Annoying city heavy equipment

cgrab

cgrab

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cgrab
Last summer the city laid new water pipe across several roads in our development. A month or so later a contractor came in and resurfaced the roads. The city said they would come back and lay the rest of the water pipe along side the roads. It's been about two months since any work has been done and there is an excavator on a side street and a skidsteer on the sidewalk right outside my front window.
At what point is this considered abandoned equipment? I don't think it would be theft if I just moved it over by the excavator. Do you think they would notice?
How many keys does John Deere make for the CT332?
 
I don't know if it's changed but it used to be that each manufacturer basically had just one key for their equipment.
Why not just call the contractor and ask him to move it?
 
Daily phone calls to the city from you and a neighbor will set it straight. Follow up each call with an email to the head of public works (whatever they call that person in your city), cc: the city council, relating, and re-relating, the conversation. Usually something like "This has been unresolved for X days" starts to get people thinking.

Pretty hard situation for them. Someone has to go out there with the keys. WOW!
 
Dumb question but does it even take a key and if so is the key in it? I had a contractor replace a retaining wall for me. They started the job on a Friday and left for the weekend. Left their skid steer right in my driveway blocking my garage. I don't remember if it took a key or not but I know I got in it and fired it right up. Ok that's a lie. Actually my wife got in it and fired it up. Then we both played with it for a while and parked it out of the way when we were done. I married the right girl.
 
Many many years ago the power company left a new pole across my driveway. After not having much luck getting it moved, I called and said don't worry about moving it. I'm going to use my chain saw and make a cut just wide enough to get my car through.

It was quickly moved.
 
Juliet Hotel said:
Dumb question but does it even take a key and if so is the key in it? I had a contractor replace a retaining wall for me. They started the job on a Friday and left for the weekend. Left their skid steer right in my driveway blocking my garage. I don't remember if it took a key or not but I know I got in it and fired it right up. Ok that's a lie. Actually my wife got in it and fired it up. Then we both played with it for a while and parked it out of the way when we were done. I married the right girl.
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The newer skid steers don't even have keys, they use a keypad with a passcode that must be entered prior to starting.
 
cgrab said:
Last summer the city laid new water pipe across several roads in our development. A month or so later a contractor came in and resurfaced the roads. The city said they would come back and lay the rest of the water pipe along side the roads. It's been about two months since any work has been done and there is an excavator on a side street and a skidsteer on the sidewalk right outside my front window.
At what point is this considered abandoned equipment? I don't think it would be theft if I just moved it over by the excavator. Do you think they would notice?
How many keys does John Deere make for the CT332?
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If it were me, I'd verbally tell them it was okay, then just move it into the garage/hangar and then try to bill them $1200 or so for storage fees. :)
 
Years ago we hot wired a JD 850 (I believe) bulldozer and used it to do some land clearing on our property. We re-filled the diesel we used.

There was a locked panel where the master switch was located, but the back of the panel was wide open. We just used a pair of vise grips to by pass the master switch, then push the starter button and away we went.
 
A friend who's a contractor explained it to me. Basically, those big machines are expensive to move and take up a lot of space, so the owner doesn't want to haul them back to their home location. Instead, they leave it at the last job site until it's needed somewhere else, and then they move it directly there.
 
Dana said:
A friend who's a contractor explained it to me. Basically, those big machines are expensive to move and take up a lot of space, so the owner doesn't want to haul them back to their home location. Instead, they leave it at the last job site until it's needed somewhere else, and then they move it directly there.
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Some might prefer to do that but big machines (more the excavator than the skid steer) are expensive to sit idle as well, so there might be something else going on. Personally, I'd just call the city and tell them it's a nuisance and let them deal with the contractor. They have the clout and the contract.
 
I personally wouldn't hesitate to move it. If it's been sitting for months without use, might require a jump.
 
We have a construction site right behind us (they're building senior citizen apartments). They start off at 0500 usually, and one night they started pumping concrete at 0230.
 
sferguson524 said:
We have a construction site right behind us (they're building senior citizen apartments). They start off at 0500 usually, and one night they started pumping concrete at 0230.
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I work for a big commercial construction management firm. 0500 is a little early for a standard start. We do 0600 and don't drive piles until 0700. We usually give notice of what's happening and anticipated normal work hours and any planned activities/closures that will occur outside of those normal hours. We usually work with the project owner to identify who the "neighbors" are and what format that notice comes in.

If there are noise or light pollution concerns, a polite visit or phone call with the GC/CM will likely go a long way. I don't like waking up early for concrete placements, so I know uninterested parties probably don't either. We make efforts to point portable light plants away from neighbors when possible.
 
SaltH2OHokie said:
I work for a big commercial construction management firm. 0500 is a little early for a standard start. We do 0600 and don't drive piles until 0700. We usually give notice of what's happening and anticipated normal work hours and any planned activities/closures that will occur outside of those normal hours. We usually work with the project owner to identify who the "neighbors" are and what format that notice comes in.

If there are noise or light pollution concerns, a polite visit or phone call with the GC/CM will likely go a long way. I don't like waking up early for concrete placements, so I know uninterested parties probably don't either. We make efforts to point portable light plants away from neighbors when possible.
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Yeah, they have portable lights on poles that point right in my bedroom window, and shine in the wife's face.
 
sferguson524 said:
Yeah, they have portable lights on poles that point right in my bedroom window, and shine in the wife's face.
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Check local gov't - the permits may have hour limitations, and you don't usually need a lawyer to get a some court relief for a public nuisance.
 
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