CAT 623 Hits Freeway Pillar

[@wbball15]

As an operator and heavy haul driver, I shuddered at the damage. This was a great watch. Thanks for sharing.

[@thomas4844]

Seriously, you’re no mechanic Greg. You’re an engineer and a damn good one. Love your work.

[@LoBeau53]

Cool Job. Where I use to work I oversaw the same job on 2, 797 haul trucks that hit frozen berms, at speed while loaded. We contracted the first to one local Cat dealer and I did the second in house. We built everything from scratch. Fortunately I had a young welder that the guys nicknamed "tick tick" who was fantastic at layout and cutting. I don’t remember the final numbers but I know we did all the structural repair, bumper, top deck substructure and re-machining the mounting face for the front strut that was torn off in the impact for less money than Cat wanted for the front bumper. The cutting and welding took less than a week. I had a really good crew.

[@oldrustycars]

When I first read this I wondered how two thousand, seven hundred and ninety seven haul trucks could be on the same job and hit the same thing. Took me a minute to figure it out, TWO model 797 haul trucks.

[@Timothy-lb2vr]

Is there an issue with alignment of the over all structure of the 797. My guess is the 797 took a glancing blow from the bridge, also I’m sure the bridge structure is like new except for some yellow paint scratches. I have seen pictures of cement bridge abutments hit head on by a locomotive pulling loaded BOx cars at moderate speed. The abutment appeared mostly undamaged.

[@royreynolds108]

@@Timothy-lb2vr On the other hand, I saw the photo of a semi that took out 12 wood guardrail posts + guardrail and then sheared off one column of a two-column bent under a bridge over the interstate. The driver had gone to sleep at the wheel. I saw the bridge about one month after the accident. The state had to replace the bent, the span, and the approach span. It took over 6 months to get the interstate and overhead bridge back open.

[@jacobuszwanenburg1629]

Awesome . I worked for CAT and did many rebuilds. Yup quite costly especially today. It’s unreal what’s happened at dealerships …..

[@1waukesha]

When you threw the ground and knocked the square off the truck, That little head shake, like “Fuck sake”. Lmao. I know the feeling 🤣

[@jacobedgar7344]

Man you are truly gifted. Your ability and attention to detail is worth, your weight in gold!

[@scotthultin7769]

Okay I want to see the bridge pillar who's the bridge still standing

[@rickydockins2779]

Uugh o the ole monkey welder again

[@jshelledy1]

Me too.

[@macw2234]

I used to haul big machines in Africa. A new driver whacked sn overhead pedestrian bridge one destroyed a D11 and the bridge obviously. Pushed the cab 2 feet back and snapped a 3" kingpin on the gooseneck

[@robertbrigham935]

@@jshelledy1 jjjjjĵ

[@johnbulla8708]

I'M WITH YOU. I WANT TO SEE THE BRIDGE PILLARS,.IF CONCRETE DID THAT MUCH DAMAGES. THEN CAT IS PICE OF CREAP U JUST PAY FOR THE NAME.

[@martymorse2]

Thanks for the explanation on the difference between cutting and gouging. You have the hands of a man who works for a living. Keep up the great content.

[@Bediasman]

Big job, really looking forward to part 2. Enjoying your videos. Thank you.

[@vinnyhern]

too many comments to make!, plasma explanation the best, chain hoist too cute, outsourcing fabrication NO FUN for anyone, magnets WOW, having a clone for measurements and to copy is a tremendous help. making me wait for part two no fun but understandable... 👍👍

[@BruceBoschek]

Whoa! What a mess! The owners are lucky they have you to put things back together again. Good that there was a sister machine for part sizes and shapes. Thanks for an excellent video.

[@unclebuck5051]

The best craftsman are always ready, willing and able to help others learn. Your taking the time to explain things is very much appreciated.

[@waiakalulu2472]

I have a Hypertherm 30 Air, and it does O.K., but damn your 110 is the hoss! For someone starting out, seeing all your gear is pretty intimidating just thinking about all the jobs you must have done and loads of hard work to get where you're at. I'm at the age where I'll prolly never get there, but it's cool to see someone who has. And you built all that capability purely on your skills and attention to detail. Awesome work! Thanks for being such an inspiration to the Repair & Maintenance community.

[@OFW]

Thank you. Those are powerful and kind words.

