Update:

The engine oil has been changed. Replaced with several gallons (6) of straight up premium diesel SAE 30 wt.

The batteries were loose, but were re-secured. A helper got underneath and scraped all the gunk off the turntable and most of the boom.

Two O-rings were replaced, and the new lines checked for tightness

Tomorrow is a pressure washing

Transportation is set for Monday morning

Quote from: rpar86 on June 16, 2017, 07:47:26 PM

Quote from: Bob/OlallaWa on June 16, 2017, 07:09:30 PM

Quote from: Flyin6 on June 16, 2017, 05:34:41 PM

Quote from: Bob/OlallaWa on June 16, 2017, 05:30:45 PM

I am betting off road diesel in your storage tank is sounding better all the time.

Well...No one wants to come in and fill it for a reasonable cost. Best I have found so far is 1.90/gal once I complete a mountain of paperwork

Just get busy on the paperwork, it is just big brother making sure you really need the stuff.  That my friend is a whole bunch of 5 gal. cans. Maybe find a guy with a fuel cell in the back of his truck to come fill it for you.  Until you get the paperwork finished, draw a permit for the tank, and the inspection to be sure you really need it etc. a fuel cell most likely your best option.

Ahem... Big D has a fuel cell in the back of a truck.... Square D...   

So this means he needs to be Square D at the top of the finish list then!!!

Big D, How bout it, get that last few items knocked out and haul the fuel yourself!!!

This problem isn't really a problem

For a few more years I have the pre-rangers and a bunch of 5 gal cans...Problem solved

Although

One of them has hinted about wanting to check out the Marines...

Quote from: dave945 on June 16, 2017, 03:12:00 PM

How long would it take you to drive it over to my new place in Williamstown?   

Funny you say that... a couple weeks back I posted a pic of a '48 8N Ford tractor my buddy bought... well, the guy my buddy bought it from, when HE bought it, drove it home about 10-15 miles on back roads. Top speed is like 18mph. lol

I think an excavator is a little slower than that.

top travel speed is 3.7mph

I am betting off road diesel in your storage tank is sounding better all the time.

Well...No one wants to come in and fill it for a reasonable cost. Best I have found so far is 1.90/gal once I complete a mountain of paperwork

How long would it take you to drive it over to my new place in Williamstown?   

Years

Very nice score Don. Meant to be it looks like.

I was thinking the same thing on the thumb. Plus with the long reach you can do anything now.

As a thought with all the toys you have, why not get a hose machine? Think of all the down time you could save and even make hoses for a few locals to offset the cost.

It needs a set of eyes on the bucket though. Something like that at least, what color you thinking?

On the thumb: I have a free cylinder which I would have repacked @ $300
Then I'd have to find a thumb that matched up with the bucket somewhat for $800-$1200

The seller just called me about a mechanical thumb he located. A seller he knows in Indiana has two weld on mechanical thumbs that fit my machine. The larger of the two costs $1500. Add on maybe $400 to cut off the old one, then weld on the new one and I'm looking at being thumbed up for just under $2K

Looking at one of the first jobs for Chief, is digging out and enlarging the pond. To do that involves the removal of 20-30 trees. I can grub around them and dig them out easily enough, or with a thumb, just pull them out of the ground like a big weed (Easier)

I think I'm leaning toward getting the thumb, then having a welder come to the farm to weld on the new thumb.

Next issue: Fuel...This thing takes 97 gallons to fill up!. It has maybe 10 gallons in the tank right now.

I think we need a stalker (guest) roundup rodeo.

I can't get these guys to join up all right and proper like, so we're gonna have to get out there and round up those pesky critters.

We are about making menses here and enlarging the discussion pool, so we need to become proactive and go find some more folks to ridicule and beat up on!

So here's the deal: Commencin' immediate-like a competition is invoked!

Here's how it works: If a stalker/guest comes out of the closet and joins up. He then makes a public announcement about which of you knuckleheads coerced or threatened, or pushed him/her/it into joining. We add up the score and the bonehead with the most roundups gets to be a moderator in his own forum! (Or not) Additionally he gets a hearty handshake and a toothy smile from yours truly! Runner up gets an I O U for a glass of sweet tea or a cup of joe!

So let's get em joinin' up so I can report their subversive activities to the NSA and DHS!

Ready, ready...GO!

Quote from: JR on June 15, 2017, 11:48:47 PM

Maybe a Prius?

Nah, smart car I think is more his style.....

Smart car!

Makes me think of a skinny hippie who bubble wrapped himself and glued on some caster wheels to his butt.

Don, congrats on the excavator!  I can't wait to see what all you do with it and the saga of getting it down the drive!

I now have permission to modify the road in!

