Jesus Freak
Full Access Member
Other than the sticker, is there anything "magnum" about it?
So what did you do with your truck today?
- Thread starter GOOSE
- Start date
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
Ok I changed that. The rear corners of my bed are very rusty due to the previous owner's fondness of playing in the mud. I found out that the driver's side tailgate pivot had broken loose from the rest of the bed and had moved outward. I Knew that it would bother me if I didn't fix it so I drove over to work and welded it back into place. Not much, really, but still pretty important.
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IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
We are assuming that this was the biggest model in the line up and thus the model name of Magnum. That's about all we know about this three wheeler. There was at least 8-10 small companies that built similar three wheelers in the U.S. and one for sure in Canada. This one is entirely new and may be a forgotten one.
Old Goat
Full Access Member
Old Goat
Full Access Member
Last night I JB Welded the Brake Valve.
This morning I swapped it with the leaker.
Started the engine, had my Wife apply the Brakes...
Whadayano, the thing was peeing a little stream of Brake
fluid. How could that be? i really slathered on the JB.
So now it is off to have one of them welded and be done with it.
The problem is taking the valve apart to gut it. compromizes the
old "O" Ring that had been on the PNP truck a long time.
Should be replaced, but isn`t a garden variety "O" Ring, but
a special Ford one.
Goat
This morning I swapped it with the leaker.
Started the engine, had my Wife apply the Brakes...
Whadayano, the thing was peeing a little stream of Brake
fluid. How could that be? i really slathered on the JB.
So now it is off to have one of them welded and be done with it.
The problem is taking the valve apart to gut it. compromizes the
old "O" Ring that had been on the PNP truck a long time.
Should be replaced, but isn`t a garden variety "O" Ring, but
a special Ford one.
Goat
Kdo58
Full Access Member
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
That looks much better than what the factory did.
420Bullnose
Registered User
Good Evening,
Picked up a Tractor along with a Rototiller this morning, cruising at 65 mph in top gear without breaking a sweat.
Turbo Whistling & Motor Screamin'!!!
420Bullnose
Picked up a Tractor along with a Rototiller this morning, cruising at 65 mph in top gear without breaking a sweat.
Turbo Whistling & Motor Screamin'!!!
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420Bullnose
Last edited:
XOLATEM
Full Access Member
I gotta confess that I nicked my truck today...on top of the driver side fender....just a little nick...but my first damage to my truck that was done because I got excited and was not watching everything...
It could have been a lot worse...I knicked it with a 35 foot power pole.
The Girl and I are building a house...and I bought this skid steer so I would not have to rent one for months...
Let me back up to the grapple story...
So.... I am working at this tractor dealer...and occaisionally used equipment comes in for whatever reason...anyway...this grapple is sitting in the yard and I notice it immediately....I am thinking...
"Now...THAT looks mighty handy...
It is made in USA by good, down home North Carolina boys and had some good features...heavy constuction...guards over the cylinders...no leaks...good couplers...hoses fine...and to top it off...someone had welded a receiver for a towing coupler so you could position trailers or towed equipment around the yard...
Perfect....I gotta get this thing....
That was months ago...maybe not a year...but it sure seemed like it...
I HAD to get this thing...somehow...I could not let it slip away...
Have you ever kicked yourself for not moving fast enough on something you could really use..? I have...I did not want to screw up on this one...
And...when it comes to buying something substantial...you know the salesman is going to make a commission...so...I don't know about you guys...but WHO I buy from is important, too.
So...there are a few sales people working the front showroom...all different personalities...who is going to earn this commission..?
One...handled govt contracts...could not be bothered...
Another was just...seemed aloof...never really warmed up to him...just an air about 'im...he kinda strutted around and did his thing...works for him...but he probably did not read Joe Girards book.
Maybe he did...but just not someone that is going to get this sale...
Another guy was someone who seemed to be busy...made a good buck at what he does...had seniority and was part of the 'family'...but he had his chance with me and blew it...did not take me seriously once...maybe because he figured that I was not going to buy much from the place I was working at....who knows...but ...
He brought in this chipper...not a huge one...but one that looked good behind a half-ton truck...to be prepped for pending sale...and I just ...almost...fell in love with it...and asked him to get me a brochure on that model...I was seriously considering buying a new chipper...with a warranty and no prior butchering history...I could use on my place and maybe as a side business...
No show on the brochure or any information at all about ANY chipper...best I could do was to get a calendar that featured the company and some of their products...and I had to get that from the parts counter...
One guy just seemed kinda young and flaky...I saw him run a red light going in to work one dark morning...and it could have been bad...if he is that reckless with himself and others...well...no...just no.
So....that leaves a young father who started out on the parts counter...bi-lingual and good attitude...helpful and means well...and he graduated to sales...this guy deserves a chance...he WANTS to do right by people...blue-collar and otherwise...
So I appoach him...hat in hand..."Hey...Mr. 'J'...what is the scoop on that grapple up on the lot..?
Ah...let me look at it...and I'll get back to you...