[@jdog1297]

Dude has an epic setup....I'm not a welder but i know some of what i'm lookin at ! lol

[@davdhynes3518]

Yes a welder providing three phase and a huge plasma cutter must certainly give him an edge. Someone asked how long a job took the time it took was amazing. 👍🏼😁

[@wojo1034]

I just got into welding and am learning so much from your channel. Thank you and please keep'm coming!

[@peterantonic6923]

That was awesome, thank you very much for uploading the video. You are a real tradesman and it’s a pleasure to see how you fabricated the components. Looking forward to part two. Watching from Perth Western Australia.😁👍👍🇦🇺

[@tedstephenson7116]

Welded 28 years myself; I like your truck setup an especially the truck Crane with remote controls. An Wilton vise . For most work “Go big are Go Home “ your video s are are truly a Credit to the Trade !!! Thanks.

[@Warcrime700]

Recently discovered your page while deep into the KZbin realm. I know very little about welding or metal work but these videos are fascinating! Amazing fabrication skills. Keep up the great work and viewing content!

[@samuelspencer9194]

It's amazing how much technology has advanced I can remember my dad using a wash tip on his cutting torch love your videos be safe and have a great day Sam ❤

[@grayjack5021]

I remember gouge rods. I don't know if they make them anymore?

[@mikec6831]

I like the “accidentally buy”, I’m gonna have to use that. Thanks for sharing your work and explaining your equipment to us wonna-be welders.

[@hallsdzl]

My wife would 100% call me on that explanation. "How do you 'ACCIDENTALLY' buy a trailer?!?"

[@alanshelby5980]

Those little "Pocket" Cahin hoists are such a great back savers and alinment tool. Everyody laughs when you show up with one of these but doesn't take long before they ask where you go it.

[@tedgerstenslager2949]

I use the same hoist, I have a trolley overhead in my race trailer for removing and installing the engine in the race car, as well as a trolley that goes out the side door to do the same if the car is outside next to the trailer. The hoist works flawless. Engine probably is maxing the weight rating but it has not failed yet.

[@FIGGY65]

This is the coolest repair ! We use those baby chain falls at work ( on tractor tugboats) for mechanical repairs-My late boss was from Holland. He called them”BBs” and they are INDISPENSABLE. THANK YOU Greg for sharing your outstanding content with us !

[@mikemull5934]

You are like a dentist for machinery. Amazing!

[@jiml9971]

Greg !! Your level of expertise is absolutely fabulous!! Most people would run from this job at a 100 miles per hour

[@eliasmarques8516]

This guy know what he is doing, i love it 👍🏼 Greetings from Germany.

[@aucuneexpertise9805]

That's an impressive repair. You're a skilled man my friend, thanx for sharing your work.

[@maxxtech8532]

Gonna be awesome to see it all back together, nice job.

[@KW-ei3pi]

Beautiful as always. Maybe you can get them to drop a bucket full of gravel there for you so you can get rid of the pallets and pool of water that you are working in. Shouldn't take much and would make it so much better for you to work.

[@Anterak123]

Very interesting videos. I am now retired but I would have love to see your videos when I was a young man wondering what I would do for a living. I would have chosen your field of work. Every day it is something new and rewarding.

[@troubleis5271]

thanks for sharing with us! Its a great learning to be looking over your shoulder as you make these repairs.

[@darinwilson8663]

Good grief, what a mess to have to deal with!.... would have loved to see and hear that impact. I hope you are getting paid very well for this one. Not many folks out there that could do a repair like this one. Please be careful with all that heavy stuff! Looking forward to seeing the finished results! I bet you'll be glad when this one is finished. Very tough job!

[@gabrielmusewu2358]

Always on Fire . You're a pleasure to watch

[@darrenblattner2508]

You do get into some interesting jobs. Looks good, you do nice work. Keep smilin

[@b.malnit8983]

Wow that was a project. I’m amazed at the amount of work involved.

[@bigjohnson4983]

Awesome job buddy, I love that welding machine you own/using, we had 2 of those and a whole bunch of big 40 diesel machines where I retired from, Miller welders are the greatest ever. I own a Miller Bobcat for my farm and I run it to death. Keep making these great videos, I sure enjoy them, Thank you👍

[@tomford5149]

First time here, I'm a high school welding instructor and I learned some stuff about gouging with the plasma, you do nice work and I subscribed

[@vicchiapetta4166]

Tough job!! You really have a good handle on that, wonderful skills, as always!!

