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No, and honestly it doesn't really matter. Find a setting that works well for the attachment and just run it.

It didn't hold up for long and I'm not sure what kind of plastic it is. Mine came apart again and now I've only got one side and the top on the tractor. It rarely gets used anymore and mostly by employees so I haven't messed with it again, I use the skid steer most of the time now. Good luck, I...

I traded it on a cab machine so I can't say for sure. The place that took it said the idler is a common issue and that was probably the problem.

Not well, I should have through bolted it.

If you have video of him messing with the mailbox, contact the Postal Inspectors. Most people don't know this but, USPS has a uniformed Postal Police Service to deal with postal crime. Messing with a mailbox as you describe is a federal crime. At a minimum, they'll come have a conversation with...

Every major issue I've had with diesel powered equipment has been emissions related. The DEF head went out on my SVL95 and put the machine into limp mode, the EGR cooler rotted and put coolant into the exhaust on my Volvo excavator, we had an EGR failure on my wife's diesel SUV. I hate the...

I hardly ever use my tractor since I bought my Kubota SVL95. If I could only have one or the other, I'd get the skid steer.

Just got it home...by the time it was all said and done, we paid roughly $7500 for it.

I know you can remove the doors and glass and maybe some other panels. I tend to wear earplugs on equipment these days, something that's happened as I've gotten older. The only exception is the excavator, it just isn't loud

Why would the cab detract?

It was a J, controls on right of seat and factory cab.

Diesel It's 8 speed forward and has a clutch, not sure what that would be called. 2 remotes Tires are in really good condition, they've never seen pavement and aren't very worn.

I looked at a Deere 4020 today with a cab. Runs and drives really well, all the glass is there, AC is non-functional but otherwise, it's complete and runs really well. They're asking $8900 for it. Buy it?

I'd not read far enough to see the costs in involved in splitting it. My mistake on that. Whether they can use age as a determining factor or not, I can tell you without a doubt that a lender is going to look at expected lifespan as part of their determination of the ability to repay. Sometimes...

Your age is probably causing part of your problem with lenders, unless you're looking for a very short term loan. At a certain point, they worry you won't live long enough to pay the loan back. If you're going to use larger acreage as the collateral, you need to go to a farm credit lender...

Most knee replacements go really well, I've known several that have had them and recovered quickly. Every once in a while though, they go very badly. My dad is on day 14 of recovery after replacing the same knee twice in 6 months, here's what happened. He had his knee replaced and was...

LOL, it's all good. I ended up using the Viton, I've had the traditional rubber fail twice here so I figured I'd try something different. We'll see how it holds up over time.

I need to replace an o ring on my hydraulic system and have both rubber and viton (fluorocarbon) on hand. Which is better for this application? I'm leaning towards the viton this time. They're $$$$ but, I've already got them.

It's the same as Ubifi now, $108/mo after tax. I actually get it from.a reseller, it's part of a corporate account. AT&T doesn't have anything available for unlimited data retail anymore. Things have changed a lot in the last couple of years, it's really tough to do cellular internet anymore...

I went straight to AT&T and got a 5G router with 2 outdoor antennas. I'm getting 75x15 for speed now, which I can't really complain about. I do wish my up was faster though, now that I'm making a bunch of YouTube videos and have someone doing the editing for me, the up can be a real problem. I'm...

Yeah, it's not a finish mower, it's for rough cutting. Mine never left a pretty cut but, it cut whatever I could drive over. Like I said, I just double cut if I wanted it to look nicer. By windrow, I meant strips of taller grass.

Mine always left a windrow in really thick stuff, I just double cut it. I finally wore mine out, the deck is rusted out in more places than I want to repair. I bought a flail and couldn't be happier with it. It won't cut 5" trees but, the cut quality is far superior to the Rhino. I have a skid...

I don't think I can even count the number of dogs I've had in my lifetime. 3 of them really stand out for me though. The first was an Irish Setter that my parents got as a puppy when I was born. We grew up together and she stuck with me like I was her puppy, I can remember waking up early in...

Kohler makes a good motor, most commercial lawn equipment is powered by either Kohler or Kawasaki. I preferred Kawasaki when I had my business but, it was just preference, there was nothing wrong with the Kohler product.

First part of the road build is done. I've never done any video editing before so, I welcome any comments on the video. I tried to just show the interesting bits and cut out the boring stuff. It's tough compressing 3 hours of work into a 15 minute video, took more time to make the video...

Storage tanks are common where I am. We have one that's 9,000 gallons. The typical setup is that the well fills the storage tank using a float switch and then a booster pump supplies pressurized water from the storage tank. I would be concerned about water just sitting in a tank asa backup...

I've had blade bolts break on the front mounted brush cutter on the skid steer. The blade hit the side of the deck and about 1/8 of it was sticking out the side. The deck is 3/16" steel so, it hit with pretty good force. I think it's unlikely the blade would come out under the deck, more...

Thanks, we're really enjoying it here. We have a really pretty seasonal spring on the property as well, with a nice waterfall. It's been dry since around Sept though. It's been really dry here, as you know. I think we need a good 3 - 4 inches over several days to really soak in and get that...

