-My favorite part of the job is coming to work.
I'm the first one here in the morning.
And it's very -- -- serene, very peaceful.
Welcome to my office. That's the best part of the job.
My name is Al Drake.
I'm a senior automotive mechanic for fleets.
And I'm stationed in the watersheds.
-My name is Juan Garcia.
I'm a fleets mechanic at the watershed.
We're going to be heading up to the 211 road.
And we're going to be working on a brush cutter.
We made it.
What we do as mechanics is really important
for the community.
The reservoirs up here in the lakes and everything,
we're the main supplier for Seattle.
-If you live in Seattle and drink water,
good chance it's from right here.
-Their role really in keeping all the equipment running,
is we can't provide the drinking water for the residents
if we don't have the tools to do so.
-Take a look at all the blades and make sure they're all good.
If not, we'll replace them and the bearings.
We'll need at least seven to start.
It's right up my alley with what I like doing,
which is repairing on the go.
-I pride myself on getting the machine back the same day.
If they blow a hose, pull it, go get it made,
get back, get them back working.
A hydraulic quick coupler has failed
and starting to separate and leaking oil.
Being out here, we want to do it as quick as we can.
As clean as we can.
-We have to use environmentally friendly oils,
and lubricants, and greases
because we don't want any of that stuff
to get into the water supply.
-No mess. Nice and clean.
-We have to think strategically
before we do a lot of our stuff.
And at the same time, we have to do it in a way
where it's safe for the operator,
safe for the operation.
-For over 300 pieces of equipment,
you get to know what they're using, when they're using it.
-Yeah, it's a massive body of work for
two individuals to take care of.
-Remote mowers, to John Deere tractors,
Cat excavators, Cat backhoes.
-F-series trucks, F-150 on up, Ford Rangers, big dump trucks.
We have boats, skiffs --
-A ton of different trailers, air compressors, light towers.
Yeah, it's a pretty long list
of varied equipment we take care of.
There's over 900 miles of road in Cedar Falls.
There's -- I'm not sure how many here,
but probably several hundred here.
And then just all the road miles to get back and forth.
We're out on forced roads all the time.
And then we go off road quite a bit.
Get to where the equipment is.
-You just never know what you're going to get into
because it's all unique.
Yeah. So we've really got to think about safety.
I don't know if you noticed, but my head's on a swivel.
It's looking at where I'm at, where we're going.
And I'm looking up on top of the trees,
make sure no trees are falling.
-You need to know what's around you
because you don't know what's coming out of those woods.
-I've seen coyotes, elk, deer.
-Oh yeah, yeah. We get bear, cougar.
-I think the biggest bear
I've seen probably standing about this high.
Yeah, snakes.
-You name it, we get it out here all the time.
-One of the biggest challenges is probably the weather.
-There's four distinct seasons and they each
got their own hazard.
-In my truck right now -- -- I've got rain gear,
I've got cold weather gear.
Going up there,
I have to be aware of how hot it is because something
that I may be working on could cause a fire.
And that's all related to temperature.
So I have to be very diligent about what I do, how I do it.
I'm able to do quite a bit out of the one truck.
-My truck is my toolbox. Actually, that's my toolbox,
but I haven't used it in about 10 years.
-So I was actually fabricating a bolt on the fly
and measured it, cut it,
and used it for the application that it was intended to.
Al and I are kind of mentors and trainers
on some of these young guys that are coming in.
-The general scope of what they did,
it didn't really occur to me until I got here.
He showed me things that I just wasn't aware of
between whisker switches, hydraulic systems.
Just fixing random things that happen on the fly.
I've been learning a lot. -What are we having for lunch?
Oh, that looks good.
-Al, myself, and other mechanics who are seasoned.
We're leaving an industry
and we're passing it off to the next generation.
When the operator can get on that machine
and start doing what he needs to do,
you see it instantly as soon as you repair it, you fix it.
I love it.
I'll let the operator know we're done.
If he doesn't have anything else for us, then we're done.
-Who's going to show up and do it?
And be happy to help, and be proactive?
And want to do the job?
And that's how I feel with Al and with Juan,
is that they're invaluable.
-I take great pride in my work.
I'm very proud of my work. No more leak.
It gives me a lot of satisfaction.
♪♪
Watch CityStream Tuesday nights at 7 on the Seattle Channel,
or find us anytime online at SeattleChannel.org.
♪♪