Well...he did get back to me...as promptly as he could...when he had some info on it....good job...Mr. 'J'...
"It is a trade-in and the deal is not finished...it was part of a bundle of equipment offered to get a new machine..."
Rats...gotta wait...until it is assigned a stock number ....and that could take some time...time that others can see it and make a better offer on it than I was willing to...
Patience...sometimes I just ain't got it...but I could not do anything else...
Months go by...and the thing is just sitting there...waiting for me to cross all of the 'T's and dot the 'I's in life to make it happen...I look at it occaisionally and check to make sure that I want to spend the money on it and not something cheaper or less capable..
I check with my guy from time to time and he seems embarrassed...a little bit...that he still has no news on when I could make an offer on the thing...
God is testing me...somehow...this is a test of my fortitude...this deal is mine to mess up....
Weeks and months go by and the time comes that I have to quit the job...because The Girl and I are moving...we are emptying out the house she has lived in for twenty years..!!!...and moving to a nicer place to live...but...we gotta build a house to do it...
I just know that that grapple is gonna get away from me...I almost write it off and start looking to see what else is out there...
So...between the two of us....The Girl and me...we have three trucks and four trailers...if you can call a Ranger a truck...more like a car with an extra-capacity trunk...anyway...as we are moving things get shuffled around...trucks here...trailers there...cleaning up the yard and house and putting it on the market...we gotta sell the house to build the new one...talk about stress...lots of trips back and forth...and gas and diesel prices not optimal...so...
The grapple pops into my mind...and I had not been thinking about the Old Job...for a while...I left on reasonably good terms...and I told the Boss that I wanted to buy the Thing when it became available...but sometimes people are hard to read...he was not enthusiastic about it but it was not a flat no....we will see on that...is what I was sensing...
When you work at a fairly large organization...you wind up working with and alongside a number of different personalities...you jocky for position and you find youself somewhere in the pecking order...
Some are 'Family' and some are just passing through...some are sycophants and some are very competant and are valuable enough to not really give a crap what anyone else thinks...as long as the work gets done...This job is one that I found myself having to fight for what was right against someone who had more ego than common sense...and who would throw you under the bus in a new york minute... and blame you for something that he had instructed you to do...
You know the type....
I had to source authorities on what could be welded with what and what the effects are to a machine if you insist on running a bad battery...among many other things...this guy and I bumped heads regularly...and I was proven right more than once eventually...but...you get the idea....
Anyway...good terms with the boss...but sour grapes with the...one who was making commission on my labor and expertise...He was a...proboscis...right up to the moment I packed my tools...he could not help himself...must have been force of habit...
So...it was not looking like the grapple and I were going to become a thing...it was not looking good for our hero...
So...after weeks of forgetting about that time of my life and moving on to bigger and better things...I call up Mr. 'J' out of the blue...just curious...and he says..."We just got that thing released and a stock number will be assigned soon.."
Somehow...I just seem to have a sixth sense about stuff....
Hell yeah...now to the next issue..."Can you sell it to me with my employee discount..?"
Pause...."Yeah, no problem.."
HALLELUJAH...!!!
I say...to myself...'Crap...ain't got a trailer here to get it...truck and trailer five hours away...!'
Fate and destiny is not done with me yet...
I tell him..."Can you hold it for me a few days...my trailer is elsewhere...?"
He says "Sure". Good man....I know that I picked the right guy to deal with...I hope he makes a decent commision and treats his kids to something nice...
So now...me and the grapple are several days away from each other...but we are closer than ever...
That was a Tuesday...
I find myself at the Build Site...handling things that cannot wait and setting up meetings and working with very busy contractors...trying to get Our Project squeezed in...finally on Monday I find myself with a day that nothing is happening...it hits me at about ten o'clock that...if I hustle...I can get that grapple.
I haul butt and get things ready and shoot out of there like the guy at the circus being shot outta a cannon...but I am not so sure that I will land on a net...a lot of things can go wrong and I gotta be on top of it...
Truck, trailer, fuel, coffee, snacks, maps, GPS, money, blue pen, drivers license, lights, camera, action....gotta fight traffic for five hours...and without incident.
I haul up the road like nobody's business....
Doing good so far....no rest stops...don't drink too much water and coffee...gotta modulate things...no FI's on the road...at least that I can tell...pushing the speed limit a bit...staying in harmony with the other speed demons...beautiful day to get stopped and ticketed...gotta avoid that...
I got a late start because I was exhausted from the last several days of...things to do...and now it was looking like...if I was lucky...I was going to be there about an hour and a half before they close...
I am not the kinda guy that shows up at five minutes to closing time and expects people to serve me...no sir...gotta give them time to fit me in to the work flow...besides...it will take some time to load 'er up and tie 'er down before they close the gates at the dot of five...and...if I am real lucky...they will let me use the company skid steer and load 'er up myself...that is what i really wanted...after all...it is My Girls trailer and I don't want it damaged...and I still have my Bobcat key...
