Some boys just want to have fun

   / Some boys just want to have fun #1  

wroughtn_harv

Super Member
Joined
May 12, 2002
Messages
6,000
Location
Denison, Texas
Tractor
2013 Volvo MC85C
On occasion I get to take on a project that's challenging enough to be fun. It's a fact of life that when the challenge escalates to a certain point it's no longer work.

I guess it's maybe kinda sorta like that silly giggle you get when you're down as far as you can get and life gives you a boot in the butt. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I agreed to do a cage for a compressor. The compressor is a brand new Sullair 185. It's tricker'n just about anything. This puppy kicks. It's quiet and kicks butt.

On construction sites compressors don't get much respect. One doesn't get proprietary about a compressor like one can get about a tractor. And since no one really gets protective they catch quite a bit of abuse.

They're also part of that elite mechanical group that's impossible to back up with anything bigger than a compact car. So they get jacknifed often. A lot of times a backhoe will have it's boom put over the compressor to keep it from getting stolen or even just borrowed on the job site.

One of the sad things about equipment is when they get a couple of hickeys they get even less respect. Where workers might be a little more careful with a new or really clean machine they won't with one that's obviously been abused.

It's not in the manufacturers interest to build a lot of extra protection into the equipment. There's the fact that the price increase initially will put them out of the bidding. And face it, parts are a good business.

So I need to build a cage for a the compressor that will protect it from being damaged while being backed up. That means all four corners and the rear. I also need to have some protection for the top for when that rookie with the hoe gets too enthusiastic securing it in place.
 

Attachments

  • 389015-MVC-002S.JPG
    389015-MVC-002S.JPG
    40.6 KB · Views: 1,031
   / Some boys just want to have fun
  • Thread Starter
#2  
I didn't mention that the unit lifts up from the rear and I wanted to have the cage part of the security for the control panel?

I should have. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

Attachments

  • 389016-MVC-004S.JPG
    389016-MVC-004S.JPG
    38.2 KB · Views: 610
   / Some boys just want to have fun
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Here's the front view with almost all of it in place. I say almost because the more one thinks about a project the more involved it can get.
 

Attachments

  • 389017-MVC-008S.JPG
    389017-MVC-008S.JPG
    39.4 KB · Views: 481
   / Some boys just want to have fun
  • Thread Starter
#4  
It'll be finished tomorrow.

I'll post some pictures of the done deed then.
 

Attachments

  • 389023-MVC-009S.JPG
    389023-MVC-009S.JPG
    38.9 KB · Views: 416
   / Some boys just want to have fun #5  
I just want say.. You do have fun! Keep it up!

Buck
 
   / Some boys just want to have fun
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I built this at Fannin Fabrication. It was some fun working with Clyde and R.L. Clyde's older'n dirt and has forgotten more than the rest of will ever know. R.L. is just plain dangerous. He doesn't say much if anything at all. But he's one of the sharpest tacks in the box and always seems to be able to figure out what the crux of the problem really is.

This project is a good example of building something and learning not only what you want but what you don't want in the next version.

It's a little overbuilt, character flaw, but we've got it figured out where we can get the same results with less pipe and fewer bends and welds.

Working with bent pipe is fun because it's challenging. Anything you do to make one end fit better has an effect on the other end plus it messes with the middle too. I like it because being lucky is just as important as being good.
 

Attachments

  • 389711-Image001.jpg
    389711-Image001.jpg
    41.5 KB · Views: 374
   / Some boys just want to have fun
  • Thread Starter
#7  
North end of the south bound.
 

Attachments

  • 389712-Image002.jpg
    389712-Image002.jpg
    43.8 KB · Views: 315
   / Some boys just want to have fun
  • Thread Starter
#8  
The manufacturer designed this as a lifting eye. I decided it needed to multitask to justify it's existance. So it's now a padlock receptacle too. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

Attachments

  • 389713-Image005.jpg
    389713-Image005.jpg
    42.6 KB · Views: 318
   / Some boys just want to have fun #9  
NICE LOOKING JOB HARVE. must have been interesting /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
but i'll bet there is some rookie BH operator that will figure a way to still destroy it /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
   / Some boys just want to have fun
  • Thread Starter
#10  
You're right of course Frank. It will take a hit.

But, and this but is of Rosanne Barr proportions, that is sometime down the road. In the meantime those minidings will involve damaging sacrificial pipe. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

As I was locating those pipes there was some consideration for fenders of tow vehicles. I figure there's less chance of a poor backer getting away with dinging the truck than he has of getting away with dinging the compressor.

Besides that, the finished product is all about destination. And destination is what you have after you've enjoyed the journey. Journey is the trip, destination the home movies afterwards. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 

Tractor & Equipment Auctions

RIGID 150 PSI AIR COMPRESSOR (A50854)
RIGID 150 PSI AIR...
2019-2024 Dodge Ram Front Bumper (A49461)
2019-2024 Dodge...
JCB 5 10 56 (A50490)
JCB 5 10 56 (A50490)
1996 Lincoln Town Car Sedan (A50324)
1996 Lincoln Town...
2015 FREIGHTLINER CASCADIA DAY CAB (A51222)
2015 FREIGHTLINER...
(INOPERABLE) CAT D4D (A50854)
(INOPERABLE) CAT...
 
Top