Archie Cheda
Stainless
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Location
- San Luis Obispo, CA
README (last updated August 2012 -- please make inputs by posting in the SUGGESTIONS sticky thread)
Purpose of the haulers' group: Assist members of the Practical Machinist forum to save old machine tools from being scrapped by providing a database of hauler information & organizing relay hauling efforts. Additional functions related to hauling and group cohesion may be added.
42 American States are represented -- AK, CO, DE, GA, HI, NM, SD, & WY are not currently represented. 6 Canadian provinces are represented.
All members are asked to subscribe to our sub-forum. This sub-forum and private messages will be the main means of conducting haulers' group activities. Our "database" is our map (LINK). This allows possible haulers, transferrers, and helpers for a haul to be identified and then contacted by private message. Members that do not want to participate in a particular activity should politely decline in a timely manner. If you are asking for help, please accept the fact that the members that are well-located to assist you may be already over-committed to other activities and cannot help. The only information in our database that is public is the member's first name, username, function within the group, and ZIP code, so privacy is maximized.
Sub-forum protocol: Any member may post anything related to the group's function, including social discussions related to the morale of the group. All standards of the Practical Machinist forum will be followed, including the requirement that a thread's title be meaningful and searchable. The moderator(s) will edit or delete posts that do not conform to forum standards or are discourteous in any way. All posters should treat each other with respect.
Non-members may post related to hauling or haulers' activities, including general requests for help. Inappropriate posts will be moderated. Anyone who participates in our sub-forum is requested to join the group as a supporter. While many members are active haulers, the majority of the group will be supporters in one way or another. If you expect the group to help you, it is only fair that you return the favor by joining the group. There are many simple ways in which anyone interested in preserving old machinery can help, such as posts about machines that need saving, finding possible adopters, helping date and identify machinery, and more. These posts belong in the Antique Machinery & History forum where they will reach a wider audience and this will also serve to publicize the haulers' group, especially if you mention the group in your posts. Posts asking for hauling help and advice, discussing technical information related to hauling, or social interaction between haulers' group members belong in our sub-forum. The question to ask before choosing where to post is: "Who is interested in this information?"
Member functions (as listed on our map):
Hauler: Provide vehicle(s) with proper hauling capacity and participate in hauls as driver. May also do rigging & loading.
Transferrer: Provide a transfer point in support of relay hauls. May provide loading capability or storage, or may simply be a rendezvous point where a load or a trailer can be transferred between haulers.
Supporter: Any other function, including tasks relating directly to hauls include planning & coordination, rigging & loading, and co-driving. Additional functions are group support activities include database, map, & sub-forum maintenance, documentation of hauls & publicity, searching for machines that need to be saved, looking for adopters, training & education, and any other function that will assist the group in its stated purpose.
The activities of this group are hobbies and all participation is voluntary. Any member may decline to participate without any need for justification. While antique machine tools are the primary focus, any machine of historical significance may be included at the discretion of the members involved. Typically hauling will not be performed for profit-oriented businesses or new equipment for hobbyists. (Members may haul whatever they want, of course, but these hauls will not be considered to be within the haulers' group's functions.) Highest priority will be put upon machines that are in immediate threat of being scrapped or are highly significant representations of history. Most hauling will be for individuals, but museums will be assisted so long as they do not abuse the services of the group. All such decisions will be made by the group members actually doing the hauling. Haulers' group activities are not different from what has been done for many years by Practical Machinist members, but the idea behind the haulers' group is to make connections to facilitate these activities, by providing a structure such that quick-reaction or relay hauls can be put together when time or distance involved require at least some structure. As currently constituted the group has no officers and every member is equally empowered to drive the activities of the group in what they see to be the most useful to the cause of saving old iron. Members participate in a haul or other group activity on a purely voluntary basis. One thing everyone needs to be reminded of is that members have a life outside the forum and that this is only a hobby with a variable priority. Our most dedicated members should not expect everyone else to be equally dedicated.
How to ask for hauling help: Any new member that needs help from the group may start a thread for this purpose. There is no required format, but help is much more likely to be forthcoming if there is information to work with. Ideally a person that needed hauling help would be able to identify the name and type of the machine, its envelope (LxWxH), its weight, and what loading/unloading capabilities exist. Often the person needing help will not yet know all of these things, but, with help from the group, he should be gathering this information. In many cases, such a query for information about the machine should be started as a thread in the Antique Machinery & History forum as there is a much wider readership. Members of the group should help someone asking for help refine their request, but sometimes it may be necessary to point out that the odds are that a 20-Ton machine is unlikely to be transported thousands of miles for no charge. Details regarding fuel & other reimbursements should be handled in private messages rather than in public posts. In some cases a member that needs hauling help may contact members on the route of the haul directly by means of private messages.
