Yellow Iron Seat Time

[Redbirdman 7]

Ok, it ain't red but it sure felt good to get back in the saddle again.

A local farmer/contractor gave me this old girl to work around the airport for a couple months. We have 30 to 40 acres of taxiway-runway 'infields' that need a lot of attention and this 4 wheel drive squeakin monster can still pull her heart out, even with over 8000 hours on the hobbs.

I had over 50 tandem loads of fill to spread

and over 4 miles of taxiway edge to grade and get ready for gravel.

She burned about 7 gallons of diesel each day running from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM.... I needed at least a gallon of beer each night and a Pint of Sport cream.

I think every bone and muscle in me hurts and I could barely walk at the end of the day............But it was the best damn feeling I've had in 10 years (well, not exactly ) but you understand.

I ran a Case 580 for 10 years before I retired to AZ 10 years ago so it was sure good to see I could still handle it! The Gannon did all the work, and twisting and watching over my shoulder was the hardest part. I could not wear headphones, but I had to have my aircraft handheld alongside to listen for arriving aircraft, and I had to answer all the 'traffic' inbound and taking off to tell the pilots I would be standing still out of the way. All in all, it was a great week........

There's a few months of work here, so nxt week I have to give up the seat to another old guy..... ..........fair is fair!

But rest assured I ain't done YET!

ED :thumbs:

[Horse'n Around 22]

Hey Ed, That came out great. Do you live at or real close by the airport that you have your hangar ? It sounds like you might . Ill never forget the first time I tried to use a gannon box. A neighbor had one and our driveway in St David looked to me like it could use a little help. It was the summer before I started High School and I wanted to surprise my Dad by making our driveway nice and smooth. It didnt start out good at all. It was getting gouged and uneven, it was looking like a bad idea on my part.My neighbor just sat laughing then he came over and gave me advise and told me what I was doing wrong (almost everything ) Bless his heart he still let me do it so I could learn (try to) Well it took me almost 2 hrs to get the driveway nice/decent and it was only about 75 yards long. He could have done it in 10 minutes max... how do I know? Because he did his driveway a soon as I brought the tractor back to him and thats how long it took him.Showoff !!! When you see someone working with one, it looks easy, but like anything else, its a skill that you have to work at and learn. It looks like you have a lot of fun. I finally got the hang of it (kind of) but that didnt make me good at it. You should have seen the time I decided to "surprise" Dad by plowing our side 2 acre field for corn....It looked like I was intoxicated or blind while I did it. The furrows were all over the place Chalk up another one to those things that look way easier than they are. At last I tried right???? A month later I started High School in St David and being a small farming town I got to take Vo Ag as one of my electives, I sure could have used that class a month earlier!

John

[Shuboxlover 480]

It's beautiful there!!!!!

Looks so warm :thumbs:

[Gene_S 93]

That's some good work there

If you only used 7 gallon a day thats pretty dang good!!!

[Redbirdman 7]

Yep........live right on the taxiway! And my bumpersticker says: "I LOVE airplane noise"

The Gannon is a lot like a backhoe....you really can't explain how to do it, after you get it.....it comes natural but you can't explain it!

You either dig or spread in one direction, but when you reverse direction you also reverse the digging or spreading so you have to change the blade pitch for each direction. And of course you have blade angle and up and down.....then theres the ripper bar....and whenever someone is watching you everything slams and crashes...and that's not to say when you turn your head to see where your going everything seems to change position by itself!.........

ed

ps: Hows PA?......it was 80 here today!

and maybe the 7 gallons was a bit more give and take.....But I dumped seven gallons in every day (a 5 and a 2, the only yellow cans I had??) (25 bucks for 4 days=$100.00 out of pocket) I'm not sure what I started with because the fuel gauge was just an empty hole in the dash......but when I bring her back I'll fill her up........and bring the farmer a case of Jack!

[Gene_S 93]

"Bring the farmer a case of Jack!"

And you thought the fuel was expensive...

[dclarke 4,082]

Lookin good Ed! That's a lot of dirt to move. thanks for the pics.

[varosd 1,185]

Weather here in Central PA looks like mid 50's with drizzle. might be too early but thinking of aerating the yard!!

Don V

[VinsRJ 723]

Now that has to be a great job! :thumbs:

[Redbirdman 7]

If you only used 7 gallon a day thats pretty dang good!!!

Mr. Haasman ( )... My son reminded me that machine is only a '210', not a '310' model which I assume means it has a much smaller engine. (and no air conditioning.........) which probably accounts for the better fuel use. I did notice the front bucket was very slow compared to a 570 or 580 Case. I would not want to load trucks all day with it. And except for when you are making a heavy pull, or running back empty to the pile the engine needs to run at minimum RPM.

PS:.........MY WIFE walked past the computer with the picture of the JD above and just said: "NO !!!!!!....Don't even think about it!"

gee, I wonder what she was thinking...

ed