RedNeckGeek
Super Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2011
- Messages
- 8,753
- Location
- Butte County & Orcutt, California
- Tractor
- Kubota M62, Kubota L3240D HST (SOLD!), Kubota RTV900
Good Morning! 62F @ 9:00 AM. Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
No work on the flail mower yesterday, as I got a late start after being up most of the night before. Paid a few bills then went into town to run errands and test drive a Vanagon/Subaru conversion van. I was very pleasantly surprised. Plenty of power, even climbing some steep hills, pretty good handling, not nearly as much body roll as I'd expected in a bus, and acceptably quiet on the freeway, but compared to a Diesel F250, anything is quiet. :laughing: Spent a fair amount if time discussing the conversion, looking over the donor van that's available, and I'm now trying to figure out "what to leave in, what to leave out", and what I can do vs. what's best left in my mechanic's hands. I was impressed by the little things he's done to make the conversion easy to live with. He's cut a very clean line between VW and Subaru parts: Anything to do with the engine is available from Subaru, all the rest comes from VW. Very few specialized parts available only from him, and none of them I couldn't fabricate if needs be. Hoses and wires are well placed and protected, filters easy to get at and easy to get, no special fuel requirements, and a wide variety of options available (too many, really) for wheels, tires, interiors, you name it. So that's my challenge for the next day or two, reading up on the possibilities so that I know before the conversion starts just where it'll end up. That'll help loads to keep it on track, and avoid cost and time over runs. But the test drive was enough to help me see I can be very comfortable camping out of one of these things, certainly way more comfortable than off a motorcycle, especially in inclement weather. No, it's a far cry from Drew's palatial digs on wheels, but the small size and 4WD will get me far from the maddening crowd and gain me greater acceptance among the VW folks I'm already hanging with at the VW/BMW motorcycle campouts, and probably open some new doors in new directions as well. At the end of the day, it's all about fun (and reliability), and I think this project will have plenty of both.
I was back home late as well, but with the truck and its new water and power steering pumps hopefully keeping all the fluids inside the engine from now on. By 2AM I had what I hope are the remainder of the computer updates downloaded, so it's another late start today. Light schedule though: unload the motorcycle from the bumper hitch, then put the scraper blade on the back of the tractor to finish grading the gravel off the driveway. It's supposed to rain tonight and on-and-off over the next few days, nothing much but enough to settle the dust and compact the surface some, hopefully without creating new ruts. The motorcycle wrench fest is in a week, so the timing is looking pretty good. Which reminds me, I forgot to pick up the direction signs for the event on the way out of town, even though I did stop on the way in to pay for them. They were supposed to be left outside the back door for me, so I hope they didn't sprout legs and wander off. :laughing:
TGIF gang!
No work on the flail mower yesterday, as I got a late start after being up most of the night before. Paid a few bills then went into town to run errands and test drive a Vanagon/Subaru conversion van. I was very pleasantly surprised. Plenty of power, even climbing some steep hills, pretty good handling, not nearly as much body roll as I'd expected in a bus, and acceptably quiet on the freeway, but compared to a Diesel F250, anything is quiet. :laughing: Spent a fair amount if time discussing the conversion, looking over the donor van that's available, and I'm now trying to figure out "what to leave in, what to leave out", and what I can do vs. what's best left in my mechanic's hands. I was impressed by the little things he's done to make the conversion easy to live with. He's cut a very clean line between VW and Subaru parts: Anything to do with the engine is available from Subaru, all the rest comes from VW. Very few specialized parts available only from him, and none of them I couldn't fabricate if needs be. Hoses and wires are well placed and protected, filters easy to get at and easy to get, no special fuel requirements, and a wide variety of options available (too many, really) for wheels, tires, interiors, you name it. So that's my challenge for the next day or two, reading up on the possibilities so that I know before the conversion starts just where it'll end up. That'll help loads to keep it on track, and avoid cost and time over runs. But the test drive was enough to help me see I can be very comfortable camping out of one of these things, certainly way more comfortable than off a motorcycle, especially in inclement weather. No, it's a far cry from Drew's palatial digs on wheels, but the small size and 4WD will get me far from the maddening crowd and gain me greater acceptance among the VW folks I'm already hanging with at the VW/BMW motorcycle campouts, and probably open some new doors in new directions as well. At the end of the day, it's all about fun (and reliability), and I think this project will have plenty of both.
I was back home late as well, but with the truck and its new water and power steering pumps hopefully keeping all the fluids inside the engine from now on. By 2AM I had what I hope are the remainder of the computer updates downloaded, so it's another late start today. Light schedule though: unload the motorcycle from the bumper hitch, then put the scraper blade on the back of the tractor to finish grading the gravel off the driveway. It's supposed to rain tonight and on-and-off over the next few days, nothing much but enough to settle the dust and compact the surface some, hopefully without creating new ruts. The motorcycle wrench fest is in a week, so the timing is looking pretty good. Which reminds me, I forgot to pick up the direction signs for the event on the way out of town, even though I did stop on the way in to pay for them. They were supposed to be left outside the back door for me, so I hope they didn't sprout legs and wander off. :laughing:
TGIF gang!
...I keep it running with about $100 - $200 of parts each year. But I think I will start paying attention and looking into a replacement just in case I've jinxed myself...don't know much about the current brands, models or prices.
