0630 Start. Week 8 on the artic, 3 more to go until I'm back to 6 wheels.
I'm loaded up ready this morning with a Doosan DX225 it's a 22 tonner and the widest one we've got being just shy of 11' wide.
It's this one here, taken last week when I collected it from another site.
Reversing out of the yard into the industrial estate is not usually too bad first thing, but some dick has parked a car opposite the gate right where the arse of the trailer needs to go. It's not that bad but you can see less than bugger all past the machine, luckily one of the others arrives and sees me out. I'm off to Langdon Hills near Basildon with this one, it's doing a job on a water main and has to be unloaded on the road.
Once I'm unloaded I need to call in at the compound for out duck which is there, unfortunately there's nowhere to turn so I have to carry on up to Laindon and loop around to get there. It's a good thing I didn't come that way though as the road is narrow and twisty and a squeee to get the empty trailer past other vehicles at times.
At the compound I have to help the driver modify a grab so it will fit the new machine and then we load the Volvo 18t duck.
It's back to the yard now to unload. There's no other actual work to do for me so I finish off stripping down an Escort van for usable spares, remove the wheels and drain the diesel ready for it's final journey to the scrapyard. There's a few bit's to move about in the yard and I all it a day at 1700.
Tuesday
0630 Start. I'm off down the road to the bosses house this morning to load one of the 2 of our machines I've never yet moved. It's only an 8t Hitachi ZX80 so it's amazing it's escaped me this long. It's got a regular driver attached to it and he's a top driver, really helpful and often getting put on long jobs as contractors don't want to let go of him. There's no sign of life and the gate is locked, it's a bit of an arse as I'm heading central London but it's getting to the time where it's better to wait a while.
At half seven he wanders out "Oh I didn't hear you"
There's also a dumper there to go back to the yard so I load that on too, to
a) save someone else doing it later
b) waste some more time and avoid some of the rush hour.
It's only a mile or so back to the yard to unload the dumper.
I'm out of the yard at 0830 with the ZX80 and off to Pimlico, thankfully the traffic is light and I get to the site just after 10 even after cutting through by City Airport to avoid the accident on the Canning Town flyover.
It's a switchover at Pimlico, the ZX off and a Volvo 140 on. The Volvo was destined for Woolwich but they've damaged the ram whilst it was on self drive and are returning it virtually empty of fuel so it's got to go back to the yard. An easy run back and I'm in the yard at 1230.
There's the usual shunting in the yard and I load our Komatsu duck ready for the morning. Then it's a turn round and drop the trailer before running the unit bobtail across to Truck East at Witham for overnight service. Finished at 1630
Wednesday
0630 Start. Off to Truck East to drop their car back and pick up the unit. I could get used to not having the trailer behind, those 420 horses are a bit more eager wihout. Back at the yard it's a simple job of conecting up the trailer and off I go, because I don't uncouple & recouple very often I'm paranoid the trailer is going to fall off. It didn't (or at least hasn't yet)
My first run is down to Belvedere in Kent to drop off the Komatsu duck right next to the Asda RDC.
It's a bit rammed with stuff here, there's 3 proper job lowloaders in front. Two of them are 8 leg units and the one at the front has got a 4 axle Nooteboom trailer with 2 axle dolly on it. I'm pushed from pillar to post trying to find someone to hand the duck over to but eventually I find someone and get unloaded.
The only way to turn around is to driver past all the big boys ahead and turn in a bellmouth just in front of them. Luckily I don't make an arse of myself and turn round perfectly.
Back to the yard now and the Volvo 140 I brought in yesterday is just being finished off and is ready to load. I'm off with this one to........................Belvedere in Kent, about a mile from where I've just been. It's an unconnected job for a demolition company at an old social club. Machine off and I'm off back to Essex.
I get passed on the way by an old VW camper, what caught my eye was the sticker that said Danbury Motorcaravans, I don't know of anywhere in Danbury that does that sort of thing. Then I noticed the reg WX54 ??? Eh?
A looky on the web at home, reveals it's a Brazilian import and a different Danbury.
Back at the real Danbury, there's a Hyundai 140 to load for tomorrow before scuttling off home at 1530
Thursday
0630 Start. Off to Southminster this morning, this makes a nice change as there's bugger all traffic down that way. On one side of the road it is residential, on the other just fields and it's going in the field. The field is firm enough so I drive on, round in a big loop and stop in the entrance to unload.
I pull out and have a quick cuppa before heading off to Pitsea for the next load. I'm loading a JCB JS130 down here at a country park, there's just the machine and not the dumper that it arrived with and I'm soon loaded along with the driver who is hitching a lift to the next job. We're going to a site down a little road between Hatfield Peverel and Witham, it's where it was previously and unloading involves blocking the road. We stop just short in a place so traffic can pass and unchain everything, it's then a quick shunt forward past the gate, ramps down, machine off, ramps up again and pull forward to sweep down and tidy up. Total delay about 3 minutes.
My next job is over at Southend Hospital, I'm due to load a 21t machine for a demolition contractor and I've been in and out with them before and know it's going to be a squeeze. The site appears shut and there's nowhere to stop so I trundle off round the corner (then some more) and ring the contact number. The guy on the phone is in Welwyn Garden City and no-one has told him they've booked us to move him.
I'm now told to run back over to Truck East at Witham, because they need to fit a new level plug to the gearbox. So back I go, it's about 2 miles from where I was earlier. Truck East are waiting for the part but it arrives as promised within 20 minutes. Changing it over takes well over an hour though as they have to cut notches in the old one to undo it. Next job is to drop the trailer in for service at Bicknacre, there's no point unhooking it and taking the unit away as I've got nothing else to pull and I don't think he's got a unit there. I'm given a G reg Escort van to get me back to the yard. Nothing doing here so I make the most of the weather and have an early 1430 day.
Friday
0630 Start. Just a quick call at the yard to collect my paperwork and switch to the old van for the run to Bicknacre to collect the truck. First call is Runwell Hospital at Wickford, it's an old mental hospital apparently once the home of the largest collection of preserved human brains.
I'm here early and there's already a load of wagons waiting to get in and unload at the site. I sneak past a load of McBurneys that are carrying concrete staircases and will need the mobile crane that's at the front. I'm only waiting behind a block wagon. The gates open around 8 and I back in behind the block wagon next to the compound. I'm loading a Hitachi ZX210 21 tonner.
Here's a video of me loading it.
With that loaded and secured I'm off to another hospital rebuild over at Braintree, it's a simple switch over job the ZX210 comes off and is replaced by an older ZX200.
I'm not sure the logic behind it but this one is going back to Runwell. This time I'm not so lucky with the queue and have to wait nearly an hour to get in.
Here's it coming off, obviously there's a couple of minutes to knock the chains off and a couple more folding up the trailer but I can unload in about 5 minutes.
It's now back to the yard, where there's not much else happening. I'm done and off home at 1430.
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