Lots of destruction coming to a kintucky two track I know in the very near future.

Very nice score Don! I include myself in the CARREP fans and this should help with that exponentially! 

New category: CARREP-Ext

Definition: Carnage external to the machine inducing it

Example: Machine is moving along in a civilized manner and comes across two parked Prius's. Machine proceeds to pulverize said embarrassments without receiving so much as a scratch in the paint, then proceeds on in a civilized manner.

Standard category of CARREP still represents damage to said machine

Example: Machine is busily mangling previous example prius girly-man cars when the bucket comes in contact with the 400 pound bomb sitting in the back seat of jihadist prius #2. In this case there would be both a CARREP, and a CARREP-ext

Concerning the previous example, there may even be a DOM-R (Death of Machine report) 8-0

Quote from: Flyin6 on June 15, 2017, 08:22:17 PM

Quote from: Farmer Jon on June 15, 2017, 07:17:00 PM

You will really love it. We have dug out huge cottonwood trees with ours. You will pull the machine over before it runs out of power. Just watch out for coons in the engine compartment. They like to chew on the black rubber insoulation.

Sent from my VK810 4G using Tapatalk

You own a 250??

I was a bit concerned about getting a machine that big...

We have a kobelco 210 sk. We have torn apart concrete hog sheds. Leveled an old grove of trees and dug more holes than I can count. Our neighbor has the same machine we do and he loves his too. You got a good machine there.

 Go to a kobelco dealer to get filters. Kobelco was in with case IH for a while and then split back off. The Case dealer had a hard time figuring out what filter fit what because they changed all the numbers. Write down your serial number and the Kobelco dealer can decipher everything.

Sent from my VK810 4G using Tapatalk

Good advice, Thanks!

Just so happens the Case dealer that rebuilt Sarge is also a Kobelco dealer!

And Larry, Richard, Jon, and the rest of the crew there are just great. I'll go to them for everything for sure.

You will really love it. We have dug out huge cottonwood trees with ours. You will pull the machine over before it runs out of power. Just watch out for coons in the engine compartment. They like to chew on the black rubber insoulation.

Sent from my VK810 4G using Tapatalk

You own a 250??

I was a bit concerned about getting a machine that big...

Purchased an excavator!

Wow, that sounds too good to be true.   

It does sound promising to be sure!

I think I'll get it hauled to the Farm, then work it one day to see how everything is functioning. After that, I'll get a professional cleaning crew to come in and pressure wash the thing with the chems to remove the grease residue, then sand it off, and paint it. I like my stuff pretty...just like my women ;-))

Just kidding... don't want to sound crude...But it was funny!

But being truthful, my wife is beautiful, and our three girls are all beautiful, and I definitely like them all, so in essence, I made a true statement!

I'm not the only guy to have an out house in operation...although this one is not actually in operation

The turntable or swing motor is huge!

The hydraulic pump is quiet and really big. I think it is something 105 liters/min flow rate (Could be wrong about that. THe owners manual is behind the seat, so I'll be all over that in short order!

Doors all work, the front glass pulls in and slides overhead, and all that works!

The Air Conditioner works like a champ, as do all the electronics

That hobbs says 2800 hours!

Now I would not even begin to believe that, I mean 8000+ would be more believable, but then I got to really looking around. Now either the tracks have been changed or they are not worn much, consistent with a couple thousand hour machine. The pins are round, no wear I can see. The sprockets are maybe 90%. Both idler wheels are not pushed out very much at all, like they were almost new.
The boom pins have zero play. The turn-table has zero play. The boom to stick bushing has no play. The hydraulic coupler bushings have no play at all!

That is a 2001 Kobelco SK250LC Dynamic Acera with an optional long stick, aux low and high volume hydraulics to the front to run a thumb or a tree saw or things like that.

I checked it out thoroughly. The motor is quiet, and starts right up, and does not smoke at all. The interior looks really great, like closer to new than used. None of the many excavators I have looked at, including reconditioned units looked this good inside, and all this current owner did was to sweep it out.

This is NOT a little excavator! This is a 55,000 pound unit with a 54" bucket on the front. To say it is powerful is a gross understatement. You can punch right into limestone scale and just yank it right out. A 60 foot tree takes a couple minutes to push over...THis thing is no joke!

The Left Is Trying to Rewrite American History. We Must Stop Them.
Walter E. Williams   / June 14, 2017 /

Mayors in multiple cities have ordered the removal of statues honoring Confederate leaders.

George Orwell said, “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”

In the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, censorship, rewriting of history, and eliminating undesirable people became part of Soviets’ effort to ensure that the correct ideological and political spin was put on their history.

Deviation from official propaganda was punished by confinement in labor camps and execution.

