"OT" visit with bus converter Fred Hobe at Madison, FL.

[Gary LaBombard]

Hello Everyone,
I just got back from a visiting with Fred Hobe in Madison, FL. and wanted to let you know how he is doing after falling about 13 ft. off a ladder on his back.  Perhaps some good can come out of this nearly fatal accident that makes me cringe to think of happening, It did to me years ago with a chain saw mind you and I broke my wrist in two places.  But now back to Fred, and how his accident happened.

He had a ladder against the bus to go on the roof of the MCI he had raised the roof on and was going to secure the back cap to dry it in and prevent rain from getting in the bus.  He had one leg of the ladder sitting on sheet metal he had placed on the ground to prevent sand from tracking in the bus as he entered it all day long.  The other leg of the ladder was in loose grave.  The ladder was the same width at the bottom as that of the top.  Regular ole ladder from a lumber supplier. 

Fred climbed on the ladder like he had over 20 years now on to the top of the bus roof, he went to step off the ladder and onto the roof when he stepped off the ladder to get on the roof the ladder slid right out under him and luckly he feel on his back with a heavy jean jacket on that broke his fall somewhat on his back.  He hit the back of his head on concrete and was unconscious about 20 minutes he figured.  He awoke with his feet dangling inside of a crate for a new generator I believe it was.  Fred was able to nearly drag himself to a neighbor's house to get help as his wife was not home at the time of the accident.  All this had to take a lot of time that I am sure Fred sure lost track of.  Anyhow Fred, being the man he is refused to go to the hospital and and felt that his injuries would surely heal on their own and since I guess that he was still alive that he would be alright.  This is one tough dude but I must add that Fred is 75 years old!! 

Anyhow, Fred is recuperating at a very slow pace and not real sure of any serious injuries inside of him but he feels he is just doing fine after a month now of trying to get back on his feet his way.  I believe in time he probably will be alright but not like he was two monts ago, I believe Fred to realize his fate now is to slow right down and start enjoying his life and this accident made it happen for him to do.  I do know Fred is in a lot of pain still, he cannot stay on his feet very long and needs to rest several times per day but with his injuries who wouldn't.

Well, I did go see Fred and I volunteered to do some things while I was there to give him a little peace of mind as I know it was killing him not to have that darn ole bus dried in yet to satisfy him.  Now it has been nearly a month since his fall and he has done nothing since of any kind.  He jumped right on my offer to help out somewhat on his MCI bus but insisted that he go on the roof also for the first time now since the accident with me and work with me to finish securing the cap.  He felt better he said and wanted to do it himself as he has a system and I know how us stubborn Germans are, we gotta do it our way you know.  Fred gathered the tools needed and we both set up his scaffold etc. to get the job finished as he siad there was not many more rivets to put on the cap to complete it and make it dry for good.

Well in the mean time Fred bought a new ladder from HD.  Nice folding ladder, beautiful in fact, wide bottom for security and stance, will hold 300 lbs and no bounce etc.  We put this ladder up against the bus roof and finished putting in maybe 40 or so rivets and caulked the overlapped seam etc. and got back down and was I glad to get Fred back off that darn ole roolf.  I could tell he was relieved to have it done and also to get back on the ground also. I got to looking at Fred's nice new HD ladder and the very bottom of the legs it has foot rest made out of 1/4" thickness round formed plastic leg portector??  When the ladder is sitting on the ground if the ground or grass is wet etc. it is like having a skating rink of ice for god's sake.  We had the ladder legs sitting in gravel and at that time I did not notice this plastic leg protection feature of the ladder so I felt this was sufficient as the legs of the ladder sort of dug right in to the soft ground.

Well Fred and I also put in the buck rivets on the curb side of the MCI bus the next day as I stayed another day after visiting and saw he wanted to do a little work as you might expect and of coarse I wanted to help him all I could.  You can't help but like this guy and I hope someday others will have the respect for me that I sure have for Ole Fred.  Well, the next morning at about 8 am we were ready to go and do a little more work to please Fred I could not refuse nor did I intend to, Fred already previously before his accident had the holes drilled for the securing of the new siding he installed so I got the experience of doing buck riveting for the first time, I was in the inside and talk about needing ear plugs.  If you do not have any, I didn't, use a piece of paper towel in each ear to protect your ears from the loud rapping of a air gun against the sides of the bus.  This is a definite protection you need for your hearing.

We put in maybe 100-200 rivets I guess, not sure, maybe not quite that many but there is a bunch of coarse, it was down the entire length of the bus on the curb side anyhow.  When we got done, Fred was exhausted and we sat down outside in the sun to let him rest up but again I could see he had reached his daily limit of exertion that he would be able to do.  We sat in the good ole 75 deg. FL heat that morning and talked more bus stuff and I got more information in two days with Fred than from any 3 conversion books I ever read.  If you are a newbie in particular, try to go visit with Fred if you are in his neck of the wood, (Madison, FL, off I-75 near the FL. / GA. border).  You will not be sorry in the least, bring note books to write down some of the things he will tell you and you will forget, bring your camera to take photos of any buses he still may have on board at his home to work on if he still does after finishing the one he still has at his shop. 

Now not everyone will probably agree with what Fred does as a converter, every converter does things normally their own way and this is your choice after gathering information from someone who is willing to share over 20 years experience as a bus converter with but his ideas will get you going and working in the right direction especially after listening to the reasons he does each task of completing a conversion, then decide for yourself what is best for you to do. Fred has a web site, http://users.cwnet.com/thall/fredhobe.htm that will give most newbie converters much information how to do many things but to actually sit with Fred and get it first hand is more rewarding.   

