To those dingbats who think you don't accomplish much, they need to follow in your footsteps for awhile and try to keep up with you. You Allen are an inspiring hard working multi talented man who accomplishes a huge amount!
I think that some people don't realize that you WORK during the day, that a lot of what you are doing, like the seat rebuild, is done AFTER you have been working all day. It looks great Allen, I love how you don't just throw stuff together and call it good enough. You be careful brother.
The one thing we have all come to expect from Alan’s work, is that it’s done right and not jerry rigged. Doing the job right on these older machines takes more time. But does it actually in the end? Otherwise issues crop up later, and you’re just going back to fix what you “fixed.” I think we’ve all got a soft spot for that Cat and look forward to seeing it working around the Fortress. Appreciate you saving and reviving the Cat bolts too. Awesome video Alan. Glad your finger is continuing to heal. It certainly affects anything you do when you get a finger injury.
Alan don’t even read the negative comments! I’m sure the people saying you aren’t accomplishing much at the fortress are people who have never accomplished 1/100th of what you have! Just what you have accomplished on making the wind turbines, frames, window frames and shutters, building the walls around the turbine frames is a lot, all while working a full time + job for Sparks Motors!! Like I have said before, I have very, very rarely seen a harder working, more dedicated, determined, diligent person! So sorry about the injury to your finger! Here’s to fast healing. ❤️🙏
Odd to say, maybe, but it is a comfort to know that you run into this like I do: every task on the to-do list that seems simple ends up growing tentacles of other issues when you try to tackle it. Well done, I admire your patience and attention to detail.
Awesome job Alan. Wish my husband and his dad were still alive they both worked for a road construction crew as mechanics and they loved working on those kinds of things. They could talk for hours about fixing old machinery. Dozers, cranes, scrapers, rollers they loved them all. They would have been in heaven talking with you about those old CATS.
Alan my dad had a cat that someone wielded the Tensioner's that he had bought we cut them wields out only to find the seals were gone we took it to a shop to rebuild them we saved some time cutting those out but it was expensive for sure!
Man. The seat design way more complicated than it needed to be. But that track weld is a pain all on its own. People are weird. Good to see you figuring things out.
Great Job on the seat, Alan. I hope it won't be to awful to remove all the welds. Don't worry about the time. You are a busy & hard working man. This is your channel so just let them deal with their own problems The rest of us love watching you. Keep Smiling. Stay Safe. God Bless You Bunches. ❤🙏
I wear cut resistant gloves now when I do anything that can cut me. You can buy thin ones that last longer than normal work gloves and are actually more comfortable. Plus the material they are made of can easily be washed over and over!
great job on the seat that is a job that looks like it would only take a hour or two but doing it right is so much more work than expected, sitting on that now must feel like a king on a throne.
Hi Allen. I guess you will always have arm chair mechanics telling you what you need to do and how fast. Shame they don't have a life of their own to tend to. I think the chair came out beautifully. Well done my man.👍👍
Congratulations on a fabulous upgrade to the CAT. Love that you have a softspot in your heart for the bolt CAT logo. You sure smiled big on that fat cushion once the 955L got rolling. I suggest you spray a peppermint aroma around the cab to help keep mice away. Or grow some peppermint in the cab.
Take care. I really don’t know when you rest. You work so much, I am amazed. Your fortress is really coming together. Don’t worry about what others “haters” think. They are simply stupid and not worth your time.
Proud supporter from day one. I'll expect more accomplishments when there is an army of Alan's covering the mountain. Until then the one-man army of Alan is kicking butt.
ALAN I could not care less if every video was of no use to me , They are entertaining ,and you are a clever ,talented man / wizard / genius , please keep the content coming , chances are something is going to be of use to me one day lol , GOD BLESS MATE , STAY SAFE
Amazing!! You have been perfecting the heavy machines. So you can finally create a road that is decent to reach the fortress. You are moving so darn fast with the purchases and maintenance on those pieces. WELL DONE.
Hey Alan !! Reach out to Iron King Inc. & see if Quinton has the track parts that you need as he deals with used ""CAT "" equipment !! Hope you can repair the tracks without having to scrap the loader for high $$$$$$$ to get the parts needed !!
