Non-motoring > Boys' toys.	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: hawkeye	Replies: 34

New Sun 8 Jul 12 23:42   Boys' toys. - hawkeye

We've turned our garden into a building plot. The guys I hired to drive the plant last week have left behind a 9 tonne Thwaites dumper and a 3 tonne Volvo excavator. My mate and I have been playing today. I can work the excavator with reasonable accuracy at about a tenth the speed of the professionals and I've driven the dumper full and empty without hitting anything. Mrs H has done a good deal of tutting and talked a lot about growing up. Tee hee! Anyone else done any playing with 'proper' diggers and things? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 00:10   Boys' toys. - Londoner

Green with envy! Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 00:53   Boys' toys. - VxFan

>> Anyone else done any playing with 'proper' diggers and things? Small dumper trucks are great. Rear wheel steering took a bit of getting used to. Amazing amounts of torque from their engines at low revs. Drove one several years ago, pulled away in top gear (3rd) instead of first. Engine sounded like it was doing 5 revs / min. Thump ....... Thump ....... Thump ....... Thump ....... Thump ....... Thump ....... Thump ....... Thump. Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 9 Jul 12 at 00:54 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 01:27   Boys' toys. - devonite

you get loads of toys on farms! - used to be like xmas for me! Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 07:12   Boys' toys. - MD

Turned a mini digger over once. One half brick too many under a track and goodbye. Lucky escape. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 08:13   Boys' toys. - Zero

'er indoor took me to diggerland for my birthday once, and there you get to play with the big eff-off JCB's! Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 10:20   Boys' toys. - Cliff Pope

I once helped a friend start up an ancient digger that had been abandoned on his land by a previous owner. We had no idea what the controls did, so cautiously tried the effect of moving a few levers. The ones to make the whole arm and cab assembly rotate were a bit scary the first time. But it was irretrievably bogged down, I think while trying to dig a lake, so as far as I know it is still there, probably underwater now. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 11:41   Boys' toys. - Chas

How about driving a AEC Mammoth Major 3,000 gallon refuelling tanker, tugs to move aircraft and sometimes taxying a retired military jet? All done on a fairly regular basis as part of my volunteer work. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 11:48   Boys' toys. - sooty123

Best I could manage is a doing a 3 point turn in a 8t recovery truck whilst towing a 4tonner. It had the bar armour on it, lets say it was pretty hard ! Like Chas, Aircraft tractors as well brake man on the mighty Tornado, does that count as driving ;). What sort of a/c do you help look after Chas? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 12:38   Boys' toys. - zookeeper

me and my mates used to visit building sites in the evenings and start the mixers up and drive the dumper trucks in the 70,s....i worked on building sites in the 90,s .....do they still keep the ignition key under the seats of the diggers/excavators ? like they used to Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 12:40   Boys' toys. - Zero

In my "play on building sites days" they never had keys to the dump trucks, just a good swing on the starter handle was all it took. If you were lucky, b......s to start sometimes. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 14:24   Boys' toys. - zookeeper

>> In my "play on building sites days" they never had keys to the dump trucks, >> just a good swing on the starter handle was all it took. If you were >> lucky, b......s to start sometimes. >> remembering to hold the decompresser lever off till you had spooled it up Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 16:52   Boys' toys. - Chas

>> >> What sort of a/c do you help look after Chas? >> Volunteered for 7 years now at Bruntingthorpe. Primarily look after the Polish TS-11 Iskra there but have worked on quite a few of the other a/c in the collection as well. Link to info here: www.bruntingthorpeaviation.com Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 10 Jul 12 10:04   Boys' toys. - sooty123

That's quite an unusual aircraft, what's it like to work on reasonable straight forward. Are they in taxable condition? Is the work mainly of preservational nature? Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 10 Jul 12 12:49   Boys' toys. - Chas

>> That's quite an unusual aircraft, what's it like to work on reasonable straight forward. Are they in taxable condition? Is the work mainly of preservational nature? >> Most of the retired aircraft at Bruntingthorpe are serviceable for ground running. The Iskra is relatively simple to work on and reliable. The AP manuals are in English as the Indian Airforce used them as trainers. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 10 Jul 12 12:54   Boys' toys. - sooty123

Thanks sounds like a good thing down there, I had a look at that link nice to see you've got 4 JPs and a Jag. Got any plans for anything else at the moment. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 13:09   Boys' toys. - Mapmaker

There's a reason that the death rate on building sites has dropped dramatically - to almost zero - over the last hundred years. It's a result of training people to use dangerous machines before letting them loose. Mrs H probably doesn't want to attend your funeral just yet. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 14:09   Boys' toys. - hawkeye

>> Mrs H probably doesn't want to attend your funeral just yet. The words of someone who doesn't know Mrs H all that well ... I did read the handbook supplied (the only operator that did) and took brief instruction from one of the professionals. And it wasn't me who side-swiped next door's garage guttering ... The single most disturbing thing about driving the dumper for me was the steering wheel straight-ahead position was never in the same place after a turn. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 14:38   Boys' toys. - WillDeBeest

