I got a case of viscosifier and a clay stabilizer. Along with the carrots, fingercuffs and triple puller required in my contract. That check hurt. But I got my drill home from vermeer today. Now I just have to get rich or al least keep gas to the water heater so I can wash away my tears in comfort
On Mon, May 23, 2022 at 2:21 PM Chuck McCown via AF <af@af.afmug.com> wrote: > Make sure to use some kind of additive to the water. The type depends on > the soil in your area. Bentonite is pretty common. Otherwise you hole > could collapse on you while you are pulling back. It also lubes up the > hole so there is less tension on the conduit. I measured the conduit > tensile strength once. Not a huge amount, less than 1000 lbs for 1.25” as > I recall. The machine is way stronger than the conduit. I would station a > guy at the reel to make sure it is moving when they were pulling. Cheap > GMRS two radios. Driller says pulling. The other guy better see movement > or you are pulling it apart. > > *From:* Chuck McCown via AF > *Sent:* Saturday, May 21, 2022 9:10 PM > *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group > *Cc:* Chuck McCown > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Ot: my adventure > > Pot holing is a huge footage killer. We are happy with 400’ drilled and > pulled back a day. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On May 21, 2022, at 7:20 PM, Steve Jones <thatoneguyst...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > One of the front clamp cylinders needed replaced. The slide housing for > the front clamp had to be replaced too, where the slide block sits was worn > down to almost nothing, there was a ton of play on the clamp and when the > little steel left failed I wouldnt be able to break the pipe, that's a > pricey piece since it's dead stock. > They welded plates so the stress points on the frame wont break anymore, > looks like it had been welded and broke twice. I think there were a total > of 3 placed needing welded. > They put a new track on for me that was purchased in the buyout. > The water relief is bad and will fail, but that's on backorder. They had > to bypass the guage cause of stripped threads and discontinued parts. > The pump wasnt drawing from the tank so they had to do some work on that. > There was a fuel leak they fixed. > The drive chain was missing the tensioner clamp on the bottom and the > rollers were worn flat. There was some warp to the slide rail they fixed. > A bunch of other heres and theres (I did pay 45 bucks for them to replace > a bulb cause at this point another 45 bucks was negligible. > The sub saver shoulder was beveled back and the front was flared. > The bill will be around 3k less since they ended up getting the strike > alert going. The one on 7x11 isnt made anymore so it would have been a > retrofit. > Most of the cost was parts. Labor really was surprisingly low for the > amount there was. > Theres much I probably could have done, like the control hoses were > flipped so the back clamp control turned the left auger and it was all > backward. But if while moving the hoses a fitting breaks or seal is bad I'd > spend 2 days acquiring parts and fixing it. I've never worked on a track, > and I dont weld. The sub saver is field replace, but I never replaced one > and I really need to get drilling. I have almost 150k sunk into this whole > venture already and every day I'm trying to figure out how to fix things > is a day less I'm putting money in the kitty for the days I'm trying to fix > things. > I will say I'm never, ever, ever, ever, not even once gonna buy a friend > out again without just having the attorney do all the prep work ahead. This > was a clusterfuck and I still dont have my reel trailer in hand. > I'm told I can complete up to 750 feet a day. I want some of what they're > smoking. My numbers get really comfortable if we are getting 200 feet. I'm > the new guy on the contract, so I'm betting I'm not getting the prime dirt > work, I see a lot of driveways and intersections in my future. That leads > to another problem, not having an owned vac, but I'm out of money, so > that's a bridge I'll burn when I get to it. Before some unforeseen expenses > I was planning on getting an airvac and airspade, but its shovel time > instead > > On Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:12 PM Chuck McCown via AF <af@af.afmug.com> wrote: > >> Still that sounds steep. At least it might have been done right. Those >> pumps are pretty easy to fix. They get junk stuck in the valves now and >> then, so you need to know how to take out the valves. There are 6 of >> them. The pistons don’t actually slide in cylinders, they just intrude >> into a volume of space and displace water. So crud can go through them >> without harm. Most of the pump issues are leaks around the rods (you can >> tighten the packing gland or add packing), valve junk, and freezing and >> breaking. The last one pretty much ruins the whole works. >> >> They do suffer from cracked frames. I have strengthened my frame a bunch >> while fixing the cracks. Sad to see my Vermeer is on the auction block at >> RB right across the street from me. Full box of almost new rod. I have 4 >> other ditch witch drills so I am selling this one. We all like the Vermeer >> more than the DW as far as the two controls vs one. >> >> *From:* Steve Jones >> *Sent:* Saturday, May 21, 2022 4:17 PM >> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group >> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Ot: my adventure >> >> 21 year old drill, old parts, some frame cracks, water pump issues, etc. >> Labor wasnt that bad. I figure future repairs will be me, but to get this >> thing out the door and making money, I had vermeer do everything. >> >> On Sat, May 21, 2022, 4:45 PM Chuck McCown via AF <af@af.afmug.com> >> wrote: >> >>> What cost the $12K? >>> >>> I do all the work on my drills, and I became quite an expert on the >>> Vermeer we had. I quit using strike finders. They break down all the >>> freaking time. >>> >>> I just have a ground stake that I sometime use. Should use it all the >>> time but if you get out around a bunch of drillers, they frequently don’t >>> ground either. That drill rod is a pretty good ground. But if you hit >>> primary all bets are off. If you hit secondary you will probably not get >>> fried. With or without strike finders and ground stakes. >>> >>> *From:* Steve Jones >>> *Sent:* Saturday, May 21, 2022 3:22 PM >>> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group >>> *Subject:* [AFMUG] Ot: my adventure >>> >>> So for the last three months I've been creating my company, getting all >>> that stuff in order, spending a shit ton of money (for me). But the last >>> pieces are falling in place on monday. I pick my drill back up from vermeer >>> (12,300 dollar repair quote, but they managed to fix my strike alert and >>> saved me 3000 bucks). Probably not a good business decision to put that >>> much into an old drill when the drill is worth less than the repair, but it >>> gets me in a drill. >>> I have a contract that's local for around 2 years work, fairly low rate >>> per foot compared to what's out there, but its local and all I can eat when >>> I want to eat it, so I can keep my fulltime job while I transition. I >>> figure spend this year and maybe next building experience with my son, then >>> chase the bigger dough. >>> The underground industry seems a whole lot like the wisp industry, where >>> theres a whole bunch of strangers willing to help strangers succeed with >>> good advice. Theres some assholes, but same here. >>> Once I get operational and have the toolset refined with some experience >>> I'll be heavily pimping to the wisp degenerates turning fisp, I think >>> theres a good number that a guy can operate at to be affordable to small >>> outfits and still get a little money in the wallet. >>> My kid operated a mini ex for the first time, the video games actually >>> paid off, he got the feather concept of the controls down, so he may leave >>> me to go do that after some experience, dont blame him a bit if he does, >>> equipment operators get the best cushions in the seats and the best >>> paychecks. >>> Just need to hand over the workmans comp certificate when I have the >>> drill back in hand and I start making the millions. >>> God is good, even if I'm not. >>> ------------------------------ >>> -- >>> AF mailing list >>> AF@af.afmug.com >>> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >>> -- >>> AF mailing list >>> AF@af.afmug.com >>> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >>> >> ------------------------------ >> -- >> AF mailing list >> AF@af.afmug.com >> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >> -- >> AF mailing list >> AF@af.afmug.com >> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >> > -- > AF mailing list > AF@af.afmug.com > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com > > ------------------------------ > -- > AF mailing list > AF@af.afmug.com > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com > > -- > AF mailing list > AF@af.afmug.com > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >
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