very chuffed

[tomnobes]

Hi guys,

I've been looking around the forum for a while, been looking at getting into heavy plant reapir for a while. I am a little older than most apprentices at 30 but have got a position working in the repair shop of a civil engineering contractor! pleased isn't the word. I start in 2 weeks.

Cheers for the forum

tom

 

[DirtHauler]

Welcome and CONGRATS!!!

 

[02Dmax]

Congrats! It's hard, but gratifying work.

 

[tctractors]

Tom, lets hope things work out well for you, sadly the Weather in the U.K. is total "Pants" with rain being around the top on the list, be warned about Drivers that know it all (#/?# all) plus un-helpful Mechanics that give idiots a bad name, they usualy have their boot laces undone and a phone stuck to their head all day, great information is to be found in Opp's and Parts books so make them your Bed time reading, what sort of equipment are you going to be working on?? and how deep do they (Co') expect you to go into things, the job is realy fairly easy even a plank like me can "Muddle Through" dont be scared to strip things to bits as its often something hiding thats causing the thing on the outside to fail if you understand, this year is starting off well for me work wise, in about 4 weeks I have pressed out 20 cylinder liners in engines and a mud pump, I regularly see fitters service excavators in 2 hours, it takes me at least a day to do the job I wonder why???, anyhow best of luck and avoid dip-sticks.
tctractors

 

[mitch504]

I second the welcome and congratulations, and thank you for teaching me something already. I always thought "chuffed" meant a British guy was very angry. :beatsme

 

[tomnobes]

thank yoyu guys,

tc ( i really like the llok fo the work you do, if you where closer i would have been trying to score an apprentiship with you) not to sure how in delth they want me to go will be going to school doing an NVQ to get some paper behind me. The company is in civil engineering mainly large 360's and small dumper but they seem to run most things, the bigger the beeter for me. I will be working on everything from the fleet of vans to lorrys and heavy plant so nice a varied.
When i first left high school did did my apprentiship in light motor vehicles but didn't go any furthur.
Really can't wait to get started and pulling some kit appart.

Hopefully be around for a while and have some interesting posts of my own work soon

cheers

tom

 

[tctractors]

Tom, your keen and willing mind set will be the best tool in your box, I dont know what spanners equipment etc you have around you but these things get sorted as the job goes on, lots of Fitters/Mechanics have the Tranny (Ford Van) brim full with kit but struggle to change a light bulb, a good word of advice to you is, when you remove a filter, check that the rubber seal is not still stuck to the filter head, also never fit a dented filter ever, as the dent will rupture and cause a mess if you are lucky, an engine or a fire if you are not, people think that I only work on Old knackers of kit, but most of my jobs are on "Modern Crap" I just dont take snap's of them much, again Tom the best of luck to you as with these below Zero temp's its tough going even for a grunt like me.

always happy tctractors

 

[tomnobes]

i have a fews tools, always looked after my own kit, used to be an agricultural fencing contractor, just on lookout for a decent tool box to store them all in as the collection grows, i'll probably spend the first year or so based mainly in the workshop befor i'm let loose in a van out onsite, good tool boxes are so expensive though, dose anyone know if any of the cheaper bramds (clarke, sealy draper etc) are any good? really can't justify spend over £1000 on a box.

 

[tctractors]

Tom, the Snap-Off kit is the best around, your local agent will also have some trade in tool box's that he will be asking low coins for??? or there is always the Tinter-Web sale sites??? I have found that on Earth-Moving equipment it often takes the best tools to undo the bolts etc, so aim to buy a S/Hand Snap-Off top box to keep the stuff you need in, I do have 2 that I dont realy need but Norfolk is like the Moon to travel plus "I ain't a post it sort", Oh and well done on being Workshop (Heater) based, I would pay to do the job if it was near a heater!!!

 

[tomnobes]

If you have a box for the right sort of money i am a trasvel to collect type of guy, have been looking for a box on the dreaded auction site ebay but i am only looking for a top box and most seem to be top and bottom for lots of money.

 

[wee_gus]

Well done not easy gttingworkin these rough times! Tool wise I use a britool box and britool tools, I wouldn't buy anything cheaper than this! Reason why I don't have snap on is there are no local dealers near me! Don't knock the britool gear it is pretty good but like yer man tctractors says snap on is by far the best, I will hopefully be getting a snap on box and roll cab this year as I've out grown my current tool box.
Here's my box in my old van

Can see why I need a bigger box

Angus

 

[tomnobes]

hi wee-gus, deffinatly look slike you could do with a bigger box, i've got a few different makes of tools, been using quite alot of the halfords advance stuff really good and not to bad on price with a trade card life time warrenty aswell. I have one of halfords smaller size boxes and it is already full so really need to up grade, there a couple snap on 40 inch boxes on eaby thet aren't to bad a price will have to keep my eye on them.

