Weekend at logger Wades loading trucks and dredging a pond 

When I got started in the excavating business, I went to work for a guy that was a great machine operator and he understood dirt. He put me on a machine in a catch pond to let me learn how to operate the machine without having to think about what lever does what. I swung sand out of that catch pond for 13 hours straight only stopping to eat lunch and to pee once. Lol. After I could run the machine to his liking, I had to sit beside him and he would show me the process and the methods he used to do the job right and quickly. Then he put me on jobs that weren't time sensitive and let me do the work. When I could operate satisfactorily he started sending me out on my own. This probably took about a year or so to learn. Working on my own I learned the importance of planning the job out in my mind before I ever dug the first scoop of dirt. He was a great teacher and operator and put me in the position that I'm in now. You kind of remind me of him in some ways. Keep teaching those young guys.

My thoughts on experience: A new person has no bad habits to try and change. They can be molded into what you would like to have with a little guidance. Explain what you want and watch how they react to the directions and later give them input on how you feel they could improve.

Arm chair experts. Don’t fret over the idiots. Cant make money buying paint.

I work in a completely different field, 20 years in IT and software development but what you are saying and showing is spot on whatever the work. Training and knowledge is useful, experience is better, the peak quality is having the good attitude that there is always something new to learn. That is the real wisdom and your comments and past videos actually show you do that. I don't mind inexperience in my team providing they are enthusiastic to learn and get better, your videos and people show that in spades, or perhaps I should phrase that buckets. :)

I like the guys that buy a good beefy four-wheel-drive truck then refuse to take it offroad because it might get scratched. In my opinion, you don't want it scratched park it in a garage, and don't drive it.

Machine is a beast of burden - you ain't scratching it, you ain't using it!

You keep doing what works for you and your family! It’s your company, as long as it good for DP, that’s all that matters!

You know what they say, "Haters are gonna hate" .. I am a retired master carpenter, Haters complain if you have to use a catspaw you aren't that good of a carpenter.. I used to hear it all the time.. Funny part is, I owned the company and it was my employee's doing the ragging, LOL.. Not often the owner work's his ass off more then the help.. LOL .. That's another reason I like your channel, You are always doing the brunt of the work... But on that old pond mud, a lot of my farming buddies, say's that mud is great for growing crops in, cause of all the bacteria & decomposing plant matter in it.. I know it smell's real bad, Yet I do see if you let it set long, there is gonna be lots of grass growing on/in it...

100% with you on your experience philosophy DP. More young people should get some experience from the ground up to better understand what ever field they are in.

Scratches on the counter weight are like callouses on your hands. Work happens. Scratches are experience. That snapping turtle was sitting there looking for his wife and kids.

Just tell everyone, those are not scratches on the 120, those are scratches on your Video lens! Now, I can't wait for all the complaint comments to roll in on that! LOL

About the learning and experience part, that's a real paradox, because employers want 20 year old employees with 30 years experience, and are very reluctant to hire rookies/newbies even if they have an education to show for themselves, and that makes it pretty darn hard to gain said experience because nobody wants to hire them! Here where I live we have thousands and thousands of newly educated young people that can't get a job, even if the companies are screaming for workers, but at the same time they only want to hire experienced people, so these youngsters are wasting their time away in jobs far below their level of education, and that's just so sad and such a huge waste.

I love watching a experienced operator on any piece of equipment because, like you said you can learn the little things that make a big difference. That being said I have been running equipment since I was a little fella with my daddy being one of the best operators I have ever seen, and I am a firm believer in passing on knowledge. I put my son on an excavator in the middle of a chalk mine at age 3 and let him learn the way I did. He is 11 now and can run equipment as good as I can now.

That excuse only works for the first time going to the dump site...after that there is no valid excuse. The last vehicle is always called "Tail end Charly".Blue Sky's.

Is this a 2 for Tuesday. 2 uploads one day. Awesome I’ll take it.

It’s very frustrating, they have to hold hands. They afraid they’ll miss someone farting.

You do many more of these kinda jobs and you'll need some mats like ol Chris!

