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

charlie hill charliehill at embarqmail.com
Sun Oct 2 11:44:15 PDT 2016


Scott,  I read the other replies and agree with what was written.
I would most certainly have an engineer with experience in that
geographical area as well as that area of expertise look at it.

With that said, read up on helical piles.  They are basically
pieces of galvanized pipe with a helical screw on the end.
You screw them in with a bob cat or back hoe, etc. with a hydraulic motor
to turn them.  It's a lot like screwing in a big mobile home anchor except 
they
are typically  larger, ranging in size from 2" pipe up to 12" or greater. 
Yours
would be on the smaller end of the range.  Some are square tubing instead 
pipe
but they work the same.  Here's a video that will give you the idea.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=helical+piles#id=5&vid=914e26558ab38949c2ae4232c981728b&action=view

We use them down here on the NC coast in areas
where there is no solid dirt (muck soil) for many feet.  They do the same 
job as
excavating and pouring concrete piers.  They work equally well with 
supporting a load
as with uplift from wind load.  You would still have stabilize the house 
foundation and
tie it into the helical piles so I don't know if it would work in your 
situation or not.
Just be  aware that there are such things and they are a good alternative to 
the other
piles you are talking about.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Scott Williams
Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2016 3:25 AM
To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group'
Subject: Re: [AT] OT Cadillac Northstar engine - Now OT clay soil?

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

_______________________________________________
AT mailing list
http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

_______________________________________________
AT mailing list
http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at 




More information about the AT mailing list