Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

[Redoverfarm]

Maybe a little axle grease?

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks, Scott.

It really operates smooth with the dry steel on steel, John, but the post is leaning a bit so I need to push it over a bit with the Bobcat - that's what I mean by adjustment - then I will tamp in the front side of it and it should work well.  It's about a 2 finger weight  pull right now.  Maybe about the same as a large hinged barn door.

[steveastrouk]

Could you wedge the bucket on the post by driving some bars into where the bucket mounted on the original back hoe ?

Steve

[glenn kangiser]

I still want to build a counterbalance steel gate that rises vertically with the top at about 28' when open allowing 14 feet clear below.  Big rebar vertically with the ends beat into spears.  It would have a rope remote quick release latch going to the shop so if a trespassing parasite does get in he would have to leave walking  without his car/truck ........ and maybe without his clothes.  

I would have to impound them until the fees are paid.



Hey Steve, Nice to see you.

I thought about adding another chain but somehow I like that unsafe wobbly look.

Did you notice the rock in the burned out end of the pole above the bucket - It's just sitting there - about a sixty pounder.

[Whitlock]

You know if you drove some spikes in that gate the parasites might think it is some kind of dead fall

[glenn kangiser]

I wonder if they will add it to my property taxes. hmm

[glenn kangiser]

Ok  - finishing touches on the gate - I tamped  sand and water around the post after I leveled it a bit - looks pretty firm now.  Here is a little video of it in action.



OK - so I said fence but meant gate - you get the idea -- it was stage fright...

[considerations]

Glenn you are no longer the reigning champion of close calls.  Get a load of this:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/archives/173209.asp

[glenn kangiser]

That looks like it must have been an exciting ride, considerations.  I don't like to get them going too fast before I flip them over...

[Bishopknight]

Nice gate Glenn.

Wow, I wonder if that Backhoe is ruined now. I can imagine the guy was hurt. I almost never wear my seatbelt in the thing unless I'm on slopes.

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks, BK.

I wear my seatbelt whenever I'm around decent slopes which is most of the time around here.  I worked for Saf-T-Cab Company, contract install, and I know that about 95% of the time the operator is safer if strapped into the tractor.  If thrown out he will usually get mashed on a roll-over.

I have tipped over 2 manlifts, flopped a backhoe, 18 wheeler with a 45 foot reefer on, and rolled a car.  Seatbelts or fall gear tied off in near all cases prevented major injury.

[WoodSprite]

Thanks, BK.

I wear my seatbelt whenever I'm around decent slopes which is most of the time around here.  I worked for Saf-T-Cab Company, contract install, and I know that about 95% of the time the operator is safer if strapped into the tractor.  If thrown out he will usually get mashed on a roll-over.

I have tipped over 2 manlifts, flopped a backhoe, 18 wheeler with a 45 foot reefer on, and rolled a car.  Seatbelts or fall gear tied off in near all cases prevented major injury.

Oh, Glenn...I am so glad you didn't post this two days ago!  Ron has been running a huge excavator to level a building site on our treacherous terrain for the last two days (yes, by the way, this counts as the official ground-breaking, after 3 years of anguish and shedmaking, of the "real" house...I'll celebrate as soon as he gets off that tractor!). 

I trust him completely.  He knows what he's doing.  He's got years of experience, endless patience and a better understanding of physics than most people.  I've seen him send back a rented tractor if the center of gravity was too high.  He's not a cowboy, and he doesn't take stupid chances.  I know these things. But man, that ground is SO sloped that for the first time in my life, I well and truly could not bear to watch.  I really, REALLY hate this part...

[glenn kangiser]

Sassy will not watch me on the bad stuff either.  Brushing around here is fun - 30 to 40% slopes and more.  I go until I can't back out with the tracks then push myself out with the bucket.  It's fun....but I am pretty careful doing that...

