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I did replace the medium lifts with high lifts. I'll try a set of gator blades next time and see if that improves. The deck is baffled and does not have a mulching kit.

I guess it's possible, I don't really know how to test that. I use a piece of wood as a stop between the deck and blade when I tighten the blades on the spindles and they don't slip at that point. So I don't think they are. I'm pretty confident it's just got a bad deck design I'm just trying...

After I got the Spartan I have done a lot of reading different forums and it does seem like the decks are just not very good. It cakes with grass very quickly also. I really feel like if I can get more vacuum or possibly blade tip speed it would help. Everything I've done has helped just a...

I forgot about deck level. Yes I adjusted that to around .25-.50 lower in the front. It was pretty bad when I got it. It's definitely in the correct range.

I got a used Spartan SRT-XD 72" last year. I like the mower its self. It has the 36hp Vanguard Big Block that really runs well, and Parker pumps and motors, it will scoot. But the cut is very much lacking. I've put new blades on it, new belt, new idler pully, spacers to lower the blades in the...

It's hard to take a picture while holding a frame and all suited up. But, here is the momma from the nuc I got a couple weeks ago. I only got queen cells with it, the original queen had already swarmed.

I'm still running just as short on time as I thought I would be this season. Peak nectar flow is starting right now. We will have frost in the mornings this week but honeysuckle and blackberries have started blooming. Tis the season. I also got a nuc from my Sunday School teacher a couple...

My parents also just got one of these a couple weeks ago. I was blown away with how well it drives. Should be a nice vehicle for you.

I'm on the edge of my seat here...

That's about the weight of the Komatsu I have been using. It's low ground pressure also. It seems like the LGP units do spin the tracks quite a bit. Maybe they don't have as high of grousers?

You are going to have fun with that! I think dozers are more fun than track hoes.

That's really cool! Although probably not to you since they are in your house...

I can't tell how zoomed in that picture is. They look like big honey bees to me. I would put up your feeders for a week or two when that happens. Once the bees know that where the feeder is they will not stop coming. Hopefully if you take them down for a while they will find a better spot to...

Morning all. Thought I would post this up in case anyone ever has a need to know. I'm sure it's common knowledge for some. I did forget to mention to unhook the batteries from the 12v donor. Could possibly end bad if you don't...

I'm with you on the alternator, if you are getting over 13v running, it's fine. Batteries are stupid and it seems like they just get worse and worse.

We got some kind of knockoff Chinese brand off amazon for $150 or so that vacuums and mops. That little thing has been awesome! It is in no way smart though, we only run it while we are home so we can rescue her when she gets stuck.

On something like that I usually humor them the first time. The sucky part is the time it takes to remove them an make the trip to the parts house twice.

Here's my Citizen....

My boss did that in his office once. It didn't bother him a bit. He just sat it to the side and kept working. I have no idea how it didn't burn the plant down. SMOKY in the office for a long time though.

This is the one I wear most of the time. It's gadget-y and all titanium. Somehow it reads touches on the crystal to activate different features, including compass using the watch hands as the pointers and altimeter (not that i need that function...). I've got a Citizen EcoDrive divers watch...

We are in the implementation stage. My wife and I are in our early 40's. I've always been the planning type, so we planned together what we thought we wanted our retirement to look like and made plans to get us there. We are still 15-20 years from retirement. But, we have built the house that we...

That's rude of them...

I would bet you could easily get it done with a day or two rental over a weekend. Small tractor with loader and box blade. I've been doing quite a bit of finish grading at my place. The dozer is gone so I'm using my 1025R John Deere. I can pretty easily load a truck with 6 or so yards (with a...

Holy Crap! I'm paying $800 per YEAR on the house I just built! That is about what I'll pay for taxes though...

@haydude Please keep this thread updated with how it performs. I've got a 72" Spartan that I'm not happy with the cut on, and this mower is on my short list. Since I bought a truck this weekend I don't think I'll be getting a new mower this summer though... maybe next year.

