Using my SEE for real work

[Speedwoble]

I bought a new house and shop and have been using the FLU to unload things from the trailer. Adding forks to the loader bucket is mediocre at best. The bucket blocks the view and the suspension rocking when releasing the clutch really limits precision. The self leveling feature of the bucket means that the bucket does not have enough leverage at the top of travel to prevent the bucket from dropping or being unable to curl. It is really frustrating. Converting to a quick tach and a set of skid loader forks will help with both visibility and leverage.
The other issue I have noticed is when carrying something heavy, like a spare flu backhoe, the weight on the front axle makes it very difficult to steer, particularly with my 14.5r20 tires. I need to either get more PS pressure, or drop tire size. The tires will also dig into my fenders when steering with heavy objects. Sorry, no pictures .

 

[The FLU farm]

It is really frustrating. Converting to a quick tach and a set of skid loader forks will help with both visibility and leverage.

Now you know why I converted. And to hook up the snow blower wasn't the only reason for the quick tach.

 

[Pinsandpitons]

ok, this is timely. I was going to start going through "the" thread and look for photos of your conversion (or others) to help me answer a few questions for mine, but since we're on the topic.... Did you post any photos? And if so, about when? I have a vague memory of seeing some, somewhere.

 

[The FLU farm]

Yeah, you'll find photos in the long thread. It was probably about four years ago, and they where a bit spread out as I recall since it involved both the quick tach and putting a plate on the bucket.

I'm overdue for a re-read but won't get to it for a while.

 

[Speedwoble]

As I continue my move and get used to a larger shop, I am finding that big tools can be found cheap if you have a way to move them. I bought a 30ft wide, 3ton Gantry crane for $250 at an auction. I think it went cheap because nobody else wanted to try to move it. Loading the main beam on the trailer was easy with the telehandler at the auction house, but I wondered if the Flu could handle it to unload. Actually didn’t really seem to struggle. As is my custom, I was working at night, so poor photos.

 

[Another Ahab]

As is my custom, I was working at night, so poor photos.

Nice score! Have you got a warehouse for that thing?

Also, I read a book once about some people like you are talking about::

- Are you maybe a Bat, in the daytime?

 

[Pinsandpitons]

Have fun getting it installed. I wanna see a play by play of that for sure. Nice score.

 

[Speedwoble]

Hardly work, but helping a youngster learning to drive. He wanted to learn how to drive a stick and the Toyota 2ZZ-GE stalls too easy, causing frustration or too many revs and burning the clutch. A newbie can learn a unimog clutch pretty easily. Then I got out the orange cones to practice maneuvering.

 

[Speedwoble]

There is currently a 1 week wait for a “clean fill” dumpster, so I used the FLU bucket to catch and relocate 4 tons of brick from my 2nd floor. The bucket only fit 31 five gallon buckets, so 8 Flu bucketfuls was 248 five gallon buckets filled and dumped by hand. Even with the added “flotation” from 14.5R20, I am still leaving an 18” deep rut after climping over a 10” wall. Only 6 tons left on the first floor.

 

[peakbagger]

Northern Hydraulics and I expect Tractor Supply are selling interlocking ground mats for this type of work. Not cheap but its surprising how well they spread out the load. I have seen large concrete trucks using them and it just flattens out the grass.

On a somewhat related note my SEE and the 1300 are stored for the winter next to my driveway down in a low spot on the ground. To get them out in the spring was a challenge as my driveway is raised so its steep climb up from the low spot. If I waited until everything dried out it may take 5 or 6 weeks and even then there might be some rutting. What I did before was wait for snowmelt and then pick a cold night and drive them out in early morning when the ground was frozen. Last year I used the SEE to dig out the rocks and topsoil down about 12" and then laid some reinforced geotextile I had stashed away down in the trench and then put road gravel on top of it. I drove the 1300 right out this time with damp ground. The SEE is staying where it is as its a bit leaky due to a bad cylinder seal and really messed up my asphalt drive way. I did my original driveway with geotextile and it really keeps things stable as frost can get over 4' deep so it takes awhile to dry out in the spring. The only major cracks on my 25 year old driveway are where the paving company got off the original driveway bed.

