Pipeline Construction

[AXE]

Blew up to Dakoto to get some springs work done. We busted out the equipment today to begin constructing about 900 feet of underground water pipeline.

Did some site leveling and road grading last couple days. Starting to look good.

My boys are getting in on the action. They are getting really good at running the equipment, so I'm proud to see them getting after it. I think they really like running these Bobcat machines, they are so capable and handy.

 

[TexOffroader]

Enjoy these times as it’s rare these days for 3 family generations to work together.

 

[KLA]

Bobcats are junk.

 

[AXE]

Enjoy these times as it’s rare these days for 3 family generations to work together.

Yep, we've worked together on this land through 5 generations since 1913. The 6th is on the ground and my nephew's boy is helping him work livestock.

The other day, I took my boy down into the root cellar that had been there since the 60s. My grandpa had a massive garden. One of my earliest jobs was carrying his potatoes, carrots, onions, etc into that cellar for year round cold storage!

 

[AXE]

Bobcats are junk.

Wouldn't know anything about that, we've only run them virtually trouble free for 30 years. Made right here by the fine people of North Dakota. My granpa sold Melroe equipment at his International Harvester dealership for decades. Always good stuff!

They are on every corner, farm, construction site and oil field pad in the western United States. I'm getting another one soon with a pto to run some new 3 point equipment. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

 

[KLA]

Wouldn't know anything about that, we've only run them virtually trouble free for 30 years. Made right here by the fine people of North Dakota. My granpa sold Melroe equipment at his International Harvester dealership for decades. Always good stuff!

They are on every corner, farm, construction site and oil field pad in the western United States. I'm getting another one soon with a pto to run some new 3 point equipment. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Honestly though, Bobcat, in general, makes decent equipment. But around here, Bobcats are overpriced. For what you pay for a Bobcat brand skidsteer or mini excavator, you can buy a top of the line Cat skidsteer or a number of different sizes of Cat mini excavators, like the Cat 305 or 308, which are both awesome machines. Plus, the older Bobcat skidsteers are very unstable and underpowered compared to just about any other skidsteer that I have operated. Now, the newer Bobcat skidsteers are much better, but they are too expensive. Basically just paying for a name. For the price of a Bobcat brand machine, there are much better options, such as Cat, Deere, New Holland and even Case makes great mini excavators but the Case skidsteer is the same as a New Holland currently.

But, if Bobcats are as common as you say they are in your area, then a Bobcat might be your best option because of parts availability. The idea is to minimize the downtime cause a machine doesn't make any money if it is sitting, broke down waiting for parts. If there are Bobcat dealers close, then the extra cost might be worth it to guarantee that you can keep the machine running.

 

[AXE]

I've driven a Case and JD, they are all the same to me.

We buy ours from the dealer in Miles City Montana and always get good deals and there is no sales tax in Montana. Easy to save thousands there. Also my ol' man is a good negotiator, so he always get them to throw in discounts on attachments. Then we sell old attachments for as much as we pay.

We just sold a 2008 Bobcat S220 last year for exactly what we paid for it. It was basically free.......LOL. Only repair was the right side LCD screen/computer went out and it cost about $1200. Other than that some bushings and pins and tires and it never missed a beat. Lifted 2000 lb concrete blocks no problem. It was a workhorse.

 

[KLA]

I've been a heavy equipment operator for 30 years and I've operated just about every brand of equipment available. I'm just not a fan of Bobcats. But if they are working for you, that's great. It would be dumb to change from something that is working good and getting the job done.

I like the power of the Deere but the comfort and reliability of a Cat. I guess everyone has their own opinion.

 

[AXE]

My boy took over as lead operator, I've been demoted to rock picker like the last 40 years. Lots of clay and it's damn cold, wet and dense soil, so slow going. He's doing petty damn good for first couple days in the mini x.

Got the boys down the road to drop off some bedding sand. Will be laying the proverbial pipe in the first 100 foot lateral tomorrow.

 

[KLA]

That's a side dump trailer? Pretty cool. We don't have those around here.

 

[AXE]

Yeah those side dumps are pretty common for road work and site work around here. They are pretty slick.

I wish I had your bigger excavator right about now. There's a good size rock in this clay and it just tosses this little puddle jumper around. It'll take 2 days to finish this 100 feet the way it's going right now.

 

[KLA]

Yeah those side dumps are pretty common for road work and site work around here. They are pretty slick.

I wish I had your bigger excavator right about now. There's a good size rock in this clay and it just tosses this little puddle jumper around. It'll take 2 days to finish this 100 feet the way it's going right now.

We dig mainline with a Komatsu 360. Pretty big machine. Its about 80k pounds.. We run an average of 300 feet of pipe per day if we're not trying to hurry. But we use a smaller JD 75 mini excavator to do a lot of service laterals and you're right, some of those big rocks can be a real bitch. But the mini excavators definitely come in handy. Especially when you are working in tight spaces or around someone's house.

 

[AXE]

I dug about 400 feet 7 foor rench last August in about 12 hours. But there was only heavy clay in the first 30 get and soil was drier and much warmer. Plenty box rocks.

Finally got this done, but it took 10 hours to go 100 feet. Clay was still frozen or damn cold sonic dug hard as hell. Got it bedded in, pipe laid, ready to backfill, but gonna let that soil warm up for another day or so that'll help with compaction.

 

[KLA]

Looking good.

Digging thru frozen ground is really no different than digging thru solid rock. Looks like you guys handled it pretty well. Hard part is done. Backfilling is easy. Good job fellas!

 

[Paulie-G]

Nice operators and pipeliners in the same thread.
Mechanic/welder checking in.
I'm reinforcing the tool bar on the D11 pictured here.
Orange County housing development.

 

[KLA]

Nice operators and pipeliners in the same thread.
Mechanic/welder checking in.
I'm reinforcing the tool bar on the D11 pictured here.
Orange County housing development.

Nice! The D 11 is a big ass machine that can push a hell of a lot of dirt.

 

[hwprouty]

I like this thread!
Boiler Operator here, Local 302 Operators Union. No cold mud in my boiler house! LOL

 

[KLA]

I like this thread!
Boiler Operator here, Local 302 Operators Union. No cold mud in my boiler house! LOL

Well, I'm gonna be warm for a little while too. Just got home from having knee surgery. Off work for a few weeks.

 

[AXE]

I'm not really a pipeliner, I'm just a farm boy that spent the last 30 years developing energy projects. Then started a water business with my Dad a while back to provide frack water for oil development. We do this work ourselves, cause it saves a lot of money and it's rewarding.

My Dad is 80 years old! He's been crawling in and out of that skid steer for 5 days straight, probably did more work this past week than most 25 year olds. He doesn't need to work, but not sure what else he would do with his time. Plus he likes to be out there to tell me all the shit I did "wrong"! He's run about a lot types of farm, construction, and military equipment along the way.

 

[AXE]

Looking good.

Digging thru frozen ground is really no different than digging thru solid rock. Looks like you guys handled it pretty well. Hard part is done. Backfilling is easy. Good job fellas!

It was a slow go, but the dirt sat out in the sun a couple days and warned up. I was able to bust up those clods pretty easily today and it backfilled nicely. Gonna let it settle a few days and then tamp it down and resurface the drive pad