Fred has a small apartment attached to his conversion shop that he lets anyone wishing to stop to visit, work on their bus at his shop or bring their bus in for repairs that he was able to do.  I am including photos in this post of his apartment that he has available for you use.  If you need serious repairs of any of any kind right now I advise calling Fred and ask him if he can help you, or perhaps if you do the work yourself and need guidance I believe Fred to be accommodating to help you.

I have a few tips that I wish to jot down here on this post from experience of Fred's near fatal accident.  I hope it will make you all think a little before going up on your bus roofs'
NEVER, NEVER GO ON A WET BUS ROOF FROM FROST, DEW OR RAIN AND ALWAYS USE SOFT RUBBER SOLED SHOES TO KEEP FROM SLIPPING.
(1)   Use a ladder that has a wider bottom leg stance than the top of the ladder for more stability.  Do not use a ladder with plastic protection on the legs without securing the ladder as suggested below.
(2)   Be sure to set the slant of the ladder with the bottom out far enough to prevent the ladder from falling backwards with you on it when at the top of the bus roof.
(3)   Always secure the bottom rung of the ladder using a rope nylon strap to a "C" clamp secured to your bus undercarriage and have it straight inline with the ladder and not at an angle allowing ladder movement.  Always move the bottom of the ladder outward against the rope to assure there is no slack in the rope line.
(4)   Try to have someone else assist you and hold your ladder with the toes of their shoes against each ladder leg for added protection, especially if no rope is available for tying off the bottom rung of the ladder.
(5)    Be sure the top of your ladder is long enough to extend the top of your ladder at least 3-4 rungs past the roof edge you are going to climb on.  This is to assure of a hand hold and way to balance your weight shift when getting off or on the ladder form the roof height. 
(6)   Never climb your ladder with your hands full of tools, have them in a plastic bucket that you can pull up on a rope and tie off temporarily until you remove your tools and place on the roof while standing on your ladder.  Be sure to lower the bucket down again so you will not have a tripping factor when exiting the ladder.  Use this same procedure when taking your tools off your bus roof while being on the ladder but standing about 4 rungs down from the roof edge to control weight shift.
(7)   After getting on your bus roof, place all tools placed on the roof as close to the middle of the roof as possible near your work area to keep them from sliding down the roof when not being used. 
(8)   If you have the convenience of having a partner working with you be sure to advise him / her to stay away from the side of the coach in line with the tools just in case one should slip.  This will "Kill" your helper if a drill or hammer should fall on them.
(9)   Use a scrap piece of foam rubber placed in the middle of your roof to place you tools on, this will help keep them from slipping and keep them organized for your use.   NOTE: using a piece of form rubber such as being suggested here will also assist you greatly from slipping off your house roof coated with shingles if you need to go on your roof for repairs etc. A piece under the knees to kneel or sit on while working on your bus roof would sure help also.  The foam rubber that is like a egg crate that is normally used for extra padding for beds works good as it is not too thick, very light, the egg crate shape will keep tools in place where placed. This can be purchased in the bedding area of any of those (wal / kmart stores) and is very cheap accident prevention insurance.
I know this is also a very lengthy post but I hope the amount of time I took to write it will help a few at least at staying as safe as possible.

If you get the opportunity go visit Fred at his home / shop, but also contact him by phone or email and let him know of your concerns for his health and also thank him for allowing me to write you of this possible fatal accident that may help you in your bus conversion to be safe also.  Remember if an accident like this can happen to someone with over 20 years experience at doing this to perhaps hundreds of buses in all this time that this can also happen to you.  I feel off a ladder many years ago, about the same height as Fred's accident, ended up breaking my right wrist in two locations.  I have a lot of trouble with it today and will forever because of it.  Accident was similar to Fred's in how it happened but again that is another story.  Please take our suggestions from us that report these instances and use them as an advantage to prevent you from also being seriously injured or killed.

Thanks, Gary

[bobofthenorth]

Gary I have to add one thing to your excellent post. 

I wouldn't let an employee go in a confined space (such as under a bus) or on a roof without having a buddy at hand.  I don't believe we should do anything to ourselves that we wouldn't ask an employee to do.  IOW, don't work under or on top of our coaches without a 2nd person.  And your wife in the house 200 yards away doesn't count.  2nd person has to be within sight and sound of the person at risk, IMHO.

[JackConrad]

Glad to hear Fred is doing better. I agree that there are few (IF ANY) busnuts that know about converting buses then Fred.


(2)   Be sure to set the slant of the ladder with the bottom out far enough to prevent the ladder from falling backwards with you on it when at the top of the bus roof.

From my Fire School days: The correct angle for a ladder is 70 degrees. Stand with your toes against the bottom of the ladder and extend you arms straight out in front of you. If your fingers contact the ladder rung, you have the correct angle.  Jack

[edvanland]

Gary:
Thanks for the great info.  I am also Glad Fred is doing better.  We get careleous in as we get older and have done things the same way so many times and then it bites us. 
Thanks
ED
MCI 7
Cornville, AZ

[ChuckMC9]

Gary, as always, you do a 'bang-up' job on your articles. Thank you for your trouble. I spoke to Fred on the phone several times a couple of years ago when he was considering coming to Dallas to look at some buses for sale. Great guy and please wish him well again.

Stories like this give me another reason to be glad I left my roof hatches in place and usable. Getting up on the roof that way won't allow access to everything that a ladder will, but for access to all but the edges of the roof, using the hatches is a walk in the park.

Although I haven't needed it yet, I bought this hunter's harness off of ebay awhile back. Call me chicken, but when I start sanding & painting up there I know I"ll get weary and cranky.  When I get weary and cranky I get sloppy and negligent. When I get negligent I break mah bonez. I can't afford to break mah bonez!