farm and not for a business then they are ok. If a machine was manufactured with no ROPS, then it is ok to run. This means, basically anything in the 60's.
The guy running the trackloade was moving his body to the side and tilting his head down for more clearance You have to watch the episode to see what I mean I sure wouldn't want to run a machine under a 60 ton house without a ROPs. What happens if the machine ever bumped the house and it decided to drop the guy is dead. What they were doing was making the ground under the house flat so the dollies roll under. What house movers do here is jack the house up and slide it sideways on I beams so they can get onto a flat spot to get the wheels under. I have a feeling that company that was on Dirty Jobs probably got investigated for their work practices.
That show was in the south georgia or louisiana possably arkansaw. I thought it was funny watching that guy work without the rops also. Especially after watching mega movers a few times where they were far more proffessional. Not to mention seemed to know what they were doing.
I have demoed a basement and dug a new one with a trackloader under a house with out a ROPS. Do you really think the guy or I would be much better off with one? If somehow the house did fall it would of just taken longer for us to die slow and painful isn't the way I want to go out.
actually, getting parts for old drott hoes isn't that bad, they either had detroits or case engines in them, commercial shearing or vicker's pumps....cylinder packing kits, undercarriage parts are still all available.
It was probably a good twenty or thirty years ago now, but I remember a case here in town where a guy was killed running a track loader without a ROPS. The machine was inside a parking garage, and the truck was just outside the door. His teeth caught the bottom edge of the truck bed as he was raising the bucket to fill the truck, and the machine tipped up. He was crushed to death against the ceiling of the garage...
I don't think ROPS are going to help much if a house falls on the machine. Rops are rated for the specific machine as they are for Roll Over Protection. Not for load or other things falling on them.
I only have one thing to say about running older equipment and it's very simple. If you can run older equipment, charge the same price and get the SAME amount of work done, per hour, than a guy with a new machine, good for you. And, if you're not busy enough to put that machine to work 40+ hours a week, an older machine works well too.
I am an owner operator and been on jobs ware OSHA has come by. They said they don't want to inspect my machines because they have no jursidiction (sp) over an owner operating his own machinery on his own jobs. These have been jobs for hire not just work on my own property. As I understand it I can not work under another contractor on his job without him getting in trouble but can work on my own jobs with equipment that does not meet most OSHA requirements. I have removed the ROPS on my 975 bobcat when doing a indoor swiming pool demo ware OSHA was at and they did not say anything. Dwan
The ROPs on the machine would atleast give some protection otherwise without it the guy is pretty much sqashed to death. The wood in the floor joists would give so the machine isn't taking the full weight of the house. The workers compensation can come onto a site and give you fines for employees not wearing the proper safety gear like steel toed boots, hard hats and high vis gear.
There again LT-9000, I have no employes so workmans comp has no jusisdection over me or my work. Although I agree there is a place for them, and that is to protect employes aginst co's that want people to work with unsafe equipment or under unsafe conditions. Part of the reason I work alone is because I do not want someone else telling me what I have to do or how I have to do it. For 1 employe I would be required to have a full time book keeper just to fill out the papers. Then I would have to have a machanic to repair my older equipment when the employe broke it. I would have to advertise for more work, do more extimates to get more work to suport the 2 aditional employes that do not produce an income. (book keeper and Machanic) This meens I would also not be the man on the equipment as I am looking for more work. which meens I am now not a producer of income. As you can see with me working alone I produce 1 income and only have to feed myself. but with 1 employe I still only have 1 income and have to feed 4 mouths. it just don't pay.
The Workers Comp will go after a owner of the company if he or she is the sole owner of the company. Most of us wear steel toed boots but the hard hat and the high vis gear isn't worn. If you are a O/op working for the gov't on a road job say they hired your machine or dump truck they force you to wear hard hat and vest. Soon as you step out of the truck or machine you need to have your hard hat on. One thing I got pinched for they asked wheres your hard hat its in the truck you need to wear it. I'am a one man band too if I'am on a residential job I don't follow all the rules for safety gear because all the stuff they want you to wear makes you walk like a robot :laugh
I have excavated under houses that are sitting on cribbing. More people are lifting houses with the cost of building new increasing. It cost about 5 grand to have the house lifted then lowered to the new foundation. My neighbour down the street has a duplex that was just moved to the corner and lifted. After rezoning the lot he can now build a new house beside the duplex. If you are the owner of a company that is run as a proprietorship then you are not eligible to be insured with worksafe. If you own a company that is not a proprietorship then technically you're employed by the company and are required to follow the rules. When you are working as a sub contractor the person who hired you is considered you're employer by law. If you don't make payroll payments worksafe will fine you and the person who hired you.
The houses you were working on bobcatuser were probably lifted up by Nickel Bros or Supreme House movers they are not hay wire outfits. They have done some pretty amazing things here moving the PNE houses to the Coast. The guy on Dirty Jobs only had the house maybe 7' in the air at the most.
kind of a coincidence talking about moving houses... this was on front page of local paper yesterday. moving it into downtown historic district. by the way that is a 1942 Sterling...
I think that guy needs to by a new truck. I doubt that Sterling can handle it, I mean it is sooooo old.:wink2 :Banghead Whatever gets the job done.
The first picture is my neighbour’s house. It took Supreme house moving only 3 hours to move the house and lift it. The other picture is a "heritage" house that I recently dug a full basement for while it was sitting on cribbing. At this point the only original part of the house is the main floor section and two walls. The 442 is a demonstration unit from the bobcat dealer.
I am curious what would it cost to move a house. Reason I ask is my house was put on property wrong. By wrong I meen the front door is actually back or at least from looking at it from road. But real reason is property is like a rectangle and house follows rectangle lenght wise, were it should be width wise. Also would like to move it about 25 yards into better spot ie: higher ground. As it sits now all water drains down hill right through were house sits. Not sure any of this makes sense.
Ford LT 9000, Nickelbros are based out of victoria where I am from... They sure do move alot of houses.. they always have 20 + houses sitting in their yard at all times... but the equipment is never in their yard!!! lol must be busy!!!
I will also bet you didnt hear about the house and the bridge accident that Nickel bros had... not to long ago.. someone forget to measure the bridge they were going over... and well the house got caught up on the bridge... lol that sure wasnt good publicity... made a good story for the new papers tho!!
I would have thought that they would be onto you like buzzards on a gut wagon if they found safety issues with your equipment/job, no matter if you are an owner operator and working for yourself. Learn something new every day I guess. As far as working under a building with no ROPS I would think that a person would at least have a bit of a chance to survive if the building came down. Without it there wouldn't be much of a chance at all.
i didnt realize untill talkingw/ my grandad yesterday that ha was present to watch the house be moved.. yes he is 83 years old, was a cotton and dairy farmer around the Buckeye area untill the late 60 s and then joined ADOT on a survey crew. I AM REALLY PROUD TO CALL HIM GRANDAD. by the way that is a 22 year old driving that sterling. the owner of the company is personal friends of grandads. here is a pic of my idol!
oh yeah grandad said ROPS? what the heck is ROPS? then he laughed and said dont you ever operate anything without it.