Good morning!!!!

[riptides]

46 outside this AM, heading to 60's. Suns out. TGIF.

On the agenda, get at least one window installed today on the Milk House, then figure out what other wood I need. Goal is to finish the windows this weekend.

Need to take a hike this weekend with the wife. Looks like the Blue Bells are in bloom.

Insurance guy was a no show with the rain, did get two estimates in the run-in roof, total replacement needed, both in excess of 10k. One year ago, I think I spend about 1k for metal roofing. Guess my labor is cheap. LOL.

Hope all are on the mend, have a good weekend. Be safe.

 

[kenmbz]

Morning all, sun is out and warming up to 60.
We had over 3" of rain yesterday, after the previous days >1"
My 5' x 2' trench looked like a river starting right as the sun went down and staying that way for hours!

Need a turbine at the trench end to start my own hydroelectric dam.

Roy - hope the angina abates - does not sound like fun.
Lou - cabinets are expensive - with wood prices so high. I am on hold for a lot of project due to cost
PopG - those cabinets looks great. Can't wait to see them finished.

I have to order some varnish to redo some sections of the outside bar (can't wait to see hom much that costs now).
Held up pretty well but could used some help after the rough winter and all the rain. Got an old square paper sander from my brother, we'll see of it is faster than the round palm sander. It is a solid chunk of metal, No plastic.

Stay safe and be well,

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 46˚F heading to the 70s cloudless skies, light North wind.

A gas pump skimmer was reported at a 7-11 in town so now I check the pumps with my phone's bluetooth.
Settings - bluetooth - look for a string of numbers.

My wife got her wooden bowl from Holland Bowl Mill (USA made) and her Mezzaluna knife. It works great for chopping salads. The knife did not come with a cover/stand so I'm attempting to make one. The challenge is putting the slit in the wood for the blade to slide in. My neighbor had several ideas and will help. he has a huge wooden vice in his garage. All the saws at the woodshop are too big for the 6" curved blade.

 

[PJSprog]

36°F and light rain this morning, going up to 45° today. The rain changed over to a mix during the drive to work, and was all snow when I pulled into the parking lot. Looks like it will change back to rain around noon. Back up into the mid-70s by Sunday.

Still waiting for parts guy from lawn mower shop to return my call with prices for new rear tires for the rider and the zeroturn. I called him Saturday and was told he couldn't get the prices until Monday. (sigh) Yet another business that can't follow through without reminders. Frustrating.

Hope you can get some answers, Roy. That doesn't sound like fun at all.

Nice-looking chopping bowl set, Don.

 

[PJSprog]

PJ what more do you need to do at night?

Like most here, our place is a target rich environment. Opportunities abound, and the list never gets shorter.

 

[RoyJackson]

Still waiting for parts guy from lawn mower shop to return my call with prices for new rear tires for the rider and the zeroturn. I called him Saturday and was told he couldn't get the prices until Monday. (sigh) Yet another business that can't follow through without reminders. Frustrating.

Hope you can get some answers, Roy. That doesn't sound like fun at all.

I have bar-turfs for my ZT...bought them last year and never had 'em installed. Supposedly, bar-turns are easier on the lawn and give better grip on slopes

Yeah, there's a couple things that could be a problem...angina (which was originally diagnosed) or Pericarditis. The odd thing, it only occurs when I'm lying down, no matter the position

 

[daugen]

Paul/Popgadget aka McGyver just left after fixing my Honeywell generator. Turns out a gummed up rocker switch which entailed some panel disassembly to get to, but a liberal soak
in de-oxit and it all started to work again. We get by with a little help from our friends.

planted two bags of quartered seed potatoes in those stand up bags, just for fun, and will plant the rest now in the veggie garden.
then I have a small install job on the JD mower, adding the arm rest kit that was backordered a long time when I ordered the unit.
Uses self tapping screws and speednuts.
I'm not a fan of speednuts in general.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Gotta love the easy fixes.

 

[Rich B1]

Good afternoon! 38 now. Just had an odd mix of rain/sleet/snow. Seems to be over. Winter just doesn’t want to let go.

Had a phone meeting with a financial advisor from my 401k underwriter. He has the same opinion of our retirement finances as our local guy, maybe even a bit more optimistic. Gave me some options with the 401k I need to think about.

So my day is running a bit behind due to the call. Need to make one more upper radiator bracket for the race bike. Other than length, I can’t rely on hole locations of the first one since many things seem to be custom located. Or in simpler English, poorly done, trust nothing. But I did have a mental breakthrough on the lower bracket. It will be much simpler to make.

Started a fire since it is gonna be cool this evening. Gonna have to split a trailer load of wood I have sitting if this weather keeps going.

Seems my wife has been given another Craftsman GT3000 garden tractor. She likes mowing, but only with those old GT series tractors. And I get to keep them running. This one is a 6 speed and needs TLC.

Everyone stay safe out there!

 

[daugen]

Rich, that sounds like fun. Restoring old lawn and garden equipment was fun and rewarding and you didn't need an OBD port and reader to figure things out..
Your wife is probably used to the controls and it just feels right.

My favorite was a Gravely garden tractor with the hand clutch and a 23hp Vanguard upgrade. All heavy gear construction.
Mechanically simple. Dry exterior clutches. Only a few minutes to replace
the clutch pads. A pretty unique design. Where else can you replace your clutches on anything in under five minutes?...
And they were very durable. Close friend of mine locally has it, for good, and uses it on his parent's farm in NJ.
I grew up with a hand clutch John Deere B tractor so having a hand clutch on my mower was like old times.

