Good morning!!!!

[Looking4new]

I misspoke, the oil tank was brandy new in 2023. I didn't get it until 2024.

 

[ronjhall]

First cup of coffee has been poured. 27° with cloudy skies this morning. Heading to 38° with periods of rain.
Dr. appointment went good with no meds or test added to my health concerns. Got package off to my sister. $75 to send a package to AZ. Got papers together to send in my HSA pay back for all my health cost last year. Plans today are to do some maintenance on tractors. Need to clean up shop also.
Deer are coming and going all day long to feeders.

Everyone stay safe and well.

Good Morning All.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Tractor Morning,

I may have more than I think I do

Bill, I get such a kick out of people that question me why their 275 gallon tank only took 245 gallons and the tank was empty.
Well sir, if I put 275 gallons in your tank, as soon as it heats up you will have fuel oil all over, they call it expansion
The whistle on the vent hangs down into the top of the tank enough for me to know when to stop pumping

 

[daugen]

good morning all
Ron, glad you got through the medical gauntlet.
Guess we can buy some green bananas...

26 out now warming up into 40's on a cloudy day today, warmer tomorrow

worked on my rv tailight, think I have it fixed. Found the plastic part that keeps popping out and losing
grip on the light bulb terminals. Got it clicked back in (pops out way too easily) and then flowed a little super glue
down the sides of the plastic. Not going anywhere now, plus I can easily change the bulbs a different way.
cleaned off the metal and sanded everything with emery paper. Good thing I remembered to take pics of the wire hookup

not much planned for today, might get some work done in garage

when I got to this house, the oil burner was eleven years old and had never been cleaned.
I immediately got it cleaned, and do that every two years. Hard to believe landlord thinks its smart to depend
upon tenant to get the oilburner cleaned. That's a landlord's job...
when I was talking to landlady about new vinyl in kitchen to replace the 40+ year old stuff there, I suggested we get the better grade Congoleum because of the lifetime warranty. Her response was that it was only a rental. 153 sf of vinyl and the good stuff costs a dollar a foot more.

some landlords can't think past cash flow. Fix nothing until it breaks, spend as little money as possible and
maximize income. Problem is houses wear out, if you leave things go til they break, usually more expensive and huge inconvenience to tenant. I think my landlady's late husband was really cheap and did not consider the financial benefit of
market value appreciation. I mean there are two different color shingles on this roof because owner too cheap to do whole roof when part blew off. I believe this is the only house in the area with shingles that don't match, which reflects the owner's attitude. I've owned three nice homes in this area for 40 years and hard for me to adjust being a renter.

I'm actually considering buying a 45 foot very used high end diesel pusher rv and going back to live in that.
I did three years living in my small yacht, I can do it in a big rv too.
I've owned large houses and just don't need that any more. Plus I think snowbirding sounds like a lot of fun.

Part of this is looking at where I stay and thinking I'm paying 85 bucks a night for this motel.
The rv idea went over like a lead balloon with my brother, he is very concerned I won't be in area any more.
I guess he likes having me here.
am realizing that if I don't own it, just not the same. Probably a bit of a control function, I like things to work and landlord
is happy only if no one calls. That seems to be their valuation of a tenant.
when my landlady finally passes away and her two sons take over, pretty sure they will view the business differently.
I also think they will sell off all these properties and cash out. That's what usually happens.

 

[Looking4new]

Good Tractor Morning,

Bill, I get such a kick out of people that question me why their 275 gallon tank only took 245 gallons and the tank was empty.
Well sir, if I put 275 gallons in your tank, as soon as it heats up you will have fuel oil all over, they call it expansion
The whistle on the vent hangs down into the top of the tank enough for me to know when to stop pumping

The people think of fuel oil the same way they think of water.
The label on the tank says 2200 Litres which is either 582 us gals or 484.5 Imp gals. Today I will fill the house tank right full (by the gauge on it) and then dip the big tank with a tape measure because I don't have a wooden stick long enough. I have to prove the gauge anyway. I have a dip chart.

