A few projects I have done recently

[CM1995]

Dipstick looks young, with big paws in the photo. He might grow into a large dog. I wouldn't be surprised to be German Shepard size as he has the ears.

We think he is 3-4 months old. His cojones haven't dropped yet. By the size of his paws he'll probably be 90-100 LBS full grown.

 

[colson04]

We think he is 3-4 months old. His cojones haven't dropped yet. By the size of his paws he'll probably be 90-100 LBS full grown.

Sounds like a good dog to guard your equipment yard

 

[CM1995]

Sounds like a good dog to guard your equipment yard

Dipstick is going to have a better life than that - one of the guys took him home, they have 2 other dogs and live in the country.

 

[Labparamour]

Who remembers pop tops?

“Stepped on a pop top
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home”.

That is one sweet lil pup!

Glad you guys found him a good home

 

[petepilot]

“Stepped on a pop top
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home”.

That is one sweet lil pup!

Glad you guys found him a good home

My wife just read this and asked if anyone had checked dipstick for a chip ? She thinks he's a purebred

 

[CM1995]

My wife just read this and asked if anyone had checked dipstick for a chip ? She thinks he's a purebred

Not that I know of. What breed do you think he is?

 

[petepilot]

Not that I know of. What breed do you think he is?

after much looking through all her Id books kay was not able to come up with a breed but she is sure he is not sheppard and still thinks he`s not a mix. as for me idk . a competent vet could likely tell for sure

 

[hosspuller]

My wife just read this and asked if anyone had checked dipstick for a chip ? She thinks he's a purebred

On the subject of chips... I highly recommend that you chip your animals. They can't talk and tell someone, they're lost. Chip also proves ownership. Chipping is easy to DIY and if you register the chip for a year, the registry keeps the info on file there after. One only needs to renew if the info (address, phone number, etc.) changes.
Then when ever I take the dog to the Vet, I ask them to verify the chip is working and placement. (chip can migrate in body)​

 

[CM1995]

My 4 legged companion has a chip, one of the first thing the better 1/2 did when we adopted her.

 

[CM1995]

An update on the arena project.

Rented a 349FL for a the 10x8 box culvert replacement part of this project. Our contract includes demo'ing and replacing 64' LF of the existing cast in place box culvert. The existing culvert is around 100 years old and has a brick floor.

349FL being delivered.



Unloading the first box culvert. The segments weigh in at 31K lbs each so we had to remove the bucket to lift them. Now before we removed the bucket and lifted only with the lifting eye, I called my salesman to double check that we could lift with that lifting eye. He checked with Cat and said that is what it is designed for. We were worried it might pull the guts out of the bucket cylinder but that's the way it's designed.



349 digging an elevator pit. Project super asked if we would dig it so the foundation guys could drill the foundation piers. It wasn't in our contract but it was short work for a 349 with 3.5 CY bucket.



For some reason I always like to see the history that excavations can show us. This was the elevator pit. We excavated down to the existing gravel layer during mass ex. I can only assume this was a crane pad/construction access when they originally built the arena.

The black layer below with red specs appeared to be old buildings that were burned/demolished and left in place. The black layer below the brown clay was foundry sand. Never know what you will run into when digging in the 'Ham.

 

[AzIron]

I think that's a little over kill for an elevator pit I bet it was less than 10 scoops

 

[CaseFan13]

How did the 349 do with the box culvert sections? We’ve actually landed a job breaching the dam on a 27 acre lake and the plans are suppose to call for 8x10 box culverts and I’m wondering if a 100,000 pound hoe will do it or if we need to just set up an appointment for a crane. We’ve never had experience with any sort of box culvert and I don’t wanna bite off more than I can chew.

 

[CM1995]

I think that's a little over kill for an elevator pit I bet it was less than 10 scoops

Yeah it's a big pit. There are two service elevators and a retainer wall between the main floor and the arena area. GC asked if we would dig the entire section out so the foundation crews could get their drill rigs in. I think there are 5 drilled piers in that area.

