# Work to do



## gravtyklz (Dec 24, 2005)

Well just recently my dad decided to clear out some land of his so he can build on it.

It has a 40' mobile home on it, and a bunch of junk here, there, and everywhere.

So I think Im gonna rent a skid steer with a grappling bucket, and im gonna clean all that up. Its nice, since....well its my dad not a customer....ill do it for free, and hell just rent the equipment.

Ive done some reading other forums how people have demolished a mobile home. Do any of you have any experience with doing one? I'm just looking for tips, and things to watch out for....and anything else!


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## copusbuilder (Nov 8, 2005)

Matches???:cheesygri


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

There's a scrap metal man down the hollow from me. I drop off my scrap steel there every once in a while from panel tearouts and such. He has two mobile home frames there that are all that remains from two he's been tearing apart off and on for months. I inquired, and he told me that he'll never accept another one again, since they are a lot of work to scrap out. These two only appealed to him because they were totally skinned with aluminium. 

If I were you, I might see if the local fire company wants to burn it down for a training exercise. If it's pretty much out in the open, they might like the opportunity. They burn down houses with certain regularity for people in my area if it is in a location that makes it safe to do so. You might also check to see if there's a scrapyard near you that will accept it. If it still has a tongue and wheels, a good stout pickup can tow a mobile home a short ways.


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## gravtyklz (Dec 24, 2005)

Nah we were gonna first have it pulled out....but it cant be moved....the guy who moves them says its to messed up.

Either way...even if its a pain.....ill enjoy the time to play with a skid steer. It will be a good learning experience.


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## Peladu (Jan 8, 2006)

Disco the gas first........
(just wanted to throw in my smartass comment in for the day)


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## jmic (Dec 10, 2005)

gravtyklz said:


> Nah we were gonna first have it pulled out....but it cant be moved....the guy who moves them says its to messed up.
> 
> Either way...even if its a pain.....ill enjoy the time to play with a skid steer. It will be a good learning experience.


You don't seriously think you're going to do much to a 40' house trailer with a skid steer do you, even if it has a grapple. Really just spinning your wheels ( pun intended ) and wasting dollars. You'de be better off with a excavator for what you want to do. IMO:biggrin:


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## gravtyklz (Dec 24, 2005)

Well with no experience I didnt think it would be a good idea to try renting a large excavator, but what do I know?

I read some articles where skid steers were used....well actually they were Compact Track Loaders, so thats what I would aim at renting. No matter what I get....it appears ill have to have it delivered, so I guess it doesnt matter much what I get.


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## jmic (Dec 10, 2005)

gravtyklz said:


> Well with no experience I didnt think it would be a good idea to try renting a large excavator, but what do I know?
> 
> I read some articles where skid steers were used....well actually they were Compact Track Loaders, so thats what I would aim at renting. No matter what I get....it appears ill have to have it delivered, so I guess it doesnt matter much what I get.


 With a excavator you'll be able to crush, demolish, compact what ever junk you have there, probably for around 1000.00 including moves. With a skid steer or even compact tract loader you'll pay probably 350.00 per day ( by the way, against that trailer it'll be like a mouse humping an elephant ). By the time you get done with everything you'll probably have 3 days into it and won't get nearly the same amount of compaction ( if you're trying to compact this stuff ) maybe you just want to move it around and play with a skid steer.:thumbup:


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

gravtyklz said:


> Well with no experience I didnt think it would be a good idea to try renting a large excavator, but what do I know?


Oh, just don't let the guy that delivers it know that you've never run one before. Jump in and pull all the levers and see what they do. How hard can it be? Before long, you'll be on top of the world.  You won't be working at the efficiency of a trained operator, but it is the right machine for the job.

EDIT... just park your cars back a bit.


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## gravtyklz (Dec 24, 2005)

I dont care if I have to use a lawn mower....ill play with whatever I use!

But yeah seriously....if I went with an excavator...would I be okay using a machine like that having never done so? If I used a skid I planned on renting it for atleast a week. I was gonna do the demo work and then do some grade work.


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

gravtyklz said:


> I dont care if I have to use a lawn mower....ill play with whatever I use!
> 
> But yeah seriously....if I went with an excavator...would I be okay using a machine like that having never done so? If I used a skid I planned on renting it for atleast a week. I was gonna do the demo work and then do some grade work.


Maybe a crawler loader then. They operate pretty much like a skid steer, just bigger.

About the biggest thing you can tackle with a skid steer is a pile of dirt. No real stumping ability, no real weight, no height for ripping the trailer off its frame, erc.


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## jmic (Dec 10, 2005)

With what you just said go with the compact track loader, however you will have your hands full with that 40 footer. :laughing: :laughing: Send us some pics so we can chuckle.:laughing: :thumbup: Good Luck!


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## jmic (Dec 10, 2005)

For what you have to do if you can play a video game you will learn the controls of an excavator rapidly, like MD said just move any thing of value . Then sit and spin BABY! Rip, Crush, Demolish, Run over. Just go balistic on it!:thumbup: :laughing:


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## gravtyklz (Dec 24, 2005)

would you use a thumb, or a grappling bucket for an excavator? Im gonna call the rental place sometime and get an idea of all the prices.


