Garage Follies

[Bulldog9]

You know who you are............ 

[fotoguzzi]

what could possibly go wrong?

[SIR REAL ED]

Assuming that picture is not staged, I know three things from looking at it.

1.  the person working on that project is probably over 30 years old.
2.  they probably grew up poor, maybe on a farm.
3.  and when the "Sh*t hits the fan, that's the person you want on your team!"

 

[RinkRat II]

 Rookie mistake: no baling wire on the crossbeam to ladder connection

   Paul B 

[guzziart]

What could go wrong?  I see some of the ladder rungs are gusseted for strength.

[SIR REAL ED]

Rookie mistake: no baling wire on the crossbeam to ladder connection

   Paul B 

Seasoned practitioners of the art know that safety precautions like bailing wire are for wimps!

Life is short!  Take chances!  Go fast!

[Perazzimx14]

Assuming that picture is not staged, I know three things from looking at it.

1.  the person working on that project is probably over 30 years old.
2.  they probably grew up poor, maybe on a farm.
3.  and when the "Sh*t hits the fan, that's the person you want on your team!"

 

4. If you value you safety you want to stand far clear of this person!

I used to work with an old farmer that was also a pipefitter. Once day we were rigging pipe and he threw a log chain around a bar joist and tied it in a knot and then said hand me that chain fall....

Also worked with another farmer/pipefitter that shot himself in the arm while in the barn shooting rats. It was a through and through so he stitched the wound up himself but could not tie the knot so he got his wife and told her he did the sewing she'd have to tie the know. He used green thread FWIW

Worked with another farmer/pipefitter that the smallest thing would send him into a blind rage. Well I actually worked with a lot of guys like this?? I watched him choke out a cast iron puller, hammer throw a porta-band after whirling it around his head by the cord.

These guys were all hard workers, good guys and give you the shirt off their back if you were truly in need. They were ust horribly unsafe to be around. The guy who shot himself and I were demoing a cast iron pork chop boiler i required rigging and fork equipment to move around the 1000lb sections. The foeman came around one day and said do not watch what you are doing watch what Lee is doing. If not he'll hurt you.

If the sh!t ever hits the fan if I need someone on my teak to raise hogs, cattle or grow vegetables I want a farmer on my side. If its a safety and survival situation I'll pass on Old McDonald.

[Alfetta]

looks like he got a nice level pick to me....

[Bulldog9]

4. If you value you safety you want to stand far clear of this person!

I used to work with an old farmer that was also a pipefitter. Once day we were rigging pipe and he threw a log chain around a bar joist and tied it in a knot and then said hand me that chain fall....

Also worked with another farmer/pipefitter that shot himself in the arm while in the barn shooting rats. It was a through and through so he stitched the wound up himself but could not tie the knot so he got his wife and told her he did the sewing she'd have to tie the know. He used green thread FWIW

Worked with another farmer/pipefitter that the smallest thing would send him into a blind rage. Well I actually worked with a lot of guys like this?? I watched him choke out a cast iron puller, hammer throw a porta-band after whirling it around his head by the cord.

These guys were all hard workers, good guys and give you the shirt off their back if you were truly in need. They were ust horribly unsafe to be around. The guy who shot himself and I were demoing a cast iron pork chop boiler i required rigging and fork equipment to move around the 1000lb sections. The foeman came around one day and said do not watch what you are doing watch what Lee is doing. If not he'll hurt you.

If the sh!t ever hits the fan if I need someone on my teak to raise hogs, cattle or grow vegetables I want a farmer on my side. If its a safety and survival situation I'll pass on Old McDonald.

Have closed and dealt with MANY a wound with crazy glue and dental floss/sewing needle over the years, but I wouldn't get within line of sight of a mess like that.... Saw that kind of stuff all over Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Zenermaniac]

Other than the two sideways blocks under the left most ladder feet looks good to me. 

[SIR REAL ED]

4. If you value you safety you want to stand far clear of this person!

I used to work with an old farmer that was also a pipefitter. Once day we were rigging pipe and he threw a log chain around a bar joist and tied it in a knot and then said hand me that chain fall....

Also worked with another farmer/pipefitter that shot himself in the arm while in the barn shooting rats. It was a through and through so he stitched the wound up himself but could not tie the knot so he got his wife and told her he did the sewing she'd have to tie the know. He used green thread FWIW

Worked with another farmer/pipefitter that the smallest thing would send him into a blind rage. Well I actually worked with a lot of guys like this?? I watched him choke out a cast iron puller, hammer throw a porta-band after whirling it around his head by the cord.

