# excavator counterweight scratches



## Everest (Oct 1, 2007)

Would anybody withhold an employees check for a scratch on the counterweight on a 320CLU with 800 hours the scratch is about 2 inches long and 1\2 inch wide and maybe 1/16 inch deep. 
Frank
just looking for other oppinions


----------



## mnormington (Dec 18, 2007)

Everest;472128 said:


> Would anybody withhold an employees check for a scratch on the counterweight on a 320CLU with 800 hours the scratch is about 2 inches long and 1\2 inch wide and maybe 1/16 inch deep.
> Frank
> just looking for other oppinions


I don't know if you're the employer or the employee, but I am fairly certain that it's illegal for an employer to withhold an employee's wages without the employee giving the employer permission to do so.


----------



## Peterbilt (Apr 28, 2007)

Did the employee purposely scratch the weigh? What was he doing with the machine when the scratch occoured. Scratched count weights are just a part of the business. I know it sucks and since you have a fairly new machine its even worse. But if the employee didn't show gross neglagence in causing the scratch I don't think theres much you can do.

What is it that you are trying to occomplish by with holding the check? Withholding the check isn't going to fix your scratch. 

Does your machine still operate the way its supposed to? Did the deep scratch make machine light in the ass end? 

Pay the man. He was more than likely doing what you asked/told him to do. The boss always forgets that part.

Peterbilt


----------



## bribrius (May 5, 2007)

mnormington;472145 said:


> I don't know if you're the employer or the employee, but I am fairly certain that it's illegal for an employer to withhold an employee's wages without the employee giving the employer permission to do so.


i agree. dont think you can withhold a check..


----------



## StoneDevil (Dec 13, 2007)

Scratches on the counterweight thats normal , does employer think that its going to look new forever


----------



## dirt digger (Feb 27, 2005)

are you kidding me?...a machine with 800 hours i'm surprised it doesn't have more then one scratch...they just happen, it all come with the territory

on the other hand if he damaged a building or something with the counter weight then you are in a completely different area of question


----------



## cincy snowdog (Dec 19, 2005)

sounds like he needs a raise as he must be the only one working the machine,a scratch is like battle scar..suck it up and pay up.


----------



## blowerman (Dec 24, 2007)

You can't withhold wages. It's a scratch? I'll agree, give him a raise. At least he's working.


----------



## StratfordPusher (Dec 20, 2006)

*Make him fix it*

Hey, sure you can get some touch up paint to match if your that concerned.... sure your man could fix ..


----------



## Little Jon (Nov 3, 2007)

If my a$$ hole employer withheld my check every time I scratched or dinged something, I would never get paid. But he knows, me putting a scratch or ding in something means Im working and making him $$$$$$$$$payuppayuppayup$$$$$$$$$$$$. 

I have a question for you! Did you not pay the person who delivered that machine??? He undoubtedly put a scratch on it while he was chaining it down.


----------



## payton (Nov 3, 2005)

hell i ripped the counter weight off a 330 and got my check and got a new machine delivered to me.. damn slippery rocks.. if hes union and you try to withhold his pay you could be in a world of trouble. but i doubt your union. ooh and by the way the 330 i ripped the counter weight off only had 70 some hrs on it i think.. plastic was still on the seat from when it was dropped off new. **** happens. a small scratch on a counter weight isnt ****. hell ive ripped buckets apart. and only heard drop it and call a welder. if your that damn picky about your equipment then maybe you should fire everyone and run everything your self.

and while it sounds like i may be hard on equipment and i may be. i work pipeline and anyone whos been around any major pipeline 30 and up can tell you when your going cross country things happen. hell ive slid off the side of hills that you cant walk up. ive fallen thru bridges.(we have to make temp bridges on all water crossing) its part of the game. hell the best one was crossing a swamp section in il. sunk it to the turntable took 2 d9s and a 450 to pull me free.well the 9s pulled timbers under me as i picked up what i could and the 450 picked up on the ass of my machine to get me up out of the deep sticky.


pay the man.. if your the man quit and find a new job.


