A few projects I have done recently

[CM1995]

Thank you for the kind words Casefan. If you have any specific business questions just start a private conversation here on HEF. I might not know the answer but I can share what I know.

DG's can be good projects. They are usually less than 1 AC, have some sort of demo and site utilities which can all be profitable. Most DG stores are not owned by DG but a developer that leases the store back to DG, so vet who you are working for before signing the contract - the owner/developer and the GC.

Fast food joints are another profitable site work avenue. If you can perform the utilities it's more profitable than a DG due the grease traps, dumpster drains and sometimes fire water if it has to be sprinkled.

Auto parts stores are good jobs as well. Most of the big chain stores are all corporate owned which is beneficial when it comes to change orders. They want the store open on time first - cost second. Basically if you can meet the schedule any change order is approved quickly within reason. That can be very profitable.

 

[CM1995]

A couple of pics from the big job we are on.

Friday was a good day. We hauled out 101 loads with 8 tri-axles running at one time. Could have been a little better because the first 40-50 loads were concrete demo and topsoil. They didn't get into dirt until after lunch.

We're hauling to our dump that's around a 30-40 min turn around for 6 of the trucks and a longer turn around for the other 2 trucks going to another job that needs dirt, both of which are off our clock (win-win). We had 4 trucks until 1 PM when 2 more came on.

Anyways made a fair dent of progress from Monday when the crew started taking down trees.

The pile of concrete is the sidewalk that ran from the 325FL on the right down to the left corner of the building. The architects paint swatches can be seen behind the 325. Eventually the ramp and retainer wall on the left in addition to the dirt the hoes are sitting on is all going to be removed. The new grade will be approx. 3' higher than the existing asphalt in the pic by the arena.


This is my best crew - the reason why they are on this job. There's just 2 of them, brothers and they've done this much in a week. They get the new machines, the newest truck and the best technology. We are very fortunate to have them as part of our team. Those 2 don't let any grass grow under their feet and take pride in their work, something one very rarely runs across.



Not too shabby for a weeks worth of work.

 

[CM1995]

A little update on the arena project.

Had a decent week with 2 days of hauling during the spring rains. So far we have moved around 5K CY's in 3 days averaging 12 tri-axles per day. 10 trucks running to our dump and 2 trucks hauling to another project farther away, these 2 trucks are not on our clock they are just getting free dirt. I have another friend in the business that sending his two trucks Monday to get another 20 or so loads - win/win.

End of work today Friday April 24th. The 330 has earned its keep.



Another view that gives a little more perspective on how much dirt the crew moved in 3 days of hauling.



The GC is still ramping up site and project management staff, getting their offices set up and what not. They don't have any of their carpenters on site yet just us, the interior demo guys, sparky's and plumbers so we needed to build a guardrail to protect the dumbasses that come outside for a smoke break.

This is the GC's responsibility however having a 6' + drop off in our working area is not good for our risk exposure nor our schedule as we didn't want to wait for the GC to get carpenters out to construct it. The GC ordered the materials and the crew installed the guardrail - win/win and we gained a few brown nose points which is always a good thing to get up front on a large project.



Exposing and capping irrigation pipes. We have sanitary and storm roof leader lines as well that penetrate the basement walls we will have to cut and demo as we excavate down to grade. We'll have to temporarily re-route the roof leaders as we encounter them which is going to be a PITA.

 

[CM1995]

So my half assed role in this dirt moving operation is to be on our 953 at the receiving end of 350+ loads at our dump, well when I get to be out of the office pushing paper that is..

This was the end of work Wed 4/22. Had two loads of millings come in from a paving company we work with that I spread on the approach so the trucks could stay out the mud as much as possible. The trucks were sinking about 3-4" backing up to dump but the millings helped tighten that up more than I though it would. Still had to keep working with the loader to tighten the path up.



This was the area where the black KW tri is dumping in the pic above the day before. Built a ramp out of the dirt coming in over the other loads of concrete and debris in order to create some space and not have to bounce around pushing concrete off all day. This is the same tree line in the pic above.


This was around load 342-345, lost count last Wed. trying to get the dump weatherproofed for the rain event we had Thursday. I need to get a new wiper for the '53.

 

[CM1995]

An update on our arena project.

End of work today 5/2/20. 5 days of hauling with 8-10 trucks, appox. 700 loads this week +/-. The crew has done a fantastic job.



