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The plumbing and AC had been coming together while i was gone. Bridges in place, all venting put in so far has been wrapped with insulation.

Yeah. Most assuredly dry.

Took a little break to the Pacific Northwest. Much needed rest.

Goldenrod is good for the bees. That's a plus since CloverK is a beekeeper.

Bridge is going to be added for both units. Both units have 2 returns with filters accessable from living area. Both have extra large drip trays with fluid sensing shut offs in addition to the unit's standard trays. I was not a huge fan of them being in the attic either but usable space in the...

Other side of the attic.

Some more attic pictures. The first one is my man cave. Upstairs room above the garage that is air conditioned. It's 19x24 or so.

Just a few pieces of trim to go. Then i gotta get a big door coming. I think it's turning out really good! I'm excited!

Attic will be unconditioned air.

Radiant barrier/ insulation. Something like below. The building manufacturer said he likes this better than the 3" fiberglass and it's a lot cheaper. Claims similar R-value but I have not been able to find much that backs up his statement. I've seen some say up to R-6.5, but the biggest thing is...

I'll get you a picture of that area. The attic in this thing is probably bigger than my first house. My wife and I laugh about this process, like a oh no we messed up but it's too late to change it now, kind of laugh. Looking at the plans it really felt like we were building a moderately sized...

It's entirely possible that there could be something wrong with his, but my experience is that the foot clutch disengages both the transmission and PTO from being driven by the engine but the transmission and PTO are still mated together. Meaning the PTO and tires are either both spinning or...

My in-laws have a 170 that looks pretty similar to that one but with a Perkins diesel. I bush hog 40 acres a time or 2 a year with it. Does a good job. The high-low range selector makes it work a lot like a live PTO. The foot clutch disengages the PTO and transmission but the brush hog will...

Here is a close up... soon to be hidden forever.

Good call on the install manual... Sometimes the easiest things get forgotten...

I'll get the book and see what it says. Also looked up rockwool. Looks like a good candidate. I'm back seat driving this build so I'm just watching it go and speaking up when i want something different or don't understand something. I'm going to foam all the areas that i can see daylight after...

This one is a vented gas unit. Basically a gas heater that looks like a fireplace. 45,000 btu with a blower. It will put out lots of heat and operates with a remote control. I think we are really going to enjoy it. I'm tempted to have them take it out and insulate the outer shed part. It...

What is the best plan for insulating the fireplace, and what's the best plan for sealing around the flu?

I'll add material to make a nice mowable slope. I built the pad up with shale and left it steep so the concrete trucks could get close and stay relatively level. I'll use a lighter clay/topsoil for the final grade. I also saved some shale to feather out the driveway.

Coming along nicely. Should finish the building tomorrow.

Meeting with the electrician and insulation people tomorrow morning. I think the electrician will start rough in tomorrow also. HVAC install started this morning. Units are set and ductwork is being put in. Plumbing top out is supposed to start this week also.

Yeah that one beam, well 3 sandwiched beams, was $1,800 and nobody even gets to see it! I wish I had been there to see them carry it up there. Literally every piece was hand carried and lifted by little bitty guys. No equipment at all, 3 or 4 ladders and 2 aluminum walk boards were the only...

To go with the theme of clean look and no burning i would haul them off site with the dump truck and dispose or burn. Unless the grinder is coming back later.

I have been impressed with all the crews that have been here so far. My builder definitely has some high standards for the subs he uses. They have all been good at their trades and have seemed to be really good people. My house is on the lower end of what he usually builds. I'm glad I got him...

I had not even thought about patches. I was not planning on removing the tire until i had already plugged the tire and saw the rim leak. The next time the plugs start leaking i may look into patches.

All caught up.

Let's get a few more to try to catch up.

@EddieWalker anything special you want to see on the framing? Framing is done except for some punch list stuff. I'm just behind posting.

Most of the great room rafters up. Starting the rest of the roof.

Getting a few rafters up.

Started with a couple small beams. Of course i had to climb up there.

They finally started working on the great room. They spent basically a day building scaffolding before they started framing the high parts.

