I spent the day today cleaning up around the shop and it got me thinking: why do we seem to need so much more stuff to do our jobs today than in decades past? I think this applies to most any construction trades, but for me specifically it’s carpentry, fencing and excavating. For the most part the jobs are the same as they’ve always been, at least in my line of work, but the vast array of tools and equipment many of us contractors have is staggering compared to 20-30-40yrs ago. For example, for many years all I had for ‘heavy’ equipment was a Case 1845c skid steer with a tooth bucket and a set of forks. I put thousands of hours on it building pads, doing flat work for concrete, small clearing jobs, grading yards, moving building materials, unloading trucks etc etc etc and never thought anything of it. Back in the day a decent small excavating contractor would have a backhoe, dump truck and maybe a dozer if he was big time. Now you need a ctl with an army of attachments, mini ex also with an army of attachments, larger excavator, LGP dozer, pad foot compactor (might as well have a smooth drum as well), dump truck, service truck, fuel trailer, on and on, and thats just for the small one to two man operation. Same goes for tools, used to be you look in the bed of a working mans pickup there’d be a 20” standard metal tool box with a small assortment of tools, a chain, a few hand tools, grease gun, a chainsaw and some old steel 5gal fuel cans. Now he has toolboxes mounted all over the truck full of god-knows-what, every cordless tool that Dewalt or Milwaukee ever made, and hand tools out the wazoo, transfer tanks full of fuel, oil, hyd fluid, generator, welder, air compressor, and thats just in his personal pickup, nevermind the service truck. I’m not pointing fingers either, I’m as guilty as the next guy as I probably have way more ‘stuff’ than a one man show needs. I’m personally trying to fight it but it’s not easy. Why have things gone this way? Have we all just become lazy? Too much disposable income (or easy access to consumer debt?) Or have all the trades advanced that much that you actually NEED all this stuff to succeed? Curious what everyone else's take is on this.
Because we can. Life is short, why not?
Its tax deductible, so we buy 2. And there is some truth to that. If we are profitable, after taxes we are only paying $.60 on the dollar for business expenses. As a small time show, I have bought several things because they make my life easier and more productive. Sometimes less productive, but the key is easier. Plus, I have learned how much I am going to torture my kids and grands when they have to get rid of all my stuff. I know, because I've had the same with my parents stuff.
Well duh!! To make life easier, one must make life more complex!
It's simply because, in todays advertising-and-marketing-driven society, we measure ourselves in social pecking order against others, and how much they own, materially. As the old joke goes - a wife says to her husband, "Dear, we can stop trying to keep up with the Jones' now!" And the husband replies, "Why's that, Honey?" Wife; "Because the Jones' have just gone to jail!"
Part of my reasoning is inability to sell off what I no longer need. Still have several things that played a part in my professional life that no longer exist now being retired. Part of history I seemingly refuse to part with. Still have the Mack B-61, and Hobart Bros. engine drive welder I purchased in April, and May 1979 as instance. Haven't used either one in over 25 years for income generation yet I hang onto both; but I have room for the storage. Purchased my dozer citing this particular dozer as I operated when new from the staging yard where it was built, to the truck that loaded and transported it away to the dealer's lot. Most of my junk there is a story behind; important only to me. Never any debt on anything and it don't eat. Just have to store, and at times, trip over it to get to something I do need. Never have needed, or desired to keep up with anybody, or anything. If I wanted it, I was willing to work for it just as I was taught.
Because we live to spend it's a hobby-it's a status symbol having lots of toys including ones in a business. And for the biggest reason no one want's to touch a shovel that is low class, plus the fact society is in love with gasoline, diesel, pistons & lithium.
Not for me. I enjoy tools, equipment, technology and gadgets. Why should one work harder when there is a tool, machine or technology that will do the same with less effort?
Every tool has a purpose and specific job.
Yall are posting faster than I can type
Because spending that effort takes the **** & vinegar out of people which in turn causes less problems because idle hands are evil hands. Plus furthers hand eye coordination.
And I know a LOT of people who continue to buy many new things they hardly ever use, and don't really need.
What I struggle with is at what point are these things actually adding value to our lives. Is it better to have 2-3 pieces of more expensive, higher quality equipment that you can take better care of, or a whole fleet of things, all depreciating, without enough time or resources to properly maintain. Or so many tools, half of which rarely get used, that it’s hard to find what you need.
That's why in construction big jobs are building storage units for all the crap people bought at Walmart and Costco.
Well don't worry people are getting useless anyway--AI is already here. * Developing skills, talent no need to worry about that AI will run every thing. Less is more, the evil of good is better/improved. * People look to everything being perfect, the perfect paint job, the perfect counter top, perfect view, perfect wife, perfect kids. Problem is humans can't stand the fact they are not perfect. *Below is my best and it's full of imperfections and that's good because it was done with nothing more than two eyes, one brain, one hand and one very simple pen. *
Also, tax deductions, if we are talking from a strictly financial point sometimes you aren’t getting as far ahead as if you’d just saved/invested your money and paid the taxes on it. If you are truly buying something you need, then yes the tax savings are definitely beneficial. Otherwise, you are spending 100% to save 40%, if that makes sense. Furthermore, it’s probably an item that is going to depreciate which is just adding insult to injury.
For me, heavy equipment is an addiction and a way of life. I don't need to own all that I do but I can, and so I do. I have a degree but I don't like sitting behind a desk, so I pursue that which is worthwile to me and keeps me sane. We are all on the same one way path....might as well enjoy what we can as long as we are here. It all comes down to a matter of choices for each of us. Everything is a choice - only you make your own path. Freedom and self sufficiency are more important to me than money or an easy life. The items that I own keep me self sufficient and more efficient with my limited time in a day. Sure, I could do with less, and I do in my personal life, but why not use the write off and enjoy what we can? In the end, we don't get to take it with us. Might as well enjoy some of it now if we can afford it and it's not too late.
I have more equipment, because it makes me more productive. I’m faster with a cordless grease gun than with an old pistol grip. I have a welder, torch, tire irons, and more chain falls than anything short of a powerhouse turnaround needs. Sure there’s a local tire man and welders, but they aren’t always available when I need them. I don’t have a good excuse for the chain falls.
I do love equipment as much as the next guy, trucks I have a love/hate relationship with but thats another story. But I really have to think long and hard before adding another piece of equipment to the fleet, especially if it’s not something I’m going to use everyday. Do I WANT the piece of equipment yes, would it be useful yes/probably. Do I want to store it, no. Fix it when it breaks, no. Have something else to maintain, no. And so the conundrum goes
Always liked the LTL, and the LTH but never could afford, (or justify cost) acquiring one as they appreciated in the antique truck arena rapidly as I aged. Probably the only Mack with the "L" cab I did like although much more "roomy" than the smaller "B" series cab which I favor. I learned to use a typewriter proficiently in middle school as had trouble writing then and still have difficulty reading my own hand written notes. Cursive bridged that gap for a spell but got increasingly sloppy. Penmanship grades reflected this too. Never could draw, or sketch freehand but was proficient with a drafting table which helped me along life's journey. Don't know how to use cad/cam and really have no interest, or need, but am willing to learn and would like to build a small plasma table for hobby use. Something else to add to the clutter I guess.
Big question--is speed always necessary? that's what this thread will eventually boil down too. Owning allot of crap will be about speed, getting it done faster.
I try to be a small 1-2 man full time sawmill and part time logging outfit,,, But I ended up becoming a fleet mechanic at an antique logging/sawmill museum, lol!