Well we found out why the dirt in the corner to the right of the 330 above was so wet - 3 of the 4 DIP roof leaders coming out of the basement wall were either broke or not connected to anything we could find.

This one had been broke for Lord knows how long.

 

[CM1995]

The crew has moved a s$%& ton of dirt off the arena site and I've felt every load.

There have been many threads about dump trucks, legal weight limits and axles on the forum which are all interesting to read to see how other parts of the US and other countries move the CY or CM of earth.

Here are a few pics of the common tr-axles we hire on a regular basis to haul dirt, gravel and debris.

This one is an older KW that a friend of mine owns. This configuration can legal gross around 85K on state and local roads here in Alabama.



Another newer KW W500 tri-axle. We had up to 14 tri's running at one time.



A nearly new KW T800 with OX Stampede bed and high lift tailgate. This is a nice tri-axle. If I were to ever buy another dump it would probably be this set up and if I ever do buy another dump truck somebody please send me to the looney bin as I have gone mad.

 

[dirty4fun]

The crew has moved a s$%& ton of dirt off the arena site and I've felt every load.

There have been many threads about dump trucks, legal weight limits and axles on the forum which are all interesting to read to see how other parts of the US and other countries move the CY or CM of earth.

Here are a few pics of the common tr-axles we hire on a regular basis to haul dirt, gravel and debris.

This one is an older KW that a friend of mine owns. This configuration can legal gross around 85K on state and local roads here in Alabama.

View attachment 216636

Another newer KW W500 tri-axle. We had up to 14 tri's running at one time.

View attachment 216637

A nearly new KW T800 with OX Stampede bed and high lift tailgate. This is a nice tri-axle. If I were to ever buy another dump it would probably be this set up and if I ever do buy another dump truck somebody please send me to the looney bin as I have gone mad.

View attachment 216638

The ride to the Looney bin will be a short one for you after this job. As always sure have enjoyed seeing your jobs being done. Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

[hvy 1ton]

This one is an older KW that a friend of mine owns. This configuration can legal gross around 85K on state and local roads here in Alabama.

I wish this was how it worked here. Need a super 18 to get to 80K anymore. We will never get front discharge mixers either. They are starting to spec rear engine PTOs for mixers just to gain another foot or two of bridge length.

 

[CM1995]

The ride to the Looney bin will be a short one for you after this job. As always sure have enjoyed seeing your jobs being done. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Thanks dirty. You are right the trip to the bin win be short after dealing with all these dump truck drivers..

I wish this was how it worked here. Need a super 18 to get to 80K anymore. We will never get front discharge mixers either. They are starting to spec rear engine PTOs for mixers just to gain another foot or two of bridge length.

So a highlift tailgate is out of the question if you want to haul 80K in Kansas? USA Redimix/Cemex has some concrete trucks around here with the rear lift axle, I think the lift lets them have a 10 yard drum but not sure.

On the flip side Georgia does not recognize any lift axles on dump trucks so all they run are tandems or trailer dumps.

If I am moving dirt on site I prefer tandems, they just work better than tri-axles.

 

[hvy 1ton]

So a highlift tailgate is out of the question if you want to haul 80K in Kansas?

Unless you go to quarter frame end dump. Dump trucks used to have a special exemption and all anyone had was tandems and tris, but those days are gone. Everything is quads and quints now along with a half dozen or so super 18s. There is a ready mix company down in witchita that can't bridge more than 7 yards with their front discharge trucks after the rule changes.

 

[jmac]

Awesome job. Are you guys using GPS? We purchased a system last year and it has been great. I do pay a model builder to build the model but it has proven to be worth the investment. Building a hotel currently and have moved over 21,000 yards to date by tri axle using our own trucks to off site dump site. I would love to hire out the trucking but find it hard to get trucks for hire when asking them to dump on remote muddy site. Import in not a problem on the for hire trucks but since I have our own we do it ourselves. This year all dump trucks with tag axles have to be steerable. About $10,000 each to make the DOT happy. Never ends.
We worked through winter and closed down for the virus. Going back Monday can’t wait to get at it again.

The tax funded work is essential and private was not, doesn’t sound fair and it wasn’t in my opinion.

 

[CM1995]

Thanks Jmac.