[Redoverfarm]

This discussion reminds me of a time when I was working for a contractor on my days off.  I was running a JD 450 track loader cleaning up fence rows.  There was a unused trench silo that I was pushing all the stumps, trees, rocks and wire into.  I misjudged the edge of the silo.  I would say it was about 8-10' deep.  There I sit teter-tottering on the edge.  Seemed like everything I tried just got worse.  Lifting the load or dumping the load just created more gravity to the front. Even the slightess bucket movement made it rock.  After several attemps I figured out the solution.  Dump and back simultaniouosly with the black smoke from the stack.  It is one of those times you say "How did I get here and how am I going to get out"

It was about the same time I told the owner that he needed to install a ROPS on the machine.  When clearing the fence row there were several trees which had top rot.  Everytime I went to shove them down the tops would break out and fall.  He said he had one that he hadn't had time to install.  He did install it and the next time I worked a locust about 8" diameter fell.  It sounded like a church bell when it rang the top of the canopy.  I am glad he finally got around to it.

[glenn kangiser]

That'll almost make you tear a hole in the back of your underwears won't it, John?  I love that feeling.....

No question that a ROPS can save your bacon.

Today is more Bobcat work but on relatively flat ground.  Flat ground hazards in brush clearing can include skewering yourself in the drivers seat with an un-noticed tree or limb entering the cab over the bucket.   I have had them enter the cab but stopped before they got to me.  On a Bobcat you are pretty close to the front and pretty close to your work.

As the ground gets steeper and steeper, the work must be conducted more forward and back while going up and down slope.  I have cleared spots below so I knew what was there then went to the top and made a one way trip taking out the brush as I go. 

With the tracks on over the tires I can work pretty steep sidehills also.  To a point, I will slide sideways while working or pushing rather than tip over.  The tracks add around 3" width to the outside plus I had to widen the tire spacing with 1 1/2 inch spacers so it is near 7'6" wide.  A normal Bobcat with tires only, would never operate in the places I go without rolling over. 

My Bobcat 963 weighs around 12000 lbs with the tracks and is 105 HP Turbocharged. 

[WoodSprite]

Sassy will not watch me on the bad stuff either.  Brushing around here is fun - 30 to 40% slopes and more.  I go until I can't back out with the tracks then push myself out with the bucket.  It's fun....but I am pretty careful doing that...

Sounds familiar. 

Hey, have you ever had the boom lock up on you because of the slope you were on?  Tuesday, Ron spent the whole day working on another project on relatively flat ground, with no trouble at all.  Wednesday, he took it up to our place, and after about two hours the boom locked up - of course with the bucket at the highest possible point.  This, of course, is a rented rig for which we are paying by the minute.  Much anguish ensued, especially once it became clear that the only person qualified to troubleshoot this issue needed to drive down from Albany (four hours from here), and that torrential rain was forecast for the next four days. 

Long story short, after a four-hour nap, the thing miraculously sprang back to life.  Troubleshooter guy showed up literally six minutes later, and could only offer as explanation the theory that maybe it didn't like sitting at such an angle.  I don't know the first thing about the mysteries of hydraulics...does this sound plausible?

The owner of the company made it right, by the way - he "accidentally" forgot to pick it up for another two days, and the torrential rains even cooperated by holding off until this afternoon.  They're predicting up to 2" overnight - I'm thinking we should just dump sacks of quikcrete into our new 4' deep foundation holes and stand by with long poles.  Stir well, and tomorrow morning we'll have footers, right?

[glenn kangiser]

I have old equipment which I somehow manage to keep running fair.  I don't think any of them have any joints tight enough to lock up...

I have used new rental equipment - Specifically a Caterpillar reach lift, with safety devices which prohibited it from even being useful on my job once the beam was lifted.  No way to side shift it even 2 inches once it begins to pick up.  I was so mad I told them to get that piece of ....um...uh.... crap ...off of my job and never bring me another one like it.

The quicrete may work, and possibly a couple handfuls of Laundry detergent in the pockets of your clothes would get them clean too...

