RANT CORNER

[Derek27]

Is that a rant about nothing to rant about? Quality ranting!

I can't believe BJ hasn't done something absolutely cringe-worthy in the last 24 hours and it will be brushed under the carpet.

And what a waste of fuel. I'd like to know what the cost to the taxpayer is.

As I type I hear Prince Andrew is missing, he's got covid.

I've often railed about BJ's incompetence and him being nothing more than a gameshow panelist/presenter.
But would you prefer Ian Hislop or Paul Merton as PM?

Yes, either one of them would be an improvement.

[Derek27]

Switched on the news and they're still banging on about it, and there's another 3 days to go!

[ShaunWhite]

Nothing's gonna get me down today though, my digger arrived this morning. (so spent half the morning on YouTube trying to figure out how to swap the bucket and still keep all my fingers!).. And on fuel, not allowed to fill them with red diesel since March 22, thanks Rishi, every little hurts.

As the owner/user of a 9 tonne excavator My advice to swap a bucket is to get a second person ... saves a lot of jumping in and out of the cab trying to align the holes for the pins and it's their fingers!

You a farmer?
Thanks, I think I've got the knack with the buckets now and it's just a baby 1.6t not a magnificent beast like yours. Like a fool the first time I thought I'd just lift it on...yeah right. Brilliant fun though ripping out small trees. But it gets in your head focusing hard when you're a beginner, I wanted to swivel my office chair earlier and reached for the left armrest

[andy28]

Nothing's gonna get me down today though, my digger arrived this morning. (so spent half the morning on YouTube trying to figure out how to swap the bucket and still keep all my fingers!).. And on fuel, not allowed to fill them with red diesel since March 22, thanks Rishi, every little hurts.

As the owner/user of a 9 tonne excavator My advice to swap a bucket is to get a second person ... saves a lot of jumping in and out of the cab trying to align the holes for the pins and it's their fingers!

Get the quick hitch, flick a switch in the cab job done

[Derek27]

More horrific stories coming out of Ukraine but the news had to wait until 6 this morning because the Queen was having a party.

[firlandsfarm]

You a farmer?
Thanks, I think I've got the knack with the buckets now and it's just a baby 1.6t not a magnificent beast like yours. Like a fool the first time I thought I'd just lift it on...yeah right. Brilliant fun though ripping out small trees. But it gets in your head focusing hard when you're a beginner, I wanted to swivel my office chair earlier and reached for the left armrest

yes the approach to the controls does require learning a new instinct for movement. First time I used mine in anger was to dig the foundations for an extension. I got the bucket scoop control mixed up with the swing and crashed the bucket into the wall of the house. Luckily I reacted as soon as the arm started to move and so only put a small crack in the wall but the thing is so powerful it could have brought the wall down. That was when I realised having the revs highish for the power of the dig had a downside in that everything (the swing!) moves faster giving you less time to recover from an error and greater damage if you don't!

My digging abilities changed when I found that getting used to the interaction of the arm and the crowd could give you a flat scrape. If you haven't found this yet try pulling both at the same time so the arm lifts as the crowd scrapes and by getting them balanced you can lift the arm to compensate for the radius swing of the crowd.

And yes, I was a breeder of woodland raised pigs (natural environment and organic). I supplied M&S and local consumers.

[ShaunWhite]

I think I'll be doing footings myself next, certainly seems doable if I can figure out how to not fall into the trench. It's been a baptism of fire though because it's been mostly grading so far (might be a US term but I'm learning with YouTube) Boom up till the 'stick' reaches 90deg, then down as you say to sweep a flat area. It's got a dozer blade but you can't adjust the angle, and being basic you can't adjust the angle on the bucket, so unless you're sat level then it's a SoB. My first thought was to look for a lever that puts the booms in sync but I guess in the real world that wouldn't be better than just doing it
yourself. I can't get my skip emptied till Monday because of the jubilee so I'm a bit snookered now, so I've rented it for an extra week and to make the most of it I'm doing a second pond round the front. Pond liner is almost as cheap as planting things, and doesn't need mowing, so it's a win win. All good though, I'm just a bit slow but that's always the difference between people who can do it and doing it as a job.

You'd need good luck rearing pigs round here (lincs) within a week you'd have had your excavator nicked and half the pigs would be missing. I think we've got about 3 rural police and the thieves know it. Half the time they're butchered where they stood so God knows what they do with the meat.

