Good morning!!!!

[Dftodd]

Good morning fellas.

80° and fog at 6am this morning. Gonna be another scorcher.

Daughter showed up Tuesday at the hospital with pizzas. So we had a pizza party in the hospital room to celebrate my wife's birthday.

Wife got discharged from the hospital and hour after everyone left

Pooch was really happy that momma was home.

She never left her side that night or yesterday.

When I left for work this morning, gypsy was next to momma on the bed still guarding her

 

[kenmbz]

Morning all, 73 to 89 and sunny, getting hot again.
Some trees are dropping leaves already.
Did some watering after work and added water to the pool.
Need to go trim some bushes, but need to wait until it's cooler.

Surrounded by deer yesterday in every little field, keep seeing the same ones in large numbers.
We also got a report the bear is back in the area, did not see it on game cam from last time though.

BEF - that deck project is looking good so far, can't wait to see it done.

Work has been busy, but going well.

Be well,

After running around all day, mom dropped her off for some relaxing grass by the trampoline time.

See this guy daily with a doe and younger buck, he is getting the big buck attitude, but still not full size yet.

This is the doe to the fawn above. She is my new favorite as she was eating some of the vines out front so I don't have to pull them.

 

[daugen]

nice dog pics and dog stories

haven't had to worry about the squirrels this morning.
I think they are far up some trees.
earlier a red fox was near the feeders, not the nice full coated one I saw before but a greyer
thinner fox who took off a few seconds later and before I could get back with phone to take pic.

I wonder why some animals get rabies more than others.
might as well ask HAL's AI...
Animals like dogs, cats, foxes, raccoons, skunks, and bats are more prone to rabies because they are often predators or omnivores, increasing their chances of encountering infected animals through bites or scratches

apparently unvaccinated cats are very susceptible, no surprise, they are hunters

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Nice work Dennis How big is that pad ? I have a 2 bottom plow out in the lawn by the barn that I would like to make a pad for so it’s not sinking into the lawn with weeds growing up around it.

Hope all have a Super day

28” x 60”
Steps will be around 48” wide
Here’s an idea of how step will be

 

[daugen]

three years ago I bought a high capacity off brand battery for my Makita leafblower.
9AH instead of Makita's 5AH. Not sure if they make a 6 now. But I needed another battery
and I decided to get a second 9AH battery to match the first one I bought.
this way they can pair up to give me 18AH for my Makita chain saw. That thing sucks some serious juice
under load and those big batteries help.

Amazon.com

since the beginning I have been leary of any offbrand lithium battery. Always charge them on a concrete floor just in case, for a while.
but this one has worked. The Makitas will last ten years or longer, these off brands won't. But they cost one third to one quarter in some cases.
I try to buy the best of the clones. best way to get more Makita batteries is to find a combo of some tool you don't have that comes with two batteries. Yes it would be nice to have a cordless skilsaw but my corded Skilsaw works just fine, just used it in fact.
so I keep my eye out for something I never knew I could live without, that comes with two batteries.

they often show up just before Christmas.

 

[newbury]

<snip>

Considering the enormous cost savings of not having the dealer do this, I'll put up with some of this nuisance. This is a bell fender washer maybe inch and half wide. I asked parts guy don't you have a big drawer of these? Nope. Only in kits. I could buy a plain one and have Popgadget drill the hole in it. I wonder if TSC has a drawer of them?
<snip>

Do you have a picture of a "bell fender washer"? I've made some fender washers into a bell shape, but only because I overtightened them on soft wood.

 

[ponytug]

Thank you Peter very well said it is tough watching loved one go thru this after 48.5 years. Thanks again to everyone who listens my only vent network. I am on other social media but I do not discuss personal matters so they do not know

Any time! Please vent as needed, and look after yourself.

I think it is a tough row to hoe, no matter how it goes.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ponytug]

Do you have a picture of a "bell fender washer"? I've made some fender washers into a bell shape, but only because I overtightened them on soft wood.

I think that he's referring to a Belleville washer;

Belleville washer - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It is basically spring steel punched into a cone, and has very high spring forces for the distance. You can also use them to take out backlash from linear worm drives, making cheap(er) equipment much higher in both accuracy and precision.

I love them, but pricey.

All the best,

Peter

 

[newbury]

So something like:this

from McMaster-Carr

 

[daugen]

Do you have a picture of a "bell fender washer"? I've made some fender washers into a bell shape, but only because I overtightened them on soft wood.

Peter nailed it, no pun intended, Belleville washer is full name
it's a little flying saucer washer that exerts its own force.
I saw them being used on my Gravely mower equipment in places.
apparently over time they lose their oomph and should be replaced but I doubt anyone does.
maybe on nuclear turbines or something critical

 

[daugen]

this is what I ordered, doesn't look like it would compress very much but if it works
guess I need two sets

 

[m7040]

Peter nailed it, no pun intended, Belleville washer is full name
it's a little flying saucer washer that exerts its own force.
I saw them being used on my Gravely mower equipment in places.
apparently over time they lose their oomph and should be replaced but I doubt anyone does.
maybe on nuclear turbines or something critical

the ZT mower uses them for the blades and has two of them for each blade about 2 inch outside diameter. If not torqued correctly and the blade slips the heat will destroy the spring action and they will need replacement. Forgot how much but remember it was not cheap

 

[daugen]

the ZT mower uses them for the blades and has two of them for each blade about 2 inch outside diameter. If not torqued correctly and the blade slips the heat will destroy the spring action and they will need replacement. Forgot how much but remember it was not cheap

yes, it was on my Gravely mower blades. Just don't overtorque them or squish the life out of them I guess
not many folks use a torque wrench installing mower bolts but I sure would with these
thanks Frits

 

[rswyan]

86F and "Fair" @ 11:30, heading up to around 91F for the day's high. DP 70F, HU 61%, "feels like" = 97F.

