Above 1200 Sq/FT The Salvage Garage

[86turbodsl]

Just about time to mess up the elbow completely.

I think everybody that lives in snow country that ACTUALLY has to move the **** hates it. I have a lot of friends/acquaintances that wax poetic about how great it is when the fluffy **** comes down, i ask them if they do anything with it, every one is like, but it's so pretty! All i see is nuisance.

 

[jollygreengiant]

I think everybody that lives in snow country that ACTUALLY has to move the **** hates it. I have a lot of friends/acquaintances that wax poetic about how great it is when the fluffy **** comes down, i ask them if they do anything with it, every one is like, but it's so pretty! All i see is nuisance.

I don't mind moving it, actually I kind of enjoy it. That is, as long as everything goes smoothly. If I have issues with the tractor or if there's ice under the snow then it *****.

But I don't work outside in it everyday either anymore. Back when I did had very different feelings about it. We also never get very cold here; the worst I have seen is -25C but we are usually above -15C for lows in the winter so we don't have to fight with things freezing up or vehicles not starting.

 

[harley jim]

Put me in the (I hate snow) group, I moved 700 miles south to get away from it!

 

[Bob Heine]

Put me in the (I hate snow) group, I moved 700 miles south to get away from it!

Jim, I don't hate snow all that much but I hate what road sand and salt does to vehicles. I moved 1,305 miles south to get away from the salty roads and might have gone further but that would have meant learning a second language. Here's what the front suspension looked like when the PT Cruiser had spent 15 years on the road in Florida:

 

[Strouty]

Between the snow and rust, I can’t pick what I hate more, they both cause a lot of grief for sure.

This is not what winter plowing should look like, maybe April…..

 

[Jayman17]

Have I ever mentioned that I hate snow?

Time to take a shot!

 

[xtremek]

That's a royal mess.

 

[Strouty]

It is even worse now. Not sure what I am going to do, it is going to freeze solid tomorrow. I am trying to move burbs around so that I can get the snow out of the way before it freezes. I will have to go back to the SG and clean up everything I didn’t do last night. I think it is going to be a long day.

 

[walrus]

It is even worse now. Not sure what I am going to do, it is going to freeze solid tomorrow. I am trying to move burbs around so that I can get the snow out of the way before it freezes. I will have to go back to the SG and clean up everything I didn’t do last night. I think it is going to be a long day.

I've been trying to get ice off the driveway, like you the dirt isn't really frozen so its moving it also when I break thru the ice making a mess. I'd rather have some gravel showing though so I can get out of my driveway as its up hill. The sun really helped me out this afternoon. I'm making sure whatever needs to be moved is , next week I see below 0 predicted in long range.

 

[harley jim]

I worked for the municipality where I lived, I drove the plow truck, I ran the shop from 7 am to 3:30pm, then I either got in a plow truck and ran until midnight or went home and came back at midnight and ran until 7 am the next morning. I hate snow and the sob's that park on the street and complain because you didnt get out and hand shovel around there car. I burried a camaro one night, I asked the guy to drive around the block and I would clear him a spot, he flipped me off, so about 1 am I came back, about 10 trips around the block in both directions and no more camaro!

I drove a 4900 like this one with a 12' blade on it.
Like I said I really do hate snow

 

[Strouty]

I am shoveling now, it is heavy snow, bottom four inches is slush. Another 100’ to go.

 

[harley jim]

I do feel for you buddy! Just dont push it too hard.

 

[Strouty]

I wish I was four feet tall, my back wouldn’t hurt so much right now.

 

[Strouty]

I am sure I should clean up the front, but I can’t do it and plowing it will just make a mess, at this point if it freezes it won’t be too bad. I did not shovel in front of the pallet racks and the new rack out front is stuck in a snow bank along with a pallet of 17.5” trailer rims, nothing I can do about that at this point. I am going home.

 

[jack stand]

Put me in the (I hate snow) group, I moved 700 miles south to get away from it!

I moved 650 miles north to have snow!

