Posted by jp on October 24, 2003 at 14:59:21:
I’ve enjoyed this thread. Thanks for your time.
Mobile Home Crushes Worker - Posted by wwjmaj
Posted by wwjmaj on October 22, 2003 at 11:00:20:
I just came across this news item…for all you do it yourselfers out there. Please be careful! Obviously even the “pros” at this dealership didn’t block carefully before working under the home.
See this link: http://www.local6.com/news/2570608/detail.html
The closest I ever came to killing someone… - Posted by Dr. Craig Whisler CA NV
Posted by Dr. Craig Whisler CA NV on October 23, 2003 at 12:10:01:
…but first:
The real danger lies in the initial set-up of single and doublewidess.
Have you ever noticed set-up cribs? They are boxed shaped objects used to block up mobiles, especially at the tongue end. They are square boxes made out of 2 X 4s assembled in a lattice work pattern, and are VERY strong. Cribs should be used under the tongue when setting mobiles. I personally think they should also be used under the rear of mobile when the wheels and axels are first removed.
The dangerous time is when wheels are removed from the axels. Until the wheels are removed there is little likelyhood of being crushed because if you are under a mobile and it falls off the piers it will land on the whells and tires. Even if they all tires suddenlly go flat on one side (this used to happen fairly often, especially during transportation) there should still be more than enough clearance betwen you and the bottom of the mobile so you can’t get crushed unless you are foolishly under an axel. You never crawl under an axel. When a coach falls you can get a nasty bash in the head if it hits you but you can’t generally get crushed even if the tongue isn’t properly cribbed because there is just too much clearance between the bottom of the mobile and the ground.
I have seen hundreds of mobiles set on sloped lots. Some, steeply, unlevel. I feel that this is a very dangerous practice, during set up, earthquakes, tornados, and heavy rains. I prefer to grade my lots nearly level, but not quite level if propane will be used, so that it will run off like rainwater instead of collecting in low spots under the home, in the event of a leak.
One time when I was learning to set mobiles, supposedly under the watchful eye of a responsible, licensed, mobile home setup contractor. I had a very bad experience. The mobile home got set up and so did I.
The guy was showing me how to jack up the half of a double wide that was to be moved closer to the stationary half. He craweled under the mobile and showed me how to jack up the inner rail with the jack at a 45 degree angle. You just put a short block of 2 X 4 under one edge of the jack so it sits at that angle. Then you place the other jack on the outer rail straight up and down. Both workers, if there are two, jack simultaneously until the mobile falls off of the jacks. As the mobile home falls the inner jack that was placed at a 45 degree angle causes the mobile to move sideways a few inches toward the stationary half. That is how it was done in the old days and I notice there are still a few set up contractors doing it that way. You just jack it up and repeatedly let it fall back down on its wheels. Each time it moves a few inchess closer to the other half until both are evenly married.
Well on my first experience, with the jack at a 45 dergee angle, my tutor carefully placed himself on the outboard side, out of harms way. You see, he neglected to tell me that at one point the mobile would fall back down over my head. Remember this was my first time to see this done. When a jillion pound mobile home comes crashing down it creaks and groans and makes such a horrendous, loud, noise that you would think the world was coming to and end. The setup guy, probably on about his 3rd or 4th beer by that time, thought it would be a great joke to not tell me what was about to happen, when the mobile came crashing down right over my head for the first time. It scared the holy bejaspers out of me. I thought I was dead for sure.
That was the closest I ever came to intentionaly killing someone (after I went home for a change of clothing).
Regards, doc
Re: Mobile Home Crushes Worker - Posted by Tony-VA/NC
Posted by Tony-VA/NC on October 22, 2003 at 17:27:07:
That story link reads like he was working on an RV (Motor Home or travel trailer) at a sales lot, not a mobile home setup on a site.
Typically the homes we work on have been in the same position for decades. They are strapped down and have withstood many a storm.
Working under them may be unpleasant (nothing like ferrel cat odor) but I have never felt I would be crushed.
Typically the repairs we are doing under the home do not involve us pushing the home from side to side. Usually we are repairing plumbing, insulation, perhaps some flooring but again, these simply hang from under the home.
Tony
Re: Mobile Home Crushes Worker - Posted by John (TN)
Posted by John (TN) on October 22, 2003 at 11:14:58:
That is extremly sad and unfortunately, not so uncommon. Recently at our state sanctioned installer’s class conducted by George Porter, he relayed many such incidents and stressed the importance of safety cribbing whenever jacking a home.
What precautions do you guys reccomend? What about working under a home that has already been blocked and leveled?
John
Not quite… - Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ
Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ on October 23, 2003 at 13:26:43:
“I prefer to grade my lots nearly level, but not quite level if propane will be used, so that it will run off like rainwater instead of collecting in low spots under the home, in the event of a leak.”
http://www.propanegas.com/consumer/what.html – Propane can be either a liquid or a gas. At normal atmospheric pressure and temperature, it is a non-toxic, colorless and odorless gas. Just like natural gas, an identifying odor is added so it can be readily detected. Under moderate pressure, propane becomes a liquid that vaporizes into a clean-burning gas when released from its storage container. Propane is 270 times more compact as a liquid than a gas, making it economical to store and transport as a liquid.
