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The heavy part of my job ....

211K views 1K replies 41 participants last post by  93trooperpooper 
#1 ·
Some of you know I'm a heavy construction mechanic... Well this is one of those days where you pucker !!







That's a 10' tube on that there wrench, the hydraulic cylinders have a huge gland nut put on to about 6-800 ftlbs of torque !!! In the past I have used a mini excavator to push on the wrench just to break that torque... One down and one more to go.. I think each cylinder rod weighs 150 plus lbs to uuuggg !!!
 
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#1,077 ·
gwana66 said:
They drive around on Sundays looking for DIY'ers.
Sheesh. They tried a "late shift" and a "Saturday shift" code inspector here for a while. It didn't pan out. Guy up the street was telling me about a building inspector giving him a hard time about something. Said he told him "You are a Black Shirt (Gestapo)". If they put HALF the effort into HELPING people as they do HARASSING people, everything would be much better. I mean realistically - they want to have a "spy" driving around on weekends to nab "construction criminals". They should consider having a Building Department kiosk in a local home improvement store such as Homers or Lowes on weekends. The clerk could answer questions about what does, or does not need a permit - and then issue one right there. But that would be too convenient for the CITIZEN.
The really sad thing is so many "flippers" are doing all kinds of stuff and nobody seems to check on them. Most of them will tell you it's because of all the hassle. This was my case 20 years ago. The inspector caught them, bt then accepted a pay off. When I found out about that, I should have sued the flipper and the inspector - but water under the bridge now. We're about to do the main house roof next week, it will be permitted and done according to code (using licensed contractor). I guess I'll have to see if "the black shirt" gives ME a hard time. Dennis
 
#1,078 ·
The biggest problem with the permitting process is they don't have people who can look at and approve the plans. My sister waited 6 months for engineering approval on a covered porch. Engineering finally signed off on it, but then zoning shot it down because they thought it was new construction, not replacement of hurricane damage. I think it was a year before they finally got the stinking porch up. Final inspection missed the fact that although the gutters had downspouts, there were no holes in the gutter for the water to drain INTO the downspouts. I waited almost 2 months just to get a permit signed off to replace a broken septic tank, and the same department didn't bother to tell me that I would be required to hook up to county sewer within the next year. Had to scrap the whole plan and start over getting a permit to run a sewer line.

I had my main breaker panel replaced, and the inspector never took the cover off because he knew the contractor did good work. The contractor actually left his apprentice and went off to do another job. He wired one of my outside 120V outlets for 220 (goodbye, circular saw), and the breakers for my 60A AC unit and 20A air handler were swapped. No wonder it kept blowing the breaker. But I've got a nice shiny sticker that says "Passed", so I'm good.
 
#1,079 ·
Texas isn't much better. My community requires permits for most everything. Even replacing a fence post. About 2 years ago a hail storm did in my roof where I used to live. I got a licensed contractor to do the work. They pulled the required permit and went ahead and replaced the roof. Did a decent job too. Now comes the interesting part. The water heater (gas) was in a small closet in the garage. It had a 24 inch door access which had a cabinet blocking opening the door very far. The city inspector came by a week or so later to buy off the job. He went up in the attic and checked to see that the water heater vent pipe was reinstalled correctly. We moved about 8 months later. After emptying the garage I opened the water heater door to get the alarm I had placed under the heater that would sound if water were there to set it off. Looked up at the vent pipe and it was leaning off to the side and wasn't even attached to the pipe that went up through the roof. We were fortunate the closet was vented to outside air. I got a plumber to come hook it up correctly, so when the house sold the buyers inspector would find alls well. That permit cost around 150 dollars and what good was it. I felt like reporting it to the city but with our schedule so full I left it go.
 
#1,080 ·
Well, to get this thread back to "job", I got "the call" from the HR person this afternoon. I'm in. I start June 3rd, and the City Manager authorized them to bring me in at a better pay than the normal starting pay. Retirement ends, new chapter begins, life goes on. Dennis
 
#1,081 · (Edited by Moderator)
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I've been organizing the lower lot , couple machines where dead from sitting all winter , the dozer (650g) smoked while I was jumping it, I was climbing up another one to fire off and looked over at a cloud and quickly ran over and disconnected everything .. I'll be digging into that this next week .. But besides being extremely busy at work and at home building my trooper I'm still alive and kicking .. I swear the older I get the less time you have for anything..

So which place will you be working at Dennis ?
 

