Anyone Else "Just Like to stay Busy?"

[Tractor Seabee]

Hang in there Broken Track. Amazing what you have been through and still functioning well. Not trying to upstage you but I knno all about being debilitated. I am now 84 and still can put in 1/2 day or more on physical work. No cancer but was diagnosed with cardio-myopathy which recently has morphed into congestive heart failure. Still running my tractor and doing a landscaping/irrigation project. Lifting those 40# landscape blocks while down on my knees. A major fence gate rebuild will cap off my outside work hopefully this all during the summer. New projects inside.

Time is on our side if we keep active. I actively worked for wages till I was almost 80.

Ron

 

[BrokenTrack]

Re: Anyone Else "Just Like to stay Busy?"

I hope that OP will start a thread on his mower rebuild as that痴 on my list as well.

My problem is, I seldom stop to take pictures. I want to say, on the smaller projects, but that is not really true. I built an 8 x 12 duck coop which was a pretty big project; complete with door, lights, roof and everything, and I think I took one picture mid-way through. I have not even taken a picture of it finished yet.

It is the same with my bushog. Being a bushog, they are simple, so in 45 minutes I had it torn down to the individual parts, and out of boredom started to weld it back, and yet have not taken one picture of it. It is always nice to get a before and after picture.

I am trying to keep the bushog decent looking, without looking like it was patched all to heck, however when the output part of the gearbox snapped in half, it sent the bushog into a pretty big wobble that drove the knives up through the top of the deck. It is pretty hard not to patch that and make it look like you did not patch it! I got it welded up though. It is a lot stronger than it was. Another part that is worn out is underneath the bushog here it can ride along the ground on high spots. Fifty-five years of doing that has worn out the wear bar I welded on it twenty years ago. So I need some flat bar to resurface the resurfaced wear bar.

I was thinking of adding some stiffener bars to the gear box too where it broke, I got to put strong backs in anyway so as I weld the collar, it stays in alignment, so if I keep them on, it will provide a lot of strength for the intense flexing those bearings/gear box gets. I will have to notch out for them in the mounting frame, but that is not too bad, and being the output shaft, it is not like anyone is going to see it. At this point, anything I do that is cheap and stronger is worth doing. I will do all I can to keep ye ole mower...mowing, but if it craps out, then I will just replace it, but most likely with a flail mower.

 

[BrokenTrack]

My oldest daughter is reaching that age at 15 years old, where she is learning just what it takes to get things done. A week or so ago, I ran the power from the house to the generator shed. Now this is 100 amps, so pretty big wire, and while it took me all day, I was able to run the power from a load panel halfway into the house, up and through the attic, then outside where it ran to some entrance cable, over 100 feet to the generator shed, down through a mast, and then into the generator's load box. In writing that, it seems pretty simple, but all I had was 2-2-4 entrance cable with bare neutral so I had some pretty good connections to make on each end of the masts going into the generator shed/house.

I also put up a utility pole half way across, so that meant going into the woods, cutting the tree, hauling it home, debarking it, then securing a insulator to it, digging its hole, raising it up, then back filling it. That alone took over an hour.

So it was doing all that transmission line work that day, that my oldest daughter saw just what it takes to keep this place improving. But it can be frustrating because when you are asked what you did that day, "oh I put up some wires from the house to the generator shed", boy; that just does not account for all the work that went into that day! But it was nice to see that she was impressed with what gets done. Hopefully when she gets married, she finds a go-getter type husband, and not some "gamer" or, "is not really into work."

 

[BrokenTrack]

The projects I have been working on since Black Swan struct the world has been:

1. My master bedroom redo. That consisted of building another closet so that we had jack and Jill walk-in closets, then a new headboard, new matching side tables, and finally plugging off some windows, and installed a new patio door. Like the vanity, the furnishings in this room were san from the same tree as the vanity. (Completed)



2. Then it was off to putting in a new double vanity in our main bathroom. It was not too complex of a project, just redoing a wall with shiplap lumber instead of drywall, redoing some drains, and then making the new vanity. Interestingly, this was made from a dying pine tree on our own land, so from stump, to sawmill, to bathroom vanity. (Completed)



3. Then Katie wanted some new ducks and chickens, like 27 of them, so I had to build a new duck coop. This was pretty involved because it was from the ground up, 8 x 12 feet in size, a full size door, walls, windows, and a roof, and even has wiring inside. (Completed)



4. Then knowing I will bushog in a few months, I wanted to get that rebuilt, so I started on that last week. This is not a huge project so I needed other things to do while waiting for parts and stuff. (Still in process)



5. Thinking that the gravel pit had finally thawed out, and that I could start hauling gravel from my gravel pit to regravel my driveway, I started doing that. I di not expect to get 6 inches of snow yesterday, so that is now on hold for awhile, but I did manage to get a 40 cubic yard start on the project. When I get all done, I expect it will take around 250 cubic yards, so I have a long ways to go on that, but that is a job that I can do when the weather is nice outside. (Still in process)



6. I have been working on my back up generator for awhile, but really have got a lot done these last few months. It is a very long-term project, but is coming along nicely. We are a lot better off now then when we were a few weeks ago, so I am very pleased with how this job is turning out.

