Dumb things you have done truck wise!

[XOLATEM]

I was sitting in the operators seat of an older Lee-Boy paving machine and had a desperate sinking feeling...

Now I have done it...opened my freaking mouth and stuck a size 13 wide right in and the boot leather had a lot of oil, grease, mud and diesel fuel in it...

I didn't know Jack Squat about diesel engines...except that the engine oil will ALWAYS be black as the ace of spades...

Oh...and that they did not use spark plugs...which is what I grew up with...

And here I go and make a bet with a guy that has been working on this equipment for at least eight or so years...

I am feeling like a collossal dumb fvqu and figuring that I am soon to be $100 poorer and lose what little hard-won respect I had earned from my immediate superior at this job...

Let me back up a little....

So...I was disgusted with the car repair business and figured that I could work on heavy equipment...I lowballed myself to a paving company and worked out better than I hoped so the General Manager took pity on me and raised my pay and gave me back pay from my first day to boot...

I was doing pretty good with all of this new-to-me equipment and situations...just figuring it out on my own...I could do PM's and weld and figure out how to fix stuff so the company could keep their jobs flowing...so far so good...

The guy that I was working under...he was miserable...he had been at it with this company for about seven years and absolutely DID NOT want to be a supervisor...but was booted into the position by the Upper Management because the other guy that quit had burnt out...

It was the other guy that I had met when I had applied for the job...and he was shoving the shop keys in my hand after a few minutes of looking around the shop...and then he hauled butt outta there...

So...my new immediate supervisor...the miserable one...he knew all of the equipment and how to fix it...but he was stingy with any advice or technical help and one of his perverse hobbies was to set up his mechanics for failure...and see how they handle it...

I realized it must have been his favorite pastime...he would actually want you to go on a service call with no tools or any information and then be able to tell the Boss that you could not cut the mustard...

You guys have heard me use the term Proboscis...? This guy was not any garden-variety Proboscis....oh, no...he took great pride in being an extra-special Proboscis...that was the general consensus with the other mechanics...so...it was not just me...

So...this guy...my immediate superior...I'll call him 'M'...he has me bring in an older paving machine that had been sitting for a long time because the Company was getting busy and needed another paver on line to use...and I had to get it working reliably...it had a Deutz air-cooled engine...I looked it over and recommended a new battery...fix the battery cables...oil, filters, new fuel, etc.etc. and 'M' says to pull the covers and replace the fan belt...

I pull the covers and Lo and Behold...look at that belt and what looks like to me is an oil-pressurized belt tensioner...the belt drives the cooling fan that blows air around the cylinders inside the covers...

Neat !! I call the other, younger guys over to have a look-see because I figure they are new to this, too...and 'M' comes over to see what the fuss is about...

So...'M' figures he is going to show off some of his superiority...and tell me that the pulley that I figure is a tensioner is really the main fuel pump...and that the engine will not run without the belt on...

Now...before I got this job...I knew very little about diesels...and my education was progressing slowly...but surely...but still...what 'M' said gave me a little pause...

I did not think that the people that designed that engine would drive the main fuel pump off of a BELT....hell, no...

You guys gotta know a little about me...My BS meter is analog...and I could feel the needle quivering to the...maybe ankle-deep level...

Another thing about me...a lot of times...I will rise quickly to a challenge...especially when I am reasonably sure I am right !!

As a matter of fact...I like to bet...when I think that I am right...and...I will sure as **** tell a BSer he is fulla it and why don'tcha BET ME $100...!!!

So...you know what happened next...well...it went down like this...

'M' insisted that the fuel pump was belt-driven and I said I didn't think so...he looked at me and said..."That engine will not run if the belt is off it...!!"

I said "I'll bet you $100 I can get that engine to run without that belt...!!"

Whoa...oh....shoot....now I done it....crap...NOW WHAT..? my inner self is shaking it's head and my outer self is thinking about what was going to have to not get paid this week...

To top it off...I see 'M'...in one fluid motion...pull out his wallet and a crisp Franklin comes floating down towards me...and he is wearing some kind of triumphant look...

It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion...and I was along for the ride...that wallet appeared to come out of his back pocket magically...as if he had metal imbedded in his hand and the magnetic strips on his credit cards pulled the wallet out and it unfolded and the $100 bill popped up like it knew it was called upon to make an absolute fool out of this loudmouth upstart once and for all....

