checking oil on tractor

whelan1

have a fella working for me since before christmas hes the type of fella that knows everyone else business except his own and is NEVER wrong :mad: any way i went to go topping last week admittedly i hadnt been in this tractor for months , there was a tapping noise in the engine so i stopped it immediately and got the mechanic to come and have a look at it , my worker said that noise was in it 2 weeks ago:eek: now mechanic thinks big end bearing is gone .... there was feck all oil in it ... checked the digger there was actually a warning light on in it for the transmission oil - took 2 gallons ... now this fella is in most of the machinery each day and i am of the opinion he should be checking the oil at least once a week . a few months ago he pestered me to get a drum of grease - i had no money - i got the drum of grease and it lay unopened for a month after i got it ... now i am waiting for the mechanic to come back to me on the damage on the tractor what would you do ?

reilig

Personally I'd show him the gate.

A child would know how to check for oil and the importance of grease.

whelan1 wrote: »

have a fella working for me since before christmas hes the type of fella that knows everyone else business except his own and is NEVER wrong :mad: any way i went to go topping last week admittedly i hadnt been in this tractor for months , there was a tapping noise in the engine so i stopped it immediately and got the mechanic to come and have a look at it , my worker said that noise was in it 2 weeks ago:eek: now mechanic thinks big end bearing is gone .... there was feck all oil in it ... checked the digger there was actually a warning light on in it for the transmission oil - took 2 gallons ... now this fella is in most of the machinery each day and i am of the opinion he should be checking the oil at least once a week . a few months ago he pestered me to get a drum of grease - i had no money - i got the drum of grease and it lay unopened for a month after i got it ... now i am waiting for the mechanic to come back to me on the damage on the tractor what would you do ?

whelan1

when i interviewed him he said he would treat my machinery like it was his own, had a run in with him a few weeks ago when i couldnt get in to the digger with the empty cigarette boxes and crap and muck in it and you couldnt see out the windows of the tractor he told me to f*&k off then and had to come back and apologise , :eek: my da says no one will do the job as good as you do it yourself

dar31

as a general rule of thumb we check all the tractors/quad for oil every monday morning, however this dose not happen every week but at least it is done every 2-3 weeks per machine.
is your man this lax in relation to the cows or is it just machinery. as some were good cow men can break something just by looking at it.
if he is lax in general, find some one else now while it is a slack time.
having to double check some ones work is very time consuming

dar31

whelan1 wrote: »

when i interviewed him he said he would treat my machinery like it was his own, had a run in with him a few weeks ago when i couldnt get in to the digger with the empty cigarette boxes and crap and muck in it and you couldnt see out the windows of the tractor he told me to f*&k off then and had to come back and apologise , :eek: my da says no one will do the job as good as you do it yourself

your dad is right, but some days you just wish they would made some effort

whelan1

ye i am half thinking of getting rid he seems to think some jobs are below him am going to say to him to bring all the tractors etc to the door of the house 1 morning a week and i will check them

charityboy

whelan1 wrote: »

ye i am half thinking of getting rid he seems to think some jobs are below him am going to say to him to bring all the tractors etc to the door of the house 1 morning a week and i will check them

its up to you to keep an eye on your own machines Nobody will look after a machine as good as the person making the payments is your farm a bit away from your house

whelan1

charityboy wrote: »

its up to you to keep an eye on your own machines Nobody will look after a machine as good as the person making the payments is your farm a bit away from your house

he is being paid well these jobs are part of what he has to do , why would i bother paying some one if i have to do it myself

charityboy

whelan1 wrote: »

he is being paid well these jobs are part of what he has to do , why would i bother paying some one if i have to do it myself

there are some jobs you will always have to do yourself,and most other jobs will still have to be inspected on a daily basis , no matter how good or bad the fella is its only a job to him at the end of the week , sad but true

pajero12

Get rid of him....I'm sure there are lots of local lads in your area that would be more than happy to do the jobs right...Especially since he told you to f*ck off

theroad

whelan1 wrote: »

i couldnt get in to the digger with the empty cigarette boxes and crap and muck in it and you couldnt see out the windows of the tractor he told me to f*&k off then and had to come back and apologise , :eek: my da says no one will do the job as good as you do it yourself