So...things are looking do-able until I hit NorVa traffic...slowing down but not stopped....okay....then I hit the D.C. Beltway and things are looking....not good at all....stopped for road work and other misc. obstacles...the tension and anticipation of a possible SNAFU is mounting...still got time...but its gonna be close....geezzz...I am gonna be glad when this is done....IF it is done....
I don't want to call ahead....Mr. 'J' and I have already agreed and we are men of our word...but I don't want to give the Proboscis time to dream up a way of messing me up outta spite...with the help of his sycophant...because...I know this guy...he came by this nickname honestly...pure, unadulterated Proboscis....
I travel up the highway on a path that I had never used before to save some time...you know...you had been around the area but never had an opportunity to travel this particular way because you just didn't. I am...out of sheer time contraint desperation...operating on gut instinct from having been around the area for much longer than I should have...I will be glad to shed this lifestyle...the money was ok...but the quality of life sucked...I mean...If I want to wake up in the morning and take a **** out the back porch...dang it...I want to do just that..!!!....can't do it there...and don't get me started about many other things that we Southerners take for granted in our home towns...that you cannot do near Sin City....
Anyway...by God's Grace...I roll up with thirty-eight minutes before closing time...I see Mr. 'J' at the parts counter...already the sycophant has spotted me and word flies through the shop that I am back...I get a lot of good feedback from people who have maybe actually missed me...and blank looks from one who thought that I would never darken their door again...such is life in the big city....
I ask Mr.'J' if we are still good....he says yes and gets on the phone to confirm with the Boss...ok so far...He asks if I have a way of carting it home and if I need help loading it up..?
I go 'Yes' and ask if I could borrow the Co. Machine and load it myself...he goes..."Sure"...
HA...!!! It's gonna be a good day...!!
I jog out to the lot I became so familiar with over a few years and find it...blocked in with a few other used pieces...fortunately they are of the type that can take a little beating up...I check to see it it was pretty much like I left it...no appreciable damage...I have literally minutes before the gate is closed and locked...and tough stuff if you didn't get here earlier...
The Co. machine looks different...Did they sell the other one and is this a newer one...will my key work with this hunk..?
I get in...pull down the bars...jab my key in the switch and Hey !! we are good....fire that puppy up and proceed to move that crap outta the way from my union with my new toy and tool...
I grab it and am in such a hurry that i did not lock it in...but I was careful and it stays put...we are hovering over the back of the trailer and ...CRUD...the planks that I had lashed to the inside narrow the trailer just enough to not make it fit...I exit the machine and furiously fiddle with the straps...I get 'em loose and toss the planks forward...they cross like an 'X' in the front but I now have enough room...I get back in the machine and drop 'er butt down and push it forward as far as I can...put the machine back and run back in the office to pay for it...
We still have about ten-twelve minutes....and I gotta tie the thing down, yet.
The service writer that I got along with fabulously ran out and said Hi! just as I was leaping for the door...the parts guys that I was friendly with all said they were glad to see me and how was I doing..? One wanted to keep in touch and I gave him my phone number...
You see...after having been there for a while...people get used to seeing you around and ...if you are any kind of man...you get to know them and look out for whatever you can do to mentor them when they seem to need it. Then comes the time when you gotta cut ties...and do it cleanly...
When I quit...I had delayed it longer than I should have...but breaking up is hard to do...and I had to just load up the tools and the huge box and get it over with....no tearful goodbys or any of that stuff...I had better things to do by that time...and had to quit fooling around and get 'er done.
But it was good to know that I had made my mark on that place...and given them someone to blame for everything that can and will go wrong during the normal course of business....that is usually how it goes...last one out carries the burden...
So...sitting in the salesmans office and curiousity seekers flit around...what are you doing here..? you have a what..? what are you doing now..? Humans are a curious bunch...
I got what I wanted for months on end...just under the wire....and forking over the money was an anti-****** of sorts...I got a reciept and walked out the door for the last time...satisfied....
You know...when you are working a job that you know is temporary...you know the day will come that you make that turn out of the driveway and head out to your next big adventure...
I sometimes wondered about how I would feel on that day....
It came...and I was more than satisfied....
It could have been a lot worse...I knicked it with a 35 foot power pole.
The Girl and I are building a house...and I bought this skid steer so I would not have to rent one for months...
Let me back up to the grapple story...
So.... I am working at this tractor dealer...and occaisionally used equipment comes in for whatever reason...anyway...this grapple is sitting in the yard and I notice it immediately....I am thinking...
"Now...THAT looks mighty handy...
It is made in USA by good, down home North Carolina boys and had some good features...heavy constuction...guards over the cylinders...no leaks...good couplers...hoses fine...and to top it off...someone had welded a receiver for a towing coupler so you could position trailers or towed equipment around the yard...
Perfect....I gotta get this thing....
That was months ago...maybe not a year...but it sure seemed like it...
I HAD to get this thing...somehow...I could not let it slip away...
Have you ever kicked yourself for not moving fast enough on something you could really use..? I have...I did not want to screw up on this one...
