The worst repair job you ever performed.......

That one job that just kicked your butt........the one you will never forget!

Mine was on a landfill operation back in the 90's. I hated landfill equipment anyways but I was a field tech so I had to go where I was ordered. I needed to do some engine work on a K351 Bomag compaction dozer that was operating on the hill when I got there. They pulled the machine off the hill to level ground so I could get my truck up to it which I did. The smell when I got out of the truck was like a brick wall falling on top of me which is nothing new if you have been around this kind of equipment. I got a few tools and climbed up on the left rear drum to open the engine enclosure door. There was something dead around this machine somewhere!! It was close by too because it was a really strong odor.
I had gone back to my tool box several times to gather other tools needed when I noticed fur down low on the drum I was sitting on. Closer inspection made it very clear............there was a dead dog impaled into the drum spikes. After loosing my breakfast for 10 minutes, the operator started trying to dig this carcass out of the drum. Yep, loosing more breakfast quickly followed. I was so sick and my eyes were watering so bad I couldnt even see.
Yeah, I pussed out. I told them there was no way I was working on that machine until they had it cleaned......and I mean cleaned GOOD!
I will dam sure never forget this experience.

LOL.!!!
I'm right there w ya.. Land-fill.. Bomag, steel wheels.. EXCEPT this one would shut-off when on an incline..
YUP, going UP HILL, squashing all that muck & juices..
I ended up pulling the "belly pan" & dropping that 300lb steel plate on my chest.. driving me about a FOOT into the mire..
AFTER wiggling my way out from under it, I hadta crawl into the belly of the beast.. where I found a Racor filter/h2o separator full to the gills w/ crud..
I called back to the shop to get a replacement cartridge & an extra pair of muscles to replace the belly pan..
I'll NEVER forget THAT one..

My own was replacing a Leach Body compactor/ejection cylinder LOADED so they could unload the damn thing. Would work a few minutes then go to the corner and throw up whatever was left onto the lot, go back in then come back out for air to knock the maggots out of my pant legs then go back in. NOBODY was helping until I got the cylinder loose then had two guys outside with a yard truck and a crane to get it out over the top of the cab. I showered like four times trying to lose the stink, had that odor I could not get rid of for a week in my nose, still shudder when watch others working the dumps. Every line, all the hoses, all the bolts would not just come loose had to wrench EVERYTHING apart then back together, took FOREVER, maybe like a couple hours but was a Year off my life!

Reminds me of a similar landfill experience. I had a good friend ask for help picking up a boat without a trailer. Ok no problem I've got a tilting flat deck over. We scavenged the engine and drive from the boat and trashed the hull. My friend had to work and me and another poor guy had to cart this hull to the landfill. I don't frequent landfills much, but I anticipated driving up to the side of a hole and pushing it off. Not so much! We had to off road baja with the truck and trailer. Except it was through nasty rotten garbage and mush. It looked like old kitty litter and the smell was like no other. We drove up next to the semi trailer dumper. I had to get out and wade through the nasty muck to remove the straps and tilt the deck. When I tilted the deck the boat just looked at me. It didn't even move an inch. Really!? Had to flag down a dozer that was bigger than my house, hook a chain to it, and have him drag it off. Worst part the smell and the goo! Now how do I get back in the nice truck with 10 pounds of nasty white goo on each boot. Never ever forget that fiasco.

Had a situation in a previous life at a Cat dealer 40+ years ago on a city D7 from the landfill. Fuel was gravity fed from the tank behind the seat to the pump. In the engine compartment a bracket that secured the line was apparently not tightened and due to vibration rubbed a hole in the metal line. Some idiot wrapped a piece of rubber from an inner tube around the hole and put a hose clamp on each end and put the machine back in service. Well, guess what? engine fire destroying everything up front that was not steel. It took days to get the unit clean enough to work on. Everything in the belly pan other than dirt melted. The undercarriage was full of everything that is taken to the dump. Plastic bags, diapers, dead animals...You can't imagine how bad it smelt. Not a high point in my Caterpillar career.

