Something just clicked…..

[Kev442]

Food for thought: last February was almost a 100% washout for you at the shop. Anything done this year would be a net gain.

 

[Strouty]

Kev, I had to look back and see, I thought I had a lot more downtime last winter. To be honest, this year seems like less has been done. I am working on a job site for now, but I hope to be in the shop this weekend. At least I got the oil tank filled so I can have heat, Monday I am supposed to go with my GF on a day long excursion to New Hampshire. All I have to report now is scrap prices are down, but I need to get things out of the way, so I am sending stuff regardless of the price.

 

[Richard Cranium]

didn't mean to offend you with the coasting part.
I understand having to make a living.

 

[Strouty]

Rich, not offended, just wanted to make sure you knew I was still busy and that the shop takes a back seat to making money. Once the shop makes me money (ultimate goal), then things will be a bit different. Until then, between the weather, my weird work schedule, and the commute, things are going slower than I would like.

 

[bulletpruf]

Rich, not offended, just wanted to make sure you knew I was still busy and that the shop takes a back seat to making money. Once the shop makes me money (ultimate goal), then things will be a bit different. Until then, between the weather, my weird work schedule, and the commute, things are going slower than I would like.

Strouty -

Can you share a few details on your job and your shop? You talk about job sites, your commute, etc, but I'm not sure what you do for a living. And the shop is separate income, right? Are you doing/going to do general mechanic work (or something else?) out of the shop and quit your job?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[DonPowers]

Strouty -

Can you share a few details on your job and your shop? You talk about job sites, your commute, etc, but I'm not sure what you do for a living. And the shop is separate income, right? Are you doing/going to do general mechanic work (or something else?) out of the shop and quit your job?

Thanks,

Scott

Not going to spoil Strouty's reply post but his feet photo bomb most of his photos.

 

[Strouty]

Scott, I build and maintain communications towers, so I do very little work at my shop. Originally the shop was only a place to park and maintain my equipment, I have had some injuries and now I do not climb often at all. I used to have a full crew, now I am just me and I mostly do consulting work or hire subcontractors to get things accomplished. I am in a very unusually position, I have developed tower sites with my Father in exchange for a percentage of the revenue from the customers and I manage a few other sites as well. This gives me a monthly income without much hassle, I keep the shop as a hobby space and tax advantage. It doesn't really make me any money, in fact it usually costs me money, but I would probably go insane without it. The trouble is that the shop is a bit over 30 minutes from my house, so I don't like to go there unless I am planning on being there for a few hours or more.

As an example, yesterday I had to go there to swap vehicles and get a few tools. I spent over an hour driving and about 45 minutes there. That was a bit frustrating, but at this point I can't change that, my GF and I hope to some day move closer to the shop.

Longterm goals are to have the shop make enough money to sustain itself, most likely refurbishing older medium duty trucks. Sometimes I just think that if I sold everything, I would not need the shop and the time it wastes, but deep down I think that I enjoy the "shop project" the most. Sometimes my physical issues get the best of me, so I have been working towards the acquiring equipment that will keep me from destroying myself.

 

[Strouty]

Here is one of my famous foot-o-bombs.

 

[bulletpruf]

Scott, I build and maintain communications towers, so I do very little work at my shop. Originally the shop was only a place to park and maintain my equipment, I have had some injuries and now I do not climb often at all. I used to have a full crew, now I am just me and I mostly do consulting work or hire subcontractors to get things accomplished. I am in a very unusually position, I have developed tower sites with my Father in exchange for a percentage of the revenue from the customers and I manage a few other sites as well. This gives me a monthly income without much hassle, I keep the shop as a hobby space and tax advantage. It doesn't really make me any money, in fact it usually costs me money, but I would probably go insane without it. The trouble is that the shop is a bit over 30 minutes from my house, so I don't like to go there unless I am planning on being there for a few hours or more.

As an example, yesterday I had to go there to swap vehicles and get a few tools. I spent over an hour driving and about 45 minutes there. That was a bit frustrating, but at this point I can't change that, my GF and I hope to some day move closer to the shop.

Longterm goals are to have the shop make enough money to sustain itself, most likely refurbishing older medium duty trucks. Sometimes I just think that if I sold everything, I would not need the shop and the time it wastes, but deep down I think that I enjoy the "shop project" the most. Sometimes my physical issues get the best of me, so I have been working towards the acquiring equipment that will keep me from destroying myself.

Thanks for the details, and the picture. I'm a paratrooper in the Army, and I think I've jumped out of airplanes flying lower than that (maybe 800' for the lowest?).

Scott

 

[Strouty]

Yeah, that picture is from 1500', most we deal with are 300' and under. I always say that my office has the best views.

 

[DBendr]

There comes some 1970's that was trapped in some fat tissue in my brain.

 

[RacerRick]

Yeah, that picture is from 1500', most we deal with are 300' and under. I always say that my office has the best views.

Did you have to climb over a quarter mile all the way up?

 

[Strouty]

That one has an elevator, so thankfully I did not have to climb up. The highest that I have ever "climbed" was 750 feet, I have had to climb down 1500 feet and I can't imagine having to climb up that far. 750 feet takes about an hour for me.