[andy28]

Shaune if you aren't on level ground and you dont want your trench to be on a "lean" then you have 2 choices, either A) dig some of the ground out on the high side so one track in effect is in a small trench, or B) when you take your first few scoops out put the fill on the low side where your track will be, and then level it off so the digger will be level. As you go along keep putting some behind you and level it out as you go, that way the machine will always be flat

Also while reducing the revs slows things down it will over time cause the hydraulic oil to over heat. They are designed to run at high revs, some machines don't have a lever for the revs, as soon as you give it a command it revs up to it's optimum revs.

I still struggle with trading but diggers I have been around for 35yrs+

[firlandsfarm]

My first thought was to look for a lever that puts the booms in sync

Many years ago Ford produced a JCB like excavator that had what they called an "autodig" lever that put the arm and crowd in sync. They even called the model an "Auto Dig". Not sure how successful it was either as a machine or as an operating facility ... I'm sure professionals like Andy would scoff at such a lever as taking away control but for very occasional users like you and me it sounded great. My first excavator was an Auto Dig, that's how I know about it, but I didn't find the autodig lever worked as expected.

[andy28]

My first thought was to look for a lever that puts the booms in sync

Many years ago Ford produced a JCB like excavator that had what they called an "autodig" lever that put the arm and crowd in sync. They even called the model an "Auto Dig". Not sure how successful it was either as a machine or as an operating facility ... I'm sure professionals like Andy would scoff at such a lever as taking away control but for very occasional users like you and me it sounded great. My first excavator was an Auto Dig, that's how I know about it, but I didn't find the autodig lever worked as expected.

Only way you get better is hours in the seat, it won't take long and is fun. You can get virtual ones where you sit in the back of a van and operate them, demolition companies use them as well as forestry and other high risk industries. I guess you would want fast pictures for them as you wouldn't want a 1 second delay

[firlandsfarm]

Yes, because of my occasional use I always have to have a 15 minute warm-up session before doing anything serious.

[ShaunWhite]

My first thought was to look for a lever that puts the booms in sync

Many years ago Ford produced a JCB like excavator that had what they called an "autodig" lever that put the arm and crowd in sync. They even called the model an "Auto Dig". Not sure how successful it was either as a machine or as an operating facility ... I'm sure professionals like Andy would scoff at such a lever as taking away control but for very occasional users like you and me it sounded great. My first excavator was an Auto Dig, that's how I know about it, but I didn't find the autodig lever worked as expected.

Only way you get better is hours in the seat, it won't take long and is fun. You can get virtual ones where you sit in the back of a van and operate them, demolition companies use them as well as forestry and other high risk industries. I guess you would want fast pictures for them as you wouldn't want a 1 second delay

Thanks for the tips Andy. I didn't know that about the revs, I've been on tick over most of the time so I don't annoy the neighbours too much but I'll get over that and get on with it. The remote operation sounds difficult without the feedback from being chucked around a bit or being able to 'feel' how heavy things are.

I've got round the full skip problem, I dug another hole to put the rubble in That's probably a very old joke to a 35yr pro, but my old man was on the tools so I've got all the old classics, like sending the apprentice to get a new spirit level bubble or a bag of 1/2" holes.

Firlands, you know you said you hit the house.... Well I managed to smash a section of new fence I'd had in for about 5 mins. That small delay between input and action is just long enough to see your going to do it but not be able to stop it. And getting down the side of the house has been fun, I've got about an inch either side and was so focused on that I didn't realise the cab roof was taking the sofit and facia off the corner, every job I do makes 2 others.

[Derek27]

A neighbour invited me to a buffet lunch this afternoon, I didn't make the connection with the Queen's Jubilee when I said I'd be there, and I've since noticed her house is covered in bunting.

[Derek27]

Just back from a jubilee party where the guests were a mixture of people, mildly, moderately or severely anti-royal.

I was chatting to an XR woman, about 65-70 years old, proudly boasting about how she glued herself to roads, been arrested several times but charges were never pressed. She lived within walking distance but got a cab home.

[alexmr2]

Just back from a jubilee party where the guests were a mixture of people, mildly, moderately or severely anti-royal.

I was chatting to an XR woman, about 65-70 years old, proudly boasting about how she glued herself to roads, been arrested several times but charges were never pressed. She lived within walking distance but got a cab home.

I once had a friend give me a lecture about how we should listen to Greta to save the environment and then insisted on calling a taxi instead of walking half a mile home from the pub. Little did she know that global warming isn't working very well because Bill Gates is spraying chalk dust into the atmosphere