 

[shovelmike]

That backup generator setup looks great, as well as all your other projects, you are a very busy man. It's good that your daughter is able to be involved and helpful too.

 

[gsganzer]

Brokentrack, your place looks great! You've tackled some ambitious projects!

I hate when I go to someone's place and they have a bunch of half started/half finished projects, like cars, equipment and house in various states of repair and construction. With that being said, while I typically try not to dilute my efforts, I may have 1-3 projects going. Or more accurately, a current project, a next in-line project and a rainy day as time permits project.

My main project right now is grading a patio and flower bed area so I can put down some decomposed granite for aesthetics and lower maintenance. I have to work that one around the weather (both rain and heat). It looks like today and tomorrows weather will cooperate, so I'll be getting that one off my plate in the next few days. My next main project is to get my galvanized water trough "cool pool" ready for the season and complete the thermal syphon heating coil for it. My back burner, as time permits project is to rework/modify my welder skid so I can add some lead reels. That ones a rainy day project that really isn't pressing to get done, it's an "I want" project, versus an "I need" project.

After the welding skid modifications, I'll build some new deer feeders for my deer lease. I'm going to mount two independent 55 gallon barrels/timers on a skid that will allow me to throw feed for 60 days. Plus I can back up to fill them off a tailgate, rather than the tripod/winch setup that my feed barrels currently use. I'm getting tired of cranking feeders up and down. The skid will allow me to move them easily if I need to.

 

[Thomas]

Keep on making dust BT. :thumbsup:
Like the old saying goes..."Can't get nothing done laying in bed".
Also like to keep busy but since I retire plaining around the weather not problem anymore.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Keep on making dust BT. :thumbsup:
Like the old saying goes..."Can't get nothing done laying in bed".
Also like to keep busy but since I retire plaining around the weather not problem anymore.

I noticed when I retired that my repair costs suddenly jumped up. That was because for years, if something broke I cobbled it back together, or just set it aside, because I did not have time to fix it, or if I did fix it: I did not do it properly. So when I retired I suddenly had time to do things right.

But I am back to work...sort of.

My Doctor wanted me to take disability, but that did not seem right to me. Cancer has wiped me out so I could no longer farm, but I worked with the USDA to get disabled farmers in the private sector, and it worked! I now work for the US Dept of Labor teaching impoverished kids a trade. I can farm, but I can do that!

I only worked a day, and then they shut down due to Black Swan, so I know I got a limited time to get things done before I am at work 5 days a week again.

But I admit, I look back at the end of the year and marvel how much was accomplished. Still, a lot can be done if a person just does a little at a time.

 

[BrokenTrack]

That backup generator setup looks great, as well as all your other projects, you are a very busy man. It's good that your daughter is able to be involved and helpful too.

The generator came out better than what I thought it would. Of course, had I known what it would take for work at the start, I would have never even started. But it is working out well. I just got a few small things to do on the engine, like get oil, coolant, and then fuel to it, and it should go. The fuel system will be the hardest part as it is a nightmare of different fittings.

Once that is done, and the engine is running, I need to belt the generator and the engine together. The pulley sizes are not right however. It has a double v-belt sheave on the engine now, but it is 7.5 inches, and I need a 18 inch pulley on the generator end, and only have a 15 inch pulley off an old sawmill, so I might need to machine my own pulley. The only other thing I can do is put a 3 inch pulley on the engine and go to the 15 inch pulley; that might work too.

 

[sodamo]

Thanks for the info. I’d say my RC is a bit rougher shape.


Mechanics are good, but the deck is in serious need of help. I do have a plan for this summer, but need to do some practice welding. Most likely I will completely disassemble and rebuild deck.

Cheap mowers just aren’t available here that I have seen otherwise I’d seriously consider one. Only 2 offerings on CL locally, 1 for $400 that looks even worse than mine, 2nd a used Land Pride 1860 for $2600.