Good morning!!!!

[KilroyJC]

15 going to 36.

Rested up yesterday, and focused on paperwork, and some 007.

Kilroy, enjoy that hike!

We did, Mrs was quite sore afyer, and is still abed. I managed to get a blister on my right big to, drained it twice alreasy. NYried out some new “high-performance” hiking socks - gonna stick with my traditional WigWam RaggWool socks…

8.2 mile round trip hike. When Mrs gets up I will have her send me the photos from her phone and post one or two

 

[KilroyJC]

Thomas, you know it is cold out when even the beavers have their furnace running.

Kilroy, that is the first time I have ever heard of Ontario having a 'dry' cold. We had dry cold when I was in the west, Alberta. Ontario was always looked at as a humid Province compared to Alberta.
At 2 A.M. it was -25, now it is minus 12°F. and snowing. Another 4" they claim.

I didn’t think the air would hold any humidity once it got down that low…

but really, I was just spoofing all the “But it’s a dry heat” comments

 

[KilroyJC]

I need a long manual pole saw for Mom's yard. Any recommendations?

I have this one, but I bought it from our local chainsaw shop and it works quite well. It is lighter and longer than the 60-year-old Craftsman pole saw I had been using (but doesn’t have that handy limb-looper part):

Notch Sentei Pole Saws

Lightweight pole saws for quickly moving around and making low-hanging cuts. All models feature Silky’s aggressive yet smooth cutting blades with protective scabbards, rigid aluminum construction and improved cam collar locks with rib lock protection. Abrasion-resistant, low-profile grip for...

www.forestry-suppliers.com

 

[KilroyJC]

31 going to 54. Should be a nice day.

The more of those Texas ice storm pix I see, the worse that storm looks.

Yesterday, I cut up a tall 13" cherry tree that broke off about 20 feet high from our wet snow/ice storm last year. It fell about 10 feet from an old fox den that 4 skunks have taken up in this year (based on trail cam pix). So, I put it off, but with half of it on the ground, I needed to gather it for firewood before it rots. So, nervously, I'm parking the tractor about 8 feet from the entrance hole, and walking back and forth with rounds, hoping the noises would keep them underground. They were very cooperative, so I left them a couple of apple cores and too ripe raspberries for treats.

I tried to use the frozen ground as a good time to move a pallet of wood up to the porch, but the sun had already thawed it, even though the temp was still below freezing.

Nice job on the water heater, BEF.

Kilroy, hope you had a good hike. I looked up Rabun Bald...looks like a nice mountain.

It was a good day for a hike, chilly enough to keep the scarf on most of the way, warm enough by time we got to the top that the break was comfortable.

A good workout, too. And I have been informed that I need to install chest straps on Mrs day pack - the left shoulder strap keep slipping on her all the way down and she was rather annoyed by it. I had to stop at the first fast station and buy her a coffee to make it better…

 

[KilroyJC]

Good Morning!

God has given us another chance to get it right (or at least not screw up too badly).

Running late for church - will check back sometime later!

 

[m7040]

Good morning, 29 this morning going to close to 50 today.

Don, let us know how that pole saw is working out for you. When the utility tree cutters were here last year they used manual pole saws with fiberglass extensions to reach up fairly high. My Stihl pole saw works great but it is heavy and it caused the strain on my right shoulder that does not seem to recover. Changed to left hand for anything even slightly heavy to give it a change to heal up. The Stihl backpack bracket is my friend if I need to use it.

Worked on clearing up in the basement yesterday for access to do the electrical run for the mini split. The aux electrical panel is in and ready to accept new breakers. Also will install whole house surge protector as part of the changes.

 

[IXLR8]

Morning all a cold -14F or -25.55C at 8AM this morning.
Not a lot planned for this morning one of my grand daughters coming for the day while her parents have a night out.
Interesting fuel sample pictures;
yesterdays at 5F,
View attachment 782288

this mornings at -14F,
View attachment 782289
definitely some paraffin particles floating around, looks to me like it would be a filter plugging product.
My tractors don't have to run today fortunately, this was #2 fuel with a double dose of Power Serve in the white bottle.
Fortunately the two diesels that have to run today to feed cows had kerosene added to their tanks Wednesday to make them 50/50 treated #2 and kerosene (#1). They started this morning and have been going for about an hour so far today, no phone calls so all going good at this point.
It confirms to me that a blended fuel is necessary below zero even with additives.

Hope everyone has a good day and stays safe and that their tractor run good.

Lou- Here is a video that might be of interest to you.

 

[Thomas]

Balmy 14F...30 degrees warmer than yesterday morning...low 30's for high cloudy day.

