Good morning!!!!

[LouNY]

Well good real late morning or early afternoon;

Hope all are going good in this first week of the New Year.
I was standing at the kitchen sink looking out the window a bit ago, telling myself to get a move on you've got things to get done. But I just stood there and watched a few turkey on the lawn.

A few under a Spruce.....................................and a couple more getting ready to head that way.

And now I'd better get my butt in gear and do something

 

[FriendwithTractor]

Good Morning to All Who Celebrate! (My internal clock is off, stuck in a meeting this morning that lasted too long) Currently 37° heading for a high of 39° sunny and clear, slowly heading to warm up this week (Allegedly)

Good weekend, watched a movie with the GF on Friday night. Took Grandma's present to her on Saturday, she was overjoyed that she can dig herself out of a snow storm now if need be. Sunday I tackled the fallen Tree of Heaven, neighbor gets good boy points as they had cut it up and thrown two of them back:

So I took advantage of the cold temps to push Everything back further with the grapple. Just set down the lower tines and push. It looks like most of the large Tree of Heavens didn't survive (Yay!) so I'd like to fell them at some point before it warms up. Just knock'em down and push the stumps up with the blade perhaps. But that wasn't what I was going to do that day. Unless someone else was at the house with me, and since I've been by my lonesome since NYE, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor rather than be pinned under an invasive tree.

Parents come back today from the Shore, they're probably midway about now.
Work is picking up, but I need to remember tomorrow to reach out to the realtor about some other properties.

Other than that, just surviving the winter as best I can!
Y'all Stay Safe Out There and Be well!
Prayers for all Ailing and Recovering!

 

[rswyan]

44F and very sunny @ 13:30, was only calling for a high of 43F so we've beaten that.

Need to swap out the bucket on the Kubota for the pallet forks and then see about moving some of those sheets of drywall into the basement.

Most likely will need to take the snow shovel down and clear a path to the back door before I do so though.

When that is all done then see about cutting the water supply lines going to the laundry room and getting those capped off.

With those capped off I'll be able to take down the existing supply lines and start running the new ones. And get the previous holes boarded up and sealed ...

Hopper feeder is no doubt due for a refill so will handle that while I'm out and about.

Ten Day forecast shows the next 5 days with above average temps, with the predicted high on Friday approaching 60F ...

Hope everyone is having a decent Monday ...

 

[rswyan]

rswyan If that vent pipe does not go to the outdoors, depending on local codes you might be able to use an indoor air admittance valve instead of a whole new stack.

Good to know ... wasn't really aware of their existence, although I have seen mention of them previously.

Looks to be a cheap solution @ around $20 ...

At any rate I have an endoscope that attaches to my phone which should be long enough to run up beside the vent stack to get an idea of where it goes and what's on the end of it, if anything.

I realize that the designs aren't your doing, but a crawlspace without access seems as a perhaps less than great idea. Trapdoor?

I suspect crawlspace might be a bit of a misnomer.

Not sure really what's down there ... quite possible there's not even enough room to squeeze a body into the space.

Again, a job for the endoscope before I seal up the hole.

Ditto heat tape enclosed in a wall cavity. That just seems to me like a countdown to an in wall fire, but that's probably because I haven't had the greatest experience with heat tapes over the years.

No worries there ... the heat tape is going away.

This seems like such a large undertaking and one that makes your home more pleasant and livable. I admire your ability to put so much work into it each day.

Thanks ...

Yeah, no doubt it's a fair amount of work.

 

[Engineer42]

Yes, I have. My blade is a bit different then most, it's a 10 foot blade with 2 five foot blades on 3-3-12-12-12-12-3-3 bolt spacing I have gotten a couple quotes and am waiting for a couple more.
The first ones I got was around $500 each, no way. I have found one at $108 and am waiting for a response.
Well before I'll spend a $1000 on cutting edges I'll be welding on either one 10 footer or a pair of 5 footers.

Check with your closest Cat dealer. Sounds identical to a 212 grader cutting edge. They used to be economical, but it's been a bit. 1D3604 right and 1D3605 left

 

[ponytug]

Yes, I have. My blade is a bit different then most, it's a 10 foot blade with 2 five foot blades on 3-3-12-12-12-12-3-3 bolt spacing I have gotten a couple quotes and am waiting for a couple more.
The first ones I got was around $500 each, no way. I have found one at $108 and am waiting for a response.
Well before I'll spend a $1000 on cutting edges I'll be welding on either one 10 footer or a pair of 5 footers.

Got it.

For me, cutting the old welded blade off was pretty easy.

FWIW: Welding the new blade on was a bit more of a production, as the blade and bucket have to be welded above a critical temperature (more than 50C/122F on the metals and below 225C/437F 3" from the weld.) and then slowly cooled after welding. I used a million BTU propane weed torch (with an assistant), an IR thermometer, to get and keep things hot, and then used a silicone treated welding blanket from Amazon to slow the cooling. Plus a helper removing welding slag as I moved along the blade, trying to keep the welding speed up to simplify the heating. The latter was a plus, but not essential.
https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/threads/bolt-on-blade-for-buckets.446621/post-6285251

So far, so good. As it was my first time welding boron steel, I was, and am, happy not to have gotten any cracks on the weld. Not exactly as easy as bolt on, but I didn't have that option.

