Junkyard's work thread.....maybe haha

[dirty4fun]

The variety only adds to the job, I have always felt. That's a good attitude saying you will do what ever they want you to do. So many think they are hired to do just one thing and anything else is beneath them. Thinking like that should keep you employed a long time!

 

[92U 3406]

That's what I love about working for rental shops. Variety. Pumps, generators, excavators, skid steers, manlifts. Even have a few D5's and 924's in the mix.

 

[Junkyard]

In OKC today servicing an IMT and making a few minor U/C repairs. Site is right across the street from the bombing memorial. In a couple weeks it will be 22 years since that day. Hard to believe. I remember thinking as it happened this will be the first major event that really hit home for me as a young man in high school. Kind of overshadowed by 9/11 but it was still a dark day in this country. If you're ever in OKC come take a look it's a moving experience.

Junkyard

 

[Junkyard]

Typical week. A little trucking, a little wrench turning. Had some hydraulic leaks on an IMT 220, had to replace the wear bars for the rotary. Also has two welders there with me for two days building up the lugs in the rotary, they were waaaay out of spec. Ran into an interesting deal on it. In the process of changing an o-ring I realized the hole the fitting threaded into wasn't tapped clean all the way around.....a small portion didn't have any threads at all.

Came home this evening and did and idler and tensioner reseal on a friends dozer. About 3 hours start to finish. I like flat rate jobs!

Junkyard

 

[Junkyard]

 

[Junkyard]

Neck deep in the rotary of a 3100 Watson today. Machine was noisy while drilling, found a broken tooth in the right angle drive so we tore all the way into it. Loose bolts on the ring gear etc so we're checking it all, cleaning parts etc.

 

[John Shipp]

Caught it just before self destruct?

 

[Junkyard]

Yeah, we've been hearing it slowly getting worse. Finally decided to swap rigs and bring this one in. Found a missing tooth on a gear in the right angle drive so while we were at it we checked the rotary out and resealed it. Nothing technical just big hunks of iron.

I'm a little out of practice on my safety wire, it started to come back. Only poked my finger once!

Junkyard

 

[Cmark]

Nice job on the lockwire. It's something of an art to get it right. It was taught to me many years ago by a guy I worked with who used to be a helicopter mechanic on the Ark Royal.

 

[Junkyard]

Thanks, I did a few and stood back and it didn't look right to me so I started over and got the hang of it again. As I did them I laughed to myself thinking somewhere an aircraft mechanic has a very unsettled feeling but has no idea why! Too many twists and snap, too long and you don't have it sitting right for the tails to go through the next bolt. I had twelve sets to do so I got it down by the 12th one. It could be 6 months before I do it again.

Junkyard

 

[Cmark]

Some older Cat diffs use lockwire and I've seen some hilarious examples.

 

[Junkyard]

I've seen quite a few that were not even close to right or that would even serve the intended purpose. I have also seen some that were works of art to me. Each twist was the same number and same pitch for lack of a better word. A lot of the surplus Nascar race parts we get are wired slick as can be.

 

[92U 3406]

I used to do a lot of lockwiring back when I did shovel work. There's a neat little tool they have for doing the twists and it works pretty good. I've got to lockwire a bunch of bolts on a 15 speed Roadranger I'm rebuilding and I wish I had the tool still.

 

[old-iron-habit]

In OKC today servicing an IMT and making a few minor U/C repairs. Site is right across the street from the bombing memorial. In a couple weeks it will be 22 years since that day. Hard to believe. I remember thinking as it happened this will be the first major event that really hit home for me as a young man in high school. Kind of overshadowed by 9/11 but it was still a dark day in this country. If you're ever in OKC come take a look it's a moving experience.

Junkyard

If you see the old videos of right after the blast, the cranes on scene along with many of the backhoes and personnel were predominantly from the company I used to work for. The Federal building was only 2 blocks from our Southern Operations headquarters. Later on when the government tried to square up, the owner of the company said there will be no charge, its the least one can do for our country and to help out humanity. He was a bombardier in World War Two and a patriot that knows no bounds. He still goes to the office most days now at 94 or 95. We got small bonus checks that year due to them costs. A few complained but it was the right thing to do in my book.

 

[Junkyard]

OIH it's funny you say that. Sitting there remembering that day I thought to myself, I wonder who did what they did out of duty and who did it for profit. The greatest generation is truly that and I hope like hell some people carry that legancy on. Absolutely the right thing to do, a true class act.

92U- I do have a cheap set of safety wire pliers. They twist great but don't cut worth a flip. May need to upgrade them. It's always something with tools!

Junkyard

 

[92U 3406]

I never did invest in a set. I always used the tool cribs. After a month of working on shovels I decided I'd stay long enough to put some money away and move on. Really wasn't my cup of tea. Too many chiefs and too much standing around waiting for my liking. If a guy put 6 hours in on the tools in a 12 hour shift he was considered flat out lol.

 

[Junkyard]

Lots of places that way. I'd love to work on that monster stuff. I wouldn't work well in a deal like that. I may not go WFO for all 12 hours but I darn sure would work more than 6! We've drilled some jobs where they have to slow us down because we're too far ahead of the guys setting cages and pouring mud. That's our standard pace. We can flat bury crews if we want to. Different strokes for different folks I reckon.

 

[92U 3406]

Its definitely fun when we worked 6+ hours. Biggest electric mining shovels in production. Everything from taking oil samples up to splitting them in half to replace swing rollers and center bushings. We got paid the same whether we sat or worked so it wasn't too bad. Nothing really technical though, mainly grunt work with using feeler gauges and other tooling to align and shim gearcases. I'd definitely do it again in 20-25 years as a slow taper into retirement.

 

[bindian]

Twist the wire all the way to the hole. Single strands of wire break easier.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Junkyard]

A little more weekend work. Friends little JD dozer. Been using a bottle jack as a tensioner for quite some time. Tore it down, rails are shot, holes in bushings, master pin was about to fall out. Top roller was T-totally fubar'd. Strangely enough idler is good, sprockets are good. Not sure about bottom rollers yet, didn't get that far.

Junkyard