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some things just make me mad

Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
100
Location
Leavenworth, KS
ok so there is this company that has been coming to my town to do demolishing work. well they torn down one place one day i couldnt make it to that one. well today i managed to go down and watch them tear down a old burger king, well these guys have brand new equipment personally i think the pc 200 they are using is under sized for the job they are doing but thats my opinion. but anyways it just looks like they went out bought this equipment and they are just tearing it up bad, i mean ive never seen a company mess their equipment up as bad. has anyone else ever seen this type of stuff going on????
 

Turbo21835

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2007
Messages
1,135
Location
Road Dog
It happens in the demo business. A 200 will do most of they stuff you want to do when it comes to wrecking houses and small commercial. The bad thing with a 20 ton machine is trying to load high sided trailers. So you usually sit on top of the pile of debris. This leads to things getting caught in the tracks and smacking the counterweight and into the lower windshield if youre not watching. Rebar is a demo mans worst nightmare. you never really know what its going to do. Some times it pinches inbetween grousers. Its really fun when you have a piece come in the cab, nothing like playing patty cakes with some rebar.

How serious of a demo company are they, this is simple to find out. Do they have cab guards on the machine or not?
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
100
Location
Leavenworth, KS
well when they did the other demo on the other building i did not get to see, they subb'd out a company a believe to cut the concrete and foundation? because the pc 200 couldnt really handle it. they are not loading trucks with the excavator they are primarily using i believe a cat 953 track loader. the operators do not know anything, im not saying anyone on here is like them so do not take it the wrong way but these guys are jokes. all they do it tear the place down and sub the rest out so i really do not understand it. and the had i beams hitting both there equipment not rebar from what i could see so maybe they are lucky for now? lol. and as far as cab gaurds, you mean like rails over the windows? well if so no they do not have that.
 

dirt digger

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
598
Location
PA
Occupation
pushing dirt, baling hay, and hitting the books
i think its a little conceded to say these operators know nothing when you saw them once...

i also think for that type of work, especially a one story place like a Burger King a 20 ton hoe is fine. We tear down 2 story houses with our 15 ton hoe all the time, all that is wood though, so loading trucks isn't a problem.
 

qball

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2007
Messages
1,072
Location
il
Occupation
local 150 operator
dude, let'em tear their iron up. more work for local mechanics and weldors.
and when the iron gives up, a new outfit can step in.
it's the circle of life.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
100
Location
Leavenworth, KS
dude, let'em tear their iron up. more work for local mechanics and weldors.
and when the iron gives up, a new outfit can step in.
it's the circle of life.

you got a point, i could care less personally but its just the equipment getting tore up like that, that bothers me if you understand where im coming from?
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
100
Location
Leavenworth, KS
i think its a little conceded to say these operators know nothing when you saw them once...

i also think for that type of work, especially a one story place like a Burger King a 20 ton hoe is fine. We tear down 2 story houses with our 15 ton hoe all the time, all that is wood though, so loading trucks isn't a problem.

i didnt mean to make any of our guys on here seem like bad operators dont get me wrong i know all of you guys are great ive learned alot here. umm as far as the demo part for the size of machine it just depends who the operator is, i mean you probally could do good compared to these guys. hell im not even saying they are bad im just saying they are hard on their equipment.
 

stock

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
2,022
Location
Eire
Occupation
We have moved on and now were lost....
Firstly if you are spending time watching your opposition who is watching your business???,and if you are going to get worked up over something that is beyond your control you will end up with ulsers, a heart attack or worse so let them run their own course ,you watch and control your own , mind your gear and what you can control.

Stock
 

jmz

Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2008
Messages
11
Location
New York
I mean you really don't know enough about these guys to be so critical, so what if they sub some of it out, maybe it is more cost effective to do it that way. One of the keys to running a successful business is knowing your limitations.
 

Buckethead

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2007
Messages
1,055
Location
Waterfront
Occupation
Operator
well today i managed to go down and watch them tear down a old burger king, well these guys have brand new equipment personally i think the pc 200 they are using is under sized for the job they are doing but thats my opinion. but anyways it just looks like they went out bought this equipment and they are just tearing it up bad, i mean ive never seen a company mess their equipment up as bad. has anyone else ever seen this type of stuff going on????

Machines get scratched up on demolition work, that's just the nature of the beast. I can't say without actually looking at the site but, I don't think a PC200 is necessarily too small to demo a small commercial building like a Burger King. The expense of moving a bigger machine, or moving and setting up a high reach demolition machine was probably prohibitive for a small job. Remember that contractor is in business to make money, if that's the profitable machine to use, that's what they'll use.
 

jimmyjack

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
656
Location
rhode island
well when they did the other demo on the other building i did not get to see, they subb'd out a company a believe to cut the concrete and foundation? because the pc 200 couldnt really handle it. they are not loading trucks with the excavator they are primarily using i believe a cat 953 track loader. the operators do not know anything, im not saying anyone on here is like them so do not take it the wrong way but these guys are jokes. all they do it tear the place down and sub the rest out so i really do not understand it. and the had i beams hitting both there equipment not rebar from what i could see so maybe they are lucky for now? lol. and as far as cab gaurds, you mean like rails over the windows? well if so no they do not have that.
i dont know but with comments like this your making me think your someone whos never been in a machine :beatsme " you mean like rails over the windows" that to me says i now nothin about what im talking about and your just bitching about something you really shouldnt be putting 2 cents in,or about how someone operating skills are or the way they run there company:idontgetit
 

milling_drum

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2008
Messages
725
Location
out west lately
Occupation
asphalt mill operator (ret)
Not to take away from demo but, in asphalt milling, its pretty common to see people that don't have a clue. Newer equipment provides the luxury of not having to worry about certain things and they sure don't care if they don't have to fix their own equipment either.
 

