Saved from the scrap

[kevinj]

My boss was going to junk this. A few hours of repairing some loose & corroded wiring it was running fine, and I have a nice portable to go along with the DialArc 250.

Then I had to paint it up a bit:thumbsup:

 

[SARG]

Your boss appears to not have much common sense ...... good for you.

 

[kevinj]

Your boss appears to not have much common sense ...... good for you.

The repair shop wanted $3,500.00 for a new engine That is why they got rid of the machine. The engine was fine once I got constant juice to the coil.

Along with that the trailer this was on lost a wheel and it rolled on the highway. Insurance paid for that repair but they did not fix all the damage inside. We had trouble with it since it rolled. It has about 1600 hours.

 

[jayste]

Very nice! What brand of engine is on it?

 

[kevinj]

Very nice! What brand of engine is on it?

Onan P-220

 

[jayste]

Ouch! I've got a salvaged Bobcat 225 that had an Onan 16 on it I think it was a P220 as well. Onan parts are higher than a cat's back and few around when I was looking. It's still sitting in the shop "engineless". I thought about retrofitting it with another brand but lost the interest. I'm not even sure if the generator will even work once I get it going.

 

[kevinj]

Ouch! I've got a salvaged Bobcat 225 that had an Onan 16 on it I think it was a P220 as well. Onan parts are higher than a cat's back and few around when I was looking. It's still sitting in the shop "engineless". I thought about retrofitting it with another brand but lost the interest. I'm not even sure if the generator will even work once I get it going.

What is wrong with the engine??

 

[brin]

My boss was going to junk this. A few hours of repairing some loose & corroded wiring it was running fine, and I have a nice portable to go along with the DialArc 250.

Then I had to paint it up a bit:thumbsup:

Kevin,
Just some advice from an old guy....If I were you when your boss asks you how it worked out ..tell him..Not so good, you were right ..I had to throw it away..He will not take kindly to being made to look like a fool...Confucius must have a saying that would say it better..He needs to believe he was right.

 

[jayste]

What is wrong with the engine??

It had a busted crank, rod and piston.

 

[easygo]

Kevin,
Just some advice from an old guy....If I were you when your boss asks you how it worked out ..tell him..Not so good, you were right ..I had to throw it away..He will not take kindly to being made to look like a fool...Confucius must have a saying that would say it better..He needs to believe he was right.

Yeah! Bob is right. Tell your boss you had to sink a bunch of money into it and it is still not running. Try to look disappointed but thank him for letting you "try to" fix it.

Great looking machine congrats

 

[kevinj]

Kevin,
Just some advice from an old guy....If I were you when your boss asks you how it worked out ..tell him..Not so good, you were right ..I had to throw it away..He will not take kindly to being made to look like a fool...Confucius must have a saying that would say it better..He needs to believe he was right.

Made a deal with the boss when I got it:thumbsup: I told him if I could fix it it would be available if we need an extra welder.

 

[kevinj]

It had a busted crank, rod and piston.

That is a bummer......

 

[Kernopelli]

Kevin,
Just some advice from an old guy....If I were you when your boss asks you how it worked out ..tell him..Not so good, you were right ..I had to throw it away..He will not take kindly to being made to look like a fool...Confucius must have a saying that would say it better..He needs to believe he was right.

This is probably good advice. Not knowing your boss, he may be glad for you but there's a chance he may not like the idea that you got it running.

I worked for a family that had more money than the state of Texas and they sold an old IH gas tractor to one of our coworkers. I overheard the boss and his son laughing about how bad they screwed 'ol Leon on that piece of junk....they went on and on. At one point they were down on the floor because he had told them it took all the savings he had to buy it. It was a real eye opener for me that they were so proud and callus about taking advantage of one of their best and most loyal workers. Well, 'ol Leon came in that next Monday and the bosses son asked with a very sarcastic tone " How's that old tractor coming Leon?" He said, "Pretty good, a few hoses, new plugs, fresh gas and oil and she started right up. I bush hogged about 10 acres with it yesterday!"
The bosses got MAD and accused him of being dishonest and taking advantage of them...they wanted to fire him but didn't because he was such a good employee ( i.e. made them lots of $$$)...that's how angry they got. Leon never missed a beat. He reminded them that they came to him first, set the price and only after he bought it, did they tell him everything that they really thought was wrong with it. He said "you two thought you had really skinned me and it didn't bother you a bit...I thought you had too but I guess that wasn't the case." I still smile about that, they were certain they had bent him over and did it knowing he couldn't afford to even fix the tractor as far as they knew. He ended up getting a decent deal and they wanted to crucify him for it

 

[ModMech]

^^^^ Familiar story for sure.....