[diyfrank]

Sassy will not watch me on the bad stuff either.  Brushing around here is fun - 30 to 40% slopes and more.  I go until I can't back out with the tracks then push myself out with the bucket.  It's fun....but I am pretty careful doing that...

Sounds familiar. 

Hey, have you ever had the boom lock up on you because of the slope you were on?  Tuesday, Ron spent the whole day working on another project on relatively flat ground, with no trouble at all.  Wednesday, he took it up to our place, and after about two hours the boom locked up - of course with the bucket at the highest possible point.  This, of course, is a rented rig for which we are paying by the minute.  Much anguish ensued, especially once it became clear that the only person qualified to troubleshoot this issue needed to drive down from Albany (four hours from here), and that torrential rain was forecast for the next four days. 

Long story short, after a four-hour nap, the thing miraculously sprang back to life.  Troubleshooter guy showed up literally six minutes later, and could only offer as explanation the theory that maybe it didn't like sitting at such an angle.  I don't know the first thing about the mysteries of hydraulics...does this sound plausible?

The owner of the company made it right, by the way - he "accidentally" forgot to pick it up for another two days, and the torrential rains even cooperated by holding off until this afternoon.  They're predicting up to 2" overnight - I'm thinking we should just dump sacks of quikcrete into our new 4' deep foundation holes and stand by with long poles.  Stir well, and tomorrow morning we'll have footers, right?

I know this is your thread Glenn, I was just reading and thought I would comment on WoodSprite's post.

Was this an excavator you rented? I have had booms lock up many times. It was always electrical problem. Could have been in the safety lever next to the door. A low battery has given me grief a time or two. Water sometime get into the computer and they go a little hay wire.

[glenn kangiser]

No problem, Frank.  It is here to help anybody in any way and I don't get bent about it.  I have likely ruined more threads here than anybody...

[glenn kangiser]

Hmmm - some old codger washing his clothes.

[Ernest T. Bass]

Neat piece of equipment there! Think it would handle a family of 11? Perhaps another crank...

[glenn kangiser]

If I had a family of eleven, Andrew, I wouldn't be standing there cranking that thing by myself. 

That machine is a 1920 Dexter Washing machine.  The agitator goes up and down and back and forth.  The clothes come out nearly clean. 

[WoodSprite]

Hmmm - some old codger washing his clothes.

How can you tell?  I can't see the bulges in his pockets...

[WoodSprite]

I have old equipment which I somehow manage to keep running fair.  I don't think any of them have any joints tight enough to lock up... waiting

I have used new rental equipment - Specifically a Caterpillar reach lift, with safety devices which prohibited it from even being useful on my job once the beam was lifted.  No way to side shift it even 2 inches once it begins to pick up.  I was so mad I told them to get that piece of ....um...uh.... crap ...off of my job and never bring me another one like it.

Was this an excavator you rented? I have had booms lock up many times. It was always electrical problem. Could have been in the safety lever next to the door. A low battery has given me grief a time or two. Water sometime get into the computer and they go a little hay wire.

Thanks to both of you for the responses.  Yes, it was a relatively new rental excavator - a Case, if it make any difference.  I can't imagine I wouldn't have learned some new words if it had been, um, enhanced with the safety features you describe, Glenn!  The John Deere that we used to rent never had any problem on our terrain (as long as they remembered to send us the one without the tall enclosed cab).  

Alas, that company (which was just 10 miles away) has gone out of business, and everyone else in the nearest town offers teeny little things that I swear would not be able to withstand the rigors of the average pre-school sandbox.  DIYFrank, those were the sorts of explanations I might have expected to hear - or else "well, what did you do to it?", which, thankfully, wasn't implied in the least.

Well, here's hoping the excavation phase is over.  Pick, shovel, and prybar is really hard on the body, but not nearly so stressful.

[glenn kangiser]

Hmmm - some old codger washing his clothes.

How can you tell?  I can't see the bulges in his pockets...

I was just making a good guess...

I always carry about 10 lbs of stuff in my pockets.