The temperature now is 18 and going up to 28°F. Wind E 8 mph. 60% chance of light snow.

 

[wngsprd]

35 going to 58. Foggy outside.

Ron, congrats on your medical evaluation and good health!

BEF, I haven't been up there in 2 weeks, but probably going today.

Cut firewood yesterday...I also use a 261c-m...it had an 18 inch bar, but when I bought it 7 years ago I got the dealer to swap it for a 16, since that was what all my existing bar and chains were on my 026...16 is usually enough, but on the oak I was cutting yesterday, I did have to cut on both sides to make it all the way through.

 

[Happy in NC]

Good morning TBN!!
44 this morning (same as yesterdays high) and foggy. Should make it to 60 today under a mostly cloudy sky.

Yesterday was pretty much miserable day. Cold and wet. I did nothing. My body and dog complain on days like those. Should be better today.
No real agenda. See how much it dries out and maybe get the compressor back out of it's hole.

Time for a second cup
Everyone have a great and safe day!!

 

[riptides]

31 outside this AM, heading to lower 50's. A warmer air mass is working towards us. No problem with that.

Had a great night out with the girls and friends last night. Two daughters had not been to the particular eatery we went to, so they really enjoyed the food. Not much was brought home. LOL.

Real jobs are kicking in. Again. Got some consolidation work that needs to be done. The people moving about will be the easy part. They perhaps will not see it that way. Hope for the best.

Started measuring for moving the original cast iron sink back into the kitchen. We found it in the yard some decades ago, had it refinished some years ago. Time to get it installed. It will be a two or three person job, it weighs a lot. Double drip boards. Should be fun tearing the counter tops up. Don't want to replace them yet...so it needs to be perfect.

Hope all have a great day. Be safe.

 

[WinterDeere]

Started measuring for moving the original cast iron sink back into the kitchen... it needs to be perfect.

Photos of the job, when you get there, please! Your fellow "old house nuts" will want to follow along.

I just tore all the cabinets off one wall of our Butler's kitchen, and will be starting wall surgery and cabinet repair this week. But it's all new (1990's) work, so nothing fun or interesting.

The amusing thing here is that most people who visit this house look at the 1730's or 1770's wing, and make some comment about, "that sure must be a lot of work to maintain." But no... that side of the house is just fine, it almost never needs any attention beyond refreshing some paint here and there. Meanwhile, the 1990's addition already needs all new windows, has cabinets failing, is ready for a new roof, etc. What's that tell you about the relative quality of new houses?

 

[Buppies]

Tells me quality has gone out the door for quantity WinterDeer

36 high in 50s today 65 by Thursday January thaw anyone

Holly in bed I fell asleep in chair at midnight awake at 6:30

Starting job in Christiansburg today see how far it goes

Prayers for all our Country

 

[Popgadget]

did check my stihl, 290 56cc A bit heavy for me

The MS261C is more powerful and several pounds lighter than the 290. But I still grab the Makita if it’s a small job.

 

[ronjhall]

I'm actually considering buying a 45 foot very used high end diesel pusher rv and going back to live in that.
I did three years living in my small yacht, I can do it in a big rv too.
I've owned large houses and just don't need that any more. Plus I think snowbirding sounds like a lot of fun.

Part of this is looking at where I stay and thinking I'm paying 85 bucks a night for this motel.
The rv idea went over like a lead balloon with my brother, he is very concerned I won't be in area any more.
I guess he likes having me here.
am realizing that if I don't own it, just not the same. Probably a bit of a control function, I like things to work and landlord
is happy only if no one calls. That seems to be their valuation of a tenant.
when my landlady finally passes away and her two sons take over, pretty suire they will view the business differently.
I also think they will sell off all these properties and cash out. That's what usually happens.