When working for the Volvo dealer we had plenty of opportunities to visit landfills, transfer stations and other stench pits. None compared to the rendering plants. We had a customer (Coldwater rendering) they had a heated tub gut wagon. It developed a crack below the blood line. That can't happen. So we (I) had to climb in and dig out all the guts, skulls and carcasses from under the heater tubes. All kinds of rot going on. That trailer had had everything from goat/lamb to fish and cattle. Usually when you start welding on a gut wagon, it'll smell like barbecue, not this one. Smelled like like rotten everything from beginning to end. It was a 2 say weld repair after 4 days of cleaning and prep work. Worst work of my life. I just reminded myself that the wife and kids were depending on me, for that , I could handle it.

You guys are going to make me puke again.

Now that's funny, had a guy at work where we could just start talking on these subjects, he would run to the closest garbage can and unload lunch breakfast, whatever was inside, other times would dry heave until left the room. Had another poor sap Reactor Operator, Ex NAVY had been in Sub Service, could get sea sick watching movies unbeknownst when he entered service. Was fine Under Water, but surface running to get in or out of port he would cower in the engine room with HIS bucket. We would enter as a crew ONE at a Time until three of four were around him, then start slightly swaying in rhythm where you would hear "Stop it, Stop It RIGHT Now" from either the CR Super or the Reactor Operator! Before we could all leave he would puke.

Vetech63 said:

You guys are going to make me puke again.

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Pansy boy

DMiller said:

Now that's funny, had a guy at work where we could just start talking on these subjects, he would run to the closest garbage can and unload lunch breakfast, whatever was inside, other times would dry heave until left the room. Had another poor sap Reactor Operator, Ex NAVY had been in Sub Service, could get sea sick watching movies unbeknownst when he entered service. Was fine Under Water, but surface running to get in or out of port he would cower in the engine room with HIS bucket. We would enter as a crew ONE at a Time until three of four were around him, then start slightly swaying in rhythm where you would hear "Stop it, Stop It RIGHT Now" from either the CR Super or the Reactor Operator! Before we could all leave he would puke.

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I'm associating with savages! Man I'm glad to be here.

DMiller said:

Now that's funny, had a guy at work where we could just start talking on these subjects, he would run to the closest garbage can and unload lunch breakfast, whatever was inside, other times would dry heave until left the room. Had another poor sap Reactor Operator, Ex NAVY had been in Sub Service, could get sea sick watching movies unbeknownst when he entered service. Was fine Under Water, but surface running to get in or out of port he would cower in the engine room with HIS bucket. We would enter as a crew ONE at a Time until three of four were around him, then start slightly swaying in rhythm where you would hear "Stop it, Stop It RIGHT Now" from either the CR Super or the Reactor Operator! Before we could all leave he would puke.

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My woman here is the same way. I can sit here and just act like I’m going to puke and her eyes get as big as dinner plates with this look of OH NO on her face. She can’t even hear me puking if I’m sick or she will start too. It’s rather comical

funwithfuel said:

Pansy boy

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That’s MR pansy boy!!

Lets see where will I start, I have annuals of nastiness.

Working in the towing business you will see and smell everything and sometimes touch it too!

Cleaning up a motor home wreck where the holding tank busted open and the road heat has been cooking the soup inside. Cleaning up a rendering semi full of all types of rotten farm critters
that spilled out in a ravine, you through a rope around a dead 300 plus pound poker and it explodes full of maggots. Recovering a septic pumper that some got away. Then the one no one wants
the guy who's been dead in a car for four days in 85* heat that tried to suck start a 357. Finding dead road cooked deer parts on top of truck drive axles. Replacing a trailer relay valve between
the axles of a trailer dripping blood meal and maggots on you then stop in the local tavern after work and have people scatter. And those are only a few but wait there's more.

