Good morning!!!!

   / Good morning!!!! #33,581  
Flip out day as we like to call it happened about a month ago. Frogs come out everywhere and the pond becomes a virtual mating ground. Now we have baby frogs everywhere

I know what you mean. We have a koi-less pond about 30 feet off the pool. Keep it going year round. The frogs seemed to appear about two-three weeks ago. The tree frogs, probably same time, however they are really loud now. Must be that time of year. We also have a water turtle (slider type?) not alligator, LOL, that has made the pond his own. Seems he was out yesterday too.

No tadpoles or frog eggs yet. Odd?
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,582  
48F. Clear and mid-70's today. Great weather and we really do deserve a stretch of nice weather :D.

I'll work on the field this morning. I think there are more hours of rock picking ahead than I was hoping for when I stopped last fall. Make some progress everyday is my goal. Have to take the car in for its annual state inspection this afternoon and get groceries on the way home--and mail a Mother's Day card.

Sorry the arthritis is dogging you Drew.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,583  
Good morning, a rainy 51F here this morning, rain is suppose to stop and a high today of 70F.
Drew, sorry to here about your arhritis problems.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,584  
I know what you mean. We have a koi-less pond about 30 feet off the pool. Keep it going year round. The frogs seemed to appear about two-three weeks ago. The tree frogs, probably same time, however they are really loud now. Must be that time of year. We also have a water turtle (slider type?) not alligator, LOL, that has made the pond his own. Seems he was out yesterday too.

No tadpoles or frog eggs yet. Odd?

My fish-less rain pond had tons of frog egg clusters last spring. A couple of Mallard ducks moved in and really cleaned them out; I could hardly find any egg clusters. The frogs did make more eggs later but probably only about 1/4 of the original amount. I haven't checked for eggs this spring yet.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,585  
53 this morning and headed to 86 today. Well the dusty part is done. Chicken coops are ready to disinfect. Then set up. I have to mow and weedeat today also. So probably won't get to do any setup. Garden needs working also. Rain moving in Friday-Tuesday.

Drew. Good to see you didn't get eat. :). Hate your having trouble again. Take it easy.

Mostly gas. Congrats on the home sale and hopefully the purchase works out.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,586  
Good morning! 71˚ all clouds. We had a brief shower last night .2" but our neighbors 5 miles north had 8". Strange weather.

Texas no longer has inspection stickers for vehicles, but you must show proof of inspection to get your windshield TX license sticker. I just had my truck inspected and they took off my inspection sticker - makes me feel vulnerable to a traffic stop.

I used the grapple for about 2 hours yesterday raking a large partial burn pile that had way too much sand which caused a bad burn. It worked great for that purpose with it's long tines and no crossbar.

Mostly gas - looks like you will make it to TX just in time for Summer. That part of Texas get's hotter and colder than around here. Does your TX house have a pool? Will you have enough acreage for a tractor or a good size mower?
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,587  
Good Morning. 0805, partly cloudy, 71F with 86% humidity. Forecast high of 85F with 20% chance of showers today, and a low of 62F tonight. I rolled out at 0530, planning to get back to the waterline project before it got too hot. But I got sidetracked into doing pre-cleaning lady cleaning. But I'm going to bite the bullet and see if I can at least get the trenches cleaned up for the main line and get that pipe down, then see how much I can get done of the side lines. A shortage of coffee containers will keep me from doing too many spigots though.

With my helper today I'm going to plant ten shrubs and trees into Mother Earth.
Our Native Americans would approve.

Drew, I no longer offer up the tobacco smoke to the four directions and to the earth and sky {to visualize my prayers}, but I do ask the Grandfathers to bless the union of earth and root anytime I put spade to dirt to transplant a tree.

Also something I have found that helps my day to day struggle with joint pain is cutting back on dairy as much as possible. If it wasn't for cheese and Greek yogurt, I would give it up all together.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,588  
The newer NH loaders (mine is a 2003) have light ~1" long pin bushings with a shoulder that insert from each end of the sleeve. They are not expensive and treated as a consumable maintenance item.

My bucket is also fatigued and cracking, I've welded the corners together a couple times. Plus it's not a SSA quick attach loader. My loader really doesn't owe me anything it has been used a lot and hard. I'll just keep using it until something forces me to replace it I think.

Sounds like NH builds a nice piece of equipment. Pivots and bearings are replaceable parts, or at least they should be. I don't know how Kubota got such a good reputation for reliability when they build stuff that can't be maintained. Or worse, as I think is the case with this loader, under designed. I already had to replace the mounts, which broke in half. The new ones were twice as thick, and I was able to get a partial discount, but had to argue for it. Been keeping a photo album documenting all the repairs on Facebook, and I'm amazed I've put up with the thing this long :banghead:
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,590  
51F headed for a high of 79F with clouds moving in later in the day.

Drew, good to hear your shop is coming together; my personal record for hardware store trips was set plumbing compressor lines. Sorry about the bad arthritis news. I tried one of those nerve pain medications and it clouded up my head so badly I stopped after one day. Felt like a bad case of AM radio static. What's that old saw about taking better care of ourselves if we'd known we'd live this long?

Larro, you get this week's redneck award for your spigot covers. I used store bought ones, but now I have trouble finding them in the long grass. How do you keep track of 'em?

Mostly Gas, congrats on the quick sale, and hope you find greener grass in Texas.

Chad, took one of those tests that's supposed to predict your age. It was off by 50% for me and most of my FB friends that took it, too. Only one thing is certain: When they finally figure out how to predict when you're gonna die, the insurance companies will still figure out how to make a killing.