And...when it comes to buying something substantial...you know the salesman is going to make a commission...so...I don't know about you guys...but WHO I buy from is important, too.
So...there are a few sales people working the front showroom...all different personalities...who is going to earn this commission..?
One...handled govt contracts...could not be bothered...
Another was just...seemed aloof...never really warmed up to him...just an air about 'im...he kinda strutted around and did his thing...works for him...but he probably did not read Joe Girards book.
Maybe he did...but just not someone that is going to get this sale...
Another guy was someone who seemed to be busy...made a good buck at what he does...had seniority and was part of the 'family'...but he had his chance with me and blew it...did not take me seriously once...maybe because he figured that I was not going to buy much from the place I was working at....who knows...but ...
He brought in this chipper...not a huge one...but one that looked good behind a half-ton truck...to be prepped for pending sale...and I just ...almost...fell in love with it...and asked him to get me a brochure on that model...I was seriously considering buying a new chipper...with a warranty and no prior butchering history...I could use on my place and maybe as a side business...
No show on the brochure or any information at all about ANY chipper...best I could do was to get a calendar that featured the company and some of their products...and I had to get that from the parts counter...
One guy just seemed kinda young and flaky...I saw him run a red light going in to work one dark morning...and it could have been bad...if he is that reckless with himself and others...well...no...just no.
So....that leaves a young father who started out on the parts counter...bi-lingual and good attitude...helpful and means well...and he graduated to sales...this guy deserves a chance...he WANTS to do right by people...blue-collar and otherwise...
So I appoach him...hat in hand..."Hey...Mr. 'J'...what is the scoop on that grapple up on the lot..?
Ah...let me look at it...and I'll get back to you...
Well...he did get back to me...as promptly as he could...when he had some info on it....good job...Mr. 'J'...
"It is a trade-in and the deal is not finished...it was part of a bundle of equipment offered to get a new machine..."
Rats...gotta wait...until it is assigned a stock number ....and that could take some time...time that others can see it and make a better offer on it than I was willing to...
Patience...sometimes I just ain't got it...but I could not do anything else...
Months go by...and the thing is just sitting there...waiting for me to cross all of the 'T's and dot the 'I's in life to make it happen...I look at it occaisionally and check to make sure that I want to spend the money on it and not something cheaper or less capable..
I check with my guy from time to time and he seems embarrassed...a little bit...that he still has no news on when I could make an offer on the thing...
God is testing me...somehow...this is a test of my fortitude...this deal is mine to mess up....
Weeks and months go by and the time comes that I have to quit the job...because The Girl and I are moving...we are emptying out the house she has lived in for twenty years..!!!...and moving to a nicer place to live...but...we gotta build a house to do it...
I just know that that grapple is gonna get away from me...I almost write it off and start looking to see what else is out there...
So...between the two of us....The Girl and me...we have three trucks and four trailers...if you can call a Ranger a truck...more like a car with an extra-capacity trunk...anyway...as we are moving things get shuffled around...trucks here...trailers there...cleaning up the yard and house and putting it on the market...we gotta sell the house to build the new one...talk about stress...lots of trips back and forth...and gas and diesel prices not optimal...so...
The grapple pops into my mind...and I had not been thinking about the Old Job...for a while...I left on reasonably good terms...and I told the Boss that I wanted to buy the Thing when it became available...but sometimes people are hard to read...he was not enthusiastic about it but it was not a flat no....we will see on that...is what I was sensing...
When you work at a fairly large organization...you wind up working with and alongside a number of different personalities...you jocky for position and you find youself somewhere in the pecking order...
Some are 'Family' and some are just passing through...some are sycophants and some are very competant and are valuable enough to not really give a crap what anyone else thinks...as long as the work gets done...This job is one that I found myself having to fight for what was right against someone who had more ego than common sense...and who would throw you under the bus in a new york minute... and blame you for something that he had instructed you to do...
You know the type....
I had to source authorities on what could be welded with what and what the effects are to a machine if you insist on running a bad battery...among many other things...this guy and I bumped heads regularly...and I was proven right more than once eventually...but...you get the idea....
Anyway...good terms with the boss...but sour grapes with the...one who was making commission on my labor and expertise...He was a...proboscis...right up to the moment I packed my tools...he could not help himself...must have been force of habit...
So...it was not looking like the grapple and I were going to become a thing...it was not looking good for our hero...
So...after weeks of forgetting about that time of my life and moving on to bigger and better things...I call up Mr. 'J' out of the blue...just curious...and he says..."We just got that thing released and a stock number will be assigned soon.."
Somehow...I just seem to have a sixth sense about stuff....
Hell yeah...now to the next issue..."Can you sell it to me with my employee discount..?"
Pause...."Yeah, no problem.."
HALLELUJAH...!!!
I say...to myself...'Crap...ain't got a trailer here to get it...truck and trailer five hours away...!'
Fate and destiny is not done with me yet...