Preach it DP! Grain hauler's are the same way and then complain about long lines! I like keeping my truck and trailer clean but corn and soybeans are dusty so I figure it shows I'm working. Great video once again and thank you for sharing!

In these parts, they're know as union driver's. Don't wanna work yourself outta work 🤔🙄😂

Consider the source, wonder how many of the know nothings earn their living with heavy equipment ?

My family was in excavation for 50 years. Every hoe we had, the counter weights were always scratched up. We did alot of demolition, and towards the end worked for the railroad. We were always in tight spaces and things happened. That just part of operating. Unless you are trading every couple years your equipment will be scratched up and paint wore off. Some of our best machines were older, scratched, and almost wore out.

Well said ! If those people worried about scratches on their machines and are continually painting and prepping them then they don’t have enough work on. I’ve never seen a good machine that doesn’t have ‘wear and tear’. Just like your favourite boots. Keep up the good work. Flamin’ mud!

I will have nightmares about cleaning those tracks...

you are correct my machines worked all ight thats all that counts frank....

I’m a young operator and small business owner but I learned by getting my cdl, operating and driving trucks go hand in hand a lot. After years or driving and loading dump trucks with various equipment I got enough basic knowledge to start operating and learn more from there.

Those drivers are paid by the hour, not by the load or the ton! So, the thought process is, if you run, walk, crawl, or sit, it all pays the same. It is your choice if you wax your Volvo or not!!!

This was a Mudperfect job. Lol God bless

BEWARE : Because of their exceptional ability to keep still and concealed for long periods of time , turtles make the best snipers. After they have had their 12th birthday , a lot of them tend to mutate and emigrate to the Far East in order to learn martial arts. By evicting those poor innocent creatures you could be getting yourself in a world of pain if you ever end up doing a sewer job. This is all true because I have seen it on TV in colour.

You always keep learning. My Father-in-Law said he learns something new everyday. He was an Operator for 60 plus years.

Dont.make.the.turtle.or.you.will.reget.messing.a. Snapping.turtle

Disclaimer: "No turtles were harmed in the making of this video, but a counterweight paint job may have been" 🤣 I have two lines of thought about counter weight scratches - first is that I totally agree with you and ultimately the counterweight is just a chunk of metal which (unless it's a zero swing) will get scratched when working in tight situations. The back of my machine has several battle scars and I am not precious about the paint - ultimately it is a work tool not my weekend drive. That said, if an employee often scratches the counter weight on "easy" jobs, I would start to question how much care his taking of my machine and his surroundings and whether he or she needs to take a bit more care..... Talking of which, it looks like Kleeman's been driving that loader? 🤣 Great video and stunning location 👍👏

