Good morning!!!!

[RoyJackson]

2015-02-07, 1225

Just in from clearing last week's snow from the drive. I used the 4400 and snow blower for this clean up since I was running out of room to pile snow. The tough part, which was the result of poor planning on my part, was clearing a path to the wood pile (75-100 yards from the house). I had a "snow wall" about 5 feet tall by 8-10 feet wide (full length of the parking area) I had to clear. Quite a bit was frozen so it was move in, let the blower nibble it's way through, pull out and repeat the process. I looked like a snow man by the time I build my "road". The snow on the lawn (my road) was 7-10 inches deep...frozen but it didn't bog the blower or tractor down.
After that was done, time for a break and dry my clothes.
Well, at least I can get to the wood piles and I'll have enough room for piling snow (if I don't use the blower) for a while.
Boy, next winter I'll be in that 4520's cab when snow blowing! Almost be looking forward to snow clearing then!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

speaking of contractors: I built my house 17 yrs ago, had a contractor install hvac units and another contractor install the ductwork. 2 years ago I put in geothermal, and put the new upstairs unit in another location, and when I redid the upstairs ductwork, I discovered a large hole in the old duct where the duct rise to the attic trunk connected. This morning I finally got around to removing my old upstairs airhandler riser ductwork, where it went thru the ceiling into the attic, so I could properly insulate the old location and drywall the ceiling. I removed the transition from the old airhandler to the riser duct, and discovered the transition was only 3 sided, it was totally open on the back side against the wall, so a lot of air was never entering the ductwork but was going straight into the room the airhandler is located. At least this hole was in the conditioned space, the one in the attic was dumping into the unconditioned space.

 

[Larro Darro]

Larro, hope the tree planting goes well. Does the state do all that much to promote it?

Right now there are not any programs promoting tree planting. But almost off of our other pines were planted with cost sharing money, so if you do the work yourself, you break even or might even make a few bucks. And the longleaf pines at the house were on a conservation program. We took the land out of row crops and were paid $1048 a year for 15 years. That was for the 20 acres here, plus 8 more at the river-field. Those trees just came off the program this fall, so I'm selling the pinestraw from them. The fellow really wanted it bad and I'm making $100 an acre for the 20 acres here at the house. But that is two years worth of straw. Going forward I will get $75 an acre. Not a ton of money but it will help pay the taxes. And if the trees we are planting grow as fast as these did, we could be selling straw in 10 years.

Larro

 

[MacLawn]

Since I don't do so good in the mornings, I'm going to start a Good Evening thread!:laughing:

 

[rswyan]

Got the 4 x 24 hydraulic cylinder pulled off the dump cart ... that was a real treat. Went a lot better than it could have tho' ...

Time for a shower.

 

[JDgreen227]

Since I don't do so good in the mornings, I'm going to start a Good Evening thread!:laughing:

What are members like me who don't do so good in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings supposed to do? :laughing:

Just changed out the OEM battery in my Toshiba L-355 laptop, it also needed the original keyboard replaced (worn out lettering on keys) and now that it's only 6 years old I have to sink an entire $30 into it....where do I complain??

 

[daugen]

gorgeous day here, worked outside for most of it and pretty sore at the moment.
My first adventure arose when clearing out some scrub along the property line and lo and behold yet another
discarded implement. Looks like a disc cultivator where the discs and axles were taken off.
Sure will be worth the money to haul it off for scrap salvage. Pretty heavy duty implement but my new forks just slipped right in and snagged it.

Then off to the woods. No hundred feet a day today. 1000 feet today. Took over a hour to cut through a thicket of small trees, which resulted in a nice pile of small diameter trunks. Reminds me of an Indian going out to cut branches for a travois...

Then I hit an open spot and ran for almost five hundred feet weaving in between trees, putting my red flags down to remind me. So i think I'm about half way there. Next time I go back I'm taking the gas chain saw and resawing all the stumps lower. So far the Oregon electric chain saw has cut everything down in its path, and the built in chain sharpener for sure made it sharper, and spit out some nice sparks doing it. Pull a lever and the chain sharpens. Not a bad idea.