 

[Craptain]

I moved 650 miles north to have snow!

*******.
Says a guy in Florida.

 

[jack stand]

You do have a great governor. I just don't care for the weather. If it never got above the low 70's I'd be happy.

 

[harley jim]

I moved 650 miles north to have snow!

It might be ok if you didnt have to be the plow guy, all winter long, no exceptions.

 

[xtremek]

That's too much like real work. I just got back in from plowing, and I got to use the neighbor's Kubota. Makes doing stuff like what you were doing a piece of cake. I was able to back the blade under the neighbor's rear bumper of his 1/2 ton 2wd pickup. The hydrostat makes it easy to place it within an inch or so.

 

[jeffmoss26]

I worked for the municipality where I lived, I drove the plow truck, I ran the shop from 7 am to 3:30pm, then I either got in a plow truck and ran until midnight or went home and came back at midnight and ran until 7 am the next morning. I hate snow and the sob's that park on the street and complain because you didnt get out and hand shovel around there car. I burried a camaro one night, I asked the guy to drive around the block and I would clear him a spot, he flipped me off, so about 1 am I came back, about 10 trips around the block in both directions and no more camaro!

I drove a 4900 like this one with a 12' blade on it.
Like I said I really do hate snow

Ohh it’s even my color!

 

[scooterbum46]

I have been burned so many times for leaving **** out in the yard that the snow covers up. I feel your pain.

Stumps low enough to mow over won't budge for the plow on my Polaris Ranger. Belly, meet steering wheel - oof !

 

[Strouty]

My biggest snow issue is after a few feet, I start running out of room to plow it. If it is fluffy snow, it won’t stack and that makes it worse. This last snow stacked pretty well, but at both locations my neighbors did some plowing and didn’t push the banks back in a couple key areas, making the second storm tougher to deal with. The loaders will solve these issues, so they need to come into play.

 

[bimmer1980]

I can see the upside to the loaders..... Candidly, of all the stuff and equipment that you have, I'm surprised you don't have a skid steer! A skid steer with the option to swap from a tooth bucket, to a snow bucket and to a wide snow pusher, you would be set!! And for your other dirt work, it would be complementary to the excavator.

Even tho I don't use my little LS 150 New holland that much, I would be hard pressed to get rid of it..... only way it would be leaving is if there was a newer machine showing up to replace it..... I built a HDPE cutting edge for my bucket so it would not tear up the finish on my driveway....yeah, it's overkill, but it slides nice when moving snow....

 

[FullRaceMerc]

I can see the upside to the loaders..... Candidly, of all the stuff and equipment that you have, I'm surprised you don't have a skid steer! A skid steer with the option to swap from a tooth bucket, to a snow bucket and to a wide snow pusher, you would be set!! And for your other dirt work, it would be complementary to the excavator.

Even tho I don't use my little LS 150 New holland that much, I would be hard pressed to get rid of it..... only way it would be leaving is if there was a newer machine showing up to replace it..... I built a HDPE cutting edge for my bucket so it would not tear up the finish on my driveway....yeah, it's overkill, but it slides nice when moving snow....

Shoot, looks like they even have snow blower attachments for skid steers. I've used the auger attachment for post holes & round footings, but never knew about those goodies.

 

[bimmer1980]

There is a ton of attachments... Tiller, concrete mixer, augers, harley rotary rake, scarifier, pallet forks, telescoping boom, fixed boom, trencher bucket, root grapple, regular grapples, and so forth....

I had a telescoping boom for my skid steer, but it was too heavy and my skid steer too small to counterweight it. I ended up selling it.

The pallet forks and regular bucket is what I use the most.

I recently built an attachment for a trailer hitch. That worked great for maneuvering my tandem axle trailer over to the side of my garage...tight area.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

My biggest snow issue is after a few feet, I start running out of room to plow it. If it is fluffy snow, it won’t stack and that makes it worse. This last snow stacked pretty well, but at both locations my neighbors did some plowing and didn’t push the banks back in a couple key areas, making the second storm tougher to deal with. The loaders will solve these issues, so they need to come into play.