You're employing him and he told you to f*&k off and then had to apologise later? I'd show him the door. Not taking action now may well be storing up more serious trouble for later.

whelan1

this guy is never wrong and any time i confront him it ends up in a big row so any time i do confront him i have my facts straight also he called me a liar so just shows he has no respect for me as a boss

hammer73

whelan1 wrote: »

this guy is never wrong and any time i confront him it ends up in a big row so any time i do confront him i have my facts straight also he called me a liar so just shows he has no respect for me as a boss

he has no respect for you as a boss and he is not doing his job properly, reason enough to give him the road

whelan1

i am just wondering who would i get to replace him would have to train some one else in but when all is said and done he seems to be taking me for a ride

pajero12

If you put an ad up you'd have a choice of lads...They'd be sure to learn if it meant abit of cash!

hammer73

whelan1 wrote: »

i am just wondering who would i get to replace him would have to train some one else in but when all is said and done he seems to be taking me for a ride

agreed, but what is this guy costing you when you add up the cost of repairs down to his neglect and as someone else said in an earlier post, is he as lazy with the stock. Id say if you sat down and worked everything out what this guy is costing you it may well frighten you.

another thing is write down one side of a page reasons for getting rid of him and the other side reasons to keep him. There are plenty of people out there who take pride in their job and have respect for people who put money in their pocket at the end of the week. there is little enough money in farming without having to pay out money you shouldnt have to.

good luck in your decision

Belongamick

In my opinion - two things to consider:
1.If you had a bull on your land who turned on you would you let him out of the shed again or would you send him straight to the factory?
2. With 400,000 people unemployed and trained solicitors trying to get a job in McDonalds I'm sure you can find a willing lad to do the work involved.

In my view this fella should be ran out of the place as soon as he challenged you. Fair enough I can accept an open discussion but as soon as sombody tells you what to do and where to go ... its time for them to walk!

iano93

reilig wrote: »

Personally I'd show him the gate.

A child would know how to check for oil and the importance of grease.

Exactly i'm only 17 and i look after the all greasing of machinery and checking levels of oil in tractors and gearboxes on machines!:)

Its only a simple thing but it makes a huge difference to machinery there expensive enough to buy without the problem of expensive maintenance because of failure to do the basic things rite ie. greasing and oiling!

Whelen1: It looks as if he has no respect for u and your machinery and i'm sure there are several young lads who wud appreciate the work as its very scarce out there!

whelan1

when i went to milk the other morning there was no paper towel and no teat spray :mad: when i was milking i would have calves and all done by 8.30 there where mornings there when the machine would still be on at 9.45 now if my oh isnt away i normally go for the cows in the morning and give a hand at the milking i think he sees me as an easy option and is just doing less and less , can i just sack him or does he need a warning beforehand

snowman707

best get legal advise on sacking he might claim under the unfair dismissal act.
the time he told you to f?$k off was the time to march him out the gate with no return.

pakalasa

Have a read of this -

As far as I know he should be given at least one warning before dismissal.

If he's causing you that much grief - just get rid of him. You'd be doing him a favour aswell, it might cop him on a bit for his next job.

You don't tell your boss to "F*** Off" - it's as simple as that.


http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/unemployment-and-redundancy/dismissal/fair-grounds-for-dismissal

whelan1

i know if his boss was a man there would be no way he would tell them to f*ck off... just remembered we are going on holidays next week so very bad timing:rolleyes:

Bitten & Hisses

You can sack on the spot for gross misconduct. He's the main operator of a tractor which has a fu(c)ked engine due to not checking the oil and a digger with a warning light on because the transmission oil is low. I think you're well within your rights to get rid of him, but if it doesn't suit you at present, give him a final written warning stating that if he doesn't show immediate improvement, he's gone.
Most importantly, write down EVERYTHING. Record dates, times of any incident where you had reason to discuss his performance with him. Worst case scenario, you sack him, he brings you to an employment appeals tribunal, you both state your cases, he is found to have contributed to his dismissal and you may at worst have to make a small settlement.

whelan1

pakalasa wrote: »

Have a read of this -

As far as I know he should be given at least one warning before dismissal.