Waste of money might have been my words. They might have said unnecessary. Builder would have used zip if I asked him to, no problem. It was a pretty hefty expense for the upgrade and i did quite a bit of research. Between the research I did that didn't show a great deal of improvement if both...

We had the dog trot house look for quite a while. They worked on both ends until they were basically complete and ready for rafters before they started on the great room section. Here is a little more close up. The beam seems a bit large for such a small vault... although later the roof is...

I've heard stories of thieves loitering until close to closing time so the employees are busy stocking and cleaning. In one instance they went to the next isle over behind the locked cordless tool storage, unloaded that shelf, reached through to the aisle over, loaded up every cordless tool in...

No basement. They are not really a thing around here very very rare. I think that's because the water table is so high around here. Yes blocked in room is storm shelter. Lots of 'naders in my area. In fact the reason this lot had no dwelling is because a tornado took out the place that was on...

More framing. This part goes fast! I know I promised Zip panels but i was talked out of them in favor of Tyvec. Residental and commercial builders, that I know well and trust, both said in this climate Zip is a waste of money, and the upgrade is pretty pricy.

Put me down on the list that says get a gearbox and mow on. Looking at tractor data, your machine should have 45 hp at the PTO when new. I don't see that destroying a 40hp gearbox in the short or long term. I think LD1 has a good theory, pinon shaft backed out and extra backlash wore the gear...

Day 1 of erection. Heh can i day that word?

I had a slow leak from some old plugs and decided to finally fix it over the weekend. Pushed the old plugs in and installed new ones with rubber cement. Now it's a fast leak... 2nd plug in each hole. All good, but the soapy water fizzed up along half the bead. I guess dirt got in there when it...

I've rented little piddly stuff like that before. I bet the thought is that the person who rents the mower will probably need a gas can and instead of giving one with the rental why not make a few extra buck off them. If you only need a saw once and don't have someone to borrow it from, rent...

Ok let's get some framing pictures going. Like I had said a few posts ago, framing started 3 days earlier than expected. The slab was poured on Friday. Monday my builder sent the first picture below around lunch. There had not even been any material when I left for work. These 3 were from far l...

We are in about the same boat as you. My in-laws live on a crooked and steep chip-sealed road. I use their big old Alice Chamlers 170 and a rear blade. It's heavier than yours and I still have to have a good head of steam or it will just spin the tires. I would say back blade for sure, but maybe...

I tried using metal wire once... Just once... The entire wire broke off almost instantly at 9 million miles per hour. Seemed a little too dangerous. I wonder if steel cable/ wire rope would work 🤔....

I miss typed on the seer for the Goodman, I see that it is spec'd as 14.3 SEER. No idea why they are so far apart. I asked them both and both were confident. The Goodman quote said he did his calculations on a 100 degree day and thinks the other one did calculations on a 92 degree day. Goodman...

I like that about winter where it actually gets cold. Here in Arkansas we just get the muddy, mucky, dreary, bleak grey, for our winters. It would be so much better if it would stay cold enough for the air to be dry. I don't like our winters.

Calling @Sigarms for opinions on the HVAC question above please. :)

@EddieWalker What say you about the AC systems above?

Hopefully I can get a few opinions here. 2 questions: Shingles: Going to go with GAF Timberline HDZ in either Charcoal or Pewter Gray. They are both very dark, the Pewter Grey has a bit of a silverish grit. Is there any real difference in cooling costs with both being pretty dark? Everyone...

Sounds a little like our SB2 Grade 7. It's 1.5 minus with fines. Local vernacular is "Road Base" it's what I have for my driveway.

I wonder if you could fog seal then use a smooth drum vibratory roller compactor on it after the fog seal tar had time to "soak in"?

I understand and was just speaking to capability. After the many dozens of hours I've spent operating a dozer and becoming familiar with operation and capability I would not recommend a front blade for anything but extremely light and loose material. Silage, snow, or just pushing brush is what...