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#1,082 ·
So I ended up at St Pete Beach. To clarify for folks, I retired from the City of St petersburg (FL) after 35 years with the Fleet Department. "St Pete Beach" is a totally separate city located on one of the "barrier islands" to the west of St Petersburg. It is on the Gulf Of Mexico, and is like #4 among the top beaches in the US.
I AM their Fleet Department. ME. They had just been sending vehicles and equipment out to private shops as repairs or service was needed. This was complicated and expensive as much of the work ended up going straight to "stealerships". To make matters worse, this operator or their supervisor would take or send something, but others didn't know where. Everything goes to or through me now. I will be coordinating, scheduling, and repairing as I am able to.
The Public Works Director (who hired me) placed a blank sheet of paper on the table and said "this is what you start with. Fill it in as you think it needs to be, make it what you want it to be. Let me know what you need.
So far I start out with: 2 bays in the building (they currently are NOT empty, the parks Dept has their small equipment and chemicals stored in there0. If I needed to do something right away, I could move a couple of riding mowers and have the space. There is a 3rd bay that currently is a lean to with a rock floor. The plan is to raise the roof, pour a slab, and add an above ground lift. They will "build out" one of the bays to make an air conditioned office for me. They are also considering putting up a metal building for the whole thing.
Currently, I have a list of 24 trucks ranging from Ford Trans connect vans (mini?) to a single Jet Vac truck, which is the only tandem axle truck. There is one (maybe 6 yard?) single axle dump truck with air brakes (currently waiting on a 30-30 chamber, which you would think was the end of the world as far as they knew).
Beyond this is a mix of F250s, a few 350s, and some 150s. There are maybe between 10 and 15 other vehicles such as Nissan pickups (3-5?) and sedans, and some small Ford minivans. All of this will be coming to me. They are still talking about the Fire Department (2 stations). That currently goes to a separate facility ( local Fire jurisdiction with their own garage and Fire Mechanics (EVT technicians). The boss would like me to renew my ASEs (shouldn't be a problem) and they will pay for it. There was something said about me getting EVT certified, but they have to remember there is only ONE of me.
My first action (other than going through mandatory HR training) was to establish a spreadsheet of my current vehicles with make, model, engines, and current mileage (most low) and to make cross reference of applicable filters for them. I am also establishing a master key collection (only "extra" keys for about 50% of the fleet currently), and working up a list of needed equipment and supplies, and establishing accounts with some of my former vendors for parts, supplies, and services.
I moved my tool box and many of my tools out last week, and am still taking tools out here and there. I'll have to take and add a few pics. Dennis
 
#1,083 ·
your new job sounds like my current one....but this will be the first year I might''farm out'' some of the repairs on my whiteboard..i just cant get caught up, its one item after another, PLUS still stuff on the whiteboard from last year... and a daily clipboard of other items... :roll:
it was unexpected to get laid off last winter, I usually do the larger/ more time consuming repairs while the guys are laid off..but, I got my shop at home mostly done interior-wise....that was a bonus.

have been working 11-13 hr days (mon-fri, 5-7 hrs on Saturdays) since april, and more stuff gets added to my board everyday, plus other stuff that's in my head that needs attention...

boss bought 3 new bobcat skid-steers this spring, then a motor went in a truck (6.4 ford diesel :oops: ) so he bought a new f350 and 20' trailer to replace that f550

25 small trucks, 2 tandem dumps, 1 tandem w/picker deck, various trailers, electric and air brakes, 2 backhoes, loader, grader, large packer, high hoe, a mini-hoe, 4 skid-steers, forklift, 3 gomaco concrete placing machines, a rock crusher and conveyor- then various small hand tools... :shock:

right now I am knee-deep into a case skid-steer- the rad was leaking LAST YEAR, it was on the whiteboard to be repaired this winter BUT....now it is all taken apart. they broke a rear wheel drive chain 2 almost 2 weeks ago-so I tagged it out, and pulled it from service until ALL the repairs are done.
so, replacing all 4 chains, rad, low pressure side injector lines/ fittings (air in low side fuel return lines, found some damaged) adj engine valves, then full service... plus whatever else the ''children'' break on a daily basis in between.

ha, last Friday I had to run to another city one hour away(one way), they managed to smash the drivers window out of a truck :roll:

good luck on the new job!
 
#1,084 ·
Good grief what a compilation to get back into the game on !! Laying off a mechanic is a dumb thing to do , I guess better to be busy than not with the exception of having weekends off atleast ...

The company hired a new kid (barely 18) I gave him a quick run down on the big concrete saw , main thing (turn the gas off when done) , did he do it ? No ;(
My pet peeve , listen to instruction especially if you're new .. That dozer ended up have several burnt up wires in the harness , more or less ticking time bombs that finally shorted out against the firewall behind the air filter and then the ignition plug melted and burned the hot lead inside and damaged the plastic plug which only comes with a new wiring harness :x ... One of the blade angle cylinders acted blown up inside (really tight to move the rod) , it ended up having rust down in the gland that got behind the wear band and swelled it .. We don't have very many older machines anymore so the big repairs are few and far between , I guess that's good in a way haha !!
 
