Gooseidi
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2012
- Messages
- 102
- Location
- Galloway Twp, NJ
- Occupation
- Union Electrician, Local 351 IBEW / owner of Cut '
I have posted a breif intro in one of the threads at the top of this section but if it allows me to do so here, lets do it. I have drooled over machinary since I was a little boy, the stereotypical 5 year old boy sitting on his Daddy's lap as he drove an old track loader around to clear land for the family's house. I can remember holding my own little crow bar and thinking I was helping as he and my Mom pried the tracks back onto a very work out Case 350 with a root rake. My father is a great carpenter, but not very mechanical at all. When the machine was no longer needed, off it went to pay for something else. Problem was, the seed had been planted in my blood.
I got the opportunity to operate my Uncle's old 580 construction king and was quite proficient at it by the time I was about 11-12 years old. The day after I graduated high school in '92, my Dad landed me a job with the site contractor at a near by school. This guy, Harry Wolf, worked me like a mule....but he had equipment and I just waited to prove myself, first on a 743 Bobcat, I hated it at first, bucked and bounced all over, bucket controls on the follr, what the heck!!!! An old Itilian farmer, Louie Bertino, coaxed me to slow down and learn the machine. Good thing too. Looking back, they wouldn't trust me with anything more if I couldn't get onto the Bobcat.
I eventually got into his 1986 410B 4x4 Deere and fell in love with it. By the end of that summer, I could darn near grade as well with the 410 as my boss could with his 450 long track dozer and I was in the engineers trailer getting grades and setting man holes by myself. I got to use his old R600 Mack 6 wheel dump, the PC120 excavator, rollers, Dresser 530 wheel loader, D65 dozer which Louie let me play on, I loved it despite getting my butt licked for little pay at the time.
I kept coming and going, learning plenty. Drainage work, ductile iron water mains, setting huge vessels, we did a 44,000 gallon water reserve system for fire surpression at a high school which required de watering to 20 feet below grade. Harry was a plumber pipe fitter from Local 322 and was a master at what ever he did. The ladder racks on his F250 were stainless box tube, everything was always top notch. I kind of got away from that scene as my dad and Harry both agreed that entering the Electrician's union was a wise move. Harry has since passed. A part of him lives on in me as I try to implement his top quality and relentless work ethic in what ever I do.
I had a Long 610 4x4 for a short while but was unable to give it the attention it needed while my family was growing. I had a nice house with a 24x36 shop on 5 acres, did plenty of wrenching, welding, land clearing, never had the extra dough for a machine though.
Fast forward another 10 years and her I am, paying heavily in the no fault state of NJ for a divorce I didn't want. I have 4 kids of which I see 3 every weekend. My oldest son who could fluently operate a tractor at the age of 7, is brain washed by his mom and hasn't seen me in about 3 years. I do hope and pray he comes around as he matures. My 11 year old girl, 6 year old girl, and 5 year old boy don't want to go home at the end of the weekend.
I started a tree removal busness with some climbing gear that was given to me in exchange for removing 4 trees. This isn't an easy venue to get into as I approach my 40's but I do enjoy it for some strange reason. I have an '87 C70 dump with the 8.2 Detroit, sold my boat to help fund an old Badger chipper, run mostly old vintage Homelites and drive a '91 F350 4x4 cclb with the 7.3 diesel, ATS turbo and 5 speed manual as my personal daily driver. Ironically, the truck is a retired logging truck from Oregon that I found on Autotrader.com.
My venture to the HEF began recently as my Mom's neighbor was going to scrap an early 60's 114 Trojan wheel loader. When he realized that I was serious he agreed to sell it to me for scrap value, whenever I get the money. So now I am quite happy to have a machine to call my own and hope to get it running in the next few days after a 2 year sit. She has a Detroit in 'er so I am hoping that the rebirth goes ok. I know the machine will compliment my busniess but I just can't wait to spend some time in the seat and let the worries of the world pass me by. When I am operating a piece of equipment, its like a vacation, the dirt in the bucket and the task at hand is the only worry in the world when im behind the wheel, or levers for that matter.
I have a couple of batteries that are fresh and some fuel waiting. Hopefully tomorrow I will get to tinker around, figure out what voltage and what polarity the electrical system is, maybe hear it turn over....maybe hear the screaming Jimmy come back to life. Right now, this little Trojan is my get away from the world and I am quite happy about it.