That really doesn't sound like tractor work to me... I've been doing a lot of work lately with a dozer and trackhoe, same soil conditions you describe. Even the 10 ton dozer with tracks would have it's work cut out for it cutting down trails on hillsides. I would absolutely not recommend a dozer...

They do. I've already moved probably 200 loads with it.

Also the cracks are only from inside corners so far, and only a few.

That was a Friday and i was told the framers would be there the following wednesday. Came home Monday to this. There wasn't even any materials there when I left for work.

I was there for the pour. It was pretty wet to my eye but they did a good job pulling the wire up. There are a couple of decent cracks, but you can't throw a cat through them so i think it's going to be fine.

Concrete finishers got here early early. Pumper truck showed up just before daybreak. Then we all waited almost 2 hours for the first load of concrete... There was a highway bridge project that the trucks were working on. I guess highways are more important than houses, go figure? 71 yards for...

Prepped for slab!

The building delivered this week and the bathroom plumbing is done.

This is the real reason I was a little miffed about paying someone to grade the foundation... It was a wasted effort. The plumbers left it as bad as if it was never leveled in the first place! The first thing they did was dig a bunch out of the garage area to pile on top of the blocks to get...

Next was filling the foundation in with sand. I should have done this part myself, could have saved a couple thousand on this step. But, not having experience I thought there was more to it. The block layers just left out a couple of areas to give the dump truck a way in. Dump trucks brought...

It's not a trivial amount of money. I understand pulling back on the reigns a bit.

I'm an amateur bee keeper and get stung quite a bit in that endeavor. I would rather get stung 5x by bees that once by a wasp. Don't know what it is, a wasp can just land on me and not even sting and I swell up and start hurting. Wasps are jerks!

I think that got us to around the 4th of July. And a break to plant an apple tree. I decided against the shovel...

So, I'm not exactly up to real time with this post. Here are some blocks for your enjoyment. A crew came out to start laying and got rained out so they set up the layout and staged some blocks. I got a text at work from my small child that "people are here". By the time I got home for lunch...

4570Man has it about right for my area too. As many twists and turns as this house has, I can't imagine it would have been any cheaper to put up batter boards and pull strings. I did not measure the trench but I think it was a 2' bucket. Those blocks are 8" wide if I remember correctly and it...

Let's keep this thread going. How about some footers? I realized I didn't get many pictures of this stage... Whoops. I hired a surveyor to lay it all out, a crew came in and excavated, then a crew came in to tie rebar, set forms for the height steps, and set height markers. I was surprised at...

There is, but apparently the holes elongate over time. The bolts are in both sides of mine but there is still enough slop that I can't pick up a loader attachment without fiddling with it but usually it's pretty quick to find a spot where they line up so I haven't even tried to fix it.

The chrome looking rod is all that holds the 2 sides parallel. It is just a piece of tubing as far as I can tell. Mine is the same way, I just curl mine back and forth, usually they will eventually find a place to rest that's close enough within a cycle or two.

I'm late to the party since you already ordered one. I heated up a scrap piece of PVC pipe, flattened it into a narrow oval and hose clamped it to my ROPS. It does look a little ghetto but it works well and since it was scrap it didn't cost me anything. You can hopefully see it in this...

Seems like it may be very dangerous pushing hard enough to move nested bales with the bucket up that high. I wonder if you just ran a chain or rope around and pulled it off? Not with your loader obviously. You could probably do that just as easy, or easier, with a truck than the tractor...

I'm going to give anecdotal info since I don't have any lengthy knowledge. I would say go for the big one. I've looked at the same quandary although I have so far used other means to accomplish the projects I was intending for the larger tractor so I ended up not needing the larger machine...

Y'all are going to hate me... After all the questions and hand wringing, I hired it out yesterday... I talked to the building erector and he said he would take it from where I have it, dig the footers, larger piers for the uprights, lay the plastic and wire, tie the rebar, pour and finish for...

That 315 looks real similar to the Hitachi 160 I've been using. I've had the 160 on some serious slopes and it has stayed pretty stable. It will get lots of work done for you. Sure is a beaut Clark. Y'all have made lots of headway already it looks like. That area is going to clean up nice.