 

[CM1995]

How did the 349 do with the box culvert sections? We’ve actually landed a job breaching the dam on a 27 acre lake and the plans are suppose to call for 8x10 box culverts and I’m wondering if a 100,000 pound hoe will do it or if we need to just set up an appointment for a crane. We’ve never had experience with any sort of box culvert and I don’t wanna bite off more than I can chew.

Our 8x10's weigh in at 31K lbs each and it's all the 349 wants with no bucket. Our site is flat as well. The 349 does fine setting a box in the hole, it's more of a height issue. We had to get our rigging as short as possible in order to lower the pick point as much as possible.

If you have to carry the culverts across uneven land or up and down slopes you will want a bigger machine or hire out a crane.

We have done smaller 8x6 box culverts before for parking lot detention but nothing this large. To be honest it wouldn't hurt my feelings if this is our last.

If we could have gotten 2 piece boxes (top and bottom) that would've been a lot better. However our local pre-caster doesn't offer them and freight is too high to get them from out of state.

 

[CM1995]

Who thought 8x10 31K LB box culverts would be so much fun...

The top was saw cut and removed. The 349 cleaning out the bottom so Penhall can set up their track saw to cut the walls. Yep that's 2 fiber optic lines and a 6" medium pressure gas main right on top of the tie in point.


Flying a 305.5 rental in to the culvert to clean out the hammered concrete and other debris that has built up over the years in order to prep for our PIP connection.


Putting the first box in place. The first box had a flat face, no tongue or groove so we could drill and epoxy #5 rebar dowels for the PIP connection with the existing culvert.



It was a pain in the damn ass to get that box that close to the gas line and fiber around the shoring cross braces. Had to break rigging and put two cables on one side and two on the other. Fun stuff. The connection was spec'd to be 12" but we ended up with 14" - I think the world will survive.

 

[AzIron]

I thought my job was a pain in the ass but you take the cake this month

 

[CM1995]

Spec's call for a minimum of 6" of #57 stone underneath the boxes. The existing soil is limestone with yellow fat clay veins. The fat clay is soft as hell and the limestone is hard as hell. We had to hammer some of the limestone knobs down to sub-grade. The trench box shifted with the soft soils on the left side. It's been a struggle to keep it somewhat level and clear the new boxes.



Box #2 in the ground and we were getting ready for box #3 on Tuesday around 1:30 when a typical Alabama July pop-up thunderstorm showed it's cursed face. Lost a 1/2 day's production and getting 2 boxes in the ground.



Flying a box in to the hole.



Tractor trailer dump load on #8910 backfill material being delivered. These guys know how to sling aggregates.

 

[CM1995]

I thought my job was a pain in the ass but you take the cake this month

Next week I will have a set of 4 wire rope loops and tea cups rated for over 31K lbs total for sale at scrap prices as I never want to use them again.

This has been one of the most challenging projects of my career. I can't say enough about our guys and how they rise to the challenge - whatever it is. 7 of the 11 boxes are in the ground and we should finish up next week including the next PIP connection.

I'm ready to get back to 18" RCP 4' deep and a few curb grate inlets.

 

[AzIron]

Next week I will have a set of 4 wire rope loops and tea cups rated for over 31K lbs total for sale at scrap prices as I never want to use them again.

This has been one of the most challenging projects of my career. I can't say enough about our guys and how they rise to the challenge - whatever it is. 7 of the 11 boxes are in the ground and we should finish up next week including the next PIP connection.

I'm ready to get back to 18" RCP 4' deep and a few curb grate inlets.

I would be nervous about getting bored to go back to the normal non hair tearing work

Embracing the challenge can be hell but it's good to hear you have guys that rally for there leader it's an awesome dynamic and it's not easy to develop

 

[CM1995]

I would be nervous about getting bored to go back to the normal non hair tearing work

Embracing the challenge can be hell but it's good to hear you have guys that rally for there leader it's an awesome dynamic and it's not easy to develop

I agree to an extent. This kind of job keeps you on your toes and enlightens why you got into the industry to begin with. However when age starts to creep up, you look towards the more low hanging fruit that is just as profitable where one can execute with less effort and risk.

Time will tell. I never say never..