{"id":7934,"date":"2021-03-14T19:21:55","date_gmt":"2021-03-14T23:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7934"},"modified":"2021-03-14T19:29:03","modified_gmt":"2021-03-14T23:29:03","slug":"episode-282-massey-ferguson-demoltion-getting-the-iron-worker-machine-near-death-event-glad-police-arrived","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7934","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 282 MASSEY FERGUSON DEMOLTION GETTING THE IRON WORKER MACHINE…NEAR DEATH EVENT…GLAD POLICE ARRIVED"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE 282   MASSEY FERGUSON DEMOLITION     THE IRON WORKER MACHINE\u2026.NEAR DEATH EVENT\u2026GLAD POLICE ARRIVED<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
March 2021<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
THIS WAS MY GOOD FRIEND BILL PARSONS.  WE SHARED A LOT OF GOOD TIMES.  THIS WAS ONE OF OUR BEST.<\/div>\n

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Most of the Massey Ferguson buildings were stripped bare.  Hundreds of machines gone God knows where.<\/div>\n
But I found one machine that had been judged worthless and left behind for the demolition crew.<\/div>\n
Who would possibly ever want a lever action \u2018iron cutting machine\u2019?  Obsolete remains of 19th century<\/div>\n
manufacturing.   Who would want it?   Well, I wanted it.  Never heard of such a machine that could  cut<\/div>\n
iron or steel just by use of he human hand and a long lever.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Extricating the machine turned out to be quite an event.  Exciting in the extreme.  Even a member<\/div>\n
of the Toronto Police force and his cautionary black and white car with flashing lights got into <\/div>\n
the adventure.<\/div>\n

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This was not an easy job.  The iron worker was located on the third floor of the old paint shop building.<\/div>\n
How the hell would I get it down to ground level.  The machine must have weighed 300 pounds or more.<\/div>\n
This required thought.  And help.  So I called up my good friend Bill Parsons.  A man who loved<\/div>\n
outdoor bizarre adventure.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cBill, can you help me move a machine out of the Massey demolition site?\u201d<\/div>\n
Bill Parsons already knew about my rescue missions as he had received<\/div>\n
some of those pitch pine planks.<\/div>\n
\u201cSure, When?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI think Sunday morning  is best.  Most people will be at church or asleep.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat will we need?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cJust a  long piece of heavy rope\u202640 or 50 feet long.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGot it right here.\u201d<\/div>\n

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The foreman and his boss found my presence amusing.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I had already got permission \u2026 first to get the machine which was junk to him and<\/div>\n
second to be on the demolition site on Sunday when no men would be working.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We took my truck right up to the doomed building. Climbed up the stairs to he<\/div>\n
third  floor and then did something I should never have done.<\/div>\n
Best understood  in numbered stages.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
This was the building.  We knocked out one  of the third floor windows.<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n

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1) We used our hammers to smash the glass window and sash.  No one<\/div>\n
seemed to have heard the glass shattering.<\/div>\n
2) We manhandled the iron worker over to the window.<\/div>\n
3) We tied the rope to the machine.<\/div>\n
4) We walked the rope back to a vertical ceiling support beam.<\/div>\n
5) Looped the rope around the beam.<\/div>\n
6) then went back to the window and managed to lift the<\/div>\n
iron worker onto the ledge.  It Teetered there\u2026unstable\\<\/div>\n
7) \u201cNow, Bill,you go back and hold the rope.   When you<\/div>\n
are ready give me a signal.\u201d<\/div>\n
8) Bill signalled.  Then I pushed the Iron worker<\/div>\n
off the smashed window ledge.  It dropped like a wrecking ball.<\/div>\n
9) Bill took off like he had been shot from a cannon.<\/div>\n
10) I got to the rope just in time.  We were holding<\/div>\n
the rope \u2026 the iron worker was dangling between the second<\/div>\n
and third floor.  Heavy\u2026but manageable.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
REVIEW THE STEPS.<\/div>\n
We looped the rope around the distant beam, then Bill held the rope while I pushed the iron worker out<\/div>\n
the window.   That was  a deadfall drop of about five feet before the slack was taken up.  Imagine.<\/div>\n
Dropping a 200 to 300 lump of iron in a free fall for several feet.  Bad business.  I got back<\/div>\n
just in time.  WE stopped the drop but could not move. Then help arrived\u2026in uniform.<\/div>\n
Police.<\/div>\n

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About this time the police arrived.  One policeman.  He<\/div>\n
wondered  what the hell we were doing.<\/div>\n

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11) \u201cGlad you got here.  Grab the rope.   We can all slowly lower<\/div>\n
the machine to the ground without smashing it.  I have permission..<\/div>\n
take my licence\u2026whatever you want.  But grab the rope.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
And he did.   We gingerly lowered the iron worker to the ground<\/div>\n
and tipped it into my truck.  The adventure was over.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The paint shop on the second floor should have given us second thoughts.  Looked like splattered blood.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We survived. Note to worried readers.  Do not get too agitated.  If we failed all that would happen would happen only to the iron worker\u2026it would be<\/div>\n
smashed below.  We had an emergency plan.<\/div>\n
\u201cBill, if things go wrong, let go of the rope.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Once loaded in the truck we felt the adventure was over.<\/div>\n
But not quite.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cDo you fellows know why smoke is coming out of<\/div>\n
that chimney?”  And the cop joined to the sky where the<\/div>\n
tall chimney ended.  Sure enough\u2026smoke.<\/div>\n
We were not alone.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWe have no idea.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWell, I better check that out as well.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThanks for the help officer.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cOur motto is We Serve\u2026or something like that.\u201d<\/div>\n
(I Think he thought we were a brick short of a load\u2026nuts in other words.)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The foreman told me on Monday that some enterprising thief<\/div>\n
had cut loose all the copper electrical wire he could  find\u2026<\/div>\n
a great roll was made.  Then he burned off the insulated <\/div>\n
covering in the furnace before getting on the King Street<\/div>\n
car and riding to a scrap yard downtown.  He got away.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cHe could have killed himself had one of the lines been alive.”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Now it is year 2021\u2026decades later. Guess what?  I cannot find where<\/div>\n
I put the iron worker.  Somewhere in a fence row at the farm.  Sinking.<\/div>\n

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THE END<\/div>\n

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mar<\/div>\n

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EPISODE 282   MASSEY FERGUSON DEMOLITION     THE IRON WORKER MACHINE\u2026.NEAR DEATH EVENT\u2026GLAD POLICE ARRIVED alan skeoch March 2021 THIS WAS MY GOOD FRIEND BILL PARSONS.  WE SHARED A LOT OF GOOD TIMES.  THIS WAS ONE OF OUR BEST. Most of the Massey Ferguson buildings were stripped bare.  Hundreds of machines gone God knows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7934\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}