I'm currently bidding on some stuff in an auction I don't need but figure I can make some money on a few items. Although it's more a hobby machine I currently have the high bid at $20 on a lincoln 225AC/125DC welder with very long cables that looks like it's barely been used. I could make good long booster cables if nothing else. The lowest price I could find new without the long cables was $900cad. A brand new Heat Stream 150,000 btu forced air propane heater for $10. New is over $375. A new Prince manual 3000 psi hyd. pump for $12.50. New is $741us so probably about $1000cad. 11 new cat. 2 top links for $12.50. A brand new GPI 12 volt fuel pump with auto nozzle for $40. There is a little interest in this but new is $741. Things I could use are a 1 ton arbor press for $12.50, a new Lincoln air grease gun for $20, a Lincoln acc. kit for hard to grease fittings for $20, 6 new 2"x50' layflat discharge hose's cw/cam locks for $25. Then there's things I wish I had somewhere to store. A Nederman fume extractor is currently at $125. A Lincoln DC400 multi-process welder is at $60. It is 3 phase but that is a steal. A Frejoth radial arm drill press and a KBC large industrial bandsaw both have no bids at $100. Why do we have so much stuff? Sometimes because of opportunity and/or it's too cheap to pass up.
Only what makes money or does not cost much in return. * Remember 2008? Oh No forgot all about that-but that's in the past, 16 years ago. People have very short memories. Show me a stove and frying pan big enough to cook a RSH plus the Gut's Glory Ram pulling it-when times get tough certain items are tough to eat. What's on that credit card or cards? What's owed in interest combined right down to that hamburger & fries in your belly your going to pay interest on, and the extended warranty that was combined with financed car/truck payments. * People think interest rates are high-no those were left at way to low of a rate for too long. 1980 20%.
Yeah that's what these guys tell all the new Vo-Techs-tools are cheap you need'em all, money is no object when I have the folks card. * Snap-On has a special Vacuum for bank accounts and wallets. *
Anyone that has a lot of stuff needs to come and help me for a day. I cant really say how far along i am on cleaning up my Dads stuff i would like to think half way. He had for 50 + years a business were he bought and sold about anything. He also had a lot of stuff he bought to use or keep. When he was deep into it he needed a van truck and had 5 at one time till he figured out the one he wanted to use . There is one left it has very low miles but time has made it junk. Anything he liked or could maybe sell or use he had several of. Most tractors or vehicals he bought needed work so there was always spare parts or tires . He just hated to see anything go if there was the smallest chance it could be of any worth or reused. He didnt say alot when he started going down hill but he did say he regretted buying so much stuff. I am not angry with Dad about what has happen and in the end i will get part of what the farm brings when its over . This hole deal has opened my eyes to what i need to own to be happy. I am not perfect i have more stuff than i need i use all of it but i can see and want to down size. I dont want to leave someone with the same deal i had to go through.
Cause contractors get paid by the job not by the hour, so speed is necessary and everyone loves money to buy worthless ***** on Amazon.
I envy people that dont want or need a lot of stuff . I guess if you can afford it and its not hurting someone else .
I know how they get paid--nothing quite like a gov job---milking stool and bucket.
If I need it, I will build it if I can, if I can't then I more likely don't need it and if I do need it, it better have more than one purpose of use.
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. I have two excavators to use and the dump truck. There's my skid steer. and backhoe. Dozer too. roller? hoe pack.
^^^This. Perfect example is the cordless grease gun. Wish I would have had one 30 years ago. Another example for us is GPS. The technology has changed how we fine grade projects in a way that has surpassed my expectations. We are so much more efficient on that last .10' then we could ever be pulling strings and using a laser. I wanted to get out ahead of our smaller competition (bigger comp already has it) before they are all running it. It's either eat or be eaten - even in the small business world we operate in.
This is important and something a lot of people overlook when they are keeping stuff around ‘just in case.’ There are a couple old trucks and tractors I own that I won’t sell for sentimental reasons, but everything else is subject to sale based on disuse. I’m almost starting to feel selfish for keeping stuff around, letting it sit and rot, when someone else could make good use out of it.
There is sometimes elegance (even efficiency?) in simplicity, which is one of the basis for this thread. I think sometimes we are bogged down in always ‘having the right tool for the job’ when sometimes just a little extra time or ingenuity would make up the difference at very little cost.
Frankly I don't have time to mobilize all that stuff. My average dig is a day and a half, then the same in a few days to backfill. If things are busy I ping-pong back and forth between a few sites.
Horses for courses. In the sector you work in GPS grading I could see being huge, for me not so much. I have no set specifications and all the plans are only in my head. The final inspection is 1) does it work (ie have proper drainage, compaction, etc) and 2) does it look good. I do agree on the cordless grease gun, it is just plain faster, and as such makes one more likely to grease equipment more frequently.
Wait, how come none of you told me I need a padfoot roller and a service truck ? ? ?
Don't worry folks--emission issues will get solved--it will work as good as a cordless grease gun. * mark my words--that crash--it's a comin.
I luvs me a cordless grease gun. I hate grease. Grease hates me. I hate pumping grease gun handles. Greasy ass hands. grease all over everything. YUK! Cordless makes me a one handed greasing fool. Gun in one hand, paper towels in the other hand. Best money you can spend.
Marty Robbins--Cordless Grease Gun on His Hip.
Don't forget your Lock-N-Lube for the cordless grease gun. That goes right along with Marty's hog leg.
To be totally up to date SK--is it Tactical with night vision.
That sounds like my farming operation, state of the art, in about 1976 lol
I see it this way; the gear is available, and has therefore become necessary. Take smartphones. Go back 30 or 40 years, there were no cell phones. The small time excavator, like me left the house in the morning, and came back in the evening. If you wanted to call him, you either did so before he left, or after he got back, or you left his wife a message during the day. It worked fine, because that is all anybody had. Everything moved slower, but the economy of the time worked with what it had to work with. If I tried to run my business with a landline phone in 2023 I wouldn't have a business. I wish I could ditch the phone, but it can't happen. If all anybody has in town is a dump truck and a backhoe, then that is the pace that the local economy works at.
I still run my business at that pace, by choice, although everyone thinks I’m crazy. It is still very possible to do, I have no website, rarely send an email, and no smartphone. I do have a flip phone but I generally don’t text. All my regular customers know to call me on my lunch break or at the end of the day, otherwise leave a message because I probably won’t hear the phone. I’m covered up with work and no one seems to complain about the way I do business, although they do like to joke about it.
And that's a fact-part of business now is being interrupted/pestered all day.
Love a Lock-N-Lube, have them on all our battery powered grease guns. I wish my competition would get rid of their smart phones, websites and email servers...
I’m still waiting on being pestered and interrupted at least once since I started this whole charade.
Some customers may prefer a contractor who's kind of old school especially if it's not a big or complicated project. In the same context a lot of bigger contractors aren't interested in smaller jobs or jobs that may be a bit of PIA for them to do. A hypothetical example could be someone wanting a swimming pool dug in the backyard. A bigger contractor could do it in record time but it's a big hassle to put plywood down to get into the backyard and hauling the machine in and out in less than day, etc., etc. A smaller contractor with a midi-excavator with rubber tracks and a skid steer set up for this kind of work would be much easier.
