Good Morning!!!! 44F @ 4:30AM. Cloudy skies. High around 55F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Looks like rain showers overnight, with the big dump on Sunday. Dry again Monday and Tuesday, then more showers for the rest of the week.:thumbsup:
Nice setup for the property, Ron. Nice sharp drone shot, too!
I've had mixed luck with Stihl stuff. Little top handle chainsaw starts easily, same drill Drew uses on his Echo: choke on, a couple pokes on the primer bulb, a pull or two until it pops, then choke off and it'll start and run until the tank goes dry. Had two larger saws, neither one was easy to start, and both found new owners. Brand new hedge cutter was never easy to start, dealer charged a bunch of money to replace the carb, still starts hard. Glad I don't have any hedges anymore.:laughing: Never had any problems with the pole saw, except it wants to slide down hill when I put it down without turning it off. Latest big saw has been good, too. For me it comes down to the primer bulb. If it has one, and it's in good shape (no cracks), those engines start easily. The newer ones don't have the primer bulb, and when run dry, are hard to get the gas going again. Haven't tried one of the newest fuel injected ones, and likely won't. My experience with fuel injected stuff is if run dry, it's hard to get the gas going again. And if left wet, the injectors gum up and again, they're hard to start. I have a lot less trouble now that I use E0 treated with Stabil, and always run the engines dry before putting them away, even if it means turning 'em upside down and trying to pour gas back into the can before starting one last time and letting them run until they quit.
Newest saw will be a Makita electric due in next week. Found them on sale with two free batteries, for a total of four. All my 18V Makita batteries are over 10 years old and not working so well anymore, and all use the same battery as the new saw. So I figure I got four new batteries out of the deal, and the saw only cost me a hundred bux. Thanks for the recommendation, Paul...
Five gallon picnic bottles are $25 exchange at HD out here, Drew. Last bulk fill of the propane tank here was $2.11/gallon, so now I refill at home and save almost $15 a pop.
Think they're using the batteries as ballast to get those good slope angles, Eric? That last video with the remote operation got my attention; I could see mounting a mower up front and going to town on the hills around here. But between the steep grades and running the mower, I have to wonder how long (or short) it would be between charges. Would sure save on #2 Diesel, though: Sunshine is free.
On the endoscopes, at least the ones I've used, they all create their own WiFi network, and you have to switch your phone/pad over to connect to it. They use a simple password like 1234567, but if you lose the instruction sheet with the micro sized type, you'll be lucky to find an ecopy of it, and might have to write to the seller in hopes they'll be able to tell you what it is. Then you need to download an app that actually makes the connection to the camera and displays the video. So it's a bit fiddly to use one, but easy once you get the hang of it.
More good news on the Steiner, Kyle, :crossfingers: the new rings solve the 80's compression issues. I'll try leak detection with gas next time I have an "opportunity".:thumbsup:
Nice story, Bird. Reminds me of the old proverb with the lion and thorn in its paw...
Glad you got the chains sorted out and they fix the traction problem, Thomas. Now you get to watch as the driveway clears itself!
They're gonna start calling you Cookie Monster at work after you bring in that load, Paul!
They literally paved paradise where I grew up. The woods is an apartment complex, most of the old covered bridges and quiet country roads have been "improved", and urban sprawl has replaced the soybean and corn fields. All that's left are my fond memories, leaving not much reason to ever go back.
Nice star shot, David. Can that new iPhone see the Milky Way on a dark night? Tried to take a snap of Jupiter and Saturn last night with my old SE, and all I got was black...
Found two new leaks from the overnight oil pan soak yesterday, so ground out the weld again and rewelded it, this time omitting the clamps so I could position it where I could see it. Filled it back up with water and ran my errands in town, and no more leaks once I got back home. Threw it in the dishwasher to clean it out one last time, blew it dry with compressed air, and brushed on a couple coats of POR-15 while I enjoyed a cool adult beverage around the camp fire. It wasn't drying very fast, then I remembered that POR-15 needs moisture to cure, and there's very little of that in the air here these days. So I brought it into the guest bathroom and turned the shower on at the hottest setting for a few minutes until the mirror was all steamed up. Left it in there overnight with the door closed, and gave it another shot just now so it'll be ready to go back on the van today. Went through my HF o-ring assortment to find a couple for the dip stick tube, and hope what I found is close enough. The ex-mechanic had used green o-rings meant for air conditioning lines, and they were hard and brittle when they came off in pieces. I'm hoping the butyl o-rings fare a little better.
Picked up new wiper blades for the truck in town, and claybarred the overspray off the windshield before I installed 'em. Then cleaned all the windows inside and out, which made it clear that the rest of the interior needs a good going over, too. So that's on the agenda for today, along with topping off the oil and tires.
The latest order from McMaster-Carr came, including a new fill plug for the hydro pump on the Nardi backhoe. The original disappeared years ago and was replaced with a silicon cork when I learned that the Nardi dealer doesn't sell parts anymore. When I measured the thread, it was M16x1.75, but I could only find M16x1.5 threaded plugs. But it's a short thread, and with a thick sealing washer, the new plug fit just fine.
TGIF gang!:drink:
A fair portion of the state shows no drought or only abnormally dry.