2.5t ex-council road roller for me, dating from the 1930s - the oldest vehicle by far that I've ever driven. We used it for rolling the square at my old cricket club - and we had the hardest, fastest strip in the league. It was surprisingly easy to steer and stop but I never mastered starting the thing. It was oddly therapeutic to drive: the noise, the smell and the vibration were so intense as to drive all other thoughts from my head. Eventually it broke down too close to the start of a season and was sold to a collector as a restoration project, to be replaced by a soulless modern thing with a roll cab and an electric starter. Progress. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 14:43   Boys' toys. - zookeeper

we must of broke more windows on one demolistion site during a weekend ( at least 500 houses) than jellicos grand fleet at scapa flow during gunnery practice, the kids today dont know what it feels like to lob a half house brick through a pane glass window.....elf n safety an all that....... although i did have a near miss when a brick came back from a kitchen window that had been replaced with perspex...thems was the days Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 18:45   Boys' toys. - Ted

i did have a near miss >> when a brick came back from a kitchen window that had been replaced with perspex...thems >> was the days I think they got you on CCTV Zooey.... >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcE106AMOWA Ted Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 19:56   Boys' toys. - zookeeper

>> i did have a near miss >> >> when a brick came back from a kitchen window that had been replaced with >> perspex...thems >> >> was the days >> >> I think they got you on CCTV Zooey.... >> >> >> >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcE106AMOWA >> >> Ted >> ha ha ted we wernt that stupid, they didnt have cctv then ...or warnings about asbestosis ...cough cough Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 16:13   Boys' toys. - TeeCee

Perlini 40-ton quarry dumper truck. Autobox, six forward and two reverse. Throttle, brake and retarder. I'd finished doing a computer installation and was allowed to spend the rest of the day left to my own devices, shuttling the thing between the mechanised Tyrannosaur that dropped 40 tons of stone onto it (in one go and you really know about it from inside) and the feed hopper to the primary crusher. Amusing bit was that the "shelf" running along and down the quarry walls that passed for an access road had originally been designed for things rather smaller. There was just space for two to pass each other, if one had its mirror in the wall and the other had its outer wheels on the edge(!) For added fun in this area, while the trucks are LHD, being a British quarry we drove on the left...... Some years ago, but much the same as this: www.perlini-equipment.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72&Itemid=100 It looks huge when you stand next to it and feels even bigger when sat in the driver's seat. If you enjoyed Tonka toys as a lad, these things are probably the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 17:20   Boys' toys. - Haywain

How good are you with the digger? Can you do this yet? youtu.be/CuGBpwnWW2I Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 17:30   Boys' toys. - devonite

I could do it faster!! - and without the machine!! Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 17:36   Boys' toys. - Haywain

Sorry, Devonite, the rules are that you have to use the digger or you're disqualified and sent home! Better get practicing! Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 17:52   Boys' toys. - Zero

Naked girls, Italian TV. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 19:19   Boys' toys. - MJM

Does it count if you do it inside the digger's cab? That's using the digger, isn't it----- Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 19:25   Boys' toys. - Dave_

In the mid-90s I worked for a plant hire company delivering all the different building site kit - diggers, dumpers, rollers etc. Had to be able to demonstrate the machines to the end user. My mate worked for an internet start-up and invited me on one of their weekend-away jollies. Several driving-themed activities took place on the Saturday, including a JCB challenge with a prize for the person who was quickest and most accurate at moving a bucket from one spot to another. It quickly became clear I was the only person out of the 100 present who'd driven one before :) Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 9 Jul 12 23:33   Boys' toys. - Armel Coussine

>> Can you do this yet? >> youtu.be/CuGBpwnWW2I That's fabulous Haywain. Bunga bunga molto subtile! Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Mon 9 Jul 12 at 23:33 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 10 Jul 12 08:38   Boys' toys. - Roger.

..........and now for another boy's toy. ;-) s115.photobucket.com/albums/n297/penfro/?action=view¤t=poledancer.mp4 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 10 Jul 12 08:40   Boys' toys. - Zero

LOL Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 10 Jul 12 14:15   Boys' toys. - Haywain

Actually, I only came across the stripping digger during a first unsuccessful attempt to find this one. As a (not very good) paddler of an open-top canoe, I applaud the skill of this bloke. Oh, yes, and the John Lee Hooker track is a great choice of music! youtu.be/7odAbL3Ygts Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 10 Jul 12 14:23   Boys' toys. - Armel Coussine

Chapeau Haywain! Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 10 Jul 12 16:09   Boys' toys. - Zero

the comments are great Good, but about 2 min. too long. CGT867 Reply Excellent comment,but about 18 letters too long. Pofearghail in reply to CGT867 Reply to this message | Report message