Today there are efforts to rewrite history in the U.S., albeit the punishment is not so draconian as that in the Soviet Union.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu had a Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee monument removed last month. Former Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton wanted the statue of Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, as well as the graves of Forrest and his wife, removed from the city park.

In Richmond, Virginia, there have been calls for the removal of the Monument Avenue statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gens. Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and J.E.B. Stuart.

It’s not only Confederate statues that have come under attack. Just by having the name of a Confederate, such as J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church, Virginia, brings up calls for a name change.

These history rewriters have enjoyed nearly total success in getting the Confederate flag removed from state capitol grounds and other public places.

Slavery is an undeniable fact of our history. The costly war fought to end it is also a part of the nation’s history. Neither will go away through cultural cleansing.

Removing statues of Confederates and renaming buildings are just a small part of the true agenda of America’s leftists.

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, and there’s a monument that bears his name—the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. George Washington also owned slaves, and there’s a monument to him, as well—the Washington Monument in Washington.

Will the people who call for removal of statues in New Orleans and Richmond also call for the removal of the Washington, D.C., monuments honoring slaveholders Jefferson and Washington?

Will the people demanding a change in the name of J.E.B. Stuart High School also demand that the name of the nation’s capital be changed?

These leftists might demand that the name of my place of work—George Mason University—be changed. Even though Mason was the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which became a part of our Constitution’s Bill of Rights, he owned slaves.

Not too far from my university is James Madison University. Will its name be changed? Even though Madison is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution,” he did own slaves.

Rewriting American history is going to be challenging. Just imagine the task of purifying the nation’s currency.

Slave owner Washington’s picture graces the $1 bill. Slave owner Jefferson’s picture is on the $2 bill. Slave-owning Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s picture is on our $50 bill. Benjamin Franklin’s picture is on the $100 bill.

The challenges of rewriting American history are endless, going beyond relatively trivial challenges such as finding new pictures for our currency. At least half of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were slave owners.

Also consider that roughly half of the 55 delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were slave owners. Do those facts invalidate the U.S. Constitution, and would the history rewriters want us to convene a new convention to purge and purify our Constitution?

The job of tyrants and busybodies is never done. When they accomplish one goal, they move their agenda to something else.

If we Americans give them an inch, they’ll take a yard. So I say, don’t give them an inch in the first place.

The hate-America types use every tool at their disposal to achieve their agenda of discrediting and demeaning our history. Our history of slavery is simply a convenient tool to further their cause.

Quote from: Flyin6 on June 13, 2017, 07:37:30 PM

Quote from: Armalite on June 13, 2017, 02:13:53 PM

I'm definitely going to look at investing in one of those front grapples like you bought Don.  I've always wanted one, just didn't need it.  Now at the new place I will get a lot of use out of one. 

I use that attachment constantly

Use it like a hand with fingers to sort through a pile of logs to grab just the one you want.
Grab a big one ton rock and then place it just where you want to
I wish I would have purchased a 60" instead of the 72" for the 4720 tractor. That thing is so heavy it takes up some of the lift out of the 400CX loader. I'd get a 72" one for a 5000-6000 series tractor, go to a 60" for tractors of my size. I have the horsepower (66) but not the weight of a 5 series unit

BTW, that MX-6 is weak. The gearbox or bearing mount or something mounts to the inside layer of steel. Mine tore out of that inner piece! Nice 360 degree crack. That's why I went with the land pride. I plan to weld up the inside of mine, then sell it off the property

Copy that.  That MX-6 should be fine for the little bit of mowing it will do.  Mostly just grass around fence lines.  I save the thick work for my batwing.  It's land pride, and the heaviest model they make.  It'll take down small trees with ease. 

Copy that!
The Land Pride 72" I pull behind the deere is indestructible!
(Did I really say that...!)

“The consolidation of the states into one vast empire, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of ruin which has overwhelmed all that preceded it.” Robert E. Lee
The man was perceptive. Amalgamation of the states under a central government has led to exactly the effects foreseen by General Lee.

In, say, 1950, to an appreciable though imperfect extent America resembled a confederacy. Different regions of the America had little contact with each other, and almost no influence over one another. The federal government was small and remote. Interstates did not exist, nor of course the internet, nor even direct long-distance telephone dialing. West Virginia, Alabama, Massachusetts, New York City, Texas, and California had little in common, but little conflict arose since for practical purposes they were almost different countries. They chiefly governed themselves. The  proportion of federal to state law was small.

It is important to note that regional differences were great. In 1964 in rural Virginia, the boys brought shotguns to school during deer season. Nobody shot anybody because it wasn’t in the culture. The culture was uniform, so no one was upset. It is when cultures are mixed, or one rules another, that antagonism comes.  Such shotgun freedom would not have worked in New York City with its variegated and often mutually hostile ethnicities.

