Gee I hope Dave is OK

[dickfoster]

I hope Dave of Dave's Tractor in Redding CA is OK. As many here know Dave is a frequent contributor here helping many with service related questions. As some may also know Redding is beset with a huge largely uncontolled fire in Redding and the surrounding area and its a real mess there now.

 

[BlackOps]

i too hope all is well. he is a great resource and most helpful person.

 

[JerryK]

Yes Sir....!!!!! And all the folks by that big fire. Not much they can do but get out of it's way on those big ones... nature rules.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I lived in Redding for several months back in the 1985. Lovely town and surrounding area. Loved the fishing in Lake Shasta. I sure hope they get that fire under control soon.

I hope this isn't a trend. I lived in a subdivision in Ft. McMurray, Alberta Canada for over 2 years and a couple years ago, a forest fire consumed almost every house in that subdivision, including the one I lived in, plus many more in this small town. It still hasn't recovered even though they have been rebuilding like crazy.

 

[JerryK]

Stay away from upper/lower Michigan....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Inspector507]

Dave's tractor lot is near Red Bluff, California, according to his website. Redding is about 35 driving miles from Red Bluff. The fire map I looked at shows the fires are still a bit away from him. Don't know how old that info is though.

 

[dickfoster]

Dave's tractor lot is near Red Bluff, California, according to his website. Redding is about 35 driving miles from Red Bluff. The fire map I looked at shows the fires are still a bit away from him. Don't know how old that info is though.

I haven't looked at the map lately but the Carr fire is huge, 80,000 acres this AM. I'm getting smoke from it today all the way down here in Nevada City. Every August since we've moved here, we've had the smell of smoke the the morning and it doesn't smell like victory.

 

[Stuart122]

Red Bluff is SE of Redding, the fire is west, north, southwest of Redding. Long ways away. It could get red Bluff, but not too likely. Bought my 1526 in 2016 from Dave. Drove up from Paradise, picked it out, gave 'em a check, 3 days later they delivered the 1526 TLB to my place. Easy to deal with, nice folks. Bought a Chinese flail from Dave's a few months ago, works great. Putting the hoe back on was a pain in the rear.

 

[radios1]

you can ask here, it don't seem like there is a problem though.. Dave's Tractor, Inc - Contact Us

 

[dickfoster]

Red Bluff is SE of Redding, the fire is west, north, southwest of Redding. Long ways away. It could get red Bluff, but not too likely. Bought my 1526 in 2016 from Dave. Drove up from Paradise, picked it out, gave 'em a check, 3 days later they delivered the 1526 TLB to my place. Easy to deal with, nice folks. Bought a Chinese flail from Dave's a few months ago, works great. Putting the hoe back on was a pain in the rear.

Tell me about it. I just went though the reattaching backhoe drill. I'd made a dolly to ease the task and I guess I made the dolly just a shade too high so that it wouldn't allow the pins to engage the lower hooks. After I got it off the dolly and on the ground then on to the tractor it occurred to me to back the tractor up onto some blocks so the dolly would work as lifting the tractor up a bit is the same as lowering the dolly a bit. DUH! Oh well, live and learn. What puzzles me is how I managed to get the hoe off the tractor and onto the dolly in the first place. Some wierd geometry going on here.

 

[flusher]

Dave's tractor facility and his home are about 40 miles southeast of the Carr Fire which is west of Redding. They are located in the flatland of the North Sacramento Valley among thousands of acres of orchards (English walnut, almond). The Carr Fire is in the foothills of the heavily forested Mount Shasta and Trinity Alps regions. It's these dry, overgrown foothill areas that are the most likely locations of wildfires, not the heavily irrigated orchard area.

 

[DavesTractor]

Oh man, someone just alerted me to this thread. Thanks for the concern. Very nice to know people care. With all that is happening, I haven't been browsing TBN much lately.

We are good, some 25 miles from the fires southern edge, and that edge is well under control and not growing. We do have family and friends that have been evacuated, some staying with us now.

I just posted about this fire on the "towing or hauling something wrong" thread as the fire was started by a failed tire on a travel trailer on a very hot day in very dry conditions.

As of this morning the fire is over 110,000 acres, over 1000 homes destroyed and 35% contained. Still actively burning up towards Lewiston, but they are really gaining on it. Unfortunately 6 lives lost so far. Very, very sad.

 

[dickfoster]

Oh man, someone just alerted me to this thread. Thanks for the concern. Very nice to know people care. With all that is happening, I haven't been browsing TBN much lately.

We are good, some 25 miles from the fires southern edge, and that edge is well under control and not growing. We do have family and friends that have been evacuated, some staying with us now.

I just posted about this fire on the "towing or hauling something wrong" thread as the fire was started by a failed tire on a travel trailer on a very hot day in very dry conditions.

As of this morning the fire is over 110,000 acres, over 1000 homes destroyed and 35% contained. Still actively burning up towards Lewiston, but they are really gaining on it. Unfortunately 6 lives lost so far. Very, very sad.

Good to know you're still OK Dave. A trailer tire huh? Just two or three years ago someone set off a string of fires around Auburn from a dragging safety chain on a trailer. So far since we moved in up here, every August we've had morning smoke from all the fires around. Now there's one closer by, around Yuba City so it's thicker today.

 

[flusher]

Glad you and yours are OK. Take care.

 

[Ford850]

I'm glad you're okay Dave. I was reviewing the old "Let's talk flail mowers" thread and decided to read from the beginning which started over 10 years ago! I had forgotten the great feedback you added to that thread with very good real world reviews of the brands you used and sold. You're a valuable resource to this site.

 

[DavesTractor]

Thanks Ford850.

Update: 131,896 acres, 1067 homes destroyed. 39% contained. Red Flag conditions for the next couple of days, meaning very dry, hot and some winds. If they can keep fires from spotting over the containment lines in the next day or two, then I think they are well on their way to putting this one out. Unfortunately fires elsewhere in the state are not as contained.

 

[BlackOps]

been grape harvesting and wine making - just saw dave's comments. Glad he is OK!

 

[DavesTractor]

Update: 163K acres, 1080 homes destroyed, about 1600 total structures destroyed. 45% contained.

 

[stuckmotor]

Dave,
I'm glad you're OK.
I once heard about some type of travel vehicle dragging a piece of metal, possibly the spare tire carrier, up a mountain road setting fires all along the way. People behind them couldn't get around them to tell them to stop. The owners of the travel vehicle got an astronomical bill for all the fire damage. I hope this was an urban legend.

 

[DavesTractor]

Dave,
I'm glad you're OK.
I once heard about some type of travel vehicle dragging a piece of metal, possibly the spare tire carrier, up a mountain road setting fires all along the way. People behind them couldn't get around them to tell them to stop. The owners of the travel vehicle got an astronomical bill for all the fire damage. I hope this was an urban legend.

I knew a guy that had a ramp (stand up type on an equipment trailer) strap or pin failure and he drug a ramp a few miles. This was maybe 15-20 years ago up by Anderson, CA. Many houses burned. He filed bankruptcy as he was looking at millions in losses. Sad for all concerned.