I tell him..."Can you hold it for me a few days...my trailer is elsewhere...?"
He says "Sure". Good man....I know that I picked the right guy to deal with...I hope he makes a decent commision and treats his kids to something nice...
So now...me and the grapple are several days away from each other...but we are closer than ever...
That was a Tuesday...
I find myself at the Build Site...handling things that cannot wait and setting up meetings and working with very busy contractors...trying to get Our Project squeezed in...finally on Monday I find myself with a day that nothing is happening...it hits me at about ten o'clock that...if I hustle...I can get that grapple.
I haul butt and get things ready and shoot out of there like the guy at the circus being shot outta a cannon...but I am not so sure that I will land on a net...a lot of things can go wrong and I gotta be on top of it...
Truck, trailer, fuel, coffee, snacks, maps, GPS, money, blue pen, drivers license, lights, camera, action....gotta fight traffic for five hours...and without incident.
I haul up the road like nobody's business....
Doing good so far....no rest stops...don't drink too much water and coffee...gotta modulate things...no FI's on the road...at least that I can tell...pushing the speed limit a bit...staying in harmony with the other speed demons...beautiful day to get stopped and ticketed...gotta avoid that...
I got a late start because I was exhausted from the last several days of...things to do...and now it was looking like...if I was lucky...I was going to be there about an hour and a half before they close...
I am not the kinda guy that shows up at five minutes to closing time and expects people to serve me...no sir...gotta give them time to fit me in to the work flow...besides...it will take some time to load 'er up and tie 'er down before they close the gates at the dot of five...and...if I am real lucky...they will let me use the company skid steer and load 'er up myself...that is what i really wanted...after all...it is My Girls trailer and I don't want it damaged...and I still have my Bobcat key...
So...things are looking do-able until I hit NorVa traffic...slowing down but not stopped....okay....then I hit the D.C. Beltway and things are looking....not good at all....stopped for road work and other misc. obstacles...the tension and anticipation of a possible SNAFU is mounting...still got time...but its gonna be close....geezzz...I am gonna be glad when this is done....IF it is done....
I don't want to call ahead....Mr. 'J' and I have already agreed and we are men of our word...but I don't want to give the Proboscis time to dream up a way of messing me up outta spite...with the help of his sycophant...because...I know this guy...he came by this nickname honestly...pure, unadulterated Proboscis....
I travel up the highway on a path that I had never used before to save some time...you know...you had been around the area but never had an opportunity to travel this particular way because you just didn't. I am...out of sheer time contraint desperation...operating on gut instinct from having been around the area for much longer than I should have...I will be glad to shed this lifestyle...the money was ok...but the quality of life sucked...I mean...If I want to wake up in the morning and take a **** out the back porch...dang it...I want to do just that..!!!....can't do it there...and don't get me started about many other things that we Southerners take for granted in our home towns...that you cannot do near Sin City....
Anyway...by God's Grace...I roll up with thirty-eight minutes before closing time...I see Mr. 'J' at the parts counter...already the sycophant has spotted me and word flies through the shop that I am back...I get a lot of good feedback from people who have maybe actually missed me...and blank looks from one who thought that I would never darken their door again...such is life in the big city....
I ask Mr.'J' if we are still good....he says yes and gets on the phone to confirm with the Boss...ok so far...He asks if I have a way of carting it home and if I need help loading it up..?
I go 'Yes' and ask if I could borrow the Co. Machine and load it myself...he goes..."Sure"...
HA...!!! It's gonna be a good day...!!
I jog out to the lot I became so familiar with over a few years and find it...blocked in with a few other used pieces...fortunately they are of the type that can take a little beating up...I check to see it it was pretty much like I left it...no appreciable damage...I have literally minutes before the gate is closed and locked...and tough stuff if you didn't get here earlier...
The Co. machine looks different...Did they sell the other one and is this a newer one...will my key work with this hunk..?
I get in...pull down the bars...jab my key in the switch and Hey !! we are good....fire that puppy up and proceed to move that crap outta the way from my union with my new toy and tool...
I grab it and am in such a hurry that i did not lock it in...but I was careful and it stays put...we are hovering over the back of the trailer and ...CRUD...the planks that I had lashed to the inside narrow the trailer just enough to not make it fit...I exit the machine and furiously fiddle with the straps...I get 'em loose and toss the planks forward...they cross like an 'X' in the front but I now have enough room...I get back in the machine and drop 'er butt down and push it forward as far as I can...put the machine back and run back in the office to pay for it...
We still have about ten-twelve minutes....and I gotta tie the thing down, yet.
The service writer that I got along with fabulously ran out and said Hi! just as I was leaping for the door...the parts guys that I was friendly with all said they were glad to see me and how was I doing..? One wanted to keep in touch and I gave him my phone number...
You see...after having been there for a while...people get used to seeing you around and ...if you are any kind of man...you get to know them and look out for whatever you can do to mentor them when they seem to need it. Then comes the time when you gotta cut ties...and do it cleanly...