Well... decision is made. 2023 LT model. 25,000 miles, Duramax. I did end up trading mine. I feel like i got a reasonable deal and i don't have to deal with selling mine. Could have probably come out a couple thousand better had I sold mine outright but this was easier.

You have to report back when you've tried it. I am skeptical. I like maple syrup and had just had some a few days before a hunting trip. I was sitting in my stand when I saw a new glob of pine sap about ready to drop.... I thought, "why not, it has to be similar". Friends... It was not...

I've got a Spartan SRT-XD 72" zero turn and I noticed a bent spindle this weekend when I was getting it ready to mow. Have any of you replaced spindles or shafts? I wonder if there is an aftermarket spindle that is worth a hoot? They are pricy from Spartan. Just the shaft is about $65 and I...

That is all too common though. I've had full coverage on my truck since 2013 and it's all beat up now. I'd get something small and just deal with it since the cost for the repair was less than deductible and it would not be that bad. Then it all started adding up...

We are in the totality path also. Have some friends coming from out of state to stay with us, so we took the day off work. A whole bunch of schools are closed for it around here. My work doesn't think it will be a big deal, we shall see.

Mine is getting stupid again too. This is 6 months coverage. 500/1000 deductibles. The focus is liability only. But I do have 250,000/500,000 liability on all of them.

Yes hot and cold. It was the closest one I could get a quick pic of. I had them add hot, cold and a drain on the back porch. I plan on putting a sink out there to use when I'm grilling. I'll hook it up in the summer and unhook it in the winter.

I'll get a pressure guage and take the regulator up from the road side in the next couple of weekends. Do you know if this has a water saver in it?

I've got a John Deere 550 tiller. I have thought about taking the skids totally off... I imagine it would be fine for a while.

I'm good on code and I own both regulators. I would guess 10' or less rise over about a 425' run.

I was also stumped that they put another regulator in line. Is it better to keep the one at the road or the one at the house. The one at the house is easier to get to and I wouldn't have to worry about my service line if I keep the one at the road.

I went with the "budget friendly" version. If you are able to zoom in on my roll cage I've got a piece of 4" PVC that I heated and flattened. Couple of hose clamps to attach it and It has been working well for a couple of years. 752387

I went through mine yesterday. I confirmed only 1 hive survived the winter. But man if it's not bursting at the seams. Has at least 50 pounds of honey, lots of bees, and lots of brood. I took in all the woodenware and will get it all ready to go for splits or swarms. I've seen several around me...

My lone experience with diesel trucks was my '08 F-250 with the 6.4L. I got 12-14mpg empty and 8 pulling a trailer. Which is exactly what I got when I change over to a V-10 gas Dodge 2500. I guess they got better.

I did that twice. Never again. I too had high hopes. It was hot, slow, and expensive. A tank of propane does not go as far as you would expect. Then to top it all off I think the grass grew better after.

Now that I have my house and shop built. I may ask you for some pointers and plans for your horizontal hives. I will still be spending a lot of time getting the property the way I want it and getting the shop set up this year. So I'm not planning on being able to do much in the way of other...

Ok now talk to me about diesel vs gas. I had originally said gas but there seems to be more diesels on the used market. Since there are more of them there are more trim packages so many of the diesels are similar in price at a lower trim package to a gas with the higher trim package. I don't...

It's really interesting. I feel like you would like it if you enjoy piddling outside and appreciate/ like animals. Cloverknoll does things differently than you would probably learn from any local beekeepers around you. It works well for him and his goals. I keep mine the more traditional way...

I'm almost done getting the must-do's complete after moving into my new construction home. The water service to the house was a mix of me doing it myself and the plumbers tying into it. I have a 3/4" meter directly into a 3/4" regulator being serviced by a main that according to the water...

Typically if the old queen is otherwise in good health, she would leave and take about half the colony with her before the new queen hatches. That's called a swarm, there are several reasons this would happen and it's the natural way bees propagate. Making a split is the beekeeper's way of...

I have 2 of these and I avoid using them as much as possible. With the vent closed, barely anything flows. But with it open, fluid runs out of it and all over everything. I hate them and will never buy another one. They also both leak really badly around the lower cap if when they fall over in...