If he's causing you that much grief - just get rid of him. You'd be doing him a favour aswell, it might cop him on a bit for his next job.

You don't tell your boss to "F*** Off" - it's as simple as that.


http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/unemployment-and-redundancy/dismissal/fair-grounds-for-dismissal

this link wont work for me

vanderbadger

think if he is working for you for under 6 mths you can sack as you wish without warning, aftr 6 mths its gets tricky though, could be wrong but sure i have heard something like that before anyway

whelan1

dats good as i only put him through the books from early january was on a months trial before that :eek:

corkcomp

charityboy wrote: »

its up to you to keep an eye on your own machines Nobody will look after a machine as good as the person making the payments is your farm a bit away from your house

id agree with this.. yes obviously anyone with any cop on would know to dip for oil but in fairness you cant take it for granted either.. unless the tractor was burning a lot of oil is there a chance it was low before he ever started working for you? for piece of mind would it be easier to spend 10 minutes once a month checking?

whelan1

corkcomp wrote: »

id agree with this.. yes obviously anyone with any cop on would know to dip for oil but in fairness you cant take it for granted either.. unless the tractor was burning a lot of oil is there a chance it was low before he ever started working for you? for piece of mind would it be easier to spend 10 minutes once a month checking?

so even if you drive a digger tractor each day its up to your boss to check the oil and water etc - not in my book

charityboy

whelan1 wrote: »

so even if you drive a digger tractor each day its up to your boss to check the oil and water etc - not in my book

maybe not everyday but most would keep an eye on them .if you can find someone that has an interest in farming (part time suckler farmer etc ) most should know exactly what they are at ,no training in,saving time by not having to keep checking that work is done correct ,callto their farm to meet them driving in their gate will tell you alot more about them than an interview might take time ,well worth it if you get the right person

whelan1

going to ring solicitor in morning and take it from there - would love to have a job myself where boss does everything and i get paid with no responsibilities :rolleyes:

reps4

Hi,

Save yourself solicitor fees and hassle of firing him, tell him you simply cant afford pay somebody anymore..

charityboy

reps4 wrote: »

Hi,

Save yourself solicitor fees and hassle of firing him, tell him you simply cant afford pay somebody anymore..

not much point in doing that if you are taking on someone the week after would make a call to your accountant first he should be able to tell you the route to go

blue5000

you could get farm relief to milk when you're on hols, this guy sounds like he is more trouble than he's worth, get somone who has left school or college when you come back

dar31

i would nt rock the boat till you get back from holidays,at least this lad knows the basic running of the farm and hopefully he will do enough to keep the place ticking over till you come back. what happens if you confront him now and he walks, or dose a worse than usual job while away.
a break is essential at this time of year after a long spring don't jeopardize it.
have all your facts ready for when you return and launch into it then.
as some one said record every thing, write down all previous incidents while they are fresh in your head.
get a neighbor or family member to drop in once a day unannounced to check on him to put your mind at rest while away.
you have till next October to find a good lad, after that the work load will be to much to be messing around with unreliable staff
i had a part timer let me down badly 5 days before spring calving started,:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: reckoned he was better off on the dole.
at the end of the day monkeys get peanuts

whelan1

blue5000 wrote: »

you could get farm relief to milk when you're on hols, this guy sounds like he is more trouble than he's worth, get somone who has left school or college when you come back

the thing is i want some one reliable and who doesnt give back chat :rolleyes: have a child that needs medical care regularly so they really have to know there stuff for when i am not there ... have done the farm relief thing and it didnt work out

corkcomp

whelan1 wrote: »

so even if you drive a digger tractor each day its up to your boss to check the oil and water etc - not in my book

were you driving the gear yourself at all? at any time over the couple of months before the bearings gave trouble? i dont disagree that they guy should have checked but its not something you can assume an employee will do,, it really is up to the farmer to check their own machinery

whelan1

we have 2 tractors and a digger i wouldnt have been driving this particular tractor in a long time ... fact is when i got in to the digger the warning light was on for the transmission oil i hadnt driven this in about 2 weeks he had been driving it each day also there is the fact he knew of the noise in the tractor 2 weeks ago and never said it to me , my husband used to look after the machinery but he is away working most days and he checked the oil regularly and it really annoys him when he sees the state of the machinery now after this lad. this lad told me in his interview that he had had his own contracting business

Rovi

Slightly off-topic regarding the continued employment of this person (which should be very short-term, in my opinion), but is anyone else amazed at the maintenance schedules being advocated in this thread?