He walked off and let me stew in my juice...oh, jeezz...

The other mechanics heard and saw everything...they are used to me and 'M' getting into it from time to time and to them...it is great fun... and they usually root for me...but this time...they say nothing...

What in the hell...I gotta study this thing...and I don't have a lot of time...the belt is off of it...I get the battery in and fix the cables...I do the oil and filters...while I am at the fuel/water seperator...I get to looking at the IP area...I see a bulge in the block...like an oil passage that leads to the end of the engine...

I follow the bulge and at the end of the block...there is a rod sticking out...and...it is spring-loaded....

Hmmm....I follow the bulge the other way and note where it would be approximately at the IP...hmm...I look at the belt-and-pulley arrangement and see how the rod would sit with the belt on...

I root around for a piece of metal and...fortunately...there is a threaded hole to bolt the piece of metal to...and fix it so it will hold the rod in the block against the spring tension...

Well....here goes nuthin'...I hit the key and....IT COMES TO LIFE....

I resist the urge to do my Rebel Yell....but I do yell...."OH...'MMMMM'....!!!

He is shocked....he looks at the missing belt area...and is stunned....

The ****** is running...without a belt....I got 'is a$$ now....!!

I could do nothing but just grin my big grin...and I am relieved like all-get-out..."Whew"....

Now comes my empathy test...I could have pocketed the Franklin...

But...I didn't...

I told 'M' that he did not have to pay me...He had a family to take care of...and I didn't...and a fancy house to pay for...and I didn't...

But...to his credit...he said..."A bet is a bet".

I just could not take his money...even after all the crap he tried to set me up on...I just...didn't have it in me...I am a sap...

When he wasn't looking...I set the bill on his desk with a paperweight on it to keep it from flying off...

I was satisfied...and relieved...just winning the bet and letting the other mechanics see that I was smarter than I looked....

 

[Nero]

The only fuel pumps I've heard of that are belt driven, are tooth belts like timing belts. If it's a ribbed belt my bs meter would also be going off. But I tell you what, what a hell of a story that is @XOLATEM. I can tell you if probably butt heads with them too, hell knows I did with my old foreman, but he was also a spiteful shtt

 

[Jesus Freak]

The only fuel pumps I've heard of that are belt driven, are tooth belts like timing belts. If it's a ribbed belt my bs meter would also be going off. But I tell you what, what a hell of a story that is @XOLATEM. I can tell you if probably butt heads with them too, hell knows I did with my old foreman, but he was also a spiteful shtt

There's a belt driven fuel pump thread! Ole' boy is pumping WVO with it.

 

[XOLATEM]

OK....I remember a dumb thing I have done recently...with my truck...

Some time ago I wrote about taking off my front bumper and twisting it to straighten it...and then bolting it back on to get it...pretty much 'redneck straight'...

It was in the 'what did you do with...' thread...

I didn't tell you how it got bent in the first place...not that it was cherry before I liketa yank it off....

But the 'bumper event'...was the aftermath of the situation I got myself and The Girl into... that I have not written about yet...

Anyway....I am trying to get my truck outta the ditch...with a trailer semi-jack knifed attached to the back...and the way it was all under tension...I was not going to try to uncouple the trailer...so...I take the skid steer and hook a chain to the truck and think that I am going to push the two 'go' levers into paradise....yeah...right...

All I succeeded in doing was to tear the bumper offa the beast...and chew up the gravel driveway...

The whole rig was on an incline...where Ol' One-Ton let me know what its limitation was...stalled on a gravel driveway uphill with a heavy load.

I knew that when you use the term 'grade' in relation to an incline...it means something like 'percentage of rise in relation to horizontal distance...' or some stuff like that...but I never really looked it up to get the specifics...until recently...

When I became more interested than just curious about it...

The Girl and I just the other day did the math...our driveway has...approximately...a 23% grade near the main road going into the Land...which bottoms and then turns into a...'approx'...13% grade up leading up to a switchback...that levels out to an 'approx'...7% grade that continues on to the Build Site...

Well...decending the first grade and not running off the road was easy...and...I thought that I could floor it and make it up the next one...

Unh, unh....nope...stalled...and tried smoking the clutch a little to get moving again....

No dice...

The next part will get told soon enough...but...suffice it to say...