Dozer is borrowed it won't go in there. But I do like the tank idea.... 🤔

Just looking at pictures here from the comfort of the AC... It looks like some of that you might could remove the big stuff and use a forestry mulcher to groom it up. Or maybe use the mulcher and track hoe in tandem. Mulch up to the big stuff and move it as it's being uncovered. Admittedly I'm...

A thought... And it involves Home Depot... So it may not work. I have had good luck a couple of times buying used rental tools. This one is a 64cc 20" Makita. Just a thought. There may be semi local rental yards that might sell you something that will work well for you at a discount from new?

I tried a weed torch last year. Not worth messing with for me. The few it did kill came back prettier almost immediately.

Oops, I missed that you said you DON'T have a box blade...

I used my box blade with great success a few weeks ago. Start dragging it where you have plenty of gravel and just drag it around with it all the way lowered. It worked better than I expected. I have also used a roundup alternative and a weed torch. Weed torch was worthless. Lots of work, lots...

There are times that taking a step back is the only way to shed light on a bad situation. There is no shame in that. Often times people don't realize how much someone does until they are gone, usually not through malice. I volunteer at my church for several things and have very much seen the...

Yeah that's an odd situation. I remember that you are doing all this work on a volunteer basis. But I don't really understand the connection to the trail system that requires you two being the caretakers, other than you just like the trails. Your posts make it seem to me that it's just about a...

I bet you are about ready to get back to snow grooming. It's probably not quite as hard on you.

I am also in the group of "have house, no bats"... I put mine out this spring. I've had a few flying around my place at dusk but not lately.

Ordered the materials. Not as bad as I was expecting. $1,360 15 pcs - 2x4x20 40 pcs - 1/2x20 rebar 120 pcs - 3" dual rebar chairs 1,000 pcs - Rebar ties 2 pcs - rebar wire twister 1 roll - 6 mil 20x100 plastic 12 pcs - 6x6 welded wire 8'x20'

The egg rush ended around me several months ago. I haven't seen any chicken or egg shortages around my part of the country. I also have a few too many chickens at my house as well.

I had a couple of fails yesterday after work. I started laying out my corners using 18" rebar as the corner pins. The ends of my tapes are too small to go around the rebar. I got one wedged on there good enough to hold and ended up tearing off the tip. Then I decided to go ahead and start my...

I went by the lumber yard in the way home from work. They said to form first then dig the footers. Said if i dig footers first the stakes will blow out. Does that make sense? It sounds good but I'll have to be creative with the machine to get it straddled over the forms. Also they said use a...

I'm hiring out the pour and finish. I have a group lined up for $1,500

If I'm understanding correctly I'm just driving in 2x4 stakes on the outside of the form. If that's the case is there any worry about the footer blowing out as thin as the dirt will be?

The drawing is pretty vague, it's the picture on the first post. He said the biggest thing is just to make sure there is 12" under ground. I was planning on 12"x12" footer with the 4" slab on top of that. So the footer portion should end up about 16" thick. I have an option of a 12 or 18"...

You are saying I can just dig the lower portion of the footers and not frame the bottom 12"?

Title says it all. I have my pad built and I think there may be a picture in my shop thread. I wanted to break this thought out so there would be more visibility and hopefully I'll get some good thoughts. I'm planning on renting a mini-x this weekend and getting it ready for concrete. I have 2...

I gotta say, for you to be the one that type of clientele calls for something like this... You must be a well respected business owner. You are doing it right.

I spent so much time deliberating the type of frame I wanted I was just tired of dealing with it and went with the steel. I probably would have preferred stick built but it was going to be more expensive than the steel. The one I went with is going to cost a little more than a pole barn but...

This guy is a bit of a kook but he seems like he knows what he's talking about. I like watching some of his stuff. One of his big things is he likes the long bars for bucking, says it helps with fatigue by being able to stand more upright while sawing and is safer because your face is farther...

