Hide Site/Bug Out Location Construction, Part 6

[dave945]

When did they deliver yesterday Don,  I saw a 7320 sitting on a trailer at the Kioti dealer in independence yesterday afternoon at about 2:45 or so. I wondered if it might have been yours.


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[Flyin6]

When did they deliver yesterday Don,  I saw a 7320 sitting on a trailer at the Kioti dealer in independence yesterday afternoon at about 2:45 or so. I wondered if it might have been yours.


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That was mine! They left the dealership between 1445-1500, so yea, you saw my tractor! Small world!
Say, Dave, when are we aver going to meet? You're just down the road, and I've never seen ya!
You like quoffee?

[JR]

Sounds nice, hope it does not follow the normal Don trait of getting broken soon.

Are you using a good camera or just your phone? I hardly ever use my good camera anymore, just sits in the truck. wonder if its charged?

[KensAuto]

WTH? You're getting awful bad about not taking pics boss.

Step it up!

.. please. ;)

[Flyin6]

WTH? You're getting awful bad about not taking pics boss.

Step it up!

.. please. ;)

This time I didn't run over the camera or leave it outside in the rain, bush hog it, or lose it. Wife took it and left me with nada!

[JR]

I bet my pay check you had your phone!!!!!

[KensAuto]

I bet my pay check you had your phone!!!!!

[rpar86]

I bet my pay check you had your phone!!!!!

Isn’t it a flip phone though?? ;)

[KensAuto]

I bet my pay check you had your phone!!!!!

Isn’t it a flip phone though?? ;)

Naw, he's still trying to find the camera on his rotary landline phone.

[Flyin6]

I bet my pay check you had your phone!!!!!

Isn’t it a flip phone though?? ;)

Mine is one of those bricks with a walkie-talkie antenna...really cool!

[Flyin6]

Got bad news on the excavator cylinder today. The rod and the sleeve is warped, and unrepairable. That's crap! I wonder what one of those cost used out on the market???

[Bob Smith]

Got bad news on the excavator cylinder today. The rod and the sleeve is warped, and unrepairable. That's crap! I wonder what one of those cost used out on the market???

Just how did you manage to run over that?

[Bigdave_185]

Got bad news on the excavator cylinder today. The rod and the sleeve is warped, and unrepairable. That's crap! I wonder what one of those cost used out on the market???

I know on our mini X they are $2000 for the main ram,  I imagine on your 250 it’s probably $8000?


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[JR]

Bet they are all over used.

[rpar86]

Just how did you manage to run over that?

Quote of the year!!

[Flyin6]

Bet they are all over used.

Turns out they are rare. I searched the US today. Found three. One rebuilt was $7500, a new one was $6650, and another rebuilt and warrantied cylinder was $6500.
This has brought me to a crossroads, a rather unexpected one. I have an old beat up machine which will now cost me one forth of what I paid for it...and the swing brake is questionable. Once you finish commanding a swing, it just keeps rotating and is slow to stop. All of this conspires to make me question the validity of repairing it at all.
I still need a machine and who knows if it is ready to crap out another $x,xxx part. So I am thinking it may be time to replace it. I may be able to scrap it out for parts and make back some of my investment. With what parts cost, I could sell the remaining cylinders for say $3000 each X 3 = $9K. The motor will bring another $3k. I imagine the tracks and all that maybe $1500 a side, the hydraulic pump another couple thousand and all the miscellaneous parts should fetch somewhere from a couple thousand to something short of 10K.
If I dump some more serious coin in a machine which is not too old and still pretty, by using it just a hundred or so hours a year for say, 3-4 more years, I might be still able to sell it for what I paid for it, given the rate of inflation on yellow iron.
So, Although I am currently playing with the idea, I just may be buying another machine pretty soon.

[Flyin6]

Got bad news on the excavator cylinder today. The rod and the sleeve is warped, and unrepairable. That's crap! I wonder what one of those cost used out on the market???

Just how did you manage to run over that?

The guy before me ran the thing under a bridge and totaled it (The excavator). It shows...I have a slightly warped boom, torn up mounts, loads of new lines and I thought the guy who sold it to me replaced the cylinder, but turns out he had not.

[JR]

Is that you or the excavator,,,,,,,,,,,

[stlaser]

Don, go search and find the same machine. Albeit in hopefully better shape. Park this one and rob parts from it as needed.

[KensAuto]

I'd throw some seals in it and run it.

[JR]

Don, go search and find the same machine. Albeit in hopefully better shape. Park this one and rob parts from it as needed.

Best idea yet.

[Bigdave_185]

The devil in me says go get a newer machine, then if need be you can have yourself a cherry low hour machine to resale for all the money you paid for it.

