Great video, love the commentary on tips for doing it right! I have my first job digging footings for a house addition in a few weeks and want to do the best possible job. I was wondering if you're responsible for typically determining the precise depth or is this provided to you by the architect or someone else? The "blueprints" have the min depth below grade but obviously with an addition we want the top row of block to be level with the existing house. It seems like somewhat straight forward math but just not something the excavator would be responsible for.
Every job is a little different but yes, I always figure the math so that my top course of block or concrete is even with the existing foundation. If the grade slopes away, sometimes you have to step the footing so that you can stay below frost. How is remember when digging footings to dig in nice even long strokes from the top down. Try not to curl your bucket through the top of the ditch or you will blow out the top. Be extra careful connecting the corners or you will have a mess. Just take your time. Practice makes perfect. Good luck.
That was a long time ago, but we probably needed two guys to guide it into place so we had to put the camera down. The lifting holes look bent, but that is how they are actually made. So far, we have never dropped one, but I know a guy that did, and it was very expensive
@@fulltiltgrading8366 Right on. I have to lift a smaller one in a couple weeks and the lifting holes are not what I'm used to for shackles. Your pad looked great.
Say if you were trading in an mini excavator on a larger one where none of the attachments would fit the new machine. Would you trade in all the attachments at the dealership Or would they rob me and not give me what the attachments are worth? Better to trade in or sell privately?
The full, Full Tilt crew plus one !! Worked on jobs similar to this, plenty to do and keep an eye on for sure !! I did set myself on fire on a job like this, back in the early 1990s..... I was cutting rebar out of the underside of the deck using a Stihl saw. I was using the saw upside down, unknown to me it was leaking petrol..... and yes, the sparks did ignite the petrol on my jacket.... there I was, a human torch 😮 Saw stopped, I stopped and looked down to see flames coming up to my face..... only thing to do was to throw myself into the water and cool off...... and it was the middle of winter just for good measure!! After an investigation, the hire company knew about the saw leaking petrol, and sent someone to exchange it.... only they exchanged the wrong one.... 🤦♂️ I did get a replacement jacket and padded shirt too 😁
Wow! You got lucky bud! Those saws can be so unpredictable! Ray lights himself on fire 🔥 every time he cuts rebar. Good thing it doesn’t leak gas! I don’t think he owns a pair of pants that don’t have burn holes 😂 Take care Alex 👍🏻
Ed… That was an interestingly repurposed railroad bridge. Much better than the old foot bridge our county road crew poured a few years back. It had originally been built with old utility poles as both pillars and road bed support stringers. The walking path was made of railroad ties bolted across the pole stringers. They were rotten and it was feared that ATV’s would break through. To repair it, they removed the ties. Then, they nailed corrugated roofing across the stringer poles. A concrete floor was poured on top of that. What they didn’t plan on was the corrugate bowing under the weight of the concrete. Shortly after beginning to pour, the error in their calculations began to surface…. The more they poured, the more it sunk. Who knew that a 6” thick slab of wet cement couldn’t be supported by a four foot span of recycled barn roof? I mean, the county road commissioner had picked it up from his brother-in-law’s construction company…. Even though it cost a bit more (double) than the cost of new metal! Its use did help the county meet the recycling goals of their “Green Agenda”. In the end… they brought in another batch of the BIL’s recycled corrugate to double up the floor support. So, at double the price per piece they spent four times as much as originally planned. After construction, ATV’s, dirt bikes and horses were banned from using it because it rattled too much from vibrations. In the end, a plaque was installed that proudly listed the commissioners name, his brother-in-law’s company, the fact that it was built with recycled materials… and a completion date that is seven months earlier than its actual date. (The plaque had been ordered before the project began… and it was the only one they had available on dedication day!) I wonder if that bridge you were working on might have a few political skeletons in its closet? PS: Did the original county commission have any ties to a plywood supplier?
That’s to funny to be true, but because it involves politicians I know it is true. That’s probably a story without the hidden costs too, thanks for the laugh!
That’s a great story! You tell it so well. Have you ever thought of writing a book? I couldn’t believe the inspector thought it was in good enough shape to brace and pour a new deck 🤷🏻♂️ They are going to run 80k trucks over it!
@@Hoaxer51 yeah… the road commissioner didn’t survive the next election… but fortunately, his brother-in-law, he was able to grow his construction company large enough, in four short years, to hire the ex-comish!!!