My long time plow guy retired a few years ago and he handed off the business to a local landscaper who is less skilled with a plow truck. The old guy would push the snow as far as possible off the drive onto the wood chipped area. The new guy doesn't even always get it pushed to the edge of the pavement. It's a good thing we don't get the amount of snow you guys do.




In the old days if the piles got taller that 4' I would shave the top of the pile with a shovel and push it off the back of the pile.

Cheers

Jim

 

[jack stand]

My snow stacker

one pile of many. They'll be gone in the middle of May

 

[Strouty]

I don’t like skid steers, my neck doesn’t like them. I am sure a backup camera would make things better, but I have never really been a fan of them. I will say if I was making a living doing earthwork, I would learn to like them.

 

[bimmer1980]

Goodness! What horrible experience tainted your outlook on skid steers???

I will admit that the old bobcat 610 series (wisconsin engine, clutched levers) is less than enjoyable to run, but it sure beats a shovel! My dad bought one of these when I was an early teen. My bro still has it in SD.

I'm thinking a Cat with full wired joystick controls would be great for your arm issues, etc. I tried one at an equipment auction and it was wonderful....just a bit above my wallet capabilities.

The JCB robot series are pretty interesting as well. I tried one of those and I liked the side entry and the single boom. The new versions with the telescoping single boom are pretty neat! Mucho dinaro tho!!!!

Anyhow, just trying to suggest some better options.........

 

[FullRaceMerc]

I don’t like skid steers, my neck doesn’t like them. I am sure a backup camera would make things better, but I have never really been a fan of them. I will say if I was making a living doing earthwork, I would learn to like them.

I have always thought that if they designed some mirrors into them they'd be easier to use. I haven't figured out where they could work on our new holand, otherwise it would have them.

I like the thought of a backup cam. That I could probably work out. Time for some research.

 

[Strouty]

my Dad has one, it has foot pedals for the bucket and joysticks for the tracks, my excavator is foot pedals for the tracks and long sticks for the bucket, I can’t stand it. Then it never fails, you have something on the forks and there is an issue, so you end up having to climb out over a mess then back in over the same mess.

 

[FullRaceMerc]

Yeah, it took a lot of getting used to. I had driven a fork lift for about 10 years before it. As you said, everything was backwards, hands vs feet. My reactions were horrible. But it was part of my new job to make it work. 25 years later I'm finally getting the hang of it. The backhoe attachment is still miserable to use.

 

[Strouty]

I have no issue with the controls until I try to drive and do something with the bucket, my brain goes back to using the feet for tracks and I will either come close to hitting something or dump the bucket or forks enough to just about drop the load. It is the dumbest thing I have ever seen, you walk with your feet, not your hands, if I wanted to do handstands, I would have gone into gymnastics. I know that I could get the hang of it if I actually used it for a while, but sporadic use makes it terrible. Then it rips up the gravel/grass when you turn, I am not a little guy, so getting in and out is just annoying, they just aren't for me. The quick attach implements are great, but I would rather have then on the front end loader. Besides a decent skid steer will cost almost as much as me rebuilding one of the loaders, they command high dollar because people don't have big enough trucks to move the larger equipment. In the end I will have about $25k into two rebuilt loaders and I will know them inside and out, plus I will have a parts machine. Lifting capacity will be around 10k and I can move two plus yards of dirt in the bucket, moving snow will become a breeze as well. I just need to be patient, one (or two) more winter isn't going to kill me.

 

[FullRaceMerc]

I have no issue with the controls until I try to drive and do something with the bucket, my brain goes back to using the feet for tracks and I will either come close to hitting something or dump the bucket or forks enough to just about drop the load. It is the dumbest thing I have ever seen, you walk with your feet, not your hands

Makes a lot of sense. It really does feel unnatural. At first I couldn't drive & move the bucket at the same time without fouling up. It made me awfully slow, but I was the best at it in our little company. That was pretty sad. Nothing intuitive at all in those controls. And the backhoe attachment is way worse. I've wondered if other controls are avaible for the backhoe, since they feel so backwards. Or if someone got some of the hydraulic lines reversed.