Check the oil once a month?
Not up to the operator to check oils?
:eek::eek::eek:

I don't know, perhaps I'm living in a bubble all of my own, but where I come from, ANY operator who doesn't do a basic 'pre-flight' of checking engine oil and coolant (at the very least) before starting it up for the first time that day doesn't deserve to be let into the driver's seat, and wouldn't last long in any of the machinery operations I know of and wouldn't have been kept in my employment when I was in that line of work.

Checking engine oil and coolant every time before starting from cold is the bare minimum of preventative maintenance and good practice that I'd advocate and expect from an operator.

whelan1

need an engine overhaul kit going to get a price tomorrow then we also have the labour costs:mad: waiting for solicitor to come back to me crap atmosphere here i am not talking to him:rolleyes: as i could loose my temper

bbam

whelan1 wrote: »

need an engine overhaul kit going to get a price tomorrow then we also have the labour costs:mad: waiting for solicitor to come back to me crap atmosphere here i am not talking to him:rolleyes: as i could loose my temper

Talk to accountant or solicitor and get rid at the earliest possibel time, I'd also let him know why he was being let go..
The absolute cheek of him to give you a mouthful of F's...

Get rid...plenty of good lads/lassies out there who will do what they are told..

whelan1

am thinking of giving him the option of paying halves for the damage and keep his job or pay nothing and go

bbam

whelan1 wrote: »

am thinking of giving him the option of paying halves for the damage and keep his job or pay nothing and go

I don't know about that... If he pays half and stays his attitude may just deteriorate further.. In a few weeks time he may F you off again or give attitude, where do you stand.
Also he's not likely to get any better with machinery, I find that's either in a person or not..

Bitten & Hisses

whelan1 wrote: »

am thinking of giving him the option of paying halves for the damage and keep his job or pay nothing and go

That's messy and if he chooses to do so, he's "buying out" your moral authority in dealing with him. You'll never be able to use this incident against him in future to establish a pattern of behaviour if there are further problems. If he offers to cover the damage, that's a different kettle of fish, but he doesn't sound like that kind of person.

whelan1

1300 euro for parts and 1500 at least for labour :mad::mad: still trying to get hold of solicitor i asked mechanic what caused the damage he said no oil so at least i know now that was what caused the damage.. was going to trade in my 00 avensis in july for a 02 car now thats gone out the window

8560

looking at this thread you say you have 150 cows milking and no problem with the cows,

in my experience good cowman are usually useless with machinery and visa versa.

never seen a farm where things dont go wrong even with the best will.

whelan1

if i am in the house i can hear him roaring and shouting at the cows never does it if i am in the parlour, he gets thick very quick where i think you need patience when working with cows... he said he had had his own contracting business a few years ago so should have the know with all to check the oil on the tractor

bbam

whelan1 wrote: »

he said he had had his own contracting business a few years ago so should have the know with all to check the oil on the tractor

Maybe that's why he no longer has a contracting business... He doesn't seem to enjoy the job, he may even be looking to move on and only using you as a stop-gap.. It's you're farm and he should work the way you want him to..

Why pay a dog and bark yourself

whelan1

the solicitor and i wrote up a formal warning to give to him outlining that this is a serious incident and his final warning , she said not to confront him when i am on my own , dh away for 2 days so going to give it to him on friday ... i am supposed to give him 1 weeks notice :cool:

John_F

whelan1 wrote: »

the solicitor and i wrote up a formal warning to give to him outlining that this is a serious incident and his final warning , she said not to confront him when i am on my own , dh away for 2 days so going to give it to him on friday ... i am supposed to give him 1 weeks notice :cool:

just hope hes not on this... or youl be welcomed to roaring of cows and alot of mastitis when you come back

whelan1

well i cant afford to go away now we are only going to go for 1 nigh now as i hadnt banked on having to repair the tractor :mad: we where to go for 3 nights will report back tomorrow after i talk to him

pajero12

Any updates whelan1?