RedNeckGeek
Super Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2011
- Messages
- 8,753
- Location
- Butte County & Orcutt, California
- Tractor
- Kubota M62, Kubota L3240D HST (SOLD!), Kubota RTV900
65F @ 6:00 AM. Sunny. High 92F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
That's a funny story about the plastic bags, Eric. The PO (previous owner) of the bike used plastic bags, too, but this time 'round everything has been in the bag that was needed, even if it wasn't clear at first what it was for. To sometimes compound the mystery, there were duplicates of certain components, gas caps for instance, often of different vintages which may or may not work. But more cut-and-try eventually led to a workable solution, and since this isn't a concourse class restoration, that's good enough.
The recycling places around here are getting to the point that they won't take anything that doesn't have a redemption value associated with it. If I try to recycle milk cartons, glass wine or olive oil bottles, or steel cans, they just point me to a large dumpster. Apparently the waste streams are bursting at the seams for metals, plastic, and glass, so unless the law mandates recycling, these outfits would just as soon avoid the cost of having the other stuff hauled off by discouraging people from bringing it in by not paying anything for it.
David, good progress on the MIL's road trip. Any particular reason she's not flying? Or was it just more practical to drive so she could bring more of her belongings with her?
RS, I once purchased a used Harbor Freight parts washer that had been used with one of those water based cleaners. It tore the pump up so bad I had to replace it before the darn thing would work, and even then it wasn't up to the task. That's when I learned Stoddard Solvent was the way to go, and let someone else struggle with HF's miserable excuse of a parts washer. And if you don't like orange counter tops, just stack enough stuff on 'em so they disappear! :laughing:
Drew, good you're bringing the tappet noise to the dealer's attention now in case real trouble starts later. Make sure they note the complaint on the work order for the oil change though. You might get an argument about changing the oil early, even if you're willing to pay for it. As if 3500 miles is early, which it surely is for a synthetic oil, which shouldn't be used in a new engine anyway. In the good old days real break in oil was thin to promote wear as the parts wore off the high spots left from the manufacturing process. These days those rough spots aren't quite so bad, so manufacturers are doing away with the whole idea of break in. But they're not doing away with the possibility of swarf and other debris left where it really shouldn't be, so Luddites like me still drop the oil at 600 or so miles and cut up the oil filter to see if anything was caught. But I don't like to go to synthetic oil for at least 10K miles, and might even hold off until 20K just to make sure that the rings have a decent chance of seating. Mainly I wait until the engine's not using any oil between changes (at 5,000 miles) before going to synthetic.
Lots of talk about misbehaving chainsaws today. When I hear thoughts like that I always wonder how much of it is due to carburation issues, either misadjusted, ethanol induced issues, or just plain dirty. More than once a carb rebuild kit has fixed the ills on the Stihl saws I use, and they were a whole lot less expensive than a whole new saw, even purchased at the dealer. Heck, letting the shop do the work would still be cheaper. As far as Echo vs. Stihl vs. Husky, I think it comes down to how long you plan on keeping the saw and how much you'll use it each year. A pro saw is designed to be used a lot each year, so materials are better and tolerances are held tighter so parts take longer to wear out. But you pay up front for that extra quality, and when things do eventually wear out, you pay a little more for the parts, too. A consumer saw will last just as long, but only if it gets only occasional use, and repeated all day use might even cause a failure. Farm and ranch saws are somewhere in the middle, and are a better match for someone heating with wood. But no saw can resist the ravages of ethanol, and draining them of fuel after use is always a good idea, even if using E0 fuel. And unfortunately at some point every manufacturer stops making replacement parts for old saws, so unless you plan on stockpiling, eventually we're all forced to upgrade at some point.
Don, you're fortunate to live in an area with such a colorful past. Especially since the stories are handed down through the families, members of which are still around to tell them!
I did come up short a square nut and a few sheet metal screws yesterday, but that was more my fault for not writing the shortfalls down prior to the last trip to the dealer. Worse, yesterday's tire delivery contained one of the wrong size, and on reviewing the order on the company's web site, they actually specified two tire sizes for that particular part number. Then on double checking what the manufacturer actually specifies for the machine, I ordered the wrong size to begin with. In this case two wrongs didn't make a right, but I was still able to convince the customer service rep to send out the correct size at no additional cost. No real harm done, but it'll be another week before the thing is ready to go. But at least for now I can move on to some maintenance work on other bikes, clearing out the last obstacles to starting again on the worlds longest lasting rebuild on one of the two old dualsport BMWs. That will involve some painting, and now that the weather's cooling off a bit, the timing might even work out.