Way back in about 1995 when I was an O/O I hated having a cell phone but needed it at the same time. I didn't want to lose potential jobs by missing phone calls. I remember 1 call I asked the caller to call my land line and leave a message and I'd get back them. They wouldn't take a hint and just kept talking and talking. I said I can't talk I'm in heavy traffic and they still just kept talking. Holy crap was it frustrating. Back then there were no distracted driving laws. I'm driving a stick shift truck pulling a trailer in a construction zone and this idiot wouldn't take a hint I couldn't talk at the time. I should have just hung up or put the phone down but I didn't want to be rude. It also never fails that you get calls at the worst possible time. Much like telemarketers. You're in the middle of supper or you're in bed and get a call at 10:45 pm. Should I answer it or not, is it a potential big job?? It's so much nicer if you have someone to take calls during regular business hours. Being an O/O and having to do everything yourself isn't easy and I have a lot of respect for those that do it.
I’m admittedly pretty old school despite being a so-called ‘millennial’, I guess I was just wired wrong. IMO we’ve reached a level of technology that is doing as much harm as good in society. I don’t want to have to rely on gps to navigate everywhere. Use a calculator to do basic math. Or be buried in a phone watching something or checking social media instead of interacting with people. Or take pictures, videos, selfies of everything instead of just living in the moment. I choose to live in the real world, interact with people the way we used to, and not be bothered by all the latest gadgets and tech that supposedly makes our lives better. Smart appliances, smart light switches, or smart shower heads? What a nightmare, how freaking lazy have we become...
As a contractor, you could not be further from the truth. No doubt there is a level that what you suggest is true, like defense constractors, and site contractors at Hanford or the Idaho National Laboratory, but that does not exist in my level of contracting. How about you @CM1995 ?
There is a very very good chance that the next guy will let it set and rot.
That's the level I'm talking about.
I'll let you know as soon as I get one of those sweet federal jobs. Until then I have 2 bids to get out tomorrow, wrap up part of a PITA job for the pavers, move a crew to North AL and get started on pre-con/submittals for an upcoming job.
We have done a number of Forest Service, BLM, and NRCS jobs, but have never found the milking machine! Lol
Get a job at air port-runway rebuild or putting up a maintenance building.
Ironic post is, ironic.
When you break the code - PM me!
We reached that level a long time ago . . .
Probably so, but then it’s his problem and not mine.
How so?
About 20yrs ago by my measure.
Maybe he saw irony in you complaining about excessive levels of technology and communications, all the while you chat on a forum, on a computer and the internet, to a heap of guys located globally!? I must say I enjoyed a time when something was needed to done and you just went and did it, without needing induction courses, permits, training, restrictions and bureaucracy galore......
Well I think it's just perception. The first humans probably thought the first wheel was going to do more harm than good.
Depends on how you look at things, internet forums predate social media by quite a bit, and there were certainly no smart phones back then. As I mentioned above, 2000-2005 is when things really started to go off the rails IMO, I'm good with most stuff up to that point. Edit: 2005-2010 is more like it
It comes down to convenience for me. For instance, 10 years ago, I would never have paid $500 for a fluid transfer pump, or $200 for a battery powered grease gun. But wow do those things make my life easier. The job hasn't changed much. Computers are needed now, but other than that, a grease zerk is still a grease zerk, but now I can lube a PC201 in less than an hour and not be covered in EP grease. Maybe I'm getting lazy in my old age.
Welcome to HEF, this is a social media website and you are interacting with people on here the way we not use to on a laptop, tablet, phone, PC that isn't old school.
I will say I'm very glad for social media like this site and a few others. It has provided me with the most pertinent info needed for issues I've had. Info that a lot of shops aren't willing to give freely. I had a leaking throttle shaft and a shop said I needed the injection pump rebuilt. The late Bob/Ont said BS. If you put the 1st seal in a little further there's room for 2 seals and they'll be wearing on unworn sections of the shaft. I was able to fix it myself in about 15 minutes. Saved me who knows how much money. There are a lot more examples too.
I'm not making money with anything I do or have. It's to make things easier for me. I'm not too good for a real shovel, I'm too lazy. I've got 6 acres of yard that I want to do bigger things with than I have the energy for. My wife, on the other hand, has tons of energy for that kind of stuff, I just help it go faster. I also have too much stuff, usually because I could afford a tool I need once with the anticipation that I'll use it again sometime, and I usually do. For the equipment- The backhoe is the big, dirty chainsaw of the "fleet", but then I found that a tractor with a blade would clean up a fair amount of the backhoe mess, so gotta get one of them, then some beefier tools to handle some of the jobs equipment brings, then all the woodworking stuff in the shop, cutoffs I refuse to get rid of, more handtools, bits, etc. than I can usually find...
All a person needs is a life time supply of --Flex Seal.
Well, you have to admit that somewhere between August 6, 1945 and the rise of TikTok that not all technology is actually helpful to humans . . . in the big picture at least.
About everything has some good to it . A lot of stuff started off to be a great thing like the CB cell phone and a million other things but got used and abused till it got a bad name. One thing that i did was to buy more stuff because i moved around and couldn't take all my stuff with me so i bought more. I had about all the hand tools i needed but i was a hour away from them and didnt have a shop were i lived so sometimes if i needed something i bought another . Also not having a shop close by i had time to mess around and see stuff to buy. If i could push a button and sell every thing i own for a good price then start over i would hopefully end up with half the stuff i have now.
If you want to get technical I guess forums could be considered social media, but not in the same context as facebook, twitter, tick tok, etc. Those are truly just Social platforms, whereas forums are usually industry or topic specific, meant for conversation, and sharing and archiving information and not projecting your gossip on the world. I am grateful for forums like HEF that still seem to be thriving, many are basically dead. In the age of the internet forums are indeed old school. I’d guess the average age of the members on this forum are between 35-75. Ask the social media generation (gen Z) about forums and they’ll give you a blank stare, the vast majority have never been on one, some don’t even know what they are. We are dealing with this first hand in our local four wheel drive club, we’ve had a very well run and active forum for our members since 2005, but it’s basically dead now because the younger members absolutely will not use it. We’ve even updated it to modern software that’s more mobile device freindly so they can get alerts and use it on their phone. It basically got to where it was just a few of us old guys using it so we gave up on it. I think they use something called groupme now, IDK I’m not on it.
Simple, their attention span is too short to stick with one topic and these forums do just that. Forums are now a place to grab information from the few who have stuck around and posted it.
I just read about these clowns on TicToc who were licking toilet seats in a "Covid challenge". I'm admittedly a little slow on my current events, but goddamm that has got to be a new low. Their parents must be proud.