Yeah moving the dozer is probably a pipe dream. Cam was replaced. That statement above is the whole reason I'm thinking about getting a different truck. Right now I can be up front with a perspective buyer and get a decent amount out of it. If i keep it and it runs another 150,000 miles and...

They actually didn't charge me for the lifter since they missed it on the first couple rounds. It still cost me a little over $3,000 though by the time it was all over and done. The 130,000 miles doesn't concern me, it's the 40% of the cam lobe that was ground into dust and floating around in...

Bingo.

It's in so-so shape. Needs a tailgate and has several dents. But the paint is still good, except for the tailgate, no rust to speak of. 130k miles.

Ooh that's fancy!

I just got my 2013 Ram 1500 back from the shop 5.7 Hemi. Symptoms were ticking, lack of power, and check engine light. After a week in the shop they finally located a burned valve. The shop had the heads sent off to a local machine shop who repaired the burned valve, not sure the details. I'm...

Odd, was it out long enough for a swarm to move in? I've already seen swarms around my part of the country.

Whoop! New toy day!

Ooooh, fancy! I would love to have one.

There were 7 going into winter. I had split way to aggressively last year and I feel confident that they starved out due to not being able to build resources because of low populations. I didn't take much honey last summer but I didn't realize the situation was that dire. Also I did not spend...

Down in AR

We have had a few day warm spell here. I checked on my ladies and I only have 1 living hive... Sad day.

2 Weeks in and we are loving it! So far there is nothing we feel like we really messed up on, or big things wished we would have done differently. But, I did have the bottom of a box fall out while I was carrying it and 2 bottles of nail polish exploded all over the floor and wall... I was that...

I had plugs handy. I don't have anything at home to patch with, and I wouldn't have had to break down the tire if the bead hadn't been leaking. Patches are better I'm sure but plugs are mucho easier.

I've had ducks for a while. Ain't no way I'd raise them permanently in a small enclosure. They are so messy. If I start little ones, I fence off an area by the pond and down into the water for them. I tried using a kiddie pool a few times before I got smart enough to just use the pond. I would...

I am a lazy person that did not put in tape... I ran the conduit for my underground utilities on my property. I bought the tape and had it handy. It ended up being such a pain in the butt on 450' of trench that i just said heck with it and covered it up without the tape... It's hard to get 6" of...

I did some mudding in mine a couple weeks ago also. As heavy as they are, they sure feel light when on the snot.

Sounds like to me you need to first establish what my state calls a 911 address. I don't remember what department does that but the water company would be able to tell you. Then I'd call the county road department and see if they can help you establish a driveway at that address. Assuming it's...

This is Duck. She almost refuses to drink water any other way.

This is today's price here.

I don't hate 'um. But I also wish I had that access. I got an ugly, expensive, propane tank hanging out in my backyard. I tried to get the natural gas company to run a line to my house but they said the closest trunk they had was over 4,000' away. The said it cost them $20,000 to run the last...

There would be widespread panic with that forecast around here. Schools would already be announcing closures, electricity would double in price, grocery stores would be empty. Weeping and gnashing of teeth type of thing...

A couple of low and high pics.

Everything else is doing good. Have a gas fireplace and whole house tankless water heater that has run 3 showers and dishwasher all at the same time at least once since we have been there. It's 199k BTU. Propane guy said what he did should supply 1.5million BTU. I take that with a grain of salt...

I left a message for the service manager. That is going to be my request. I don't mind changing jets if that's it but I don't really want to mess with the regulator if I can help it.

I'll get some pics tonight. The vendor said they changed it over before they brought it, and I called today and they confirmed with their notes. let me know what i need to check to confirm. I do have a card of burner jets, because i can't spell the o word... It seems to me that i have flame...

I've got propane and it's been converted to propane. The flame looks nice and blue.