My wife and I were just talking about this. There are a bunch more that I remember seeing in the past. We also have more birds of prey than in the past as well. Somehow it's working out. I have family in that area. Hemingway, Johnsonville, and around the Scranton/ Lake city area. Used to ski...

I like the look of that JD WAM! My yard is "only" 10 acres but I would still like to have one of those. I have tried a few different things to try to improve my time. So far my 72" zero turn is the most convenient. It's a Spartan with 36hp Vanguard. It has never felt underpowered but the cut is...

I went to go pay my deposit and saw this laying out. Thought I would share a picture to show what the framework looks like. This is trusses, girts and purlins. The trusses will be bolted onto I-beams that are fabricated with mounting pates.

About time to dig footers. I can't find a machine with a smooth edge bucket that's small enough. Is it a huge problem to dig the footers with a toothed bucket?

I forgot about the anemia thing. She has been treated for that in the past... The child is weird. She chews everything. I joke that she's like a dog. We have had to have her front teeth fixed twice from trying to separate legos, told her the next time was going to be out of her bank account.

They've got to have LOTS of it. If there's not enough for a dozen people they are stressing. I can't get the youngest to drink water but she will eat ice all day. She will fill up a cup with just ice and gnaw on it until it's gone and go get more. They both want "Sonic ice", the little nuggets...

My wife and youngest are weird about ice. We had one at our old house and bought one for the house we are building now. Never had a problem, years of service. I don't remember which exact model we got but this is real close.

Good looking rig! A bunch of years ago I had an '08 F-250, I also did the research between it and the F-350. At the time the only difference the parts guy and I found was that the F-250 had a 2" spacer above the rear axle and the F-350 had a 4" spacer in the same spot.

It's designed just for that purpose :)

Pad is almost done. This is taking WAY more material than i thought.

I decided on 50x40. The gable end will be 50 wide and it will be the front of the building. Cost was more than i was expecting and i ran out of shale for the pad. So I decided that extra 500sqft was just out of my reach.

Spent half the day yesterday changing tires. Had a flat on one of the drive tires. Called a service truck and they wanted $600 for three service call and 1 tire, ouch. My neighbor found 8 of them mounted on rims already for $100 each. I bought 4 of them. I don't have tools large enough for it so...

Not a bad idea. I may have to do that if i can't get it close enough.

I looked up the laser reciever. If i were doing lots of pads i might consider it but not for just this 1 job. It's pretty expensive. The RV level is a good idea i may try to find one if i get too frustrated.

I'll have my shop pad up to height this weekend. I don't have a lot of experience on a dozer but I have found that I can do *decent* if I have a good, close reference for elevation. I'm having a difficult time leveling the pad, so far I have just been packing short lifts and slowly bringing the...

Measure the caster dimeter, shaft dia, and shaft length. That will give a place to start. https://www.amazon.com/High-Grade-Manufacturing-Laminated-Assembly/dp/B07PWFN37R/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=finish+mower+wheels&qid=1691082259&sr=8-5&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0

I moved around 30 loads with it yesterday. Clutch adjustment did the trick. Stayed in adjustment all day and no sign of slipping. Service truck is coming today with a tire. They are all old old and one of the inside duals decided to let go. Fronts look like split rims, rears are standard...

Wow. A little adjustment goes a long way. Now it's 6 inches off the floor before it catches. I'll make sure to pay attention and make sure it's fully released but i think i got it. Thanks!

Linkage is adjustable. I adjusted until i could no longer hear the throw out bearing touch the fork. The backed off half a turn to where u could just hear it click as i worked the linkage. That gave me about an inch of peddle free play. Now we try it.

Scratch that. The allthread has not backed off upon closer inspection

I'm lost now... what do i adjust? It looks like the allrod of the linkage is clean on the ends. Maybe try to tighten that a bit i guess?

In the early 2010's I had a lawn service. I pulled an enclosed stock trailer with mowers etc. weighed about 6,000# give or take. I pulled it in town 99% of the time. I started out with an F-150 that was a bit underpowered. I upgraded to an F-250, granted a diesel, but it was a huge improvement...