Don't tell my partner but I bought a few things from the auction. Some I needed like the 2" lay flat hose and a radiant propane heater I can use if I have to work on something in the cold. Other items I should be able to make decent money on. I got a brand new GPI 12volt pump with auto nozzle for $40, a 150,000 btu propane salamander for $15 and a Lincoln 225 AC/125 DC welder with extra long cables for $80. I figure I should be able to make a few hundred bucks off these. The welder I was thinking of advertising as a good Christmas present for someone interested in learning to weld and include a welding lesson. I wouldn't mind showing a beginner the basics for an hour or more if they weren't too far away. You can't get that with a new machine. They say there's going to be a shortage of welders and trades in general because a lot of welders are retiring and there's not as much interest in welding with the new generation. I got some other good deals too. Spent a little under $500 but I should be able to make a decent profit on the items I sell. Brand New 12 Volt Fuel Pump Brand New 12 Volt Fuel Pump stuff4.sale Lincoln 255 Welder Lincoln 255 Welder stuff4.sale Six Brand New 2" x 50' Water Hoses. Six Brand New 2" x 50' Water Hoses. stuff4.sale Propane Heater Propane Heater stuff4.sale Radiant Heater Mr. Heater contractor series with folding handle and wheels. Comes with hose. stuff4.sale
that is a deal on the welder. I have gotten by with either other people's wirefeeds or my tombstone buzz box. Having DC changes things for certain. I've come around to a happy place of not having to own everything. I rent what I need and give it back for them to take care of. I could find a little dozer for my very limited driveway work of ~600' of cuts and fills, or I can pony up a few thousand and get to use something large and in charge, and do it over a weekend. Drop it off Friday and come load it up Monday, lowboy driver. The money I spend won't buy a set of rails for a broke down 40 year old machine. It isn't a hobby for me. I don't derive a bunch of pleasure sitting on a Kubota puttering around, so I rent one and use it a day, 4 times a year, for $1200 or so. I'll probably split that with neighbors as I get the lay of the neighborhood.
There are 2 things you can never have too much of. 1 shop space, 2 Tools and equipment. Unless you just live to watch the next foot ball game or nature walk. From day one of turning a wrench ? age 4 or 5? don't know, I learned you never seem to have the right tool for the job, and you can have plenty of tools.
The leads on that welder alone are worth many times what you paid. I learned to weld on Lincoln 225AC, the amount of stuff built and repaired on farms and small shops over the past 50+ years with those welders is probably staggering. I’ve basically had to quite going to farm and estate auctions because I couldn’t control myself when things started to go really cheap. Especially when they get down to the end and are selling table lots for $5. Which reminds me, there are two pallets of stuff I got about 8 years ago from a farm auction and I’ve never touched any of it. But it was cheap and I MIGHT use someday. I’ll probably take it to the next consignment auction. Someone else can buy it and let it sit for years, and so the cycle begins all over lol
Yes, that's what I thought. The cables alone are worth $80. If the welder was dead I could make some really good booster cables but you very seldom hear of these machines dying. I think having DC makes it pretty desirable for someone looking for a good basic welder. I can't believe how much they cost now new. Best I found was $899 on sale without the long cables. I'm thinking of asking about $450 for it. I was also wondering if it might be good to up the price a bit and throw in a basic helmet, gloves and some rods. Make it a package deal with everything needed to start welding. Does that sound like a good idea?
Well I bought some crap I didn't need-the old boss wants to sell out the rest of tools from shop. So I bought the 2 year old Hobart 240 Mig that's had 3 10lb rolls through it for $600, the torch cart and bottles, regs, hoses $ torch head 2 years old $200. Old Lamba 2,500 psi steam cleaner $300.----------------I'll find someone who needs it. * funny thing is I have everything to start a Truck Shop.
You can turn in so many directions it is hard to figure which way. Building 350/400's, bench building the transmissions, making custom collectibles. Riding off towards the sunset on your motorcycle.
I may have spoken too soon. The timing of the auction online is a little confusing. It's weird because the owner called me yesterday and said the auction ends today. He was calling about the axles I had in the sale but there was no interest. There was a counter that went down to zero so I thought it was over. Another counter came up and I wasn't sure what it was for. Now looking at the home page it's the last 24 hours of the sale. It seems stupid to have a counter for days and then a separate counter for the final hours. Have 1 counter that goes to zero and that's it. I did notice none of the items I have high bid have been upped so maybe other's were confused or hopefully they stopped bidding. I'll keep an eye on it for sure as I think there's some great deals even if I might have to up my bids.
I noticed that when I clicked the welder link. Here's hoping you win the bids.
I burnt through 8 of them on the pole barn build alone, got two more on the way. Would offer to buy it, but I got my sights set on a engine driven welder in the future to sit on the the back of a 5 ton.
I can up my bids a little and still come out ahead with reselling a bunch of it. This is the 1st time I've used this auction company. Unfortunately I think they are great from a buyers perspective but bordering on terrible from a sellers perspective. They say they can't afford to advertise on Kijiji which is where everybody buys and sells from. If I had a heated shop I'd have bought the radial arm drill press for $100, cleaned it up with a scotchbrite pad and light oil and flipped it for a 2 or $3000 profit. Nobody bid on it or a very large bandsaw. A 3 phase Lincoln DC400 looks like it will sell for $80. They aren't getting the buyers they need. It seems like the owner is doing it as more of a hobby than trying to be a serious auction company. It doesn't make sense to me selling nickle and dime stuff. Looking at previous sales they've had multiple lots sell for less than $10 and even several at $1 and $2. How can you seriously say you specialize in industrial and welding and appraisals, etc. when you sell junk like they do at farm sales. He says they get more bids being online than live but a farm sale would bring more money than they get. I have high bid on a brand new 2 1/2" bore x 16" stroke hyd. cylinder at $15. I'm sure it would bring 40 or $50 at a farm sale. Even better is a brand new Prince 3000 PSI manual pump for $12.50. The pump would be over $1000cad. to buy. It would work great for making a press or anything else using standard low cost cylinders. I'm kind of shocked actually. I think most of the stuff they sell is liquidations or repo's. I can't see many repeat customers listing general stuff for sale with the low prices they get. He allows you to have subject to conditions or even bidding your own stuff up but he needs to get a bigger clientele. I said I could pay him the commission if I sold some axles privately and he said he also gets the buyers commission if it's through the auction. He takes 35% seller commission and 15% buyers commission. If I found a buyer he'd make a heck of a lot more at even 25% than 50% in an auction because nobody would bid very high in the auction and I'm not giving the axles away.
I assume that's a Canadian site Dave? I was going to also say that except for shipping being quite expensive I may be interested in the welder but I don't think I can come off as much as you are looking for, even without shipping. I'd also be interested in a better bandsaw. Also, even though we always keep renting in mind, thanks Skyking for mentioning rentals again. I'm still wanting to improve my pond and make it a real thing. Next year may be the year I get a bit more serious about it since other projects are getting finished up (ha! They never end!). It'd be smart of me to rent an excavator for a long weekend or something to dig out what I want, (if they could get it to my house).
Lincoln buzzboxes are a dime a dozen, search FB in your area, you will probably pull up 5 within driving distance.
I started off with a Lincoln buss box then went to a auction and bought 2 little ac/dc welders i think they were miller but rebranded? Then i went to another auction and bought 2 big miller welders so I have a miller ac/dc welder i would sell cheap i got 2 at auction . Its single phase i dont think 2 guys can lift it. It would scrap for more than i want or could get selling it but i hate to do that.
You can have to much shop space in the winter when it comes it keeping warm. Now i have a 60x70 i think i had a 28x30 witch was great in the winter for my prodjects. If i was going to stay here i would build a wall in the big building so i would have to heat only half of it.
On these large commercial jobs I am working on, the main site contractor is using drones, to map and measure cut and fill and to balance what is being used on site. I did not get the full run down on the tech he was using but that was his job to do just that and load it in a computer file for others to stake out and do the cut and fill operations. He told me that it makes sure they get paid for all the yardage they actually move and that it was faster and better than using a rover.
Probably more accurate too!
We have been to a few SiTech drone demonstrations. Probably be one in our future.
I have some stuff around here that i got an estate sales that still have auction tags on them from the last owner that bought them before me that didn't use them either! Lol! I love to buy crap. It makes me happy. The only thing more rewarding than using your own tools, is getting a smoking deal on them!
