work pics

[Ford LT-9000]

No job is too small :bouncegri

 

[Electra_Glide]

Looks like a kiddy pool in that last pic, but I guess you found that damn water line.:wink2 J/K

Nope...notice the downspout on the corner of the house hanging in mid air. I asked the GC if he was going to do anything about it before it rained, but he said no. Hey, what do I know...I just dig the hole :beatsme .

 

[murray83]

how long does it take the 430 to dig an excavation that size?

 

[Electra_Glide]

how long does it take the 430 to dig an excavation that size?

What you see in the picture took about 10 hours, but like I said, I'm a one-man band (run the excavator, run the skidsteer, run the truck, check the grade, etc.). I started out loading everything into a 1-ton and moving it across the yard just behind where my pickup is sitting, but by the end of the day, I was just throwing it on the ground, and moving it with the skidsteer.

Everything was done with a 24" bucket, since the footers needed to be 24" wide (Footers were 6" below the bottom of the hole.) I thought about having them bring a 36" bucket with the machine (it was rented), but given the limited reach of a smaller machine, I would have constantly been switching back and forth.

There was another day of digging for the garage pad and footers (pad went in where the machines are sitting in the picture). At the end of the job, I felt the 430 was a little too small. Next time around, I think I'll step up to a 5-ton machine (435).

I had estimated this job at 1 1/2 days total (including a 15 x 15 patio tear-out), and it took me 3 days, plus one day lost to rain. Don't know if it was because the machine was too small, or I'm not a very efficient operator :beatsme. Needless to say, it was not a very profitable venture...:crying.

Take care...

Joe

 

[norrodbh]

Nope...notice the downspout on the corner of the house hanging in mid air. I asked the GC if he was going to do anything about it before it rained, but he said no. Hey, what do I know...I just dig the hole :beatsme .

Yeah, with the rain we've been getting, everything looks like a swiming hole !

 

[Ford LT-9000]

Thats the trouble bidding jobs most excavation contractors here don't bid jobs because there is too many variables and unknowns. They usually give the homeowner a ball park idea but nothing is commited if they don't like it tough cookies find somebody else.

Rain delays are a pain we usually only get stopped if the site is turning to a mud pit otherwise its work through the rain.

Being a one man band can be a pain in the azz you prolly should have had a helper with experience to run the skid and be a grade checker. That does take time for you to get out check the grades etc. Having a rented machine is a thing that really hurts because if its not working you still have to pay the rental.

It was prolly a learning experience the next job will make you more money :yup

 

[murray83]

10 hours to do an excavation of that size by yourself with a mini? you did well in my books

 

[Orchard Ex]

Having a rented machine is a thing that really hurts because if its not working you still have to pay the rental.

A lot of times if it rained a lot (and the hour meter matches my "too much rain" story) my rental place will give me at least a partial credit, sometimes a full credit. However - My bank never sees it the same way on the equipment that I "own"... If it's not working I still have to "tote that note".

 

[Ford LT-9000]

It is similar to here the rental shop only rents 6000lb mini's but if they are not needed by another customer they won't push you to get the machine back.

They go by the hour meter for rental fees.

 

[Dozerboy]

YA the one man band thing don't fly. I get stuck doing that all of the time at work and they wonder why I can't get my average 120 trucks out in a day when I have to check grade its more like 70 and I always have the trucks lined up.

 

[Bob Horrell]

You would have been a lot better off using a 36 inch bucket for all but the footer. The 430 will handle the 36 with ease and it would have taken about 50% off your time. I have really liked the 430 whenever I have used one and found them to move a lot of dirt for their size.

 

[tylermckee]

Trying to be a one man show when youre laying pipe doesnt work either last few days ive been laying sewer and storm and for a good portion its been just me, with only one guy it seems like you work your ass off and dont get anything done. waste all your time hoping in and out of equipment to go lay another length of pipe, check your grade, bed the pipe, and trying to set your catch basins is fun too

 

[Ford LT-9000]

The worst part of getting in and out of the machine you end up rushing and hurting yourself. Usually happens when you got some mud or clay on the sole of your boot so its slippery and your foot slips off the track you bang your shin or pull your fingers off because your grabbing for the cab handle.

When I was running rubber tired hoe I don't know how many times my foot slipped off the step.

The other thing that usually happens is you step on the edge of the trench and it caves
in a bunch of dirt :cussing

One job I was on I was the viberatory roller operator and grade stick man the site was so soft and clay mud you get off the machine to go check grades you sink up to your ankles.

I have been trench money quite abit and you got the guy on the excavator screaming at you "Lets Go" and "Get Moving" .

 

[tylermckee]

our excavators both have blades on then so it makes for a nice step if you drop the blade when you get out. I always seem to get working and i dont notice till i see blood smeared on something. just yesterday i was taping some 8" pvc sewer pipe together with an 8lb sledge and the damn bell chipped and a piece flew off and hit me in the forehead. I didnt think anything of it, it just stung a little, untill the guy next door was like dude your heads bleeding are you alright. i had blood running all down my face and neck, I was working right by a busy street people must have thought i had lost my mind.

 

[Squizzy246B]

Ok, these are more for the view than the work but I thought I'd show you what I had to put up with this morning:

 

[digger242j]

...I thought I'd show you what I had to put up with this morning:

How are you able to cope with such harsh conditions??

 

[Squizzy246B]

How are you able to cope with such harsh conditions??

Its a dirty job but.......

 

[Squizzy246B]

Before & After

Here is the before and after pics of a commercial wall we recently completed:

 

[dayexco]

yesterday i was taping some 8" pvc sewer pipe together with an 8lb sledge and the damn bell chipped and a piece flew off and hit me in the forehead.

pushing sewer pipe together with a sledge hammer? a bar and a block of wood would have been a much better choice of tools.

 

[digger242j]

Or at the very least use a piece of wood between the hammer and the pipe. (It won't be any more effective at getting the pipe together, but it'll keep you from taking PVC shrapnel...)