RDrancher's Photo Thread

[DT86]

That is coming along nicely. Great looking work, as always!

 

[RDrancher]

Finished up the week power raking in preparation for sod. I ended up with over twenty bucket loads of rocks and roots. This is the same job I graded all of the rocky fill at a couple of months ago.


Edit: Forgot to mention...they were delivering 2-1/2 semi loads of sod rolls while I was loading up to leave.

 

[RDrancher]

That is coming along nicely. Great looking work, as always!

Thank you! In one of the photos you can see a 5th wheel parked in one of the spots already.

 

[RDrancher]

RDrancher,
It's almost scary how good your work looks...

I'm amazed every time I see your finished product.

Thank you!

 

[tkappeler]

RDrancher,
It's almost scary how good your work looks...

I'm amazed every time I see your finished product.

what he said. :thumbsup:

 

[RDrancher]

what he said. :thumbsup:

Thanks Tom!

I do appreciate ALL of you folks watching this thread. I really enjoy what I do for a living and it's fun to share.

 

[RDrancher]

Speaking of documenting my work.

Back in the day......

 

[murphy1244]

Speaking of documenting my work.

Back in the day......
View attachment 402332 View attachment 402331 View attachment 402330 View attachment 402335 View attachment 402336 View attachment 402333 View attachment 402334

How did you do that with a Tractor?? What attachment did you use??

 

[RDrancher]

How did you do that with a Tractor?? What attachment did you use??

With a set of forks...of course.

Through a set of circumstances I had zero photos of the hundreds of bikes I custom painted and magazine articles I was featured in. I put up a thread on one of the forums and a few photos started to pop up. One of the guys put up pics of a bunch of bikes I painted all lined up at a show in Switzerland. Unfortunately his photobucket pics have disappeared from the thread.

 

[RDrancher]

Thought you guys might enjoy watching a talented box blade man. This guy has a handful of videos well worth your time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lbghvnkGa8&list=UU2fcNem6oseQv5caIR-5Qig&index=8

 

[Pixguy]

Thought you guys might enjoy watching a talented box blade man. This guy has a handful of videos well worth your time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lbghvnkGa8&list=UU2fcNem6oseQv5caIR-5Qig&index=8

He does a berry nice job.

I enjoyed the RV site build as I'd love to do that myself. Very nice place just not enough trees for my camping choice.

 

[Xfaxman]

Thought you guys might enjoy watching a talented box blade man. This guy has a handful of videos well worth your time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lbghvnkGa8&list=UU2fcNem6oseQv5caIR-5Qig&index=8

Yep , good operator. Watching his videos sure makes me appreciate having my box blade in front. :thumbsup:

 

[RDrancher]

Yep , good operator. Watching his videos sure makes me appreciate having my box blade in front. :thumbsup:

Ah...but nothing beats a bucket in front for handling material and a BB in the back for making it perfect. No other machine comes even remotely close.

 

[Xfaxman]

Ah...but nothing beats a bucket in front for handling material and a BB in the back for making it perfect. No other machine comes even remotely close.

Yep, I have to take the box blade off to use the bucket.

 

[EddieWalker]

Ah...but nothing beats a bucket in front for handling material and a BB in the back for making it perfect. No other machine comes even remotely close.

I've never mastered the art or skill of using the box blade and gave up years ago. I love to use the front bucket and back drag to make things smooth.

Eddie

 

[RDrancher]

I've never mastered the art or skill of using the box blade and gave up years ago. I love to use the front bucket and back drag to make things smooth.
Eddie

Understandable. Trying to muster any degree of perfection with a box blade is one of the hardest skills to learn...and it's a frustrating process. But there's obviously a difference between the needs of an average tractor owner and the guy feeding his family with it. Even for a one man show like me, time is money. If I can finish a job five or ten minutes earlier, that's a tiny bit less fuel and minutes on the machine's clock...and it all adds up. Having a bucket on one end and a BB on the other provides more options to perform the job with more efficiency. And...since my customers expect a high level of quality, it pays to be really good at using either end of the machine (or both) equally well to achieve the desired results.

If you want to see a very cool box blade (possibly a bit overboard) check this out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXBBr86zTYU

 

[RDrancher]

This afternoon, God took a good man to be at his side. Archie Neace was the truck boss for my material supplier for many years and a personal friend of mine. He had been going through a host of medical problems this past year. He is now at rest.

R.I.P. buddy.

 

[Green Power]

How are things going in Texas? Is the Case still running?

 

[RDrancher]

How are things going in Texas? Is the Case still running?

We had a new baby boy in the middle of December, so I took a month off to help momma out. Since then we've had rain, sleet, rain, 80* temps for a few days, freezing rain, snow, snow with freezing rain on top, 60* temps for a day or so followed by sleet, snow and now rain again. Netflix is handy though. I fit a few jobs in between, but got lazy with pics.

I graded out a driveway for a new home and found a few rocks to remove.


The guys bringing in gas drilling rigs for a location down the road missed the turn a bit.


I hit the neighbors water service line...6 feet from where the locator marked it.


Finished off the road with six loads of road base.

 

[AaronS]

I've never mastered the art or skill of using the box blade and gave up years ago. I love to use the front bucket and back drag to make things smooth.

Eddie

I never did either, but after installing a hydraulic top link it became A TON easier. I can actually accomplish what I want to now without destroying everything.