Regions differed importantly in degree of freedom, not just in the freedom of local populations to govern themselves but also in individual freedom. It made a large difference in the tenor of life. If in Texas, rural Virginia, or West Virginia you wanted to build an addition to your house, you did. You didn’t need licenses, permits, inspections, union-certified electricians. Speed limits? Largely ignored. Federal requirements for Coast Guard approved flotation devices on your canoe? What the hell kind of crazy idea was that?

Democracy works better the smaller the group practicing it. In a town, people can actually understand the questions of the day. They know what matters to them. Do we build a new school, or expand the existing one? Do we want our children to recite the pledge of allegiance, or don’t we? Reenact the Battle of Antietam? Sing Christmas carols in the town square? We can decide these things. Leave us alone.

States similarly knew what their people wanted and, within the limits of human frailty, governed accordingly.

Then came the vast empire, the phenomenal increase in the power and reach of the federal government, which really means the Northeast Corridor. The Supreme Court expanded and expanded and expanded the authority of Washington, New York’s store-front operation. The federals now decided what could be taught in the schools, what religious practices could be permitted, what standards employers could use in hiring, who they had to hire. The media coalesced into a small number of corporations, controlled from New Yorkbut with national reach. More recently we have added surveillance of everything by Washington’s intelligence agencies.

Tyranny at home, said said General Lee . Just so. This could  happen only with the consolidation of the states into one vast empire.

Tyranny comes easily when those seeking it need only corrupt a single Congress, appoint a single Supreme Court, or control the departments of one executive branch. In a confederation of largely self-governing states, those hungry to domineer would have to suborn fifty congresses. It could not be done. State governments are accessible to the governed. They can be ejected. They are much more likely to be sympathetic to the desires of their constituents since they are of the same culture.

Aggressive abroad, said General Lee. Is this not exactly what we see? At this moment Washington has the better part of a thousand military bases around the world, unnecessary except for the maintenance of empire. America exists in a state of constant war, bombing Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Somalia, recently having destroyed Iraq and Libya. Washington threatens Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China. Its military moves deeper into Africa. Washington sanctions Cuba, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, to no effect. It constantly tries to dominate other nations, for example adding to NATO.

None of these wars and little if any of the imperial aggression interests more than a tiny fraction of the country’s people. To whom can the war against Afghanistan matter? Libya? Few people have heard of Montenegro. Does its membership in NATO or lack of it affect Idaho?

In a confederacy, states would have to approve a war. Few would unless the United States itself were threatened. They might well refuse to pay for wars not in their benefit, or to allow their sons, daughters, and transgenders to be conscripted.

But with a central government, those benefiting from war can concentrate money and influence only on that government. For example, military industry, Israel, big oil, Wall Street. Wars might carry the votes of states with arms factories. Other states would decline.

In principle, the Constitution should have prevented the hijacking of the military that we now suffer. As we all should know, and some do, America cannot under the Constitution go to war without a declaration by Congress, the last one of which occurred in 1941. But a single central government can be corrupted more easily than fifty state governments. A few billionaires, well-funded lobbies, and the remoteness of Washington from the common consciousness make controlling the legislature as easy as buying a pair of shoes.

And thus, just as Marse Bob expected, the federals are out of control and make war without the least reference to the nation. If America attacks North Korea, or Russia, or China, we will read of it the day after. The central government, and only the central government, decides. A few days ago I read that the Pentagon contemplates sending thousands of additional troops  to Afghanistan. This combines tyranny at home and aggression abroad. Who wants to  send them? A few neocons in New York, the  arms industry, a few generals, and several senators. It could not happen in a confederacy.

Will this, as General Lee predicted, prove “the certain precursor of ruin which has overwhelmed all that preceded it.”? Wait

Thise motors are some serious beef!

I'm definitely going to look at investing in one of those front grapples like you bought Don.  I've always wanted one, just didn't need it.  Now at the new place I will get a lot of use out of one. 

I use that attachment constantly

Use it like a hand with fingers to sort through a pile of logs to grab just the one you want.
Grab a big one ton rock and then place it just where you want to
I wish I would have purchased a 60" instead of the 72" for the 4720 tractor. That thing is so heavy it takes up some of the lift out of the 400CX loader. I'd get a 72" one for a 5000-6000 series tractor, go to a 60" for tractors of my size. I have the horsepower (66) but not the weight of a 5 series unit

BTW, that MX-6 is weak. The gearbox or bearing mount or something mounts to the inside layer of steel. Mine tore out of that inner piece! Nice 360 degree crack. That's why I went with the land pride. I plan to weld up the inside of mine, then sell it off the property