I just moved into my new house and one of the things I've been excited about is using my new gas cooktop. I've got a Whirlpool wcg55u56hs if it makes a difference. I seem to always need to have the burner cranked up as high as it will go to get the same heat as about medium on my old electric...

My neighbor has one. It's hard to find differences between it and the old CJ I used to have, except it's new so everything works like it was intended. They don't come street legal, It sounds like some people are somehow converting them to make them street legal. It is not what I would consider...

I'm losing track with upper bolt and lower bolt. What I think you have are 2 bolts and a coupling nut. There are a couple ways to skin that cat. First thing I would try would be to loctite the nut onto the bolt you want to remain "stationary". Then I would I think the term is peen, I'm not...

Have you checked with the Coast Guard yet? 😁 I'm just a fly on the wall with this one. I'm sure all that load calculation has been done by some company or another. Just a quick Google search shows a $945 one that is calibrated by operator to a known weight lifted. I would think the width of a...

I probably need to do the same. I split mine too aggressively last year and ended up loosing several because of their populations being too low.

I would say at minimum volume of forage at the right time has a part to play in keeping you from needing to feed. I would also argue that you do feed, just not with sugar water like some of us end up feeding. You provide good forage for them with the plots you plant. I wish I was able to plant...

Truck is still at the shop. Improvisation!

Thanks! It's a monster steel door. I couldn't move it very far by myself. The frame is built into the blocks as they are laid so it's locked in. I'll have to look back through invoices but it's an official storm shelter door.

It's been raining nonstop for 2 weeks or so. The cold snap we got held up the last box of tile so we are still without a toilet in the master. But, we are starting to move stuff in today. Here is a short walk through of the mostly finished product. Ignore my heavy breathing i tell myself it's...

This is really far from you, but it's my first thought. Another thought would be building a "road" where you say you can get the pickup truck the removing it when you are done. I'm sure you know any way you slice it, there will be some serious expense...

I think you two are saying the same thing, maybe. College absolutely opened doors for me that were previously closed. Around my area, the school you got the degree from doesn't really play into selection. For the biggest part even the type of degree doesn't really matter, as long as it's from an...

My property is the red rectangle. It's semi rural. I'm not at all surprised the 'yotes are around. Lots of room to run and hide and my poor ducks were just.... sitting ducks.... There's lots of wildlife around.

Believe it or not my wife wants a pair. Once we get moved in to the new house and the trailer off the property we will put the fence back up. Shortly after that we will probably end up with a couple donkeys and at least 1 Llama.

I wish it was safe enough to shoot at my place. There are just too many houses too close for it to be safe. My neighbor a few houses down does have the room but I'll have to do it around his time.

There were coyote tracks all over the pond ice. I also heard a big group of them in the evening last weekend.

The whole college "experience" irks me. I think it's irresponsible to make kids believe college is required. By and large k-12 education pushes the college route with little regard for career planning. The thought process is go to college to get the education and find out what you want to do...

All 11 ducks got eaten this weekend 😩. The pond was frozen over so they didn't have anywhere to get safe.

We just did LVP in our new house build. From my limited knowledge gained from that project, I found that the wear layer thickness is not directly correlated to scratch resistance. The one we eventually chose has a 12 mil wear layer with ceramic coating for scratch resistance. Time will tell if...

Looks like you are right.

I'm slightly out of the line of the conversation here. But, I've had my '13 Ram 1500 w/ 5.7 Hemi since new. 2 weekends ago it started loosing power and I got a check engine light. I took it to a shop and I called to check on it yesterday. My heads, cam and lifters are at a machine shop. Sad day...

Oh. I didn't think about that. Good call. I don't get off for that day so it didn't even register.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a SawStop panel saw when I get tools for my new shop. I've heard of lots of accidents involving table saws between people I know personally and stories like this one. My FIL has put his finger in his 3 times in the last 8 or so years. Luckily no lasting damage...

Update on the fan. I think it moves plenty of air. We spent a couple hours in the great room talking to some friends over the weekend. I turned it on in the "reverse" direction and i could feel warm air coming down the walls and mixing at floor level. That is exactly what i was hoping for. It's...