@Old Growth I'll run to the sales with ya. I have self control, like I do at that tavern when I go shoot pool now and then. I haven't had a drink in 34 years now but it does not stop me from going. I did unsubscribe from the auction emails though. I can get lost looking at those listings.
Well there was some last minute bidding. The bandsaw went for $1300. It was about 8' wide and 3 phase power. I got some new 2" hoses I can use and a couple new propane heaters and the welder for $125. The way some of the other stuff I was interested in was getting last second bids, I figured for sure someone would bid $150. No one did. $125 was my limit. There are lots of AC Lincoln buzz boxes for sale from about $100 and up. I found AC/DC versions in rougher shape listed for $4-$500 but without long cables. There aren't a lot of the AC/DC versions. DC is a game changer and it's apples and oranges especially for someone new to welding. It is so much easier to learn and weld with DC. I figure the cables alone are worth $150. I think at a minimum I should be able to double my money but tripling it wouldn't be a stretch. I'll need to measure the cables and see just what I bought. Still wondering if I should put a ready to use package together for someone wanting to learn welding? I think it might make a good Christmas present and I could even give a basic welding lesson. I figure if it was for a younger kid they'd be excited to have some one on one instruction. What do you guys think? I could list it for about $550 or $600 with a cheap helmet, gloves and a few different rods.
So it's a good idea?
I think it's a great idea!
Just make sure you start 'em right with a box of 6013 . . .
damp 7018
I'm sending all my Detroit engine building tools to TS as a Christmas present.
With those online auctions I do as most others do and only bid in the last minute. There is no point bidding ahead of closing because the price changes drastically in the last minute. A lot of times an item will go past my price range with one minute left so I don’t even bother to enter a bid.
I was thinking about TS just yesterday when I was getting the full two stroke experience out back of the shop starting my 6V-92T that hasn't run since early this year. 30 degrees outside with two flat steer tires broken free of the beads, in the mud. Gawd, life is good in the life of a truck mechanic.....
Oh boy --charley brown--I got a rock.
I don't think he likes them? Maybe I can be on the list? Back on topic, I don't think a person can have too much stuff nowadays, since the cost of replacement of anything is now out of sight. Every time I have tossed something I thought was worthless junk, a week later I could have used it, then the hunting and shopping and paying through the nose begins.
I'm an electrician. I used to complain, "The carpenter owns a square, (some don't), a power handsaw, & a hammer. A select few owned a tape rule. The plumber does not own a ladder, might have a four foot stepladder, gets out of his truck with a propane torch & a coffee cup. Plumber parks in the only space in the town, it happens to be 100 feet from the door. Like me, his truck is his tool box, but he carries few enough tools to carry them in his off hand, not interfering with his coffee cup. Both carpenter & plumber are royalty. They show up. They bring their "tools" anything they might need is their boss's problem. If it isn't there, they spit some venom, then go home. From my perspective, only the electrician is expected to show up with materials, tools & permits, get 3 weeks work done in 1, and be cheerful, meanwhile parking 500 yards from the job.
Well, speaking of royalty, around here the electrician shows up with a flathead screwdriver, utility knife and a roll of romex and charges you $25,000 to wire a house . . . lol
Well I picked up the welder today and took it to a trailer shop that let me try it out. I turned the switch and the fan made some noise, great. I grabbed a piece of scrap and went to try it out and nothing, wouldn't strike an arc. I was panicking just a little (or a lot)! I moved the piece of scrap a bit and the ground clamp and I had some sparks. What a relief! It works great. The only rods they had were some Esab OK55 7018 and Esab 6010. I've never used Esab 6010 but it seemed to need the same heat as the same size 7018 but it might have been 5/32" now I think about it. It clearly shows just how smoother and easier DC current is. I roughly measured the cables and the stinger was about 58' and the ground was about 33'. It looks 50' and 25' cables were added to the original cables. I priced new cable and it was $3/ft. in a 25' length ($75) or 3.99/ft. in bulk so the cables are worth about $225. There's a good Bernard style twist type stinger and a Tweco style quick connect on the stinger cable. Here's a couple pics. The last pic. is a 1/8" 7018 fillet weld at 125 amps DC. Could have used another 10 amps but not too bad. It would be the perfect heat for doing vertical up welding. Very smooth arc with no popping for an entry level welder. I won't say budget because these things are crazy priced now. I think I did OK. I guess I'll see.
The Sparky's around here need a course in what SUB-GRADE is when running primary, secondary and other site electrical conduits. Countless times over many projects we've told them their conduit is not deep enough only to get the "yeah it's ok, I got it deep enough" then later see the pissed off blank stare when said conduits are wadded up in a pile because they were to high and would've been above pavement. Happened on our remodel cluster err job downtown. Sparky didn't run the comm conduits deep enough and expected us to pay for them when we clipped them cutting the parking lot down to sub-grade. The top of the conduits would've been in the asphalt. After a cordial demonstration of where the sub-grade, base stone and asphalt is designed to be they begrudgingly accepted their mistake. I still don't think they fully understood though. Plumbers aren't much better but they at least have to make the poop run down hill so they know a little about grade.
Yeah, but they still use the "quarter bubble" method. We helped out a plumber friend install about a 200' run from an existing bank to the sewer main. It was less expnsive to install new than try to repair the existing. Anyway, we get out the rover and shoot the new tie to the building, then went to the street and shot two manholes for line, and created an alignment from the building to the spot selected above the mainline. We measured the distance in COGO, and set our slope per the plumber's direction. Then went and created a slope in the machine control by shooting the beginning and end points and editing the elevation, then went to digging. My plumber friend was nevous as can be that we were going too deep, or not deep enough............by laying his level on the dirt and checking the bubble! After 50' or so he finally trusted us and started laying pipe. Yeah sure, we could have used a laser and stringlined a line to follow, but as was discussed recently in one of these threads, technology need not be your enemy.
Ha! sparkys, plumbers and carpenters got nothing on the crane guys. We're the biggest prima donna's around. I love driving up to the jobsite, waving my arm in the general direction of the front door where everyone is parked. Then I get to say "ALL THIS AREA NEEDS TO BE CLEANED OUT SO I CAN PARK THE CRANE RIGHT HERE ". Its glorious.
That's impressive but do you know what SUB-GRADE is?
Lordy no, if I don't know about it, I ain't liable. Is that what I get into when its hot, and I push through the asphalt into the gray crumbly stuff underneath?
It's the brown, orange, red or other colors below the gray crumbly stuff. Push harder and you'll find it.
The roofers do though--HVAC guy told me roofers go into the crawl space to crap { this was back in 1984}}.
