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Spring, I think you are right on the money. And it doesn't matter which side of the border you live on, the individual inspectors are given a uniform or badge or some other ID, and all of a sudden they think they are God. And making up the rules IS part of the game. These guys also get rewarded (raises & praise) based on the number of successful citations they issue. Only with clear & overwhelming evidence will they (or their bosses) ever issue a retraction, and that is where you got your guy up against the wall. I once had an insurance inspector go to the head of our Corporation without telling us at the local level and tell him that they were going to shut down the mill b/c of a “concern”, at an approximate cost of $1million/day. I was the engineering guy, and after doing lots of back flips (including hiring a firm that specialized in engineering for nuclear power plants) the problem was resolved without shutting down the mill, and the inspector was promoted. The phrase “absolute power corrupts absolutely” comes to mind. So does “common sense is uncommon”.
Mike
Can you tell us how the parts came to be broken? It might help someone avoid a similar experience.
Prairie Dog
Hi folks, here's my 2 cents.
First, partly because I'm close by and dealing with a Canadian dealer is easier than friggin around with border issues (and costs), I also deal with Asian Tractor (formerly JDB) and have always had excellent service and fair prices. I've also dealt with Tommy, and was very happy with his service & price, but the border thing more than doubled the cost of the parts. Sorry, Tommy.
When I bought my tractor a few years ago I bought the Chinese backhoe. (Don't do that!) After a few months the pivot points for the swing were shot, and with Mariner's help I contacted the factory, who sent the two new mating parts on warranty, free gratis. Excellent!!! I thought. Just one complication… they had to include the parts (about 140 pounds) in a crate tractor order going to a “local” dealer. Except that the local dealer was in Quebec, near Trois Rivieres, which is 400 or 500 miles from where I live in Ontario. “Pas de probleme!” says the Quebec dealer, and onto Fedex it went. After several days I called FedEx and eventually tracked it down to a transfer station in Montreal, where the clerk said the shipmanet was too heavy, and they were going to send it back to the shipper. “WTF?” I exclaimed. How it makes more sense to ship it 200 miles back instead of 300 to the destination excaped me, and after much whining and sobbing (on my part) she agreed to ship it to me. So, $400 shipping costs later I got my “free” part delivered to the FedEx depot, where I still had to track it down and go get it, another 20 mile drive. If I had known all this I would have jumped in my pickup and driven to the dealer, saved some cash, and had the parts 10 days sooner.
So, Mariner, I sympathize with your carrier frustration, but I think it's 6 of one, half a dozen of another.
Prairie Dog
PS: Just finishing my garage construction, taking delivery of a 9000# capacity, 4-post vehicle hoist today. Gloat, gloat.
Tin, that's a great post. Educated me a bit.
A few decades ago I was charged with leading the “Quality Improvement Process” (like “Quality is Job 1” at Ford, etc.) in our paper mill which employed about 1000 people at the time. The philosophy of doing it once and doing it right made sense at the time and it still does. However, there is a whole generation brought into the work force that has no idea of what QImprovement/QManagement is really about. On top of that, in spite of the huge gains in communication techniques, so much of the technology (like your post describes) has become so complex that it is very difficult to keep on top of. Then there is the huge pressure to do it cheaper (Jinma steering bracket, ruined Corvette frames) and a retreat of governmental regulation and it has once again become a bit of a crap shoot. (Not to defend governmental regulation, but here in Canada, like I assume is the case in the USA, too many regulators are self serving and needlessly impede business efficiency). But properly developed and efficiently enforced regulations do serve to provide a level playing field and a quality product. Unhappily, I don't see it happening here.
Now I'll get off MY box too.
As an aside, what IS your business? You educate body shops as part of it? I always thought you RAN a body shop.
Mike
Man, that's brutal. That looks like a quite new BMW (528?), so this is a big $$ claim. You wonder how long it will take insurance companies before they require you to list the big trees within 50 yards of your house before they will give you a premium quote. Sort of like declaring whether you smoke or not on your life insurance application.