FELBushings.jpg

After a little head scratching and fiddling, finally got some better surface finishes for the turned bushings. Much higher speeds and lower feeds were called for by the experts, and they were by and large correct. Also played a bit with tool height, and was able to hold closer tolerances as a result. Still a little rougher on the inside of the bushings than I would have liked, but I think only a stiffer boring bar would help.

Looking at the picture yesterday II realized that the holes in the short bushings need to go all the way through for the pin keeper bolts. That's what I'll start with this morning. But then I got to wondering how the outer pivots got so worn when the pin is supposed to be stationary there. Part of the answer is that the hole through the pin and boss for the keeper bolt is way oversized, and some rotation does occur. There are no grease fittings on the bosses, so wear is much higher. So now I'm thinking that I should bush the keeper holes for a tighter fit on the keeper bolt, and maybe install some zerks for some belt'n'suspenders safety.

Happy hump day, everyone!
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,591  
48 with Rain showers during the night and intermittent showers today with a high of 72.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,592  
66° and .22 inches rain last 24 hours

Be safe
Have a great day

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,593  
RNG, I bet if you put zerks in there, those bushings, real bushings, would hardly ever wear out.
I mean, isn't that the point of grease?....
Not putting bushings on a heavy wear point is like bolting dissimilar metals together and knowing they will promptly corrode. Get you through the warranty period, but that's not what we depend upon well engineered companies to provide us.

paying excellent attention to my doctors to walk calmly on my treadmill, I was out at 6:30am working hard in the yard for 6 hours.
And this quack wants me to exercise more....sigh.
Raked dirt and planted grass seed and then worked for hours with the helper.
And you know what, he can't keep up with me...I'm wearing him out...honestly I have to inwardly chuckle a little.
I don't think he's had a job where he had to work up a sweat in his life. I suggested he pace himself (ha) and sit on the comfy mower seat while I take about five loader loads of pine straw we raked out from the front of the property near an old swing.
Yes, a swing that could never be as nice as the one Don did, but one that surely will get new chains.
Nice little baby black snake slithering around in there while we raked. Exactly the reason I wanted all that stuff cleaned out, particularly since the red ants were hiding under there. Not any more...
killed a big mound before I came in, literally millions of red ants exploding out once I ripped the top of the mound off with my rake. And then I dosed them well and ran. I bet that many ants would eat me to the bone... and carry the bone back to Momma downstairs.

Don, thank you on the turmeric and curcumin. I took glucosamine chondroitin for many years but it didn't seem to do much, and it sure didn't prevent problems, big problems.
I need to ask my pharmacist if any of the stuff I'm already on would prevent me using the turmeric.
Isn't that in chili? Haven't read your link, will do so carefully.
Interesting how most things that heal are zingy or bitter...not sweet, in nature.

neighbor is coming over tomorrow afternoon to show me how to safely use my pump shotgun, which I have never loaded. Long story, my late wife's gun given to her by her father. thankfully not to use on me.
But now with Bob the Bear around...
which reminds me, one more thing to do, go mount the game cam on the porch. That should take five minutes; I got an optional swiveling mount but not even sure I need that. It's directly in front of my front porch.

Hmmm, maybe I should experiment with the rear feeders...:rolleyes:

but at the end of the day, who cares, it was a wonderful day, as my first apple checked in.
Good thing I just sprayed, variety of leaf issues were evident.
 

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   / Good morning!!!! #33,594  
RNG, I bet if you put zerks in there, those bushings, real bushings, would hardly ever wear out.
I mean, isn't that the point of grease?....
Not putting bushings on a heavy wear point is like bolting dissimilar metals together and knowing they will promptly corrode. Get you through the warranty period, but that's not what we depend upon well engineered companies to provide us.

Kubota did put zerk fittings in to lubricate the rotating parts. They just didn't immobilize the fixed end of the pins, and maybe used pins that are too small. Not sure the bushings I'm installing will make much difference on the fixed ends if the factory pin size is the problem. The lion's share of the landscaping around here is done now so the pins should last for a long time to come. Especially if they're in someone else's barn :laughing:
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,595  
Good afternoon all. 58F this morning cloudy and windy. 85F now winds 14 gusting 23-25 made bike ride interesting. Back to washing the high top van :).
 

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   / Good morning!!!! #33,596  
67F on a very pleasant evening.

The Ford passed the annual inspection, good for another year. I had it aligned too since I put new tires on a month ago. Sharon's new car fever is waning, not sure what that means. Now that we have new tires and a new radiator, she hates to not get some use out of the expense. I guess that works until the next expense comes along. :laughing:

I think loader pins are undersized in general, and there is no excuse for not having replaceable bushings. These CUTS are powerful little beasties for their size. 4x4 and strong hydraulics can put a lot of stress and wear on the loaders. If you really put them to work using them to their full capabilities, it is a bit of a mismatch in tractor-loader strength IMO.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,597  
I took Coco for a nice long hike in Shenandoah NP. It was a beautiful day.
 

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   / Good morning!!!! #33,598  
Larro, you get this week's redneck award for your spigot covers. I used store bought ones, but now I have trouble finding them in the long grass. How do you keep track of 'em?

They will be inline with my grapevines and blueberry bushes. Plus each one will have two hoses coming from it. Shouldn't be too hard to find.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,599  
I took Coco for a nice long hike in Shenandoah NP. It was a beautiful day.

Background is beautiful but the snake not so much
 
   / Good morning!!!! #33,600  
Background is beautiful but the snake not so much

Yes it was. Looked like a black king snake. They're the good snake unless you have chickens and like eggs. Don't mind them as long as I see them before I'm right on one.
 

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