Neat place for a light... The middle is also a light...

My panel has GFCI breakers in it. So none of the receps have the test buttons, same process though. Anything else I need to be looking for other than just obvious stuff missing or not functional? Electrical or otherwise.

Now that we are getting real close, we may be able to move in by the end of next week (yay!). Please give me some pointers of what I need to check for my own personal "inspection". It should be inspected by a pro but I want to double check to keep them honest. I'm going to grab a GFCI recep...

The fan is REALLY high. The peak of the vault is about 22'. I got the biggest fan that I could fit between the trusses for a reasonable price. It's 80" dia. It only came with a 2' down rod so I had the center beam made 10"x10" so it would get the blades far enough down to clear the vault by...

Big happenings at the house today! Ignore the red arrow, i was showing my builder where a light is missing.

It sounds like the picture doesn't do it justice then. I would not enjoy being a passenger on a heavy equipment ride like that...

As smooth as that looks can you use your MX now and just go up and down the slope?

The girls' bathroom is about done! Also got the house trailer sold today! Really nice couple came by and gave a deposit. No problem with us staying until the house is ready and knows it needs to move quick when we get out. It's gotta be off the property before we can close on the mortgage.

Also I've never seen this many folks at a jobsite. Even more parked around back. We have concrete, trim, paint, countertops, electric, insulation, and appliances going today....

I eagle eyed the whole pour. They pulled up the vast majority of it.

I can put as much rebar as I want. I've got a handful of sticks left from footers that i will use around the perimeter and in front of the doors. The issue is the expense. I'm already paying a pretty penny. Enough wire for the whole thing is WAY less than #4 rebar. I'm wanting to say 40-60...

Pipe installed.

She likes her pantry.

The wife and I pulled wire to the shop yesterday and got the panel ready to go. Also threw a pic in of the garage door in the shop. I had them do a 4' high lift so the door will hug the cieling as close as possible. It will have a shaft drive motor on it next week.

Before everything was formed up, I rented a trencher and got water pipe and conduit to the shop.

The driveway and sidewalks are formed up. I trenched under the driveway by the house and added a 4" pipe just in case i need to go under the drive with power or water at some point in the future. Going to do the same with the sidewalk at the house. Also adding a pipe at the bottom down from the...

I'm leaning towards getting a roll of 3 or 4" corrugated pipe and putting it under the driveway so it's there. Then if i can't get the grade to take the water over the driveway at least i have a backup.

I did actually have them slope the whole driveway downhill on the cross slope section. I'll throw the laser on it to see how much fall it's got. I'm thinking an inch or so over 20'.

I would love to do that but it's not an option. There is more fall than it looks like and I'm handcuffed by the pad mount transformer.

Morning all. I have a question for the brain trust here. I got my driveway formed up this week. There is a decent fall from the house side to the shop side of the yard between the house and shop. When I did my dirt work I had envisioned the rainwater just running over the top of the driveway...

I don't have anything to help you. But... I did see something funny once about playing one conspiracy theory against the other. It was something about the 9-11 deniers saying that jet fuel doesn't burn hot enough to effect steel so the planes couldn't have taken down the towers. Then questioning...

Lookin good!

The fireplace got bricked yesterday and we got enough material plained that the trim guys should be able to finish their part up.

Thanks! It's defiantly a focal point. We were pretty nervous about wood in general, then it didn't take stain so we were nervous about just clear coating it. I'm really happy how it turned out.

I have nothing to add except for if you are only cutting once a year, and you don't have another use for a larger cutter, I would just keep the 6'. The 10 foot would be faster but that's a lot of expense to shave half a day off a 2 day annual project. But, you may have more disposable income...

The interior is looking better and better. The decorative trusses will be wrapped with the plained cypress from one of the posts above. Those, the island, and a decorative wrap around the vent hood area will all be stained the same color as the outside wood. The island is turned 90 degrees from...

I'm not sure we picked the right stain.... We had initially planned for black siding and soffits. But, it was about $5,000 more so we changed to clay. I'm not sure how I feel about the really dark stain next to the clay... I'm hoping it grows on us. I can't exactly stain it lighter.

