Company went out of business, they ended up coming back up six months later. But by that time I was already with John Deere and needed something more stable.

 

my very young years growing up in my fathers garage, when I was 9 we moved and started farming, did that until I was about 23, of course on a farm you fix everything. got married and went to school to get my A&P and rebuilt wrecked helicopters for 3 years, worked on tour helicopters at the Grand Canyon for 3 years than EMS helicopters working in Bullhead City, Phoenix and Prescott. in "05 I opened my garage when the base was closed and if I wanted to stay employed I would have to move to Odessa TX. or layette LA.
in 2018 I went to Puerto Rico working on helicopters repairing power lines after maria destroyed them, then about a year here in the states doing utility helicopters. then retired May 2019
now I do a few jobs in my garage and run my airb&b

 

Ah yes. Very common in that sector. Sorry to hear that.

Did you deal with any Eaton Hydraulics engineers during your time with JD?

 

I've worn many hats - some of them fit pretty well, others just kind of hung on my ears.

Worked in manufacturing for a bit then went to school and graduated with a double major in engineering (electrical) and statistics.

Worked as a process engineer for a while and then got down-sized so went to work as a dispatcher for police/fire/medical and filled my spare time as a reserve deputy and volunteer firefighter/EMT.

Worked for a while as a secondary math teacher at a school for "at-risk" kids; that was a rewarding and eye-opening experience.

Finally, was employed as an environmental engineer/project manager. Still licensed in that field but have been retired for a couple of years now.

And I stand in awe of all of the talent and experience represented by this group!

 

No Eaton hydraulics, but Eaton u-joints and driveshafts, and one of my managers used to work for Eaton differentials prior.

I mainly dealt with Danfoss hydraulics with my second job, which, if memory serves me right, Danfoss bought Eaton.

 

A lot of well educated people here.

Just a lowly tree faller/climber here in the PNW

 

All friends and family are welcome here.

That is a difficult and dangerous profession you have there. I remember what it was like to climb telephone poles and tall radio towers many years ago, I cannot imagine climbing a tall tree in the PNW.

I have felled many trees on my property and that has been a learning experience each time. Again, I could not imagine that lifestyle on the side of a mountain felling trees all day long.

Thank you for what you do on a daily basis and stay safe out there.

 

Joined the Army Reserve at 17. Tried college for a couple years but it didn’t take. Went active duty Army for four years and then was ready for college. Finished my Aerospace Engineering degree and worked in that field for about seven years, and 1.5 in computer programming. Decided I’d rather be in the Army and went back active duty until retiring earlier this year with 24yr and 11.5 months toward active retirement and nearly 38 years including reserve time. Now I work part time in a machine shop in my front yard. Before my Excursion and FTE the only work I ever did on a vehicle was oil changes.

 

Formal education or experience in a difficult field can be pretty much equal to my way of thinking.

Nothing Lowly about an honest days work my friend, and tree work is an HONEST days work requiring focus to stay alive and not do damage!

 

Very good idea for a thread, very interesting to hear (see?) everyone's stories.

Zach knows my story pretty well, but for everyone else I'll share. I went to school for Electrical Engineering. While in school I worked an 8 month internship at Bobcat, which is where I met Zach. Got married 2 weeks after graduating college and went to work for Hormel as a maintenance engineer. An opportunity came up to purchase the family farm so the wife and I did that and moved home. I took up climbing wind turbines as it meant I didn't have an hour long one way commute to work everyday. I worked there for not quite two years and ended up at a new windfarm a little farther away. I now work on the balance of plant side of things though, so we take care of basically everything but the towers themselves. Going on about a year and a half at that job currently. We also farm on the side. We raise hogs, cattle and sheep for meat and are also starting to rent ground from my folks for the crops. Lastly, my greatest job is getting to be a father for those who need one. Our 3 kids were adopted out of foster care after nearly a year and a half, we are also currently fostering 5 more.

As far as how I got started wrenching, it was my own stupidity. While I was in college I decided I wanted to get a 7.3L and found and purchased the truck Zach currently runs. It needed a lot when I first got it and I was a poor college student so FTE taught me how to wrench. My time at Hormel was also a great teacher and I learned a lot about wrenching. Climbing towers was very good at teaching me electrical troubleshooting on those poor old worn out towers. Now days with the proper tools and some good information from a place like this and I am willing to tackle about anything that I need to. For me, that's pretty much anything. Much to Zach's annoyance I'm sure, as I usually find a way to rope him in to my projects, haha.

 

Just the other day I resealed a Sauer/ Danfoss pump. Very simple design and very robust pumps, makes me really want to install one in my Monte Carlo if I go with hydraulics on it.

 

Proud Field service mechanic/and some welding.
Worked as a stock boy in a liquor store when I was 14, lots of stupid **** until I turned 22 then became a roofer then ended up where I'm at right now, and loving every minute of it.

 

I floundered for a few years. Did some warehousing, driving forklift, spent a summer with a travelling carnival. The Zipper was my ride. Got into roofing in 89 and am a red seal journeyman. 05 I was hired by a manufacturing company and now teach roofing. As well I am in charge of a specialty product for expansion joints and fabrication for Western Canada.




Dad was a mechanic so greasy Hands was in my blood.

I got started turning wrenches at about 10 when I bought a mini bike, built a basket case enduro as my first insured transportation.

Too many cars and trucks to count throughout the years. Many of which I wish I still owned.

My 7.3 will be an inheritance to one of my kids.

 

Cool. I worked with Eaton Hydraulics for a number of years. It is how I ended up living in Minnesota. I still live in the city the HQ is in. The driveline products were part of the Truck (I think) division. That corporation got reorganized so many times it made my head spin. Sauer Danfoss bought Eaton Hydraulics only a few months ago. It is weird to see everything repainted from Eaton blue to Danfoss orange.

Nice! Was that a gear, vane, gerotor or piston pump?

 

I am a recent high school grad...(1980). I been self employed since then. My father and I started a toolmaking/contract machining business then. In mid 90's I bought the father out and ventured in to CNC machining...self taught. During the early 2000's I had between 8-10 employees (depending on who decided to come to work any given day) ...I quickly tired of the whole employer/employee deal, sold all of my VMC's to specialize in making round things round. I currently provide support to various small caliber ammunition assembly companies and support non-current model year parts for Doosan/Bobcat.