I'm not in the Edwards, which is very much regulated, and I own the water rights. We got water and minerals when we bought the place. I need a permit to drill a well that will produce more than 50GPM but, that's the only requirement we have. This is our governing body - BCRAGD – Bandera...

I've started the project, it'll take me some time to get it all finished since we're still moving but, I'll work on it when I can. Working on the road right now, I need to get the skid steer fixed so I can finish that, the part I need had to be ordered from Kubota by the dealer so it's taking a...

His is an E version, newer than mine. I've got a D. Mine doesn't require DEF (not sure if his does but, it's Tier 4 final so probably). I'm 99% certain the previous owner deleted the DPF and tuned mine as well, it had a missing EGR hose when I got it was blowing LOTS of black smoke out the...

I wasn't defending the process, at all. Like I said, I really don't like commercial farming, on most any respect. We won't buy pork at the store after raising our own and get most of our chicken from a friend that raises birds on pasture. Beef is about all we buy with any regularity, cows get a...

Coyotes gotta eat, too. I try to give them away when I shoot them, can't always find takers though and I could never eat them all myself. The boars are nasty once they get over 80-90 pounds, too.

I'm 1/2 way up the hill, if this was the water table, my downhill neighbors would be under water. Springs are very common in this area, they're not artesian springs, most are gravity springs.

Unfortunately, because of how fast the grow it's not possible. Pigs are processed at 6 months so there were more right behind them that needed that space. This is one of the reasons I really dislike commercial farming.

I haven't but I'm fairly certain that if I pull the tracks in it'll fit in the bucket. I'm going to have to try it.

Tried sighting in a rifle a couple of weeks ago where the scope mounts weren't tightened fully. Group kept getting bigger and bigger on a rifle I know groups well. A few days ago, I caught a hydraulic hose on something when running the mulch head on the skid steer and did this. I do stupid...

Those definitely aren't wild pigs, wild pigs are very hairy and I've never seen one that was pink/white. Black and white spots is the closest I've seen in a feral pig. I would bet they were some of the CAFO pigs that were "euthanized" during Covid because the processors shut down. Note that...

This is my digging equipment, I'd bet he and I are on the same page. I'm thinking I'll probably move 600+ yards out of there before I'm done. The dump truck holds 11 yards so 60+ trips up the hill.

This will probably turn into a project post later. A couple of days ago I was working in a little detention pond to repair a washed out dam and deepen it a little. While digging, I found a small spring/seep a couple of feet down so I let it be to see what would hay. When I checked this...

I bought a Viton o-ring set off Amazon to just have them on hand. Not cheap but, best for fuel contact. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NSLM2CC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_W9B34SWJ3H0SAYJQH6G0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

It depends on where you live. In Tx, it's basically the honor system.

Don’t forget record high construction costs because of materials shortages. When it costs a fortune to build, existing inventory becomes more valuable.

I guess I should mention, these are seldom 1/4" tractor FEL hoses. Last time I had hoses made, one was about a 10' 1/2" hose for a mulch head on a skid steer and the other was a 5' 3/4" hose for a skid steer harley rake. Most of the time when I break hoses, it's bigger stuff for a skid steer...

There is, both Napa and Carquest make hoses here, neither do it for a reasonable price.

OK, I think the 60 x 80 is going to be the winner, I mocked up a plan in SketchUp this evening. Civilian, the mezzanine will get stairs. To be honest, if the day comes that I can't climb the stairs anymore, it's probably a sign that I don't need to be in the shop either. At that point, we'll...

It's just a little guy, compared to what they run on Goldrush. The Deere 17D will reach about 10' though. We used it to install.a well pump once.

I know, right? My midsize excavator reaches 30'

An excavator. Backhoes are too slow. [emoji3]

That's actually a priority good idea. If I got adapters for all my odd stuff, I could keep a small hose inventory. I've got British, Metric and SAE hose ends right now so it's hard to keep spares for everything.

2 excavators, a skid steer with at least 10 hydraulically powered attachments, the tractor and FEL, a couple of RTVs with a few hoses and a Kubota ZTR with a few lines. I've got a few hydraulic lines. Seems like I'm constantly busting one on a skid steer attachment.

My other option is a 5 hour round trip to San Antonio, where I'd save probably 25% over doing them locally. It's not enough savings to justify burning 2 more hours. Honestly, if it cost the exact same amount and just saved me the time, I consider that reason enough. The wasted time is really...

I HATE hydraulic line failures. They’re messy, expensive and time consuming, as you all know. My biggest complaint is that it costs a small fortune to get a hose made locally and it takes at least an hour and a half to get one made so, I’m looking at these Weatherhead T-420 crimpers with dies...

I'm in South Texas, near San Antonio, so heating isn't really a concern. There are a few days a year when it's really needed but a 20 degree rise will make it comfortable. I did 16' eave height on the last shop, I'll probably do the same here. I kind of have to in order to have the mezzanine...

I put them all in facing the same way but, I can't remember which way that was. The truck is running great so either it doesn't matter or I won the coin toss.

