Good morning!!!!

[toppop52]

Another day of gusty winds and cool temps, not much rain here. Of 20 days in May, 17 have been windy and 16 below normal temps.

Wish we could hear from Drew. I may try to call or text him later.

You guys in southwest Va. be safe in the flooding.

Prayers.

 

[wngsprd]

wngsprd in my ignorance where are those mountains?
/QUOTE]

In Amherst County, east of Buena Vista and Vesuvius. It's a great overall area - also has Crabtree Falls, Montebello Fish Hatchery, apple orchards, and good fly fishing...and wineries, breweries and a distillery towards Charlottesville.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 52F @ 5:30AM. Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 76F. Winds light and variable.
Was hoping for cooler weather in the 10-day, but Wednesday and Thursday next week are still calling for 100F temps. But anything over 95F is miserable, and that starts on Monday.:hissyfit:

I didn't notice what irregularities are monitored by the inverter, Ron, but there sure are a whole pile of error codes it can produce. It does check for an AC power signal "within spec", and will not connect to it if it's out. That goes for grid power, too. And I remember something in the generator docs that said it would turn itself off if it detects irregularities as well. And more error codes.:confused2:

Thanks for the feedback on the Piranha, Rick. That's the name I remember most from TBN research I did a few years ago, but a google search also told me that EA was making one. Their website only lists a 72" edge, and I need something like 85" for the M62, so a phone call is in order. I need to talk to them anyway to let them know what size hydraulic couplers to put on the grapple I ordered. The bucket on the M62 already has a smooth bar on it, and it's drilled every 7" or so. I'll probably need to turn the bucket over and take the bar off for measurements if EA is willing to make a one-off for me. They sure make a big deal of the steel they use, but I haven't looked at the specs for it yet so see if their claims hold water. The bucket on the old tractor didn't have a bar on it, and its smooth lip wouldn't dig worth a darn. The one on the M62 is better, but it's got a whole lot more weight behind it, too.

Thanks for the heads up on Optics RE, David. Looks a lot more capable than the web interface described in the MATE3 docs. But does the Optics RE software run on the MATE3, or is it cloud based? With the slow and somewhat unreliable internet situation here, I'm pretty reluctant to rely on any Cloud based technology. A good example of that is Apple's Siri, which gets a frontal lobotomy every time the 'net goes down.

Is the Creature From The Black Lagoon leaving muddy footprints on your driveway, Buppies?:shocked::laughing:

Wish the MIAs would report in...

That sounds like a pretty ambitious project, RS. :shocked:
Wouldn't you also get some slop from the hydraulic hoses expanding as the bucket hits the bottom of its bounce? And since they act like springs, the bucket gets a little boost up, exaggerating the bounce even more. There's a link in my sig below to the thread where I described the pin/bushing fiasco. Kinda hurts to re-read it.:banghead:

Speaking of hurt, I picked up the old tractor from the Kubota dealer yesterday. Turns out they didn't just fix the leak on one side, they did it on BOTH sides. No wonder they tagged me for almost five grand. And the cracks they found on the wheel hubs extend out from the studs that hold the wheel on. Yet another example of how under designed that tractor is. Had to drive it through a huge mud puddle to get the tractor on the trailer, and the wind behind the truck splattered mud all over the tailgate and back window on the way home. That's what I get for cleaning the window earlier at the gas station.

But before I left the Kubota dealer, I ran into the counter guy that was letting me haul away the steel shipping pallets for their RTVs, and he had another load ready to go. Since I already had the trailer on, I just doubled back after lunch and picked those up, too. It was really nice to be able to take all seven off in one pick with the new tractor. But that much weight also made it pretty tippy. As I backed up an off camber trail to where I store the pallets, the uphill rear wheel broke traction and the tractor stopped moving. The inclinometer said it was only 10° off grade, but the downhill side of the FEL had more weight on it because the fork pockets on the pallets are offset to one side. I put the tractor in 4WD and revised the route to minimize the side hill, but still went VERY slowly to get where I needed to go. I'm thinking more and more about widening the rear wheel track, but then I look at the little bolt circle and wimpy output flanges where the wheels bolt on, and wonder how long it would take to break something on the new tractor, too.:irked:

The box from Messick's I got Monday had a new air filter housing and ignition switch in it, so I put those on after I returned the trailer to my neighbor. When I took the cover off the instrument panel, I found a fist sized mud dauber nest around some of the wires, and a thick coating of that fiberglass laden dust. And one of the hose clamps on the air filter housing was badly corroded. I didn't have a replacement "in stock", so I wire brushed off the rust and gave it a coat of Rustoleum. Sure makes me wonder about the past life of this tractor!

If the grass is dry enough this morning, I'll get a start on mowing. Guess it's time to find out just how tippy this new tractor is.

Happy Hump Day, folks!

 

[ronjhall]

Ron .. assuming the dam failures are way north of you! Prayers for all effected.

Prayers to all.

Dams are about 100 miles north of me. Midland elevation is 640’. My place is at 980’. Not to much worry about flooding me. Tittabawassee River feeds into the Saginaw River which has larger cities of Saginaw and Bay City before feeding into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. Sure hope everyone stays safe.

