Routy56 - can you just....

[Nick...]

Surely you don't run the tractors at full throttle though, you run them to suit the PTO or load?

Old gear pump machines worked best at full throttle and certain functions were unbearably slow at lower revs Modern piston pumps and load sensing technology now means that modern machines can be worked at much lowe revs, although it takes some adjustment for old school operators.

Don’t run tractors at full revs but combines allways.only use the engine speed to suit the job unless on pto work where if the right rpm ain’t used warnings will go of and flash up on dash which pisses me of.as for running digger flat out I’d guess I’m old school at 58 but works for me
nick...

 

[V8Druid]

'Drema gets run at 1400 rpm mostly ... seems adequate, unless a little more grunt is required then it goes to 1800 which is plenty powerful/quick enough

 

[bobthebuilder]

This time last week had no jobs booked for this week. Then a few 'leads' turned into bookings
We started on Tuesday and Wednesday with a nice little soakaway jobbie on a superb former Mill House.
The problem for the retired owners was that the rainwater downpipes at the front was overflowing and not getting away.
An earlier inspection showed a very nice wisteria was the likely culprit
A 'quote you happy' estimate for works got us the job. Fortunately with so much land we was able to lose the spoil into a low spot.

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Machines ready for action. Problematic downpipe can be seen on the left.

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Quick little 'spud around' revealed that the downpipe was bodged into an old grey pipe which went under the 'newer' wall feeding the wisteria roots

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"Doesn't it look lovely but we have the gardener keeping it trimmed back" to which I replied, "Yes bit look at the damage that it causing to your lovely home"
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"Oh yes, we can see what you mean. The decorators have to keep filling cracks on the inside as well!"

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Training Ryan with new skills continues. Here he was introduced to Messers CAT and Genny
The owners said, "No there shouldn't be anything there"
"What about the power cable coming from that pole to your new coachhouse and flat"
"Oh yes, that must be where they connected it"
Nice juicy UK Power Networks 240v supply found and marked using the trusty old Mark 2
Has it's limitations - should I it upgrade guys

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Ryan was then showed how to cube up a set of Polystorm cells
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And how to gift wrap them ready to stick in the nice hole..

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And how to trim it square and level.....
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And give it a generous dose of 'pea shingle'....
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"The most important part of the installation is the spigot" I informed the owners.
"Oh really, why's that?
It covert the 68mm downpipe to 110mm underground pipe. It keeps all the rubbish out of the pipework and holds up the downpipe"

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Job done after consuming number cups of coffee and chocolate hobnobs for our perfect customers
The more observant will notice the old piece of grey plastic pipe left to one side.
This is for inspection of the customers - it's absolutely full and choked up with wisteria roots
The soil is very light and sandy and will need top soil and grass seed in the late summer/autumn.
They know I have topsoil and grass seed.........

Problem with the spigot is all the leaves and crap go into your soakaway ,wouldnt a bottle trap be a better job ?

 

[V8Druid]

Problem with the spigot is all the leaves and crap go into your soakaway ,wouldnt a bottle trap be a better job ?

there'll be a trap on top of the down pipe i think Dave said

 

[Routy56]

Problem with the spigot is all the leaves and crap go into your soakaway ,wouldnt a bottle trap be a better job ?

Yep you're right there Bob
BUT the customer did not want a bottle trap.
He said that he would get his gardener to stick a leave trap at the top of the down pipe
Even if he doesn't it will take about 30 years to fill up and the customer is 86yrs old.......
......when you start looking around there's an awful lot of spigots only

 

[diggerjones]

Regarding revs. I mostly run track machines flat out. Thats how they are designed i would imagine. As for fuel saving it would be naff all and fuel is cheaper than its been for years.

 

[V8Druid]

Regarding revs. I mostly run track machines flat out. Thats how they are designed i would imagine. As for fuel saving it would be naff all and fuel is cheaper than its been for years.

gear pumps I'd agree Dylan .. VD pumps are a different thing all together

 

[GazCro]

Regardless of pump set up you only need enough revs to suit the job you're doing. Pointless having it revving flat out if you're trying to dig around services and you're having to feather levers to try and slow it down just knock a bit of throttle off. Gear pumps do benefit from revs mind otherwise there isn't enough flow for all services, whereas vd pumps will supply enough oil at lower revs and often only need to be flat out to provide extra flow for an attachment. A lot of ops are used to flat out revs on everything and seem immune to the changes in the last 10/15 years.

 

[Mark]

A hire firm near me charges extra to put a machine out with a ripper. Doesn’t make sense to me, they’re just encouraging people to abuse it more

we always charge extra for a machine with a ripper tooth on it, need compensated for the wear on the ripper and the extra fuel burn (if your supplying fuel) also for wear and tear it cause on the machine.