[@BetweenTheBorders]

Thanks for the rundown gouging/cutting. Only chance I had to run a plasma cutter was in a welding course 20 years ago. Some kid managed to erode two electrodes to worthless in one session. (that machine wasn't rated to drag the nozzle, it needed a standoff. He had been instructed on that point multiple times)

[@leeshaver7825]

I have a buddy whose over 70 owns his own welding service down here in SoCal He started welding when he was 17 I sent him this video he called me after watching it he said it was a real good video and that you know what your doing I've been jumping around watching your videos great content hope you get to work on or finish the 623 soon those will be good videos

[@blauer2551]

I have a feeling that when a job needs to be done that your name is at the top of the list. At our place I can tell who fixed our equipment by the weld and the finish.

[@tommyk1073]

I can only imagine what the pillar looks like…holy cow!!

[@wormkillerdan6486]

Kind of like fixing a plastic model that falls off the shelf. Ya just need a different type of glue and a real sharp Exacto knife! Love your work Greg, always spot on! Be safe, have fun!

[@carloskawasaki656]

Thank you for sharing,i learn a lot,your explanation is easy to understand 👍👍👍👍

[@paulsouthgate8954]

Wish we had service trucks like yours in Australia

[@GenMaster124]

Great work so far guys…thanks for sharing 👏🏻👏🏻

[@sackvilleweldingservices]

I can imagine that impact was quite a shock to the truck driver. What a mess but what a great repair!

[@jamesriordan3494]

Because it’s a Cat, you should absolutely send this to Adept Ape to be honored as the destruction of the week. How did the bridge pylon fare ???

[@VetvsWorld]

Dude, the cutting/gouging description made sense, as I was wondering about the difference.

[@jimsvideos7201]

Pretty sure that was the definition of "sounds expensive." 😬

[@Barnagh1]

Super work, not many guys would tackle a mess like that, especially when CAT don’t sell the bits that were damaged.

[@jamesgeorge3900]

You my friend are a wizard. Do not sell yourself short, you most certainly know your stuff.👍

[@Rubbernecker]

Great video, very interesting! You sure get a wide variety of jobs.

[@bartscave]

Impressive undertaking!

[@vm321]

Mad respect for your talents and craftsmanship 👍

[@thomas4844]

Hey…. We’ve all been there. Wake up on a sunny Sunday morning and decide to take the belly scraper out for a leisurely drive with the family. Everything’s great then all of a sudden -BAAMMM!!! - the days plans were shoved down a shotgun barrel and shot to shit. Oh the humanity.

[@camaxtlichimalma759]

Now I know why my Miller 110/220 plasma does not cut like yours. I am a wood butcher anyway just fascinated with metal work

[@presley6599]

I've been watching a few of your videos and started wondering why your voice sounded so familiar, and then I saw this video and realized why. I met you when I worked for JWT, and I worked there when this machine hit the Manning overpass.

[@martiekr]

My first imperssion was: "Welding some metal to the machine will not fix the damage done to the machine". But you did a damn good job on that :D

[@dand5593]

It was way faster to build right there all those parts from sheets, only straight lines. But i do not know the deal, so great work till now!

[@a-fl-man640]

damn! you're a magician. that must be an estimating nightmare trying to figure out the time necessary to fix that mess, not counting materials.

[@Gkuljian]

When I first found this channel I thought you were a rookie because everything you own is brand new. Ha ha was I wrong. I just want to go on a shopping spree like that.

[@steveashworth6707]

Those are nice self-loaders!, hate to see the repair bill on that!. I'm sure a structural engineer will have to access the concrete pillar!. Good luck repairing that scraper!.

[@mcalvert1000]

You got a lot of talent man. Awesome job. Great resto.

[@TheHomePros6221]

Man I really enjoy watching your vids, I like the way u do things, very professional

[@rudyrivera7426]

Way to go! Looking forward for next week! 👍

[@trumanhw]

Wizardry. He cut that steel without any sparks coming out!

[@sparksmobilerepair4025]

Good customer right there! That would be a fun repair to get that machine patched up and running again after that mess up

[@markmccoy1512]

Well, you’re not gonna go to the local junk yard and find one of those that’s been “hit in the ass end”, but the front end is still good

[@garymucher4082]

Seeing the amount of damage to the machine, I can only imagine what the pilar looks like... Thumbs Up!

[@marklawrence7412]

I appreciate the teaching, I also appreciate your G rated language as my young son watches with me.

[@augienajera642]

Awesome video!!!!! Can't wait for the next one!!