When I quit...I had delayed it longer than I should have...but breaking up is hard to do...and I had to just load up the tools and the huge box and get it over with....no tearful goodbys or any of that stuff...I had better things to do by that time...and had to quit fooling around and get 'er done.
But it was good to know that I had made my mark on that place...and given them someone to blame for everything that can and will go wrong during the normal course of business....that is usually how it goes...last one out carries the burden...
So...sitting in the salesmans office and curiousity seekers flit around...what are you doing here..? you have a what..? what are you doing now..? Humans are a curious bunch...
I got what I wanted for months on end...just under the wire....and forking over the money was an anti-****** of sorts...I got a reciept and walked out the door for the last time...satisfied....
You know...when you are working a job that you know is temporary...you know the day will come that you make that turn out of the driveway and head out to your next big adventure...
I sometimes wondered about how I would feel on that day....
It came...and I was more than satisfied....
XOLATEM
Full Access Member
That is one nice-looking truck..!! Bold stance and Tuff Enough...
One day...when I grow up...I will build a 4x4...
I know you are proud and I am sure all of us agree that you have a Real Truck...and not a pretender...
Don'cha love the durability and tractability of the International...?
Why would you do a silly thing like that?
Growing up was the worst thing I've ever done. Don't recommend.
XOLATEM
Full Access Member
Well...it is late evening and my list of stuff to do has shortened after today...time to make another list...
I related to you all about the grapple yesterday...and left you hanging on how the 'Ol One-Ton got nicked the other morning...
Actually...I was wrong about it being the first nick...but I had forgotten about the time I durn near tore the front bumper offa it...but that is a story for another day...
So...I have this skid steer....I sometimes call it my BPM...
Basic Pleasure Model...
Other times I call it Baby...or Darling....The Girl calls it Brunnhilde...
I managed to get it to The Build Site...which has a wicked steep driveway...graveled...and...that is another story...anyhow....
So...I got this neat grapple and I am anxious to use it...on SOMETHING...but the opportunity or time has not materialized...until yesterday morning...
I was worried that the BPM did not have the right feature to work the cylinders...because...the owners manual did not give me the complete scoop...
Yeah...it has aux hyd couplers...I replaced them 'cause the old ones were leaking...and...in the past...when I worked other machines...the aux hydraulics were operated by a button on one of the hand controls...
But...BPM had a foot pedal in the center and that pedal worked a cable...and it kinda looked like the cable only worked in one direction...it did have a lock for the pedal for continuous flow...
Hmmm....gotta check the operators manual again....
As a side note...I was glad to have this manual....I have since found out that...if I had to buy this manual separate...it would have been just under 200 bucks...the guy that sold me the machine dug it up for me and sent it along after I had bought the machine....
That was one nice guy...I would buy from him again...
So....in the manual...under the aux hydraulics section...standard model, standard flow...the book just says that when you depress the right side of the pedal that fluid flows out the male machine side coupler....
Nothing about flowing in the other direction....
?????....what about reverse flow...If you want to run ...lets say...a broom box...and you want to turn the broom in the opposite direction...??...nothing about flow in the other direction...
Can this be...? is it possible that the flow only goes one way...???
***...?? This means that my beloved grapple ain't gonna work...!!!
So....I am sweating it...it is all I can think about...I gotta check this out first thing...I can not believe this...I am feeling like a complete neophyte and nervous as a...well....you know....
It is one of the few times that I do not really take time to enjoy coffee and breakfast....gotta get out there and see what is up with this thing...
So...we...The Girl and I...get out there...and one of the most grueling jobs yet on the Project lay before us....we gotta shovel gravel into buckets and hand-truck them around the trench surrounding the foundation and walls...and position drain tile and silt screen and dump gravel all around...one six-gallon bucket of gravel at a time...
She heads to the gravel pile and starts to tape silt screen on the walls so it will fold over after the gravel is placed...
I go straight to the BPM and pull off the tarp...it is a huge tarp....a 'present' from The Girl because it had to sit in her yard in a 'nice' neighborhood for months until I could move it to the Staging Area...
She was worried that 'someone' might complain...about a machine in her yard...not 'doing' anything...more on that concept, later...
Sometimes...people can be so full of self-righteous crap....I am talking about supposedly 'nice' neighbors...which usually means that they don't have a 'real' job...they get paid for NOT getting their actual hands dirty...more on that rant, later...
I drag off the tarp and jump in...BPM feels good...more familiar every day...I had pulled up the cab the day before and checked out everything that I could see....it does have some electronics...but not too much...not a common rail engine...pop injectors...3.2L and 2500 RPM...rated at about 80 HP gross and 77 HP net...not the most powerful thing...but not a slouch, either...I fire her up....
I loose the bucket and roll to the grapple....grab it up and lock 'er in...step out to push on the couplers...gotta twist and ppppuuuusshhh...there...got it...flop back in the seat and push the 'enable' button...
Now come the moment of truth....I push down on the middle pedal...the right side of it....