@@fulltiltgrading8366 lol… I had a couple of stories published in Readers Digest about 20 years ago. But, I spent the $50 so quick I decided that I didn’t think I could make a living out of it! The foot bridge passed inspection because the commissioner’s nephew was the county’s consulting engineer! I don’t know if you’d classify the county government as rife with nepotism or… just plain incestual??? Thanks Ed.
Yeah, it was a very interesting job. Little unnerving starting it on the same day as the bridge in Maryland got knocked down! My wife said I better not hear that you fell in the water! Lol. Keep trainingJohnny. Somebody’s gonna have to take over for us when we get too old lol 😂
That was a good size job for you, Ed..... about two weeks work ? Still not good for suppliers for organising deliveries, someone will always mess up your schedule 😬 Rebar tier is a timesaver for you, fairly sure it will pay for itself time and time again 💷💷💷
This job took a total of eight weeks. Four weeks on four weeks off and four weeks to finish. You probably saw the other three videos on this job. It was quite a large undertaking, but still my favorite job of all time. The rebar, tying tool has really been a timesaver for us throughout the last year. As I’m getting older, I’m always trying to make things more efficient and easier on my body. Thanks for watching Alex 👍🏻
Did you have your fingers crossed when the crane lifted that transformer over your truck? It’s great to watch you and Ray back on the mountain again. It brought back memories… Keep ‘em coming!
A good roll of thumb is anything man-made can break! As you can see, there wasn’t a whole Lotta room, so I had to put my faith in the man upstairs! This was my favorite job of all time, so I was glad that we found this memory card, even though it was a year ago at least Thanks for watching buddy 👍🏻
We are still working all the time. Making videos is more time consuming than you would think but we are trying to get back into it. Thanks for your support 👍🏻
I always wondered how they replaced those utility poles in the sidewalk. Now…. I know. Ed lifts out the concrete chunks and the crew plugs the hole. Fellers, you keep this city work up and you may never see the mountains again!
The Pennsy boy’s are back…you’s don’t look amish!…they let you’s live out there with them….just kidding…you guy’s are great, missed seeing your videos…what’s up you get rid of all the other mini’s….don’t tell me you got rid of the 13 304?
Back in the city...... close to the ferral animals that roam the streets 🤨😂🤦♂️ Three little jobs that were the same but different..... all turned out champion !! 😃💪
Yes, sometimes you gotta take the good with the bad. Right now. Things are a little slow so we’re doing about anything. Never a bad day working with that crew.
Bravo on your purchase, we all are getting older and this is one of the those benefits. Liked when you said being there makes you smile. Thanks for sharing the pay offs for hard work and honesty. Thumbs up 👍 to your Mom and Dad. Would love to be part of the paving crew when you decide to lay down some asphalt. 🇺🇸
It’s what I had and I wanted to run the machine. Why would I go buy batteries just to run it for 2 hours and park it again for another year! I’m glad you enjoyed the video 😊 life is to short my friend
@@fulltiltgrading8366 Two ! Hours ! Work ! And that's it !?? You Should Sell ! It ! To someone ! WHO NEEDS ! TO USE IT !! INSTEAD OF IT SITTING THEEE !! LIKE A MUSEUM !! PEICE !! AND ! it would have been more CHEAPER !! FOR You !! To have Done the Two hours work ! With a HAND ! SHOVEL !
Full Tilt doing what you do best...... going at it full tilt 💪😂 Great to see you all back and in good health, apart from Half Tilt and his dodgy eye...... has Full Tilt been picking on you ??? 😮😂 Pleased you took Mike's advice, getting back in the saddle, will be good for you to keep a record of what you have done there.... He is a great motivator ! And I can see why you can't stop smiling, Ed !! 😁
One off the best things I’ve done was buying this property. It is so much fun no matter what I’m doing there. As far as I know they aren’t making any more land so get some while it lasts 😂
Great to see you all back in action BTW, outhouse looks pretty close to a water well, in our area, needs to be 100 ft of separation to avoid the possibility of contamination.
Yeah, I didn’t like that at all when I saw that! I figured one or the other had to go so I opted for the outhouse. I will definitely keep the well at least 100 feet away from any septic field. Thanks for watching.
Ed, glad to see you again. And hearing that you’d procured your own little slice of heaven, on Earth… warmed my cockles!! Watching you wrestle that excrement tank reminded me of old times. Moving those boulders, transformers gettin nudged… a master at work. Brandon… thanks for helping Ed. It was a pleasure to see you half-tilting your way through a worksite again. How’ve you been bud? Seeing you three again was a real pleasure…. Glad to know you’re all well and gettin along!
