Gears, gears, and more...

I can't get these kids around here to do anything at all.....My dad was a real good ol'man,but we were scared to death of not doing what he ASKED us to do.I don't know how to motivate this lazy bunch of misfits around here.....As for unloading ANYTHING,that's out of the question and pass a piss test??? I'd say most of my nephews(not all,there are a couple of good ones) would pee solid skunk weed if they took the test.

I've got relatives in Stillwater and Lake Eufaula/Checotah area.They say it's crazy down there now.Dopeheaded slackers on every corner and good paying jobs in between.lol.Thank you for bringing back the memories of those hard livin days.I remember poking a hole in a can of soup or chili ,wire tying it onto an exhaust manifold of a welder,generator or other stationary piece of equipment and having my one hot meal of the day along with my cold sandwich.lol....We were in hog heaven tho'.

 

I wasn't in the oil fields but I've run alot of dozers in the Navy Seabees. I had to laugh when Muleskinner was talking about cable blades and cutting a washboard. We had a job up in Northern CA where the base said they could supple a dozer. We got there and they took us out in the weeds and there sat a 1958 D-8 with a cable blade. The dozer couldn't cut worth a crap because you had no down force but that dozer would push a building if you wanted to. It hadn't run in some time but we got it going and when we left that dozer was in good shape. My boss had some trouble with the people he was staying with and our job site was right next to that barracks. He had me start that D-8 at 5 in the morning and let it idle for some time. You could feel the ground vibrate and his troubles went away!

It was a blast to run that dozer but it could never compare to the D-8L tri-track I ran for 3 years. I've run into some of the old timers too and there was one that ran a grader. He'd put a stack of penny's down and ask you how many do you want left. I was glad that they never allowed laser levels because you'll lose you skill. And I was glad for all that experience. I would rather run a dozer than drive a truck any day but my company just paid too well. Thanks for the memories guys.

 

LOL....Those old 8's were horribly loud and if you got the "whistler" (later model w/turbo) they would deafen you under a load.....I loved those old guys out in the field because they taught you respect for them and for the equipment....The mention of a grader brings back a story that illustrates EXACTLY how I was taught by those old hands...I got caught up with installing culverts for the BLM contract and the owner said I could take a week or so off if I wanted to and he would line some more work up for me...Hell I was lazy even then (LOL) and man,that sounded like a good plan to me,BUT before the day was over he drove back up where I was working and said..." I got to thinking,I can use you on that 12E Cat grader cleaning up the weeds on locations so just come on in tomorrow and ride around with Pops until you feel comfortable and then go grab the 12 and go to work"....That liked to have killed me knowing I wasn't getting any slack time(found out later one of the guys said if he let me go for a week he'd never find me again and next they'd hear I'd be in Alaska.lol.He got to thinking about it and put me on the grader)...I showed up the next day,jumped in with Pops on his Cat 14 grader and away we went....we both sat in the seat and he showed me what to do.About two or three miles later he turned it over to me and I started standing up driving it like a boat pilot where I could see both sides at the same time and I thought"Hell,this is the way to do it,you can see everything like this" I just figured Pops was old and lazy and that's why he sat down...I looked at him and he was smirking at me and he said"I wouldn't stand up running this rock base road"....I thought he meant that by the end of the day you'd be worn out from the constant motion so I said.."I'll be fine" and he said "Suit yourself cowboy".....A couple more miles goes by and I'm really starting to get the hang of it,steering with one hand flopped over the wheel and relaxing a bit when all of a sudden it was like Pops had kicked me from behind with both feet and driven me into the steering wheel,tower and my head into the windshield....It sounded like you'd hit a ripe watermelon with a 2x4 inside my head when I hit that glass and I saw stars.I was completely adled and confused and when I finally started focusing again,Pops was sitting just exactly like he had been before,smoking a cigarette and smirking at me. All he said was "Rock".....I stared at him while wiping blood off my nose and said "What?"...."You hit a big rock buried in the ground and it stopped the grader,but not you...windshield and wheel did that for ya"....he said and then winked and said.."Told you not to stand up,suit yourself tho'"....THAT was how those old men schooled young idiots back in the day....It was a lesson learned well too.

BTW GH...My buddy has an old D7 3t cable rig that runs like a brand new one(loud and rough.lol) and anytime you get this way and feel like reliving the good ol' days call and come by.We used it last year to build an outdoor riding arena and used it to clear the trees for that guy.THAT was a trip down memory lane and I didn't remember my shoulder gettng sore from it hanging over the winch line lever 25 years ago.Must be a different style lever.LOL

 

ROTHFLMAO, I still stand. Graders are not my cup of tea. What a great offer, I might take you up on it if I get that way. I'll let you know. But don't laugh if I get a little tear in my eye.

