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Just some work pics

donkey doctor

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Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
502
Location
Ladysmith bc canada
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retired
We used Kaydon on our swing yarders. Don't remember ever having a problem except when a machine burnt up They don't like that. It happened more often than one would think. d.d.
 

crane operator

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Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
10,145
Location
sw missouri
Went all night at the aluminum plant. They called at about 11:00am that the overhead crane was down.

One of the guys had got rained out , so he hauled the RT over, and ran noon until 10:00pm. I was on a different job that morning at 5am, so I pulled night shift -10:00pm until 10:30am the next day, when they had the overhead crane back up.

I went ahead and left the crane there. Good thing , because the overhead went back down again the next day too. One of my guys went back, ran 12-5pm, and I was thrilled with the text that they had it back up. 38 hours straight with two 40 minute naps is about all I want.

I was figuring they wouldn't get it fixed, and we would have to pull 24 hours a day all holiday weekend, until they could get the overhead mechanic to fix it. But they got it together and I am off Sunday and Monday.

IMG_20260520_084839248_HDR.jpgIMG_20260520_094307559_HDR.jpg
 

Oxbow

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
1,787
Location
Idaho
Went all night at the aluminum plant. They called at about 11:00am that the overhead crane was down.

One of the guys had got rained out , so he hauled the RT over, and ran noon until 10:00pm. I was on a different job that morning at 5am, so I pulled night shift -10:00pm until 10:30am the next day, when they had the overhead crane back up.

I went ahead and left the crane there. Good thing , because the overhead went back down again the next day too. One of my guys went back, ran 12-5pm, and I was thrilled with the text that they had it back up. 38 hours straight with two 40 minute naps is about all I want.

I was figuring they wouldn't get it fixed, and we would have to pull 24 hours a day all holiday weekend, until they could get the overhead mechanic to fix it. But they got it together and I am off Sunday and Monday.

View attachment 360903View attachment 360904
Does it get a little fumey working inside like that? I guess an aluminum plant would probably have pretty good ventilation though.
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
10,145
Location
sw missouri
Does it get a little fumey working inside like that? I guess an aluminum plant would probably have pretty good ventilation though.
Building is open on a couple sides, and I can't say I really noticed anything. But I've got a funny sniffer. Diesel, brake clean, eye watering exhaust fumes, 80-90, sewer treatment plant, no problem. But I can smell my wife cutting a cucumber a mile away, and don't want to be anywhere near it.
 

Manistar

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Joined
Jan 29, 2023
Messages
67
Location
Minnesota
I bet the pipe with the chain fall hung nice and straight up and down when they cut it loose. Maybe I'm wrong but that's the type of work I do and it just looks off. I always hate taking downspouts down it isn't always easy getting them hooked up just right.
 

crane operator

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Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
10,145
Location
sw missouri
I bet the pipe with the chain fall hung nice and straight up and down when they cut it loose. Maybe I'm wrong but that's the type of work I do and it just looks off. I always hate taking downspouts down it isn't always easy getting them hooked up just right.
I prefer to take down old long, really worn out spouts with 2 pick points. Especially small diameter ones like these. They've been patched before, and are thin on the bottoms. Its too easy to fold one up, and then you have a mess. You don't have to worry about that with new pipe, plus you can kind of play around with the new pipes on the ground to get them hanging right.

None of these pipes were guy wired either, and that makes them weak also.

The bad side of two pick points, is you have to have a second crane or lift. Just to get it rigged up. There's no way to get a lift close enough to work out of at this mill, so that's what the second crane is for, manbasket to rig up.

The old leg was really shot, large holes in the trunk and not super stable, so we left one spout, and actually had the head on one crane, and the last spout on the second crane, both rigged, before unbolting the spout. That way we didn't have to worry about the leg collapsing, when we took the last spout off.


You can see in one of the pictures that we were single point picking a shorter spout, its easier to twist one out with the single pick point, to walk it in. But like you said, the odds of being right on, so it doesn't tip one way or the other are slim.
 
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Manistar

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Jan 29, 2023
Messages
67
Location
Minnesota
Definitely get the two pic points, just thought it looks like your rigger could have moved the chain fall leg down the pipe a little lower. Those are some pretty long pipes to not have any trussing. I don't get into feedmills too often as I'm mostly on farms but it seems like feedmills are good at wearing things out and they're always rusted out and sketchy. It's never fun to be on top when you cut the last pipe or bolt. Having the second crane is the way to go. Sometimes you just never know what's holding what up on demos.
 

crane operator

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Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
10,145
Location
sw missouri
Old school water tower build. Stiff leg derrick. It's local to me and thought you guys might like to see it, they don't build many like this anymore. They mostly build the bowls on the ground and bring in a 400 ton crane and set them.
 

crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
Messages
10,145
Location
sw missouri
In other news, both Link belt 40 ton are down. One has a throttle problem in the swivel, the other one has broken suspension - again. I've worked on these stupid raydan suspensions more than anything else I've ever touched. They are always torn up.

IMG_20260529_090925335_HDR.jpgIMG_20260529_090928725_HDR.jpgIMG_20260529_143717163.jpgIMG_20260529_143452366.jpg
 

crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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10,145
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sw missouri
That's interesting. How thick is the steel that is used for water towers like that? Around here water "towers" are just concrete tanks in the ground.
The tanks that I've been involved in demo on, are usually 1/4" or 3/16" at the top, and heavier as they go down. They can be 3/8" to 1/2" at the bottom. Those have all been "silo" style.

I don't know how thick the steel is on this tank, but I would guess it is similar
 

Welder Dave

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Oct 11, 2014
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Canada
Did they build the water tower on site from the ground up? I worked at a tank shop where they got a contract to build some large storage tanks on site. I wasn't involved but some components like the man ways were built in the shop. The bottom row of steel was 1" thick if I recall. I don't know how gallons the giant tanks hold but there's a lot of pressure pushing on the bottom when they're full. There's a lot of huge storage tanks at refineries and tank farms close to where I live. They have to have large earth berms around each one capable of holding the full amount incase there's a leak or tank failure. It's probably a good job for an excavating contractor just building the berms. There's also a few spherical tanks suspended on legs that are pretty cool.
 
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