One of the many ways I've tried to save money on this project is with the stain grade wood we are using for accents. We have some exterior features, posts and decorative trusses. We also have some decorative trusses inside and a couple faux beams. I found a sawmill that cuts a lot of cypress. I...

I moved the conex out from what will be the front yard. I expect the equipment to leave any day so I moved it loaded.... Was a non issue with either piece of equipment. I started with the dozer but the nose of the box was digging and I didn't want to mess up the driveway any more than necessary...

I 2nd the Kawasaki. Although the Briggs Vanguard Big Block 36hp I have has been just as trouble free so far.

We almost built before we sold our old house in the neighborhood. But, I got nervous. So, we ended up buying a mobile home, moving out to the property and selling our old house. There was one on the property before so we just put ours where the old one was. The septic and water service were...

Little update. I'll post some more pictures before too long. Painting is mostly done. HVAC was hooked up yesterday, so now we have a little heat. I ran water and power out to the shop from the house last weekend. Garrage doors should install this week, driveway and sidewalk should pour this...

Mulching kits seem to be personal preference. I don't like them but I also know people who like them so much the have them put on before they take delivery from the dealer. I also prefer the foot lever for deck raise. I use it to lift over bumps that I know will scalp, or if i see gravel in the...

It was just a joke. But i have used one to pull out a crape myrtle stump for a neighbor of my parents. Had one end on my truck in the road and the other on the stump. I pulled for a while not getting anywhere, took a short rest and saw that I had pulled my truck sideways over the curb and into...

My uncle put a receiver hitch mount on his bush hog and front bucket. Keeps the hitch mounted winch on the bush hog while he's working and if he needs it he moves it to the bucket, plugs it in and off he goes. He mostly uses it bush hogging trails at the deer lease and sometimes gets stuck in...

I figured out the power problem all together! No battery, hydraulic, or direct PTO drive. Mobile use for any vehicle, including mowers and bicycles!

Yeah I've got a problem with the garden also. Mostly deer. We planted probably 600 feet of okra and didn't get a single pod. About a 50' square of watermelons and only ended up with about a dozen. etc, etc

Hopefully! Turkeys have been my favorite. Before we got birds I thought ducks would be the most fun and the chickens would just be stupid. My experience is the opposite, the ducks have no personality, don't interact with people, and they are super messy until they can be released out on their...

The turkey is safe! She was back home this evening like nothing happened. Maybe she was visiting a neighbor?

The turkey really has me scratching my head. It's a big bird, and for it to be completely gone with no feathers around is really odd. I have seen all manor of predator except for bobcats and foxes. There is a hawk that I've seen very regularly for the 2.5 or so years I've been here. It's a...

This is not a bad thought. I'm not prepared for that yet, It will take me a few days to get everything set up to make that happen. I am going to set up a cage trap baited with tuna tonight though. If I can find my game cam I'll set it up around the pin also.

I live on a handfull of acres in a somewhat rural area. I've got several chickens, ducks, and turkeys. I'm having a problem, within the last 2 weeks I've lost 2 little bantams, a giant orpington, and a turkey. All gone with no evidence left behind. I'm really upset about the orpington and the...

I think there is a little grey area. I have been the customer and the contractor position in the past, as you have. I would agree that there is the unwritten understanding that equipment will have an impact and I would expect that anything in the "normal scope" of the job would be the implied...

You just sold me and I don't even need one! that is some beautiful grass/ stripes/ land.

We don't get much snow to speak of around here. But the Polaris Ranger does get its share of year 'round use. Both pleasure and work. 833367 833368

Oof, I looked at pneumatic winches...

Hmmm... I'm just thinking out loud, feel free to tell me to stop... I like thinking outside the box. Maybe a 12V hydraulic pump and hydraulic winch would use less power than an electric winch...

If you are looking for high duty cycle I wonder if you could find a way to plumb in a hydraulic winch? That would require a tractor or the dump truck though.

