[AT] OT Cadillac Northstar engine - Now OT clay soil?

Sun Oct 2 02:18:28 PDT 2016

I would talk to a geological engineer. The companies that do the work
know how to do some type of work, but not what is right. Unless someone
who knows how dirt acts looks at the specific soil there we can only
guess as to what is right. Both options you give work for something. The
right engineer has probably been to the neighborhood already so he can
probably give you cheap advice just by giving you a copy of a report he
already has done. 

I knew I geological engineer who became a house builder. For 30 years he
built houses by digging a basement and building on that. One day in a
new development he picked up a handful of dirt, looked at it and stopped
construction and brought in pile drivers. 2 years latter his houses
where the only ones in the neighborhood without major foundation issues.
(and soon afterwards that city had new codes on foundations) 

-- 
  Henry Miller
  hank at millerfarm.com

On Sun, Oct 2, 2016, at 02:25 AM, Scott Williams wrote:
> First, let me know if I should take this off the list, I know I like
> hearing
> what you guys have to say about a lot of technical topics, but I'm kinda
> new
> around here...
> 
> Cecil,
> 
> A house we're interested in is bank-owned (a foreclosure, I assume) and
> is
> priced very low, because, we're told, is it has "significant foundation
> issues."  The part of town it's in is known for having expansive clay
> soil,
> which I've read "moves" a lot with moisture ups and downs.  This home was
> built in 2001, and appears to have been made with relatively good quality
> (my opinion, having seen houses made with staples vs. nails, for
> example.)
> Also, possibly relevant, it is sitting at the very top of one of the
> biggest
> hills around, so that no water flows to it, only away from it.  I suspect
> that an entire neighborhood was built around this expansive soil, and
> only
> later was it learned which houses and been placed in the really bad
> spots.
> 
> I read as much as I could about foundation "repair" for this type of
> situation, most of what I read was from parts of Texas, they must have
> this
> problem pretty bad, for all the technical articles I've found about it
> there.  Mostly about different types of piers and piles driven or dug and
> poured through the "active" soil into stable soil.  Anyway, interested in
> any advice.  I'd especially like to know what are the "right questions" I
> should be asking a foundation repair guy.  The repair guy there is a
> structural engineer, presumably familiar with this problem that's fairly
> common to the neighborhood.  In Texas, there seems to be quite a debate
> about the more expensive "bell bottom piers" vs. driven steel or concrete
> piles. Of course, each argued by the guys who install that type.  I don't
> think anyone said anything negative about the success rate of bell bottom
> piers, just that they can be difficult to install if the holes crumble or
> collapse when dug (based on soil type) and that they're expensive.  The
> guys
> who install them claim the driven piles are a crapshoot, might not drive
> down to stable ground, and don't really "lock the foundation down" if the
> soil tries to move upward.  My worry, of course, is that the piers are
> too
> expensive, and that the guys who install the piles will say they're just
> fine, but how would I know if they're right?  I have read articles saying
> it
> all depends on the specific foundation, and using the right solution for
> the
> problem.  So I'd like to know what to ask, to be sure the foundation guy
> knows his stuff.  I also wonder if simply doing some drains around the
> foundation, and putting gutters on the house, would be enough to solve
> the
> problem.  Currently, the house has an enormous roof, and no gutters.  In
> Snowflake, they have a couple of rainy seasons, beginning and end of
> summer,
> as I understand it (monsoon season.)  I wonder if having done nothing to
> control runoff could be the major contributor to this problem after only
> 15
> years, and a whole army of "professionals" now want to make a living
> "fixing" it when really just some well-designed drains and the
> superficial
> "jack up the slab" repair would work.  You can see my optimism getting
> ahead
> of me, here!  Wouldn't it be nice if "foundation issues" kept any other
> buyers away while we finish our house in NY, but could be fixed
> permanently
> without major issues?
> 
> We still have 5 of our children living with us, so this home won't be our
> "forever after" home, it's too big for that (it's very big), but it would
> be
> great for us for the near future, especially if my father ends up moving
> in
> with us.  If the house has a chance of increasing in value with a
> repaired
> foundation, that would be great to know, or rather, I'd like to know if a
> "repair" isn't really anything more than a band aid.
> 
> I'd much prefer to have something done right than read the fine print on
> somebody's "guarantee" five years later when my doors stop closing
> properly.
> I am not there, so I haven't seen it in person yet, but if I do spend the
> money to go there, I'd like to know everything I can beforehand.
> 
> Scott in Penfield NY
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Cecil Bearden
> Sent: Saturday, October 01, 2016 10:14 PM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Subject: Re: [AT] OT Cadillac Northstar engine
> 
> I graduated in 1975 from OK State Univ. w/ a B.S. degree in Ag
> Engineering.
> I interviewed with every tractor manufacturer that came to 
> talk to us.   I talked with several short line manufacturers one of 
> which was Hesston.  None would hire me.  J.I. Case sent an engineer from
> Racine to interview.  He took me to lunch.  He told me that none of the
> ag
> manufacturers would hire a person who had been on the farm.  They only
> came
> to the interviews to make a presence.  He told me that he would love to
> see
> me go to work for them, but that I would never go anywhere in the company
> because I had worked on tractors and knew how they were maintained.  I
> would
> be too disruptive to their operations.
> 
> I was heartbroken and tried for 2 more years to work for an Ag 
> manufacturer.   Finally gave up and stayed at home and went to work for 
> the State of OK as an engineer in charge of the safety of Dams.  I made
> the
> first inspection of a dam in OK under President Carters program and the
> 8th
> inspection in the US.  I was re-trained as a civil engineer specializing
> in
> hydrology, hydraulics, and foundations.  I got training from the Army
> corps
> of engineers, US Bureau of Reclamation and the Soil Conservation Service.
> 30 years later I retired and now do consulting.  
> I still wish I had stayed in manufacturing, but the merger and
> acquisition
> of the 80's and 90's and the bankruptcy of Massey Ferguson just shattered
> the market for engineers in agriculture.
> 
> When I see the new machinery, I remember what the J I Case engineer told
> me...
> 
> Cecil in OKla
> 
> 
> On 10/1/2016 7:58 PM, Thomas O Mehrkam wrote:
> > Not the only one.
> >
> > Land rover has a starter under the intake manifold.
> >
> > Found that out trying to change the starter in a auto parts parking 
> > lot.  About 7 hours labor to change the *&^%% starter.
> >
> > On 10/1/2016 3:36 PM, Doug Tallman wrote:
> >> Still have a job, you ask? He won the most screwed up innovation of 
> >> the year award. Not only did he get a big bonus and a raise, he's now 
> >> highly sought after by all the other auto manufacturers.  :-) Doug T
> >>
> >> On 10/1/2016 3:51 PM, charlie hill wrote:
> >>> Starter inside the engine?  SAY WHAT?????????
> >>>
> >>> Does that engineer still have a job?
> >>>
> >>> Charlie
> >>>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> AT mailing list
> >> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> >>
> > _______________________________________________
> > AT mailing list
> > http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> 
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