Live your life, take your time. We get to see a sliver of your day to day work....nonsense for anyone to comment on how/when stuff gets done Enjoyed the video! Hope the finger heals well
Great channel for inspiration, Alan I have been doing catch up on ALL your past videos. Wow very impressed with how well you can multi task. I wish I had a guy like you working for me, Dave has done a lot for you but I think he is getting a great return from you. Hard working and devoted to your job, old school mentality keep up the great job.
Well done Wizard, glad this video made you smile, you deserve to be happy with what you can achieve normally when on your own 👍🧙, also if you use counter sink hex bolts the arms would sit flush but if rusted they would be a problem to remove again. And yes, you need to get a cement mixer, I’m Dave must have one laying around.
To see you smiling after the task of the seat repair is awesome stuff i bet you felt a real sense of accomplishment. As for the welding on the track slides, Good ain't cheap & cheap ain't going to be good . I just don't get why people don't fix the actual root cause of the initial problem and be done with it, "No i have a better idea i will mess with somebody who is unsuspecting and totally ruin his/her day " well thy certainly did a onsite quick fix those are the worst kind . Keep up the great videos Allan/Wizzard of wisdom .😊
Alan, I'll admit that I know nothing about HD Mechanics, but when you pointed out the welds on the tensioners, the first thought I had was that the tensioners themselves crapped out, and doing the welding was the easier/cheaper way to "make it work". Would that be a possibility, and if so, is there a way to check before going through the hassle of cutting the welds? Or do you have to cut them to figure out what's wrong? My reasoning for that thought is that if you cut the weld, then find out the tensioner itself is shot, you'll either need to reweld it to use it, then re cut it when you get a replacement (I'm assuming it can't be rebuilt) or can't use it at all until you get the parts. In any case, good luck with it, and looking forward to your next videos.
Alan, the "nuts" that were attached to the wood base of the seat are called upholstery "nuts", I think!! Most hardware stores Carry/sell them. It makes attaching metal to wood sooo much easier.
I am wondering what was the reason for someone in the past welded the track slide? Could it be the grease tension cylinder was leaking too badly to move the track forward? This would be another problem. I know you are the Wizard and I so it will be fixed. Enjoyed the show.
Hello Allan big shout out from Sault Ste Marie Ontario Canada( border town to Sault Ste Marie Michigan ( the Twin Sault's ) love your work always the best Cheers Mister
6" grinder disc should zip through those welds enough to allow the tracks to move. Much easier than cutting torch. I had a small D6 with the exact same problem. I hope it works for you but i know youll sort it eventually. Take care of yourself wish you all the best
If you noticed, all of the cracks were at the corners of the square holes that had been punched into the angle. They should have drilled or punched a round hole. Also, the “nuts” in the wood are called Tee nuts.
I can't wait to see what the fortress looks like when you get it done. I love your videos. And I LOVE when you show the scenery around you. It's so BEAUTIFUL. How did you even buy a mountain ?
if you ever needed any epic machining of metal parts, turned or Milled, and you didn't want to do it yourself, i bet Abom79 would love a collaboration project with you, and the Sparks guys. that would be a great combination of the machine shop crew and the extreme machine build and adventure crew like you guys. i love as well, seeing big TH-camrs collaborating and making things for each other, from Brent at Cerro Gordo, to You Alan, the Sparks Bros, and more. from the Gold prospectors and Miners like MBMMLLC and Dan Hurd, so many people i love to watch coming together for mutual fun and awesomeness.
One idea I can throw out for the welds that need cut. I watched a video recently on no air carbon arc gouging rods for use with a stick welder. They apparently do the same job of eating away welds but with a common stick welder instead of a large power supply and air!? I know that you have that awesome harbor freight generator welder up there and it combined with the carbon arc electrodes should make easy work of those patchwork welds! Thanks again for taking us on your journey!
I wondered that myself. Sure seems whoever welded them knew it was a last ditch effort before having to completely replace them. Shame actually that he will need to do that, but seems the only option.
To those dingbats who think you don't accomplish much, they need to follow in your footsteps for awhile and try to keep up with you. You Allen are an inspiring hard working multi talented man who accomplishes a huge amount!
really !! no one is keeping up with him that i have seen
@@vickiepeek2279 He be a free spirit, some religious label him an angel. Amazing when one can operate within a sphere of nonaggression! Eh?
Slava Ukraine
ALAN, take you're time. You're a one man show. Your followers will still be here when the next video comes out. ❤
Top Mechanics know this ... "When you repair things the 'right way' you do it only ONCE!" ... Nice work Pard!