260 tons is a lot. Is there ever a point that the ground just doesn't support good hay production? Even with fertilizer applied it seems like that much mass leaving an area on a regular basis would have an impact. Real question not trying to be a jerk.

It seems like I can never get my part of this house build caught up. Entergy just came and ran power to the house, yay! Since that is in now, I have to trench water from the front of the house around to the shop, trench power from the house to the shop and finish grade where I trench including...

I could have misunderstood. I thought post 1 said cell service was not good and the internet service is more reliable than the current land phone line. I was just throwing out an alternative to try in the mean time, to make OP's cell phone potentially more reliable than the land line or at least...

I jumped in to say this also. I've used WIFI calling before in the same situation and it worked well. Doesn't cost anything, just have to turn on the setting on your phone and be hooked up to the wifi.

I'm curious on why you chose a 5500 over a class 6 or class 7 truck. Big pickup vs smaller big truck. I have looked in the past and the used market for the medium duty trucks seems to be more affordable than the heavy duty pickup trucks in a lot of cases.

Just moving the bottom run up high enough to run your cutter under it would be a huge improvement. The area I did was less than 600' and it was right on the road. When I raised up the bottom row I ran my mower deck under it and it worked fine. It pushed down the high spot for the most part. The...

I've been living on my little piece of property about 2 years. I had exactly the same thing. I ended up pulling that strand off and re-setting it higher. Then I got tired of the ground being uneven around it so I pulled the whole fence and graded the whole area with the dozer.... I'll put it...

I'm the opposite on the mulching kit. I prefer the highest lift blades I can find. I want to lift the grass as much as possible and throw the clippings as far as possible. I used to have a lawn service and have had many different brands of mowers. I have found that the JD's have the best cut for...

Ceiling in the great room is mostly done! The T&G will probably just be clear coated. The decorative trusses will be wrapped in Cypress and stained a dark chocolate color. There will be a decorative beam in the peak that will match the trusses. The master bedroom will have the same ceiling minus...

I don't have a battery powered chain saw. But I have used my little 1 handed Milwaukee Hackzall with a pruning blade on many occasion. That's what I typically grab when just cutting a few limbs or other small odd cutting jobs. So much easier than getting the big saw out and smelling like 2...

The wife just wants to seal coat it with a shiny finish. The decorative trusses will be wrapped with 1X cypress and stained dark. I offered for them to use the shop to pre-finish the tongue and groove but they didn't want to. The painters are one heck of an efficient group. There's a bunch of...

That may be the case, but this week has been a whirlwind of action. Today I have painters, cabinet people, ceiling installers, and septic installers at the house. If I can just get the last little bit of trim done I would feel a lot better.

Ceiling is finally started!!!! It's finally going to fell like a house for me once this part gets finished.

I also say prusik knot for the win. You can get one already set up on a rope 30' for $40 if you don't want to gather the materials separately...

Afternoon all, I ended up purchasing the connex box I have been renting. I'm in the process of building a house and don't have a lot of time or money to commit to building and elaborate pad. I've got equipment to move it right now but not for long so I went ahead and got it about where I want...

We got one.

I went home for lunch yesterday and I had electricians putting the meter receptacle on the house, cabinet guys working in the kitchen, half a dozen people caulking/ prepping for paint, and a dump truck spreading gravel on the driveway!

The end does seem exceptionally slow. But we broke ground June 15. So if we get in by mid Feb that's only 8 months. I expect that we will beat that by as much as a month. Overall I think that's pretty good for what we built.

Sadly no. Trim should finish this week. They are taking their sweet time. The trim guy is the slowest one of the bunch so far. I've never accidentally walked in on him working. Always playing on his phone or sitting in his car. That said, all the doors are in and cased except for the one going...

Also, Goose helped me do the dirt work this weekend.

Current exterior status. Cypress columns are installed. The decorative truss and faux beams are going to be wrapped with 1X Cypress and it will all be stained a chocolate color. Then gutters and concrete and the outside will be complete.

