At Home In The Woods

[Obed]

We started laying deck boards at the side of the porch farthest away from the house. We tacked up some cardboard on the posts to provide some shade. We are using the Trex hidden fasteners. After fastening down a few boards, we started getting a system. However, using the hidden fasters is noticeably slower than just screwing screws through the boards. When my wife was no longer able to help, I jammed a 2x in the ~2 ft gap to push the boards tight together while fastening them down. We have fastened down about half of the boards on the porch so far.

 

[tony Cecil]

I made a mistake ---it is Benadryl--not demaril.....I tell you the hair dryer worked as the poster said....I sure do not understand, and I too use ice or an onion...Believe me the hair dryer worked...and the Benadryl took the swelling right down....Keep that in mind for the future..... Tony

 

[dstig1]

dstig1, thanks for the suggestion. I obviously took it into consideration. It's been so long since that discussion that I didn't remember where I got the idea. And of course, after a long enough time, I'm capable of claiming credit for any good idea someone else made!

I've allowed for a 1/4" gap. The posts have been sitting in our garage for over a year and a half so I'm hoping most of the twisting has already occurred. Certainly a 1/4" gap will be enough at this stage.

BTW, did I mention how much I dislike working with pressure treated wood? PT wood bows and twists terribly and puts splinters in tender computer geek office conditioned hands like mine. And the PT chemicals don't even resist carpenter bees.

Obed

Happy to help. That's why we're here! :thumbsup: The gap around the posts should be OK, given what you said.

Oh and you forgot haw dang heavy PT wood is. One more to add to your list...

 

[Obed]

My wife put some powdered fire ant poison into the carpenter bee holes. She taped a straw to rubber bulb used for sucking the junk out of baby's noses. Her homemade applicator worked well putting the ant poison into the carpenter bee holes. We are seeing fewer carpenter bees but they are still not all gone.

 

[Obed]

My wife harvested some basil out of her herb garned and hung it up in the bathroom to dry.

 

[Obed]

My tractor isn't running.

I suspect the problem is water in the fuel. The hose that drains water from around the fuel cap clogged up and water was collecting around the fuel cap. Yesterday I used our air compressor (a recent CL purchase) to blow out the drain line which cleared the drain clog.

I then emptied the bowl that contains the fuel filter. The contents of the bowl looked like it had a lot of water. I also drained some of the fuel from the fuel tank by opening the red drain valve shown in the picture. I drained the fuel tank until the fuel looked clear. There was noticeable in sediment when I first started draining the tank.

When I put the fuel filter bowl back on and opened the fuel valve, fuel did not fill up the bowl. Last time I did this operation, opening the valve resulted in fuel filling up the bowl without needing to crank the engine first. This time, fuel did not fill the bowl until I cranked the engine. However, the tractor did not start and the not fully charged battery ran out of juice.

I'm regretting now that I tried to start the tractor with the fuel filter bowl empty. I'm wondering if I sucked air into the fuel lines and now have an air lock. I could have manually filled the fuel filter bowl with diesel before reattaching the bowl. Doing so would have potentially resulted in less air in the lines. Of course, I'm still wondering why the fuel filter bowl did not gravity drain fill up by just opening the fuel valve.

The fuel filter is obviously dirty and needs replacing. I'm going to order a new filter, charge up the battery, and try again.

Our excavating contractor had trouble starting his track loader after he replaced his fuel filter. He said he got air in the lines. He fixed it by unattaching the fuel line to each cylander and getting the air out of each line.

I'm hoping that a charged battery and a new fuel filter will take care of my issue.

 

[Obed]

I worked more on the porch Saturday. I'm fighting a sinus infection but was thankful I was in good enough shape able to put in a full day (including trying to start the tractor). I cut off the ends of a few of the boards that were about an inch too long. I spent a good bit of time measuring, cutting, and installing the picture frame boards along the edge of the porch.

Figuring out how to attach the picture frame boards was a puzzle. We ended up toe-nail screwing the boards to the outside of the rim joists. To attach the side of the boards on the inside edge of the boards, we screwed some aluminum plates to the picture frame boards and slide these plates under the ends of perpendicular deck boards. The end result was a fairly solid picture frame board installation without any hardware (screws, nails, etc.) showing from above.

I added a few more deck boards and called it a day.

 

[PAGUY]

Obed - Problems with water is a god reason to have a shelter for your tractor.

I keep mine in a garage I added to the side of the main garage. It houses my two tractors and snow blower and push mower. My hand tools, ladders, weedwackers and chain saws are all in this garage. Another garage houses extra implements not in use during different seasons.

This garage gives me the opportunity to keep trickle chargers on batteries, storage shelfs for oil and additives for all the equipment.

Here I go again spending your money on suggestions to improve your quality of life.

 

[clemsonfor]

My tractor isn't running.

I suspect the problem is water in the fuel. The hose that drains water from around the fuel cap clogged up and water was collecting around the fuel cap. Yesterday I used our air compressor (a recent CL purchase) to blow out the drain line which cleared the drain clog.

I then emptied the bowl that contains the fuel filter. The contents of the bowl looked like it had a lot of water. I also drained some of the fuel from the fuel tank by opening the red drain valve shown in the picture. I drained the fuel tank until the fuel looked clear. There was noticeable in sediment when I first started draining the tank.

When I put the fuel filter bowl back on and opened the fuel valve, fuel did not fill up the bowl. Last time I did this operation, opening the valve resulted in fuel filling up the bowl without needing to crank the engine first. This time, fuel did not fill the bowl until I cranked the engine. However, the tractor did not start and the not fully charged battery ran out of juice.

I'm regretting now that I tried to start the tractor with the fuel filter bowl empty. I'm wondering if I sucked air into the fuel lines and now have an air lock. I could have manually filled the fuel filter bowl with diesel before reattaching the bowl. Doing so would have potentially resulted in less air in the lines. Of course, I'm still wondering why the fuel filter bowl did not gravity drain fill up by just opening the fuel valve.

The fuel filter is obviously dirty and needs replacing. I'm going to order a new filter, charge up the battery, and try again.

Our excavating contractor had trouble starting his track loader after he replaced his fuel filter. He said he got air in the lines. He fixed it by unattaching the fuel line to each cylander and getting the air out of each line.

I'm hoping that a charged battery and a new fuel filter will take care of my issue.

Yea if that bowl is not full, full it with deisel from a can. Then crack the line at each injector and crank for several seconds then tighten them. doing one at a time. This is if you have no other bleeder screw and such. Also a full tank is better for messing with the filters as there is more weight on the fuel to let gravity force the air out of the bowl. You should replace your filters yearly anyway.

Where are you buying you fuel? Or is this drian and water pudding you think your problem, you sure have a lot of problem with water in the fuel? Either park it in your garage or just put a board or something over that fuel cap.

 

[clemsonfor]

My wife put some powdered fire ant poison into the carpenter bee holes. She taped a straw to rubber bulb used for sucking the junk out of baby's noses. Her homemade applicator worked well putting the ant poison into the carpenter bee holes. We are seeing fewer carpenter bees but they are still not all gone.

It would be eiser to use a liquid spray like you use in your house for bugs or if you have some for your garden.