Also buy a dump truck, then a tilt deck and forget about the tow vehicle issues and you can do some serious work for others with your new toys


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[JR]

I like the dump truck idea, haul that stone and cut out the middle man!

A little newer Ex might be a good idea. Not cheap but you know it will get used and can load the rocks in the dump.

[Bob Smith]

If you replace the seals like Ken mentioned and it stops the leaking for a while you are buying time to decide what to do. Maybe just keep replacing them is best option.

[Flyin6]

Don, go search and find the same machine. Albeit in hopefully better shape. Park this one and rob parts from it as needed.

Ya know, that is not all that bad an idea

[Flyin6]

I went excavator shopping today.
No bluelight specials
I found a few units I am considering.
I looked at a freshly painted John Deere 350, I think it is a 2014 model. Big-BIG-big machine. Like 76,000 lbs, with a 300HP 9.0L diesel and some really tall grouser forestry tracks. Has a volkswagen for a bucket. Listing for $65,000. THat would make quick work of anything, like digging a new ohio river basin, stuff like that.
Right beside it is a nice Komatsu PC-210 with a manual thumb. A 50,000 lb machine it has like 6,000 hours and is overall pretty good.
The one I went to look at and run was a JCB JS-220. The british offering is a 2016 model that has 4,660 hours on the clock. It is tight, has an Isuzu 6 cyl diesel pretty OK paint, but some tree rash on one of the engine doors. It features a hydraulic thumb, but a skinny wee-wittle bucket. Has a quick-change coupler so that may not be an issue.
Other news:
A landscaper, a big one who has a yard and stocks stuff is interested in my rocks. He says he can't find flat ones that easily stack into retaining walls, and says 90% of the stone around nere is junk. He followed that by saying that there are a few places with hidden gems, and if mine are flat, in his words, "He's in." So just like that I may be in the soft quarry business. I think mine are the desirable good stuff and if so with retail somewhere from $1.00-$2.00 a pound, I am sitting on a fortune. If that is the case, I'll develop a supplier pricing structure and start sorting them into piles. The 'scaper suggested I do that. He said he typically calls the night before for X-number of 48 inchers and x-number of 30 inchers and buys them like that. I am going to encourage him with some gud pricin' to take several loads off my hands and get my cash cow stuffed a bit to get things up n' runnin.
Therefore, this newer excavator with the thumb allows me to snatch them up without all the bucket rash and stack as I go.
Dave's idea has been my idea for awhile. Work the ex for a few years, make my money off it, then sell it for what I paid for it. In this ever escalating market, I should be able to do that.
And, I was told by several dealers if I wanted to sell my old 250 machine for $25K they would broker the deal for 10%...add a cushion on top of that 10% and try to get their money that way without getting into mine. I paid $23K for it (I think) so the plan of buying/using/selling for purchase price is indeed valid.

[JR]

Cylinders don't normally cost that much to repair. Even bent ones can be straightened by someone good unless the ram is pitted bad.

Put some feelers out, see what comes up.

[Nate]

Cylinders don't normally cost that much to repair. Even bent ones can be straightened by someone good unless the ram is pitted bad.

Put some feelers out, see what comes up.

Where is DOOLEY.......isnt he the one who worked his magic on this thing and sarge in the first place.......?

[JR]

How old is the kamatsu, I hear nothing but good about them and if older than 2014 you don't all the EPA crud either.

[Bigdave_185]

That Deere is a good machine we have a  few of the various years and all the guys like them,   The issues is your dump truck isn’t moving that big sucker!

Someone on the bandaid committee might be on to something with patch if use it and get some capital going from the biz before investing more,  the one you own is yours right?  No point in starting another venture in that much debt if not needed?

That’s what Don would tell me if I called and asked

Edit: Actually a Don interjection: Ya, I'd say that


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[Flyin6]

So, I relooked the used market and another Don, this one from the live free or die state came up with one. He has a good used one which they will pull, then pressure test, then if it passes, ship it to me. Cost to my door is $2770. I purchased it around 10 this AM.

WHile we're on the subject of my SK-250 machine. I thought about it alot and prayed about it and discussed it with my frau. I kept running into hangups on financing the thing. like 6% and 60 months. I wanted 2% and 72 or more months and have them pick up 100%. Presently I have a lot of cash invested. Read: Can't touch it just yet, it's doing really big things for me. So I thought I'd just finance it out and then try and pay for it in a year or two. Could do it, especially if the landscaping stone thing gets any traction. Since that is up in the air, and the finance people are pushing me outside my comfort zone, I decided to fix my machine and then go further and start to repair, and fix it up.