Mikey... I agree with you. If you don’t have time for a long story... you can leave it at that. I have found that people with education expect to be paid upfront, for having sat in school. They believe they should walk on the job at top pay, without having demonstrated competence in their ability to perform the type of job you need them to do. I’ve offered starting wages with incremental advancements to several who have refused. A few have told me that my offer was disrespectful to them. One even asked me if I knew how much it cost her to get her degree... and that her student loan payments were huge. I told her she should have worked while she was in school. She could have been paying off the loans and gaining the experience she was gonna need to make the kind of money she expected. Then there was Julie. As Logistics Mgr in a Food Manufacturing plant, I was responsible fo purchasing, trucking, receiving, warehousing, shipping, stocking production, equipment maintenance and inventory control. There were four warehouses and three freezers containing ingredients, packaging and finished goods. Because it was food... you couldn’t just hire anyone to work in any of the jobs. But, back to Julie. I needed two lift truck operators. Precious few were available.but one who showed up was her. She had 20 years experience working in an underground freezer that contained frozen food. Most of it was driving various forklifts. The last two years she had been in inventory control. However, she did not have a college degree. When I offered her the job, I made a decision to bring her in with only 30 days of probationary pay. The standard was 90 days but, it was not a written policy. She asked for a day to think about it. After she left, I went to HR and told them what I’d done. She told me that the 30 day probation was only for new employees with both experience and education. She insisted we take the matter to the new Plant Managers office. It was a long discussion but the outcome was that if she accepted the job they were gonna watch her like a hawk stares over a field mouse. Julie called that afternoon and accepted. When she came to work two weeks later I had everything I could think of in place to let her become successful. That included “The Talk”. Instead of being overwhelmed by the pressure put on her, she looked at me and said, “Thanks for sticking your neck out for me. I won’t let you down.” Well, she didn’t. The others she worked with marveled at her lift driving skills. The inventory controllers learned several tips from her. The QA department shot videos of how clean and organized her warehouse was. The other managers came by just to see what she was improving next. By the time we got to 30 days the Plant Manager asked her to come to the office for a luncheon. There he and I offered her a warehouse foreman position at a much higher pay than her incremental increase. Then came the big change. The HR Manager said that the Plant Policy would be permanently changed to reflect the “30 day probation for all employees with adequate experience and / OR education.” And, the requirement that you had to have a college degree to be in supervisory positions was dropped entirely. Both of these were called the “Julie Rules”. The changes this made eventually were profound. Recruiting became easier. Employees who thought they were stuck because they didn’t have a college degree stepped up and began working their way out of their hourly job. And me... when I retired the plant’s warehouse and inventory control were the envy of the entire company... because of experienced people like Julie. Those who don’t appreciate experience never met Julie!!! Mikey... if you’re still reading this... another thing about experience...for me, it took about 10 years of experience in management to truly understand just how valuable working with highly experienced people was!!! Twenty six more years had only served to drill it into my brain. That is why I took a chance on Julie. As I said... I totally agree with you.

Big difference between scratches on the bottom end of a counterweight, and a machine with no paint on the back, and every panel caved in or missing.

You know theres people that get paid to do nothing but complain. Just ignore the haters

Scratches paint is not damage it is part of the wear on the equipment/ character. Is the machine functioning as it should and well maintained. YES that is what truly means everything. Keeping the equipment clean and functioning with minimal on the job breakdowns keeps the cash flowing in not the paint job. Enough said. Keep up the great work. Thanks Dave

I’m dealing with that same grey clay on a pond now. Some wet some dry. Picked up some really good pointers from you. Thank you

If everything mechanically works i am happy. I dont scratch anything on purpose but shit happens

Its a backhoe, it will get scratched. If you wanted a lawn ornament you would have bought something else!! Keep smiling son.

Your attitude towards people with experience is what helps you be successful. Attitude and flexibility towards your work can overcome a lot of obstacles. Thanks DP.

Had an employee one time that could quote your any regulation. But, put a screwdriver in his hand, you better stand back, someone's gonna get hurt. Made him an office jockey.

Look for a stump Farm kids all you ever did was Garfield's put stuff where it needed to be because that's where Grandpa and Grandpa and dad and my uncles and everybody said that should be done mean the right that mean all right I look at you all like Kristen Wiig letsdig18 where is Chris and and you and I'm Amazed uerr be doing competitions beautiful. I just want you to understand that we all didn't start all this perfect operators you must dig I probably two of the best operators have seen on RU-vid but at what point do y'all just put someone Raw on nerve in the sea have them so fucken scared that they don't know what to do and end in their consulate has here they want to the one learn teach him

I want to see you and letsdig18 do another video together soon

You and your neighbors have a great place to live. How far away does Captain Kleeman live from Logger Wade?

When I was a kid working for my Dad if I scratched the paint off his Counter weight of his Trackhoe, My check was going too be at least 50.00 dollars Shorter because he said he had to buy paint for the counter weight..I seen him FIRE a Guy that scratched his counter weight. He always said You should take a Second and move the hoe or Dirt away from counter weight so it didnt scratch it. He said the Look of peoples equipment showed what kind of person owned it.LOL.So that was drilled into my head sense I was 16 yrs old working for him so Now I do whatever I can to not scratch the countdr weight...All I can say is its Yours You do what you want with it.You make the payments on it..LOL.But The equipment looks better with the least amount of any damage from it..also resale value is higher.

