Bad Luck Continues....

I just cant seem to get a break at the moment

[BenB-wurw]

Chin up Ollie, I’ve been a self employed contractor for 23 years & you get runs like this. Tomorrow is a new day!

[jamesfordjhfcontractingltd]

You are 100% correct, I once had a very low mileage v8 scania it was a complete nightmare nothing but breakdowns, I’ve got a very high mileage scania and it runs like a dream

[snax]

To get the day in, I have bypassed the leaking hydra clamp, take both hoses off and join them together. Let's you keep going until you get a new seal kit for the clamp.

[trucker]

Breakers will kill any machines. If you can, have an old 3 tonner permanently fitted to the breaker.

[jameshockey]

Absolutely feel your pain, been self employed for many years and listening to you is like listening to my own mind! Being kicked in the balls is putting it perfectly 😂 I think we do notice the bad days more than the good ones... keep pushing on though and next week will be better.
Having learnt the hard way on jobs like this I now always only estimate rather than quoting, and always include figures where possible - if i estimate to remove say 80 tons, I then include a caveat saying depending on what's found below, in this case extra hard-core would be discussed with the customer and can be added as an extra. Its impossible to forsee every problem, but as long as the bad jobs are less than the good ones I'm happy 😂

[villageearthwright]

i have dealt with similar situations to you for sure, it's often tough being a small business owner. As we often talk about around here it's a lifestyle choice not a economic choice. It's often fun being involved in solving so many problems but it really can get tiring and frustrating. I used to work 60-80 hrs a week but I have managed to bring that down to 50 in the summer with the tech i'm running now but i also keep my lifestyle affordable and don't chace huge profit. Working on your own equipment often doesn't feel like its real hours of work but its definitely part of the overall equation.

Glad you got it fixed fast, being out of service is the most annoying thing.

[mattwilkins]

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the colour the paint is, they all breakdown at some point. And like you say a big deciding factor is what the local dealer sells. My local dealer is about half an hour away and is Kubota which is why I bought a Kubota, not everyone likes them but I like the machine and it works for me. Having the dealer close by has meant the fitters have always come out same or next day, diagnosed or fixed the machine and like you say time is important when a machines down. Plus when I’ve had to take the machine to them for warranty work, its took me minimal time and fuel.

[andychapman]

What a nightmare, glad you’ve got it sorted with relatively little cost.

[nate]

My dad who was a self employed grading contractor for 30 years likes to say "You're either paying to own it or your paying to fix it".

[zvnchpl]

At least you got all new parts. 10-year-old machine, she got a few hours on her. Keep it up, ollie . It's a pain in the back side
And the truck, too, and time just flys

[zvnchpl]

That's handy ollie, oh no, not another hose! Genuine parts are the best 👌

[neilcotten]

It’s annoying that they make those castings so thin at that point, they could have made them just a few mm thicker and took some material off the frame where they fit on. Glad you’re sorted and know what to look out for in the future

[Colin-rggt]

Oli my mate used to to run a Case 596 on an 02 plate it had a major rear axle problem at about 6 months old luckily it was repaired under warranty and it was apparently a common fault.

[emybgqc]

Hopefully that's it with the breakdowns for now.

[paulf]

Nightmare, videos like this are why i can't persuade myself to invest in a 5 ton machine and just constantly hire them.

[michaelpettit]

I've got to change out the hammer hose and all the backhoe control hoses through the kingpost. The hoses are just waiting to burst on a job, but it is quite a lot of fishing hoses, so it gets put off. Like an airplane, it seems like these machines should have big chunks of various bits overhauled in a group at certain intervals. More expensive, but more budget-able. A useful YouTuber recommended always including the appropriate rental cost in your job bids even if it is your own machine. You have to do the maintenance same as the rental yard. Here in the USA we don't have any rental yards with Engcon fittings, so careful preventative maintenance in whole groups is the only answer short of two or more machines fitted with the Engcon electronics. Always be ready to rent from the yard so you can stay on the job. Also, have your hydraulic oil tested. Contaminants will eat those seals. I assume the crack was bad luck as opposed to lots and lots of side-shifting. By the way, what is the name of the backhoe group on Facebook?

[SeanMcIntyreBiker]

If hoses keep blowing why not leave it to someone to replace all them round the backend or even do yourself pull them all off mark with coloured zip ties so you know which goes where. You have to treat them as a wearing part and factor in an overhaul every once and a while. As you say you can't afford to be running into this situations and you will if you don't do the above. Other options are mobile hydraulic repair guys.

[pauledwards]

It’s a split hydaclamp I bet . I had all four go on my 4cx super they not to expensive and easy to change good luck

[DJC]

Hi Ollie good your back up and running Thanks again

[martingibbs]

There's always something when running machinery unfortunately ☹ it's a good job you can repair it yourself.