Aging and Wrenching

thepumpguysc · May 9, 2018

TRY running over 1 doing 70 MPH.!!!! That friggin thing wrapped around the drive shaft of my "jacked-up" FULL SIZE Bronco so bad it stopped my forward movement.!!! Had to call a wrecker to get me off the hiway. Took a full day with linemans cutters, a chain & a tractor to pull THAT SH*T off the dr. shaft.!!!

callingtheshop · May 9, 2018

Hello everyone here, I'm usually on the Forestry part of HEF but thought I'd ask for some advice here as I'm an old fart now and this title says that in an nice way. I have a two wheeled Toy and every winter I give it a lot of TLC and am finding it tougher to see some stuff on it and was thinking of buying a Magnifying Lamp. Online there's all kinds but little in stores to see an actual lamp. Anyone here use one of these? Any advice for the type and power of the magnification? Clamp base or?
BTW I still like to buy new tools when my old ones are getting worn, I think I'm worth it. I have a Heinz assortment of brands, mostly Craftsman though.
Thanks for any help. I enjoyed all the comments here.

thepumpguysc · May 9, 2018

I work in "fuel injection repair" so there are ALOT of small parts that have to be inspected.. HOURLY.. DAILY..
I bought a handheld w/ a light & 2 flip-out legs from northern tool for about 20.00 that worked GREAT..
I also bought a BIG mounted "swing-out" / "swing-away" magnifier.. I don't know the brand but it has a light also..
I don't know for sure but I "think" they're all standard magnification?? {The office type}
The thing about the office type is it can be moved in & out/up & down to adjust for your eyesight..
& swing away when not in use.. VERY HANDY..
When I left the job.. I left the BIG magnifier.. it was bolted to my work bench.. it only cost 20.ish bucks so I wasn't worried about it..
I've found that my "reading glass's" from walmart are indispensable now adays.. I cant read ANYTHING without them..& they're +175.. whatever THAT means.. Lol

callingtheshop · May 12, 2018

Thanks pumpguy,
That info got me into more information about magnification power which I didn't know.
I ended up in Princess Auto (like Harbor Freight) yesterday and came home with one.
A bit $$ but it seems to work well and the desk clamp is metal and seems solid.

Zewnten · May 17, 2018

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Those knee pads are exactly something I need. I will also look into a standing pad to put in front of my work bench and better boots.

thepumpguysc · May 18, 2018

I WISH someone would have told me about knee pads when I was younger.!!!
I had 1 account that had all big forklifts w/Cummins engines,, the decks were all stamped raised steel..
kinda like a p/u trucks tool box..
After years of working on those things & using rags under my knees.. my poor knees are messed up.!!
Granted, you wont be wearing/using them all the time.. but being able to grab a pair when needed, makes all the diff. in the world..

DMiller · May 18, 2018

Knee pads!! I wish I coulda found a spare mattress from time to time!! To land on as I fell off a truck or trailer.

Going deaf, 35% gone now wit certain frequencies just toast. Bad knees, two back surgeries so far, hands do not respond well to cold or hot. Left eye is a mess, most of my skin is scar tissue anymore, shoulders DO NOT like me anymore.

Ibuprofwhat!!, been on Aleve since came out, thought two were good would drop three at a time, my liver has to look like swiss cheese. Tried the Trifecta for the back, Tramadol, ibuprofen and acetaminophen all at once two each, did SQUAT for the back so just dealt with. Got bad enough had trouble getting in and out of trucks, cars, off bikes and so on got it repaired not fixed as not fixable.

Scars, broken pieces hate to say are part of the deal with wrench bending, wait until you are on the backside of a 1" gun with the wrench holding the nut, it will hurt.

John C. · May 19, 2018

The big guns are just hell on you now days. Last dealer I wrenched for had one of those double hammer Ingersolls that would snap 2,500 pounds if you had a one inch hose and 40 CFM of air. The thing weighed about twenty pounds and you had to hold it over your head to do PC650 on up counterweight bolts. After a while you could feel every time one of those hammers snapped across the back of both shoulders. As for scars I'm probably kind of proud of most of the ones I have. I think of them more as a badge of life. I actually think they look a lot better than the tattoos I see now days.

gruntscoreboard · May 21, 2018

Mines all good

DMiller · May 26, 2018

For now!