I tend to put stuff along the walls and use the middle area for working on stuff. Right now, I've got pallet racks on one end wall and storage shelves on the other. Then against one side wall is my metal rack and chop saw with the welding table just a few feet from the other side wall. There...

I guess it's actually SE Type U, not R. Approved for wet location. When you're pulling it, it's the same PITA regardless. ;)

I learned a lot on the first build in regards to all of that which will be applied this time. It'll have it's own meter with 200A service, power won't be an issue. I'll be running conduit in the slab this time for electrical and water from one side to the other, I really wish I'd done that the...

Neutral and ground are bonded either in the meter can or at the first load center (depends on what the PoCo wants). 240V loads don't need the neutral since the 2 120v legs are 180 degrees our of phase, when one is +, the other is -. You know you have a good ground now, so that's good.

I pull Al SER more than I'd like. The best way to do it is to use rigid PVC conduit and do it one joint at a time. I like to pull the wire the full length of the run and lay it out flat, then pull the conduit on from one end until I hit the 1/2 way point and then switch to the other end...

I need to build a new shop for all my stuff at the new place. On the last place, I did a 40 x 50 x 16 (My shop build) because that's all the concrete I could afford. This time, I'm going bigger, something in the neighborhood of 5,000 sq/ft. My question though, is would you do a longer...

Found a destroyed hose going to the charge cooler so it looks like I'm just losing all my boost.

I removed the air filter, it definitely needs to be cleaned or replaced but, even without it I got the smoke. I could hear the turbo spooling nicely with the air filter out though, doesn't mean it's not bad. I haven't pulled the intake off to check it for play yet. Turned up fuel is...

I recently bought a bigger excavator at auction and I'm seeing lots of black smoke out the exhaust when I'm under load. I'm thinking it's probably the turbo but, curious if you guys have other ideas? It still has decent power, I'm able to dig with it and yank trees out of the ground, it...

I picked up a 22kw diesel generator at an auction for $4,000 last year. It does single and 3 phase power and is enough to run the whole house as long as I'm not running the on-demand water heater, stove and heat-pump at the same time I'm trying to dry a load of laundry. I have a 100 gallon...

Check the Ritchie Bros auctions or Machinery Trader. I bought a weld on hydraulic thumb at a Ritchie Auction for $850. It's actually a little too big for my mini-ex and I haven't decided whether I'm going to get a bigger mini-ex or try to trade it for one that'll fit yet but, they go fairly...

I picked it up with the forks to check them, one of them has substantially more resistance than the others so, I guess that could be it. I can turn it be hand but, not easily. I think I'll take it in and let the dealer deal with it, I find CTLs to be an absolute pain to work on. It looks like...

I've got a Kubota SVL95-2S that is squeaking/squealing from something in the right side undercarriage. I can't find any grease points there to grease anything and don't see anything obviously wrong but, I haven't disassembled anything on it either, taking the covers and stuff off does not look...

It’s a county by county thing in Tx, some counties are fence in and others are fence out. You’ve really got to know the local laws. I *think* most counties are fence out but, most people will fence in anyway just because animals are expensive and lawsuits cost money even if you win.

My cousin’s husband was a cowboy at the Double-Arrow in Calvert, Tx. They lived on a 2,000 acreish pasture, there were 5 other pastures with cowboys living on them. I spent the summer working that ranch when I was 16, it was a good time. They did a roundup while I was there, I rode with them and...

It's the ERCOT board members that resigned. The federal Department of Energy set the rate at $1500mwh initially and the PUC set it to $9,000mwh. ERCOT just completely mismanaged the grid and the outages.

There's a better than 50% chance Griddy files for bk, especially since ERCOT has revoked their license to trade power. They're not going to be able to pay all the generator bills they've got coming with all the people that discontinued their auto-pay. I completely understand the game, I did a...

She’s going to lose. Griddy did nothing wrong, they even warned people ahead of the storm that they should change providers before it hit. Additionally, there is a clause in their contract that allows a customer to lock their rate for up to 3 months. It’s not Griddy’s fault that customers didn’t...

Regulators were actually responsible for those high bills. DoE initially set pricing to $1,500Mwh for generation that caused a generator to exceed green emission standards. Later, the Public Utility Commission set a rate of $9,000Mwh for emergency pricing to reduce demand and kept it there long...

Saia truck showed up with a new toy today. The old rotary cutter deck has more rust holes than metal now so, I thought I'd replace it with a flail.

So I've been working on this move since August now, man is it a job. We didn't have any pastures on the new place so step one was fencing those and building shelters so I could move the animals. I finally got them all moved in late Nov and Dec. Now we're working on the rest of the equipment...

I've got a 26' deck over with dovetail and 16,000# capacity, a 20' GN dump trailer with 16,000# capacity, a 14' GN stock trailer and an F450 to pull them all. I'm going to look at a 40' GN with 25,000# capacity on Monday for the couple of pieces of equipment I had to have delivered because they...

