Recent content by Sodo

I put an hour-meter on it that crapped out the 1st year. Ten 8 hour days per year x 10 years = 800 hours.... .hmmmm. maybe 200 hours then? No way to know.

Hanging a magnet is vastly different than arranging lots of magnets on the floor (for example). Magnets cannot pull tiny particles from the fluid from all directions. It catches only the particles dropping past very slowly, vertically downward from above (while the oil is still). Your method...

Ray, engine oil is subject to different set of contaminants, including chemical. Hydr oil gets mostly stone & metal contaminants. Which are both heavier than oil, and will settle out. Which is something you "can" do if you want. You cannot (easily) remove chemical contaminants that engine...

Incidentally...... 10 years later this generator is still good. The battery is toast but it starts first pull. I drain the carburetor over the winter. The fuel shutoff valve crapped out. The rubber inside it disintegrated. I found a replacement valve for a song and it works well (for now I guess).

They're Redwoods, planted in 1985. I would like them better if not so close to the house. The 40" is 11 feet from the house. Someday they have to be taken out. It's a 1 bdrm, decent condition, but low-value house (rental). Here's row 6, welded to the tieback structure Here's row 9 welded to...

I welded the eight 6ft T-Posts and rebar rectangle together. It's really solid. No way in h*ll is a plastic deadman as strong as this method. From the other buried steel I find here, I'm sure this will last 40 years and more. I doubt this little house will still be here in 40 years though. I...

Thx Flogger that's good to hear. Three significant details that influence success / failure ! ------> (conditions, conditions, & conditions). It's "the unknown", "changes", and "the future" (seismic?) that should be the impetus for overkill, not internet glory. From my (very simple and limited...

The helical anchors will arrive today Sunday. Crazy what Amazon has done to projects, with one-day delivery. I cannot IMAGINE they will hold as well as 6ft (or even 8ft) T-Posts. Maybe I'll just toss them in the toybox and go get 12 T-posts. I'll know how easily (or difficult) a 5 foot post...

It's glacial. Imagine sand/with a little soil mixed in, with the crushing weight of 500 feet of ice above it. "Legend has it" that the weight of the ice flow compressed the entire land 200-300 feet creating the channel for the water body of Puget Sound for example. It has ~ 20,000 years of...

Good to keep this in mind. Geotextile is one of those significant changes. But how long does geotextile last? I doubt "planned obsolescence" has been engineered, like a plastic trash can or plastic rake. It needs to be placed such that it does not create a slip-plane though. Again, I am...

Several location on my (steep) land are 'fills' that have been here since ?1960s? and they are still OK. They don't move. And they have no geotextile reinforcement. I have some other areas that I have filled even 12 feet thick, simply dumping the dirt over the slope. Areas where there's no...

The 11th block will be 3ft from the geotextile lift. I don't think my geotex fabric will do 'much' in 3 feet. The hard plastic type would be better for this, I think ___IF____ it was soil. But the backfill will be sand then gravel. ================ My current plan, is to have 3 "weldable"...

OK, it's hard enough for me to re-read the whole 10 pages myself. lilranch.....i consider this a discussion, argument has not entered my mind. ideas, solutions come from discussion. ....I'll recap some of your concerns. Tree removal is recommended. I've wanted to take them out before the wall...

From my POV... I'm getting great input that is helping to move along. What advice do you think I'm ignoring... that will doom my wall? What I need is tiebacks, The wall goes in tipped back at 1:6. Would be nice to find a way to "qualify" that they'll keep the wall tipped back against the...

I ordered some small helical anchors. I'll weld them to rebar to lengthen them, and see how far they'll screw into the sand. I'm guessing they screw right in. I wonder how to 'qualify' them. The blocks mfrs say beyond 7 rows (7x6=42"), anchors are needed. This wall will be 4 rows past the...