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Pics are of the project my township asked for volunteer labor for, have spent 2 days there from 7 to 5 and am going back tomorrow. Townshop had funds for barrier free playground equipment but no funds to install so they asked about 40 people to volunteer. Biggest, most complex setup I have ever helped with, much to my surprise, you only need a 3/8 drive ratchet, a T-50 Torx bit, a 9/16 socket, a plastic hammer, and a 9/16 inch box wrench and a flat screwdriver to set up 95% of this stuff. When I got home, my wife told me "look, you are on the 5 pm news" and darned if I wasn't seen several times during the 60 second clip. Why did I have to be scratching my b----s when they were filming??? :laughing::laughing:

Oh no, I saw a yellow tractor and an orange tractor but no Green. :laughing:

I'm sure you corrected them on such an important issue.

Congratulations on helping your community. :thumbsup:

This seems to be a trend........hmmmmm

This spring, our city bought a simmilar setup, and asked for the same thing - volunteers to put it up. My question is: Why do they get into these projects knowing they can't pay for the whole thing? They asked for volunteers and their tools for our project. Odd how it's almost identical to our playground! Must be they used the same economic playbook, too....:wink:

I didn't volunteer. I figured I would not only be volunteering for the kids, but free campaign blah when the elections come around. They can go on and on how they (over)spent on this great project, how great it is for blah blah blah.....maybe if they advertised coffe and a sandwich for lunch - but they couldn't afford THAT, either. Should've asked for a caterer to volunteer, too...:biggrin:

Good on you, JD - for being a better man than me. :thumbsup:

Two-Stroke said:

Oh no, I saw a yellow tractor and an orange tractor but no Green. :laughing:

I'm sure you corrected them on such an important issue.

Congratulations on helping your community. :thumbsup:

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Great job JD but I was also wondering where the John Deere green was. Maybe it just blended in with the grass.:confused2::laughing:

twall said:

This seems to be a trend........hmmmmm

This spring, our city bought a simmilar setup, and asked for the same thing - volunteers to put it up. My question is: Why do they get into these projects knowing they can't pay for the whole thing?

Click to expand...

Because the dept in charge has money they have to spend or face not getting as big a budget the next year. If they show some common sense and frugality and have money left over at the end of the year, they get penalized by having their budget cut the next year. Not to mention Gov't at all levels is just insanely inept at handling money.

I wonder how long it will take some kid to get hurt and the parents to sue the city/county, whatever, for improperly installing the playground equipment because they used volunteers instead of paying "skilled professionals" to put the equipment together.

But all that aside, good on you JD for helping out.

good for you JD,looks like a lot of good folks showed up .Tell me,do you all get to try it out first?..russ

bakerg said:

Great job JD but I was also wondering where the John Deere green was. Maybe it just blended in with the grass.:confused2::laughing:

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They had a JD skid steer (or whatever they call those little Bobcat sized 4 wheel gadgets) but it was painted Cat yellow. They used it to dig postholes. Know what is really, really stupid? Somehow between the planning stages and the actual installation of the footings for the playground posts, it got (bleeped) up. Look at the picture of the big column, see the orange spray where the column SHOULD have been centered? And where it end up once it was bolted down? Look at the picture of the small column, see the concrete footing tube that had to be cut out and the hole enlarged to get the column in the proper place AND a secondary footing dug? About TEN out of TWENTY THREE footings were either located wrong or not level, meaning a lot of digging and wasted time and with mostly unskilled labor that means TROUBLE. At times we had maybe THIRTY people buzzing around and get this...although the township provided tools, I was the ONLY ONE THERE with a tool belt and hardware bag. People would put something down, or just drop it, put it someplace, and then go on a mad hunt 'where is the flipping (hammer ratchet open end wrench prybar lineup tool etc) well about 2 pm today I got so fricking ticked off at people swiping my personal tools out of my handy-dandy pouches I went to the township supervisor and told him QUOTE: "I am sorry but I volunteered for this thinking it was planned well and people would know what to expect but it appears I was wrong so please don't ask me to volunteer again thanks bye"...

I had my hands mashed numerous times and took two bad falls because dips---- left post holes uncovered or left stick tools lying on the ground....

Thanks for letting me rant. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

twall said:

This seems to be a trend........hmmmmm

This spring, our city bought a simmilar setup, and asked for the same thing - volunteers to put it up. My question is: Why do they get into these projects knowing they can't pay for the whole thing? They asked for volunteers and their tools for our project. Odd how it's almost identical to our playground! Must be they used the same economic playbook, too....:wink:

I didn't volunteer. I figured I would not only be volunteering for the kids, but free campaign blah when the elections come around. They can go on and on how they (over)spent on this great project, how great it is for blah blah blah.....maybe if they advertised coffe and a sandwich for lunch - but they couldn't afford THAT, either. Should've asked for a caterer to volunteer, too...:biggrin:

Good on you, JD - for being a better man than me. :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

Twall....good to see you back here on the FP, you have been missed....:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Actually my township didn't have the $$ for the playground build but it took four years to get it from the DNR which is a state agency. Know what baffles me, they needed to get $150,000 from the DNR for state assistance BUT, it would have been quite possible for the township to find money in their budgets for swing sets, teeter totters, merry go rounds, etc in those four years. They had THREE BRAND NEW 4X4 one ton and 2 ton trucks hauling the playground equipment there from storage, and they DON'T need new trucks every few years. The whole thing ticks me off more than a little.

I was talking with the township supervisor while there, asked him quote:

"Are you telling me you needed volunteer labor for this, while you have $100,000 worth of new trucks, and the only toilet this park has ever had, is a porta-potti, and the sewer line is only ten feet away from the road? Yet your township has all this equipment? Sorry, you seem to have your priorities wrong...."