I could have lived in my 35’ motor home with no problems. But what would I do for all the things I can do at my place with shop, pole barn and animal barn. I was raised with pretty much the same environment in the 40’s and 50’s.
But for you it may be the best. You could bring RV to my place and park on my RV pad. Then we could play with my 2 tractors. Wait, we can already do that with your class C RV.
On the other forum I post on. This is what a Snowbird posted.
Post in thread 'Goooodmorning!!!'
https://www.irv2.com/threads/goooodmorning.1661514/post-23559675

 

[ArlyA]

Good morning TBN crew! Its 29 here this am and high of 34 predicted today with chance of wintry mix. Snow machine shut off until Friday but did get our snow pushed around, plus the neighbor college kids. That's OK we got a nice base and this slightly above freezing weather will settle it down. Here is a critter cam shot from camp. No wild life seen.

 

[riptides]

Photos of the job, when you get there, please! Your fellow "old house nuts" will want to follow along.

I just tore all the cabinets off one wall of our Butler's kitchen, and will be starting wall surgery and cabinet repair this week. But it's all new (1990's) work, so nothing fun or interesting.

The amusing thing here is that most people who visit this house look at the 1730's or 1770's wing, and make some comment about, "that sure must be a lot of work to maintain." But no... that side of the house is just fine, it almost never needs any attention beyond refreshing some paint here and there. Meanwhile, the 1990's addition already needs all new windows, has cabinets failing, is ready for a new roof, etc. What's that tell you about the relative quality of new houses?

LOL.

I live your quality comments. Our newer "add on" structures, 22 years old now, require more maintenance and care than the original parts of the house. We subbed out the dry wall work, and it shows. LOL.

 

[Engineer42]

In case anyone was looking for a pair, I found these instead of Knipex. They seem robust so far and almost identical.



Limited-time deal: WORKPRO Mini Water Pump Pliers, 4-Inch Groove Joint Pliers, Fast Adjustable Tongue and Groove Pliers with 15-Position Push-Lock, V-Jaw for Multi-Surface Grip, Ideal for Tight Spaces and Versatile Use Amazon.com

 

[kenmbz]

Morning all, 27 up to 44 and cloudy
Dr. visit kind of went off the rails, more tests and procedures to follow.

 

[Buppies]

Prayers things turn out with positive results Ken

Prayers decisions made turn out well Thomas

 

[Buppies]

I have a 260 pro and 271 Farm boss one with 18 in bar one with 20 in bar

 

[ponytug]

good morning all
Ron, glad you got through the medical gauntlet.
Guess we can buy some green bananas...

26 out now warming up into 40's on a cloudy day today, warmer tomorrow

worked on my rv tailight, think I have it fixed. Found the plastic part that keeps popping out and losing
grip on the light bulb terminals. Got it clicked back in (pops out way too easily) and then flowed a little super glue
down the sides of the plastic. Not going anywhere now, plus I can easily change the bulbs a different way.
cleaned off the metal and sanded everything with emery paper. Good thing I remembered to take pics of the wire hookup

not much planned for today, might get some work done in garage

when I got to this house, the oil burner was eleven years old and had never been cleaned.
I immediately got it cleaned, and do that every two years. Hard to believe landlord thinks its smart to depend
upon tenant to get the oilburner cleaned. That's a landlord's job...
when I was talking to landlady about new vinyl in kitchen to replace the 40+ year old stuff there, I suggested we get the better grade Congoleum because of the lifetime warranty. Her response was that it was only a rental. 153 sf of vinyl and the good stuff costs a dollar a foot more.

some landlords can't think past cash flow. Fix nothing until it breaks, spend as little money as possible and
maximize income. Problem is houses wear out, if you leave things go til they break, usually more expensive and huge inconvenience to tenant. I think my landlady's late husband was really cheap and did not consider the financial benefit of
market value appreciation. I mean there are two different color shingles on this roof because owner too cheap to do whole roof when part blew off. I believe this is the only house in the area with shingles that don't match, which reflects the owner's attitude. I've owned three nice homes in this area for 40 years and hard for me to adjust being a renter.