You folks sure got whacked in that storm… we got some tail end effects here in southern Ontario, but nothing like you got. Happily, no injuries to you or family (I hope).
Mike
Tin, my steering mount failed in EXACTLY the same way. I was moving snow, and suddenly noted that it wouldn't turn. Looked like an Indycar race after turn one. Could have been bad, but I was lucky. Hate to have been heading over to the neighbor's in top gear.
Your comments re new auto repair procedures were very interesting… I had no idea it was that complex. I have had some experience with pressure vessel maintenance, and know a little about the required welding processes for 850 psi boilers. Written procedures are a must. Do written procedures exist for your line of work, or is it every man for himself?
Mike
Larry, that's good to hear. Just this week I ordered a Land Pride 4 ft rototiller for the ladies that I help from time to time. They have an organic farm and an older Jinma 254 that I try and maintain for them. In return I get food.
They had an older Chinese rototiller that apparently did not like rocks, and is currently in many, many pieces.
Glad to hear from an expert that I luckily made a good choice.
Mike
BG, that sounds interesting! A few photos showing the steps in making a chair would be good to see. Pardon my ignorance, but what is a “froe”?
I have sometimes thought that I have been in management for most of my working career, and there is virtually nothing concrete to show for it. I'm no Washington, Churchill, or Hitler either, whose leadership results do endure. But the man who made a chair that sits in the Tower of London, for example, has evidence that he did something worthwhile, centuries ago.
As for my hobbies, I really do like repairing/restoring old autos, although I'm coming to it more completely late in life. I'm trying to evolve from being an engineer to being a tradesman, with limited but satisfying success. Other pursuits include teaching boating (traditional navigation). And while it's not gardening, our property (56 acres, some cleared) does require significant TLC… and tractor time.
Mike
Peter, some other possibilities:
What hydraulic oil are you using? If you are in cold weather, AW32 seems to work best. If you have a higher viscosity oil it may result in your problem. If you are using some other “universal” fluid then you should change it out.
Have you changed your hydraulic filter recently? A dirty, or too-fine a filtration will result in excessive pressure drop to the pump inlet, and the pump won't pump enough. As I recall, 50 micron is the recommended OEM filter rating.
It would be helpful if you updated your profile so that we knew where you lived.
Prairie Dog aka Mike
Bert, I just looked at the document you posted, and I don't see how the hydraulics you have will ever do the job you need. The motor is rated at 7kw continuous, with perhaps 120% or 8.5 kw peak. That translates to around 13 or so max HP, and in my snow-blowing experience that's never going to do the job on a 66″ blower. I can overload the engine on my 284 with a 48″ rear-mount blower, although if I'm half-reasonable on travel speed the engine has lots to do the job.
You have lots of engine power, but I don't think your hydraulics will ever do the job. I would guess that you would want a minimum of 20 hp, 25 preferable at the blower and that's going to cost significant $$$. Not impossible, for sure, but low pressures mean physically big pumps, motors, & lines. Higher pressures can reduce the physical size, but the cost is usually more and there is much less tolerance for contamination and other factors (like cold-weather operation. In my mercifully short logging engineer phase of my life I tried to get a 5000 psi Poclain BH to work reliably at minus 40… I don't think Poclain sellls in Canada any more).
If it was me, I'd sell the blower and get one better suited to your tractor, and to me that means a rear-mount. But, of course, it's not me. If you really want to stick with the unit you have, then thepump, motor, and lines will all need to be nearly double in capacity. Associated bits like the reservoir and filter etc. will also need to be resized. None of this is easy or cheap. And while I agree that a mechanical drive wold be nice, it will probably boil down to a fit-it-if-you-can design.
I just looked at the most recent Princess Auto catalogue… a PTO mount pump alone will cost $700. By the time you do the rest I would guess that it total cost might be 3X that amount.
Bert, where do you live relative to Ottawa? I'm about 3 hours down the road near Belleville.
HTH,
Mike