The household stuff is the easy part, maybe 3 trips with trailers we have, fewer if I rent something bigger. It's really the equipment (tractor, skid steer, UTV, excavator, boom lift, etc.), implements that seem overwhelming. And the animals. I've got to fence pastures and pens and build...

Fir a variety of reasons my wife and I have decided to sell the property we're currently on in South Texas, 36 acres inherited plus 62 acres we're buying from a neighbor, and move to a 190 acre property near Bandera, about 3 hours away. We're under contract on the new ranch and now I'm really...

We’re looking at a ranch that has a mix of cedar (lots of this), various oaks (red, Spanish, live, post), pecan and sycamore and I’d like to use some of the native wood and rock on the place for building things. I’m looking at the wood-mixer but, I know nothing about sawmills. What do I need...

I guess nobody else knows either, including Kubota. I ordered a hydraulic flow meter so I can figure it out myself.

You're probably right, it's wallowed out the hole in the stump jumper some already so that hole needs to be enlarged regardless. I think I'll drop the blades and the stump jumper off at the machine shop Monday with a couple of blade bolts. I don't have the tools to drill hardened steel without...

I still haven't heard back from JCT so I country noted a fix with some top link bushings and a grade 8 bolt. It works for about 45m and then sheers off. I took the broken bolt to the machine shop to have them.make me a couple of 1 piece bushings that I can drop a bolt through in the hopes that...

I recently picked up a 2018 SLV95-2S with high flow hydraulics and I’m a little confused as to how to adjust my flow and the operator’s manual is not very clear. The max flow with the HF is 40GPM but IR maxes out at 14 and IL maxes out at 9 so I’m not really clear on how to set my flow. As an...

Thanks, it's a beast. I sent them an email, can't find a phone number on their site.

Is this a fairly standard blade bolt? It came off a skid steer brush cutter, I've seen some round shoulder bolts online that look like they might work. Does TSC or a dealer typically stock a part like this? Thanks!

I couldn't get the dealer to come down in price so I started expanding my search. I tried contacting Barlow's and they told me that Kubota will no longer allow them to quote outside their geographic area. I ended up finding this 2015 1150 with 295 hours for only $8500. I'm excited to have it...

That's a lot better than I'm getting quoted. Guess I need to keep shopping.

This is the basic setup, APN should be "broadband" and the 2 bandlock tabs should look like this. Post screenshots of your configuration and I'll take a look, if you'd like. The cellular setup is really very simple for AT&T. The Verizon setup, on the other hand, is a nuisance.

Good as new, just waiting for the paint to dry.

I stole the forklift idea from someone and put more torque on it. Once it broke loose, it came off easily.

One of the lift cylinders on my tractor has been leaking at the seal so I ordered a seal kit to repair. I removed the cylinder, clamped it into the be h vise and proceeded to put some muscle into with a cheater bar and the vise broke. So, I need some ideas on how to get a stubborn cylinder...

First room is finally complete, it's not in the addition though. It's a 10x7 room, which makes it tough to get good pictures. This is our daughter's room, she's currently upstairs in our room and we're sleeping in the downstairs closet. With her room done, we can move her into it so that our...

The CSV125 is the most common, I installed a bunch of them doing irrigation work where zones weren't sized correctly by the original installer. It's a 1 or 3 gpm bypass, depending on which version you go with. I put this one on with the 3HP pump, it's right at about 30GPM that the pressure...

I actually had a galvanized cable to run down with the last one, I can't tell you why I decided not to use it, I just did. The black poly isn't available locally, everyone here uses Sch80 PVC. Yo special order it and have it shipped is cost prohibitive. I have what I need to fish the ok'd one...

The time has come to replace my well pump, the cheapy we installed only lasted 18 months and I really want to do it right this time and not have to do it again. We grow a market garden and have about 10 acres in addition to the garden that we'd like to keep somewhat green just to keep dust...

I got the Verizon SIM today, it took some trial and error to get it working correctly with the Mofi. Ultimately, these are the steps you need to follow: 1 - Put the SIM in the Verizon JetPack you used for an IMEI to order the SIM, power it up and connect. I think it needs this step for...

So I brought up the whole Ubifi thing originally a while back in this thread - https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/400565-rural-internet.html. I mention that because if you look at the end of that thread, I've been messing around with some service plan options to bring the cost...

I got my $25 MiFi today so I was able to order a prepaid Verizon SIM for $65/mo unlimited with auto-pay setup, it should be here in a couple of days and I can see if it's as easy to switch the SIM into the Mofi as it looks like it will be. Another thing I've noticed is that if I activate an...

It doesn't say anything about prioritization on this one. Of course, the only way to really know sometimes is to try it.

I'm going with it's possible to DIY this. Better tools would make the job easier and I would suggest learning with a round over or bullnose instead of an ogee but, there nothing overly complicated here. I still have some polishing to do but, if you can finish auto paint or furniture, it's...

I'm going to move the granite with my tractor so it's "technically" a tractor project... ;) Anybody cut, edged and polished their own granite?* Am I crazy to try?* I've got a lot of experience with tile, wood and metal, it looks like stone takes a little bit from each. Long story short, we...