 

[Furniss]

I always used to run track machines flat out but I agree with whats has been said and find newer stuff can run less revs without been annoying, its not that new but 8t Kubota working on 1/2 throttle saves a fair bit of fuel and drives fine for lighter work.

 

[Routy56]

So during my busy period a few weeks ago, we had just finished a large gravel driveway when my old Wacker gave up

You will already know that the vibe unit has been pissing out oil for a few months now.
And I'd been planning to do the bearing when we had some 'down time'......

After it started making a clattering noise over the radio ear defenders I stopped and scooped up the bits
Belt guard removed quickly showed that the bolt and key had come out of the engine clutch assembly.
A quick fix for that. But not gonna use it again until it's been fettled in the workshop.

So went a bought one of these ready for the next job. The old one can be a spare once repaired
As an occasional user, for me it made sense to get a cheap one from an eBay seller at only £389
Now looking forward to using it in the next week or so on a few driveway job on the list......

 

[Routy56]

Been a few weeks since I blogged
Just been busy with jobs and a break with the old caravan

The BMC Ripper arrived here and immediately tested out at HQ Central

All spot on with the 32mm pins straight onto my Harford QH

Bugger - thought that I'd make a nice drive for the SWA laying across the garden.
Forgot about the 20mm MDPE that I bodged about 30 years ago to the mobile home
Still it made old Wilbur laugh

So simply put a plug in the 20mm MDPE and will install it properly one day soon.....
Think that we all bodge stuff up at our own places

 

[hiluxman]

Looks like bmc have changed the design slightly to give you more leverage with it.

 

[Routy56]

September was grain lorry driving month, giving some relief for full timers wanting a holiday or sickness
Geoff Digby has got 5 full time lorries and 4 sub contractors on the road. Can see his farm from our house

Had this great lorry for a week while the full timer had a holiday re-fitting his bathroom.
I love the challenge of going to farms down lanes with blue signs.
"You shouldn't bring those big lorries down here!"
R - "You're in the country, what do you think I am loaded with."

Then had this slightly older FH12 for a week or so while the driver was on holiday in Spain - stupid boy!
Some may notice the N/S/F damage which he did and I got fixed before it's MOT

Ipswich Docks - we took loads of malting barley out to Witham.
These loaders drop about 3T per bucket straight in giving a full load in about 4 mins

Carrs Flour Mill at Maldon down by the river Blackwater.
Absolutely love going here. Great bunch of guys who always give you a warm welcome

Then my mate Jim Maynard rocked up with his immaculate FH12 (on cherished plates). He is an owner/driver sub contractor.
Known him most of my life. Our dads were good friends. Introduced him to Geoff.
It's often who you know in this business

Then we had to do a barley boat at Ipswich Docks. It's go go go - managed to get 5 x loads there one day

They had 4 of these elevators running to get the job done.....

You gotta keep an eye on things when tipping this stuff.....

Cos if you get it wrong you end up with tons of it on the deck

There's loads more to tell but September was enjoyable out and about playing with lorries

 

[Routy56]

Looks like bmc have changed the design slightly to give you more leverage with it.

Hope so - obviously loosing a bit of break out with the QH.
Still to use it on pesky tree roots

 

[Routy56]

October is digger jobs

Last week started on a 20m2 gravel parking area for a camper on what was a front lawn.

Took the tipper loaded with concrete stuff for the edges - remind me that this is Groundworker stuff

Dug out the dirt and set the edges.....

Tidy site is a safe site

Geotextile and type 1 to go

Wacked to refusal with my new Wacker - so pleased with his new toy
Permeable because of reduced fines.....

Added a few tonnes of 20mm stone......

Grey camper vans are very popular at the moment. He's only gone and bought a newer one. The one has now been sold!
Customer was absolutely delighted

 

[Grahams]

Another extremely neat job as usual, no wonder the customer was pleased.
Haven't seen Ryan in the pictures recently, did he go to college okay?

 

[Monkeybusiness]

Every time another of my mates decides they are a ‘surf-dude’ (and not a fat balding middle-aged accountant) and buys a VW transvestite I am forced to send them this pic...

 

[Routy56]

Another extremely neat job as usual, no wonder the customer was pleased.
Haven't seen Ryan in the pictures recently, did he go to college okay?

Thanks
Yes Ryan went over to live at his dads In Colchester as planned. This means that he can walk to the 6th form there
May well use him again during school holidays

 

[Routy56]

Every time another of my mates decides they are a ‘surf-dude’ (and not a fat balding middle-aged accountant) and buys a VW transvestite I am forced to send them this pic...
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I’d rather forget about that pervert
But my customer is a mate and he has a young daughter and they take out paddle boards and use the van as intended. He’s ex forces and well hard
His 8yr old daughter us a chatterbox and wanted to know all about my digger