Good morning!!!!

[LouNY]

had to come in, noise of bulldozer next door was a bit much
getting a better idea on why sand mounds cost so much

kinda bummed out, my laptop has bit the dust.
when I went on my trip I ran the battery almost all the way down.
when I went to charge it when I came home, the red light was still on.
figured it was charger, invested 13 bucks in another charger, same result.
So either a broken charging port or dead battery.
I'm guessing the latter.
looked it up on Amazon, 2017.
time for a new one, want this one to be 4k
I like my Qwerty keypad and mouse, not accustomed to touch pad.

this last laptop was an Asus. One before a Dell. One before an Acer, etc.

I give my old computers to a friend who wipes the disk and moves it along the chain to the next
low cost/no cost user. But this one now won't turn on at all. And won't charge. Still has a red light going on it.
really don't want to spend much time on a 7 year old laptop. They are lighter now anyway.

Drew, if you don't get your laptop repaired the hard drive can be removed and installed in a USB drive caddy so you will have all the information on it.

I have a Lenovo 17" laptop that works well for me, it has a full keyboard including the number pad along with the touch pad.

 

[m7040]

That is the philosophy that I live by. My wife has slowly (50 years in August) come to terms with it.
She wanted a significant amount of pasture fence work done, I told her that I wasn’t going to do it with the 3PT auger, it lacks down pressure for our shale infested soil, and is tough on my back to twist around to see it.
I said that for what a hydraulic auger for the front end loader would cost, we could hire someone to do the fence posts and gates. Her reply was “but then you wouldn’t have an auger”.
That’s why it will be 50 years.

still looking for the excuse to get the hydraulic auger for the excavator.
I always look at cost of repair/ improvement versus buying tool and doing it myself

 

[riptides]

Wow. A lot of you have some nice stuff. Me on the other hand am trying to get rid of tools. And implements, my landscape rake has been used once since I bought it and the bushhog is not the right cutter for the pastures. Seriously thinking about getting rid of both.

I have two corded power tools left, they still run, seldom used, once they go it will be switched over to battery power. Probably within the year.

Less tools I hope means less work. I am all about less work these days. LOL.

 

[daugen]

One can never have enough tools

and even better when you have exactly the right tool
you know, the one you bought since you thought you'd need it,
and it's been a while.
Ahh, the joy of confirmation especially when you can show your wife the benefits of having said tool.
and how brilliant you were to buy it.

I watch a number of car repair channels and having tools that get into tight spaces
is a must.
you know that adapter you bought that bends in six directions as promoted As Seen On Tv?
Or the one socket that fits all?
most of them are in the land fills after they snapped off. Or you never ever used them and they wound up
at the back of the drawer

always a question of wrench or socket for the application.
and how much swing you've got

and then how do you want to power the ratchet?
by hand, by air? by electric?
I take my cordless Makita combo drill with me in the rv, it technically has an impact setting but it's for rv jacks.
Which I don't have...mine are hydraulic. If I'm using screws in the rv, which fall out all the time, I use my smaller
Bosch minidriver. Had that a long time, they make nice tools and it just fit the palm of my hand the right way

So yes Buppies, more tools the merrier.
Probably why Harbor Freight is so successful

I marvel at Popgadget's shop where one is just surrounded by different tools.
and you know he's got serious talent when he makes many of his own tools for the application.
Ron, Kyle, Dennis, Paul and you other machinists who can build their own stuff, you guys rock.

my relative in Salida CO where I'm stopping on my rv trip is a world class machinist.
He had an auto restoration business in Lahaska PA, just outside Peddlers Village.
Most of the cars were 1910-1930 European race cars. One of kinds. Some priceless.
I saw Bugattis, I saw Amilcars. All of which looked like death traps on skinny tires.

Chris Leydon would build new crankshafts from scratch, while his wife would work on the interior leather.
He would hand make aluminum bodies. While overhead there were huge wooden airplanes hanging from the ceiling.
I drooled a lot in his shop...
He's retired now, but I can't wait to see his home shop. This is the guy who built a geodesic dome greenhouse for his wife

 

[Looking4new]

The less tools you have means the more you will hire the work out. That gets expensive real quick.
$1300.oo to replace 30' of 3" PVC line with two cleanouts because my shoulders wouldn't handle the overhead work.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning! Low of 51°, heading to 85°, sunny, light breezes. No rain chances in the 10 day....

Just been piddling the last few days, quite a few pesky little jobs done. A few more to get done too, never ending list.