Raildudes dad · May 26, 2018

I sympathize with all you mechanics / repair guys. I've had the back thing going for 4 years, 3 surgeries with #4 as soon as I walk the daughter down the aisle in a week

. I am an engineer primarily in the office at this stage of my career so I can still do my job. If I was a mechanic, driver or operator I'd have to be on disability (or retire lol)

CraneInnovation · May 29, 2018

Zewnten said:
I am going on my second year as a mechanic. I am 30 but with my eye on the future. All the mechanics I know, with a couple exceptions, all need or have had major surgery due to job related injuries. How do you guys avoid this or does it just come with the territory and I should plan on developing my administrative career as I get older?

I spent a few years with Cianbro (profile pic related) and if you know them they are HUGE on safety....especially PPE. We had mandatory company stretching routines 1 to 2 times a day. Some would say they were very excessive in many areas!! But they encouraged employees to use company gear at home under the reasoning that it doesn't help them if you're out for a week or a month cause you hurt yourself on a Saturday project. So I started wearing more PPE on personal projects out of habit. I have to say I started to appreciate not having my ears ringing for an hour after running a saw or grinder (I do pro sound work on the side....the ears need to keep making money)....not getting hit in the face or eyes with crap. Not worrying if I'm going to fall out of a tree or off a roof and leave my kids with no daddy. Not hacking out lungfuls of nasty dust, fibers, or who on earth knows what. I've just started making PPE a habit on all jobs now and I think it really makes a huge difference.

I've done a few weekend jobs now where I kinda got made fun of for wearing a mask or tyvek suit or face shield while not on the clock....but it always seems like half a day into it someone admits they wish they weren't spitting out mold, sheetrock, and insulation or getting crap in their eyes all the time. I dunno.....I have to imagine all that stuff adds up along with kneepads, lifting assistance, chemical gloves, etc in reaching 60 or 80 and not having health problems that could have been avoided. I know PPE on the job can be a sticking point and some people can be immense pricks about it but its kinda nice breathing clean air and being able to hear.

Muffler Bearing · May 29, 2018

Even something as simple as safety glasses, I see people using a wire wheel, striking hardened drivers, working a press, just basic things without glasses. I like to say "The only way you could be more useless around here is if you were blind." It's a good mix of safety tip and insult.

thepumpguysc · May 29, 2018

I like that one MB.. think I'm gonna store that one away.. lol

theironoracle · May 31, 2018

Wow! It’s amazing sometimes how when your going through things and you think your alone something like this thread comes into your life. I have been a heavy equipment mechanic professionally for 22 years now. This doesn’t include the summers weekends and holidays cleaning shop parts and steam cleaning starting in gradeschool. I have just recently decided to quit the wrenches. I started to realize in 2017 I just didn’t want to go to work anymore what used to really get me excited was just a burden to do. My body is still fully intact. I been through lots of what I’d described here drinking way to much Mountain Dew and eating packaged food and sweets, drinking whiskey to fall asleep at night, taking way to much Advil, switching to coffee now and eating way better. I always prided myself on how dirty I got during the day compared to how sparkling clean I could get at night. People would ask how I could stand to get so dirty and I would reply it washes off. Well I’m tired of washing off the nasty sewer smelling stuff that hangs out between the torque converter and the transmission of a dozer. The stuff that even with gloves and full sleeves turns your arms black from your finger tips to your arm pits. I started doing real dumb things last year because I was not focused on my job. For example twice last year I shot mysrlf with a pressure washer in the hand! Who holds on to parts with their hand and pressure washers them? One time the tip came off the pressure washer I picked it up and pushed it back in with my thumb over the end of the hole and the machine running and somehow pulled the trigger and I was looking right at it! The only thing that saved my eye was my bleeding red thumb! So many near misses with a toe catching on something when your climbing on and off. So many heavy parts that could have broken or cut off fingers if they had hit just right. I guess what I’m saying here is the mind can give up on the wrenching before the body does so look out for that too before the body suffers from it. I will add more to this thread later but for now BE SAFE! TIO