Just keep the tracks in the dirt. Not in the air, not sliding down a ditch. Machines get scratched during normal operation. A person saying they won’t scratch it does not use one.

I ENJOYED WATCHING THE VIDEO DP ❤😊

Your ability and your work is what's important NOT the scratch s your 100 percent right

They do that shit in Oregon to it drives me crazy because it costs me 105 per hour per truck.if they sit for 10 extra mins that's a extra 105 bucks in there pocket at the end of the day I've literally fired at least 20 drivers over the years for this

Hey DP. I know this is an older video, but what do it look like today, could you possibly do a drive by video oneday

If you keep all the scratches off it must be in a parking lot or in a building

I am with you. I take experience every time. Many years ago used to work for a big High Tech company and if you didn't have a degree you could only go so far up the corporate ladder no matter how good you were at your job, how ridiculous was that. I quit that job and started my own S. Corp and retired at the age of 54 and told High Tech to kiss my ass

This is one time I am glad. We still don't have smellavision. Lol God bless

That's a lot of muck !!! Hey a little. Mud here and a scratch here and there gives it that broke in look +++ Keep on mucking bud @@@@

on the counter weight...keep in mind I am just a guy watching,,,I cannot see how you CAN'T scratch it near that blade. if the scratches were on top of the weight...well that would be different story. on painting...waste of money...however some good decals may actually benefit you in long run

Though, one thing about hiring the two year of training guy is you can give him the experience to do the jobs the right way, without shortcuts. Obviously, if you need a person that's ready to go when hired (95% of the time), the choice is simple. How long will it take for that "mud" to dry out (if weather cooperates? That mirror has taken a beating. ;-) Those scratches, that's what rattle cans are for (winter storage?).

When it comes to scratches on your excavator ... if you want to keep it completely nice and scratch free then you have to put it in a showroom and don't touch it anymore ... if you work with something like this there will be scratches on your machine that you get during work ... if you don't want those scratches .. showroom !!!

It's like playing chess your thinking 4 5 are 6 steps ahead of what happen. Plan and simple if you know what needs to be done.

Captain is always good for a laugh. Good video.

You are grumpy because of your cold....or man flu. Poor truckers only getting ready for burger breakfast.

and check letsdig18 last video where he starts clearing the 800k lot. He says the same thing his uncle scratched his up as well and its bad it looks horrible but you use it to grade almost lol wow.Not a care given very amateur move man. Paint the 120 and show up looking good not all scratched up wow

Nothing beats experience. My Dad taught me that before I could ride a bike. My whole life has been seeking new skills and gaining as much experience in a whole bunch of areas. Glad I lived long enough to get so old my experience is now all... "old school". 20 years in the Navy... all 4 ships I served on are now scrap or fish reefs. Most of the aircraft I served with are now in the bone yards or used for targets. Old School... sigh.

Had to take a break from the video to comment. I personally would rather hire someone with less experience, I find it is much easier to train them to do a job right than train out bad habits. that being said, you need to hire the right person they have to be willing to take direction and not get offended. Okay back to the video.

D.P. YES, That is the quality of truck drivers today. They can't follow simple directions, can't drive without a GPS, and lord knows if you offend them they will cry all day long. I miss driving my truck, but unfortunately, I can no longer qualify to drive, but I was never like that, I promise.

Your dirt/counterweight discussion reminds me about sayings like “A skinny cook can’t be trusted” 🤣 People suck at assessing risk. You are spot on with the work vs. equipment! Better you smelling that mud than me.

The paint on the equipment doesn't help get the job done the equipment itself does I agree stuff like bent panels is a different story but paint let it all rub off the equipment still works the same

I don’t let the equipment do the talking , I let my work do the talking! You just went to the top of my list! Good job as always! Be safe!