Sorry for the lengthly introduction, but how else are you going to get to know me? I do hope to contribute to an excellent site with plenty of pics if nothing else. I know plenty by now about the old 6.9/7.3 IDI Fords so feel free to hit me up on that venue. Thanks for reading,
John
I got the opportunity to operate my Uncle's old 580 construction king and was quite proficient at it by the time I was about 11-12 years old. The day after I graduated high school in '92, my Dad landed me a job with the site contractor at a near by school. This guy, Harry Wolf, worked me like a mule....but he had equipment and I just waited to prove myself, first on a 743 Bobcat, I hated it at first, bucked and bounced all over, bucket controls on the follr, what the heck!!!! An old Itilian farmer, Louie Bertino, coaxed me to slow down and learn the machine. Good thing too. Looking back, they wouldn't trust me with anything more if I couldn't get onto the Bobcat.
I eventually got into his 1986 410B 4x4 Deere and fell in love with it. By the end of that summer, I could darn near grade as well with the 410 as my boss could with his 450 long track dozer and I was in the engineers trailer getting grades and setting man holes by myself. I got to use his old R600 Mack 6 wheel dump, the PC120 excavator, rollers, Dresser 530 wheel loader, D65 dozer which Louie let me play on, I loved it despite getting my butt licked for little pay at the time.
I kept coming and going, learning plenty. Drainage work, ductile iron water mains, setting huge vessels, we did a 44,000 gallon water reserve system for fire surpression at a high school which required de watering to 20 feet below grade. Harry was a plumber pipe fitter from Local 322 and was a master at what ever he did. The ladder racks on his F250 were stainless box tube, everything was always top notch. I kind of got away from that scene as my dad and Harry both agreed that entering the Electrician's union was a wise move. Harry has since passed. A part of him lives on in me as I try to implement his top quality and relentless work ethic in what ever I do.
I had a Long 610 4x4 for a short while but was unable to give it the attention it needed while my family was growing. I had a nice house with a 24x36 shop on 5 acres, did plenty of wrenching, welding, land clearing, never had the extra dough for a machine though.
Fast forward another 10 years and her I am, paying heavily in the no fault state of NJ for a divorce I didn't want. I have 4 kids of which I see 3 every weekend. My oldest son who could fluently operate a tractor at the age of 7, is brain washed by his mom and hasn't seen me in about 3 years. I do hope and pray he comes around as he matures. My 11 year old girl, 6 year old girl, and 5 year old boy don't want to go home at the end of the weekend.
I started a tree removal busness with some climbing gear that was given to me in exchange for removing 4 trees. This isn't an easy venue to get into as I approach my 40's but I do enjoy it for some strange reason. I have an '87 C70 dump with the 8.2 Detroit, sold my boat to help fund an old Badger chipper, run mostly old vintage Homelites and drive a '91 F350 4x4 cclb with the 7.3 diesel, ATS turbo and 5 speed manual as my personal daily driver. Ironically, the truck is a retired logging truck from Oregon that I found on Autotrader.com.
My venture to the HEF began recently as my Mom's neighbor was going to scrap an early 60's 114 Trojan wheel loader. When he realized that I was serious he agreed to sell it to me for scrap value, whenever I get the money. So now I am quite happy to have a machine to call my own and hope to get it running in the next few days after a 2 year sit. She has a Detroit in 'er so I am hoping that the rebirth goes ok. I know the machine will compliment my busniess but I just can't wait to spend some time in the seat and let the worries of the world pass me by. When I am operating a piece of equipment, its like a vacation, the dirt in the bucket and the task at hand is the only worry in the world when im behind the wheel, or levers for that matter.
I have a couple of batteries that are fresh and some fuel waiting. Hopefully tomorrow I will get to tinker around, figure out what voltage and what polarity the electrical system is, maybe hear it turn over....maybe hear the screaming Jimmy come back to life. Right now, this little Trojan is my get away from the world and I am quite happy about it.
Sorry for the lengthly introduction, but how else are you going to get to know me? I do hope to contribute to an excellent site with plenty of pics if nothing else. I know plenty by now about the old 6.9/7.3 IDI Fords so feel free to hit me up on that venue. Thanks for reading,
John
