Fire Fightin' 40C

[TimT]

We had a live burn and training for our FD at a donated house. I brought the '53 40C for the mop up after the house was down...

[Ray III]

Nice! I went after a burning brush pile with mine once, that would not a good time for the reverser to break!

[MADJACK]

Cool! Fun times

[digitup2]

Just watch those old gassers around a fire like that .They tend to ignite faster for some reason than the diesels do ? That old 40C looks like it's in its right environment though.Digitup.

[roadbuilder]

Ideal work for a cold damp day. Nothing like tending a burn pile to take the chill off.
Looks like the brickwork on that chimney was solid. Seems like ones I get around are rotten and trying to fall on their own. Those you have to watch so they don't collapse back on top of you.

[townlineterry]

Maybe I'm getting timid in my old age, but given the potienal for the upper part of that chimney to break lose and fall backwards onto the machine. And lack of protection for the operator, don't think that is anything I would try.
At least the paramedics would be right there.

Terry

[roadbuilder]

Yep, chimneys, rock piles, rock faces along slip planes, anything that is stacked can topple. Even a ROPS canopy won't protect you when stuff like that is coming at you. It might topple or tip out first, but when it hits the hood, tracks, you be amazed how fast it will tumble into the cab with you.

[TimT]

Oh beleve me, I was very careful, I was at a pretty good angle to it, and if you look close you can see that the hearth/base in the rear is very wide and goes all the way to the basement floor.I pushed very easily on the corner, no jerking or ramming. It slid right across about three feet and then over the edge.We tried to knock it down with a master stream flowing 900-1,000 GPM on the gun, but no coming apart or rocking. I am a lifetime equipment operator and truck driver by trade and worked demolition for a few years tearing down steel mill buildings and furnaces, etc running a big Link-Belt 7400 excavator w/ shear, so I was well aware of the dangers of working below things like that. Just like guys that slam into tree trunks and then eat the tree top.!! I know lots of old crawlers worked in the logging industry, and when I run ours in the woods I realy gain respect for the men that ran them.... Very dangerous machines in the old days... lots of ways to get killed on them.

[roadbuilder]

Hi Tim,
Pictures sometimes don't show the experience and planning that go into different projects.
I actually was trying to help the less experienced operators recognize and think about the potential dangers when working against something taller than the machine. No disrespect intended. Recoil and backlash are bad lessons to learn about the hard way.
My old house had 2 chimneys, both unstable. I tore it down with an excavator. If I hadn't had one available, I probably would have climbed up on the roof and put a choker and line on them and pulled them down. High pressure water would have worked, as a storm wind/rain blew a couple bricks off once. Just part of the reason I chose to build a new house rather than restore.
Dale

[Ray III]

I intend to put a forestry style canopy on my 420 someday. When I push trees over in the woods my eyes are on the top and I'm ready to jump ship.

[JAY AND EBBEN]

why were you pushing over something that had a pretty good chance of falling back and hitting you

[TimT]

Read the posts. That Chimney had more to it than meets the eye. I am well aware of the dangers of various structures.