Of course I got to cutting vines with a vengeance and got turned around and once again walked most of the twelve acres of woods a little lost. No matter, face the sun and head to the pond. Go away from the sun and I'll get to the house eventually. And I actually used that to find my way out today. When they logged back there they made huge mounds of sawdust, which I have to steer the path around. Still looking for Blackbeard's chests of Spanish doubloons. I just know they are back there...

so I'm tired but a good tired, like perhaps many of you done clearing snow. Roy, had enough? We have at least another month of this. I've got tulips and daffodils pushing up so there is a scent of Spring.
All pondered with assistance of a nice glass of beaujolais nouveau. Your assistance may vary.

 

[dave1949]

Drew, glad you found your way back home. :laughing: Trail clearing is work, you whack 5 trees and there's always 100 more ahead of you. Sorry about the shower drain thing.

I scooped the driveway this morning where flurries and drifting were building up. Went around the dog walking loop which Google Path says is .37 miles long. It was drifted shut in a few places. Hung out the new bird feeder with just oil seed for now. Birds haven't found it yet. I expect chickadees to find it eventually but I know they stay in the sheltered woods areas in winter. The feeder is in the house clearing hanging on a shepherds crook stuck in a snow bank for now.

16F. The first light snow band is coming over the NH-ME line now, not much expected for tomorrow during the day, no storm watch/warning posted.

 

[dave1949]

2015-02-07, 1225

Just in from clearing last week's snow from the drive. I used the 4400 and snow blower for this clean up since I was running out of room to pile snow. The tough part, which was the result of poor planning on my part, was clearing a path to the wood pile (75-100 yards from the house). I had a "snow wall" about 5 feet tall by 8-10 feet wide (full length of the parking area) I had to clear. Quite a bit was frozen so it was move in, let the blower nibble it's way through, pull out and repeat the process. I looked like a snow man by the time I build my "road". The snow on the lawn (my road) was 7-10 inches deep...frozen but it didn't bog the blower or tractor down.
After that was done, time for a break and dry my clothes.
Well, at least I can get to the wood piles and I'll have enough room for piling snow (if I don't use the blower) for a while.
Boy, next winter I'll be in that 4520's cab when snow blowing! Almost be looking forward to snow clearing then!

Are you waiting for nicer weather before removing the hoe on the new tractor? You could have tried the hoe out on that snowbank.

The wind is never in the right direction for blowing snow. Swirly winds are worse, you think you have it going away from you and nope--here it comes.

 

[RoyJackson]

Are you waiting for nicer weather before removing the hoe on the new tractor? You could have tried the hoe out on that snowbank.

The wind is never in the right direction for blowing snow. Swirly winds are worse, you think you have it going away from you and nope--here it comes.

I thought about using the hoe but I wanted to see if I could cut through with the blower first. If the blower couldn't do it, the hoe would have come into action.
I really don't have a place to leave the 'hoe right now. When my stepdaughter gets rid of that old raggedy Blazer, I'll have a place, but ultimately, it'll go in the garage if it's not too tall for the doors.
But, at this point, it's good ballast. My snow blower has manual chute rotation and the cab's rear window doesn't pivot open enough for me to use the chute crank. Come warmer weather, I'll add hydraulics or electric rotation...or just sell it and get a blower that has powered chute rotation. I haven't measured the maximum width of the rear R-4's yet, but my eye says outside sidewall to outside sidewall is pretty close to 72"...same width as my blower (and RFM). The wheels are the 8-position type (kind of surprised R-4's are mounted on 'em...thought the 8-position wheels were for Ag tires only), but I really don't want to make it any narrower. No fluid in those tires (not when a backhoe is mounted) and that wide stance is good for stability when the 'hoe is off.
I can live with the RFM being no wider then the rear track since it's used primarily for field mowing (ZTR used for the lawn). The snow blower (an old Woods SB74) has served me well...hate to trade it off. But I do need the blower to be wider then the rear track. Wings on the blower might be necessary.
Today was the first time I had a chance to really compare sizes of the 4520 and 4400. I guess I never realized how much bigger the 4520 is. I'll try to get a picture of two of them side by side tomorrow since it's looking like 5-8 inches over the course of the day and night (then another 5-8 on Monday).

