New found love.......

[Louis 955 jr]

Hello everyone I am a second year apprentice for the IUOE 101 in Kansas city, missouri. Recently I went to our training center and ran a 621 Caterpillar scraper. I heard terrible things about them but I enjoyed my time on it. My ol man dreads them and I don't see why(it could be that he ran one for eight years prior to his leaving the union). So if you could give me tips, thoughts, or stories the information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AmerIndependent]

What model 621 was it?

 

[Louis 955 jr]

It was a model "a". It was a used army scraper, for somethin so old it moved some dirt. It had a cab on it, but the mechanic took the door off for the summer.

 

[qball]

i would rather be kicked in the head repeatedly then run a scraper.

 

[Louis 955 jr]

Haha you sound like my old man. I liked runnin it, wasn't as bad as I was told it was.

 

[Vantage_TeS]

Run it balls out for a full day and tell me what your body tells you in the morning

 

[Louis 955 jr]

Haha I was kinda soar. But I feel that way alot from lookin behind me in the other machine I run

 

[Turbo21835]

i would rather be kicked in the head repeatedly then run a scraper.

No more outlaw scraper racing anymore?

 

[alan627b]

101 has a really nice facility, don't they? Wait until you get to run the 627B they have...you'll never want that 621 again!
Wear your seat belts, let the seat take the beating not your kidneys...don't run around with the pan all the way up/gate ahead/ or the lip open when you don't need to.
Keeping the pan low means if you need it as a brake, it takes less time to be able to use it, and keeps the center of gravity low. Open apron and the ejector forward when not dumping beats the pins and bushings and linkages unnecessarily, and the ejector ahead will beat the packing out of the ejector cylinder. Poke your head in the rear of the bowl some time and check out how long that cylinder is.
Be careful of your blind side and keep backing up to a minimum.
Enjoy your job and be safe. welcome to the club!
Alan627b
Local 571 Nebraska

 

[Louis 955 jr]

I recently hopped on one of those 27s and I was thrown off by the two accelerator pedals. I loved it, but the 101 has agreat facility. Every year they rent new equipment for us. So far the union has been fun to work for (could deal without the jackass operator), but thanks for the advice.

 

[AtlasRob]

Scrapers...........................I looked at all the scraper hands back in 1975/76 stooped, young men looking like they should be retiring and said ......naw thanks,

I went with all the other bits that were available but a couple of loads with a TS24 and a 637 convinced me to stay away and I have done. Enjoy the experience and as long as YOU enjoy it that is what matters. :drinkup

 

[qball]

outlaw scraper racing is fun. running scrapers is awful. cat and pans are a bit better.

 

[Louis 955 jr]

Alan 627B did you work under the 101? Where you an apprentice too?

 

[Tinkerer]

We used to call them Kidney Buckets ! Remember to ALWAYS wear your seat belt. I have witnessed a 631E upside down after the operator backed it over the edge of a deep ditch (3to1 slope no less). The operator was still in the seat hanging by the seat belt. He was completely uninjured until ---- he released the seat belt before we were able to help him get out of it. He suffered a really nasty shoulder bruise when he went head first onto the roof of the ROPS. He was unemployed the next morning for his stupidity

 

[JDOFMEMI]

Ahhh, the first love of the inexperienced. Scrapers seem fun at first, and then as you do it every day, you become calloused to them like your old man was.

I liked them in the beginning, but it did not take me long to beg to get off of them. Fortunately I had talent on other machines, so I did not get stuck on them for long.

Since I didn'y run them for so long, I can still do it now and then and have it be fun. If you run one for a long time, you have to be a little nuts to still enjoy it. (No ill will to Alan627B)

 

[AtlasRob]

Ahhh, the first love of the inexperienced.

:lmao thats got to be quote of the week. :yup

 

[Phil]

The 621A had the dreaded V8 engine. As I remember it was extremely powerful but could have a short life and many engines did fly apart before their time. It was light in the front and liked to bounce, most operators only lasted a few years. As fast as it was, I think it made every other scraper out there look bad, and it was an engineering marvel, except for the engine.

A scraper operator is a hard life. Fighting to keep from getting stuck in the spring and fall, then sucking up dust in the summer. It can be quite exciting too, there is always an edge to work to and always someone has to dump on the blind side of the topsoil pile. There are usually soft spots to fill in to make it interesting. I wouldn't go back and do it over again, but it has an appeal to a certain type of person. Phil

 

[alan627b]

I took an angledozer training class at Local 101, and used to live in Blue springs until 1975. Bob (older guy who I think runs the program) is an old friend of a real good friend of mine.
That facility blew me away.
You don't have to be nuts to like scrapers, but it helps!
Here's the beast I'm currently running for Dondlinger and sons from Wichita Kansas.
I'm working on 8 miles of highway 61 west of McPherson, Kansas.

 

[alan627b]

Here are the other guy's scrapers, a pair of 637G's that cost $1.4 million[I apiece...and they have 2 new 14 M graders onsite.
A bit different from the 627B's and 140G's I'm used to...

 

[alan627b]

Now for the 637G's....