LilGiantsConstrCo - Page 23

Lil Giants · #**441** 02-28-2012, 03:01 AM

I've been burning up the charges the last 3 nights carving away at the wall.. by the time it's time to leave the wall to deal with the dirt below, I'll be driving off - down the pile, not far from the floor now!

Although, time for a little bit of service at end of shift tonite, this track got clogged up with packed clay inside the links causing some binding issues. A few times, the way the track was twisting over the idler & drive sprocket I thought it was on the brink of skipping off! The excessive tightness in the track doesn't fiz on the torque of the drive motors at all.. oodles of power with these new track drives!

Soak the track in the kitchen sink for ten minutes melts the clay away.

The other track still on the machine, I dripped a bit of blue lock-tite on each wrist pin when upgrading to the new track drives last November, they're all still in place. This side the pins are sliding out.. looks like experiment is a success.. although I haven't tried knocking any of them pins out that lock-tite'd

, shouldn't be a problem with some force!

Third time was the charm trying to solder my leaky cylinder, the laquer thinner was the culprit for the solder balling up & falling off. Once I washed the cylinder down with brake/electrical cleaner, then the solder flowed no problem and I used my acetylene/oxygen with the smallest tip for the heat source.. several hrs later & it's still not leaking!

I got a few other pieces sitting on the bench waiting for me to tear down for repairs.. the dozer, right track frame popped off drive motor, probably in need of a new machined mount.

The GL dump trk, I think the middle axle might have a tooth missing in the crown gear, something is clicking causing a skip or maybe it's the rear axle.. 50/50/90 Rule - what's the wager I tear down the wrong axle 1st?!

TRUCKMAKER · #**442** 02-28-2012, 07:59 PM

Hi Joe, I don't know if you heard but WBBM, Chicago talk radio was discussing your basement dig today. My wife listens to the station and came home and said "guess what I heard On the radio", she said they got a lot of call ins from hobbyists in support of the project and in the hobby in general. She also felt the DJ's didn't know alot about what was going and weren't very serious, and she wonders why we don't listen to that station when I'm in the Jeep. Keep up the good work, its fun to watch!

Kent

,

Lil Giants · #**443** 02-29-2012, 12:50 AM

Was that AM780 talk radio? What's the name of the program? I was googling to try to find a podcast of it..

Yeah Kent, that doesn't surprise me that the DJ's were trying to make a comedy special of it... that's what the last two weeks has been like, whether it was talk radio or answering articles for newspapers & online, the general misconception is "man playing with toys in his basement for 15yrs". It was a bizarre story that everyone wanted to report.. rather than it was an unusual new hobby that many others might like to know more about & get involved with.

TOY bulldozers & Toy trucks... "don't you think they are more efficient ways to renovate your basement?", was the most often asked question I got. People who don't have, don't do hobbies don't get it! Simply put. All they see is "toys normally for kids and this adult playing with them".

They're clueless to the complicacy & intricacy involved in the creation of these minature models and fail to realise the sophisicated machinery & highly skilled tradesmen that this hobby demands to not only design a high quality, durable product, but also the high skill of an individual it takes to assemble & fine tune the model to perfect working order... not something the average 10yr old could slap together to take to his backyard sandbox.

I didn't do a very good job of explaining that the last couple weeks.. I'm not a public speaker (verbally) & got caught completely unprepared with the publicity.. about the time I calmed down and overlooked ppl's short jokes towards my hobby & my private life as an individual and focused moreso on explaining what the hobby involved.. too late, the media moved on.

However, I may have a 2nd chance this summer, there's a couple of TV news & documentary programs that have been quite adamant to get me on camera.. I told them I'd talk to them again in July.. I'd think about it awhile. I can show them the numerous parts in a kit, the mechanical, electrical & hydraulic components necessary to build a powerful & functional model.

fhhhstix · #**444** 02-29-2012, 08:43 PM

I kinda know what you mean Joe. When the guys I work with found out about my hobby they thought I was just playing with toys. So one day I took a couple of trucks and a kit to work and showed them, then they stopped kidding me about playing with toys and now ask about whats new on my work bench and ask for pics. It is surprising the turn around people have once they see them and understand the complexity of our hobby.

Travis

ihbuilder · #**445** 02-29-2012, 09:32 PM

"It is surprising the turn around people have once they see them and understand the complexity of our hobby."

for some it's that way , others still think we're just playing with toys

I lothe that term " Toys " when it comes to these models

they actually can be very usefull in real life . take dragline world for instance , I beleive I read correctly , that they do some training on those models . It gives a miniture real life experiance as opposed to a simulator .

Lil Giants · #**446** 02-29-2012, 09:49 PM

The aussie radio talk media was pretty cool about it, but 4 minutes wasn't enough time to even get a mention of this forum over the air...

The germans, well they invented this hobby for all of us and have been very kind with their remarks, though I still saw the word toys mentioned in the article. The cdn media has been very disappointing...

Although I did do a phone interview with some one from the Weather Network in Toronto this morning.. she'll write the article, then send to me to edit, then post it online.. so a better chance for proper info will be posted this time.

Any fellow co workers pick up the hobby since your "show & tell" Travy?

A vid from last night showing a big boulder the size of a car (a scale sized car that is

) that I dug up with the 850.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXxc1aaZi0E

Lil Giants · #**447** 02-29-2012, 09:55 PM

I saw that idea float around on quite a few forums Stevie, after ppl read about our hobby, as well as indepth discussion of remote construction processes on the moon & Mars.. a bit beyond my realm of imagination though.

ihbuilder · #**448** 02-29-2012, 10:34 PM

My problem is getting use to not being in the seat with the model . but then I spend a lot of time building then running them

I hope to change that soon I got plans for coaling the furnace with the loader and Mack

spring is on the way but I got some house work to finish before I start my mini RR construction off my silo .