My boss had a wrecked unit, all the local shops that *would* touch it estimated at least $15k in repairs with no promises. Only 25% of it's value but a big chunk of cash just the same.

After over a month he couldn't take it any more and asked me to make some contacts and see if we could get and old employee to take a look.

Well "Bob" stops over, looks at the damage, makes about a page of notes then goes to visit the owner. After some negociating, Bob offers to "fix" it for $5k, we buy all the parts and clear the shop for him as a FAVOR to us. We agree and he shows up Saturday to beging the repairs.

Um, Monday morning it's completely repaired and parked outside painted and all. The owner was MAJOR P!SSED!!!!! $5k for only two days work! Not even, I think "Bob" actually had it finnished in about 10 hours.

After all the [email protected] jobs Bob did for us over the preceeding years, and considering we were going to have to total the unit w/o his help, everyone got off good.

 

[Soundguy]

sweet deal!

only time I got a deal half as good was when I was given a washer, dryer and fridge, all used and not working.. turned out needing 2 replacement cords and one heating element, oh.. and a jug of 409 and roll of papertowels..

again awesome scrap find!
soundguy

 

[mojoinco]

sweet deal!

only time I got a deal half as good was when I was given a washer, dryer and fridge, all used and not working.. turned out needing 2 replacement cords and one heating element, oh.. and a jug of 409 and roll of papertowels..

again awesome scrap find!
soundguy

Those are always great fun -- makes up for the piles of switches and cords from the ones that didn't work. I bought a 'money back if you can't fix it' $5 portable compressor (nail gun type). He ran it out of oil. A little work with a dowel and some sand paper (or crocus cloth), about 2 hours (opened the rod up a bit and smoothed the crank pin):licking:, and some synthetic oil I had sitting around (mismatched grade left over) and it has been running for a few years now.

 

[Soundguy]

I fixed a lawnmower engine like that before.. piston seized.. i hammered it out with a dowel.. cleaned up everything with ultra fine, and ran her another 10ys before the deck rusted out, and wheels broke..

soudnguy

 

[RPW]

Kohler has an engine for the Bobcat 225. Probably a lot cheaper than repair with ONAN parts.

 

[jayste]

Kohler has an engine for the Bobcat 225. Probably a lot cheaper than repair with ONAN parts.

RPW, what can you tell me about the Kohler engine? Model, HP, any adapting to do?

 

[kevinj]

Well, here is the next step in the salvage business:thumbsup:

Of course it still needs some paint

 

[dcyrilc]

This is probably good advice. Not knowing your boss, he may be glad for you but there's a chance he may not like the idea that you got it running.

It all depends on the boss. My old boss would bend over backwards to help out her employees. Including allowing them to have left over materials from jobs which were complete and free use of equipment when they needed it. When I left, she gifted their old digger/derrick boom truck to me for use on the farm. It's old and tired, but should last me a long time.

 

[arrabil]

My last boss threw out three managed network switches (~$800 each at the time). I asked if he minded if I took them. He said sure go ahead, what do I want with three broken switches. Power supply from one + motherboard from the second + RJ45 ports from the third = one working switch. I came in Monday and said something about it. He told me he wanted it back. I told him he could pry it from my cold, dead hands.

We went through a lot of equipment every year as a tech/phone company and he never threw out another single piece of equipment again while I worked there. Not one single thing. We had broken phone equipment from the 70s that no one needed and he just kept stacking it. Another employee told me they threw a bunch of it out after I quit five years later.

 

[Soundguy]

I'm surprised they didn't ask you to start fixing the stuff..

soundguy

 

[kevinj]

I'm surprised they didn't ask you to start fixing the stuff..

soundguy

I have made a good living at fixing stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[arrabil]

I'm surprised they didn't ask you to start fixing the stuff.

When your ego is too big to fit through a barn door its better to waste company money than to be shown up by an employee....

 

[Soundguy]

ah.. one of those....


soundguy

 

[kevinj]

When your ego is too big to fit through a barn door its better to waste company money than to be shown up by an employee....

I am on the managment side here. I have been out of a service truck for about 15 years.

 

[arrabil]

kevinj, I wasn't suggesting all management is that way. Heck I'm management now.

 

[kevinj]

kevinj, I wasn't suggesting all management is that way. Heck I'm management now.

Thats fine. The issue is we sent the machine out to a reputable shop as an insurance claim and this is what we ended up with. We do not employ engine mechanics as we are a pipefitting shop so in our field and shop people there are no mechanics. I used to be a mechanic in a previous life.

The repair estimate was what the machine is worth.