Grader4me

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
1,792
Location
New Brunswick, Canada
i dont know but with comments like this your making me think your someone whos never been in a machine :beatsme " you mean like rails over the windows" that to me says i now nothin about what im talking about and your just bitching about something you really shouldnt be putting 2 cents in,or about how someone operating skills are or the way they run there company:idontgetit


I think some are taking this the wrong way. Regardless of seat time or no seat time, it's not hard to pick out an operator that's hard on equipment. One thing that stands out in this forum to me is the fact that most of us are on the same page with our thoughts on people abusing their machine.
I can see how this type of work would be harder on equipment, but the way I'm reading the post from tyler5652@yahoo is that he sees obvious abuse. All he is doing is expressing his concern. No need to rip him apart.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
100
Location
Leavenworth, KS
I think some are taking this the wrong way. Regardless of seat time or no seat time, it's not hard to pick out an operator that's hard on equipment. One thing that stands out in this forum to me is the fact that most of us are on the same page with our thoughts on people abusing their machine.
I can see how this type of work would be harder on equipment, but the way I'm reading the post from tyler5652@yahoo is that he sees obvious abuse. All he is doing is expressing his concern. No need to rip him apart.

thanks grader, i figured everyone would hate me the way this thread went so far. like i said i didnt mean to offend anyone but damn. but ill just keep my 2 cents 2 myself about it for now on
 

Sparffo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
223
Location
Finland
Occupation
Demolition contractor
thanks grader, i figured everyone would hate me the way this thread went so far. like i said i didnt mean to offend anyone but damn. but ill just keep my 2 cents 2 myself about it for now on

I really hate to watch regular earth mowing companys doing demo at too low cost and with the wrong equipment!:mad:
usually they end up with a big pile of waste that they dig down in the back yard, when real demolition companys do it the way regulations tell to do.
The machines get ripped apart by operators who hasn't demo experiece and uses the bucket as hammer etc...
A good demo operator thinks the whole project ahead, so he doesn't end up hiring other equpment to save him from his bad planning, in the worst case he ends up under the building:beatsme

I think a 30 ton machine is optimal for medium size demo, under 2 stories. smaller machines are well suited for wooden structures or material handling, small machines are slow if you have concrete or metall buildings, the tools are dead slow and ineffective. at least here in Finland anything under 31 ton and 3,5m wide move around fairly easily.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
100
Location
Leavenworth, KS
I really hate to watch regular earth mowing companys doing demo at too low cost and with the wrong equipment!:mad:
usually they end up with a big pile of waste that they dig down in the back yard, when real demolition companys do it the way regulations tell to do.
The machines get ripped apart by operators who hasn't demo experiece and uses the bucket as hammer etc...
A good demo operator thinks the whole project ahead, so he doesn't end up hiring other equpment to save him from his bad planning, in the worst case he ends up under the building:beatsme

I think a 30 ton machine is optimal for medium size demo, under 2 stories. smaller machines are well suited for wooden structures or material handling, small machines are slow if you have concrete or metall buildings, the tools are dead slow and ineffective. at least here in Finland anything under 31 ton and 3,5m wide move around fairly easily.

they were using the bucket as a hammer on the foundation, which i thought was pretty hard on the equipment.
 

jimmyjack

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
656
Location
rhode island
i didnt mean to come off so harsh, i was having a crappy day that day so i guess it came off in the post..

try and get some pics next time , maybe that will help me see what your seeing these guys doin wrong:beatsme
 

pushcat

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2007
Messages
162
Location
USA
Why can't you do both? I do. In fact, right now is demolition season. 2 feet of frost has put the kabosh to moving dirt and grading, so I'm looking at a months work of demolition to start on after the first of the year. What do you mean, wrong equipment? An excavator, loader cat, tracked skidloader, and trucks are able to move dirt and demo also. Throw the breaker on the hoe if you need to, and bring the dragline from the sandpit to swing a wrecking ball if needed. I can have 1 rolloff truck and if the other one gets caught up I get 2. I couldn't imagine having a couple million dollars worth of equipment sitting for a couple months of the year.
 

lgammon

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
303
Location
kingsport, tn
i don't want to offend anyone here but, around here demo is kind of hack work. i am only talking about 2 stories and smaller. there is so little money in it, it is not even funny. we priced a 2 story apartment building a year ago for 20 grand and the guy that took the bid got it for 5 grand. this was a bad site to 10 from builings on both sides and a main power line 4 feet off the back of the building, and maybe a 15 car parking lot to work in. so anyone getting in to this is probbably not going to last long so if this is there focus i would be happy that is there going to be a late model parts machine at the bank if the hext year or so
 
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