Dust to Dust, Metal to Metal
March 24, 2013
When we saw that today (Sunday) had a better chance of rain than yesterday, Janet and I decided to go out with cameras yesterday. It gave us the opportunity to visit places that are closed Sundays (our usual day), like this wonderful metal scrap yard we discovered a few weeks ago when the gate was closed. We thought we might get chased out right away, but the guys actually let us shoot for a little while—and we shot like mad. I wish I’d asked Howard, who drives the huge piece of heavy equipment there, the name of his machine and especially the name of the pincher-grabber part. . . . After Howard sorted a bunch of things, moving them with the grabber from one pile to another (had to be some reason he did that, but I didn’t figure it out), he grabbed the wad of springs, wire and chain link that I had photographed earlier and carefully swung it like a broom to clear up the ground. Cool. He made it look easy to do, but I’m sure it isn’t. I asked Howard if his job was fun, and he said yes, that it was like playing a big video game. That’s Howard taking a break outside his cab to look at this blog on his phone. . . . I had to Google: The first name I found for the pincher-grabber thing is —ready for this?—“pincer grab,” though the generic word seems to be just “grabber” or “crane grabber.” And I think Howard’s vehicle is Sennebogen’s 825 Mobile Material Handling Machine. You can spend a good eight minutes watching these machines in action on YouTube.
Romancing Reality 
Great shots, Linda! Thanks again for sharing. I hope to have a photoblog up and running within the next couple of weeks.
LikeLike
March 24, 2013 at 2:38 PM
Thanks, Ken. Good luck with your blog!
LikeLike
March 24, 2013 at 4:42 PM
I WANT ONE!!!
LikeLike
March 24, 2013 at 3:07 PM
I wonder how long it takes to become graceful at swinging that grabber around. Wouldn’t do to have one and then be klutzy with it. You’ll have to let us know when you get yours.
LikeLike
March 24, 2013 at 4:47 PM
I especially like your shopping carts capture….wonderful!
LikeLike
March 24, 2013 at 3:52 PM
Capture, yeah—ha ha! Thanks, Kay!
LikeLike
March 24, 2013 at 4:48 PM
That first picture, though showing metal, reminds me of the internal structure of a prickly pear cactus pad:
http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/prickly-pear-pad-structure/
LikeLike
April 20, 2013 at 8:37 AM
There sure is a similarity! Amazing. Thanks for showing us.
LikeLike
April 20, 2013 at 11:23 AM
You’re welcome. Sometimes a pattern turns up in rather different things.
LikeLike
April 20, 2013 at 11:25 AM