Countryboy
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2006
- Messages
- 3,276
- Location
- Georgia
- Occupation
- Load Out Tech. / Heavy Equipment Operator / Locomo
Well, I'll be the first to post a little "whoopsie" of mine that could of caused me injury if things hadn't happened as they did.....
It was around 2:00 in the morning and I only had 2 more hours to go before it was time to go home. The problem was, the boss man gave me a 3 hour job that had to be completed before I left. I had to dig out the A-frame supports of a conveyor with the backhoe.
The conveyor is about 35 ft. long and is positioned at a 45 degree angle to the ground. The belt carries screenings from the sand screw and makes a stockpile that is moved by a loader when time is available. The tail pulley of the belt sits on a concrete slab about 3 ft. tall with the head pulley being about 15 ft. from the ground. About 10 ft. down the belt from the head pulley are the support legs that sit on a buried slab.
The support legs were 2 pieces of 2 1/2 inch steel pipe that had become deteriorated because they stayed buried in wet screenings all the time. I was supposed to dig these out so they could be replaced with the new supports made out of galvanised I-beam.
I had one of the loaders come over and move what they could from the pile. I then brought the backhoe over from the plant and set up at a 45 degree angle to the head pulley. The screenings hadn't been moved from around the supports in a while so they had become packed. I used the back bucket to pull them down and once I would get a decent pile, I would use the front bucket to move it out of the way.
I got one support totally exposed all the way down to the buried slab. I noticed the excessive deterioration where the supports had been buried and decided to further test the support's integrity before digging any further. I moved about half way down the belt, on the side, and pushed on it slightly with the back bucket. No excessive movement was noticable so I considered it safe to continue digging.
I moved around to the other support and again positioned myself 45 degrees to the head pulley. I started to pull down the screenings and had just swung my second bucket away from the belt when a big chunk of screenings sloughed of exposing the LACK of the other support. There was actually a foot gap between the ends of the support that had rusted away. The packed screenings had actually been supporting the conveyor.
As soon as I made this observation, I noticed the conveyor start to lean in my direction. I immediately swung the seat around, threw it into forward and put the pedal to the floor. All of the sudden there was a violent shake and then the front end of the backhoe came about 3 ft. off the ground. Everything was quiet....
After the stars stopped spinning from around my head, I turned around to see what had happened.
When the conveyor had collapsed, the head pulley had ripped about 2 inches out of the corner of the roof. It had then come to rest on the boom, which was still extended, and had lifted the front end off the ground. I climbed off the machine to see why my desperate attempts at moving had been unsuccessful.
In my hurried state, I had forgotten to raise the outriggers which had left the rear wheels a couple inches off the ground. The wheels was spinning but I wasn't getting no traction....
In the end, they replaced a pinched metal hydraulic line and the fiberglass roof skin. While I felt like I had been in a battle with Mike Tyson, I had no injuries. If I had been a couple of inches closer to the belt, it would've squarely caught the corner of the ROPS and probably collapsed them somewhat as they were never meant to support that kind of weight.
On Edit: Here's a picture I made to better explain the situation.
A couple things I learned:
1. When attempting to move a backhoe, the outriggers must be raised.
2. When digging around unstable structures, stay far enough away so that if the structure falls, it will not contact yourself or the machine.
3. Have a spotter when working around unstable structures. They are focused on the structure while you are free to operate.
4. Always wear your seat belt if the machine is equipped with roll over protection. If I hadn't had my seatbelt on, I would've ended up back there at the contact point.
5. Never leave the machine unless you have a clear view of what is happening and are absolutely sure you can make it out of harms way. The roof had my view blocked leaving me no way to determine exactly where the conveyor would've made contact. If I had decided to leave the machine, I could've jumped directly into harms way.
Well, this thread is now open for discussion.
It was around 2:00 in the morning and I only had 2 more hours to go before it was time to go home. The problem was, the boss man gave me a 3 hour job that had to be completed before I left. I had to dig out the A-frame supports of a conveyor with the backhoe.
The conveyor is about 35 ft. long and is positioned at a 45 degree angle to the ground. The belt carries screenings from the sand screw and makes a stockpile that is moved by a loader when time is available. The tail pulley of the belt sits on a concrete slab about 3 ft. tall with the head pulley being about 15 ft. from the ground. About 10 ft. down the belt from the head pulley are the support legs that sit on a buried slab.
The support legs were 2 pieces of 2 1/2 inch steel pipe that had become deteriorated because they stayed buried in wet screenings all the time. I was supposed to dig these out so they could be replaced with the new supports made out of galvanised I-beam.
I had one of the loaders come over and move what they could from the pile. I then brought the backhoe over from the plant and set up at a 45 degree angle to the head pulley. The screenings hadn't been moved from around the supports in a while so they had become packed. I used the back bucket to pull them down and once I would get a decent pile, I would use the front bucket to move it out of the way.
I got one support totally exposed all the way down to the buried slab. I noticed the excessive deterioration where the supports had been buried and decided to further test the support's integrity before digging any further. I moved about half way down the belt, on the side, and pushed on it slightly with the back bucket. No excessive movement was noticable so I considered it safe to continue digging.
I moved around to the other support and again positioned myself 45 degrees to the head pulley. I started to pull down the screenings and had just swung my second bucket away from the belt when a big chunk of screenings sloughed of exposing the LACK of the other support. There was actually a foot gap between the ends of the support that had rusted away. The packed screenings had actually been supporting the conveyor.
As soon as I made this observation, I noticed the conveyor start to lean in my direction. I immediately swung the seat around, threw it into forward and put the pedal to the floor. All of the sudden there was a violent shake and then the front end of the backhoe came about 3 ft. off the ground. Everything was quiet....
After the stars stopped spinning from around my head, I turned around to see what had happened.
When the conveyor had collapsed, the head pulley had ripped about 2 inches out of the corner of the roof. It had then come to rest on the boom, which was still extended, and had lifted the front end off the ground. I climbed off the machine to see why my desperate attempts at moving had been unsuccessful.
In my hurried state, I had forgotten to raise the outriggers which had left the rear wheels a couple inches off the ground. The wheels was spinning but I wasn't getting no traction....
In the end, they replaced a pinched metal hydraulic line and the fiberglass roof skin. While I felt like I had been in a battle with Mike Tyson, I had no injuries. If I had been a couple of inches closer to the belt, it would've squarely caught the corner of the ROPS and probably collapsed them somewhat as they were never meant to support that kind of weight.
On Edit: Here's a picture I made to better explain the situation.
A couple things I learned:
1. When attempting to move a backhoe, the outriggers must be raised.
2. When digging around unstable structures, stay far enough away so that if the structure falls, it will not contact yourself or the machine.
3. Have a spotter when working around unstable structures. They are focused on the structure while you are free to operate.
4. Always wear your seat belt if the machine is equipped with roll over protection. If I hadn't had my seatbelt on, I would've ended up back there at the contact point.
5. Never leave the machine unless you have a clear view of what is happening and are absolutely sure you can make it out of harms way. The roof had my view blocked leaving me no way to determine exactly where the conveyor would've made contact. If I had decided to leave the machine, I could've jumped directly into harms way.
Well, this thread is now open for discussion.
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