The Descriptive Process

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My immediate thought would be hook it to the 8L and the 345, start yarding on it then cut it to get it up to the road.

But I’d have to build a new road just to get a D8 and a 345 there. Might just be best to cut it, let it go downhill and go from there.

Also yeah, nothing runs like a Deere with a Cat on it’s ass. Of course, the 40 and 50 series row crop tractors are a different story. Even if the frame split right where the flywheel is and would destroy clutches. Stout old machines, I know where many are still in use.
 
SO I broke some stuff... like a lot of stuff...
Anyway, I was arc gouging the bottom plate on the log loader the other day, which is like 1" plate, had a giant crack that went more or less 1/2 way across, which then caused some other far more critical things to break...
Well, the bottom of the loader, is also the bottom of the hydraulic reservoir... it holds roughly 50 gallons

Did I mention that hydraulic fluid burns real good, like hot, and for like a long time, hot like gasoline, but sticky and long lasting... think napalm but less friendly

I mention this, as I performed this little stunt on wednesday, I only just realized that had I gouged through, as was my original intent... did I mention hydro fluid burns reallllll good
the tank was full, and my gimpy fat ass was under it, wielding basically a lightening bolt that sprays molten metal and high volumes of air...

In other news, I'm not ded yet, and the log truck is back in action as of today.
 
Glad you ain't dead and that the log truck works. Hopefully, better things are to come. Ron
Sometimes luck is all you got...

replaced the dumb truck during the process, and most of the wood that was waiting on me to haul, is still waiting, turns out all the Self Loathers in the area are either super busy or Elk hunting, so no one was available to pick up the slack.
Truck is home now for the first time in over a month... nearly everything is fixed and ready to roll.
 
Not being dead is always good. Good old 10W, be it AW 32 or ISO 46 does burn, it burns really well and it runs all over everything even better than it burns. Carbon arc is hot enough without burning liquid everywhere.

Glad you’re alright. Bow season started last weekend and we’re starting to see some guys starting to take some time off, which is always inopportune because it’s the final rush to knock stuff out, lows are already bouncing into the low 40s here.
 
So I got out to clear & grub some ground ahead of the rest of the crew today. I plan on actually stacking the saw logs into something that resembles a log pile and taking it to a mill. It might not cover the fuel bill, but there are a few nice hardwood trees I don’t want to waste.

I parked up, grabbed my saws, gas, yada, chucked them into the bucket of my hoe, which isn’t what I asked to be sent out, but I guess I can stack trees with a 48” bucket and no thumb. I move(d) mud mats, road plates and sheet piles without them, no big deal.

The live version of Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man was on the radio when I started up the hoe, the sun was coming up over the eastern horizon with the gorgeous colors we have at this time of year, and I was thinking it was about to be a good day. I got up the road to where I had staked everything out, and I started brushing out.

Next thing I see is this:
FFF4DB09-9EAD-459B-A3FB-3BD063DD832B.jpeg
That, my friends, is a European Giant Hornet, enormous stinger and all. Not as scary as the Asian Murderer that has invaded the PNW but still mean little bastards when perturbed about the world around them, and they usually nest in dead trees. I had been swarmed by ground hornets a few weeks prior, and I can say that unlike in the past, while I don’t turn into a red, human balloon, I do break out in hives now.

I went home. Told the shop guys to bring me an excavator with a thumb and some wasp spray. I’m also going to have to replace my phone. Oh well.
 
So I got out to clear & grub some ground ahead of the rest of the crew today. I plan on actually stacking the saw logs into something that resembles a log pile and taking it to a mill. It might not cover the fuel bill, but there are a few nice hardwood trees I don’t want to waste.

I parked up, grabbed my saws, gas, yada, chucked them into the bucket of my hoe, which isn’t what I asked to be sent out, but I guess I can stack trees with a 48” bucket and no thumb. I move(d) mud mats, road plates and sheet piles without them, no big deal.

The live version of Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man was on the radio when I started up the hoe, the sun was coming up over the eastern horizon with the gorgeous colors we have at this time of year, and I was thinking it was about to be a good day. I got up the road to where I had staked everything out, and I started brushing out.