I was running a MRS scraper and in a cut with full power when I hit a huge buried tree stump. The tree didn't move, the scraper didn't move, but I moved against the seat belts and I had a large bruise for weeks. I mean that thing stopped dead and if I wasn't strapped in I'm sure I would have went flying over the front. Thinking back I can smell the dirt.

 

BTW, you still have your CAT key?

 

I've got a later CAT key that I use for the Backhoes and newer equip we move.

You mean a pair of pliers to jump across the solenoid???LOL...Or figuring out how to start the pony motor....If you want to run that thing,let me know and we'll line some work up for it....Ain't no use in just running it if you can't make you some money too.Kind of a Huck Finn type of deal.
Speaking of jumping the solenoid with pliers...I'm sure you already know this,but a few seconds of that big ol'Cat turning over will make a BBQ grill out of those pliers. My buddy re-learns that everytime we start that D7 3T...Pony motors been pulled off of it and it's been switched to direct start.

 

The key I was talking about was actually a key sort of. It had two prongs sticking out you'd place in the ignition key. Most of the time the operators would forget them or lose them so we used the back-up of two nails held together. That old D-8 only took knowledge to start. Once we got the pony motor working well we never had problems firing that old lunger up. On those cold mornings we'd let the pony turn the engine over for awhile before we released the compression release. You'd have a hard time starting it cold if you didn't.

The offer sounds real nice but it's going to be awhile at least until next year. I'm retired now and the wife runs the show on where we go and what we do. Unless it's fishing,golf, or going to the drag races. But you've got my curiosity up now because I'm thinking I could still have some skills after a few minutes of breathing in the old smell of diesel and dirt mixed together.

 

We'd be glad to have you,really beautiful area and plenty of fishing,camping and golf courses....You'd be dealing with some true deliverance(well almost) styled hillbillys around here...good guys.lol. Yes I remember those keys and if I looked on my ring(I have a HUGE equipment keyring) there's probably one on there....Most of these of rigs have all went through so many ruffians since new that some have lawnmower key switches,just starter buttons on the direct start and everything else....Between me and my buddy I'd say we have around 8 or 9 dozers...A couple of them up and running and the rest in various states of disrepair..I have two JD 440s..one with a backhoe and front high lift bucket and the other with a straight blade....I haven't seen them in a long time and really need to go get them and bring them home so my kid can learn on them...That's what I learned on many moons ago...I was in the fourth grade and my dad was doing some dozer work behind the shop on his and a guy pulled up needing some welding done.Dad stopped,flagged me over to him and said heres how to start it,heres how to stop it and this raises the blade and these turn it,KEEP IT IN FIRST GEAR and stay away from the buildings.....That 440 was as big as a D11L to me at that point in my life and I couldn't have been prouder of it.He went through a lot of fuel after that day and I wallowed 8 acres of ground into pure silt with that thing.....I always remembered that and when my daughter was 4(10 yo now )I started letting her ride (enclosed cab only at that time) trenchers and backhoes with me and since then she has turned into a badazz little backhoe hand,good on Case 3 or 4 sticks and absolutely smokes on a set of JD twin wobbles and she was steamed up last summer when I entered the Case Backhoe Rodeo up north and the age limit kept her out of the competition.I've posted a lot of pics on here of her running all different kinds of equipment.Pretty proud of her and would put her up against a lot older green hands any day of the week for any money I could raise.I can't wait for her to get a #### job tho',she's breaking me.LOL

 

The oilfield was tough but gets in your blood, mud up to you knees w/ 2 D6s stuck. A hydraulic rig with 850 hoses and it wont extend and try to figure which hose is the one backwards. 120000 lb rig move and a tub with that much drillstem in it loaded on the tailboard and OK weigh man laughing because the fine was $45 and Arrow drilling had to pay it. Loking up in the tower in feezing rain and having icicles drop down on your hardhat. And the #### floor hand who hit me in the head with the chain. Caught his hand in the tongs one day and told him if he did'nt do his job I'd rip his arm off. Left me alone from then on. Eating more food than you could believe and being hungry in 2 hrs. Nope I don't wanna go back even if I can do finish work with D6 and never backblade. Heard they fire you for that!

 

Gashauler MCB 22 EO, Vietnam 68-69 Ran TD11 955 Loader and Quarry truck