[@kingtut5923]

All the credit to this mechanic wow what a great job

[@tomredmond]

Da----Yum. Rig driver was definitely "Not paying Attention to the Road". The impact most surely "Got their Attention".

[@R.E.HILL_]

Nice one... The time frame is insane..

[@ArthurDentZaphodBeeb]

Slap a "5 gallon overhaul" on it and you'll see this in the next Ritchie Bros auction.

[@kaydog2008]

Gonna be alot of squaring up to do on this one.🤞🤞The frame wasn't pulled to much.😪😪 Driver must of fell asleep behind the wheel. Sure hope he or she has nice insurance or a fat bank account. This is gonna hurt the wallet no doubt about that.

[@davidholder3207]

That front bumper bar seems to need an extrabracingt bar, coming out at 45 deg from the RHS chassis member, just before the front tyre, to form an angular strut!

[@wrstew1272]

I would like to see the parts and labor bill for the repair! Some insurance agent is going to loose his bonus on this one.

[@glenngosline3303]

Another great job.

[@Swimding]

Nice work, thanks for the insight.

[@armandhammer9617]

21:23 I see the mandatory puddle of water was placed perfectly.

[@georgelasala6588]

hi george here i am new to your channl but i like what i see the way you do things

[@ronniejones8508]

Great video bro. Looking forward to part two

[@JFirn86Q]

What a shame for a new machine like that to be butchered by a careless driver. Man that's a headache and a half for an owner of such an insanely expensive machine. Great job fixing it up, that's a tall task!

[@alainbachelot3340]

Good job bon boulot, je suis Français et j'ai vu plusieurs vidéos, je suis soudeur aussi

[@markgoddard2560]

Good for you for repairing all that frame instead of giving in to provider blackmail.

[@repalmore]

Your super strong magnets you were using to lift the rear cross member inspired me to look for something like that. Found fishing magnets might be a possible solution for those that haven't ventured into lifting magnets. Found one that is 1320 lb rated (probably under perfect conditions) for a mere $35. What was really cool is it has an eyelet on top and the side. How the heck do you "accidently" buy a trailer? Just a slip? I've bought stuff I didn't set out to buy but never accidentally. :o)(o;

[@faerieSAALE]

Hello Mr. Jorge? How much you pay the Truck Hauler guy? $100 per hour? Ohhhh, that's too much - he wrecked the Cat 623....

[@ypaulbrown]

dang, kinda torn up....best wishes from Florida,Paul

[@randyharris8669]

Right on! That looks great👍

[@mikecarlson5146]

Nice job can’t wait for part 2

[@Shagnasty]

Can you please tell me if the other pan for parts only? Really enjoyed this video can not wait for part 2. Thanks for sharing.

[@scotthultin7769]

First 👍's up on fire welding thank you for sharing

[@zx8401ztv]

I bet the driver felt like a right idiot, i imagine his work mates will take the micky out of him for a long time. And the score : Freeway Pillar : 1 CAT 623 : O :-D

[@michaelsedway9703]

Glad to see your subs growing

[@alexmaclean1]

That was some amazing work!

[@alanrichardson1672]

What is so amazing about it??

[@alexmaclean1]

@@alanrichardson1672 Well in my mind taking something that weighs tens of thousands of pounds that hit something at 60 mph and got twisted like a pretzel being repaired to operational by some guys is pretty impressive.

[@tobyjsands8330]

Kudos on the load securement

[@JoeBribem]

22:50 You have a lot more faith in those magnets than I would.

[@JoeBribem]

After I used them a couple times I would too. I'm sure you know what you're doing.

[@richardtruesdell8289]

I'm sure all of us appreciate your knowledge of your trade, I didn't know there was a rig with 3 phase power, cool.

[@wheelman007]

That had to wake the driver up. At least the draft arms are still straight.

[@dirtfarmer7472]

I hope that they ran him off, just sent him down the road kicking rocks I know that I wouldn’t be able to trust him after this screw up Unbelievable simply unbelievable

[@MrKotBonifacy]

Yeah, that kitty looks kinda the worse for wear, but hey, no biggie, right? A few touches with torch here and there, couple of welds, few buckets of Bondo, and presto! "Like almost sorta new" innit?" ;-)

[@bostedtap8399]

"Ouch!", that must have been a hell of a collision 💥. Excellent job of rengineering, like those small magnetic plate clamps you used to hold the speed square on with 👍. Thanks for sharing