Things are back to normal/pumps

[Hammer man]

Oh well,its been a good few years,but things are looking down .The blasting firm that i`m pretty much sub-contracted to has lost the contract for Tarmac.That meens no more Shrewsbury or Hereford work as of the end of OctI saw Mr Sparkes tonight & told him of the situation.Mon morn he is ringing Tarmac to try to keep the breaking side of things,as we have been breaking at those quarrys for years,with the previous blasting firm too.So it might not be too bad from my point of view.I will finish at my Somerset quarry sat morn.I have rung my Tarmac managers to tell them i`m available,but they seem to think the blasting firm wont play ball & wont send me back there as the`re losing the contract.
I told our plant manager tues that i`ll be finished at my quarry,but they had nothing else for me & my 35 tonner.He asked me if i wanted to work in Tewksbury for a few weeks at the MOD.I have had to have all the criminal records checks etc.Passed of course .
I `ve learned tonight that my machine is off to another job that came up after my MOD checks,a muck shift.But because of the hassle getting me clearance,somebody else will be driving it That will be the first time that somebody else has drove my digger.I`m well So fing angry
Mr Sparkes has assured me i will have my machine back,but i told him it wont look the same.
So for the first time in nearly 3 yrs,i wont be in a quarry.I will be working at the MOD for Nuttalls.I know the foreman on the job though,as we were at Hinkley Point Nuclear power station a few years ago,& it sounds like an easy number,driving one of our 21 t Komatsu`s.
Just feeling so low about MY digger .
I think to be honest,they asked me about the MOD job as i have no record ,so can work there.The same as Hinkley Point a few yrs ago.Not that i`m saying our drivers are bad,but some do have minor bad points on a criminal check that places like the MOD etc will not accept.
Still,could be worse,i could be on the M5 Avonmouth bridge work,AND I HATE ROAD WORK
Still,we seem to have plenty of work on,as we have loads of agency drivers at the moment.
Rant over,sorry if i went on,but i`m so annoyed.At least i`m working i suppose.

[martyn williams]

Hope things work out for you.And things improve.Tough times at the moment.Hopefully,times will get better.
Martyn

[samk706]

i hope you get your machine back in good nick Neil

i cant believe that companys can afford to keedp their machines running, for instance Coleman & Co's liebherr 984 goes through 1000 liters of fuel per day

sam

[Joes1989]

Sorry to hear tha mate!! Im currently driving a 5 tonne Kubota as theres nothing for my machine to do on this new site ive moved too! The shutters havent been off for 3 days + this weekend! Will be off tomorrow for a warm up to make sure nothing siezes!

Joe

[Neversweat]

Its a shame to loose your machine but at least you still have work which is a good thing in todays economic climate.
Hopefully it'll come back without battle scars
Keep smiling
Steve

[Hammer man]

Well,the MOD jobs not too bad.Still not happy though.Spent 2 hrs on our PC210.Been on a nearly new Hitachi 8.5 tonner since.Not a bad machine,a/c stereo etc.Room in the cab is needed for my 6ft3" size,but thats the price for having a nearly zero swing.Overhang is about 1ft.Got me concreating,battering,& now digging out a new roadway through maze of cables pipes& services.Its like Time Team.Scrape a bit of soil out,then stop for hand digging & so on.Very tedious.Still,the blokes i`m with are good as gold.
There must be 1000`s of MOD lorrys,L/Rovers,telehandelers,JCB`s,Armoured tracked carriers, etc.Its a shame no photos are allowed.Theres lots of low loaders taking stuff away.Saw a VERY nice Plantspeed Volvo FH16 660 today.8x4,but a twin steer with the same axle lay out as a 8x4 tipper.Had a very heavy duty looking winch sticking out of the front grille.Must be mounted to the chassis.Had a huge tool locker the width of the cab behind the cab.Was pulling a 5 axle all steer Nooteboom extending low loader.Shame i could`nt get any pics.It was very smart.
Also had a call from our workshop forman mon afternoon.My 350 had been on site for an hour & they had rang up complaing."it wont fill the bucket,its guttless".Well,i do all my breaking on ecomony mode.But use the bucket on eco & its slow,but it WILL fill the bucket.I suggested they switched it to powerboost mode.All is now well.They must have some right numpty on it if they dont know what a switch marked E,P,PB is Makes me so angry And the workshop foreman too,as hes not happy i`m not on it.
Heres the 1 pic i sneaked of my little dinky toy

Zx85usb 3.jpg

[gazza]

Hi there you should come and work for the firm i do I was given a new 320D cat was on it for nine months not even a scratch on the machine got put onto a dozer for a couple of weeks saw the 320 thought it had been to basra they just shrug their shoulders at this place in the last couple of months ive been on Cat 320,312,D4,D5,3CX,dump truck theirs no such thing as your machine in this neck of the woods and they whinge about all the damage and the condition of the machines????? not rocket science is it!

[Hammer man]

Well,my ZX350 was off hired from the muck shifting job for being "gutless".
It was in the yard this morning.Its been looked after,but who ever had it ripped the window tints of the door & side window .I thought that might happen.I`m not very happy about it & neither is Mr Sparkes by the sounds of it.
Everybody said it is guttless,so i spent an hour on it this morning digging a 5ft deep trench with my big 2.2 c/m bucket in heavy wet clay.Ok,its no speed machine,but it felt fine to me.But the workshop foreman & Alan Sparkes reckon its slow lifting the boom & down on cycle times on loading.They reckon i`m just used to it as i`ve had it a few years.
H.M Plant are coming out tomorrow to look at it,so will see what they say.

[john345me]

does it seem slower when warm been on many machines like that when cold they will dig for england but when they warm up they are dead these machines have had around 9000 hours to

[Hammer man]

No difference when cold or warm John.Prior to it going out on self drive i shifted about 5000 tons of blasted rock from the blast pile over a few days & it was the same then as it was this morning,which to me is fine.
The job that it went to,mine replaced a 1 yr old 35ton machine,so i suppose they were used to that.
I was going up Swindon tomorrow driving our Hitachi ZX470/3 on a muck shift,so i was looking foward to seeing how "fast" that was.But all change now & that machine has been off hired