The OLDER Photographers' thread...

Sounds like fun.

Not quite the same, but my grandfather came out with some tales. Such as when he used to work for the local nuclear weapons research establishment, and they would call up to the machine shop to knock up a cribbage board so the could have a quick game - good to see that nuclear safety was top of their priorities.

Jill-of-all-Trades wrote in post #15432038
I've heard plenty of stories about the fun with nitroglycerin. Either my grandfather or great-grandfather was involved. Place a drop of nitro on an anvil, hit it with a hammer, and see how far the hammer would fly.

When I was young before my apprenticeship I worked for a company that cleared land and lopped trees for high tension electricity lines than ran from coal fired power stations out in the country to the city.

We used to cut down the trees and blow the stumps out of the ground for new lines being run. One day we were feeling lethargic and decided to short cut getting a tree down and just blew the whole tree out of the ground. This was a big old Gum tree about 130ft high. We drilled down all around and put one stick of Gelignite in each hole and caps and run the cords out to the plunger (which we had strategically placed behind a big boulder). The first blast just shook the ground. The tree did not even budge.

So back we went, did it all again, but this time with two sticks down eight holes all around the tree. Well stuff me roan. It was like a rocket taking off. It seemed to come out of the ground slowly, then pick up speed. In the meantime dirt and rocks were flying everywhere. We got pelted with flying crap that rained down for what seemed like about two minutes. The tree went higher than its actual height up in the air, huge root ball still attached. We just about crapped in our duds. We did not know which way it was going to go and come down, so took off like cats with metho up our blurters haha It took a tipper load and a half of dirt to fill the crater we had left.

Luckily all we got was some cuts and bruises from flying dirt and rocks. We also got a huge razzing from the boss when he came over to see what the noise and commotion was about haha He was a couple of miles away when we blew it and reckoned it was like it was just next to him. So that ended our blowing things up, he rationed our geli after that. We were back to just blowing out stumps like we were supposed to.

Hehehe.

Nitrogen bombs were traditionally used for blowing stumps to clear fields. It's the "farmers" bomb.

In this area nitroglycerin was used to open oil wells.

Ricardo222 wrote in post #15431854
Well, if you make it back...call me!

Thanks. I'd love to have the chance to make it back there again.

L.J.G. wrote in post #15431880
Wellington, one of the loveliest cities in the world!

I agree, it's a very lovely city.

L.J.G. wrote in post #15432129
.

So back we went, did it all again, but this time with two sticks down eight holes all around the tree. Well stuff me roan. It was like a rocket taking off. It seemed to come out of the ground slowly, then pick up speed. In the meantime dirt and rocks were flying everywhere. We got pelted with flying crap that rained down for what seemed like about two minutes. The tree went higher than its actual height up in the air, huge root ball still attached. We just about crapped in our duds. We did not know which way it was going to go and come down, so took off like cats with metho up our blurters haha It took a tipper load and a half of dirt to fill the crater we had left.

Luckily all we got was some cuts and bruises from flying dirt and rocks. We also got a huge razzing from the boss when he came over to see what the noise and commotion was about haha He was a couple of miles away when we blew it and reckoned it was like it was just next to him. So that ended our blowing things up, he rationed our geli after that. We were back to just blowing out stumps like we were supposed to.

Beautiful! I can just see it!

I worked on a new transmission line road in Fiordland when I was a lad. I spent some time felling large forest beech trees ahead of the road. Some of them had rotten hearts and were dangerous to fell, but because they were standing in marshy ground the stumps were also difficult to dig out. We would lay a corduroy of logs in the marsh and the scrapers would bring fill up for the dozers to push over the logs and as long as they met no obstructions they could get the fill thick enough to bind into a decent road. Standard practice. However, if a dozer had to move a stump then the machine could quickly dig itself into a boggy hole, so we would blow the roots of the stumps to loosen their grip. A plug of geli on each root was plenty.

So one day the foreman was away and the lads decided to take the easy way out. I came back past them for some more petrol for my old Canadien chainsaw and they were squabling about something. When I came back with the gas I saw just one line of Cordtex sticking out of the hole in the middle of the stump. I asked them what was in there but they just looked sheepish and mumbled a bit. Then one of them lit the fuse so I scarpered and hid behind a large tree.