funwithfuel · May 31, 2018

theironoracle said:
Wow! It’s amazing sometimes how when your going through things and you think your alone something like this thread comes into your life. I have been a heavy equipment mechanic professionally for 22 years now. This doesn’t include the summers weekends and holidays cleaning shop parts and steam cleaning starting in gradeschool. I have just recently decided to quit the wrenches. I started to realize in 2017 I just didn’t want to go to work anymore what used to really get me excited was just a burden to do. My body is still fully intact. I been through lots of what I’d described here drinking way to much Mountain Dew and eating packaged food and sweets, drinking whiskey to fall asleep at night, taking way to much Advil, switching to coffee now and eating way better. I always prided myself on how dirty I got during the day compared to how sparkling clean I could get at night. People would ask how I could stand to get so dirty and I would reply it washes off. Well I’m tired of washing off the nasty sewer smelling stuff that hangs out between the torque converter and the transmission of a dozer. The stuff that even with gloves and full sleeves turns your arms black from your finger tips to your arm pits. I started doing real dumb things last year because I was not focused on my job. For example twice last year I shot mysrlf with a pressure washer in the hand! Who holds on to parts with their hand and pressure washers them? One time the tip came off the pressure washer I picked it up and pushed it back in with my thumb over the end of the hole and the machine running and somehow pulled the trigger and I was looking right at it! The only thing that saved my eye was my bleeding red thumb! So many near misses with a toe catching on something when your climbing on and off. So many heavy parts that could have broken or cut off fingers if they had hit just right. I guess what I’m saying here is the mind can give up on the wrenching before the body does so look out for that too before the body suffers from it. I will add more to this thread later but for now BE SAFE! TIO

That's why MSHA requires an annual refresher 8 hours of training. They know complacency sets in and you need to be reminded that everything out there truly wants to kill or cripple you. It's your job to maintain a healthy respect .

thepumpguysc · May 31, 2018

I agree w/ everything you said, TIO.!!! My mind gave up too.. & then I sat down w/ pencil & paper & figured out "the bills".. & said, screw this.. I don't NEED IT..
Why does anybody GET A JOB?? cuz you NEED money, right?? What you SHOULD BE working for is, NOT NEEDING A JOB.. GET what you need in life first, a house/someplace to live, A SKILL, a decent mode of transportation.. money in the bank & leave the rest behind..

Muffler Bearing · May 31, 2018

I'm sorry to hear that guys. I hate to see wrenches leave the shop. But I know that burn out is a real thing. I think the way I've avoided it is by moving on when I get bored. In 25 years of solid wrenching my longest job was 5 years. It pisses off my wife and maybe HR depts don't like to see a dozen previous employers. But I don't care, it keeps me in the game. When I joined HEF I was working on readymix trucks, then I did a truck dealership (the 5 year stint). Then a year and a half ago I felt it was time for HE again and moved to CASE.
If I can phrase this as advice to current techs, I'd just say, Don't limit yourself. If it's held together by nuts and bolts convince yourself that you can work on it. Once you understand the systems that make everything work you can find the similarities between different machines. I believe that if I had the desire, I could learn to fix railroad equipment or marine diesel, hell I check postings at Sierra Nevada in hopes that there will be an entry level spaceship mechanic position! Sure the size and application will be different, but I really think that given some time I could find my way around something totally new and enjoy the challenge.

Maybe you haven't found the type of equipment you love working on yet. That's why toolboxes have wheels!

wornout wrench · May 31, 2018

I'm with you all the way Muffler Bearing.
My wife calls me a gypsy, always moving on.
My longest stint was 7 years with one company but I transferred divisions 1/2 way through.

The fellow I did my apprenticeship under told me the best thing I could do was to move on and try some other places to work, round out my experiences. I took him to heart and just kept moving hahah
I did go back to work for him and he did get me hired as a manager at one point.

I feel that I get stale if I stay in one place too long

I have been one of the "go to guys" for years. I might not know how to fix it, but I can find the information or I have a friend that can point me the right way.
Having worked on the old logging junk for years, I am one of the old guys that still knows how they work, I can run a grapple yarder in the middle of the night with a flashlight hanging out the window LOL.

And like TIO and Pumpguy, I am just about done with it.
Retirement is June 25th, just can not wait for that day.
That will be 43 years of busted knuckles and sore backs.

Keep it safe guys.

DMiller · May 31, 2018

I had to leave the shops at 25 years, worked on my own stuff from then and a few SPECIAL case pieces now and again but for the most part back, knees, shoulders and attitude would not do it anymore.

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