One claw starts to rise...air in the system...then the other.....hmmm...cool....this is good....both claws are up as far as they will go....
Then....I push on the left side of the pedal...and the hand engine speed lever is past idle...about mid-throttle...
CLANK...!!! Both claws clamp down with authority..!!!
HHHAAAAAHHH!!!!!.....
WE ARE GOOD !!!!! HELL....YEAHHHH...!!!!!
I should have yelled my Rebel Yell....it would have been justified...
So....what do I do with this thing....now..??? I GOTTA do something with it...??? NOW...
I remember the power pole....
When we...(The Girl and I...) started to get serious about this project...'way past the planning and designing stage...I told her that we needed temporary electricity and water to make it easier for the misc. contractors to do their job...we even got a porta ***** on the site for their convenience...well...the electric company put in two new poles and hung a can on one of the new ones to go to our temp service...and left the old poles laying on the ground...
I had Her call up the Company and ask if the poles could stay...'No problem' was the answer...
Looks like the beginning of a pole shed to me....
So....I decide to group them together instead of them laying fifty yards apart...and get one out of the way of bush hogging...
I roll over to that one and set the grapple vertical...and grab it...
I lift it up...effortlessly....but the balance is off....and it was a little awkward to grab where it was...so...I lift it kinda high and I intend on dropping it down on level ground and pick it up again closer to the heavy end....
I swing it around and bring it out...watching that I don't hit my truck with it...but also aware of the well casing sticking up...maybe a foot...but kinda in my path...I drop it down and re-position and pick it up...and the balance is good...
The Girl Truck is in the way...too....one thing at a time...gotta not hit my truck and also not hit the well....everything looks good for a few feet...I am watching the well....
Suddenly The Girl appears in front of me yelling and gesticulating like only an Angel On Earth can do....
YOU JUST HIT YOUR TRUCK...!!!!
I jerk my head around so hard it would have made a ventriloquists dummy proud....I look at the truck and and a sick feeling comes over me...but...why...??? I don't see a crushed roof or a bashed windshield...the mirror is still attached...the door is still ok...
?????....I look back at her and yell....MOVE YOUR TRUCK...NOW..!!!!
I get on Her about not backing into a parking spot...she will just not ever back into a parking spot...the best I can do is get her to pull straight through a couple of parking spots...so she does not have to back OUT of a parking spot and maybe hit something...after shopping at the Aldie...or Home Depot...you know...when you are most vunerable to backing into another car....
But she was backing that truck up like a champ this time...better than a Phat Ride in the Hood...wwaaayyy back......
I roll through and deposit that pole next to the other one and get outta there...roll back to my truck and get out....
I see a small crease in the front third of the front fender....
CRAP....all right...just add it to the other 'personality marks' this truck has accumulated and will be eventually fixed...but not now...
Darn....I thought that I had enough room...but the pole had a stem on it that used to be an insulator and it had extended the length just enough...to nick my 'Ol One-Ton...
I was watching the well more than the truck...didn't want to mess that up...could have been worse...chalk it up to impulsiveness...
There is a fine line between 'Look before you leap' and 'He who hesitates is lost'....wisdom is knowing when and how, where and why...
Apparently...I still have a lot to learn....
I related to you all about the grapple yesterday...and left you hanging on how the 'Ol One-Ton got nicked the other morning...
Actually...I was wrong about it being the first nick...but I had forgotten about the time I durn near tore the front bumper offa it...but that is a story for another day...
So...I have this skid steer....I sometimes call it my BPM...
Basic Pleasure Model...
Other times I call it Baby...or Darling....The Girl calls it Brunnhilde...
I managed to get it to The Build Site...which has a wicked steep driveway...graveled...and...that is another story...anyhow....
So...I got this neat grapple and I am anxious to use it...on SOMETHING...but the opportunity or time has not materialized...until yesterday morning...
I was worried that the BPM did not have the right feature to work the cylinders...because...the owners manual did not give me the complete scoop...
Yeah...it has aux hyd couplers...I replaced them 'cause the old ones were leaking...and...in the past...when I worked other machines...the aux hydraulics were operated by a button on one of the hand controls...
But...BPM had a foot pedal in the center and that pedal worked a cable...and it kinda looked like the cable only worked in one direction...it did have a lock for the pedal for continuous flow...
Hmmm....gotta check the operators manual again....
As a side note...I was glad to have this manual....I have since found out that...if I had to buy this manual separate...it would have been just under 200 bucks...the guy that sold me the machine dug it up for me and sent it along after I had bought the machine....
That was one nice guy...I would buy from him again...
So....in the manual...under the aux hydraulics section...standard model, standard flow...the book just says that when you depress the right side of the pedal that fluid flows out the male machine side coupler....
Nothing about flowing in the other direction....
?????....what about reverse flow...If you want to run ...lets say...a broom box...and you want to turn the broom in the opposite direction...??...nothing about flow in the other direction...
Can this be...? is it possible that the flow only goes one way...???