It was a really dumb thing to do with my truck and tailer...

The flip side is this...it gave me an excuse to get the bumper bolts loose to be able to see what I need to do to work up a winch bumper sometime in the future...

 

[Austin86250]

Would probably go to the time I towed 20k with a worn out c6 that already leaked way too much turns out when they get low on fluid they get very very hot, it seems the torque converter seal is a great pressure release

 

[KansasIDI]

Well I scared myself today. Went to town to eat lunch, and on the way back, when I pulled it off the highway, I didn’t lock my hubs in… turned the wheel to get off the snowpack and the front tires started sliding… and the truck went into the ditch. Was going about 30… Now this is a big ditch… basically took the whole truck into there… I was kinda shaking… my shed was on the other side of the ditch from the road… went and got the loader and pulled it back out.

Reminder to use 4WD on snowpack roads… and, eh, lock the hubs…

 

[KansasIDI]

I even had tire chains on yesterday, hauling hay with it on the snowpack roads… but I took em off to go on highway…

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I didn’t lock my hubs in… turned the wheel to get off the snowpack and the front tires started sliding… and the truck went into the ditch.

I keep forgetting that you guys, over east there, a decent amount of snow. We got about 1/2" here.

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

Well I scared myself today. Went to town to eat lunch, and on the way back, when I pulled it off the highway, I didn’t lock my hubs in… turned the wheel to get off the snowpack and the front tires started sliding… and the truck went into the ditch. Was going about 30… Now this is a big ditch… basically took the whole truck into there… I was kinda shaking… my shed was on the other side of the ditch from the road… went and got the loader and pulled it back out.

Reminder to use 4WD on snowpack roads… and, eh, lock the hubs…

Great day to have a loader! The lesson is if you are gonna ditch your truck...do it across the street.

 

[KansasIDI]

Great day to have a loader! The lesson is if you are gonna ditch your truck...do it across the street.

Yes… lucky I was close… all good, didn’t seem to hurt anything, and the front bumper even slammed into the ground

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[KansasIDI]

Jesus Freak will probably be disappointed, it’s not a loader tractor, that’s next on the list. And it’s not mine, it’s my parents, we use it to feed cattle. It’s a high hour 299D CAT compact track loader, tracked skid steer, pre emissions. We have some at work that have DEF, those machines are truly junk before 2000 hours, that old machine has 7000, still goin strong.

A loader tractor would probably be better… more versatile, but far less maneuverable… and it would be… mine.

 

[Jesus Freak]

Jesus Freak will probably be disappointed, it’s not a loader tractor, that’s next on the list. And it’s not mine, it’s my parents, we use it to feed cattle. It’s a high hour 299D CAT compact track loader, tracked skid steer, pre emissions. We have some at work that have DEF, those machines are truly junk before 2000 hours, that old machine has 7000, still goin strong.

A loader tractor would probably be better… more versatile, but far less maneuverable… and it would be… mine.

I try not to judge people by their equipment. But there's some of us that can run a 12,000lb dozer with a hand clutch and individual clutch and brake for the tracks, and those of us that can do that feel like the modern dozer operators lack something........ like an ulcer.
It's really nerve wracking loading an old D6 on a semi trailer.

 

[Rdnck84_03]

It's really nerve wracking loading an old D6 on a semi trailer.

Yes it is!

When I first bought mine it was sitting at the edge of a hay field miles from anything. The engine was stuck from sitting, spent about a week every night after work getting it freed up and running in the middle of winter (afternoon temps were averaging 15- 25 F) that was really not a fun ordeal.

After I final got it functional I called a buddy that runs a dozer service to haul it to the house since he has a rig with a lowboy. When he gets there to load I asked him if he wanted to load it since he does it all the time. He looked at the machine and said " hell no there are too many levers and pedals on that thing"

Anyway I had to load it myself with about 100 yards worth of dozer experience. The loading went smooth, unloading not so much. When it broke over the back of the trailer it twisted and missed both ramps on the way down. That was a rough ride.

James

 

[KansasIDI]

I have run a cable dozer and a cable scraper. I think hydraulics were definitely an innovation… worth having.

 

[Rdnck84_03]

Biggest advantage of the hydraulics is that you can put the weight of the machine on the blade to dig inside of relying on the weight of the blade.

James