Just some work pics

[crane operator]

Unloaded a tub grinder for a mulch processer, 55,000lbs.

 

[crane operator]

And then went to set some trusses. 100' clear spans and they are snakes. Got 8 of them set, and the crew was warned about bracing them sufficiently, by me and the general. Well they are short handed and in a hurry, and we came back from lunch to see the whole rack settled down onto the roof. Guess what? That's right- not enough bracing.

While trying to explain to them in my very poor spanish that I'm not grabbing ahold of the whole mess 120' away and hoping I can lift it up (7,500 lbs of trusses) without it all collapsing and dragging me into the building- one of them starts pulling screws out of the bracing they have left. That's when I got off the roof and started breaking down crane.

The only thing that kept it from all falling over, is the fact that this roof is going over the existing roof- and it all just sagged until it rested on the old roof. If we would have been wall to wall, it all would have come over.

Its their baby now, I had other work already scheduled, and I don't know what they are going to try to do- I think the trusses are bent enough that the general is going to make them scrap them and start over. I went and got the crane today and brought it home-I've got other work going this week. We're supposed to go back wednesday, but they need about twice as many guys as they had, and someone that's done 100' clear spans before- because they ain't like 50'ers.

 

[crane operator]

And just for fun, after I spent 3 1/2 hours this morning going and getting the 100 ton, my wife informed me we had a small drain issue at the house. Its not working.

So all you dirt guys really needed to offer me up one of those mini ex's so I could have dug down to the septic tank lid. Instead I've been out there with a shovel and a sawzall for the roots. Did I mention my wife planted a creeping vine ground cover thing over the tank lid a couple years ago? The lid hole is ugly in the yard. I was thrilled about that. I held my more colorful language about it until she went in the house.

Everything looks good in the tank, I guess as good as a septic tank can look. I pulled out a big ball of hair and feminine products, and I'm going to need a snake because there's still a clog between the tank and the house.

And in case anyone forgot- its hot.

 

[hosspuller]

Those "flushable" products are the worst. Just because one can flush them away... doesn't mean they go away. I fought that with a house full of teenage girls. "But, the package" says so ...

 

[crane operator]

Unnamed material is back to flowing downhill.

 

[BigWrench55]

Unnamed material is back to flowing downhill.

View attachment 264094

I have had that problem for so long with the ladies of the house. I had to buy my own. I was renting but finally broke down and bought my own. The women in my house go through toilet paper like they own stock in charman or something.

 

[Coaldust]

Son works for a DOD contractor maintaining remote radar stations. Station operators can loose their mental being alone for months. During the great TP shortage of 2020, one particular station received a pallet of Industrial strength TP with the consistency of 80 grit. Operator lost his mind after a couple weeks of that. Flew in his favorite brand. All was not better until the pallet of 80 grit went inside the incinerator.

 

[crane operator]

I had to buy my own

Thanks for the chuckle. I've laughed at this at least three times already, and I'm laughing again reading it now.

 

[crane operator]

A forklift and some manlifts up on a deck. Trusses, and a new tire inflation cage for the shop.

 

[crane operator]

Cell phone building load out. They aren't using this tower any more so the building gets loaded up and gone. I looked at this job months ago, and we've had to reschedule several times. The road in had a narrow gate, and they widened the opening so we could get the semi off the road, but they didn't move the fence. So we had to do a little post removal to get in.

 

[crane operator]

Back to setting the 100' trusses. And a feed mill one of the guys is finishing up on.

 

[crane operator]

One of the guys called, blew a heater line in the lower cab of the 40 ton. In addition to losing the line, he told me the antifreeze was dark and stunk like fuel.

Cat 3126, so we got new injector sleeves/cups and got them finished up yesterday, I just have to get the engine cover panels put back on.

My young mechanic got the injectors and sleeves pulled and reinstalled, but didn't get the oil all out of the cylinders. I was there when we were ready to restart, and bumped the key and knew it was stuck. We pulled the injectors back out and I rolled the engine over a couple of times and got the rest of the oil out.

Flushed the radiator and block a couple times outside, but I think we'll probably need to flush it again in a couple weeks, there's two heaters and a lot of line for the fuel to hide in.

We were having starting issues with this engine, long crank and poor take up, and I think it was directly related to these sleeves. Couldn't make enough pressure for the fuel.

 

[Natman]

The tire inflation cage: I know a guy whose father got struck by a exploding split rim at a local tire shop. 5 kids at home at the time, all pre teen. He never woke up, but lingered in a coma for something like 30 years while his family grew up, got married, went to war etc., and finally passing away last year, so whatever it cost you it's worth it.

 

[DMiller]

Gonna need a little soap and water for that liquid spill in Aisle 3!! Will be FOREVER getting fuel out of the cooling system. I do NOT have the patience for the retards you all deal with, I would be collecting ears for my machine window display.


I second that commentary on the cage, saw a man die from a ring launch, took half one side of his head off in the process. NOT for the faint hearted.

 

[crane operator]

I think in all the tire shops I've been in, I can probably count on one hand all the tires I've seen inflated in a cage. There always is a cage, stuck over in the corner with two old tire flaps on top of it and surrounded by boxes or old tires, but never in use. Mine is getting mounted and I'm going to use it.

Interestingly enough, the day after I ordered my new cage, two guys went to the hospital at a small tire shop nearby. They were trying to seat a tractor tire.





https://www.ky3.com/2022/07/20/several-hurt-after-explosion-tire-store-forysth-mo/

 

[crane operator]

And on the injector cups on the Cat 3126- the cups themselves don't cost much. $30-40 per cylinder. The tooling was kind of spendy- $600 for just the puller. Another member here generously offered the use of his puller, but I had a operator gone on vacation this past week and wanted to get them done while he was off. Its better if I just think of it as a $1000 repair and not how the parts vs. tools breakdown was.

The cat man had the injectors, o rings and the tools all in stock, so that was a plus.

 

[DMiller]

Key take away
When needed, tooling required to restore a machine to function is not spendy even if is. Takes money to make money.

 

[Toolslinger]

Good lord, how much do you need to overpressure a tire to have the rim blow out like that...

 

[crane operator]

I am going to guess that there may have been flammable substances involved.

 

[Toolslinger]

I would think so. Still hard to imagine the steel rim giving up quite like that, before the tire.

There's a reason I dropped off a 50+ year old rear tractor tire last weekend for a new tube... That's way beyond my comfort level.