If you repair it the wrong way you still only have to do it once, but the next guy gets to do it as well. 😂
Your doing a great job. Slow and steady wins the race and allows the job to be done right is my way of thinking.
I think that some people don't realize that you WORK during the day, that a lot of what you are doing, like the seat rebuild, is done AFTER you have been working all day. It looks great Allen, I love how you don't just throw stuff together and call it good enough. You be careful brother.
The one thing we have all come to expect from Alan’s work, is that it’s done right and not jerry rigged. Doing the job right on these older machines takes more time. But does it actually in the end? Otherwise issues crop up later, and you’re just going back to fix what you “fixed.” I think we’ve all got a soft spot for that Cat and look forward to seeing it working around the Fortress. Appreciate you saving and reviving the Cat bolts too. Awesome video Alan. Glad your finger is continuing to heal. It certainly affects anything you do when you get a finger injury.
❤We love watching you. I tell my husband all the time I don’t think there is anything Alan can’t fix. You are a inspiration Alan.
Alan don’t even read the negative comments! I’m sure the people saying you aren’t accomplishing much at the fortress are people who have never accomplished 1/100th of what you have! Just what you have accomplished on making the wind turbines, frames, window frames and shutters, building the walls around the turbine frames is a lot, all while working a full time + job for Sparks Motors!! Like I have said before, I have very, very rarely seen a harder working, more dedicated, determined, diligent person! So sorry about the injury to your finger! Here’s to fast healing. ❤️🙏
What?! People say you don't get a lot done?! You blow my mind with all you've achieved by yourself!! A true wizard 😎
Odd to say, maybe, but it is a comfort to know that you run into this like I do: every task on the to-do list that seems simple ends up growing tentacles of other issues when you try to tackle it. Well done, I admire your patience and attention to detail.
Its like a mushroom, The fruit that pops up is the new creation.
Awesome job Alan. Wish my husband and his dad were still alive they both worked for a road construction crew as mechanics and they loved working on those kinds of things. They could talk for hours about fixing old machinery. Dozers, cranes, scrapers, rollers they loved them all. They would have been in heaven talking with you about those old CATS.
Alan my dad had a cat that someone wielded the Tensioner's that he had bought we cut them wields out only to find the seals were gone we took it to a shop to rebuild them we saved some time cutting those out but it was expensive for sure!
Man. The seat design way more complicated than it needed to be. But that track weld is a pain all on its own. People are weird. Good to see you figuring things out.
Its so nice of dave to let you work on your stuff in his shop
It's always great to see the wizard at work! 👍
one thing i've never thought when watching your vids is that you don't get much done, cheers from the east coast
I think what I love the most is your smile! I learn alot, may not ever use it, but I love to learn.
Mr. Wizard thanks for sharing your experience! I really enjoyed it !!
Great Job on the seat, Alan. I hope it won't be to awful to remove all the welds. Don't worry about the time. You are a busy & hard working man. This is your channel so just let them deal with their own problems The rest of us love watching you. Keep Smiling. Stay Safe. God Bless You Bunches. ❤🙏
Haha, a earthmoving contractor once said to me that the most important thing on a machine is a good seat! Cheers
Wizard recycling makes the world go round and round !
Best way to get those welds cut is an arc gouge
Rome wasn't built in a day. You are doing a great job. Keep up the good work. I'm glad to see that old heavy equipment coming back to life.
For me, I enjoy what you do. Don't particularly care about the haters, you know your circumstances, they don't. Keep it up. 👍
Great video Allan! We enjoy your adventures and your progress on the fortress!
I wear cut resistant gloves now when I do anything that can cut me. You can buy thin ones that last longer than normal work gloves and are actually more comfortable. Plus the material they are made of can easily be washed over and over!
It's very satisfying to see you take the time to do a job right. I hope your finger heals up soon so you can get back to working on the fortress.
great job on the seat that is a job that looks like it would only take a hour or two but doing it right is so much more work than expected, sitting on that now must feel like a king on a throne.
Alan’s going to have this thing cherry in no time!
Happy for you Alan. People don't see everything you do. Don't sweat the negative people.
Hi Allen. I guess you will always have arm chair mechanics telling you what you need to do and how fast. Shame they don't have a life of their own to tend to. I think the chair came out beautifully. Well done my man.👍👍
they don't call him the Wizard for nothin! lol
Congratulations on a fabulous upgrade to the CAT. Love that you have a softspot in your heart for the bolt CAT logo. You sure smiled big on that fat cushion once the 955L got rolling. I suggest you spray a peppermint aroma around the cab to help keep mice away. Or grow some peppermint in the cab.