Talk about "duplicate sets" of tools.... I have triple sets of wrenches... that way I always have to to use while the third is out on vacation somewhere...
Most power tools are duplicated at this point-- one corded, one battery. Each has its use.

Watched an episode of "This old house" last night. They had a guy showing tool organizing.... way OCD over the top ---- cutting out sheets of foam to the tool shape, fitting in the drawers.
I keep my tools hung up or placed in a certain spot, 98% of the time putting them right back. Took years to train myself to do that.

Everyone be safe on their travels. Hope everyone has a great start to the weekend!

 

[sodamo]

67°F and .54 inches rain.

Sadly, my tractor failed mowing test. After about an hour it started stalling. This time I had the forethought to record on video. I will attempt to post on YouTube or someplace. Never done that before. I will then post link here on TBN and provide to the tech. Fortunately, my friend Jim was able to observe first hand the last half dozen stalls.

Guys pulled out a sweet victory in H&F only 34 points.

A good part of today will be spent on getting the Scag ready to pull the engine. Challenge being suitable work space. Possibly Cam shaft replacement.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

Youtube attempt

The 2 min video shows going into limp mode before stall. Shorter ones pretty much just stalled.

 

[daugen]

thanks for laptop ideas.
Once upon a time in a universe far away
I used to build Heathkits.
And I fixed a lot of broken Walkman headphone jacks while
I owned my small home town electronics business for five years.
that's the one I shouldn't have let get away..........

I have the tiny screwdrivers so it's a matter of taking the case apart and
I thought first inspect that input power receptacle to see if it's loose in any way.
after disconnecting the battery.
I think it's a failed battery because I ran a 8 year old battery down to 5% or more
Now the red battery light on the case is on all the time. which means there is still residual
juice in there. so like with all potentially live things have to be careful about short circuiting something.
I have no desire to have a big capacitor unload on me....

lot of tech improvements in 7 years. I'm looking at a 4k screen now.
Would like that in new laptop
looking at an Acer.
I'm pretty sure there's no reason today to spec an Intel chip vs AMD or ???
how do you compare speed of processor, mhz? cores?
most of the memory is SSD. speed of memory? speed of throughput of XYZ?
hard to be a comparative shopper.
pretty sure I have everything off the laptop already and I feed it from camera memory cards anyway, which
I have loaded into home pc.

David, wish I could send a magical mechanic genie
who could fix your stuff. If only Popgadget flew to Hawaii...

 

[m7040]

Still have adjustable 6 inch Bahco wrench that I got first day showing up for 4 years of apprentice work 67 years ago. Still good as new

Have lots of duplicates from when I was working and raising family with little time to organize. But it is now found and organized

 

[kenmbz]

thanks for laptop ideas.
Once upon a time in a universe far away
I used to build Heathkits.
And I fixed a lot of broken Walkman headphone jacks while
I owned my small home town electronics business for five years.
that's the one I shouldn't have let get away..........

I have the tiny screwdrivers so it's a matter of taking the case apart and
I thought first inspect that input power receptacle to see if it's loose in any way.
after disconnecting the battery.
I think it's a failed battery because I ran a 8 year old battery down to 5% or more
Now the red battery light on the case is on all the time. which means there is still residual
juice in there. so like with all potentially live things have to be careful about short circuiting something.
I have no desire to have a big capacitor unload on me....

lot of tech improvements in 7 years. I'm looking at a 4k screen now.
Would like that in new laptop
looking at an Acer.
I'm pretty sure there's no reason today to spec an Intel chip vs AMD or ???
how do you compare speed of processor, mhz? cores?
most of the memory is SSD. speed of memory? speed of throughput of XYZ?
hard to be a comparative shopper.
pretty sure I have everything off the laptop already and I feed it from camera memory cards anyway, which
I have loaded into home pc.

David, wish I could send a magical mechanic genie
who could fix your stuff. If only Popgadget flew to Hawaii...

let me know if you need help.

 

[daugen]

I ordered a replacement battery for my unhappy Acer laptop, worth investing 30 bucks.
This way hopefully that will make it work and I can give it to someone cleaned up/out for another life.
And I'll get my new one.

hard at work next door, must have gotten inspection/approved so they are covering it back up.
lot of piping, big job doing it all from scratch to latest code

 

[daugen]

let me know if you need help.

if I get stuck on the new battery, will bring it down
thanks
looks like a bunch of small phillips screws

 

[ultrarunner]

Echo 400 bump head is 105 max

Echo 500 bump head is 135 max

Echo ships both with .095 line.