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## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

Ever heard of tannerite? It is a binary target. You mix 2 legal chemicals together and shoot it with a high power rifle and it goes boom. I bet about 30-40 pounds of tannerite placed right would be a very cool way to demo it.


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

RobertCDF said:


> Ever heard of tannerite? It is a binary target. You mix 2 legal chemicals together and shoot it with a high power rifle and it goes boom. I bet about 30-40 pounds of tannerite placed right would be a very cool way to demo it.


True enough, but one of the components is amonium nitrate. They've put such a tight watch on that since the Oklahoma City thing, you'd be hard pressed to get any for recreational use... unless you know a farmer who's willing to part with some.


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## jmic (Dec 10, 2005)

gravtyklz said:


> would you use a thumb, or a grappling bucket for an excavator? Im gonna call the rental place sometime and get an idea of all the prices.


 Well a thumb could come in handy, but just the excavator with a bucket on it will get the job done! Would be nice to get at least something in the 15 ton range of machine size.


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## chrisherk (Dec 11, 2005)

jmic said:


> Well a thumb could come in handy, but just the excavator with a bucket on it will get the job done! Would be nice to get at least something in the 15 ton range of machine size.


 jmic is right on, If you want to get into excavating, you will find yourself in the seat of an excavator the most. If you cant rent big, then rent a 10k machine min. with a thumb, put the dumpster next to the mobilehome and start at the top. Isnt a mobile home built out of metal? Maybe you need a gas powered cutoff saw also. God, I love destroying things.

Chris


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## gravtyklz (Dec 24, 2005)

Okay I can get an excavator CAT 312 Excavator which is almost 29K lbs for $450/day, $270 for delivery and pickup. Or I can get it for a week for $1350.

Is that a pretty good deal? I can get a backhoe for $200/day with the same delivery fee. But it seems like the excavator would be much better to me, either would be fun!


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## Glasshousebltr (Feb 9, 2004)

Gona be a lot of nails, better steer clear of rubber, unless you think you can steer clear of the nails.

Bob


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## PipeGuy (Oct 8, 2004)

Peladu said:


> Throughout the years that buried heap will corrode and decompose and end up in the well water.


You've been reading too many Greenpeace pamphlets. It's an old trailer home not a box car full of dioxin. Most of its parts started out in someone's well water.



gravtyklz said:


> if it was just open land....ide bury it all....but this is a 1.75 acre lot.


Agreed. Not enough room to really 'hide it' properly. Five acres?...well you could probably find a patch to plant it in.


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## Peladu (Jan 8, 2006)

Oh come on Pipe, I throw my garbage out of the car window just like every other guy, and I always ask for plastic instead of paper…..sometimes I even flush twice when I don’t need to, three times if I am not on my toilet. You say it’s just a trailer, but you don’t know what else will just end up in there.

Be honest, oh so very honest…..would you knowingly raise kids on property that the previous owner buried his earthly belongings in? Then let them bathe, drink, and swim in the well water that is coming from that property? It wouldn’t be funny if Pipe junior was out digging a hole, for a new fort, and out came a plume of asbestos. OK, maybe that last sentence made absolutely no sense, but you seem smart enough to know where I am coming from.


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## PipeGuy (Oct 8, 2004)

Peladu said:


> Be honest, oh so very honest…..would you knowingly raise kids on property that the previous owner buried his earthly belongings in? Then let them bathe, drink, and swim in the well water that is coming from that property?


Anything carried to an extreme is probably "a bad thing" - especially when it comes to getting cozy with the idea of burying unwanted or otherwise undesirable materials. No, I wouldn't want my kids playing in a dump or drinking its water (though I played in a neighbor's uncontrolled dump as a kid without too much ill effect). That being said, I'd have few if any, concerns about occupying a property that had an old house trailer buried somewhere off in a remote corner beneath 10 or 12 feet of compacted dirt - honestly. Call me naive (or whatever else might come to mind) but I just don't fancy that much of a risk.


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

One of the most expensive and fanciest communties in my area is built over an old landfill. They market the community to retired folk (no kids allowed). Go figure.


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## Coastal (Dec 20, 2005)

So whens this demo going down??? Get a thumb if you can, trying to pick stuff up with just a bucket will drive you crazy being a nooby operator.

Dont forget pics!!!


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## gravtyklz (Dec 24, 2005)

I thought it would go down much sooner, but the business side of things is going slow.

Yeah the machine wont have a thumb....the only machine that has a thumb, WOULD cost double what one without would cost......and I say would because thats what the cat dealer told me......as he also said that they dont have it anymore anyways...he was a real trip.

The lack of rental yards around here drives me nuts. When it gets closer to time to do the project im gonna call every dealer I can find and see if they'll rent something to me. I hear great things about CAT rental stores and how nice their equipment is, but.....it would be nice to have what I need too.

Think it would really be horrible without a thumb?


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## Wolf (Mar 24, 2006)

*Destroying Things*



chrisherk said:


> God, I love destroying things.
> 
> Chris


Loved that comment--that you love to destroy things. 

I love destroying things with my excavator--that's why I do demolition exclusively. 

Demolition--what a blast


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## Wolf (Mar 24, 2006)

how did you end up clearing the land?


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