 

[Bird]

Some of the posts about the bicycles you've had (or still have) reminds me of my one and only bicycle when I was growing up. I got that bicycle for Christmas when I was 7 or 8 years old. I assumed it was brand new, but learned in later years that my Dad's boss had given it to Dad because his own sons had grown up and no longer used it. My Dad had painted it before giving it to me that Christmas. It apparently was one of a kind because I've never seen even a similar bicycle. The bars going from just below the fork, back under the seat were parallel instead of one over the other. That certainly made it more comfortable for anyone being carried in front of the rider. It was also heavier than any of the bikes others had, and probably a lot stronger. I crashed once and destroyed the front wheel, but it was a standard 26" bike wheel. And another time I crashed and bent the handle bars severely enough that I replaced them. And the chain was longer than any other bicycles of that time. When I replaced it, I had to use master links to splice in to make it long enough. My only complaint with it was when I was racing friends and my bike was so much heavier than everyone else's that it was a disadvantage when racing.

It just might have been the toughest bicycle of its time. I used it until I got a drivers license (8 or 9 years), then my youngest brother used it until he got a drivers license (another 9 years). And he finally sold it. I've always wished I knew what brand it was and where it came from because I've never seen another one like it, but of course if it had a name on it, I reckon Dad painted over it before I got it.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning to all! Low of 52, going for a high of 84 today. Cooling down to the mid 70s by the weekend. Unfortunately, no rain.

Sad to see the flooding on the news. Too bad there is not a national aqueduct system to relieve heavy areas of rain and disperse it out to the areas needing water.

Hope Drew is doing ok

Hope Jay did not get in trouble with his Covid19 headgear....

Today will entail some site prep for the new shed. We decided to put some gravel down on the area. (WOOHOO! more gravel). I only think a couple tons (tonnes for Eric) , so just going to get it with my trailer.

Noticed the step on the tractor seemed to be loose yesterday. Pulled it over to the shop to tighten up the bolts.... all tight....mmmmm
Crawled underneath, saw a stress crack starting at a bend in the floorboard. The step puts a load on the front edge, equal distance from a bolt to the crack causing a pivoting movement. Poor design, but this is the updated / redesigned version of an even poorer design! It is covered under warranty, more of a nuisance problem, but should not be a problem to begin with. This area will get some reinforcements after being replaced.

Everyone have a great day!

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Noticed the step on the tractor seemed to be loose yesterday. Pulled it over to the shop to tighten up the bolts.... all tight....mmmmm
Crawled underneath, saw a stress crack starting at a bend in the floorboard. The step puts a load on the front edge, equal distance from a bolt to the crack causing a pivoting movement. Poor design, but this is the updated / redesigned version of an even poorer design! It is covered under warranty, more of a nuisance problem, but should not be a problem to begin with. This area will get some reinforcements after being replaced.

Maybe the guy that designed the Kubota L3240 now works at LS?:shocked::laughing:

 

[PJSprog]

61°F and cloudy this morning, going up to 67° today. Only a very light mist falling this morning in some areas.

Walked the garbage can down to the road after dinner last night, and grabbed the mail while I was down there. Started raining as I was walking back up to the house, which pretty much squashed my outside plans for the evening.

Didn't sleep well at all last night. That 05:00 alarm came way too early today.

The Ratchet Rake was not designed to dig. It gets in its own way for that. It's great for spreading, leveling, or raking, though.

Mostly_, there was zero rust on my Gitane when I bought it. After I hadn't ridden it for a couple of years, I gave it to a younger cousin. No idea what ever happened to that bike.

Fantastic sunrise pic, Ron.

 

[toppop52]

Some of the posts about the bicycles you've had (or still have) reminds me of my one and only bicycle when I was growing up. I got that bicycle for Christmas when I was 7 or 8 years old. I assumed it was brand new, but learned in later years that my Dad's boss had given it to Dad because his own sons had grown up and no longer used it. My Dad had painted it before giving it to me that Christmas. It apparently was one of a kind because I've never seen even a similar bicycle. The bars going from just below the fork, back under the seat were parallel instead of one over the other. That certainly made it more comfortable for anyone being carried in front of the rider. It was also heavier than any of the bikes others had, and probably a lot stronger. I crashed once and destroyed the front wheel, but it was a standard 26" bike wheel. And another time I crashed and bent the handle bars severely enough that I replaced them. And the chain was longer than any other bicycles of that time. When I replaced it, I had to use master links to splice in to make it long enough. My only complaint with it was when I was racing friends and my bike was so much heavier than everyone else's that it was a disadvantage when racing.

It just might have been the toughest bicycle of its time. I used it until I got a drivers license (8 or 9 years), then my youngest brother used it until he got a drivers license (another 9 years). And he finally sold it. I've always wished I knew what brand it was and where it came from because I've never seen another one like it, but of course if it had a name on it, I reckon Dad painted over it before I got it.

Sounds like your dad wanted to give you the best Christmas he could afford. Great story.

 

[rswyan]

57F and mostly cloudy overall @ 10:00 ... but I can see some blue sky and the sun is poking through right now. Supposedly a slight chance of rain around 11:00.

Spend some time this morning doing a little more tank maintenance here at the house then up to the shop to work a little more on clean up there.

May get another birdhouse put out ... if I can locate the adapter for the pole ...