Attic fan just kicked on.

Under Heat and Ozone Advisories.

Got hopper and both tube feeders refilled yesterday, also one suet feeder ... plus scattered some seeds for the ground feeders. Almost out of regular cheap bird seed.

Noticed new neighbor out mowing yesterday while I was doing that so walked over and said hello and chatted for a bit.

After that I headed around back and got the arbs and plants on selves watered.

Once that was done I worked on getting the goat panel fully secured on the t posts and got that done. Then threaded the two Casper pumpkin vines up through that and got those secured.

Looking for some shade to continue on I took the Cub and dump cart over to the woods on the west side and started loading up the small piles of debris.

Did some grading with the box blade and bow rake to level out the area and fill in some depressions.

Have one small area to finish up on that and then will call it done ... at least for now.

Rockbox ran out of battery so I took that inside to charge, grabbed another battery for the B&D chainsaw while I was in there.

Did some banking and paid some bills and switched over to a more refreshing drink while I was inside.

Doe came by to visit while I was taking a break:

Used the grapple to move another couple of bites of debris to the brush pile in back by the carpenter bees' nest. They still seem to be working on it, haven't given up yet ...

Hauled the debris in the dump cart up along with the compostables from the kitchen and got those added to the compost pile.

Gathered up tools in the dump cart and then parked the Cub over by the garden.

Picked another two yellow squash and three more cucumbers and called it a day.

Ordered a replacement water filter for the refrigerator from Amazon which is due in today, along with the cold brew coffee maker from Menards.

Heard back from doctor's office with the results on the ultrasound for triple AAA. No aneurysm but there is some stenosis and build up of plaque so got a referral to the vascular guys which I still need to schedule.

Not sure what all on agenda for today.

Probably start on mowing.

Need to swing by the garden center and pick up a couple bales of straw to mulch the grass seed I'm going to sew over on the west side.

Also pick up a prescription refill.

Looks like a decent amount of cloud cover this afternoon ... so may remove the box blade and grapple and try to get the PHD put on at some point.

Beyond that see what else comes up.

Hope everyone is having a good Thursday ...

 

[sodamo]

71°F and 0 rain.

Another day of progress mowing yesterday. Met the SIL of a neighbor with his new 60 inch, Diesel Kubota mowers, the over $20k model. He was mowing my next door neighbor’s. Nice machine. He has a side mowing business. He did admit he wouldn’t tackle what I was doing.

Hope to get another hour or 2 in this morning but maybe not.

We host H&F this afternoon.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[m7040]

yes, it was on my Gravely mower blades. Just don't overtorque them or squish the life out of them I guess
not many folks use a torque wrench installing mower bolts but I sure would with these
thanks Frits

The problem is when they are not torqued enough and the blade slips that will destroy them. Used to use the impact wrench that is difficult to hit the correct torque and is either two much or too little. Broke a couple of mounting screws and also at times had issues with blades slipping. Broken bolts are hard to get out because they are hardened and difficult to drill and reverse screw extractor it out. Have not had any problems since using the torque wrench and torqued to spec

 

[LouNY]

the ZT mower uses them for the blades and has two of them for each blade about 2 inch outside diameter. If not torqued correctly and the blade slips the heat will destroy the spring action and they will need replacement. Forgot how much but remember it was not cheap

My F2000 also uses them also, it takes two per blade stacked together. $8.55 each plus shipping, so $17 per blade.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon Drew,

since the beginning I have been leary of any offbrand lithium battery

I bought this battery and charger last week from Amazon for running portable at the parks. Seems to be a nice combo !

 

[ponytug]

this is what I ordered, doesn't look like it would compress very much but if it works
guess I need two sets

View attachment 3818092

That's something else besides a Belleville washer, but looks great for mounting shocks.

Probably on my own do list for one of the cars that squeaks going around corners cold. It seems to me as if the strut is dying.

Since Belleville washers are basically heat treated spring steel, any heating from friction, like on a mower blade pivot, will trash them pretty quickly. Mower blade pivots are one of those areas where I see a bunch of different ways of engineering them, and that suggests to me that none of them work well, or the solution that does is fiendishly expensive, but what do I know?

All the best,

Peter

 

[LouNY]

Afternoon all;
I just got a 100 page flyer in the mail today from this outfit;
New & Used Lawn, Turf, And Golf Course Equipment For Sale | NeedTurfEquipment.com
Very interesting browsing, almost a 100 pages of equipment inventory from numerous dealers. Mostly smaller tractors and mowers some ATV's some implements.
Most of seemed to be geared for most common TBN members most of the tractors were under 75 hp.