Outside chores done E muffin time.
Plans for today...couple plus wheel barrow loads wood in basement,town for critter food and goodies...afternoon plug in Kubota heater maybe hook up battery charger bring Bota to life for it's been setting 10 days,other than that putter.

Enjoy your day all.

 

[Popgadget]

Good Morning
I let the Tempest display tell the story-

Yesterday day Zoe and I started the day with a trip to the post office, where the postmistress has been asking to meet her. She stood up and put her paws on the counter just missing the service bell. So the postmistress moved the bell and had her try to ring it. You would say it was a dog friendly post office.

Next we went to daughter’s to sort out the heat. The first rule of troubleshooting is to look at the last thing that you touched. That proved to be accurate this time. When I installed the new Wi-Fi thermostat, I had a bit of a brain fart and connected the white (heat) wire to the “w” terminal rather than the “aux” terminal. The result was that when configured for a heat pump with backup heat, the aux terminal was the one that got energized, not the w terminal, which isn’t used for a heat pump. Once it was connected where it should have been it worked fine. So we learned that when it is 7 degrees out the heat pump will only get the house to 55 without help, and that reading instructions is rarely a bad idea. I knew better, but they might have reminded me.
Daughters dogs wore Zoe out, she was ready for a nap when we got home.

I went over to the shop and narrowed the shoulders on the 3PT pins on the Subsoiler so it would fit on the quick hitch. Lathe made short work of it.

Swapped the snow plow for a loader bucket to push the manure pile higher and deeper to make room for the constant supply of fresh stuff. The frozen ground remained unscarred.

A few more random chores and it was time to snuggle up under the covers.
Not sure what’s up for today, something always pops up, maybe a trip to Quakertown for Gyros at lunch time.

 

[txdon]

I have this one, but I bought it from our local chainsaw shop and it works quite well. It is lighter and longer than the 60-year-old Craftsman pole saw I had been using (but doesn’t have that handy limb-looper part):

Notch Sentei Pole Saws

Lightweight pole saws for quickly moving around and making low-hanging cuts. All models feature Silky’s aggressive yet smooth cutting blades with protective scabbards, rigid aluminum construction and improved cam collar locks with rib lock protection. Abrasion-resistant, low-profile grip for...

www.forestry-suppliers.com

That's almost exactly the one I'm getting except $100 less - telescopic oval aluminum, 7.8 lbs, double hook blade. I did not even look locally, I was sure the shelves would be empty as I was about 3 days late.

Good morning, 34˚F, south wind, fog now but sunny this afternoon reaching 70˚.

 

[wngsprd]

Kilroy, looking forward to your pix.

Went out at sunrise to move another pallet of firewood while the ground was still frozen, this time.

 

[rswyan]

36F and clear @ 08:45, heading up to around 46F for the high today. Clouding up later today with a chance of a (rain) shower.

Refilled hopper feeder early yesterday plus scattered cracked corn for the ground feeders, that put the sunflower hearts down to the critical level, necessitating a trip to Menards later. Local crew seemed appreciative after the recent cold temps:

Got some more clean up/organizing done out in the garage.

Cleared off the table saw and starting ripping some plywood for a rack for F clamps. Got that built, just need to hang it up on the wall.

Also ripped the two long pieces for the portable downdraft sanding table.

Ended up getting lots of sawdust in my eyes which was very annoying.

Checked diameter of 12-2 romex inside 3/4 PVC conduit ... yup ... it will fit ...

And it looks like I have enough conduit here (two 10' sections will cover it) ... so all I need is a LB, a couple of 2-gang boxes, outlets, and cover plates.

Cleaned up the last of the enchilada's for lunch, Woman had the Mexican rice which I didn't care for and some refrieds (which were very good)

Headed out for Menards around 16:00 or so, trip went fairly well ... sorta, kinda ...

Order I had placed earlier was all ready, ended up finding a small (24W x 48H x 12D) set of cheap resin shelves which they had for like 50% off the regular price (final cost $15 after $9 mail which will fit nicely on the tall workbench on the west wall, just beyond where the pegboard ends. Will be good for storing various power hand tools. So I added that to the order along with some cat litter.

Plan was to return the casters for the woodworking bench (and another item that was the wrong thing) to cover the cost of the materials for making the the router table top.