Alan was smiling during the entire video!
good idea on the peppermint
Take care. I really don’t know when you rest. You work so much, I am amazed. Your fortress is really coming together. Don’t worry about what others “haters” think. They are simply stupid and not worth your time.
Great job on the seat Allan,im sure its probably a lot more comfortable. Sorry to hear about your finger hope its a lot better. Thanks for the video.
Alan (AKA) Wizard, love watching your videos, you do a great job and have such good work ethics. Sparks motor got a good one in you.
Proud supporter from day one. I'll expect more accomplishments when there is an army of Alan's covering the mountain. Until then the one-man army of Alan is kicking butt.
ALAN I could not care less if every video was of no use to me , They are entertaining ,and you are a clever ,talented man / wizard / genius ,
please keep the content coming , chances are something is going to be of use to me one day lol ,
GOD BLESS MATE , STAY SAFE
Thanks Alan! Ignore the haters, they aren’t doing the work. what you’re doing takes time to get right, and life happens.
Its so great that you can do almost everything by yourself but its always nice if you had someone help you do this stuff
Love your videos Alan ! Keep up the good work. Love following your day to day!
Till next time thanks for the Vlog drop👊
Nice job on that seat Al, I agree with you about keeping the CAT bolts, I bet you can't even get those for CAT anymore.
Amazing!! You have been perfecting the heavy machines. So you can finally create a road that is decent to reach the fortress. You are moving so darn fast with the purchases and maintenance on those pieces. WELL DONE.
you always have another project after the one you just fixed Good work Allen be safe god bless
Looking forward to a detailed video on the track tension repairs.
Great job on getting the seat repaired. It's looking awesome indeed. Keep up the great work.
Hoping for a video of the tension repair. We're going to enjoy any video you make. May your finger heal good as new like wizards do.
I'm always learning something if I knew it or know. Thanks Wizard.
That new seat looks great !!
Hey Alan !! Reach out to Iron King Inc. & see if Quinton has the track parts that you need as he deals with used ""CAT "" equipment !! Hope you can repair the tracks without having to scrap the loader for high $$$$$$$ to get the parts needed !!
Two steps forward, and repeat 😂 But you are getting good results. Keep up with your posts and thank you!
I just love the fantastic work you put in to these machines and the fortress.. Love from Sweden // Micke
mate you should sell some of those unused trucks and put it into getting the fortress done.... i love your work....
Great video. You do nice work Alan. Keep videos coming.
Live your life, take your time. We get to see a sliver of your day to day work....nonsense for anyone to comment on how/when stuff gets done
Enjoyed the video! Hope the finger heals well
Great channel for inspiration, Alan I have been doing catch up on ALL your past videos. Wow very impressed with how well you can multi task. I wish I had a guy like you working for me, Dave has done a lot for you but I think he is getting a great return from you. Hard working and devoted to your job, old school mentality keep up the great job.
Great job Allen I sure your going to enjoy that seat when your moving dirt. 😀👍❤️❤️❤️❤️
Nice job. Looks great. Thanks for your videos. Especially like the heavy equipment and restoration. Keep up the good work.
Great video Allen. They still carry the carriage pieces for CAT equipment. I would just replace the parts that got messed with.
Well done. That came out very nice. Another great vid. 💪. Keep up the awesome work 👊
Good on ya Alan! Hope your finger gets better soon..
I BELIEVE IN YOU ALAN YOU WILL FIGURE IT OUT HOW TO GET THE TRACK TO TIGHTEN UP
Well done Wizard, glad this video made you smile, you deserve to be happy with what you can achieve normally when on your own 👍🧙, also if you use counter sink hex bolts the arms would sit flush but if rusted they would be a problem to remove again. And yes, you need to get a cement mixer, I’m Dave must have one laying around.
Way to get the Dozer back on track! 😂
To see you smiling after the task of the seat repair is awesome stuff i bet you felt a real sense of accomplishment. As for the welding on the track slides, Good ain't cheap & cheap ain't going to be good . I just don't get why people don't fix the actual root cause of the initial problem and be done with it, "No i have a better idea i will mess with somebody who is unsuspecting and totally ruin his/her day " well thy certainly did a onsite quick fix those are the worst kind .