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Was in the 40's here today. Glad we don't have the snow that Roy has.

 

[sodamo]

Just to add to the mix...
Got my flail mower back in service today. Had to replace the bearing on the shaft from gear box with the belt sheaves that drive the cutter rotor. Had to take case to machine shop to remove the outer bearing case. Challenge was getting replacement parts. Local bearing place wanted almost $70 and that was for a thinner seal. Got a c3 sealed bearing and proper size seal for less than $20 online including shipping, just had to wait for them. Good opportunity to replace some bolts and touch up some paint. Mowed about an hour after. Pleased with the results.

Now I have to put together a breakfast casserole for tomorrow.

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet

 

[txdon]

The water leak was 600 ft from the house near the meter. I am so spoiled on Hydrostatic transmission that I quite digging with my Dads tractor and finished by hand. My knee was getting sore from all the clutching, and no joy stick with the FEL. We managed to keep all the cuts above the muddy water level with the hole so there was no contamination.

 

[DABSGT]

Drew between the house and clean up you sure have some interesting days.

<CUIRenditionMetrics: 0x1904b760>

 

[farmer2009]

Well it made it up to 66 today. I'm now ready for spring. Got the new rim on tractor and some floors joist hung on building. More building work tomorrow.

 

[Buppies]

64 for high today more of same for tomorrow. Looked at a few jobs then went to several gun shops looking for lever action rifle. No luck yet

 

[RedNeckGeek]

My first adventure arose when clearing out some scrub along the property line and lo and behold yet another
discarded implement. Looks like a disc cultivator where the discs and axles were taken off.
Sure will be worth the money to haul it off for scrap salvage. Pretty heavy duty implement but my new forks just slipped right in and snagged it.

Guaranteed that almost as soon as you drop it off at the scrap yard you'll find a perfect use for some or all of it. At least that what's would happen to me...

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

The water leak was 600 ft from the house near the meter. I am so spoiled on Hydrostatic transmission that I quite digging with my Dads tractor and finished by hand. My knee was getting sore from all the clutching, and no joy stick with the FEL. We managed to keep all the cuts above the muddy water level with the hole so there was no contamination.

These are the best IMO for repairing PVC buried pipes. Only need to expose about a foot of the line to repair.

Slip Fix PVC Repair Coupling

 

[txdon]

These are the best IMO for repairing PVC buried pipes. Only need to expose about a foot of the line to repair.

Slip Fix PVC Repair Coupling

Kyle, I have repaired my 2" water line with those and one actually started leaking after a few years, but the other two are holding -so I have had mixed results. Now when I repair mine I unearth about 20' pick the line up and use a standard coupling - no rubber bushings to wear out.

Todays water leak was where the cement box around the meter rubbed through a metal nipple 1/2" from a reducer - had to replace from the meter to outside the box -including a shutoff valve and reducer. We also used a dresser coupling that my dad already had.

Kyle, in about 2 weeks will be the prime potato planting time. I need to grab some onions also.

 

[mostly_gas]

Good evening all. 37F this morning and sunny made it to 67F and and 15-25 wind. Made the transition from 2F Thursday morning to 67F today and tomorrow Then low 40's .No work done on the 10-speed waiting on the new rim and chain. friend, wife, and I played nine holes, rode 10 miles today (could still feel yesterdays 19 miles) and replace the bike shoe cleats. tomorrow is church, then a trip to Cape Girardeau to visit stepson.