Big machine in small spaces

[cat320]

I was working for a landscaper this summer and I had to spread loam and dig for some big trees.Well wouldn't you know that I had to get into the back yard but there was only one way in inbetween this new fence and the house and it was just as wide as my machine.Had to go in and take fill out and grade before i could even bring a load of loam in there .So I had to make many trip and on the next to last trip the machine bounced and the stabalizer pad from the hoe hit the fence and took a chunk out of this custom fence pole. Now the funny part come to find out that we had to take all that fence out because tall bushes had to go there all along the fence line and the home owner stump ground some pretty big ass trees that the landscaper did not know about.after all that work of trying to be carful and hitting the post at the end and it all had to come out so I could dig up the the stumps .Has any one else had this situation happen ??

 

[digger242j]

Yeah, and it's *always* on the next to last trip that you do the damage. If you did it on the first or second trip you wouldn't have to struggle with it the whole time.

What really annoys me is when you have to struggle to work around something for months and then an architect or engineer decides they don't like it there anyway.

 

[BKrois]

One of my friends was digging in a backyard for a pool this spring right near my house. I stopped over to see what he was up to and he basically had to do the same thing as you Rick.

They took one section of fence out and he had to use his backhoe (as shown below) to haul the dirt out one bucket at a time. What shocked me was even though he dug down about 8 feet, all the material coming out (as seen in the photo) was basically all topsoil, and it was clean with hardly any rocks in it.

Look to the left in the photo, you can just make out the section of fence removed, there was also a deck on his side to, so he had to get past the deck, and then through the opening in the fence.


Bryan

 

[BRL]

I was doing a playground install at a day care center. Had to move 3 tri axles of fill from the lot into the two sites we were building. I had a 8' double gate to go through for the one site, which is behind the machine in this pic. And of course on the next to the last trip through I forgot I had the boom to the side & wacked one of the gate posts in half. Those vinyl fences are expensive! The fence company wanted $300.00 just to come look at it, + materials. Turned out to almost be worth that LOL. The closest place to get the materials was a 40 minute drive, so by the time I did that & the work to reinstall etc. I spent almost 300 bucks of my time. So while it was a tight squeeze for the machine, it turned out to be my stupidity that made it TOO tight to get through.

 

[Taylortractornu]

A few years ago when I was 20 I bought dads old backhoe and dump truck which He had never run lol. Last year the centering spring in the stablizer on the ledt side when using the hoe will lower its sefl after a big bmp in transit. I was doing a similar job as you were but I was at the corner of the house I didnt hear it go down too the thud I rumved a few bricks off the buildin. THey were remodeling it so I got away with it.
The worst Job I did was to put a septic tank in a courtyard where the house wasnt much wider than the hoe with the outriggers down. We had to go with 3 well tiles, and pile some of the dirt around the sides of them for back fill then dig the leach lines. The customer wanted the tank in that loacation for some unknown reason. The next night mare was puting in a storm house and landscaping for a couple that collected ceramic statues.

 

[digger242j]

Does this qualify for this thread?

September of 87. This is the sewer connection for the building. The street was a busy commercial street, one lane of traffic each direction, and one lane of parking on each side, plus a city bus every 20 minutes. I had to sit *somewhere* to dig....

 

[digger242j]

Another angle....

 

[dozerman]

Yeah, I know what you mean. This guy built a house right where a water tank needed to be.

Its human nature to make it as tight as possible for the excavator.

 

[triaxle]

Great Pix guys

A very helpful rule of thumb is to use, " the largest piece of equipment you can use without using something so big that it gets in its own way."

Obviously, if you have a dozen machines it is easier to follow this rule than if you have one machine and its not really the right one for the job. It is also clear that using the wrong tool can cause the damage and Murpheys Law is for real.

I believe one of the areas that we can improve our services in is bidding jobs for which we have the appropriate equipment and passing or reffering jobs for which we are ill equipped.
If a football coach decided to replace the star quarterback with a punter in the championship game most of us would call him stupid. A punter is the wrong tool to use as a quarterback. A punter is more likely to cause damage and dissatisfaction because he is the wrong tool.

If everything about a job seems problematic, trying to be the solution may cost you money and respect. The pitcher rarely bats clean-up because he is the wrong tool. Recognise your strengths and look for work that you do best.