Off to a bad start with ag wood ash

I have been waiting 6 months for delivery of 2 30 ton loads of ag wood ash from a high quality source (1 to 1 lime replacement) after 3 false starts on promised delivery they finally came today, several hours late of course.

Of course we came out of a month of -20 to -30 C two days ago to +10 C and heavy rain (I think thats like 55 F or something) and my dump pads that were plowed off in the field to freeze deep turned to soup.

Truck one came to our home fields covered in ash, tells me his tarp on top wouldn't stay down since the wind gusts was 25-50 mph today. Thats good, its only 32$ a ton, feel free to let it blow. driver didn't want to back it in so I scraped 2-3" of mud off the road so he could get in frontwards but he still got stuck. We got in a jam and the only way he could get out was dumping in the neighbours field which we got permission to do. Tore our yard and driveway up trying to get out (not his fault, just due to the thaw) Pile went everywhere, 2" deep but maybe 50 feet wide. Over the driveway etc.

Truck two driver didn't want to wait at all at the start so I sent him off with a guide to the field. He didn't stop to get instructions and backed the truck off the field road into a water hole that the creek was overflowing through. He then tried to push himself out with the dump action of the trailer but buried the trailer to the axles.

We finish up, go to try and pull him out, no luck. Wrecker charges 175$ per hour and is 2 hours round trip, they didn't want to pay, neither did I. Truckers both decide the load is being dumped as is. Land owner is sitting in their truck watching looking unimpressed.

They leave with their money, I go get the tractor and start clearing the snow out of the creek.

Too windy to tarp it so I'm watching big cyclones of my ash blow. Get back tonight to tarp it, water has soaked up a good foot into the pile, ash mud is oozing out. We tarp it up and head home.

Tomorrow I have to decide with the land owner if I'm going to hire an escavator to trench around the pile or move the pile to where it was supposed to be dumped. The temp is dropping to -18 or so tonight so the wet part of the pile won't be going anywhere.

Never again will I take delivery in the winter.

Where in the world does that much wood ash come from?

I use to spread it on my garden. But I didn't have to worry about it blowing cause it was free for me, and waste.

Hope it goes better.

Gene

They use a wood fired boiler to heat lumber kilns, huge ones. Its actually one of the lower output sources of ash here but the big producers ash required 3 tons to equal 1 ton of lime.

I should say wood waste boiler - bark and offcuts.

We have a first rate company here in NH that handles the wood ash. Theirs comes from wood fired electrical generating plants. I am sure that they would have delivered back last fall when they were supposed to, so that they would not have been trying to make up time under adverse conditions. Even if they were scheduling for mid winter, I am sure that they would have postponed until the ground froze again rather than have a big headache. Although it sounds like they left you with the headache. I have told truckers to go back before, (and I was one for two years), rather than get into a bad situation.

Several wood burning power plants South of me and there are plans for several more.They give it to area farmers for free and haul it to you just to get rid of it.

Thats pretty pricey considering you also have to spread it,I can get lime spread when and where I want it for less then $30/ton plus its the
High Mag/High Cal lime.

Unfortunately, I have run into a lot of drivers like that in my projects. Seem like today many guys don't care about the problems they cause for you, so long as they are not inconvenienced.

Concrete truck drivers are the worst. Most will drive over your expensive trees, bushes, septic fields etc. and wash out a truck (concrete residue) in your front lawn and drive away. It is a hassle trying to get the concrete they just delivered finished at the same time you keep them from destroying the place on their way out.

Economic slow down in building has fixed the problem. Most of them are now unemployed.

I have a specific driver I request now. If Bobby is not available I won't accept deivery.

(quoted from post at 07:43:29 02/01/13) Unfortunately, I have run into a lot of drivers like that in my projects. Seem like today many guys don't care about the problems they cause for you, so long as they are not inconvenienced.

Concrete truck drivers are the worst. Most will drive over your expensive trees, bushes, septic fields etc. and wash out a truck (concrete residue) in your front lawn and drive away. It is a hassle trying to get the concrete they just delivered finished at the same time you keep them from destroying the place on their way out.

Economic slow down in building has fixed the problem. Most of them are now unemployed.

I have a specific driver I request now. If Bobby is not available I won't accept deivery.

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I was working on an addition to our church when the concrete truck came. It was an older guy that did such a great job of putting it where it needed to be that I asked him if he was going to attach a float to the end of his trough to strike it off for us.

Edd,
There used to be some darn good concrete truck drivers around here but they all retired. The new crop of drivers can be a problem if you don't babysit them.
I bid on building a house for my BIL. He said I was too expensive and decided to build it himself. Got off to a bad start. Had three concrete trucks buried at the same time trying to pour footings. He never fessed up. The guy helping him sent me some pics. They had to hire a heavy duty wrecker at big bucks to get them out. Kinda put a smile on my face. By the time he was done the house cost far more than my bid....and he worked for free.
BTW, it's against the law (EPA rules) to wash out or even dump excess concrete on top of the ground.

Ken,
Sorry about your troubles. We've had truckers cause all kinds of problems. The ones that burn me are when a delivery driver decides to turn around in a neighbor's drive and runs off onto the lawn causing a big mess. Or the guy picking up a loaded dumpster and forgetting to stop the winch, thus pulling the pin out of the dumpster and depositing said dumpster through the wall and closed overhead door of the customer's garage.

About all you can do is chalk it up to an expensive life lesson and move forward.
Pops

We've had good luck with concrete drivers, one helped on the screed even. The very first one for our shop slab drove over our footing forms. What a mess that was.

I hate the dump truck guys you tell them "it's soft, we don't know if it will hold you, it's fine if you end up dumping on the street", and they start grabbing gears with the Mack duplex to get a running start and tear up the driveway fabric and try taking out the gas lines under it.

(quoted from post at 06:51:12 02/01/13) Thats pretty pricey considering you also have to spread it,I can get lime spread when and where I want it for less then $30/ton plus its the
High Mag/High Cal lime.

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Count yourself lucky. Last time I checked it was over twice as much here.