----------



## sparky8370 (Nov 26, 2007)

If the employer holds a check or bounces a check then the employee can go to the labor board and make it so the employer has to issue a certified check every week. And the employer can't make the employee for those damages. Unless the employee is dumb enough to pay for it. That's what insurance is for. If my employer tried getting me to pay for something that got damaged in the course of work I'd tell him right where to go.

And 800 hours is a LOT of hours on a machine to not have any scratches.


----------



## Little Jon (Nov 3, 2007)

sparky8370;474582 said:


> If the employer holds a check or bounces a check then the employee can go to the labor board and make it so the employer has to issue a certified check every week. And the employer can't make the employee for those damages. Unless the employee is dumb enough to pay for it. *That's what insurance is for*. If my employer tried getting me to pay for something that got damaged in the course of work I'd tell him right where to go.
> 
> And 800 hours is a LOT of hours on a machine to not have any scratches.


Insurance? Thats what charging $125+ an hour is for vs, the 20 or 30 the operator makes.payup


----------



## 4x4Farmer (Sep 22, 2006)

I don't think I have ever seen a excavator that didn't have a scratch on the counterweight other then one with 0 hours on it. Most the ones I see around here don't have any paint left of there counterweights. I know allot of guys on here think we abuse our equipment, but thats not what it is. We use our equipment! Cat makes there loaders to be tough, not to be babied! Thats why we use them! Thats my opinion.


----------



## sparky8370 (Nov 26, 2007)

I'm starting to think this may have been a joke. It's really kind of like someone getting upset they got dirt on their tires.......


----------



## powerjoke (Nov 13, 2004)

Everest;472128 said:


> Would anybody withhold an employees check for a scratch on the counterweight on a 320CLU with 800 hours the scratch is about 2 inches long and 1\2 inch wide and maybe 1/16 inch deep.
> Frank
> just looking for other oppinions


without reading the other post YES.but no more than (~$20 or he can buy a can of spray paint) why is it 1/16th deep (did you colide w/ a new skidsteer?)you need to be awae of youre suroundings. and yes sometimes you have to work in tight quarter's but it's the man in the seat's job to take care of his machines.

i even have guys AFTER HOURS clean tracks if they deliberatly drove through the mud or debris etc. but i am an A-HOLE to work for, i buy my machines new and don't want them beat up on the first job

after 800 hrs if you ran this machine this long without damage you know what to watch out for!!!!!!! but stuff will happen

if it is a rented machine w/ no scratches upon delivery you WILL HAVE TO PAY for it....that's all there is too it and maybe your employer had to pay for your scratch

i am enclosing a pic of a new 315 without a scratch! i am the only one to run it and it has only been run in demolition

sorry if i sound "sore" but i have bought too many dollars worth of equipment and seen it tore up (this is not a act of neglegence........kinda)


----------



## Lawnscape89 (Nov 28, 2005)

sparky8370;475844 said:


> I'm starting to think this may have been a joke. It's really kind of like someone getting upset they got dirt on their tires.......


Yeah, he's only had 1 post and hasn't been back (to reply, at least) since the thread (trouble?) was started.


----------



## SnoFarmer (Oct 15, 2004)

You can pay him and keep him
Or you can fine him or not pay him and you will be hearing from the Dept. of Labor/ Wage and hr. and after that call you will be driving to his house and paying him. Trust me I called them once....
You can pay him and fire him..

You can not fine an employe, Federal law.


----------



## powerjoke (Nov 13, 2004)

SnoFarmer;475998 said:


> You can pay him and keep him
> Or you can fine him or not pay him and you will be hearing from the Dept. of Labor/ Wage and hr. and after that call you will be driving to his house and paying him. Trust me I called them once....
> You can pay him and fire him..
> 
> You can not fine an employe, Federal law.