But it's what we have & for our little projects it does the job. We don't use the backhoe much. Bucket & forks most of the time, & occasionally a rented auger. And yes, it takes a lot of effort to not rip stuff up when turning, & that makes it slow in places where that is important. We had a job where every year we loaded up sod from the infield between football season & baseball season. That took some effort to not rip up the good grass getting it off the field.

 

[kaymccampbell]

my Dad has one, it has foot pedals for the bucket and joysticks for the tracks, my excavator is foot pedals for the tracks and long sticks for the bucket, I can’t stand it. Then it never fails, you have something on the forks and there is an issue, so you end up having to climb out over a mess then back in over the same mess.

So, fix it. A lot of newer excavators and skidsteers have an electronic way to change the control programming, and the old mechanical ones had valving to do it. A crescent wrench and 15 minutes got you a new machine.

 

[Strouty]

Not my machine, not interested in messing with it. Someday I may try a newer one, but at this point they are beyond my perceived budget.

 

[Strouty]

I have one more day of snow removal, going to dig out the back yard at the house, then go over to the SG and dig out the rack and pallet of rims out front, I think we have until Friday before the deep freeze hits us and even then it is still going to warm up in the 20s during the day. My elbow is holding up well, but I know I need to pace things, that is a hard thing for me to do....

Yesterday was shuffling things at the Hill, moving snow, digging out vehicles and trailers. I have to get the shop space usable, I really need to swap out the trans in Perk and upgrade the hydraulic system, that should be the single biggest upgrade that I could possibly make at this point. My current PTO puts out 60% power at 1200 RPMs the new setup should do almost double that at 800 (yes they go over 100%). Between that and the sticky transmission and messed up clutch, Perk should be a new machine when I am done (sometime in 2030?).

 

[xtremek]

Do you think you'll be able to get started on the Perk by Valentines? If so, finish the trans by the beginning of March? That would be a huge win.

 

[Strouty]

If I can get Perk inside the shop by March, that will be a big win.

I have so much that needs to be done, when I actually start thinking about it, I just want to cry. If I end up having surgery on my elbow, this year is going to be pretty messed up, luckily it is doing better, hopefully I can keep it that way.

I still need to finish the office, move all the stuff in, organize the files, and that is the easy stuff. The gate needs to be finished, the generator project isn't completed yet (waiting on electrician), all the shops are a mess, I have to rework heating vents in the House at the Hill, the Blurb is still pulling the throttle drop out issue and the defrost works marginal, my GF's car needs to be worked on, well, you get the idea. I forgot, I also committed to a week in Texas helping a friend train some of his tower workers, that will be in February. This is just the tip of the ice berg, I could easily work 24 hours a day for the next couple months and just barely put a dent in things. Generally it isn't that my projects are underestimated, it is more that my Dad likes to throw a wrench in things all too often. Last week he called his insurance company, except he dialed the wrong number, he got some scam phone line that told him he could get $100 gift card if he listened to an advertisement, then they made him give his credit card info to cover the $2 shipping of the gift card. Luckily I caught what was going on quick, but we had to cancel his card again and go through a bunch of BS. He also bought (on purpose) a self defense book that teaches you *********** people (I kid you not), now he is being bombarded with confusing spam emails from them, except each email has a different domain name so I can't just block them completely. He has no idea how much time I spend trying to keep this stuff from becoming a problem and I can't tell him what I do either. Frustration all around.

 

[Strouty]

I traded that big Champion air compressor for another Volvo XC70, now I have an engine for my GF's car if we need it. Luckily I don't need to pick up the XC70 for a bit, maybe I can make some room......

I have moved the sheet metal rack to the back forty, got the snow cleaned up out front. I will say I wish I had put this hitch carrier into service a long time ago, it works great for the snow blower, I do need to make a few mods, but overall it is a great unit.