Operators too good to clean.

[CM1995]

We don't shovel tracks daily either. The rainy season is pretty much year around so in order to keep the tracks clean one would need to operate for an hour then clean tracks for 20 mins.

Our winters never really get cold enough to freeze much but we'll shovel out around the idler, top roller(s) and sprocket.

I will shovel the 953 out at our dump if it's pushing sticky clay and concrete as it sets up and can be really abrasive.

Maintenance intervals, timely repairs and grease are a religion in our operation.

Now if someone really wants to send me on a rant leave a bunch of trash in a cab. Take your garbage with you. There is always an empty water bottle or two around that I'll throw in a ditch and cover up but there better not be anything more than that.

Used to have problems with guys that wanted to run with the doors open and A/C on in the spring and fall, too damn hot hear in the summer so they kept the doors closed. Brought them all together one day and asked for a vote - cabs with A/C or open cabs, which one do all of you choose? Of course the answer was A/C. OK then the machines will either be ran with the doors and windows closed or we'll take all the glass out and cut the A/C belt.

For the last 5 years we've eliminated smoking in the cab and that also helps keep things clean.

 

[Oxbow]

We don't shovel tracks daily either. The rainy season is pretty much year around so in order to keep the tracks clean one would need to operate for an hour then clean tracks for 20 mins.

Our winters never really get cold enough to freeze much but we'll shovel out around the idler, top roller(s) and sprocket.

I will shovel the 953 out at our dump if it's pushing sticky clay and concrete as it sets up and can be really abrasive.

Maintenance intervals, timely repairs and grease are a religion in our operation.

Now if someone really wants to send me on a rant leave a bunch of trash in a cab. Take your garbage with you. There is always an empty water bottle or two around that I'll throw in a ditch and cover up but there better not be anything more than that.

Used to have problems with guys that wanted to run with the doors open and A/C on in the spring and fall, too damn hot hear in the summer so they kept the doors closed. Brought them all together one day and asked for a vote - cabs with A/C or open cabs, which one do all of you choose? Of course the answer was A/C. OK then the machines will either be ran with the doors and windows closed or we'll take all the glass out and cut the A/C belt.

For the last 5 years we've eliminated smoking in the cab and that also helps keep things clean.

And thankfully nobody is addicted to sunflower seeds in our crew.

 

[HarleyHappy]

Teach me your ways. I need to be more of a prick at work.

What’s funny is, I grew up a passive kid.
Then I worked in construction in my 20’s for a guy that would call you dumb as a rock over the 2 way for everyone to hear. Every Friday was fight night at the yard and getting paid and having a few beers.
I was young and dumb but could weld and operate a loader backhoe because I grew up on old shitty ones.
Those new ones were like a dream. Then I got the WHITE helmet and had my own crew. I’m an anal personality, everything has its place.
We had slob crews and mine was so clean, owner used to notice.
He also knew I was a prick, so one day he threw a DD coffee cup in a ditch I was digging with a 325 and looked up at me in the cab.
I dropped half a hoe of sand on his head, maybe a little over a quarter.
He looked at me, got all Irish red in the face, got in his truck and left.
Then I started getting bigger jobs.
Sometimes, if you let your Alpha out, it stays out.
I always told my employers, I will crawl over broken glass for you an make your wife disappear, if need be.
As long as you have my back. If not, I’m gone.

 

[Truck Shop]

He looked at me, got all Irish red in the face,

Did he have the red hair and Jim Beam complexion, those type are always fun. Allot of farmers
around with that. They just look like they have goatheads sticking their nuts 24 hours a day.
As far as keeping things clean---that's just part of the job no matter what kind of job it is.
Cleaning tracks--I wasn't a operator-but if I was loading a piece with tracks--yes the under-
carriage would get cleaned--otherwise it's a great way to get introduced to your local DOT.

 

[92U 3406]

What’s funny is, I grew up a passive kid.
Then I worked in construction in my 20’s for a guy that would call you dumb as a rock over the 2 way for everyone to hear. Every Friday was fight night at the yard and getting paid and having a few beers.
I was young and dumb but could weld and operate a loader backhoe because I grew up on old shitty ones.
Those new ones were like a dream. Then I got the WHITE helmet and had my own crew. I’m an anal personality, everything has its place.
We had slob crews and mine was so clean, owner used to notice.
He also knew I was a prick, so one day he threw a DD coffee cup in a ditch I was digging with a 325 and looked up at me in the cab.
I dropped half a hoe of sand on his head, maybe a little over a quarter.
He looked at me, got all Irish red in the face, got in his truck and left.
Then I started getting bigger jobs.
Sometimes, if you let your Alpha out, it stays out.
I always told my employers, I will crawl over broken glass for you an make your wife disappear, if need be.
As long as you have my back. If not, I’m gone.