Speaking of belly rubs...

Here's "The Kernel" at just over a year. It was touch and go on whether he'd stay in the pasture or the freezer at first but now, his favorite things in the world are feed time and belly rub time. He's probably about 200 pounds now, my Duroc that's a month younger is about 300 and the...

I have an Ambient WS-2902A that I like, it's been up for about 5 months now, I think. I've got it setup to report to Weather Underground so I can see it from anywhere and share it with the neighbors. I like their dashboard a little better for my own use though. Here's a screenshot of that, it...

I had exactly your problem on fence posts that I installed because I didn't know any better and did it wrong. I added the diagonal posts outside the H and it has held up well. They are welded to a 3' vertical piece that is mostly buried, set in about 3/4 yard of concrete and at a slight angle...

Eddie, how did the checkup go? 3 months is a big one as far as seeing that it's all gone, I hope the news was good. We've moved into the closet and shifted gears to remodel the bedroom and bathroom in the shed and get them ready for Savannah's arrival in early December. In the bedroom, that's...

The drywall is finally floated, taped and textured. After a false start with a guy who was really in over his head, and wasting 2 weeks, we fired him and hired a different crew to fix his work and finish the float and texture. They knocked it out in 2.5 days, which is the way it should have...

They're in, I just need to lag bolt the top stringers in, I've just got them nailed now and am letting the construction adhesive set. I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out, the rise is just right for us. The first step only has the first half of the tread on right now, I'm using 2...

Started the stairs. Our rise is 9 3/8 because we don't have much run space and we both prefer a taller step. Winder stairs next and then the other set of stringers, hopefully finish them this week, it'll depend on my pain levels.

The Mofi gives a pretty high level of control as well, letting you choose which particular band you choose to lock on to. I tested on the 5 that I had signal on this morning and settled on this one. One thing I found really interesting was that one of the bands was completely synchronous...

We have a WiFi based Internet provider available here that I've been using for the last 4 years or so. At first, they were great but, over the last year, the service has been dropping out numerous times throughout the day, requiring us to reset the radio constantly. We've had them out a number...

A neighbor gave me a 42" Troybilt ZTR last year, I knew it was crap but, free is free so I figured I'd run it until it wouldn't go anymore. Last week I put the transmission belt back on it again only to discover that one of the hydro motor was locked up. That's it, with it needing a new deck...

So, life slowed us down again and I was in an auto accident last month that I sustained some spinal injuries that have left me with pain, numbness and other issues (I can't really discuss it further yet) but...our daughter has decided she doesn't want to be in Cypress anymore because she misses...

I finally finished up the inframe on my truck in March, got all the little leaks fixed, replaced some lights, got it inspected and renewed the registration. I'd just putted around with it for that stuff as an easy start for the new motor and today I gave it a real test. I drove 48 miles to the...

Pigs may not be the only thing that goes in here. If we put goats or a horse or something in there later, I don't want to have to redo anything. Just a little bit more time and money to do it now, a lot of effort to redo it later. The very top and very bottom are more for predators than...

Finished up the Pig Palace over the weekend and moved The Kernel and Delmeza in Saturday night. I still need to connect the water line and put in the pig nipples and we've got to put insulators on the galvanized pipe posts so we can run and energize the hot wire. They're really enjoying all...

Mine went to graduation and now stay in the freezer. :)

I repaired my pig pastures by discing thoroughly and them smoothing with a landscape rake. It looked like a moonscape before, now you can't tell they were ever there.

Got most of the scaffolding down over the weekend so I can return it. Place looks different with it gone. Still hanging drywall inside. We haven't had as much time to work on it as I'd like, other Spring stuff has been getting in the way, like planting the garden, mowing, etc. My daughter...

His new girlfriend calmed him down so much, he's like a different pig. Flopped right over for belly rubs today, before I could only touch if he was preoccupied with food and he definitely wasn't going to allow belly rubs.

His new buddy arrived last night, they were fast friends. She's a sweet dispositioned little girl, hopefully she calms him down more.

I've got a New Holland TC40DA. The other day I couldn't get it started, I replaced the fuel filter, it started up, ran rough for a bit and was then fine. Yesterday, it didn't want to start again, I cranked it a bit and it eventually started, ran great. Today, I couldn't get it started again...

I also cleaned up the area the pigs were in last year. It was a total moonscape. I'm going to take advantage of the free fertilizer they left behind and put the garden here this year. Amazing how after a couple of hours on the tractor you'd never know it was a pig pasture.

All I have right now is the little wild boar piglet. I'm going to go get a young Duroc gilt later this week though. She's going to be a breeder and has a good pedigree. I'm hoping to AI her off some quality boars and sell 4H and FFA pigs. She was born 12/13 so is only a couple of months old...

They came home from graduation yesterday and have moved on to freezer camp. We had fried pork chops for dinner last night and they were delicious!

It took me a little while to really wrap my head around how I wanted to run my drain lines so I've been putting it off. I finally came up with a plan that both my wife and I are happy with so I got some poop pipe run today. It's not the most glamorous part of construction but, it's definitely...