Maybe because spool holds more lineal feet of .095 than the larger día. line?

I have always used .095 and looking forward to trying the .105 just bought.

So far my most difficult is hillsides of Canadian Thistle...

At least I've been told this is the species and it is prolific even in difficult to access areas.

What happens is lower quality line will get hot enough to fuse where it is spooled inside the bump head. It fuses enough to prevent feeding but taking apart the head the line can manually be pulled/separated.

For Scotch Broom I spray...

 

[riptides]

67°F and .54 inches rain.

Sadly, my tractor failed mowing test. After about an hour it started stalling. This time I had the forethought to record on video. I will attempt to post on YouTube or someplace. Never done that before. I will then post link here on TBN and provide to the tech. Fortunately, my friend Jim was able to observe first hand the last half dozen stalls.
.....

What's the orange light coming on before the stall?

The ECM was re-flashed right?

Can you get it to stall with you NOT in the seat?

 

[FriendwithTractor]

*Snip*

lot of tech improvements in 7 years. I'm looking at a 4k screen now.
Would like that in new laptop
looking at an Acer.
I'm pretty sure there's no reason today to spec an Intel chip vs AMD or ???
how do you compare speed of processor, mhz? cores?
most of the memory is SSD. speed of memory? speed of throughput of XYZ?
hard to be a comparative shopper.
pretty sure I have everything off the laptop already and I feed it from camera memory cards anyway, which
I have loaded into home pc.

David, wish I could send a magical mechanic genie
who could fix your stuff. If only Popgadget flew to Hawaii...

Processor speed is mhz, Cores spread the load.
SSD is the new HDD, Just pulled an old 3TB HDD out of my machine that had served me well for 11+ years but was finally showing age. SSD is able to access storage faster than a spinning disk could, so you will see improved speeds. However, they still do get bogged down, especially with all the bloatware and files that accumulate from use.

For general usage, any laptop you buy will likely be more than enough both in processing power and storage. It's only when you get into specialized uses that these things begin to matter.

I recommend uninstalling as many programs off of the PC as it will allow you, I also recommend periodic cleanups with CC cleaner (An excellent free resource). You'll also likely only be able to find one running Windows 11, as 10 is scheduled to go end of support next year....I could go on about my feelings for that, but this is already long enough.

Just my two cents, happy shopping!

-Long term IT guy

 

[daugen]

thanks for good input Friendwith.

not a rewarding morning at the ear doc
2 hours later, after all the ear tests, he wanted to put me on the same
diuretic medicine a prior ENT tried, which made me terribly sick because it caused my blood pressure to drop
dramatically. I did make an appointment to come back and talk to their hearing aid person.
Costco refused me, but maybe they can help.

lovely day out but bulldozer making enough noise and wind was blowing my way that I kept smelling dirt, so not a day
to work in the garden. That will be tomorrow.

headed over to a friend's tonight for pizza
I never stay late, terrible night person, start yawning at 8pm
my friends know I come early, leave early.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Good Morning
52° and sunny, high of 70 forecast with a gentle breeze.
A perfect day to work outside.

Yesterday’s trip went well, one of those rare days when the weather was great on the entire east coast. It still killed the whole day when you factor in the drive to the airport and back. I put the trash and recycling down to the street, only to realize when I went through my emails that the pickup was pushed back a day due to the Memorial Day holiday. So I went down and brought them back up.

Today I’m putting in the plumbing drains that go under the slab, glad it’s a great day to work outside.

I’m going to try to remember to capture a picture from the “construction cam” every morning, then put them together into a time lapse when it’s done. Here is this morning.
View attachment 872896

I was going to ask if you could set it to time lapse a shot every so often, I don't know the frequency needed, but I would figure more frequent the shots, the better the video.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Dennis , beautiful camper, not bad mileage pulling that thing !

glad the dirt didn’t show up in the picture.

 

[Thomas]

67°F and .54 inches rain.

Sadly, my tractor failed mowing test. After about an hour it started stalling. This time I had the forethought to record on video. I will attempt to post on YouTube or someplace. Never done that before. I will then post link here on TBN and provide to the tech. Fortunately, my friend Jim was able to observe first hand the last half dozen stalls.


The 2 min video shows going into limo before stall. Shorter ones pretty much just stalled.

Can you call factory Rep.

 

[Looking4new]

David, read my comment on the video.