TGIF:drink:
That's a funny story about the plastic bags, Eric. The PO (previous owner) of the bike used plastic bags, too, but this time 'round everything has been in the bag that was needed, even if it wasn't clear at first what it was for. To sometimes compound the mystery, there were duplicates of certain components, gas caps for instance, often of different vintages which may or may not work. But more cut-and-try eventually led to a workable solution, and since this isn't a concourse class restoration, that's good enough.
The recycling places around here are getting to the point that they won't take anything that doesn't have a redemption value associated with it. If I try to recycle milk cartons, glass wine or olive oil bottles, or steel cans, they just point me to a large dumpster. Apparently the waste streams are bursting at the seams for metals, plastic, and glass, so unless the law mandates recycling, these outfits would just as soon avoid the cost of having the other stuff hauled off by discouraging people from bringing it in by not paying anything for it.
David, good progress on the MIL's road trip. Any particular reason she's not flying? Or was it just more practical to drive so she could bring more of her belongings with her?
RS, I once purchased a used Harbor Freight parts washer that had been used with one of those water based cleaners. It tore the pump up so bad I had to replace it before the darn thing would work, and even then it wasn't up to the task. That's when I learned Stoddard Solvent was the way to go, and let someone else struggle with HF's miserable excuse of a parts washer. And if you don't like orange counter tops, just stack enough stuff on 'em so they disappear! :laughing:
Drew, good you're bringing the tappet noise to the dealer's attention now in case real trouble starts later. Make sure they note the complaint on the work order for the oil change though. You might get an argument about changing the oil early, even if you're willing to pay for it. As if 3500 miles is early, which it surely is for a synthetic oil, which shouldn't be used in a new engine anyway. In the good old days real break in oil was thin to promote wear as the parts wore off the high spots left from the manufacturing process. These days those rough spots aren't quite so bad, so manufacturers are doing away with the whole idea of break in. But they're not doing away with the possibility of swarf and other debris left where it really shouldn't be, so Luddites like me still drop the oil at 600 or so miles and cut up the oil filter to see if anything was caught. But I don't like to go to synthetic oil for at least 10K miles, and might even hold off until 20K just to make sure that the rings have a decent chance of seating. Mainly I wait until the engine's not using any oil between changes (at 5,000 miles) before going to synthetic.
Lots of talk about misbehaving chainsaws today. When I hear thoughts like that I always wonder how much of it is due to carburation issues, either misadjusted, ethanol induced issues, or just plain dirty. More than once a carb rebuild kit has fixed the ills on the Stihl saws I use, and they were a whole lot less expensive than a whole new saw, even purchased at the dealer. Heck, letting the shop do the work would still be cheaper. As far as Echo vs. Stihl vs. Husky, I think it comes down to how long you plan on keeping the saw and how much you'll use it each year. A pro saw is designed to be used a lot each year, so materials are better and tolerances are held tighter so parts take longer to wear out. But you pay up front for that extra quality, and when things do eventually wear out, you pay a little more for the parts, too. A consumer saw will last just as long, but only if it gets only occasional use, and repeated all day use might even cause a failure. Farm and ranch saws are somewhere in the middle, and are a better match for someone heating with wood. But no saw can resist the ravages of ethanol, and draining them of fuel after use is always a good idea, even if using E0 fuel. And unfortunately at some point every manufacturer stops making replacement parts for old saws, so unless you plan on stockpiling, eventually we're all forced to upgrade at some point.
Don, you're fortunate to live in an area with such a colorful past. Especially since the stories are handed down through the families, members of which are still around to tell them!
I did come up short a square nut and a few sheet metal screws yesterday, but that was more my fault for not writing the shortfalls down prior to the last trip to the dealer. Worse, yesterday's tire delivery contained one of the wrong size, and on reviewing the order on the company's web site, they actually specified two tire sizes for that particular part number. Then on double checking what the manufacturer actually specifies for the machine, I ordered the wrong size to begin with. In this case two wrongs didn't make a right, but I was still able to convince the customer service rep to send out the correct size at no additional cost. No real harm done, but it'll be another week before the thing is ready to go. But at least for now I can move on to some maintenance work on other bikes, clearing out the last obstacles to starting again on the worlds longest lasting rebuild on one of the two old dualsport BMWs. That will involve some painting, and now that the weather's cooling off a bit, the timing might even work out.
TGIF:drink:
