wornout wrench
Senior Member
I have a question for the other professional's out there.
Have you ever written a response to a post on the forum, reread it and then deleted it because you really do not want to have your name associated with something that you feel could come back and bite you in the butt?
I have been a heavy equipment mechanic for over 40 years, I love to help people out and now that I am down with my back and not working, I find myself spending way too long on the computer.
I'm not a huge poster, I like to read what everyone else has to say and will throw my 2 cents in on occasion but there have been times when I have written a huge post in reply to a question and then erased it and just gone with a simple "get professional help" kind of an answer or just plain didn't bother.
The ones that just send me over the deep end are the questions about air brakes.
A properly maintained air brake system and a trained driver who UNDERSTANDS how air brakes work and what is required to keep them adjusted and working properly, is a very safe and great system.
When I read a story in the paper about how the brakes failed on a large truck, I just about come unglued. There is no reason for brakes to ever fail on an air equipped truck.
Several years ago there was a post from a fellow that had bought a trailer or something and his brakes were not working properly, sounds like they were just out of adjustment. Several other guys posted some helpful hints on how to adjust brakes. I had this huge post all written up about air brakes, links to manufacture websites, links to gov agencies, all kinds of info.
When I reread everything that I had written up, I deleted it and put in something like "you need to go to a driving school or air brake course" or something like that.
I don't know if there is any kind of a liability factor about what we post here, but I got to thinking that reading stuff on here is not the same as a proper training course. If I post a bunch of information and somebody decides to use it, and something goes wrong.....
The internet is not a hands on training course.
I can explain to you how to adjust your brakes, I can send you to a site that explains about how your bakes work.
But in the end do I want to.
This is just one of many questions posed.
We as forum users are so lucky to have people such as Nige, Cmark, Willie, Lantraxco, Shimmy, Steve (the originator of this site), Tiny and many, many others. The combined knowledge is mind boggling. When these guy talk, I listen. Just the other day, the Thread between Lanway and Nige about a Cat C-9 in high altitude was amazing. I learned a lot.
Now I am not telling people to quit posting or asking questions. Far from it. Bring them on.
I just want you to realize that if you don't get replies right away, it might be because I, and possibly others are thinking about how to word it.
I can give you information about how to do a job, but how you read and interpret it is another thing. I do not want anybody to get hurt using one of my ideas.
When I tell you to beat something with a big hammer, do you have your safety glasses on. If you are using a torch do you have all the proper stuff ready. knowing where a fire extinguisher is before it lights up the machine might seem silly now but when the panic hits...
Proper blocking. Some of the blocking jobs I have seen over the years. Pet Peeve, cinder blocks are not blocking.
The list goes on.
I am not a safety Nazi, far from it. But I do try to do things the safe way so everybody goes home at the end of the day with all of their fingers and toes. One of the worst days of my career was the night I had to phone one of my friends wife and tell her that her husband was in the hospital. That is something I never, ever want to do again.
So as to the title , my question for the other professionals on the forum, do you ever think this way?
Have you ever written a response to a post on the forum, reread it and then deleted it because you really do not want to have your name associated with something that you feel could come back and bite you in the butt?
I have been a heavy equipment mechanic for over 40 years, I love to help people out and now that I am down with my back and not working, I find myself spending way too long on the computer.
I'm not a huge poster, I like to read what everyone else has to say and will throw my 2 cents in on occasion but there have been times when I have written a huge post in reply to a question and then erased it and just gone with a simple "get professional help" kind of an answer or just plain didn't bother.
The ones that just send me over the deep end are the questions about air brakes.
A properly maintained air brake system and a trained driver who UNDERSTANDS how air brakes work and what is required to keep them adjusted and working properly, is a very safe and great system.
When I read a story in the paper about how the brakes failed on a large truck, I just about come unglued. There is no reason for brakes to ever fail on an air equipped truck.
Several years ago there was a post from a fellow that had bought a trailer or something and his brakes were not working properly, sounds like they were just out of adjustment. Several other guys posted some helpful hints on how to adjust brakes. I had this huge post all written up about air brakes, links to manufacture websites, links to gov agencies, all kinds of info.
When I reread everything that I had written up, I deleted it and put in something like "you need to go to a driving school or air brake course" or something like that.
I don't know if there is any kind of a liability factor about what we post here, but I got to thinking that reading stuff on here is not the same as a proper training course. If I post a bunch of information and somebody decides to use it, and something goes wrong.....
The internet is not a hands on training course.
I can explain to you how to adjust your brakes, I can send you to a site that explains about how your bakes work.
But in the end do I want to.
This is just one of many questions posed.
We as forum users are so lucky to have people such as Nige, Cmark, Willie, Lantraxco, Shimmy, Steve (the originator of this site), Tiny and many, many others. The combined knowledge is mind boggling. When these guy talk, I listen. Just the other day, the Thread between Lanway and Nige about a Cat C-9 in high altitude was amazing. I learned a lot.
Now I am not telling people to quit posting or asking questions. Far from it. Bring them on.
I just want you to realize that if you don't get replies right away, it might be because I, and possibly others are thinking about how to word it.
I can give you information about how to do a job, but how you read and interpret it is another thing. I do not want anybody to get hurt using one of my ideas.
When I tell you to beat something with a big hammer, do you have your safety glasses on. If you are using a torch do you have all the proper stuff ready. knowing where a fire extinguisher is before it lights up the machine might seem silly now but when the panic hits...
Proper blocking. Some of the blocking jobs I have seen over the years. Pet Peeve, cinder blocks are not blocking.
The list goes on.
I am not a safety Nazi, far from it. But I do try to do things the safe way so everybody goes home at the end of the day with all of their fingers and toes. One of the worst days of my career was the night I had to phone one of my friends wife and tell her that her husband was in the hospital. That is something I never, ever want to do again.
So as to the title , my question for the other professionals on the forum, do you ever think this way?