As big of a headache as it was to make that trench, I almost think I would just re-do the whole water line in a different spot, with a trencher if I ever get to the place where I need to dig it up. It does also scare me a little thinking about digging with primary voltage that close. That is...

The north wall is the front/ road side. West is blocked by the house, the road is dead end on the east side so visitors will not really have any reason to pass far enough to see the east wall, and the south wall is the back, who cares about that side right? But, yes, I agree with you. If money...

Thermal barrier is OSB with almost an aluminum foil looking backer that is supposed to reflect thermal heat radiation from the roof. Everyone I've talked to said it makes a big difference. I'm spending a small mint on this thing already. I can't go Cadillac on everything. I am going with high...

The water department only inspects the hookup at the meter and electric says they only need a foot of separation. I did send pics to the Entergy engineer assigned to my project and the inspector for the water department before I covered the trench and they both said they were good with it.

18x10 door with opener is $4,726 without insulation or $5,470 with insulation. The opener is $1,165 of that, apparently it's gotta be big for such a heavy door. The front is all that will be seen from the road and it's expensive. I didn't think there was a big reason to add that cost on the...

I'm going zip on the walls. it looks like you either get zip for waterproofing on the roof panels or thermal barrier, not both. I'm opting for the thermal barrier.

I do it all the time with a bright red one and still see plenty. Try to park away from the direction you expect deer to come from and downwind if possible. I have seen deer be spooked by a parked side x side when they came right up on it and didn't know it was there. So don't park on their...

Here's a little view of the water and electric service. I already had a big track hoe at the house so I decided to use it to trench for the utilities instead of renting something smaller. Turns out a 42" bucket makes a BIG trench. I'll rent a trencher if I ever have to do this again. Electric...

I drew this up Friday and took it to the metal shop guy I mentioned above. Hopefully I'll have a quote this week. AAAAAnd I hope I can afford it since I'm already building the pad...

I'll check that out, thanks for the advice.

I have moved many, many loads with the truck so far. It's developing an issue. I didn't notice until it got pretty bad but the clutch peddle has developed a lot of play and does not disengage the clutch until the peddle is on the floor. It is a mechanical linkage that runs straight down through...

This might be it? https://www.reubicontractorparts.com/mahindra-tractor-radiator-e006007706f1/

Oof that's bad. I wonder if there's a radiator shop that can source you something the right size?

Maybe you could buy the dealership 🤔... Then you could make sure the dealership covered it... There's always another angle 😁

I had a lawn service for several years. The most memorable one was several pool balls, from a pool table not the blow up kind. I must have hit 10 over the course of a summer at that house. They had to be doing it on purpose. Luckily there was just a puff of dust and the other half would be...

Here's another one. If money were no object I would have one of them. They have really wide finish mowers for them, flail mowers, and a few more attachments that seem like they would be really handy. But money is absolutely an object and my family feels like they need to eat EVERY week...

I wonder if the belt drive has give so the blades don't need to swing freely? If I remember right TTWT has some good videos of the rough cut. I remember being impressed. I found one

According to google the 2305 is self priming. My 1025 is also. I usually turn the key on for 1 min then off and back on for another min to let the pump prime everything. Then throttle up to half or so and start it. It runs rough for several seconds then clears up.

That's what normal rock looks like around the Ozarks out here. They are all angular like that. There are lots of businesses set up around here that just pile up rocks and sell them by the pallet. I pick them up and use them for flower bed borders. Works well and looks nice. Lots of older houses...

I might have found a compromise on the frame build for the shop. There is a local shop that specializes in metal shop buildings. They use I beam uprights, roll formed galvanized "C channel" gerts and fabricated trusses made with angle iron. All bolt together construction. They are more expensive...

You might enjoy this. I took them today to advertise our honey. Seems to fit the tractor forum theme and the beekeeping thread pretty well. 😊

Also it turns out it really takes longer than you would think to build a 450' driveway and house pad by yourself. Lots of climbing in and out of equipment. I think I hauled off easy 40+ loads of top soil and hauled back an easy 60+ loads of shale. I had help for the middle of 1 day. Other than...