Dave - Good luck with handing on your Lincoln buzz-box welder at a profit - but around here, the old Lincolns and all the transformer welders are only worth the value of the copper in them and in the cables. Technology has moved on big-time in the electronics field. I love the old transformer welders - but I love the electronic welders even more. I've got a little Chinese Rossi 200 amp electronic inverter welder. It uses Toshiba MOSFETS. It cost me AU$199 about 7 years ago. It can run a 4mm electrode no problem, for an extended period. It weighs around 5 kgs and I can carry it around in one hand. It welds beautifully and has never stopped in 7 years, of consistent, several-times a week, welding/small fabrication work. I've even used it build a new open ROPS for my 931B. I'd be lost without it. What is even more amazing, is I just sighted the latest improved model, and it's on special at AU$114!! ROSSI 200 Amp Portable Inverter Arc Stick Welder 20 - 200 Amp current range Super-compact design iGBT inverter technology Pure copper Torodial Transformer Latest Super Stable DC Inverter Technology Welds from 1.5mm to 12mm thickness Industry standard DIN sockets Automatic shutdown system prevents overload and overheating... www.edisons.com.au
I think I have a bit of an advantage that it's a Lincoln. People know Lincoln for welding and see them on trucks all the time. If I was buying a new welder I'd look at one of the less expensive inverters but wouldn't pass up an Idealarc 250 at the right price. If I had power at my property I'd probably keep it so I wouldn't have to fire up the SA200 for some little job. There isn't a lot to go wrong with a transformer rectifier machine. I was gobsmacked at how expensive these machines have become. That's a big part of why I bought it. I really wasn't expecting to get it for $125. I don't think I'll lose on it considering the cable is worth over $200. $350 for the machine and another $125 or so for the cable I don't think isn't a bad deal and to add in a lesson maybe $50 extra. It isn't a really heavy machine like an idealarc but the cables would reach just about anywhere in a home shop or garage. It was slightly cold with 1/8" 7018 but that could have to do with the extra long cables about 90' long.
How deep?
Yep - they found it. I'd like to know the backstory on the parking lot. Obviously poor sub base and probably a lot of water under it.
Well sometimes they use it.
I lost my SH** the other day when they started raising some grade I had put in with the laser. " how would you measure 300' across the site? Would you go get your scale and do it 12" at a time, or get the long tape?" Then I told the story about a job where the plumber kept digging the pipe in as we went downhill through the job. I told him we won't make the target grade and he kept on with his sillyness, Until I scraped across a huge internal footing that had been lowered in the plans, specifically so we could plumb across it. Then we has a "come to working the plan" meeting. I'll be out in a year and I know who pipes right on the grade behind me and who doesn't. Nothing will change between now and then. My filter is broken now and the latter group will be glad when I leave.
I'm confident I do NOT deserve your generalization. I want to know where final grade is, want my ditch 46" below that. 6" of bedding sand makes it 40" deep. Lay a 4" conduit & cover with 10" sand. The conduit is then 36" below grade. And no, I don't believe a customer, or excavator who claims he's going to raise the grade to provide more cover. PVC conduit shrinks 4" per 100 feet if temperature ranges 100 degrees summer to winter. If 3' deep, you might see a 40 degree swing in temp here in VT. At zero degrees, PVC is brittle as glass. 3' to the top of the conduit, it is a forever conduit installation.
No I wasn't singling you out WB just poking a little at your trade. The serious or rather depressing part I'm seeing here is the lack of skill in the so called skilled trades nowadays. Doesn't matter what the trade.
Cool information to know for future endeavors, makes me wonder how my cell phone booster tower is still standing. So if at zero it's brittle as glass, wonder what it's like at -40°, my cell phone booster antennae is on PVC conduit in a tree. Surprised it hasn't snapped off in the past 4 years up there with as cold temperatures get and as high as winds blow.
I also noticed a change in the skill of some tradesmen I worked with. In general terms, if you can google the question, you don’t need to learn it. Google works great if your smart phone has service……. No need to do basic math or for rules of thumb. Just use the calculator and google to figure out the distance between conduit bends to make an offset, not use 30 degree bends and the offset x 2. We learned that kind of stuff because we had to. Nothing more frustrating than to have the apprentice pull out his phone to calculate 2x3. Glad I’m retired.
I got somebody who seems really interested in the welder. He sent 4 e-mails asking if it's still for sale so that's a good thing. Edit. It's all but sold. The first 3 e-mails were within 6 minutes around 3:15 and then another one at 6:25. He said he has cash and never mentioned anything about the welding lesson. He really wants it so I think it's a 99.9% done deal. If he wants a lesson that's OK as long as he's not too far away. I had a feeling I just needed to have the right person see the add. I didn't expect it to be the 10th person to view the add.
Tradesman. The more electronic items shoved in the face of the young, what does anyone expect. GPS-Lazers-Smart phone and so on ----anybody can be a tradesman, contractor, mechanic, farmer just need the phone. Oh I left out the important one-investment banker.
Very far above ground, I seldom see broken conduit. As a riser leaves earth breakage is very common. There is a Wendy's restaurant here with three parallel service conduits running up a power pole. All three are smashed, leaving cable unprotected. Everywhere, I see conduits leaving the ground broken. I probably average 3 to 4 underground services I repair or replace because the installer wasn't deep enough. Not real common, but I know of a few services where water runs out of one end or another that has entered a cracked, or broken conduit. Vermont Utility Rules call for schedule 80 conduit from the bottom of a trench to at least 8' above grade. NEC does not. I'll guess Code hasn't noticed there are states where it gets cold in winter. Nor has Code noticed the cave men & women running snow plows & lawn mowers. Above ground long runs require expansion joints to control expansion & contraction.
I think alot of the problem with the guys now days is they have zero experience building or doing anything before they got into there trade . A lot or most all of us tried to build stuff as kids or played in a sand box . If you have build a bird house you are way ahead on some one that hasnt if you try to build a real house . If you ever played in a mud puddle and made the water drain you learned something there.
^^^ I think you are on to something Doug.
All true, but don't discount the kids. One of my employees has a 13 year old son. He saved his lawn mowing money and bought a 3D printer. The whole concept is foreign to me, but some are starting to build houses using the same principle. When I was a kid picking up a small flat thing not connected by wires and talking to someone on the other side of the globe with it was beyond science fiction. Let's just hope that enough youngsters still get a chance to build roads in the dirt with Tonka trucks before being sucked in to the rapidly expanding technology worm hole.
When I did my service for my house, Eversource requires metal conduit and 90 degree sweep on the pole riser and the transf and hose sweeps metal. They claim that’s where the damage usually occurs. I was not thrilled when the told me the don’t cover the service on the pole but I convinced the guy in the bucket truck after I threw him a can of insulation foam with a 20 dollar bill taped to it.
My dad worked for the RR so he was never around . I can remember trying to build and do stuff one thing thank God is i would not give up and could learn from what went wrong the first 20 tries .
PVC conduit cuts from rope burns. Very long, or bendy pulls we use a steel sweep & 10' of steel conduit to prevent rope damage in the last sweep to see cable. Triplex cable won't friction burn the conduit, but the rope you pull it in with sure will. This is only for pulls nearing the engineered limits of length.
Many of us are farm boys here. You followed dad around and soon you were doing for yourself. We were driving tractors by 10 and learned how to drive the truck as soon as we could reach the pedals.
I've never hit one of your conduits, I promise . . .
My father went out on his own and started a framing crew when I was 6-7 years old. At 10 years old I was on the second story of a house over a full daylight basement "nailing" sheathing with 8d nails for walls to be stood up. That would probably get the old man thrown in jail today.