MMMMM!!!!! kinda.....

if he wants to keep his job..... i have done it before but i aint sayin he couldn't have faught it but it is still damage of property

one time i had a hand i was trying to get rid of so when we was on 1 job for 1 week i told them that the time clock was optional and i would pay from time in to time out.....or write time in and write time out, well this jagoff was'nt writing in the corect times so i fired him under the "falsification of company recorords" law

kinda the same thing but not really

p.s. i noticed the REPO_MAN thread is falling? LOL

EDIT: P.S. Josh if youre reading this i swear, you're position wasn't needed any more LOL


----------



## SnoFarmer (Oct 15, 2004)

powerjoke;476012 said:


> p.s. i noticed the REPO_MAN thread is falling? LOL


I saw that??
And no one needs any help with a plow


----------



## Dirt Jurker (Jan 22, 2008)

Everest;472128 said:


> Would anybody withhold an employees check for a scratch on the counterweight on a 320CLU with 800 hours the scratch is about 2 inches long and 1\2 inch wide and maybe 1/16 inch deep.
> Frank
> just looking for other oppinions


Hi Frank.

I would look at the operators history, is he careless all the time? I hate to say this but even you make mistakes....if he is a good operator and makes you money...fix the scratch and get back to business. If he is a good operator...are you willing to lose him over something so silly? If he isn't a good operator, pay the man his final pay and let him go. If you take the money from his pay and still keep him he will hate you for it and could cost you alot more money. I had new equipment all my life and operators, accidents happen....it's a part of doing business.

Tony


----------



## Pushin_On (Feb 17, 2007)

*It's a scratch.*

It is only a scratch, touch up paint works great, i am the same way, i like keeping my stuff nice looking to, But i don't hold anyone accountable when something like that occures. My guys have scratched my equipment, and i have even scratched my own, it comes with the job and has to be expected with some of the jobs i get into. Suck it up or work alone.


----------



## fireball (Jan 9, 2000)

not me----works there too


----------



## Hiwire (Nov 28, 2003)

If you are going to screw over a good operator for a scratched counterweight I hope you are also ready to pony up a bonus when he 1)gets rained on, 2) twists an ankle 3) catches a branch between the eyes, 4) anything else the guy does in the name of making the company a dollar. If not, just dont start whining when the job takes longer than it was bid for because he took all that extra time to avoid all those scratches.
If I was that operator and asked to pay for something like that Id NEVER forget it. In the end it would end up costing the company a lot more than a can of touch up.
10 years ago we had a small walkway to install at our retail garden center. A crew had just brought a 1 yr old wet saw back from a retaining wall job they had been on for 2 weeks. I only had a couple cuts to make so grabbed the saw and pulled the cord. It ran for 2 minutes and then seized. I was never asked to pay but took it upon myself to take care of it. It went back to the dealer and I payed $700 for a new motor. At the time, that was about 2 weeks pay. I returned it to my boss with a brand new motor and never got a single word of appreciation for stepping up and was never offered a penny of my $700 back. No other employee that has ever worked for the company before or since would have done that. It was my fault the machine was damaged and I took responsibility. If I was the one that scratched his friggin counterweights Id pay for a can of touch up (maybe even grind out the scratches first) but Id ALWAYS remember that he made an issue out of it. If I was that employer Id be ashamed to have made an issue of such a thing.
Ray


----------



## Little Jon (Nov 3, 2007)

If I got to charge my employer even a dollar for every scratch that I get on MY body during the year (and we are talking scratches that last for atleast a week), I would beable to buy this jerk a brand new excavator, so he could not have to ***** about a damn scratch.payup


----------



## sk187 (Dec 7, 2006)

Wow, we have had over 5 excavators (very large to small) at once and all counter weights are scratched, it just happens. 

A door being ripped off or smashing the side of the machine in is a big deal but a counter weight .......... no way.


----------