That's where I'm at now, just standing my ground and not taking crap.

 

[HarleyHappy]

That's where I'm at now, just standing my ground and not taking crap.

It’s a good feeling.
It also feels good, if you so good at what you do or confident, that you can have another job by the end of the day.
I used to tell my boss, that’s what the wheels on my welder and toolbox are for.

 

[Shimmy1]

It’s a good feeling.
It also feels good, if you so good at what you do or confident, that you can have another job by the end of the day.
I used to tell my boss, that’s what the wheels on my welder and toolbox are for.

Careful, not saying you're not everything you claim, but this is a pretty bold statement.

 

[HarleyHappy]

Nope not bold, just confident on what I can do.
It’s that or either I just don’t care to compete anymore.
Let’s face it, the older you get, you look at things and think, how many times have we done this before.
It is different in today’s world.
A lot of places want sheeple that get along with the masses.
I gave up on that a while ago.
They really dislike people that stand out with excellence, not sure what happened.

 

[terex herder]

Shimmy, I don't think you appreciate how much busier New Hampshire is than North Dakota. Almost twice the people with only 1/8 the land area. ND has an edge in GDP per capita, but most of that is oil money, and it doesn't tend to stick around.

 

[DMiller]

Clay dirt or excavation/demolition spoil, Did Not take that long to clear track UC or to sharpshooter bucket inner corners while still SOFT and some moist, let it dry and needed a jackhammer so made a point to keep things Tidier. No reason on God's Green Earth NOT to clean, just part of the days work.

 

[chidog]

If the dirt is nice and dry and dusty, I never want to clean it out, because the next time I hit the wet crap, it all comes off real easy. Always have a layer of dry loose type dirt on that track frame.

 

[chidog]

Cleaning scratches the paint lol

And if it was my machine thats a good reason I'd not use a metal shovel.
This whole cleaning deal is why I always just wanted my own machine. Then no one could complain about it, or how I choose to run it or what ever.

 

[Welder Dave]

That could be a good invention. A heavy duty plastic undercarriage clean out tool. Could maybe be double ended or have a bend in it for getting into hard to reach area's. Even the narrow track shovels can be too big or awkward to get into tight places like around the sprockets.

 

[DMiller]

Some materials just require a Steel Blade.

 

[Shimmy1]

Shimmy, I don't think you appreciate how much busier New Hampshire is than North Dakota. Almost twice the people with only 1/8 the land area. ND has an edge in GDP per capita, but most of that is oil money, and it doesn't tend to stick around.

Oil money has long since went to sh!t.

 

[HarleyHappy]

For undercarriage clean out, I always preferred a planting shovel.
I think that’s what it’s called, it’s like a long spade shovel, gets in good and being its long, you can pry a bit with it.
I also liked to spray some diesel on the tracks and sliders if it was going to be greasy, EPA be damned.
Lol

 

[DMiller]

Whatever works!
Had a Sharpshooter trenching spade and a Round Point General Purpose shovel on the machines supplied by company, truck I ran had a good D handle square shovel worked well so long as was loose or not so sticky or tight to corners.

 

[DMiller]

May have been fella on here noted to Slap the bucket on a large rock or block at end of day, a reasonable amount would loosen up make life a little easier, did not always have that option.

 

[cuttin edge]

That's one of those engineers don't care what happens after it leaves the drawing board. A hoe is not so bad, but I just love all the bolts and parts that you can beat your spade off when trying to clean your tracks off on a dozer.

 

[Jimothy]

They rarely let me in machines for any length of time because there’s math and shovelling to do. So everyone knows if there’s garbage in a machine it’s not mine.

Every time I get in I take ALL garbage and throw it on the ground not in a garbage bag then I get the Forman and I try to calmly point at it in an extremely calm way. Windows and mirrors if they still exist get cleaned.

Tracks are cleaned at least at the end of the day but if the day is slow will clean them up to five times or more

Greasing Daily however once you learn the odd quirks of certain pieces of equipment you use more or less grease as needed. Skid-steer/ CTL buckets maybe get grease 3 times a day but some other pins get skipped to next day cuz over greasing is bad too.

How many people do you know that have died or been maimed or worse? If I have to do something that is potentially fatal to myself or others if something goes wrong I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure everyone is going home.

Had an excavator cylinder explode this week would have killed anything below or in-front of machine. Remember it’s heavy equipment it will do more damage then a gun keep it clean!