Sign of a poor farmer

[stuckmotor]

I walked by the TV long enough to see the rescue of a pretty blond who was tied up with a nice braded nylon rope or cable cord, the kind I like to work with. I found myself getting upset when her rescuer whipped out a knife and cut the rope instead of untying it.

 

[Wagtail]

I feel your pain Mate! Sure, I carry a "Gerber" multi-tool on me at all times (not just when I'm out rescuing damsels-in-distress), but the waste of a good length of line is just sacrilegious. The same as end-pieces of fence wire or off-cuts of wood; you never know when they'll come in handy.

Mind you, these days I've noticed that people don't practice or utilise the proper knot for the job. They'll use half a dozen half-hitches or the "if you don't know knots; tie LOTS!" method. Even when I was in the Navy I'd have to admonish (nice way of saying 'smack upside the head') Junior Sailors for improper knot tying.

And don't get me started on "if you're going to carry a blade, keep it sharp!"

 

[stuckmotor]

Carrying a dull blade is almost as bad as taking a knife to a gun fight.

 

[the old grind]

I sold my dragline 5 or so yrs ago. Fellas wouldn't load the Erie 15B with 35' boom on (as when brought here) so decided to cut lose its connecting bolts with a chainsaw-type w/'rubber wheel' cutter and load it separately.

I suggested spooling-up the cables, but they were in a hurry or thought that was no biggie. "Naah, get 'em out of the way."

None heard me say (or cared?) that two >100' and one >200' cable (6 part reeving on boom) would cost them dearly to replace at >$5/ft for even barely adequate 1/2" wire rope. I felt so sorry for them I dropped the price by $1k after driving it onto the semi-trailer for them.

The lads seemed to handle their company's trucks & CAT D-6 pretty well, but I suspect they hit a $$ wall with the ancient Erie in short time.

I've since coined/used the phrase, "You can't fix 'City'."

 

[stuckmotor]

For want of a cable a job was lost....

 

[the old grind]

Perhaps all three, as planned/proposed. :mur:

IIRC, scrap was all of $1C/ton at the time (~15 tons). I took $5C out of pity for their hasty flub.

How quickly to go from 'workable' to 'white elephant'...