623 paddle scraper, no dust control(farm\ag. land)

[Baker'sBackhoe]

This sucks. Dust laws dont affect farmers so they can plow fields and drag stuff and the dust doesn't matter, and thats all good, but I got a job running a 623 paddlescraper for a company that does land leveling and nobody gives a f about dust control. Those paddles throw up so much dust. Im just getting frustrated and looking for some opinions on this matter. Im the only one out there making a huge dust cloud every load with paddles on low. there is a water truck out there but I can barely get anything from him because they don't think I need any water. I tell them I'm not asking for optimum, just some dust control but the dust doesn't matter for them, so I will have to load bone dry dirt every day. Any thoughts?

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . Baker'sBackhoe. Dust happens and I would think it is pretty unrealistic to expect any mitigation on agricultural work.

A lot of water would be needed to make any difference and would be too expensive if its just for comfort levels and not needed for the job.

Sorry to be negative but that's the way it is.

It is sometimes possible to gain an understanding of your local weather patterns and plan your day around wind direction in relation to the job.

Cheers.

 

[Tinkerer]

I ran a Caterpillar 613 for only a few hours and worked around a lot of 623's. Like scrub Puller said that is the way it is and take his advice about wind direction. If you can, wear a dust mask, you will need a lot of them if the machine does not have a cab. I saw operators that would have dirt on themselves so bad that they would have it rolling off of them. As far as dust control, If the cut was wet enough to not have any dust you would need a dozer to get through the cut. In the all years I did dirt work I have never seen the cut watered. It is all about production (loads per day). If your life is miserable, and eventually your health will suffer from inhaling all that dust, you really need to look for another job.

 

[Baker'sBackhoe]

thanks that helps. I guess I just let it stress me out too much yesterday. now that I read what I posted it sounds like I'm complaining take my job way too seriously. I do have a cab and nobody else is trips on dust. if I just chill out and do what they want me too want it be ok. thanks again I guess I just needed to vent a little bit

 

[Baker'sBackhoe]

thanks that helps. I guess I just let it stress me out too much yesterday. now that I read what I posted it sounds like I'm complaining take my job way too seriously. I do have a cab and nobody else is trips on dust. if I just chill out and do what they want me too want it be ok. thanks again I guess I just needed to vent a little bit

 

[Stick Pro]

U have a cab what are u worked up about? What part of Cali are u from the dust police are a real pain in my ass here, I am curious if it is as bad your way as it is here.

 

[Baker'sBackhoe]

Bakersfield and they're a pain in the ass here too but they seem to leave the farmers alone. I'm doing a little better about not letting it get to me now, but the top two feet of dry dirt is the worse. I think the water truck avoids me when I need water the most , because he doesn't want to take a chance of getting stuck in the dry dirt. he's okay though I can usually get like 1 load a day if I drag a really flat road through it, then when I get down to better dirt he comes around a little more often. I guess for me its just a little embarrassing throwing up that much dust every load, and it can't be good for the scraper.plus I have zero visibility out the back window. I have to stop and wait for the dust to clear just to see if the can is full. and now the lift lever isn't recentering like it should, & a couple of times I wait for the dust to clear, thinking it should be full, and the cutting edge was like 6 inches off the ground. oh well I guess, I can't see the dust from my house.

 

[Baker'sBackhoe]

Tinkerer, water in the cut can make it difficult for a scraper to get a load, but not often. when it is all about production, that the only way to go, if compaction required , the more water the scrapers can handle in the cut mean less watering and mixing in the fill, not to mention the operators and the machines aren't covered in dust everyday. And no air pollution dust cops writing tickets,(unless you're working on a farm I guess). but I know that sometimes it is impossible when the dirt get slick as snot when you water it,(most the dirt around here is class c, maybe where you are it's different) and there are a lot of operators like that here too, but dust control doesn't take very much water and if somebody need a dozer to get a load, they should probably look for another job.

 

[td25c]

Understand what your saying about the dust off the self loading scraper Baker'sBackhoe . If I have a bigger dirt moving project I try to schedule it about mid summer where the ground is dry & firm but not cracking open from lack of rain . Cant always do that but we try to catch it when the ground moisture is best on a big project .

From what I understand you guys are in a drought situation rite now , I can only imagine what the dust cloud looks like coming off the Cat 623 .

I do have an umbrella & ear protection on the Wabco C - Pull ......

 

[Tinkerer]

Yes, Baker I understand what you are saying about watering the cut to decrease dust and aid compaction on the fill. In my area when the cut is as dry as you are working in, watering is rarely done. I have never heard of dust cops, could you enlighten me as to who or what agency they really are? Around here the adjacent homeowners to a project get a LOT of attention in regards to dust if they call a contractors main office and complain. Noise in or near a residential area from our machines before 7:00 AM also can shut down an early start. But not always.

 

[JDOFMEMI]

Baker

I have seen some 623's on jobs in Arizona that had 500 gallon poly tanks mounted in custom made saddles on the stinger. They had a high pressure water pump mounted, and had built a rack above the top of the paddles to mount fog nozzles on. This worked pretty good, and it had to as the jobs I seen them on had a zero tolerance policy for dust.
When the tank would run low, a water truck would come by and top it off.

Good luck.

 

[GregD1]

Yes there are dust cops here in Az. and they can and will shut you down for dust. The worst part is if you are working next to a field of anything ag and they are making the dust that is blowing on your job, you just got shut down, not them.

 

[Buckethead]

If the dust is really bad, maybe you should wear a respirator? If it's farmland there could be pesticide in the dirt.

 

[Baker'sBackhoe]

ya, there is a drought. that's a good point. plus I'm mostly digging sumps, so once I get a few feet down, no more dust. Might even get too wet as they get deeper, lol. Thanks for the feedback. A water tank on the stinger would be pretty cool.

 

[DPete]

Interesting post about the water tank Jerry, I can see where it would be a big help dust wise. Probably had a switch handy or even an automatic switch on the elevator lever like the old back up alarm switches for the pump. On watering the cut, you have to do it ahead of time, we usually rip the cut even if its not real hard( to let water down) and water a day ahead of starting the scrapers. Much easier if you have a single cut rather than multiple cuts, also make sure the cut is well watered at the end of the shift for the next day. If the material is high clay content you have to back off in the cut as opposed to sandy soil where water has less affect on traction. Pretty hard to control on an ag leveling job, just to much area to keep up with.