 

[Speedwoble]

As I continue my move and get used to a larger shop, I am finding that big tools can be found cheap if you have a way to move them. I bought a 30ft wide, 3ton Gantry crane for $250 at an auction. I think it went cheap because nobody else wanted to try to move it. Loading the main beam on the trailer was easy with the telehandler at the auction house, but I wondered if the Flu could handle it to unload. Actually didn’t really seem to struggle. As is my custom, I was working at night, so poor photos.View attachment 822106

Finally got around to assembling the gantry crane. I could not lift the assembled parts with the loader, so I had to use the backhoe as a crane.

I also moved an Ash log that was all the loader could handle. It is now 2.5” live edge slabs.

 

[peakbagger]

Great pics. Yes having the capability to move big heavy stuff can get a lot of toys for cheap. As my friends aunt used to say when my friends uncle brought something big home "It will look good at the auction" (with reference to the one she was going to have when he passed . Sad to say when he passed she passed soon after and her clueless daughters handled the estate. The auctioneer they picked didnt advertise it right so most of the goodies when out in scrap truck

I think my SEE has a front loader relief valve that is set too low. I had tough time moving a similar size wet quaking aspen log and I could hear the relief whining. It was rigged off the front of the bucket with chains so the leverage was not great. I jerked it up in the air a bit which reduced the lever arm and I did get it to move but it was right on the edge. I filled the bucket with gravel off a pile this spring and it was heaping full and the relief was whining again. I had to tip it and dump some until it was level before I could lift it.

I just got done buying a fairly new vintage Tarm Solo Plus wood boiler from a local house. The seller was clueless on what it would take to remove it. It was in nice shape but I definitely did not offer what she was asking. She had a couple of other offers but I was the only one that showed her what needed to be done. It was in a low basement with a bulkhead so it required stripping it, patching up the piping to the remaining oil boiler and then jacking it up on a custom dolly I had to weld up. Then roll it across a uneven floor over a threshold and out to a bulkhead. I needed to lift it up straight up out of the bulkhead with picture window in front and another set of windows on one side. I tried to lift it from the round structural tube behind the loader bucket that connects up the two arms, same thing happened, I started to lift and when it looked like it was going to go the relief started whining. The boiler was 1000 pounds plus. I guess I need to put a gauge on the front hydraulics and see what it opens up at. I know others have taken it out but all the hoses would need to be replaced. The backhoe picked it right up.

That ash is nice looking stuff. Did you wax up the ends to try to keep the splitting down?. I have about 2000 board feet of 5/4 and 4/4 mostly aspen and some beech drying. I used Anchor Seal on the ends when I cut it. The beech is moving around and I have few splits but the aspen seems to be staying straight and minimal splitting.

 

[Another Ahab]

View attachment 847892

I also moved an Ash log that was all the loader could handle. It is now 2.5” live edge slabs.
View attachment 847893

You paid $250??!!

That's a beauty.

NICE score there!!

What's the plan on the Ash slabs?

What a screw-up. Might just be some of the last on the continent of North America.

 

[peakbagger]

My See seems to be acting like a crane of late. I did a wood boiler out of basement about 2 weeks ago (no pictures) and on a solar trailer I was reconfiguring yesterday. The original trailer had two sets of panels that could rotate independently. That probably works in the middle of a field down south but up in northern NH its not too practical when the sun angle starts to get lower and even more problematical when it snows. There is standby Kubota diesel in the trailer and its not normally covered by the panels so it would fill up with snow. I needed to remove one row of panels and set them up so that all the panels faced in one direction. This also means the panels act like a roof over the diesel. Snow will slide (or get raked) down off to the base of the panels. I need to run the generator every couple of months to equalize the batteries.



After modifying the trailer to install two taller new posts, I needed to lift a heavy 20' long beam in place and keep it there so I could bolt it on top of two posts.