I'm actually considering buying a 45 foot very used high end diesel pusher rv and going back to live in that.
I did three years living in my small yacht, I can do it in a big rv too.
I've owned large houses and just don't need that any more. Plus I think snowbirding sounds like a lot of fun.

Part of this is looking at where I stay and thinking I'm paying 85 bucks a night for this motel.
The rv idea went over like a lead balloon with my brother, he is very concerned I won't be in area any more.
I guess he likes having me here.
am realizing that if I don't own it, just not the same. Probably a bit of a control function, I like things to work and landlord
is happy only if no one calls. That seems to be their valuation of a tenant.
when my landlady finally passes away and her two sons take over, pretty sure they will view the business differently.
I also think they will sell off all these properties and cash out. That's what usually happens.

Condo? ADU? To me, older RVs seem to be a time/money sink, rather in the way boats are.

It doesn't look as if that taillight manufacturer left a penny of cost reduction engineering on the table. Judging from the terminals, a bit of dielectric grease wouldn't hurt.

I've lived in rentals that I got permission to do work that was on my "my annoying items" list, or paying for the upgraded materials when something was being replaced. It isn't the same as owning, but it did shorten the "annoying items" list.

Yesterday started cold and sunny and then turned to drizzle as we went out to feed. The soils are so saturated from the recent storms that water is oozing out everywhere. Mercifully, not around the house area. Of course, it started raining just as I went out to really fix the fence that our cow went through on Sunday. She seems fine, but the fence repair turned out to be in a section that some car had blown through at some earlier point as all the strands had splices in the same place, so the repair involved fixing several strands and an electric fence wire while I was there. How people manage to crash up a six to eight foot high, sixty degree embankment is always amaking to me, but they have done it enough over the years that it is clear it takes just the right set of skills, or talent. DUI helps. So does not maintaining your vehicle. We had one spontaneously combust in the middle of the lane pre-Covid. As we are fifteen or so minutes from the fire station, it burned to the ground, with pools of alloy wheels dribbled everywhere. I'm still picking up debris from it.

A number of years ago, I saw some guys drinking, and looking worse for the wear by a really unsafe section of road, so I called them into the sheriff. When I came home there were skid marks and a three board fence had been taken out six feet up a roadside bank farther down the road just beyond a 270 degree hairpin. Talking to the sheriff later, apparently the guys had made it by the large drop off and crashed just as the sheriff turned the corner and saw them.

The dog found some deer in the upper pasture yesterday evening, first by scent, and then she saw them, and was gone like a shot. No recall until she had run them off the property. Grrr. Not for lack of practice. Locked on doesn't begin to describe it.

I hope to fix a PCV hose buried in the back of an engine today as it has bent and closed itself off, causing burps of oil and gasoline fumes. I have the hose but it promises to be a "fun" one as there is about two inches of clearance, tucked at the back of the engine at the fire wall, and a foot behind the bottom of the windshield. Not exactly easy peasy. I remember replacing the PCV years ago and the factory method calls for about four hours of work disassembling everything below the windshield, ten minutes to replace the PCV, and then four more hours to put everything back where you found it. YouTube has a ninety minutes in and out hack, but absolutely requires a narrow angle ratchet wrench in a tight space. Mine required a cheater bar to get the old one out due to heat and mileage. I'm hoping that I won't need the 90 minute disassembly, but it is improbable that I will get off that easily.

All the best,

Peter

 

[m7040]

good morning, 38 going to 48

Going to the clinic for infusion for wife and stopping for groceries. Refill for medications are hung up in refill loop so need to check into that

Have one 261 C set up for 20 inch bar and the other with 18 inch bar. The 026 has a 16 inch bar. The new 261 and the 026 weigh in at 20 lbs and the older 261C at 22 lbs
I like the 20 inch bar around fallen trees because of the reach and also to use as 3 point support leaning against branches or trunk when moving around uneven ground and debris