I have the good cylinder coming. I am already hard-pointed for a thumb and plumbed for the hydraulics, so I think I'll try and score a thumb. Next I'm going to clamp down all that loose crap flopping around with factory stuff, and get busy on the body. I think I'll fab up side skirts out of thick 2X4 steel and build guards to cover the maintenance doors. Then I'll either find some better doors, or just fab up some myself. I think I'll hire some teenagers to sand the thing for a week, and see if I cant spray it some fresh color. With the barn and water catchment system, I'll be able to pressure wash down there and that is cool!

The damage from the crash is significant, but for what I do with it, I do not think it will matter at all. Still, I would like to clean up that mess some, and better organize those hoses and hard lines. With some minimal work, I think I can get this machine in pretty good shape and just lean on it. SHould the landscaping stone thing sprout wings, and I have established an income stream, that may be the time to upgrade...But not now

[Flyin6]

Barn is coming along.

[Flyin6]

Missing one man-door. so framing will have to be modified some, but they know about it and are awaiting arrival of the actual door. Weather, which begat mud is slowing us up and preventing throwing up the trusses, which is next

[Flyin6]

This little SOB ( son of a bee) showed up. Apparently snacking on my sawmill...while all that tasty lumber is meer feets away!
Dumb SOB  ;-))

[Flyin6]

Tractor remains untouched so far!!!!!

But like always the Kubota is doing all the heavy lifting...What a machine!

[JR]

Figured you would find a cylinder somewhere, now to get it on.

How hard to fix the rotator brake, or is it more of an inconvenience when not working?

Is it me or is the barn dragging out a little?

[KensAuto]

That's a heck of a barn and a good sized tractor. Surprised you haven't worked it yet!

[Sammconn]

That's a heck of a barn and a good sized tractor. Surprised you haven't BROKE it yet!

FIFY...

[Flyin6]

Figured you would find a cylinder somewhere, now to get it on.

How hard to fix the rotator brake, or is it more of an inconvenience when not working?

Is it me or is the barn dragging out a little?

Cylinder will ship monday I think
Rotational brake may be a clogged filter screen preventing adequate flow to the mechanism, or it could be the actuator or something else. I can work around it, and I don't swing hard with a full bucket because it can easily tip the machine onto its side.
Rain continues to delay the barn construction. Now shooting for next week for the roof trusses

[Flyin6]

Although weather delays have pushed the schedule far, far behind the original estimate, work continues.

Derrick and Josh were hard at it most of the day today. Although shorted one truss which will be delivered in two days, all the rest of them are up and in place, with most of the_______ nailed up too.

Here are a bunch of shots from different angles:

[Flyin6]

Those scissors trusses give me just inches shy of 16 feet interior height.

The covered porch west entrance is going to be my favorite spot. I can already visualize some landscaping and a couple annarondeck chairs and me sitting in one of them sippin' sweet tea!

This is eight feet wide by ten feet long

[Flyin6]

And that's the good news from today.

The bad news is not making me happy at all.

While those guys hammered away at the barn, I mowed the road, and some areas including the areas either side of and adjacent to the barn so the guys wouldn't have to wade through waist high grass. I did that with the tracked zero-turn.

Next I fired up the brand new Kioti tractor and warmed up while bush-hogging several of the fields over a couple of hours. After maybe 10-20 acres I picked up a strong vibration and looked back to see the central bush hog gearbox jumping all over the place. The bolts had loosened up and one had fallen out and was no where to be found

[Flyin6]

Next I noticed the right gearbox was foaming out some strange looking fluid, kind of like jelled gear oil:

[Flyin6]

Hmmm, pictures are deciding to flip themselves...Screw it...I am accepting that almost nothing in this world works like it should.

I checked the underside and things looked quite normal. I had run over some field stones, but nothing big or of concern

[Flyin6]

Then I looked at the drive shafting and noticed this:

[Flyin6]

Yea, that U-joint is mostly gone. I found bits and pieces of it scattered in the clippings that got trapped there. The yoke is big time bent and the drive shaft yoke end looks bent to hades too.

What a fricking day. Brand new, first time ever used with possibly two hours run time and the dammed thing is broken beyond use.

Note: Don't ever buy Titan implements again. Made in the good old USA, in Tennessee even...By idiots! I am going to demand my money back. I don't want it fixed, I don't want a new replacement, I want it gone. It is shaping up just like that junk john deere tractor that never worked longer than an hour or so. Not going to do that again.

[KensAuto]

Not good, but that barn is looking pretty sweet.

[JR]

Made in America is not what it used to be.

Barn looks good!

[rpar86]

Does the forum have some kind of new censoring software? What’s the underlined word in the first barn post supposed to say?

[KensAuto]

Does the forum have some kind of new censoring software? What’s the underlined word in the first barn post supposed to say?

Boss had a bad day and self sensored ?