A little update. I don't think I have shared much progress yet. Here is a "start to finish" on the driveway. I cut down the top soil with the dozer and hauled it to the back for use later. Then I made 2 lifts of shale. It was saved from the pond project last year. I'll wait as long as I can...

I'll come at this a little differently than some others have. Lots of good opinions in this thread. I will also make known that I am a Jesus follower, that helps when things get heavy for sure! The theme I read in the original post was "overwhelmed". Burnout, lack of motivation, and a seemingly...

Painting the fasteners? That's a big ole negative from me.

I have 3 Orphington roosters right now. I've got 1 picked out that I hope is going to keep a good demeaner and graduate to the flock daddy. I'm going to have to figure out how to get rid of the extras without having a repeat of last weekend...

RIP Slider :( He was a good chicken protector but he got too aggressive. The last straw was a walker on the road in front of our house. We let the chickens out to roam for a couple hours most evenings. Usually he leaves people alone if they are far enough away but he chased the poor walker for...

I replaced mine right out of the gate on my SxS for the same reason. I tried to make the factory ones work but I ran out of plugs way too fast. I was able to get takeoffs from the dealership. Wheels and tires already mounted from a higher equipped unit for less than just tires. It's crazy to me...

I've got a motorcycle that I just borrow a key from whoever I'm with to turn it on then hand their key back. It always earns a chuckle. One time I did that and it wouldn't turn back off until I used the actual key.

The last time I checked the best case scenario was a 20+ year ROI for the solar if there were no maintenance issues. That is not something I want to consider. Even if it was 15 years that would be a no-go. Our electrical grid is not prone to issues aside from short interruptions from weather or...

Got the lumber/roof materials package quotes today. The materials are similar except for a couple areas. Let me know if there is a preference. Both have radiant barrier OSB for the roof. one is 7/16 one is 15/32. not sure if that even makes a difference. About $4.00 each more for the 7/16 but...

So this is the result of a crash with a loader in that configuration. I don't see any excuse for that negligence on the part of the tractor operator. It doesn't matter who was at fault. I know the tractor operator would not have wanted that outcome if they could help it. And they could have...

Devil's advocate non-filtered thought. -->I would rather you damage your tractor than spear my daughter through the head. But that may just be me.... Also, there is no rule saying you can't adjust them while moving. If they are low and you are coming to a rise, lift them up a little then set...

An acre, I would just mow it short and run a tiller over it a few times. I've done that on my place with good results. Some around me don't have a tiller and just use a disc. That takes a lot longer, especially in the dry. Discs don't cut very well through roots.

You can check, but around me if it has its own VIN it requires its own policy and is not covered under homeowners.

I also run mine low to the ground. Another thing that gets me is during hay season EVERY tractor I see on the road with a loader mounted hay fork has it tilted back at almost exactly head height. Point the thing at the road people!

I have had good luck with the big box store mowers. Last time I got something like a troybilt with a honda motor. I couldn't wear it out. I like the big back wheels, not sure if it makes a difference but I've always gotten them. I would not personally spend the money on a "commercial" 21" mower.

Surely a finance company will not finance it without insurance! Is it just included in the finance charges and maybe you just didn't notice?

I would assume a fire would be more of an insurance thing. I would for sure call them sooner rather than later. Let them know Kubota claims it's not warranty related. I bet they will get to the bottom of it.

We harvested 77 lbs of honey yesterday. Only took 2 medium supers and 2 additional frames. Left plenty for the ladies.

They are so pretty though. Do they seem to be thicker around the trails because of more light available or less underbrush to keep them down? I wouldn't expect there to be much less canopy along the trails, it looks like you like to keep it as natural as possible. But I bet there is more light...

@EddieWalker, All good points I appreciate the input. I have been waffling back and forth about spray foam insulation in the walls. The R value for 3" spray in a 4" wall is the same as 4" of cellulose. Are you saying that the foam will be superior? We had talked about foaming the walls and...

Most of the trench is ready.