Hands on experience for new guys, and watch and learn, like you said. With your rant about truck drivers same here on the west coast!!🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤦🤷‍♂️🤦🤷‍♂️🤦🤦 the buddy system, and wait for each other. Some do that. That’s a bunch of bs. I’m a dump truck driver but I don’t play that game. Load and go! 😂😂😂 when I get loaded my boss says take your time going but hurry back👍🏻😉

I wouldn't worry about a little paint rub Rookie. Lol God bless

Yr absolutely correct Mike,if you can see the finished product before you start yr site work you have a gift.I like OJT On the job training. You can't have wasted moves when operating yr equipment, it's costly and wasted time

EQUIPMENT WEAR FUEL ECONOMY. I watched you drive and you did not waste any movements. The equipment moves for a purpose. I always say plan the job, save wear on the equipment and save fuel. That is what experience provides. Well along with a whole lot of common sense.

Screw the haters. That’s my opinion. You do great works and have a great channel. I’m glad you take the time to share all you work and thoughts with us.

Mike , I don't know if you will ever see these comments since they are to a video 3 years ago. Weekend at logger Wades loading truck and dredging a pond. Anyway I can not believe they would call you a rookie because you could open a Pepsi can on a round piece of ice in 100 degree weather.. Without the thumb I might say.. Anyway like my father said "a tool without paint removed is a tool unused", My idea is mount on the center weight a Y shaped device that slips under the counter weights (the Y shape) and extends a foot more less pass the tracks. Anyway would knock the hell off the mud . Anyway could get Aron to weld since he will be the one to clean up the tracks . LOL.

Again my friend , dont let these armchair warriors get the best of you ..... call them out ! ask them people what kind of company they own and ask them if they have scratches on there equipment , or if they have extra money to paint there equipment every other year ? ..... keep up the good work Mike and keep the videos coming ! 😎❤

How you explained about experience with 2 years of trade school versus experience running dozer reminded me when I was applying for flying Corporate. It's extremely hard finding corporate flying jobs for younger pilots because they do not have the hours flying multi-engine airplanes so how do they get the hours due to insurance reasons if they do not have the hours. It's a catch 22 so in order for me to get the hours flying multi-engine was being a flight instructor during law school. Once I had enough hours and after law school I flew cargo for a while then my dreams flying in the airlines ended when I joined the Army because no one was hiring pilots in the late 1980's early 1990's so I ended up going into the JAG CORP (Judge Advocate General) I was a lawyer for 18 or the 24 years in the Army. 6 years I was enlisted first before going to Officer Candidate School or OCS

Ugh that blue/grey clay brings back memories. Our horses used to sink up to their shoulders in that stuff (horses have a lot of weight and small feet). We couldn't afford to rent an excavator at the time so one day my Wife says "I'm gonna dig that out with the tractor". Yeah 4WD 32hp tractor and a 60" wide FEL bucket.. No way was that gonna work! Hah.. She had a soupy hole 5 feet deep and that little machine dragged out about 10 yards of filth and didn't get stuck. We back filled with red clay and packed it down by driving over it. Gosh darn it it worked like a charm. Took all day but heck, no more sinking horses!

PIA and what a mess. Talk about 'shoveling $%^&'. How common is this situation, causes and how widespread where you live? I watched another one of these by you several months back. This stuff makes Quick Sand look good! This was a longer one but we'll take em all. Thanks. Sonny (CT)

I’m a driver GRANTED I’m a tanker driver not a (marble head). But damn following the leader is a damn waste of my time,waiting for others, or them waiting on me, pissed me the hell off. And again I’ve been paid by the load for years. So LETS G-R-Done and keep the wheels turning

You da man DP! People will always criticize. I would love to see what they could do in the same situation. You have the correct mind set! You and your gang of characters start my day with ball busting and laughter! Keep up the GOOD work!

Teacher D P 👍🏻🇺🇲 Mike 🙏 Gotta teach them youngins 👍🏻👍🏻 How I learned to drive a wrecker 🙂 God Bless John & Carl ❤️ 😥

You’re excavator,You’re paint!! Why do you care what anyone thinks? It’s like a couch quarterback,can’t play 🏈 but knows how better than the team...😳😳😳

“Sludge” isn’t that what that is? Slime and mud? Love your videos, your work doesn’t seem like work, you appear to enjoy it. Jealous.