I had picked these casters up about a month ago and wasn't really unhappy with them but I ended up finding some similar casters on Amazon (several different ones actually) that had good reviews and were about 1/3 the cost. Blue one is Menards caster and the red one is from Amazon:

​

Both products of the PRC, Amazon caster has a slightly narrower mounting plate (which I actually prefer), brake pedal is cast on the one vs stamped steel, similar quality I'd say ... except for one thing I noticed: the Menards bearings sounded dry when the wheel was spun and the Amazon was quiet (well-lubed) and spun effortlessly.

So the Menards ones were returned.

After that we proceeded to gather up the materials for the router table top: two 2 x 4 sheets of 3/4 MDF, a quart of Weldwood contact cement, and a 30 x 48 piece of laminate for the top. The laminate color I wanted (basalt slate) they only had one sheet of and it had about a 6" tear in it in the wrong place that would have prevented getting a full 24 x 48 piece for the table top. So I settled on another color.

As we were exiting that area we happened to notice that they had solid hardwood (Baltic Birch) countertops in three different sizes which are on sale through today. Including one which was 25 x 48 (and 1 1/2 thick):

We got caught up in admiring the beauty and apparent quality of of the product for a bit and then proceeded up front to pay for the stuff we had on the cart.

Can you see where this is headed ?

Paid for our items - including a set of nice 3M Pro goggles to keep the sawdust our of my eyes and some Danish oil - and then headed back to order pick up and loaded up the car and headed home.

Something was nagging at me before we got out of the lot and by the time we hit the on ramp for I-76 I told The Woman: "I think I have buyers remorse ..."

Two sheets of 3/4 MDF - $30
Sheet of laminate - $13 (which actually wasn't the one I wanted)
Quart of contact cement - $20
Total - $63

Plus the wood glue to laminate the sheets of MDF, sealer, + my time, effort, and labor.

vs.

Premade 25 x 48 x 1 1/2 solid Baltic Birch butcher block countertop - $99 on sale.

Pretty sure that it's almost a no-brainer.

Woman seemed to be onboard, as She doesn't like it when I compromise and settle for something less. All She had to say was: "Well, sometimes this is what it takes: just going and looking and seeing what is available ..."



... so it looks like I'll be making a trip up there sometime later today to return the MDF, laminate, and contact cement for the butcher block.



Time to fire up the torpedo heater and get to work.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday ...

 

[m7040]

36F and clear @ 08:45, heading up to around 46F for the high today. Clouding up later today with a chance of a (rain) shower.

Refilled hopper feeder early yesterday plus scattered cracked corn for the ground feeders, that put the sunflower hearts down to the critical level, necessitating a trip to Menards later. Local crew seemed appreciative after the recent cold temps:

View attachment 782469​

Got some more clean up/organizing done out in the garage.

Cleared off the table saw and starting ripping some plywood for a rack for F clamps. Got that built, just need to hang it up on the wall.

Also ripped the two long pieces for the portable downdraft sanding table.

Ended up getting lots of sawdust in my eyes which was very annoying.

Checked diameter of 12-2 romex inside 3/4 PVC conduit ... yup ... it will fit ...

And it looks like I have enough conduit here (two 10' sections will cover it) ... so all I need is a LB, a couple of 2-gang boxes, outlets, and cover plates.

Cleaned up the last of the enchilada's for lunch, Woman had the Mexican rice which I didn't care for and some refrieds (which were very good)

Headed out for Menards around 16:00 or so, trip went fairly well ... sorta, kinda ...

Order I had placed earlier was all ready, ended up finding a small (24W x 48H x 12D) set of cheap resin shelves which they had for like 50% off the regular price (final cost $15 after $9 mail which will fit nicely on the tall workbench on the west wall, just beyond where the pegboard ends. Will be good for storing various power hand tools. So I added that to the order along with some cat litter.

Plan was to return the casters for the woodworking bench (and another item that was the wrong thing) to cover the cost of the materials for making the the router table top.

I had picked these casters up about a month ago and wasn't really unhappy with them but I ended up finding some similar casters on Amazon (several different ones actually) that had good reviews and were about 1/3 the cost. Blue one is Menards caster and the red one is from Amazon:

View attachment 782465
​

Both products of the PRC, Amazon caster has a slightly narrower mounting plate (which I actually prefer), brake pedal is cast on the one vs stamped steel, similar quality I'd say ... except for one thing I noticed: the Menards bearings sounded dry when the wheel was spun and the Amazon was quiet (well-lubed) and spun effortlessly.

So the Menards ones were returned.

After that we proceeded to gather up the materials for the router table top: two 2 x 4 sheets of 3/4 MDF, a quart of Weldwood contact cement, and a 30 x 48 piece of laminate for the top. The laminate color I wanted (basalt slate) they only had one sheet of and it had about a 6" tear in it in the wrong place that would have prevented getting a full 24 x 48 piece for the table top. So I settled on another color.