By 62 I was feeding the calves, chickens & general chores. By 63 I was helping build fence, operating the 9N. By 64 I was in the milk barn, 65 it was changing hand line, it just progressed till 66 and folks divorced I was left there with my mom and sister milking 110 head of Jersey's taking care of 35 acres of grapes and 125 acres of pasture. Mom was injured in the barn in 68 so it was sister and I doing the best we could, for what we knew. Winter of 68 put us out of business, cows aborted in the cold to save themselves. I chopped up 18 heifers aborted frozen to the ground with a ax. Chickens froze solid in the shed. Water pipes frozen to house and milk barn, car, 2 ton and most every thing wouldn't run. only thing I could get started was the 1936 Massy. I had no gloves the wire on the bales of hay cut into my fingers trying to put hay out in bunkers, the silage I hand loaded with a ten tine silage fork. Cows got mastitis milk went for C grade. In the spring the bank was going to foreclose so everything was sold for about 5 cents on the dollar. We left that place with $1,500 dollars. I never went to school much during that time and it cost me. But I found out just how much stuff I need to get by in life and it really isn't much when I thought/think about it. Material items don't mean much to me. I was born in 1956 never stopped working because in the end the only thing people will remember is your work, they can call you a *** a Pr!ck a dick head but they can't say you were lazy.
When you know what some people have been through it can make it a lot easier to understand them and why they do or don't certain things. A lot of people don't like to openly bring up bad or hard times they've been through. They don't want sympathy or people feeling sorry for them. It's very understandable to most. People like my dad who got blown out of a bomber, and was the only survivor, in WW II didn't like to talk about it or bring it up much. He would if he was with other vets who were in the war or went through similar experiences. He was just shy of his 20th birthday when his plane was shot down. It is almost impossible to comprehend what that must have been like to go through.
I remember the winter of 68, Mike. It snowed above the porch slab in Selah and just didn't go away.
To some owning allot is important to others not so much it's just burden.
There is no shortage of materialistic people. I like to have some things like a nice vehicle to drive but I don't need to have the most expensive and best of the best for everything I own. It's funny, when I got diagnosed with cancer all of a sudden none of the stuff I own mattered very much. I just hoped I could get better and have a bunch of years left. Thankfully after the initial shock I realized it wasn't the worst form of cancer and it's a treatable cancer with a good prognosis. I'm really thankful I've got a great Dr. and am in full remission.
I'm in and out of the garage today, unburdening stuff I don't care about anymore. I used to be a computer geek but now I use a chromebook for 95% of what I need to do. There is a growing pile of computer stuff on the table saw, which I do care about. The recycle place will take it all.
What made me, me. Grew up in abusive poor trailer not a wall, floor, or ceiling I didn’t hit or window tossed out of in a mobile home. Always doing chores as a kid should, grew up dumpster diving for clothes and food. Started first job at 10 in rice fields and till the day I ran away my step mom took all my wages for her cigs/pills. Lost my only brother at 17, decided living on streets was better. Did that for few years traveling the US before seeing I needed to do something with life, joined the service. First tour through combat was bit too much took a break. Ex wife left me while in prison for a crime that would have sent me away for life while pregnant with my only son. Cleaned up and went 4 more tours in combat been through few explosions I shouldn’t have lived through. I have PTSD from combat and from childhood, approach with caution.
I remember in 1968, my Dad took us to the Fraser River in New Westminster to see the river frozen over. I remember a tug boat breaking and pushing ice around the train bridge. Dad used to skate there on the river when he was young. Only time I have seen the Fraser that frozen. Cam
Probably the most intuitive line I've ever read on HEF in almost 10 years. I can still remember ditching with the toy Case 688 excavator, and burying scrap 3" PVC out in the front yard, and getting up during the thunderstorm in the middle of the night to watch the water run by the light of the lightning. It was 1987, and I was 8. Thanks, Doug.
I was always trying to dam the water up, making ponds and such. I remember finally figuring out how to make a good dam, which included a spillway fortified with (if I remember correctly) hickory bark to mitigate the erosion problems that had plagued my previous attempts. We had a big storm and the dam held. I was so proud of that dam. My father was not nearly so impressed with my flooding much of the backyard, and I remember the disappointment watching him breach the dam with a rake before he left for work in the morning. Learned a few lessons in both flood control and dealing with regulations . . .
My brother is 3 years younger we had a tonka dump truck ,loader, dozer and some other stuff. The dump truck bed came off we bolted it back on but i also made a wood flat bed . I would switch it back and forth from dump to flat bed. There is a box car on our farm and i think they are in it. I wonder if the flat bed is still around i will go look in the near future. That was some good times .
I had the whole fleet of Tonka toys, Ertl farm toys, you name it. Spent hours as a kid, making paths in the dirt under the shade of an old Maple tree. Pushing dirt, making roads, leveling out houses, plowing fields, etc. In the winter, I would bundle up and push snow for hours. I loved building tunnels through the hard packed snowpiles from when our driveway was cleared. I wore the plastic wheels plum smooth on my dump truck and loaded enough dirt to wear the paint off the bottom of my loaders bucket.
I had one of those yellow Tonka trucks; my father made me a snowplow out of aluminum. It had a nice curve and was set on an angle. Pushing it along at a good clip would make the snow roll off in a glorious curl. I plowed a lot of snow with that truck . . .
I guess I played in the water too--we had a 12'x 25'x25' sump pond to pump out of for irrigation. I remember playing in it with shovels and a cable pull slip behind the 9N, we had to hand dig the silt out each year.
Well if we are going for water playing, 800 acres flooded for rice, out there in boots pulling indigo plants. Pull snap lay on top of rice to dry and die out, repeat. Your hands looked like the color of your blue jeans hence indigo plants.
Finally fortified my spillway when one day I went to the job with Dad. The basements were block back then and the masons left a 1/2 bag of masonry cement next to the remnants of the sand pile. 2 Mountain Dew bottles later, one for cement and one for sand and I had a "concrete" spillway for my pond.
Yep first pull was 550 ft. Contractors hired by Eversource said it was the longest they had done.
I got a quote back from the cat dealer on renting that D3 for the weekend.They will drop it off Friday, pick it up Monday one day rental. 1300 bucks picked up and delivered insured. I'll be so happy to pay that to get to run a nice new piece of equipment and not have to worry about taking care of it beyond normal use. If you're not going to use a piece of equipment all the time, that's the way to go. Less stuff is better!
Is that a standard day rate or a discounted weekend rate? A lot of rental equipment is rented according to the hours put on the machine. Usually 8 or 10 hours a day and extra if you go over it.
How many hours can you put on it for that?
XL or LGP? Our D3 LGP replaced the D5 sized machine but the "new" D3 LGP parked next to our 2004 D5GXL is noticeably larger than than the 5G. $1300 including mob in and out plus insurance and enviro fees is a pretty damn good deal. The next gen D3 is fun to run. Have fun!
it is the XL the narrower blade. I am only making a 9~10' wide driveway so a bigger dozer becomes a liability. If I have the truck and trailer up there I can save 400+ tax doing the mobe if it is from the local Cat dealer. They are only 25 minutes away. EDIT: @Shimmy1 that is a 1 day rental. It works out for me as I am out of the seat staking etc and having two days to get 8 on the hour meter is great. I'd also be hauling in rock on Saturday and laying it down, and I only have one azz for all the seats.
That is a really good price. Around here the only rental place that is close by is United. To rent a dozer that size, delivered, would be around $2000+ for a day. They charge $500 each way for delivery whether its 20mi or 2 blocks away. I try not to rent anything there that I can’t haul myself (legally 17,000lbs) because delivery is such a nightmare. The other option is hire someone to haul for me, but then I’m trying to coordinate three different schedules and for a short term rental that isn’t hardly feasible. That is actually a topic for another thread I’ve been meaning to post: to pencil out the cost of renting vs buying vs paying for hauling on lesser used equipment.