DISCLAIMER: All advice is general, not specific any individual case, and it is the responsibility of the reader to determine the appropriateness of the advice for the task at hand.
Purpose of the haulers' group: Assist members of the Practical Machinist forum to save old machine tools from being scrapped by providing a database of hauler information & organizing relay hauling efforts. Additional functions related to hauling and group cohesion may be added.
42 American States are represented -- AK, CO, DE, GA, HI, NM, SD, & WY are not currently represented. 6 Canadian provinces are represented.
All members are asked to subscribe to our sub-forum. This sub-forum and private messages will be the main means of conducting haulers' group activities. Our "database" is our map (LINK). This allows possible haulers, transferrers, and helpers for a haul to be identified and then contacted by private message. Members that do not want to participate in a particular activity should politely decline in a timely manner. If you are asking for help, please accept the fact that the members that are well-located to assist you may be already over-committed to other activities and cannot help. The only information in our database that is public is the member's first name, username, function within the group, and ZIP code, so privacy is maximized.
Sub-forum protocol: Any member may post anything related to the group's function, including social discussions related to the morale of the group. All standards of the Practical Machinist forum will be followed, including the requirement that a thread's title be meaningful and searchable. The moderator(s) will edit or delete posts that do not conform to forum standards or are discourteous in any way. All posters should treat each other with respect.
Non-members may post related to hauling or haulers' activities, including general requests for help. Inappropriate posts will be moderated. Anyone who participates in our sub-forum is requested to join the group as a supporter. While many members are active haulers, the majority of the group will be supporters in one way or another. If you expect the group to help you, it is only fair that you return the favor by joining the group. There are many simple ways in which anyone interested in preserving old machinery can help, such as posts about machines that need saving, finding possible adopters, helping date and identify machinery, and more. These posts belong in the Antique Machinery & History forum where they will reach a wider audience and this will also serve to publicize the haulers' group, especially if you mention the group in your posts. Posts asking for hauling help and advice, discussing technical information related to hauling, or social interaction between haulers' group members belong in our sub-forum. The question to ask before choosing where to post is: "Who is interested in this information?"
Member functions (as listed on our map):
Hauler: Provide vehicle(s) with proper hauling capacity and participate in hauls as driver. May also do rigging & loading.
Transferrer: Provide a transfer point in support of relay hauls. May provide loading capability or storage, or may simply be a rendezvous point where a load or a trailer can be transferred between haulers.
Supporter: Any other function, including tasks relating directly to hauls include planning & coordination, rigging & loading, and co-driving. Additional functions are group support activities include database, map, & sub-forum maintenance, documentation of hauls & publicity, searching for machines that need to be saved, looking for adopters, training & education, and any other function that will assist the group in its stated purpose.
The activities of this group are hobbies and all participation is voluntary. Any member may decline to participate without any need for justification. While antique machine tools are the primary focus, any machine of historical significance may be included at the discretion of the members involved. Typically hauling will not be performed for profit-oriented businesses or new equipment for hobbyists. (Members may haul whatever they want, of course, but these hauls will not be considered to be within the haulers' group's functions.) Highest priority will be put upon machines that are in immediate threat of being scrapped or are highly significant representations of history. Most hauling will be for individuals, but museums will be assisted so long as they do not abuse the services of the group. All such decisions will be made by the group members actually doing the hauling. Haulers' group activities are not different from what has been done for many years by Practical Machinist members, but the idea behind the haulers' group is to make connections to facilitate these activities, by providing a structure such that quick-reaction or relay hauls can be put together when time or distance involved require at least some structure. As currently constituted the group has no officers and every member is equally empowered to drive the activities of the group in what they see to be the most useful to the cause of saving old iron. Members participate in a haul or other group activity on a purely voluntary basis. One thing everyone needs to be reminded of is that members have a life outside the forum and that this is only a hobby with a variable priority. Our most dedicated members should not expect everyone else to be equally dedicated.
How to ask for hauling help: Any new member that needs help from the group may start a thread for this purpose. There is no required format, but help is much more likely to be forthcoming if there is information to work with. Ideally a person that needed hauling help would be able to identify the name and type of the machine, its envelope (LxWxH), its weight, and what loading/unloading capabilities exist. Often the person needing help will not yet know all of these things, but, with help from the group, he should be gathering this information. In many cases, such a query for information about the machine should be started as a thread in the Antique Machinery & History forum as there is a much wider readership. Members of the group should help someone asking for help refine their request, but sometimes it may be necessary to point out that the odds are that a 20-Ton machine is unlikely to be transported thousands of miles for no charge. Details regarding fuel & other reimbursements should be handled in private messages rather than in public posts. In some cases a member that needs hauling help may contact members on the route of the haul directly by means of private messages.
DISCLAIMER: All advice is general, not specific any individual case, and it is the responsibility of the reader to determine the appropriateness of the advice for the task at hand.
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