 

[Muir Hill]

Fair play to you. I've been considering a career change to plant mechanic for a long time now but now i'm in the money trap (mortgage) and carrying a couple of injuries so it doesn't seem quite as appealing.

I can't give you any advice about working on plant but as far as tool boxes go, if you think you may be working out of a van later, you really want to look at getting a Snap On box. Travelling in the back of a van is hard on a box and compared to pretty much any other box they do seem to be built a bit better. I would look at getting a second hand one as a new box will look second hand after a couple of days use anyway. Having said that the standard width boxes don't fair too well when mounted sideways in a van like wee-gus has that Britool box. They flex with acceleration and braking and the welds eventually let go. My brother has a 40" top box in his van and the extra length seems to make it much more stable and so far it seems to be doing well.

I'm not a great fan of Snap On other than for their boxes. The regular hand tools seem very expensive although I will admit they are nice to use. A lot of mechanics justify the price because the warranty means they will only have to buy it once. However the warranty does not cover lost tools or tools that you have had to modify for a particular job and I know that I have lost or modified far more tools than I have ever broken. There is also a risk that you spend a lot on the tools now and then move jobs to somewhere the van doesn't visit in which case that warranty you paid for isn't worth as much.

I find Elora spanners and sockets to be about the best bang for your buck provided that you don't pay full list price. I also have a few Hazet bits which seems strong and old Made in England Britool stuff which in my opinion (for what its worth) are about the best tools ever made. Not sure what they're like now they are made over seas though. I don't have any of the Halfords stuff but it's supposed to be ok and if you find you're breaking lots of them then you can always get something better. You've already paid for it so you might as well get your moneys worth. Just make sure your pulling towards you.

Best of luck with your new job and be sure to let us know how you get on.

 

[wee_gus]

Fair play to you. I've been considering a career change to plant mechanic for a long time now but now i'm in the money trap (mortgage) and carrying a couple of injuries so it doesn't seem quite as appealing.

I can't give you any advice about working on plant but as far as tool boxes go, if you think you may be working out of a van later, you really want to look at getting a Snap On box. Travelling in the back of a van is hard on a box and compared to pretty much any other box they do seem to be built a bit better. I would look at getting a second hand one as a new box will look second hand after a couple of days use anyway. Having said that the standard width boxes don't fair too well when mounted sideways in a van like wee-gus has that Britool box. They flex with acceleration and braking and the welds eventually let go. My brother has a 40" top box in his van and the extra length seems to make it much more stable and so far it seems to be doing well.

I'm not a great fan of Snap On other than for their boxes. The regular hand tools seem very expensive although I will admit they are nice to use. A lot of mechanics justify the price because the warranty means they will only have to buy it once. However the warranty does not cover lost tools or tools that you have had to modify for a particular job and I know that I have lost or modified far more tools than I have ever broken. There is also a risk that you spend a lot on the tools now and then move jobs to somewhere the van doesn't visit in which case that warranty you paid for isn't worth as much.

I find Elora spanners and sockets to be about the best bang for your buck provided that you don't pay full list price. I also have a few Hazet bits which seems strong and old Made in England Britool stuff which in my opinion (for what its worth) are about the best tools ever made. Not sure what they're like now they are made over seas though. I don't have any of the Halfords stuff but it's supposed to be ok and if you find you're breaking lots of them then you can always get something better. You've already paid for it so you might as well get your moneys worth. Just make sure your pulling towards you.

Best of luck with your new job and be sure to let us know how you get on.

your right in saying its not the best set up but it was the best for the setup i needed. as i needed to be able to put truck tyres and dumper tyres in the van and also keep access to the tool box if i had to go to another call before going to change wheels etc.

soloution would be a bigger van lol but hey it done me for a year.

some folk say the britool stuff has changed since going overseas but i have some new and old and cant tell the difference and the new is certainly as robust as the old. why dont you get yourself a cheap 2nd hand box, just make sure its big enough first hand so you will save a fortune.

as for buying tools check around ive found a few times that the dealer can be or even cheaper than ebay or amazon!

elora sure are good!

im not a fan of that seally/draper crap never found any of them any good!

also worth noting that CAT also do tools and they are snap on and can be cheaper sometimes!

maybe phone your local finning depot cannock or blantyre?

 

[tomnobes]

thanks for all the replys guys,

on the tool front what i had sort of planned on doing is use the tools i have and add with mid range stuuf and anythingi keep breaking replace with better quality as i am fearful of loosing snap on stuff especially working late on a muddy site dropping something and forgetting it and thee must be items that really don't get used alot so spending big coin on it is not all that prodcutive.