As we were exiting that area we happened to notice that they had solid hardwood (Baltic Birch) countertops in three different sizes which are on sale through today. Including one which was 25 x 48 (and 1 1/2 thick):

View attachment 782470​

We got caught up in admiring the beauty and apparent quality of of the product for a bit and then proceeded up front to pay for the stuff we had on the cart.

Can you see where this is headed ?

Paid for our items - including a set of nice 3M Pro goggles to keep the sawdust our of my eyes and some Danish oil - and then headed back to order pick up and loaded up the car and headed home.

Something was nagging at me before we got out of the lot and by the time we hit the on ramp for I-76 I told The Woman: "I think I have buyers remorse ..."

Two sheets of 3/4 MDF - $30
Sheet of laminate - $13 (which actually wasn't the one I wanted)
Quart of contact cement - $20
Total - $63

Plus the wood glue to laminate the sheets of MDF, sealer, + my time, effort, and labor.

vs.

Premade 25 x 48 x 1 1/2 solid Baltic Birch butcher block countertop - $99 on sale.

Pretty sure that it's almost a no-brainer.

Woman seemed to be onboard, as She doesn't like it when I compromise and settle for something less. All She had to say was: "Well, sometimes this is what it takes: just going and looking and seeing what is available ..."



... so it looks like I'll be making a trip up there sometime later today to return the MDF, laminate, and contact cement for the butcher block.



Time to fire up the torpedo heater and get to work.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday ...

If you were closer you could get some of my Maple butcher block countertops. I still have several left over from an auction. Used several ranging from 10 ft to 6 ft long for work benches.

 

[Buppies]

That’s a mess mostly, wish I was closer I would help

Never rode on a train that long

Have an old stihl pole saw 14 foot I believe granddaddy bought it so it’s old but still works

rswyan don’t you hate when that happens

Really like the look of maple butcher block

Thinking of down sizing vehicles looked at yesterday. I need a bigger bank

Glad the cold did not get you Thomas, hope back feels better PJ, prayers for all silent or spoken

 

[m7040]

This is similar to the biggest butcher block that I got at the auction. It is now in the 14 by 24 ft building at the end wall. I was able to get about 10 of them of different sizes from a closed out aircraft electronics factory. End of auction no one was bidding on left overs and got it essentially for nothing along with a bunch of shelves, cabinets electrical wire and much more.

Global Industrial Workbench Top, Boos Maple Butcher Block Square Edge, 120"Wx36"Dx1-3/4" Thick

Global Industrial Workbench Top, Boos Maple Butcher Block Square Edge, 120"Wx36"Dx1-3/4" Thick. Ships in One Business Day. Buy it and Save at Globalindustrial.com

www.globalindustrial.com

 

[kenmbz]

Morning all, 39 going up to 48 and partly sunny.

Seems we may be having not 1 but 2 bands here today for practice.
Spent the morning so far cleaning tools and space (again) in the garage.
Son is playing in one band and hoping this becomes the band he sticks with for a while.

Neighbors will get serenaded..sure it will be load so we told them the engagement will be limited.

Son cooked dinner last night, some melted plastic etc. Didn't need to use fire extinguisher, so all good

I have a fiskars pole saw, had it long enough and used it enough that it's on it's second blade. Not as nice a blade as many more expensive saws, but it works and I don't mind abusing it a bit at $16 per blade. Undercut about 6" and/or remove branch further out to allow closer/cleaner cut on the trunk.

Have to check the new gamecam at some point, here's one from the old gamecam:

 

[Buppies]

Nice buck ken

 

[sodamo]

67°F and .48 inches rain

Gorgeous moon this morning

Off to HD this morning to get a bag of grout for my laundry room tile. Aim to get that grouted and cleaned up today. No plans for anything else.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[Buppies]

Very good picture Sodamo

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning to all! Low of 30°, going up to 54°, sunny, no precip, but will be moderately breezy this afternoon.

Well, I thought for sure that I would get through another winter without getting sick.... it's been 4 years since getting any kind of a cold. Started with a runny nose the last couple of days. Last night after dinner it hit me... body aches, barking cough, stuffed sinuses. Oh well......

Woke up a few times last night, then early this morning, but rolled over twice for a couple of power naps. Still feel like dirt....

Dropped the edge tamers off at the TBN neighbor. They fit perfectly. Mission accomplished!

Definitely won't be doing much of anything today except keeping the couch and / or bed in place.....

Running out of steam already....

Everyone have a great day!