My wife has gotten attached to him and decided he's lonely so we're going to pick up this little Duroc gilt next week. She was born 12/13 and is pedigreed, I'm going to AI her from champion boars and sell 4H piglets. Kernel is starting to tame up some, he's not biting anymore and comes up to...

Hauled the 5/8 drywall upstairs and started on the ceiling today. We didn't get started hanging until 4:30 so we only got a few sheets. It's exciting to.see it going up. Eddie, you're right, rotocutting overhead sucks. It is a lot faster than measuring everything out though. It's my first...

Buried the new power line yesterday, 4/0-4/0-2/0 URD. I still have to fish it into the panels, connect it and then call the PoCo to come pull the meter so I can upgrade the main breaker in the outside panel. This has been a $500 lesson to always run 200a to begin with, it would have only cost...

Woohoo!

So, as part of this whole addition, I'm having to upgrade the electric panel. When we first started finishing out the shed, this was supposed to just be a deer camp and weekend place so I only ran 100A service and installed a 16 space box. It was more than enough for the shed, not nearly...

I took the opportunity to go ahead and get a drywall screw driver and a rotozip cutter. Can never have too many tools. :)

Come on down Eddie, you can do all.the drywall you'd like. I'll even let you play worth Kernel the baby wild pig! I'm to rent a drywall jack, it makes all the difference in the world. Rafters are 24", I was planning to use 1/2" drywall, thanks for the tip. I guess I'll need to order some 5/8...

The corner trim is up, electrical rough in is done, I just need to run the drain line on the plumbing. My wife had just about finished insulating the walls, we're going to get the attic ladder and installation done tomorrow. Drywall should start tomorrow, anybody want to come help, or better...

7:12, I wish now I'd gone shallower but, I needed the inside clearance for AC equipment. I made these custom Gorilla Tape sticky shoes, they're OSHA approved. ;) I'm using them today, actually.

Roof mostly done. One panel left on the North side and the ridge cap, then I need to fill in the rest of the screws, I knew I was going to need to buy more so it's just tacked for now. The tin is slick as snot, having to work with a rope makes this part of the job pretty taxing. Can't wait to...

Update on the little pig, he's about 15 pounds now and starting to come around. I'm 50/50 on him making it so, his odds are improving. The dog doesn't like playing with him. If I put her in his pen, she hops up on something that he can't get on and whines at me. It's a shame because I really...

Busy weekend. Siding is on and flashed, I'll start the roof tomorrow. I'm 90% on the electrical rough in and 50% on the plumbing. My wife has been working on insulation in the areas where I have nothing left to run in the walls. I think.well be ready for drywall by the weekend. It's such a...

No luck on the siding today but, I did get some electrical and plumbing done. I need more pipe, wire and work boxes, it'll all be here Thursday. You'd think that as many times as I've wired a building I wouldn't be surprised by how much wire it takes anymore. I've used 550' so far and still...

My siding helper got sick last week so I'm.still 6 panels short of finishing. He's supposed to help this afternoon, we'll see if he makes it. In the meantime, I'm doing electrical and plumbing. I had my wife layout plug locations and while I've never said "I wish there were fewer plugs in...

My helper had to go coach his daughter's basketball practice at 4 so I only got him from about noon to 3:30. We made pretty good progress, just 6 panels left to finish and then the roof. He's going to try skipping out of work at noon tomorrow so we may just finish before the weather hits.

Made some progress today, just have the upstairs door and window to get around on the front and the rest is straight cuts. We'll either finish it tomorrow, or get VERY close. Should have the roof on Monday or Tuesday.

Big day yesterday, got the AC ductwork finished up and everything connected and turned on. I won't run it until we finish drying in the addition, I can close off the vents in there and have a 2nd return in the existing shed. It's still nice to have that done and now I can go ahead and fully...

Where we ended up. I need more trim to get finished. It's a great feeling to have siding going up. Hopefully I can go get the trim tomorrow, if not I'll run the electrical for the A/C so I'll be all ready for those guys to come start it up when the siding is done. The weather is supposed to...

The roof is just plain old corrugated tin. Both the ridge roll, there's not an easy way to do a ridge vent. I did use cool deck to sheet the roof so it should help keep the temp down and the house is oriented do that prevailing summer winds will blow into one ridge vent and out the other so it...

He's still kind of a butt head to me but, the last few days I've been putting the dog in with him. It seems to be calming him down, hopefully she'll teach him to be friendly. He's coming up to the fence to see if I have treats now instead of charging it like he wants to eat me. That's progress.

I finally got an opportunity to work on this again, got the last window done and the door installed earlier this week. Today I had a friend here to help and we trimmed out all the windows in 2x4 and got the j channel up that we had. I have enough total length of j channel but, a ton of waste...

I've been sidetracked by paying work again. I was hoping to get it dried in by Christmas but, I'm doubtful now. I've got a lot of traps to get built. We did get snow though.

Vicious little guy...

Wouldn't let me put the photo in the other post.