I think the whole don’t scratch the counterweight is from let’s dig. He’s so picky about not getting any scratches in his

You couldn't run fast enough to give me big excavator with a little bitty beep beep horn. I think federal legislation should be passed to include a BIG BIG HORN on excavators.

Counter b weight/mud trowel Years ago (68-70) I worked at a full service gas station. Every few months we had pull the floor grates in the the service bay and shovel and/or bucket out the mud in the grease trap. We called the residue "la blah" That stuff stunk like some of the stuff you dug out on that job.

I call that slot dozing. I do the same thing with a skid loader too.

So people just have to complain about something or anything or they are just not happy. Keep up the good work.

Ive always wanted to do excavating and I finally got the time in my life where I was able to go and learn how to and stuff like that and I went to the union excavating school here in Illinois and the told me I wouldn't get hired anywhere because I'm to old. Wth at that time I was 46 years old and they said there wanting the 20 yr old kids not 40 yr old guys

Ome time in high school they were digging a basement with a dozer. Almost done, and the dozer fell into a pool quick sand. On top of hill. Up over the tracks . Weird. How the ground can be underneath. They dug a drain down over the hill and drained it. Put clay in and funished the basement. With floor drain in basement.

As far as who to hire, experienced or Trade Trained. That always a toss up in my book. I normally go with the person who expresses enthusiasm. But it always a hard decision. If they dont like what they do as I like what I do, dont need them around. Not every person for every job. Some people just dont know anyone in the industry, so its hard to get a start. Like i said its not a easy choice. And a New looking piece of equipment probably isnt making money, Man you got 20 years experience, why would you care what someone else thinks about anything at all. I locally watched 2 excavators put in the dirt work for a huge neighborhood, they were in and out in a week, headed for their next job. Their equipment was anything but clean. Dirt and scratches mean MONEY.

In a day when everyone's phone has a GPS system that NASA could have only dreamed of 50 years ago, if you can't get to jobsite you have no business driving a truck.

I keep forgetting to mention this Mike if you read this I would absolutely love to have Big Mama and Big Daddy of logger Wade on the podcast I'm not sure Big Daddy would come on willingly but Joanne would I do believe. I would absolutely love to hear Mama and Daddy's rendition and here about Wade bringing brought up by them

Im going to help you rant on the dump truck drivers. Our do the same thing and it drives me crazy. They all have cb radios but the act like they dont reach out 50ft. When they actually reach out for miles. If you tell them to stay separated, they wont. If you intentionally try to spread them out they always come back together. You can always tell which is the laziest truck driver by which position they take in line. I feel your pain with lazy truck drivers.

As long as you are happy and you are doing a great job. I wouldn't care what other people think.

Besides an older video, on the 'Scratched counterweight' argument. Scratched paint just means that equipment has been used. Now, if it was bashed, dented, falling off, chunks missing. Then I would have more concerns, like, now you are just swinging wildly into every obstacle you come across. Accidents happen, but if the whole end is a mess like that?

Love watching your vids.I agree with you about getting experience on anything .An old Army Dentist showed me, a 17 year old how to anticipate his moves and to see ahead of him .That was a life skill I still use to this very day and now I'm 70.

When I see an excavator or other large piece of construction equipment that is all nice have NO scratches or other small scraps etc. then I see a contractor who doesn't appear to have a lot of work... good job guys , that old grey mud is messy stuff...

Driving a trk for 30 years. Still don't know everything! Love the channel, but, the rant was too much

You are so right with what you are saying on experience, vs education. almost 50 years as a truck driver in the Washinton area taught me, you never stop learning. And formal education just won't cut it..

Enjoyed another one! You almost had the while crew missing the MBTS.

A scratch on your counterweight does not mean anything except that you have been working. What I find funny is when operators get stuck in an excavator. Honestly as long as I can rotate the boom and use the arm, I do not get stuck because I can always pull myself out. Then again, I got started before joysticks came along and have gone through swamps and climbed mountains with my excavator. I have seen some younger operators get stuck on flat ground. lol.