No landfiill repair horror stories for me. I guess I'm fortunate in that respect. Worst thing I chewed up with a mulcher was a dead cow carcass. Burgers and steaks never smelled too good for another year or so after that stink took up residence in my nostrils. Beavers, coons, possums and other miscellaneous slow critters disappear from my actions every day that I work and most without notice. Those that I do see get mixed in well with the soil and few are the wiser.

My only horror story was the Hunny Wagon when I worked at a campground in my early 20's. That is the poop/blackwater collector that is towed behind a tractor or truck to collect that wonderful blue water from camper holding tanks and transfer it to the wagon and then to the dumping station. For all of you that may camp in RVs and don't know any better, PLEASE do not throw your used condoms or corks (string pull tampons) into the holding tanks. It can really ruin someone's day.

The Hunny Wagon that we had would be hooked up to the blackwater tank on an RV with about 6'-8' of a 3" flexible hose, then ran the "effluent" through a small grinder/pump running off of 120v via extension cord and then forced the mixture through a 5/8" 75' or 100' garden hose into the towed storage tank. The problem was the corks and the rubbers - occasionally they would stop that little pump dead in its tracks once it tried to grind one up. Every time you heard that little pump drag down heavy, you prayed for it to be strong and not quit. Semi liquid solids were not a problem but the artificial man-made stuff certainly was.

So, it's 95 degrees in the shade with high humidity, the pump has come to a complete stop and you have at least 8' of vile liquids heading into the pump plus whatever has been through the grind on the downstream side. Gravity is NOT your friend in this moment. You reduce the length of the intake hose to limit its fill, close off the tank valve so you only have to deal with the squirrelly sh*t tube that is bursting at its seams and try your best to carefully empty that into a 5 gallon pail so as not to contaminate the camp site or back spill it on yourself. That stink is now about you, clinging to your clothes, your skin and every hair in your nostrils. There is NO ESCAPE. You do your best not to lose your latest meal and the lining within your stomach. Oh yeah, and the flies now think you are a good friend! You dump your 5 gallon pail of Mr Hanky juice direct into the wagon and get ready for the fun part.

Now comes the technical part - disassembly of the pump. These were the days before nitrile gloves. All we had was bare hands or heavy rubber Dr Proctor gloves that came past your elbows and were nearly impossible to do technical work with. You take a large slotted screwdriver and remove the 4 screws that cover the impeller section to reveal that day's treasure and dig out the rancid mess. Once the offending man-made material is removed from the impeller section, replace the cover, fire up the pump and flush a little clean water down the line for a quick test of operations.

Now, reconnect to the RV's holding tank and hope for all you're worth that there is no more "treasure" to be found that day. Sometimes I would have to go through this distressed pump procedure 3 times in a day. No shower or soap combination ever seemed to work well enough to clean that stink out of my nose. It was horrible. Of course I always had Tuesday trash days to look forward to - campers that had a lobster boil or clam bake on Fridays or Saturdays had leftover trash that had time to be at its best come Tuesday. WOW, now I know why I love the smell of fresh wood chips so much!

Nothing like some good old fashion gross stories to finish off the day.

yuck

This is all vetech's fault. I blame him for making us relive these horrid moments.
I'd like to see millennials search for an app to do the things we've all done.
Speaking of 'plugs' , I once crawled out from under a loader that had no fwd or rev shift solenoids. Out the corner of my eye , I saw a mouse tail on my shoulder. I jumped like a little girl. The operator was laughing her MFAO turned purple she laughed so hard. That's no mouse honey, that's a super plus coochie plug.
After that, I was known as the plug guy at that transfer station

I was a Paramedic and Fire Captain for 21 years, I bet I could make all of you lose your appetite. I only felt nausea on one call, and I just told myself NO, and pushed it away.

mitch504 said:

I was a Paramedic and Fire Captain for 21 years, I bet I could make all of you lose your appetite. I only felt nausea on one call, and I just told myself NO, and pushed it away.

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My grandpa was fire chief of a local volunteer fire dept some of the stories he had were not to be repeated

not a repair job` but wait until you have to deal with a pail full of used diapers sealed in a van in az. at 118 deg. having been in that pail for over three weeks