Next thing I see is this:
View attachment 932163
That, my friends, is a European Giant Hornet, enormous stinger and all. Not as scary as the Asian Murderer that has invaded the PNW but still mean little bastards when perturbed about the world around them, and they usually nest in dead trees. I had been swarmed by ground hornets a few weeks prior, and I can say that unlike in the past, while I don’t turn into a red, human balloon, I do break out in hives now.

I went home. Told the shop guys to bring me an excavator with a thumb and some wasp spray. I’m also going to have to replace my phone. Oh well.
Did the hornets fly off with the phone, or did one of the crew eat it for lunch?
 
My phone problems are completely separate from the giant hornet nest. As it would turn out, three years is about as long as an iPhone 6s battery will last with my use, so it would be on its third battery. The phone won’t be able to support the next OS update which then leads to problems running the thing.

So the replacement is on order.

Also… Giant hornet stings hurt an awful lot. It didn’t occur to me that my front window was open before knocking the tree with the nest in it over… Then I tried to tram away at the full 3 mile per hour top speed of a Cat 330D. Not my best run of choices. I still can’t get over how they didn’t do anything until I started knocking limbs off the tree. I guess they are the gentle giants of the bee/wasp/hornet world as described by my ‘ologist friend I called after I got the **** stung out of me.
 
I took these pictures last Saturday to show you guys where most of the wood I cut goes. If history repeats itself most of the split wood shown and the wood stored in the building (it's full) will be gone by Thanksgiving. My contribution to the piles are relatively light compared to what the various tree services bring.
IMG_6424.JPGIMG_6426.JPG

Ron
 
Tuesday I was expecting a rented grader to be dropped off on one of my jobs. The lowboy driver (not mine) calls me, says he’s having problems unloading it. Boy do I wish I had taken pictures, and I probably should have to cover my ass, because he had the right front tire hanging off the side, the blade holding it level, and the back scooted almost off the trailer with the lowboy unattached. I got it off, kind of a chore given that I am not a grader man.

Then yesterday I got a call from one of my guys at the yard that there’s another lowboy driver picking up that grader. I went flying down there & asked where that grader was supposed to go, and I was told it was headed to Indianapolis. I give up.

Also, I have a late model D8 on my site now, anybody want to guess why? I’ll give you two hints: 17,089 and 39,318.
 
Tuesday I was expecting a rented grader to be dropped off on one of my jobs. The lowboy driver (not mine) calls me, says he’s having problems unloading it. Boy do I wish I had taken pictures, and I probably should have to cover my ass, because he had the right front tire hanging off the side, the blade holding it level, and the back scooted almost off the trailer with the lowboy unattached. I got it off, kind of a chore given that I am not a grader man.

Then yesterday I got a call from one of my guys at the yard that there’s another lowboy driver picking up that grader. I went flying down there & asked where that grader was supposed to go, and I was told it was headed to Indianapolis. I give up.

Also, I have a late model D8 on my site now, anybody want to guess why? I’ll give you two hints: 17,089 and 39,318.
Well, did you finish with the grader? or did they just show up and bog off with it.

and if your not using that D8, you can drop it off here thank you...

Not sure what yer numbers are all about, unless thats what a motor for a D8 and D9 cost.
 
Well, did you finish with the grader? or did they just show up and bog off with it.

and if your not using that D8, you can drop it off here thank you...

Not sure what yer numbers are all about, unless thats what a motor for a D8 and D9 cost.

I never got to use the damn thing!

Apparently I was sent one that wasn’t set up for what we’re doing. The rental place was supposed to get me one that will actually work for what we’re doing, yeah, nothing yet.

17,089 hours was how long the bottom end of the engine on my D8L lasted. It has 39,318 frame hours. You can have it for the price of scrap plus the haul to W. Washington if you want it. Everything works except, you know, a big Cat V8 engine to power everything.

Oh well, Nov. 1 I’ll be out from under a lot if this stuff anyway, doing some major downsizing, everything (and everybody) is going to a good home.
 
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