***...?? This means that my beloved grapple ain't gonna work...!!!
So....I am sweating it...it is all I can think about...I gotta check this out first thing...I can not believe this...I am feeling like a complete neophyte and nervous as a...well....you know....
It is one of the few times that I do not really take time to enjoy coffee and breakfast....gotta get out there and see what is up with this thing...
So...we...The Girl and I...get out there...and one of the most grueling jobs yet on the Project lay before us....we gotta shovel gravel into buckets and hand-truck them around the trench surrounding the foundation and walls...and position drain tile and silt screen and dump gravel all around...one six-gallon bucket of gravel at a time...
She heads to the gravel pile and starts to tape silt screen on the walls so it will fold over after the gravel is placed...
I go straight to the BPM and pull off the tarp...it is a huge tarp....a 'present' from The Girl because it had to sit in her yard in a 'nice' neighborhood for months until I could move it to the Staging Area...
She was worried that 'someone' might complain...about a machine in her yard...not 'doing' anything...more on that concept, later...
Sometimes...people can be so full of self-righteous crap....I am talking about supposedly 'nice' neighbors...which usually means that they don't have a 'real' job...they get paid for NOT getting their actual hands dirty...more on that rant, later...
I drag off the tarp and jump in...BPM feels good...more familiar every day...I had pulled up the cab the day before and checked out everything that I could see....it does have some electronics...but not too much...not a common rail engine...pop injectors...3.2L and 2500 RPM...rated at about 80 HP gross and 77 HP net...not the most powerful thing...but not a slouch, either...I fire her up....
I loose the bucket and roll to the grapple....grab it up and lock 'er in...step out to push on the couplers...gotta twist and ppppuuuusshhh...there...got it...flop back in the seat and push the 'enable' button...
Now come the moment of truth....I push down on the middle pedal...the right side of it....
One claw starts to rise...air in the system...then the other.....hmmm...cool....this is good....both claws are up as far as they will go....
Then....I push on the left side of the pedal...and the hand engine speed lever is past idle...about mid-throttle...
CLANK...!!! Both claws clamp down with authority..!!!
HHHAAAAAHHH!!!!!.....
WE ARE GOOD !!!!! HELL....YEAHHHH...!!!!!
I should have yelled my Rebel Yell....it would have been justified...
So....what do I do with this thing....now..??? I GOTTA do something with it...??? NOW...
I remember the power pole....
When we...(The Girl and I...) started to get serious about this project...'way past the planning and designing stage...I told her that we needed temporary electricity and water to make it easier for the misc. contractors to do their job...we even got a porta ***** on the site for their convenience...well...the electric company put in two new poles and hung a can on one of the new ones to go to our temp service...and left the old poles laying on the ground...
I had Her call up the Company and ask if the poles could stay...'No problem' was the answer...
Looks like the beginning of a pole shed to me....
So....I decide to group them together instead of them laying fifty yards apart...and get one out of the way of bush hogging...
I roll over to that one and set the grapple vertical...and grab it...
I lift it up...effortlessly....but the balance is off....and it was a little awkward to grab where it was...so...I lift it kinda high and I intend on dropping it down on level ground and pick it up again closer to the heavy end....
I swing it around and bring it out...watching that I don't hit my truck with it...but also aware of the well casing sticking up...maybe a foot...but kinda in my path...I drop it down and re-position and pick it up...and the balance is good...
The Girl Truck is in the way...too....one thing at a time...gotta not hit my truck and also not hit the well....everything looks good for a few feet...I am watching the well....
Suddenly The Girl appears in front of me yelling and gesticulating like only an Angel On Earth can do....
YOU JUST HIT YOUR TRUCK...!!!!
I jerk my head around so hard it would have made a ventriloquists dummy proud....I look at the truck and and a sick feeling comes over me...but...why...??? I don't see a crushed roof or a bashed windshield...the mirror is still attached...the door is still ok...
?????....I look back at her and yell....MOVE YOUR TRUCK...NOW..!!!!
I get on Her about not backing into a parking spot...she will just not ever back into a parking spot...the best I can do is get her to pull straight through a couple of parking spots...so she does not have to back OUT of a parking spot and maybe hit something...after shopping at the Aldie...or Home Depot...you know...when you are most vunerable to backing into another car....
But she was backing that truck up like a champ this time...better than a Phat Ride in the Hood...wwaaayyy back......
I roll through and deposit that pole next to the other one and get outta there...roll back to my truck and get out....
I see a small crease in the front third of the front fender....
CRAP....all right...just add it to the other 'personality marks' this truck has accumulated and will be eventually fixed...but not now...
Darn....I thought that I had enough room...but the pole had a stem on it that used to be an insulator and it had extended the length just enough...to nick my 'Ol One-Ton...
I was watching the well more than the truck...didn't want to mess that up...could have been worse...chalk it up to impulsiveness...
There is a fine line between 'Look before you leap' and 'He who hesitates is lost'....wisdom is knowing when and how, where and why...
Apparently...I still have a lot to learn....
Old Goat
Full Access Member