Turns out more modern machinery like JD 3 series lawn tractors and above really do mow better, and then of course ZT's came in and the whole market changed.
But that Gravely will start in under a second I bet when I next see it. Keep oil in the engine and trans and it will run forever. Like most older tractors.

My memory was a full size Craftsman garden tractor in the 70s was one of the stars in the neighbor grass wars.
Wheel Horse made equally nice looking machinery, like you would graduate up in reds to a Case IH...
And of course JD had its lineup.
It's about time the big names start coming up with plug in electric power.

feet up, I'm done. Potatoes planted in bags and in the dirt.
Been busy most of day and it has caught up with me.

Roy hope you are feeling ok

 

[toppop52]

Good afternoon! 38 now. Just had an odd mix of rain/sleet/snow. Seems to be over. Winter just doesn’t want to let go.

Had a phone meeting with a financial advisor from my 401k underwriter. He has the same opinion of our retirement finances as our local guy, maybe even a bit more optimistic. Gave me some options with the 401k I need to think about.

So my day is running a bit behind due to the call. Need to make one more upper radiator bracket for the race bike. Other than length, I can’t rely on hole locations of the first one since many things seem to be custom located. Or in simpler English, poorly done, trust nothing. But I did have a mental breakthrough on the lower bracket. It will be much simpler to make.

Started a fire since it is gonna be cool this evening. Gonna have to split a trailer load of wood I have sitting if this weather keeps going.

Seems my wife has been given another Craftsman GT3000 garden tractor. She likes mowing, but only with those old GT series tractors. And I get to keep them running. This one is a 6 speed and needs TLC.

Everyone stay safe out there!

Those are good old tractors, I had a GT5000 with a 26 hp engine and hydro transmission. I put a Johnny bucket on it and beat the crap out of it for two years when I first built the house. I used it like a bulldozer, the only problem with it was the poor steering sector, had to repair that.

 

[toppop52]

Looks like rain tonight, then a cool weekend, before a beautiful week next week.
My vision is greatly improved and I’m looking forward to getting the other eye done. Everything is so clear and colors are very sharp. I thought my socks had turned gray, but they are perfectly white. I do have the sand in the eye feeling which I understand to be normal. It seems better this afternoon. My current glasses will need replacement though.

 

[Engineer42]

Takes a couple days for that sandy feeling to go away Randy. Are you on drops for another week?

 

[txdon]

Wife’s knife project completed. The neighbors router bit in his drill press and the wood shop’s isolating sander made quick work of it.

 

[toppop52]

Takes a couple days for that sandy feeling to go away Randy. Are you on drops for another week?

Yes I am.

 

[Looking4new]

Eye appointments all done. Mine haven't changed much in the past 3 years, (I got them done before alligatoritus struck up here and we got sent to house arrest). I have a new pair of lenses coming anyway for the frames I've had for the past 5 years. Hardex lenses with photo gray extra tint and bifocal...$544.60. We were supposed to go to the truck stop for supper but the DIL decided to cancel her appointment (as usual) so I opted for A&W Habanero (sp) chicken burgers and root beer to go.

On the trip back down through off and on rain showers was cruising at 70 mph and as I passed a fellow traveller he seemed to take offence at the fact that I was passing him so he sped up. He chickened out at 90 mph. I slowed back down to 70. That is the only thing that happened on the trip.

PJ have you tired tirerack.com? They advertise tires right down to 10" diameter. Click on 'shop by tire'.

 

[sodamo]

68°F and .48 inches rain and it’s almost 1pm.
Yesterday went well, but I was pretty useless after. Couldn’t use my existing glasses over the eye patch so distant things pretty much out of focus and reading/typing a non starter. A bit envious that Randy was able to enjoy vision a clear protector.

Good report at 1st followup today. Combined distant vision actually better without glasses and doing quite well with old pair of readers for close. Next followup next Fri and left eye scheduled for 5/10. Light duty for next week and I wont push.

Hope Randy and all others doing well.

 

[Popgadget]

My favorite was a Gravely garden tractor with the hand clutch and a 23hp Vanguard upgrade. All heavy gear construction.
Mechanically simple. Dry exterior clutches. Only a few minutes to replace
the clutch pads. A pretty unique design. Where else can you replace your clutches on anything in under five minutes?...
And they were very durable. Close friend of mine locally has it, for good, and uses it on his parent's farm

I’ve had many Gravely “convertible” walk behind tractors over the years. My first couple used Gravely’s own engine, later ones were Kohler powered. My last one was Kohler powered originally, but I put a 13 Hp Honda on it. That required disassembling the Honda and machining the crankshaft to accept the Gravely drive gear. Also had to fabricate an exhaust. That was at least 20 years ago and my son still has it along a a batch of implements and attachments.

 

[sodamo]

Glad you are done Toppop Sodamo hope procedure goes well

Thanks and hope you are on the mend.

 

[Engineer42]

Yes I am.

Follow the docs directions and all will be good. I had the surgery last may, both eyes, two weeks apart. Had a few extra after visits for the right eye. It was holding at a higher pressure, but finally settled down, but all in all trouble free. Wore contacts or glasses for 43 years. Great results, 20/20 both eyes supposedly, but do need readers for extended close stuff.

David, glad to hear your surgery went well also.