We're not using GPS at the moment but I am planning on demo'ing a D5K2 LGP with integrated GPS on the arena job. Probably going with Sitech for the hardware, software and model building - at least in the beginning. We'll be using an outside model builder as I do not have the patience nor time for AutoCAD....

What GPS brand/setup are you using and what model builder? PM me if you don't want to answer in the open forum.

We are fortunate as far as for hire trucks go, we have plenty to choose from. There are several companies with 20+ trucks that we can pull from in addition to the brokers for the smaller guys. For us it's just easier to hire out the hauling, put up with the dumb ass's you get from time to time and sign them out at the end of the day.

The reaction and overreaction by the government to this virus in my opinion is something that will be discussed and litigated for years to come in.

 

[CM1995]

A couple of pics over the last week or so.

Loading out the only tandem we had running with the tri's.



Exposed an existing 6" terracotta sewer line that runs the long side of the arena that is above the proposed finished floor elevation. The 3 roof leaders in the pic pouring water were not attached to any more piping. They 90'd down outside the building into the dirt, it's why the dirt around the building was so saturated. I am amazed the waterproofing kept the water out of the lower level.



We are waiting on a change order to remove the terra cotta line that is above finish floor. Finish floor elevation is the bottom of the grade rod in this pic.



The head of security and tail wags showed up on the job to supervise - we received a passing grade on the work so far.

 

[jmac]

Thanks Jmac.

We're not using GPS at the moment but I am planning on demo'ing a D5K2 LGP with integrated GPS on the arena job. Probably going with Sitech for the hardware, software and model building - at least in the beginning. We'll be using an outside model builder as I do not have the patience nor time for AutoCAD....

What GPS brand/setup are you using and what model builder? PM me if you don't want to answer in the open forum.

We are fortunate as far as for hire trucks go, we have plenty to choose from. There are several companies with 20+ trucks that we can pull from in addition to the brokers for the smaller guys. For us it's just easier to hire out the hauling, put up with the dumb ass's you get from time to time and sign them out at the end of the day.

The reaction and overreaction by the government to this virus in my opinion is something that will be discussed and litigated for years to come in.

I bought a Trimble to include base, rover, tablet that included some things like tilt compensation from Sitech. Did not buy machine control yet, it would of be nice to have and is on the wish list but what I have now is awesome. Also we have three dozers, small, med, and large that we use for different steps so not sure what one I would put it on, it cost a lot more to set up a machine. Yes we have to walk around with rover but it is so much nicer than laser and tape measure. Sitech set me up with a good model builder he includes all the layers from cuts and fills,SWPP, utility, building, walks, parking lots, structures everything. No waiting on surveyors, we still have to put stakes in sometimes for things like curbs and structures. You can private message me and we can talk about it on the phone. I can give you model numbers etc.
Another note is GC’s ask if you have it, lost some jobs in the past because we didn’t. Puts you in another bracket, sets you apart from guys that don’t. Charge for the layout work, someone has to get paid to do it.

 

[jmac]

Here we are using for very large cut with many elevation changes.

 

[Nige]

It's a shame that terracotta line couldn't be relocated 2 or 3 feet deeper. In all likelihood it would've outlived the building ..........

 

[CM1995]

It's a shame that terracotta line couldn't be relocated 2 or 3 feet deeper. In all likelihood it would've outlived the building ..........

Actually Nige is against the current plumbing code to have terracotta under a building slab or so the plumber told us. We'll get the change order to remove it and the plumbers will replace it with ductile iron.

 

[CM1995]

Today the H 130 GC hammer arrived fitted to our 325FL with a QC. It was a beautiful day to break in a new hammer.

 

[willie59]

Nice kit. Better plan on getting a rock screen on that cab windshield though. How are the hoses connected at the shut off valves on the stick, can't see that well in the pic.

 

[CM1995]

Nice kit. Better plan on getting a rock screen on that cab windshield though. How are the hoses connected at the shut off valves on the stick, can't see that well in the pic.

Thanks Willie! It's been a long term plan on buying one.

We have a 4x8 piece of plexiglass at the yard for a wind screen (used that term just for our friends across the pond ), haven't had the time to fit it up and didn't need it until today. Hammering at a distance for the moment - kinda like social distancing just more than 6 FT.

The hoses have larger versions of the quick connects found on compact equipment. Swapped the hammer for the bucket today on a trial run. Had to tap both QC's with a hammer slightly to disconnect them and they disconnected easily.