Reading about Skykings weekend hire deal reminds me of a country car hire business that operated about 400 kms (250 miles) N of here, back in the 1980's. The car hire business owner thought he'd offer a good deal - unlimited kms for an all-weekend hire. It wasn't a lot of money he was charging, probably a little more than a days hire cost - for 2 days and 3 nights hire. So he had this little Asian guy roll up on a Friday night, for an all-weekend hire deal. The car hire guy had made it even easier, you could pick the car up 5:00PM Friday night, and return it 8:00AM Monday morning, for the one low charge! So this little Asian guy grabbed this car, and took off. But the car hire guy didn't realise he was a tourist intent on seeing ALL of this BIG States, tourist sites - in just one weekend!! Here's a rough guide of the route he took, on Google Maps below - and with a few detours along the way, he'd finally cranked up over 3,800 kms (2,360 miles) in the 63 hours that he'd had the car!! Geraldton to Geraldton www.google.com The little Asian guy must have only had a few hours sleep over Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights! - because he had to eat, as well as look at the tourist sites! The car hire owner guy was absolutely floored - expecting a weekend user to run up no more than maybe 300-500 kms! He never handed out any unlimited km weekend hire deals like it, ever again!!
The day rate is $690 Week $2180 Month $5370 The month is in line, but that week rate is kinda high IMO. Looking a that I figure overage is ~$87 an hour. I'd be a complete tool to need it more than 8, but there is the option. I'll grub and lose the strippings with the hoe, so it is just some cut and fill inline for 550'
Don't have any contacts that would let you borrow their smaller dozer? Being this is a small and personal job, I'd have no problem with it. I opened up a drainage ditch for the neighbor across the road that was struggling with a 580B backhoe. Basically a straight line push on a slope around the one side perimeter of his field. Later that afternoon he brought over a barrel of red fuel and pumped it into the fuel tank. Took me less than 1/2 hour to do what he had been working with for hours.
No, nobody in the business is like that. It is all about business and the distances are tremendous. I live two hours away from the site and know nobody up that direction, and certainly nobody with a dozer I would borrow. lat time I ran a borrowed dozer it was that D4 that I could walk to the job.
We lean on each other a lot in this area. Some you help free of charge, some a reduced charge, some you avoid with any gratis. I had my tractor down to our property last fall and noticed the farmer across the street doing something around a culvert. We knew his dad, (deceased) quite well but I'd never met this gent. Striking up a conversation with him and ascertaining who he was, wasn't hard to justify the job at all. But, I only had to drive across the gravel road so no travel time.
yeah I'm all about that but I am also borrowing the bosses equipment, so I have to temper it with that in mind. Yesterday I went to look at my wife's cousin's water leak, that I was going to fix gratis. I think we even had to buy the poly pipe and parts for that one LOL! Luckily I stood there and watched the meter, and it passed .005 Cubic feet in 5 minutes. That is a barely leaky toilet. The pipe is crap and has several repairs on it, but not going to do it at this time after observing a 1 ounce leak.
I don't tend to borrow anything unless I'm certain the equipment is in sound enough shape I don't have to repair it to work with it. Borrowed a skid steer once and within about three hours operating time, throttle cable broke, one hydraulic hose burst, and a head gasket on the Wisconsin V465D engine let go while cleaning muck from a horse barn. I made those repairs good, returned it, then purchased my 1845C reflecting I'll not do that again.
Yup, borrow or loan is not a great plan. A very good friend used to borrow machinery from me. After a few rounds of it coming home broken we had a talk. I explained that us staying friends meant NOT borrowing machines. Years later he got in a pinch, wanted to borrow my OLD dump truck for 5 loads of crushed. He promised not to break it. I said: "Yes you will break it, then you'll brag about it." Sure enough a windshield wiper fell off. He apologized profusely & replaced it. That, I hadn't expected. Nor was it his fault.
Well I have an agreement with my rental guy that's similar to the one with my banker. I don't rent or let folks borrow my equipment and he doesn't move dirt. Just like my banker - I don't loan money and he doesn't move dirt. Brilliant relationship.
All my volunteering involves my ass in the seat, my problem of something goes wrong.
Well I at least beat Vetech in discharging ALL my old DD Tools to JY, ALL OF THEM and the Old Cummapart stuff I had still, tune up tools, even had the Old Dial Indicator tune set intact. Timing gauge setup went to last shop I had worked, they were a Cummapart Warranty Dealer that was 1995. Remaining junk I still have assorted odds and ends but are slowly disappearing. As to collecting 'Stuff' I had my time, much of it is already gone, ever more is advertised to leave as soon as some nimrod decides really needs a new paper weight or door stop.
Man, How old were you in 62 and what state did that occur in?
6---Town-Prosser, state Washington. Dad was 12 year Army 34 to 46-Everyone worked-His favorite saying {only perverts sleep past 6 am}.
I missed where you said you were born in 1956. I was reading on my phone. Sounds like you are a tuff son of a gun. I wish my kids knew someone like you. I do not know anyone now that grew up with that level of grit. That is why I believe our county is changing and it will never be the same. Young people now don't have this understanding of hardship, pain, what work could be, and loss. I have been around for a mere 45 years, I don't really know any men now alive that have true grit. Most are soft. I have walked my own fires but not exactly how you were forced to. I have always felt that the fire is what will make you, who you are, and you don't forget what it took to get where you are. The higher the flames the stronger the man.
That could be I suppose--I have burned areas that never healed so I don't know how strong I am anymore.
My dad thought all young men should have to go through basic training just to learn some discipline and physical work.
I have seen that happen to men and I have seen how time and age changes people. I have felt my own strength fade and found injury doing things that used to not affect me. I had the honor of knowing a man that was a soldier and my friend. He was a veteran of WW2, Korea, and Vietnam. He had a fire in his eyes until he passed. The stories he told me about some of those advents that he was involved in are not what is told in our history books today. Remembering war veteran "Ol' Hook" Boutin - The Christian Index Gerald "Hook" Boutin sits in his shop where gun enthusiasts from around the country would want his expertise in specializing weapons. Photo by Rod Collins [/caption] I was saddened by the email that … christianindex.org He is an interesting person if you have time to look him up. He believed in buying the very best match bullets you could get. Told me stories of wishing for good bullets...
Keep your socks dry and clean is next best thing besides a clean rifle. Got a toothbrush, it better be for keeping that rifle clean.
You are right. And from the construction perspective, the clean socks, dam. I got called out on and off for 6 weeks down to Louisiana, to help correct some grading issues. Would be in boots for 14 hours a day, went to a public shower, and wore flip flops to stay off the gym showers floor. I would sleep in my truck, did not want to leave my gear. Well time went by and my angles started itching and I thought i got into some poison ivy while visiting a river. I changed my socks and kept everything clean. But this dang rash did not want to go away. Well me being the tuff type I avoided scratching the itch and it was pretty intense. This goes on for about 3 to 5 months and I finally started scratching my angles and was like ***. The poison must be in my boots. Reckly the rash grows rather large and it is eating my angle up. I don't believe in doctors and refuse to go. Well a buddy of mine sees my ankle and was like that is Ringworm, I get it working out. He went to the Doctor took a pill and it went away. I am still trying to clear the dang ringworm up. RIght now I am using tea tree oil and slowly it seems to be working. I changed into clean socks every day on that job. Should have changed them out twice a day. Oh and next time I will carry a bottle of clorox to hose the shower down BEFORE i use it...
***** dumbasses I run into here sometimes. Good evening laughs with alcohol.