So here is the "money" Unimog shot. That beam may not look heavy but I was solo so getting it up in the air so that I could bolt it on top of the new posts required a stable platform. The yellow ratchet strap was needed to "coax" the bolt holes in the new posts to line up with the bearing blocks


So once the beam was in place I reattached the panels and got this



I still have some finish work, stiffening things up and then the trailer gets moved to a short term storage place for the winter. It was delivered to my house so now I need to move it. Its low boy trailer with a lunette ring hitch which matches up with a pintle hook. The problem is the existing ring is about 12 to 18" off the ground and the pintle on both of the Unimogs are about 36". If I tried to tow it with a Unimog the trailer wheels would be off the ground and it would be dragging on the rear bumper. The trailer is just under 10 K pounds. Next job is to finish an adaptor for the trailer frame so I can set the ring higher to be able to use the Unimogs.

Right now its only used to charge my Toyota but once I break down and buy some very expensive copper wire I will tie it into the house. Its got two very large forklift batteries on the trailer and lot of electronics so I can get up 50 amps at 240 VAC.

The trailers were part of legit business that turned into a Ponzi scheme. Berkshire Hathaway and Progressive insurance both got taken for hundred of millions. The fed seized the assets of the company and the owner and auctioned off hundreds of these trailers in several variations mostly in the south and west. The auctions were last year during the peak of Covid and I missed out but bought one of the rarer ones in the Northeast from someone who bought six of them. Its basically a complete plug and play on or off grid power system on a trailer. This version had two crank up light towers to light about 2 acres but I removed one.

The parts are definitely worth more than what the government auctioned them off for. I will leave it portable but intend to use if for building a new house and then stripping it for parts for the new homes solar system.

 

[Pinsandpitons]

This thread has been quiet.

Not sure if any of you received a ripper tooth with your SEE but I did. I had not used it until this most recent project. About 750 feet of 5 foot deep trench for utilities in quite rocky soil as it turned out. the digging was pretty slow until I installed the tooth and it's made a big difference. As the bucket rotates through the digging stroke, the tooth rips through to dislodge rocks for the next bucket full. Still pretty slow going, but a seamless and trouble free helper. Pretty easy to make if you don't have one and need some hard soils assistance.

 

[Another Ahab]

This thread has been quiet.

Not sure if any of you received a ripper tooth with your SEE but I did. I had not used it until this most recent project. About 750 feet of 5 foot deep trench for utilities in quite rocky soil as it turned out. the digging was pretty slow until I installed the tooth and it's made a big difference. As the bucket rotates through the digging stroke, the tooth rips through to dislodge rocks for the next bucket full. Still pretty slow going, but a seamless and trouble free helper. Pretty easy to make if you don't have one and need some hard soils assistance.
View attachment 927830

Sure looks like hard ground for digging, Pinsandpitons.

That ripper looks as though it has a replaceable terminal tooth on its end.

Am I seeing that right, and if so where do you source any replacement?!

 

[The FLU farm]

This thread has been quiet.

Not sure if any of you received a ripper tooth with your SEE but I did. I had not used it until this most recent project. About 750 feet of 5 foot deep trench for utilities in quite rocky soil as it turned out. the digging was pretty slow until I installed the tooth and it's made a big difference.

Haven't used a FLU for real work for a while, which is why I've been quiet.

Anyway, those rippers are great, I think. In my case it's when digging horse graves and getting into the river rock. Without, the bucket teeth would just slide off the larger rocks and making me think I'd be better off using the 12-inch bucket to get them out.

Then I tried with a ripper, and what a difference. Also, I lucked out and got two of them. Nice to see somebody else getting good use out of one.

 

[Pinsandpitons]

That ripper looks as though it has a replaceable terminal tooth on its end.

Am I seeing that right, and if so where do you source any replacement?!

Yes, same as the bucket and loader teeth. Extremely standard JD pattern if I remember right. It's installed upside down, but I figured I'd try it that way first. Pretty minor angle difference, don't think it matters much.