At least it's a manual then. 🤷‍♂️

Wow, does this thing make a big trench...

Lets switch gears and talk about AC for a moment. My builder recommends 14 seer based on the upfront cost and little ROI. Do any of you have any different advice? $20k was in the initial budget.

Also, I just thought about this. Realistically anything that I'm going to be using in the shop has been used in my house garage at one time or another. More lighting yes, possibly a bigger air compressor. That makes me think about it a little differently.

Good news with that is hot water and stove are both gas. Oven is electric so no getting around that one.

Split away, that's why we are here. I found that open ended questions end up with answers that I wouldn't even know to ask. Let's go with specific questions on concrete. Post frame with either wet-set anchors for the posts or drilled in anchors. how would my slab need to be constructed for...

I'm running the service from the road to the build site at 320/400A. Apparently there is no availability on 320A panels right now so I'll most likely be forced to run 200A to my house. I have a friend with a similar house and shop to what I'm planning. He ran a 200A to his house and a 100A sub...

You can also rent the machine for around 6-7K per month.

Yeah, if you have the machine you can probably find someone good for $25/hr pretty easily.

looking good!

Just checked it out. Looking good. The wet-set post mounts look like a good solution. Edit, just looked them up. Expensive.

I would recommend talking to someone who would potentially buy the lumber first. Barring that, I would say a 20 ton + excavator with a thumb (mechanical is fine) would be a good starting place. It's much easier to get the stump out if you do it with the tree attached. You can push the tree over...

I just started building my house, and all but decided to wait on the shop. My wife and parents are on me about going ahead and building it while the house is going up.... They have a point, I really want a shop and need indoor storage for several things. We are planning on this being our...

Entergy finally came out yesterday. Meter on the house is the only option. They require it.

I'm the same. I never even thought about a man door to enter the garage, now that it's been suggested I see how it would be handy. I have a use for the space it would take up so I'm going to push forward without it, may regret that later but I'm sure it won't be the only thing.

I would have liked to have a mud room but it was not in the cards for these plans. We are too far along to change them now and even if we could I'm not up for another round of plan changes. Every thing that gets changed on the plans effects something else, it gets exhausting.

Your ears are pretty good! It's got an 8.something Detroit turbo in it.

Thanks. I only have a few hours experience on a dozer. I've been having to learn by the seat of my pants. If I go about half as fast as the slowest speed I can almost keep up with the adjustments so I don't loose the cut or gouge too terribly deep... I did make it harder on myself by pushing...

I think i know what this one is...

Again.

Here's the fawn pre-snacked on.

This picture was taken at someone's place I know well in central Arkansas. We have equal votes on mountain lion, bobcat, and coyote. My vote is bobcat. That's a fawn in its mouth.

Pad is ready and the driveway has been excavated and 1 lift has been added. Got a lot of rain yesterday so it may be a few days to get the 2nd lift on it. Hopefully 2 lifts will do it.

I bet it will turn out perfect. That truck is going to serve you well.

I'm working on the house pad today.

I ran it all out today and then some. Burned 90 gallons building about 400' of driveway.

And for your viewing pleasure. Here it is taking a dump.

All i have left is to hope now... It looked really good going in. I checked out a few samples and it looked good. No water. I pumped it back into the transfer tank through the mr funnel for several min and looked at what was in it several times and it looked good before i ever put it in the machine.

Here we go! Closed the loan yesterday.

Done.

Just mcdonalds because it was fast.

Success! It took about half a 5 gal bucket.

Phase 1 of the repair is done. (Lifting the bed). It was a comedy of errors. I had to jump start the track hoe because i stupidly left the lights on the night i moved the thumb. To do that after quite a while of having it hooked up to my truck and then the dozer i ended up having to use the dump...

I believe this is spot on. Seems to be the case for this truck. In going to be working on it again this evening.

This is my plan.

I pumped all the oil out by the time i figured it out. Now there is 0 lift. I think i can feel the plug but there is no room to figure out how to open the plug much less get a tool in there to open it. Any ideas?