Lil Giants · #**449** 03-01-2012, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ihbuilder

My problem is getting use to not being in the seat with the model ..

It's funny to hear you say that...

An oil company just finnished putting in a 4" natural gas line just a mile north of my farm where it ended after 18miles of construction from a treater. At one time there was 11 track hoes working, all within a mile of each other, I was sitting on a hill watching them a couple different afternoons.

I spoke to one of the operators briefly, told him about my hobby and he later stopped by after work. The controls on my radio are the same as the Hitachi 230 model he was running, so I gave him the radio remote to my 850 right away.. you should have seen it! He was chasing the model hoe around, he couldn't make it work without standing behind it.. 15yr operator!

ihbuilder · #**450** 03-01-2012, 12:59 AM

yea ,I was in the operator seat since I was 10 . I started on a koering 6605 in 1987 . I'll have to post a pic of that lil excavator (14000 hrs on it ) they're the biggest 1's we have anymore

I miss my 307 cat

with practice , I'll get there

I got to build mine 1st though

TRUCKMAKER · #**451** 03-01-2012, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil Giants

Was that AM780 talk radio? What's the name of the program? I was googling to try to find a podcast of it..

Yeah Kent, that doesn't surprise me that the DJ's were trying to make a comedy special of it... that's what the last two weeks has been like, whether it was talk radio or answering articles for newspapers & online, the general misconception is "man playing with toys in his basement for 15yrs". It was a bizarre story that everyone wanted to report.. rather than it was an unusual new hobby that many others might like to know more about & get involved with.

TOY bulldozers & Toy trucks... "don't you think they are more efficient ways to renovate your basement?", was the most often asked question I got. People who don't have, don't do hobbies don't get it! Simply put. All they see is "toys normally for kids and this adult playing with them".

They're clueless to the complicacy & intricacy involved in the creation of these minature models and fail to realise the sophisicated machinery & highly skilled tradesmen that this hobby demands to not only design a high quality, durable product, but also the high skill of an individual it takes to assemble & fine tune the model to perfect working order... not something the average 10yr old could slap together to take to his backyard sandbox.

I didn't do a very good job of explaining that the last couple weeks.. I'm not a public speaker (verbally) & got caught completely unprepared with the publicity.. about the time I calmed down and overlooked ppl's short jokes towards my hobby & my private life as an individual and focused moreso on explaining what the hobby involved.. too late, the media moved on.

However, I may have a 2nd chance this summer, there's a couple of TV news & documentary programs that have been quite adamant to get me on camera.. I told them I'd talk to them again in July.. I'd think about it awhile. I can show them the numerous parts in a kit, the mechanical, electrical & hydraulic components necessary to build a powerful & functional model.

Yes it was AM780 Talk radio but she didn't catch the name of the program. I agree with "they'll never get it". Heck they'd really lose it if they new how many people on this and some of the other forums from around the world would give our left one thing to come to your basement and "play" with our "toys".

Keep on Diggin'
Kent

Espeefan · #**452** 03-02-2012, 02:44 AM

Take heart, Joe. It's a hobby and past time, just like everything else we do for fun. This hobby is not so much different then model railroading, and look how often outsiders call that hobby 'playing with toy trains'. It doesn't help the fact either, that there really are some toy trains, and then there are some genuine scale models of trains. The difference is significant, but the uneducated people really don't know any better. The guys who collect the toy trains are fine with the term toy (because they know they are toys), but if you called an HO scale modeler's super detailed locomotive the same thing, he'd be offended.

In the same way, this scale modeling facite of the hobby really is unique and shares very little in common with the other radio controlled models out there. And because it's still so new to North America, most people might not understand the level of engineering that goes into replicating a functional scale piece of equipment. They aren't really toys, but miniature scale machines. They work the same way, function the same way, look the same way, but are just on a smaller scale. Eventually people may figure it out, but maybe the best way to prove it all of the sudden is to just tell them how much a good excavator costs, and that should dispell the thought of these things being toys.

Anyway Joe, I wouldn't worry to much about what the outsiders think. One just has to look at your youtube videos and see how popular they are among those who really know the hobby. I think your videos do a much better job of promoting the hobby then anything else out there.

Lil Giants · #**453** 03-03-2012, 02:59 AM

Yeah, I know I'm being a Suck, licking my wounds from the last couple weeks.. within a day or so of it beginning, I made the mistake of googling my name, username and man digs basement to figure out where all the misinformation started.. reading the comments on various forums & blogs along way.. I'd say 99% was very positive & the 1%er's cut deep with their remarks.. a couple of internet cowards had the nerve to link this hobby with pedophilia.. that made me very defensive from then on while discussing my hobby with the world media!

Anyways, I thought I'd share a little bit of my experience of it all with the rest of you so when the spotlight shines on you, you won't get rattled like I did.

On a different note.. I betcha you can't guess what THIS IS?!

(I've got two more boxes to show up)

elliot330 · #**454** 03-03-2012, 05:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil Giants

On a different note.. I betcha you can't guess what THIS IS?!

(I've got two more boxes to show up)

Fantastic... I knew it wouldn't be long!!!

But i'm confused? The tyres are from the 50 or 4206 but as there are 6 esc's I'm thinking 50, but they are brushess, so now I'm thinking 40. I'm confused :-)