It's a DEF line heater and/ or line heater relay showing no or low voltage. Intermittent issue that is either 100% fine or completely shuts down the machine.

Grrr i can't win with this thing!

Starting the dirt around the front. Got the bulk done with the dozer then the minor stuff with the 1025

Finally feeling like I'm making a little bit of progress. Driveway is close enough until time to form. I'm getting better with the dozer.

Cleaned up all the brick and scrap around the house and started grading. We got an all day soaking rain Monday so the driveway material is saturated. I knocked down the piles but it's gotta dry quite a bit before i can really smooth it out. Also having problems with the dozer still. It's got a...

Thanks. The clouds rolled in and looked crazy. The house is for the ducks. We had a momma hatch some this week.

Use what ya got right?

I cleaned up around the outside until the rain stopped me. I also re-graded around my pond. I had originally made the banks too steep to mow.

Same. It should be easy right now.

We get winter weather so infrequently that schools close down with a winter weather forecast before it even hits a lot of times. Hardly any equipment to clear roads, lots of hilly and narrow backroads that stay frozen for days after, and bus drivers that don't have experience driving in it makes...

Like the others have said. Water is a good thing. If the deep end was mostly filled in one lift it needs lots of water to help compact. On my big pad I watered it as much as I could and when we got rain I loaded up the dump truck and drove back and forth over the whole thing. I overlapped tire...

I'm doing pine t&g in mine. It should look awesome but it's pricy. Sheetrock is something like $0.20/sqft and the wood is near $2.00/sqft.

I did vaulted ceilings in my place also. There is quite a bit of hidden expense in that. LVL or GluLam beams, and bigger lumber are the known quantity. Higher SQFT cost for framing. More material and labor for drywall, extra lighting, depending on the space available in the attic more than...

I can't tell anything about the jacket from the picture but it does not look vented. You are going to want a vented one. You are mostly going to be in the direct sun and it gets hot hot, even with a vented jacket. I got the fencing veil like this one and I'm planning on getting the one with the...

I'm currently building a house. Well, paying someone to build me a house... I have not found a lot of areas where I felt like I was able to do too much that would save me any considerable money. You could probably demo the adjoining wall. I did do the dirt work for the building pad and built the...

I've got one of those at my house.... No mosquitos though. ***cough cough***

Timothy Turkey might actually be Timothina? He sure still looks like a girl and is about 6 months old.

Oh yeah. I forgot about buyer's and seller's fees. More and more I'm seeing buyer's fees. If there is a 10% buyer's fee that means you will have to pay an additional percentage on top of the bid that won the auction. a 10% buyer's fee on $10,000 would require $11,000 paid to settle your winning bid.

I have bought several things at auction. Usually the auction company is not going to say more than runs and drives because anything more could potentially be held against them. If they said it was a great piece of equipment that will last you a long time and something happens that they were not...

I just had a shop built with 12' walls and 4/12 pitch. I noticed they missed a short row of roof screws so I climbed up to shoot those in. I was immediately glad I hired it done. Heights don't really bother me but even at the lower pitch I was not sure footed at all. I would not even consider...

Eddie's explanation is the same for my area also.

Oh, Timothy turkey said to tell you guys hi.

My 1025R is my first tractor. I was impressed at the work it could do but it's not a "Big John" Deere. It's just a little bitty one. I also like old music.

When it's painting time the house is not really under construction. The only thing left to do will be flooring, that way the floors don't have to be covered and risk getting paint on them. At this point the only reason it looks like a house under construction right now is because the big vault...

House painters around here charge by the square foot including cabinets.

Almost looks like a house now!

Yummo!

I picked up the porch columns and outdoor trim for wrapping the decorative trusses and faux beams.

I've never known of custom cabinets being delivered finished. I'm sure there are some that are but it's not expected around here.

Some cabinets got dropped off today.

Bricks are working their way around to the front of the house. And we got the first interior door!

I got a 131 a while back. I decided to save the money and not get a Kombi, figured I would never need anything but the tri-blade. I kick myself for that now. I would like to be able to add a pole saw.