I build hog traps for a living and have wanted a baby feral hog to raise as a mascot. A customer caught this little boar with a group yesterday and now I've finally got one. He was pretty scared, charging us when he got here but, he seems to be calming down.

Got some windows in yesterday. A couple were damaged beyond use, nothing is made like it used to be. I'm going to finish up the last 6" or so of OSB up top, get the last of the house wrap done on that side and get doors in today. Tomorrow I've got to get a little more scaffolding and exchange...

So I've had to work on paying projects the last couple of weeks and haven't made much progress. This afternoon is the first time I've been able to really do anything and I started getting the felt down on the roof. The AC guys got most of the rough in completed this week, I need to finish up...

I'm getting so close to having this thing dried in, I can taste it. I was supposed to have help from.a neighbor today but, he never made it. I got the gable ends sheathed and put the roof decking on alone today. The roof was a JOB. 5 more sheets of OSB and the sheathing is done, hopefully...

It's coming along, a little at a time. Wind got a little too strong today for me to finish sheathing safely so I started bracing the rafters and framing the gable ends.

I worked all day but, don't feel like I accomplished all that much. I got my second row of scaffolding setup and put on the rest of the sheathing on one wall up to the top of the joists. I also got the framing started for the tie in of the original roof to the addition. I've been working alone...

Height definitely adds a layer of difficulty...

I got enough OSB to fully sheath the exterior, including the 1st to 2nd floor transition. I had to go get nails this morning, left about 8 and got back just after 11, one of the few drawbacks to living rural. I got the rest of my hurricane straps installed, strapped the side to the walls and...

Ran out of nails for the rafter straps so I had to call it a day. I think I made pretty good progress.

I got the scaffolding from a contractor that's replacing his with new in Laredo. $75 a section, 6' 4" x 5' wide. It's a long haul from Tyler but, depending on how much you need, the savings might be worth it. His name is Hector, 956-231-6852. I can see that it's going to be like a tractor...

Got most of the first row of sheathing and the ridge board set today. I got my master rafter worked out so tomorrow I just need to trace and cut the rest. If all goes well, I hope to.get it decked tomorrow. We picked up 6 sets of scaffolding yesterday so we'll be able to safely do the rest of...

It'll be 4 or 5 years before we can build our forever house. In the meantime, we've been living in a 325 sq/ft Morgan Building and it's getting a little tight so we've decided to make a couple of addition. Today, we started drilling holes for the pier foundation. This will be a 2 story 20x20...

Speaking of Oscar, look who popped up on Facebook today...

My neighbor has loaned me his Case 350D to do some work around my place. It's an older machine and has some little issues that I'm taking care of while I've got it as a way of thanking him for it's use. I've repaired a couple of fuel leaks and repaired a weld that was leaking grease on the...

Got some now additions today, Roastputin, Chopsy and The Baconator. I have a lot of experience with wild pigs but, have never raised any domestic pigs before so this should be fun. Learned how to castrate a boar when I picked him up so, it's already paying off! :D I've been thinking about...

I'm glad I've taken the time to get to know and help my neighbors when I can. The neighbor across the street dropped his dozer off for me to use clearing some brush and told me he had no current projects olanned that require it so I can just hang onto it until I finish everything I want to do...

So, I screwed up and had all.the pistons removed from the rods before I noticed the flat spot up top...dies anybody know whether this is supposed to be in n the cam side or the other way? As you can see, they're otherwise symmetrical so, I'm pretty sure they'll go in the wrong way just fine if...

I'm working on installing a few thousand feet of pipe so I'll have water all over my front 11 acres and can run large imacts to keep things green. It hasn't rained here in a couple of months, is windy all the time and has been hot so the ground is bone dry and, in some places, Rick hard. My...

Due to a large amount of water in the oil, I'm doing an in frame on a DTA360. This is the first time I've ever worked on any type of sleeved diesel so, while I can see clearly that I've got cavitation and corrosion damage, I'm not sure if it's bad enough to have caused my problems or if I need...

So this isn't exactly a tractor but, the International DT 360A was used in a lot of tractors and it's in my dump truck that I load with my tractor so, it's close... I bought the dump truck in Dec and it ran great but, it appears that the previous owner didn't maintain the coolant system...

I got it all put together and back on, turns out I did have the bracket that I thought I'd lost. I was going to paint the rivets but, my wife commented that she liked the way they look and I agree so, they'll stay unpainted for now. The grill guard arrived today and it's solid but, I can't...

Today's progress. The JB Weld seems to bond well, it's an epoxy. We'll see how it holds up, the rivets will help, I think. Belt and suspenders.

So I'm starting the repair attempt today, you can better see what I'm dealing with in these photos. The black lip on either side of the top is completely covered by the side once it's put together so, the color of the repair material is unimportant. It's this overlap.that rules out welding it...

Why New Holland thought that plastic was the right material to use for the body parts on the TC series tractors will always be a mystery to me but, they did. I guess I should have put a grill guard on mine before using it to load the dump truck but, I didn't and the hood made contact with the...

This pic should show it better, it's the black plastic ring inside the grounded bushing. The PoCo cares about 2 things after the meter here, that you have a main disconnect outside, a rule I don't like and don't really see the point in, they say it's to protect the lineman from an arc flash...