Just as you described it Lloyd, a rain of rocks, roots and mud. No trunk of course, but after most of the small stuff had landed and relative quite had returned I was aware of a whoosh-whoosh-whoosh above, as the remains of the stump descended from low orbit and crashed through the tree tops some distance away. I never did find out exactly how much geli had been left in the case they dumped down the hole in that tree stump, but it was a lot. The lads got into real trouble because the ginormous hole they made, now filled with water, swallowed a 16 ton bulldozer and it took nearly a day to get it out!

Ah, the joys of youth!

Hahaha I can see it as well Ricardo. Yes, the things we used to get up to. How any of us survived those days is beyond me, with trees, stumps, rocks and dirt flying though the air hell west and crooked.

When I first started I knew nothing of handling care with gelignite. The leading hand said just grab it and shove it down the hole, don't worry about gloves, they are for pussies. I should have twigged to a rat when everybody turned away sniggering. It was hot so after I'd got it in the hole I wiped my forehead to get the sweat off. The headache lasted for 2 days haha.

When we had to lop the tops out of the trees where the lines ran we used to come across green tree snakes all the time. The leading hand was scared witless of them, so we would catch them and put them in his lunch esky. We’d all sit there waiting for him to open it and he’d jump up like a jackrabbit swearing and cursing. We’d all just look away laughing our heads off. In the end he would open his esky with along stick. We got around that by catching a goanna and putting it into the chainsaw and tool box in the back of the truck. He threw open the lid to get his file out to sharpen the blade and this thing came out at him at about 50mph!! He leapt off the back of the tray in one bound and just kept running hahaha

He’d get back at us though, he’d go and find the biggest red bull ant nest he could and put the person he reckoned was responsible for the snake to work near the nest. When we’d get the tops out of the trees we’d go down onto the ground to cut up the timber and the vibration from the chain saw would attract the big red bull ants. They would not start biting till they got up into your shorts. Crikey, you’d be hopping around like a demented rabbit trying to get them all out haha.

No wonder us Aussies get accused of being jokers with the antics we used to get up to. It used to break up a hard hot day working out in the bush though. Without the laughs and pranks it would have just been a hot, hard, thankless job. We’d be black from head to foot by the end of the day from the charcoal that was on all the trees from past bushfires, so if we were near a creek or tank we’d have a bath before knocking off and going to the camp.

Character building, I think they used to call it!

But one thing is for sure...we learned things like risk management, and consequences. Remember those things? You did something bad...and something bad happened back? And I met more wisdom from some of the old hands, uneducated as many of them were, than you can find amongst a lot of the "leaders" of our society today.

(Mind you, some of the old timers on those jobs were rat-bags as well! The trick was in finding out which ones, before you got into trouble!)

Risk management, yep, in those days it had some pretty dire consequences haha We certainly were not wrapped in cotton wool like we are these days. But guess what, we lived to tell the tale as well Ricardo, plus had a lot of laughs along the way - something that is sadly missing today. I think back to the things we used to do and we'd be sacked on the spot for some of the minor stuff and probably in court for some of the major stuff today. Even the practical jokes would land us accused of harrassment, bullying or something similar. Character building these days has a completely different meaning I think. Sometimes the young guys at work ask us what it was like in the good old days and they just don't believe anybody would do the things we did. The only reason they believe us is because they hear the same stuff from all the old hands.

Back in the "good old days" I would have had to find something else to do with my life. There's no way a girl could get a job as a mechanic.

My boss has been with the dealership for about 30 years. He's told me that I am the first girl to be able to survive the work. Both being able to handle the work, and handle the guys.

Well, gang...

tonylong wrote in post #15436605
Well, gang...

Well what?

Are you referring to holes in the ground with water or oil in them, or you condition at the present?

I'm well, too.

Well.....

Everyone still alive?

tonylong wrote in post #15436605
Well, gang...

Hey Tony...yes, well here thank you.

I hope things are looking up for you and that 2013 brings you some contentment!

Reporting in. Anyone else?

tonylong wrote in post #15436605
Well, gang...

Off on another trip away from us old farts?