 

[1/2 Cup]

That one has an elevator, so thankfully I did not have to climb up. The highest that I have ever "climbed" was 750 feet, I have had to climb down 1500 feet and I can't imagine having to climb up that far. 750 feet takes about an hour for me.

Far out Strouty that is an awesome shot.

 

[Strouty]

 

[neonlazer]

There comes some 1970's that was trapped in some fat tissue in my brain.

LOL! I could never climb that high.

 

[Strouty]

I have been doing this since I could walk, first tower that I bolted together while in the air was at 12.

 

[rmalkow2]

That's amazing to me that you can climb and work at those heights. Certain parts of me get nervous and tingly just looking at the pictures. I can't take that kind of height but it's why we all have different abilities. You have a real gift to be able to do stuff like that.

 

[250]

Not to steal anyone's thunder, but I though I'd contribute to the feelings of thin air.

 

[250]

I hate snow, I hate cold winds, I hate the cold, I generally hate winter. I don't know why I still live in Maine.

Amen brother! I knew I liked you.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Strouty, Your pictures looks like they were shot in the winter, looks like snow on the ground.

 

[Strouty]

Nice addition 250!

Rich, that is snow.

 

[Aerogt01]

Here is one of my famous foot-o-bombs.

That would be an awesome base jump. You ever tempted?

Not to steal anyone's thunder, but I though I'd contribute to the feelings of thin air.[emoji106]

That looks like one heck of a climb. I would love to tackle that.

 

[Richard Cranium]

strouty, You are a braver man then me. You would never get me up there. No matter, I wouldn't go. I one time had to go up onto a commercial building that had a out side ladder with a cage around it, It was a white knuckle climb for me.... Now I did do some repelling back when I was with the Sheriff's Office.

 

[Strouty]

Everyone is different, I don't like being on scaffolding or sloped roofs.

Aero, I am not one to jump from anything, especially a perfectly good tower (or airplane).

 

[250]

That looks like one heck of a climb. I would love to tackle that.

That's roughly 4800ft of air you're looking at right there. Right off the diving board of half dome. I took the "easy" way up around the back instead of the face. I've only done a few hundred feet of face in one shot so far.

 

[Premium08]

Everyone is different, I don't like being on scaffolding or sloped roofs.

Aero, I am not one to jump from anything, especially a perfectly good tower (or airplane).

You make the water tanks I climb look small. I would like to climb a antenna tower one time to experience it.

 

[Strouty]

I have a love hate relationship with water tanks. When they have water in them people are really fussy about what we do to them. When they are empty, people don't care, but the tanks are usually in pretty bad shape.

 

[Premium08]

I have a love hate relationship with water tanks. When they have water in them people are really fussy about what we do to them. When they are empty, people don't care, but the tanks are usually in pretty bad shape.

Really? Only reason I can think they would get fussy is if you are welded on them. That burns the interior coating. Unless I'm doing a washout the tanks I inspect have water in them and I'll even go inside them. Highest tank I've climbed is 220' and its not fun. I did climb 11 in one day about a month ago that totalled about 1500' worth of climbing.

 

[Strouty]

Anything we do to them is always a reason for the coating manufacturer to void the warranty, so we get watched like hawks by everyone. We do weld on tanks and that is absolutely the worst, but even drilling through exterior components brings out the warranty squad.

 

[Premium08]

Interesting, 90% of the tanks we work on are under a contract with us so we are responsible for the coatings anyway. I didn't know coating manufactures did warranties, but I've only been doing this type work for a year and few months.

So I'm sure you come across tanks with the notch rigid rail safety climb? I'll take a cable over a rail any day.

 

[Strouty]

I still have one of the sliding safety attachments for those, it took me a long time to find one. I too prefer the cable, I also hate the cages, my belt tends to get hung up a lot.

 

[Premium08]

I'm 6-4 so cages ****, nothing but knee knockers. And then sometimes the shell wall/roof ladder will have cage, basically have to crawl through it.

 

[Strouty]

The last tank I was on was so rusty that I thought the ladder was going to rip off the tank.

 

[Richard Cranium]

sounds scary.

 

[Premium08]

Alot of times getting to the ladder is the scariest part for me. I carry a 21ft fold up ladder and the tank ladder cutoff is high sometimes so I gotta do some finagling to get up there. And a flat ladder brace on a round column isn't the most stable.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: how is your roof patch holding up? Any leaks? You mention billboards but it looks like visquene with 1 x 4's holding them down. How did you attach so you didnt cause more leaking?

Im still amazed at your ability to climb those towers and then work up there too. Id be coming back down after 20 feet.

 

[Strouty]

The roof seems to be leak free. The material is two 48' x 16' billboards, not sure what mil thickness they were, but they are rugged. All we did is screw the strapping down as minimally as possible, I figure the small holes are not able to let water in very easily, plus we overlapped everything very well. The material is UV stabilized as well, so should last well in the sun.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: congrats on making a semi permanent fix. i thought you might have hooked the top of the visquene over the top of the roof somehow. hope the nails hold everything down when the wind whips through your area which i'm guessing it does now and again. nailing to the edge should also help a lot.

 

[Strouty]

It is screwed down, overlapping the ridge and then tucked over the drip edge, should be fine, we have all ready had 50 plus MPH winds since it was installed.