All the best,

Peter

 

[buckeyefarmer]

trying to figure out why my wife didn't get her first pension payment for when she did work a long time ago. frustrating, the run around on trying to get their site to work. It wont be much, but it will help. Online doesn't work, and when I call the help number, I get a message that just says they are busy, so just log in to your account. The problem is logging in doesn't work.

started prepping for tax season.
the day just flew by.
neighbors getting their fiber installed today. They said it's just being layed on the ground for now, and another company will come back later to bury it. They said they won't put it across their driveway, which makes me wonder how they gonna get to me. I guess that will be another day's battle.

 

[rswyan]

Bucket swapped for forks.

Seven sheets of drywall wall taken around back and moved into the basement. Used a little plant stand with casters to move them from the Kubota to the basement door.

That was working well … until one of the casters self-destructed on the 6th or 7th sheet …

Still have 8 more sheets to go but the 7 plus the 4 I already had down there will keep me busy for a bit.

Hopper feeder refilled, also scattered some seed for the ground feeders.

Pulled some of the snow off the driveway up near the house and then salted the path to the entryway.

Swap boots and socks for warm/dry ones.

Now heading down to see about cutting and capping the supply lines to the laundry.

After I put some food out for the feral kitty …

 

[Thomas]

13F snowing about 1" ending around midnight.

Been good day got everything done I wanted than some.
Pillow time will come early tonight want to be bright eye and bushy tail on the job tomorrow,afternoon have set down with couple doctors
Mrs. ask what I wanted for dinner my reply homemade no store bought chip beef with gravy on toast,I got deer in head light look and she you got it.

Enjoy your evening all.

 

[Looking4new]

Plowing and litter boxes all dealt with.

Before I order the oil, I think I had better take my tape measure out and dip the tank. I may have more than I think I do. According to the gauge I have 3/8 of a 500 gallon tank.
Mathematically I have 187.5 gallons left, but the pump is about 3" off the bottom.
The Dodge has an appointment next Monday for the rear bearings.

 

[daugen]

if that tank is really old you might not want to take it down all the way Bill.
I'd get nervous, for several good reasons, if I saw the 1/8 number.

we get up
we get our priorities straight
there's only one thing to do
and we'd better get it right
make wife happy

 

[Popgadget]

I am looking for new cutting edges for my back blade, amazing how difficult to find for an almost reasonable cost. For what used to be a standard hole pattern.

I bought standard hot rolled flat bar and cut the hole pattern on the plasma table. You could drill it by hand, but he wanted the square holes for carriage bolts, and i offered to do it.

 

[Popgadget]

Running with 20 inch chains which is on the big side for a 50 cc saw.
I believe they are considered as professional saws by Stilh

I have 16,18 and 20” bars for my 261c, mainly because it takes the same bar and chains that my old 026 used. The 20” bar is definitely not the best choice for it, I usually run the 16, it gives it a nice balance and cuts lightning fast.
And yes, its in their “professional”lineup.

 

[Wagtail]

Good (Tuesday) morning. Overnight Low of 14.4C and it's presently 'warmed up' to 30.5C, mostly clear with some wind. 'We' are in a heatwave alert until Friday... I pray that no bushfire occurs as things are extremely dry. The East coast of Tasmania receives a fraction of the rain that our West coast does and last year's total was down 600mm compared to the previous year.

Yesterday I did manage to take down and pack away all of my Christmas decorations & tree.

I'm sure that there's something that I can 'get up to'... perhaps give myself a haircut.

That's about it, take care all.

 

[rswyan]

Water supply lines to the laundry room cut and capped after the branches to the kitchen sink and dishwasher.

And no leaks …

Was kinda unsure how that would go … due to the residual water in the pipes but was able to get a good sweat seal.

Going to put the pot of chili The Woman made yesterday on the stove and get that heating up.

She’s currently at the pharmacy picking up a couple of ‘scripts, should be home after that.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

did check my stihl, 290 56cc A bit heavy for me now, i prefer the battery makita or the echo pole saw.

just paid most of the bills for the month, a couple more to go. /$$$\

 

[two_bit_score]

Sounds like everyone had busy days today. We had nice weather today with temps in upper 70's. Went to work on The Old House and made some progress on the porch. Grandma brought Granddaughter over in the afternoon to check things out and that was a nice break. Didn't do much after that.

Probably going to take a couple aspirin and go to bed early.

Have a relaxing evening everyone. Prayers for our Nation!

 

[Looking4new]

if that tank is really old you might not want to take it down all the way Bill.
I'd get nervous, for several good reasons, if I saw the 1/8 number.

we get up
we get our priorities straight
there's only one thing to do
and we'd better get it right
make wife happy

The tank was brandy new in Spring 2025.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Back to work today. got there 1.25 hours early. Stayed late. Took 1 set of visitors on a tour of the building/labs. Met another consultant guy about our pump lab. He's a former professor, now in the real world consulting.

Copied and worked on a cnc file to make another American flag memento. Started it on the 5 axis CNC mill. Left it to run once the critical operations had ran. Pray it is in good order when I get there in the morning.

Popgadget, I feel your pain. We have so many training powerpoint modules we have to complete annually. Even one for lasers, because we have a laser mounted in a cnc mill to do a simple demonstration. This is why I'm kicking and screaming about learning another cad software. Already know a few.

A couple of months ago, I turned in a large order of replacement parts for our Piranha iron worker. Have not heard anything back yet, I hope that is good news. Slow ordering is frustrating part of my job. It is about $5000 for a decent refurbishment, and that is not even rebuilding the hydraulic ram.

Working with a salesguy to refine a quote for a new wire edm machine. Trying to fit as much as possible into a $250K budget. Still not sure if I'm wasting my time, but the guy on our end says he has the money ready. We will see.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Here's a great 3D printing idea!