Keep up the great videos Allan/Wizzard of wisdom .😊
Nice work, I love watching this channel.
Good Morning brother have a great day and hopefully your hand feels better soon👊😁🙏🇺🇸😎
For getting those welds out for the track tensioner- try a process called carbon arc gouging.
Alan, I'll admit that I know nothing about HD Mechanics, but when you pointed out the welds on the tensioners, the first thought I had was that the tensioners themselves crapped out, and doing the welding was the easier/cheaper way to "make it work". Would that be a possibility, and if so, is there a way to check before going through the hassle of cutting the welds? Or do you have to cut them to figure out what's wrong? My reasoning for that thought is that if you cut the weld, then find out the tensioner itself is shot, you'll either need to reweld it to use it, then re cut it when you get a replacement (I'm assuming it can't be rebuilt) or can't use it at all until you get the parts.
In any case, good luck with it, and looking forward to your next videos.
Nice the seat looks comfy. You Did amazing job on it. Keep up the great work. I saw you from ear to ear when you finished up the seat. 😊
What can't Alan fix? He's unstoppable.
This kind,s of videos are just stunning Allan… Absolutely stunning! 😊👉
That seat came out nice Alan! Yeah that tensioning gonna be a big project! Great vid brother!
Enjoyed the video sat down after work smoked a bowl have a ice cold beer and enjoyed the show❤😊
Good job Allen , always looking for your videos !!!
Alan, the "nuts" that were attached to the wood base of the seat are called upholstery "nuts", I think!! Most hardware stores Carry/sell them. It makes attaching metal to wood sooo much easier.
Thanks man! just keep moving forward your doing great!
I am wondering what was the reason for someone in the past welded the track slide?
Could it be the grease tension cylinder was leaking too badly to move the track forward? This would be another problem.
I know you are the Wizard and I so it will be fixed.
Enjoyed the show.
Great job Alan.
Hello Allan
big shout out from Sault Ste Marie Ontario Canada( border town to Sault Ste Marie Michigan ( the Twin Sault's )
love your work
always the best
Cheers Mister
6" grinder disc should zip through those welds enough to allow the tracks to move. Much easier than cutting torch. I had a small D6 with the exact same problem. I hope it works for you but i know youll sort it eventually. Take care of yourself wish you all the best
If you noticed, all of the cracks were at the corners of the square holes that had been punched into the angle. They should have drilled or punched a round hole.
Also, the “nuts” in the wood are called Tee nuts.
Murphy's Law kicks in every time
When you go do some work something else has to be Done first
Martin Murphy all the way from Wexford Ireland
Thank you for sharing 🙏
I like your 1st gen collection
Good job my friend!
Good job..Seat looks great..
Always enjoy your videos
I can't wait to see what the fortress looks like when you get it done. I love your videos. And I LOVE when you show the scenery around you. It's so BEAUTIFUL. How did you even buy a mountain ?
if you ever needed any epic machining of metal parts, turned or Milled, and you didn't want to do it yourself, i bet Abom79 would love a collaboration project with you, and the Sparks guys. that would be a great combination of the machine shop crew and the extreme machine build and adventure crew like you guys. i love as well, seeing big TH-camrs collaborating and making things for each other, from Brent at Cerro Gordo, to You Alan, the Sparks Bros, and more. from the Gold prospectors and Miners like MBMMLLC and Dan Hurd, so many people i love to watch coming together for mutual fun and awesomeness.
Admiración y respeto para ti Allan
Awesome Allen.
Looks great 👍🏼
One idea I can throw out for the welds that need cut. I watched a video recently on no air carbon arc gouging rods for use with a stick welder. They apparently do the same job of eating away welds but with a common stick welder instead of a large power supply and air!? I know that you have that awesome harbor freight generator welder up there and it combined with the carbon arc electrodes should make easy work of those patchwork welds! Thanks again for taking us on your journey!
Great job allen
Morning! Checking in from Baja California, San Felipe beach
The grease tensioners are toast on the dozer. You'll have to rebuild or replace them, cut those welds off and smooth out those rails.
I wondered that myself. Sure seems whoever welded them knew it was a last ditch effort before having to completely replace them. Shame actually that he will need to do that, but seems the only option.
I sure enjoy your vids. Very interesting stuff
Take care of yourself is very important
Good job 😊