Propane doesn’t “run off”.
Watch out for SPIDERS, ug! - Posted by Dr. Craig Whisler CA NV
Posted by Dr. Craig Whisler CA NV on October 22, 2003 at 16:29:00:
Black Widows are as common as lug-nuts in my area, and sometimes seem nearly as big.
Wear one-piece coveralls, long sleeve heavy shirts, high boots, hat, and gloves. Once dressed properly, call someone else to do it.
:~0
Regards, doc
Run off - Posted by jp
Posted by jp on October 23, 2003 at 15:22:32:
55+,
I think you are wrong. Gaseous propane is heavier than air, and therefore will settle into low places, just as Doc has said. Just because something is a gas, does not mean that it will not “run off”. It will, in fact, settle down the hill and out from under the trailer. Doc is exactly right. In your haste to discredit him, you have misspoken.
Re: Not quite… - Posted by tony w
Posted by tony w on October 23, 2003 at 14:06:32:
I think this guys in love with you Doc!
tried this , wife said no! / nt - Posted by Greg Meade
Posted by Greg Meade on October 23, 2003 at 18:26:39:
`
Re: Run off - Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ
Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ on October 23, 2003 at 15:49:48:
I managed a 650-space RV park for 2 years, and a requirement of the job was that I become a Certified Propane Technican.
Propane can only “run” in it’s liquid state.
Re: Not quite… - Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ
Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ on October 23, 2003 at 15:07:09:
Call HAZMAT and tell them you’ve got a propane spill… they’ll probably bring a mop over to wipe it up.
Greg, you gotta finesse women a little. - Posted by Dr. Craig Whisler CA NV
Posted by Dr. Craig Whisler CA NV on October 23, 2003 at 21:00:18:
I’d go get a palastic box about the size to hold a large fresh rose or an orchid. I mean the thin but stiff plastic kind. I’d put a base of clean white cotton in the botton and a nice big black widow spider in the middle of the cotton. You can cloroform it first, or not, depending on how nice your wife is. Then gift wrap it and put a big bow on top of it. When you leave for work in the morning as you kiss her goodby gently wisper in her ear that she should expect a ‘special gift’ from you when you return home in the evening. Let her spent the whole day in eager anticipation of what it might be. Then when you come home and she asks you about her gift, tell her not to rush you. Say you will give it to her after dinner, just to tease her a little more and prime her for the net step. Finaly after dinner and you holding the box over your head for a while while she jumps up a few times trying to grab it away from you, give it to her but tell her to sit down first before opening it. Now, Greg, when she opens it and finds its contents and get mad at you and asks what’s up, you calmly say, “well that’s what you wanted for ME, isn’t it. My mom told me that all women give the gifts that they want to receive. What’s the matter dear, don’t you like it. Well anyway, it should be the THOUGHT that counts”.
Greg, you just gotta know how to handle women. Take it from me. I am well experienced. I’ve been married 7 times. Hmmm I wonder if that will be lucky number?
Regards doc
stubborn - Posted by jp
Posted by jp on October 23, 2003 at 16:01:26:
Are you really going to debate the meaning of “run”? Maybe Doc’s analogy of rain water was a bad one, but we all know what he meant. He meant that it flows DOWNHILL like rain water, not that it is LIQUID like rainwater. JEEEEEEES!
Re: Not quite… - Posted by Marty (MO)
Posted by Marty (MO) on October 23, 2003 at 20:31:22:
I don’t want to be near a propane leak in AZ! I’m sure your local HAZMAT team will appreciate the fine job you’re doing of doling out false information. You may be educated on the subject, but I avoid third world educated physicians, also!
ill take my chances w/ the spider/ nt - Posted by Greg Meade
Posted by Greg Meade on October 24, 2003 at 10:54:23:
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Re: stubborn - Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ
Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ on October 23, 2003 at 16:12:54:
Actually, it’s far more likely that it will disapate due to the oxygen molcules trapped in the top soil than it will run downhill.
If you’ve ever seen propane trapped underground (near the surface) you’ll have noticed that a white coating forms on the area immediately above it… that’s due to the extremely cold temp of the product in it’s liquid-state.
I’m not trying to argue the point guys, I just happen to know better.
Re: Not quite… - Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ
Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ on October 23, 2003 at 23:54:45:
Propane doesn’t spill, it leaks… I was being humorous, that’s why there was a winky face at the bottom of the post.
Re: stubborn - Posted by jp
Posted by jp on October 23, 2003 at 16:23:36:
I’m not arguing, I’m debating. How about we test your theory. Let’s hire some folks to dig big hole under a trailer. Then lets feed in a propane hose and turn on the gas. When we’re sure the hole is full we’ll turn off the gas. Assuming it isn’t windy outside, let’s wait about an hour for the propane to “disapate” as you are confident it will. Then…you go inside the trailer and wait while I throw a match in the hole! KABLOOOOEEEEEEYYYY!
Scientific - Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ
Posted by The55+GuyFromAZ on October 23, 2003 at 22:43:55:
Propane melts at -189.9° C (-309.8° F) and boils at -42.1° C (-43.8° F).
Anyone care to take a guess at what temperature propane retains a liquid state? …and at what temperature it disapates?