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any Landfill Operators out there?

x-ka-v8

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2013
Messages
22
Location
Vancouver Island
Occupation
Landfill equipment operator
Hey, I've been working at a Landfill for two years now and was wondering if there are Landfill veterans out there who would be willing to give a young guy some tips on cell building, compaction methods and any efficiency related tips. I've been put through a pretty tough training process and I want to test what I've learned as well as continue to learn new stuff to test out.
 

dust eater

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
70
Location
illinios
I've been working at one for 6 years now. It is alot different than dirt,that's for sure. I won't be near my computer till sunday but glad to have someone to talk about stuff
 

x-ka-v8

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2013
Messages
22
Location
Vancouver Island
Occupation
Landfill equipment operator
Hey, dust eater how do you go about putting layers on a cell in the most efficient way? I know that question is loaded with variables lol! The scenario being you have a compacted cell that is even (no low spots) and has nothing buried in the top couple layers that you would'nt want to dig up, and the waste you are putting down is the perfect blend of squishy and crunchy and last but not least you have time to do this layer right!
I'm looking for any different spreading tips you have, your packing pattern as in which way the machine is facing for your first thru last passes: uphill vs. downhill vs. 45 degrees vs. 90 degrees (cross slope) oh I guess I didn't mention that this is not a flat cell its on a slope.
 

dust eater

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
70
Location
illinios
sorry x-ka-v8 I haven't been near the computer in a while. If you are getting the perfect blend of hard and soft I'm moving up there. today was the first day back after a holiday weekend. I think we got about 5000 tons, almost all food, what a suckfest. we try to build from the bottom up unless we are at the end of the lift. then we'll go from the top down. The state specifies in our permit that we are supposed to build from the bottom up because you get better compaction with the dozers pushing up hill and the packer rolling down.That being said we put our transfer trucks and the tipper on top and the compactor trucks and roll offs on the bottom so traffic flows better.The 8 will push up I'll push the tipper loads down. We try to keep our lifts at between a foot and a foot and a half. Five passes is our magic number for compaction. I like to make my first two passes cross ways, you can cover alot of ground in a hurry. there is some pucker factor on the first pass but after that you can get around pretty good. then my next three passes forward down hill and backwards up. The only time I will roll at a 45 is if I'm trying to work in or out of a soft spot. I think when you roll on a 45 you tear the face up [just too much turning]. That is pretty much our set up whether we're flat or on a slope. the only difference being that all the trucks may be at the same level until we get a big enough flat spot to work off of with the semis then they go up top. Hope that helps. Bob
 

x-ka-v8

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2013
Messages
22
Location
Vancouver Island
Occupation
Landfill equipment operator
All food! That would suck!!! Although where we are we have all the food waste taken out for composting which leaves nothing but couches and plastic (Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit). Ya the perfect blend is a fairy tale I know but I was just curious as to your usual practices w/out taking into account all the variables we encounter daily. That's interesting that you do your first two passes cross ways, we usually save that for last. What is the grade of your face? With a big packer like yours something like a 6:1 maybe 8:1?? At a foot to foot and a half crossways would make sense to me on that grade. I hear a lot of landfills do the two truck deck thing, we've never done that but I could see how beneficial that would be in the busy times, also would force a more quality packer operator if he/she is responsible for building out a truck deck every day.

I was taught by a lady who had been on the packer full time for about 10 years straight (very talented to say the least) she could build a cell by herself and it wouldn't have to be groomed by any other machine at the end because she left no fluffies and the grade was always bang on, they would just spread dirt and move on. She has this method which takes a little more time in the morning but pays of in the long run. It is hard to explain without watching it happen but here goes. If you got time in the morn or when ever (usually takes me 10 min or less on the average cell). You scrape into the packed garbage (Regurge) take out any high spots to leave a level cell and push a 2' or 3' windrow up along the finished edges, leave a 2 foot gap from the actual finished edge so when you eventually roll over it, it will squish 'into place' so to speak. When you are done you will be left with a bowl, just keep adding garb in the bowl till you get up to that windrows height. That regurge sure makes a nice outside edge, no un processed garbage rolls out over the edge cuz of the bowl, the base of the berm is a nice place to get rid of any matresses that keep popping up (we call those zombies).

As for passes my preference is to face the machine downhill for this first pass (I found that the machine is more balanced and packs the garb down in place), then up hill (I find this leaves most the weight at the back end which shreds the garbage), then on a 45 up hill which puts one wheel over the inside edge, then cross slope which leaves it nice and flat. If I don't have time I will leave out the 45 pass. We are told to do 5-7 passes, How I get my 5-7 is do your first run twice (down and up in the same wheel track) then move over half wheel widths as you go across the cell, then same thing when you get to the opposite side down and up twice in same track. This means that every bit of the cell is getting two passes when other people are doing 1. You'd think it would slow you down but it actually doesn't because you waste more time turning around and jostling into position in between passes. That leaves me at 8 passes total if I do the full range of passes I listed above, in reality I do that range of passes over one layer whenever I have time, usually about 3 times in a given day. I will suggest the two truck deck thing at work when we are in a more suitable area, we are capping the mountain at the moment, (all sorts of interesting angles):rolleyes:. Let me know what you think of my techniques I'm open for questions an suggestions!
 

dust eater

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
70
Location
illinios
I hear you on facing the machine down hill, it's my favorite way to run. You're right on with your technique of splitting your tracks and doubling the last pass. right now we are running out of room in this cell so we're doing every thing at a 3 to1 hence why i have to make my first two passes cross ways. my first pass is really a controlled slide. Although the 836 is big it has a surprisingly low center of gravity. Between the food waste and the 6 loads of industrial sludge [thank god for construction debris and coated paper] I get over the course of every morning I'd never be able to move once I got to the bottom if I went down hill first. as it is most the time I've got to put a set of wheels on the dirt next to my face in order to get back up to the top so I can do it again.

once we get in our new cell i'm going to try your way with the windrows right now we are so small i always have garbage coming at me. Boy think of the money a guy could make if you could come up with a way to process matresses.

How do you guys cover at night? We use dirt on our outside edges and the perimeter of the face, then we use 100'x100' tarps that we pull with dozers. They're made out of the same fabric as you would use when filling an under cut with stone they are 10, 10 x 100 panels sewn together. they work good when there is no wind but they sail when the wind gets much over 10 mph which is more often than not between our elevation and our proximity to lake michigan. They are a huge pain but they save a ton time at the end of our day and air space by not using all dirt. plus when we do get rain it's a lot easier to move the next day when I don;t have to bridge mud.
 
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