These guys were all hard workers, good guys and give you the shirt off their back if you were truly in need. They were ust horribly unsafe to be around. The guy who shot himself and I were demoing a cast iron pork chop boiler i required rigging and fork equipment to move around the 1000lb sections. The foeman came around one day and said do not watch what you are doing watch what Lee is doing. If not he'll hurt you.

If the sh!t ever hits the fan if I need someone on my teak to raise hogs, cattle or grow vegetables I want a farmer on my side. If its a safety and survival situation I'll pass on Old McDonald.

 

Hey you're talking about most of the adult influencers in my life prior to turning 16 and getting a driver's license.  Excellent training.  As the saying used to go:  "18 is a man and sometimes 12!" 

Safety training was a hand's on/on the job experience.

The guy with missing fingers, toes, or one eye often had some great advice on safety.  If you got hurt the response was "Well dummy, did you learn anything?

Great learning experiences........ "Do as I say, not as I do!"

Now that we are all older, wealthier, and wiser,  "we don't have to hoe that row!"

 

[larrys]

Well that setup was stable enough to get the engine out...
Speaking of dangerous guys to work with... There was a carpenter shop in the Electric Boat shipyard that had all the big shop tools. 48" thickness planer, 20' long lathe, stuff like that. It was considered a "cake job" so the guys in there had mucho seniority. Not one of 'em had ten fingers...
Larry

[Chuck in Indiana]

I steer clear of machinists that don't have all their fingers. That is all I'll say about that..

[Moparnut72]

Well that setup was stable enough to get the engine out...
Speaking of dangerous guys to work with... There was a carpenter shop in the Electric Boat shipyard that had all the big shop tools. 48" thickness planer, 20' long lathe, stuff like that. It was considered a "cake job" so the guys in there had mucho seniority. Not one of 'em had ten fingers...
Larry

I had a couple of college buddies who worked at EB summers. The stories they could tell.
kk

[SIR REAL ED]

I had a couple of college buddies who worked at EB summers. The stories they could tell.
kk

Yeah!  It is always fun listening to the older guys talk about their previous adventures..... that were successful, and other people's screwups.  Few talk about their own screwups, unless they are proud of them also!

Safety vs. profit and schedule is always the eternal conflict.

When Fred does the seemingly impossible with limited resources, he is a hero.  If he screws up, well, he shoulda known better than to do that!

If not a staged photo, I suspect this system was built by someone who has done this multiple times.  It would have been fun to watch the planning and construction.

[larrys]

I had a couple of college buddies who worked at EB summers. The stories they could tell.
kk

Worked there from '78 to '88. Have plenty of stories. There was a three or four year period when a couple people died there every year. Electrocution, falls, argon gas asphyxiation, fire in a tank, etc. It became a real big effing deal when an upper management guy's college age son got electrocuted when he was sent into a fenced in transformer to weed whack the grass...
Larry

[John A]

^^^^ he should’ve been more careful. 

[guzziart]

I steer clear of machinists that don't have all their fingers. That is all I'll say about that..

Yeah, we have a retired one in our wednesday morning ride group, he knows everything about anything and is missing 3 fingers on his left hand.

[SIR REAL ED]

^^^^ he should’ve been more careful. 

 

Well said!  But if he didn't die, it would have been "a job well done!"

For me, it is as much about the people I am working with, as much as the inherent risk in doing an "unsafe" job.  Risk and reward should always be evaluated on a personal basis.

Everyone I know over the age of 60 who grew up blue collar or poor has tons of stories of taking on "dangerous" tasks, either as part of their job or as their chosen recreational activities.  Crazy, stupid and unsafe by today's standards, but back in the day "that's how everybody did it!"

I can think of a dozen people today who might call me up and ask for a hand.  When you see what they want to do, you say "You know this is stupid and dangerous, right?"
"Yeah, but it is not as stupid and dangerous as some of the things we have done successfully in the past, right?  Remember when we........"
"OK!  Well, lets think this thing thru and be careful otherwise, some one is gonna get hurt!  Now, did you think about......."

This thread has a lot of interesting opinions, especially since we are all "organ donors" who ride "murdercycles" as a form of recreation!

85+% of the population would immediately dismiss our opinions regarding risk, reward, or danger as worthless!   

[Tony F]

Are the gas bottles full or empty? The weight of full bottles would probably held stability!

[brother dave]

You know who you are............ 

So, just close your eyes and it’ll be fine…