This is safety dog, she is fine with the propane forklift but, when the diesel loaner showed up, she objected. At first, she'd just vocally complain, once she climbed into the cab with my wife though, we knew we had to do something. The last thing we needed was her jumping in and hitting...

Meter was set this morning, it's glorious to have power and not need the generator. Installing one bank of lights today so I can get back to paying work.

I haven't done the downspouts, corner boxes, rake trim end boxes or screwed the rake trim down on the walls but, we got almost an inch of rain last night and everything was dry inside, so that's awesome! If you look closely at the peak box on the left side, you can see where the roof problems...

After calling several contractors recommended by my building manufacturer and not getting any of them to follow through with the promised bid or return call, I ended up getting a neighbor to help out with some bodies. A couple of them have some experience with metal roofing and we got the roof...

We finally got the siding finished Saturday morning. I thought we were going to be wind free on the SSE side of the building as we'd been having NNW winds but, the wind just followed us around to keep things exciting. We got a couple of pieces of the corner trim up before the wind just got out...

Thanks! I didn't realize I was doing anything special with it, I'm just following the instructions. I'd like to say, for any of you that are contemplating this, other than the concrete, this is not a difficult process. It's physically demanding doing the siding but, if you're the least bit...

There is a definite learning curve with the insulation and panel installation. We got almost one full sidewall done yesterday and if I were to tell you I'm sore this morning, that would be the understatement of the decade. Have to work through it though, even the light breeze we had yesterday...

Got slowed down a little bit last week by "Safety Dog." She doesn't like this loaner forklift and definitely doesn't like it when a person goes up on it to do elevated work. We were working around it but, when she climbed into the cab with my wife, we had to come up with another solution so I...

So, I lost the last couple of days because of a bearing failure on my steer axle spindle. When I bought it, there wasn't a lot of room to drive it around much and test it and once I got it here, I felt the tire chunking but, there were some nasty chunks missing from the tire and I thought that...

I decided to go ahead and start today. The weather was nice and the concrete is curing well. I was very happy with progress we made today, a neighbor helped for 1/2 the day and I worked alone or with my wife for the other 1/2. He helped with the rafters, which was huge, the other bay has the...

Building was delivered Thursday. Went to Houston Thursday afternoon and spent the night at my daughter's place. Picked up my roll up doors and a forklift Friday and headed back South. I'm not sure if I'm more excited about the building being here or having a forklift again. Once you've had...

The charts I've seen seem to agree that 7 days is the spot where things start to level off. I've left the forms on and they added some chemical agents to slow curing a little. I've also been wetting the surface a couple of times a day to reduce the heat and increase strength.

Long day but, it came out great. There was about 3 extra yards so we quickly formed up a patio where the walk door is going to go so as to not waste it. Since it's 4,000 PSI and it's been warm (89 today), I could probably start erection Saturday or Sunday but, I'm going to let it sit until...

Got the anchor bolts installed and the plumbing covered up yesterday, concrete shows up at 8 this morning.

Our power co-op gives away free utility poles to members so my initial plan was to use those to build a pole barn with a dirt floor but, our house in Houston finally sold so I decided to go ahead and build a metal building on a slab since we had some cash on hand and that was the ultimate goal...

I've got a 40HP NH tractor and a 20ish HP Deere mini-ex. The service interval for oil, etc. on the tractor is 100 hours and on the mini-ex it's 250 hours. Why the difference? Both are small diesels, the mini-ex runs at full throttle most of the time and the tractor runs at varying throttle...

Here you go -

Here are the gears. I don't see anything but, maybe I'm missing it.

Can't get the tractor to start this morning. Starter spins but there's a grinding sound. I thought surely a bad starter but, pulled the starter out and engaged it and it's throwing the gear and spinning fine and that has me a little confused. I don't really know what else it could be though...

I'm planning on fencing in about 9 acres in the near future. I'm not sure what will end up inside the fence, I know for certain there will be up to 4 cows and think we'll probably end up with some goats and maybe a couple of horses at some point. I'm going to use 49" woven wire field fence...

It's a good idea with pigs to shoot a little further behind the shoulder than you would with a dear. Their vitals sit back a little further but, more importantly, that shoulder can develop a heck of a "shield" over time. I always try to Q-Tip mine. Shoot them in the ear and the fall down dead...

After practicing the sniper maneuver with distraction some weeks back (http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/369077-killer-turkeys.html?highlight=), my killer "wild" turkeys have really become bold. They're such frequent visitors now that the dog has ceased to notify me of their...

There was some discussion in the thread about city folk visiting the neighbors about wild turkeys being thought dangerous by urban folk. I mentioned that I have a flock that visits me daily but, I think they may be probing for weaknesses so they can attack me in my sleep. Yesterday morning, I...

I build wild hog traps so my welder is critical to my income. I've got a Lincoln 180C that I've been using for about 3 years. It worked great for a couple of years but in the last year something has happened and it's been overheating on me before it should due to duty cycle. Sometimes from a...