Good morning!!!!

[sodamo]

64°F and .34 inches rain

Got the Autostart module installed on the Honda EU7000 yesterday and wired into my system. Now I have to play with what parameters to trigger its operation. Tricky part is this is just a backup to my larger generator and mostly separate, meaning I cannot monitor or control from the main system, only see the results.
Looks like I’m having same issue getting my main generator repaired just like last time. Boy, is this a**hole gonna be surprised when I walk into the office in about 2 weeks and speak with his boss.

Invited to a small brunch with friends this morning. Should be fun.

Playing cards this evening with our guests.

Soooo, no real strenuous activity planned for the day.

Be safe
Have a great day.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning all, 17 degrees this morning, up to 56 this afternoon. Going to take advantage of the temp and change the oil in the vehicles. The chance of snow / precipitation this past Weds. night was a bust. Had a couple drops on the windshield but that was it. New forecast calls for temps to drop into the 30's for highs, maybe snow showers.... I sure wish for any precipitation. The Mrs not doing well this morning.. Severe pain, arthritis /RA flare up.
Rip tides: Glad to hear you and the Mrs got home and maybe turning a corner in the journey.
BEF: Be careful, as others stated, allergic reactions can come back w/ a vengeance the 2nd or 3rd time around.
All the others needing prayers, sent a double batch out to you this morning!

There was a brief discussion on "coal burners" a few posts back. We just bought a reproduction "caboose stove" brand new for the new cottage I'll be building soon. It will be used as primary heat source for really cold days/nights, otherwise will be using a mini-split. The cottage is designed as an early 1900's farmhouse. When the wife first mentioned about the stove, I asked "where the h**l are we gonna get coal? Well I guess I took her to TSC too many times. That's where! She said. Low and behold... 50# bags ordered right to the store. Apparently they are very uniform in heat output and easy to keep going. Learned something. Also the price of the stove was a quarter of any of the pellet stoves we were looking at! I forgot to get a pic of the stove so I'll post that shortly.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Here's a pic of the stove.

 

[LouNY]

There can be quite the education to enjoying coal heat. I don't know what size coal you will need, pea, nut, stove;
the different sizes will all burn differently, the smaller will be able to be throttled down more, fines can be a problem and
the different brands, mines, will burn differently. The easiest way I have found to start a coal fire is with match light type charcoal,
lay a base of a couple inches down, light it off, when it is burning good layer on some coal, couple of inches, once that has lite layer
some more, when lite add more till full, shake you ash down lightly once or twice a day and add coal. I have only lite mine once this year,
and added coal nightly, taken ash out nightly.
One thing are you in New Mexico? My coal is hard coal (anthracite), I've heard that soft coal, (bituminous) is quite different, more soot harder to work with,
more chimney cleaning. Most northeastern coal is hard coal and most western coal is soft coal, to my knowledge.
Enjoy

 

[RedNeckGeek]

How many hours do you have on your RTV-900 and were you the original owner?
I have an RTV-400, the smaller gas model and I'm interested in what you find about your splines.
Did any bolts come loose to cause this?
Your model is entirely different than mine, diesel and hydro vs gas and cvt. But the splines might not be
much different...

I'd definitely do them both if you have a higher hour machine.

My RTV-900 is a 2005 model, purchased used, and I believe it has somewhere north of 5,000 hours on it.

The basic problem is that Kubota used a soft cast iron material for the part that stirpped, and hard steel for the splined shaft it fits on. Kubota seems to be aware of the problem: I've found that Kubota also revised the torque spec upward for the nut that holds the two together. The part number of the hub has been revised several times, further suggesting that Kubota knows of the problem and has been trying to fix it by various methods, including changing the part. But since it's a splined connection, major changes would also involve changing the mating part, and that gets expensive very quickly.

I also noticed that there was no lubrication on the splines. BMW uses splined connections at several points in its drive shaft equipped motorcycle drive trains. Everyone of them is lubricated with a high moly grease at intervals of about 25,000 miles. That's the way these connections will go back together, too.

It doesn't make any sense to use synthetic oil in a Diesel because carbon from the burning fuel quickly contaminates the oil. That means frequent oil changes are needed, and the long life of synthetic oil goes to waste. The oil should also be changed at least every year to get rid of water and acid contamination that occurs in any combustion engine type, so again, synthetics are a waste of money.:2cents:

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Here's a pic of the stove.

Thanks for posting that photo of the pot belly stove, LS. It brings back fond childhood memories from when my dad would take me trap shooting in the wintertime. They had a rough shack there with one of those stoves in it, and once in a while they'd let me put a lump or two of coal in it. It always had a pot of coffee going on top of it, and if I behaved myself, I'd get a taste along with a donut.:cloud9: I was too young to shoot, and the club closed before I got old enough.

 

[txdon]

Not sure who mentioned making garlic mashed potatoes with one of those mixing wands, but thanks! The one I ordered arrived yesterday, and I couldn't believe how quick and easy it was to use. Could'a added a little more milk to the spuds, but they were delicious, skin and all. Not a trace of the skin, and so nutritious! Very easy clean up, too! The things you learn from the Good Morning!!!! bunch! Who sez ya can't teach an old dog new tricks?:thumbsup:

Your welcome. This is like the emersion blender we use for garlic mashed potatoes in the INSTANT POT.
Amazon.com: Cuisinart CSB-75BC Smart Stick 2 Watt 2 Speed Hand Blender, Brushed Chrome: Electric Hand Blenders: Kitchen & Dining

I also throw in a handful of frozen green peas to cool off the potatoes after I blend them so I won't burn my tongue.

 

[toppop52]

Re brake dust

Actually it's for my F250 which puts out back dust and the service truck I drive Dodge 4500 which puts outs out a red colored dust. When these vehicles need brakes they get replaced with EBC green stuff which I have used before on other trucks and cars with great success as the original ones wear out.

I used ceramic brakes on our sons TDI Jetta had over 80000 miles on pads before VW bought it back

I was just going to say, being German has no bearing, modern vehicles tend to be equipped with pads that sacrifice cleanliness for stopping power, durability and low toxicity.

 

[toppop52]

Mid teens early, upper 20’s now, not as cold this week as first forecast. Euro model has us getting significantly more snow than all the rest, it’s usua more accurate, I hope it isn’t this time.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

There can be quite the education to enjoying coal heat. I don't know what size coal you will need, pea, nut, stove;
the different sizes will all burn differently, the smaller will be able to be throttled down more, fines can be a problem and
the different brands, mines, will burn differently. The easiest way I have found to start a coal fire is with match light type charcoal,
lay a base of a couple inches down, light it off, when it is burning good layer on some coal, couple of inches, once that has lite layer
some more, when lite add more till full, shake you ash down lightly once or twice a day and add coal. I have only lite mine once this year,
and added coal nightly, taken ash out nightly.
One thing are you in New Mexico? My coal is hard coal (anthracite), I've heard that soft coal, (bituminous) is quite different, more soot harder to work with,
more chimney cleaning. Most northeastern coal is hard coal and most western coal is soft coal, to my knowledge.
Enjoy

At TSC, you can get all 3 types. The stove manufacturer recommends the "chunk" anthracite coal. I'm sure I will definately have a learning curve for sure. There was actually a "coal town" near me with piles of coal laying around. The town of "Madrid, NM" is now a real artsy and strange collaboration of shops, all in the old coal company houses. There is a museum, vaudeville theater, and the " Mine Shaft Tavern" which has some of the best food around and live folk music. Google the town, pretty neat history. Maybe get some coal from there.