#1,085 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well I finally took some pics of my new "work digs". Been there 5 weeks now. Set one of two. They're treating me (all of us) really well. One thing I will say. We work as if we were working for Disney World or one of the big tourist attraction theme parks. Basically, we are. We are the 4th nicest beach in the country, and it takes effort to stay that way. One picture will show a Deere Tractor attached to a lime green trailer device. The device is a Barber Surf Rake. It gets a workout being pulled up and down the beach every morning to rake up seaweed and debris. It has a PTO driven Hydraulic pump that powers a 6 foot wide conveyor belt that is fitted with 700 6" long tines. The belt is up for replacement, which means in addition to everything else, there are 700 bolts to remove to R+R each tine. I currently have tires on order for it as each tire has about 20 plugs from last years bad Red Tide fish kill. Saltwater Catfish are potent - even dead and their spikes worked havoc on the tires. While checking the tires, I discoverd a bad wheel bearing. Fixed all of that (still waiting on the tires), it went out one day and came in with the tractor making noise. Diagnosis showed the axle extension end bearings - which had never been greased, had failed on one side. I ordered a bearing kit and was going to pull the housing when I realized the fuel tank had to come off. Did I mention that the operator had just filled the tank? And that I have no transfer pump or place to pump it to? We sent the tractor out yesterday to have the repairs done. We scrambled to get a rental tractor. I spent an hour on O.T. yesterday afternoon trying to get the rental all hooked up to our rake. NO GOOD. The rental obviously had not had the hydraulics being used, or the PTO. I finally swapped a couple of the hydraulic quick connects around to get mu hoses hooked up (quick connects were frozen). I that couldn't get the PTO to engage. I tried the operators manual, but when I pulled it out of the pouch, it was an an farm (open cab tractor. Don't know what is going on with the PTO, but it will be a battle with the rental company tomorrow.
We had also had our smaller Deere, a 4600 out and a hydraulic line burst - while on the beach! The operator continued to run it and drove it back to the shop, leaking about 9 gallons of fluid all along the way. Note that we have an EPA trained specialist on our staff just to deal with grease and oil because of the beach, and all the restrants serving so much fried food (grease traps). Got that one all squared away. Ended up replacing 4 hoses to avoid the NEXT spill that would have happened.
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#1,086 · (Edited by Moderator)
Part 2, the "digs"
Currently, there are 2 bays. There is a "lean to" shelter on the end where various equipment is currently parked. The "long term plan" (next years budget) will be to pour a slab where the lean to is, raise the roof (or build a new hurricane code roof) to give adequate height, and install an above ground lift there. They are already working to build an office for me at the back of the right bay (in picture), and there is more stuff to be cleared out.
My tool boxes (mine) have been all "prettied up" for the new job. They are about 40 years old and were showing their age. I painted the bodies and did rattle can bedliner for all the drawers. They are far from perfect, but look much better than when I started on them
Last shot is our "heavy stuff", a John Deere 304J loader - which I had to drive down to the beach yesterday afternoon, and our Broyhill off road garbage truck, which does weekend trash runs every weekend. It is an autoloading garbage truck, and there are trash cans placed all up and down the beach. The truck has a detachable dumpster body that the trash is placed into (by the articulated arm) and then, the dumpster is swapped out for an empty one for the next day. It is powered by a Kubota (I think) diesel engine and full hydrostatic drive.
The 304J has numerous attachments including a bucket, grapple, and multiple forks. Yesterday, I had the forks on it and had to drive it down to the beach access ramp, pick up an 8 yard dumpster, BACK the loader up the beach about a mile and deposit the dumpster with 2 others for our anticipated holiday crowds. Driving down the beach meant a continuous watch for beachgoers, dodging roped off sea turtle nests, and a section of the beach that is completely roped off, save for a passageway, for nesting Sea Tern birds. There were hundreds of them and they just hollow out a place in the sand, lay their eggs, and sit on them right there in the sand.
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Oh, one other thing. Because we are on an island, all the electrical in the lower level is set at about 6 feet above the floor. All outlets, all light switches. Kind of different going into a room and reaching UP to turn on the lights
 

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#1,087 ·
sounds like a decent gig, a little bit different everyday. gotta love stepping into someone else's job, and realizing the lack of maintenance ( or abuse ) on different items. that's how it was when I started in the shop for the company I work for.
previous ''red seal'' mechanic was also a farmer, so there were a lot of ''farmer'' repairs done on almost every piece of equipment. lots of tie wire, and duct tape! and parts ''made to fit''!

the best example of his work, on a '97 f350 w/deck and power tailgate. 2-way radio , brake controller and tailgate wired in with household 110 wiring and connectors. no grommets thru the fire-wall, just sharp edged holes...
the 460 had so much blow-by, that he bypassed the pcv valve from the airbox/valve covers, and routed a pipe/ hose setup that dribbled oil and smoke from under the truck. just like a Detroit diesel!
he had a little bracket made up that held the dipstick in- the blow-by would push the dip-stick out, so that was his fix.
top of the air-box was wrapped with tie-wire, holding it together, wire twisted tight to make it seal...
extra wiring ran to the fuel selector switch, then to a separate toggle switch-

the truck now has a rebuilt motor , I rebuilt the 5-speed while the motor was out, and removed all his ''repairs''

and.....ha ha...5 weeks ago the rear tank fuel pump quit working, front tank works fine. I tagged out the rear tank filler with a ''do not fill'' placard/ sticker. and a sticker on the dash.
then one of the drivers tells me-'' there is nothing wrong with that filler, so I filled both tanks, and took your tags off'' :roll:
thanks, buddy :x
 
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