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The ones I've used for my pool cover are thinner, and not mechanically as durable as an inner tube. But on the flip side, most of the good ones are UV-resistant, whereas inner tubes are not. Having used those water bags, I'd expect they'd not last that long in the back of a truck, as they're...

Yep. That's basically what the guy created, a 2015 or 2016 Magnum, custom body work. Dodge never made a Magnum in the 2015-and-up (gen. 7.5?) body style I showed above, nor did they ever make a high-HP AWD variant. They did have a 425 hp RWD version using the old SRT-8 motor, which must have...

The words of someone who doesn't have kids... or maybe even a wife. :p The number of times I accidentally left a dome light on overnight could be counted on one hand, in 30+ years of life before kids. But now, it's several times per month that I walk out to the garage and find at least one...

That's the problem! :ROFLMAO: My wife went thru a period of getting a new car every 6 - 24 months, just a long string of unfortunate circumstances, where she totalled quite a few cars in a row. Anyway, one of the half-dozen cars she owned in that run was an Audi A3 2.0T, and I absolutely...

The concern for most is that, if they manage to tip their only or largest tractor, they're stuck using a pickup truck to get it back on its wheels. Either that, or calling the closest farmer with some machinery, which might be a bit of a drive across town, for many. I have one older neighbor...

I think that is the case in more recent years. But when I was shopping Chargers in 2016, I do recall a 5.7L AWD option. Can't remember if they sold it under the usual "R/T" badge, or some other, but there did seem to be some 5.7L AWD option available to the general public back then. I've...

Well, if you guys are going to let me get away with Les Paul, what about Chris Squire? Arguably one of the most influential bassists of all time, and the only continuous member of Yes. Died just over 9 years ago. No one could wear a winged cape, like that giant man. :ROFLMAO:

IIRC, you have a Hellcat, so no way I'm going to give you a hard time, for your choices. But speaking personally, if I were aiming to buy small-displacement AWD, no way on earth it'd be anything with a Dodge badge. The only thing they had going for them was the 6.4L and 6.2T motors, really no...

Meh. Only available in v6, at least in later years. I'm not sure how you even maintain self-respect, while calling that turd a Charger or a Challenger. They did offer it with the 5.7L Hemi in earlier days, in fact that's what most of our local State Police drive, but never the 6.2T or 6.4L.

Most under 50 just assume it's the name of a famous guitar or its maker only, not of a guitar player. Another interesting bit of trivia, Leo Fender didn't know how to play guitar, when he invented the Telecaster and Stratocaster. I'm not sure if he ever learned later in life, but he was an...

Okay, so he died 15 years ago. But how many have actually seen a Les Paul played by Les Paul?

Looks like a single cheap (600 lb?) thin 1" strap. Hopefully he at least made a complete loop thru the car, and didn't just hook it onto the interior trim at the door seals!

Probably a typo or a scam, but I'd be calling on this just to check, if I were in the market and not too far away!

Vitamin D, too. Research has shown that the reason "flu season" is a season, is at least partly because our vitamin D levels drop in winter, due to reduced sun exposure. The early studies I read on this 10 years ago showed that those taking any amount of vitamin D as a supplement caught colds...

I like that story, California, and think it's generally good advice. But how many good mechanics or service managers have really bad people skills, or vice versa?

I’ve hit a lot of electrical insulators, but ceramic donuts, but they always have a steel bolt running thru them, and a steel bracket attached to them, so still likely caught by a metal detector.

There were more than 2000 auto makers in the US in the first 20 years of the 20th century, 253 registered in 1908 alone. By 1929, that had dropped to 44, and today you can count them almost on your ten fingers. Was that “folks seeing the light”, as in the end of the auto industry, or just the...

?? I don't follow your question. The only thing I said about diesels, is that I have less experience working on them, versus gasoline engines.

Agreed. I've never lost a dime on a used tractor, in fact I have resold for more than I paid at time of purchase, more than once. I do lose a little in inflationary cost ($10k is worth less at time of sale than at time of purchase), but that is usually all. Back when I was shopping new...

Again, if I were programming this, I'd flag a user prompt to select the appropriate speed, in those relatively few circumstances where signage and GPS data disagree. Honestly, how hard would it be for the car to throw up a menu with two buttons, 35 and 65 mph, in those occasional circumstances...

I always wondered about this, just assuming mills would have metal detectors that could locate this stuff. After Hurricane Sandy, I had a crap-ton of huge pin-straight black walnut trees down in my yard. I called a few mills, and all of them said they would not take any yard trees, due to high...

Another factor to consider, if you already have a machine thru one dealer, is cost of transport. I've only ever had the dealer pick my machines up once, the year I was building a new shop, but IIRC the cost to pick up two machines was the same (or nearly the same) as retrieving one. You're...

Agreed. Tire squish is minimal, which you'd expect to see under any load heavy enough to bend the trailer.

That's really surprising. You'd think the software would know there's no "67 mph" roads, ignoring anything that's not an increment 5 mph. You'd also think they'd couple it with the GPS, as at least all the roads I drive in my daily travels, have speed limits that show correctly in Waze and...

I knew if there was anyone other than me who could utter these words, as if you've had multiple vehicles on their side multiple times, it would be you or Renze. 😛 A buddy in high school accidentally rolled his jeep when he hit a high railroad crossing off-plumb, with a bunch of us in the...

I agree, you're probably right on this. Crash test ratings is the best system we've come up with so far, for determining how a vehicle with perform in a crash. But they can't possibly capture all scenarios, they're just "pretty good" simulations. Auto manufacturers can "design to the test"...

I've had to re-train myself to do the same, since I started buying SRT filters in 2016. Never had an issue with any other filter, for nearly 30 years prior to that, and have never seen it on any other filter. It does seem to be a problem unique to certain filter models or vehicles.

I wouldn't do that. I know JDQA is better than SSQA. :D j/k. And sorry if my wording came across other than intended, so let me correct it: You want some way to be able to quickly remove your bucket and install other attachments. JDQA and SSQA are generally the best way to do this, in...

Exactly. So what are you even arguing about? You come here saying that anyone can swap pinned-on buckets, as if JDQA and SSQA have absolutely no value, but the example you hold up in support of that is not a common pinned bucket arrangement at all. Yes, there are systems other than JDQA and...

I don't think they're even trying to. Hershey is to chocolate as rap is to music or golf is to sports. It's a thing, but it ain't the traditional "thing". :ROFLMAO: My favorite chocolatier is Lindt, although I'd put Asher's above Lindt in the dark category. Asher's biggest seller is...

OP reports idling fine, but stalling under load:

The funny thing is that, despite being the most famous of our many local chocolatiers, it's probably the worst among them. Hershey became big by finding a cheaper way to make chocolate, namely taking old spoiled milk back from dairies, and then adding so damn much sugar to it, to tip the...

That's a lot better than I thought, and I know Yanmar has always made great machines, but still... I don't know if I'd recommend this OP seek out a machine that's already 20 - 25 years old to start. Cost of parts is already climbing today on a machine of that age, and once you get past 30 - 35...

.. and attach a snow plow or forks? C’mon, there’s a reason QA tractors are bought more, and bring higher resale, than pinned bucket tractors. Very few users want to be hammering pins out and back in every time they want to change attachments, and then fabricating their own attachment mounts...

I owned two old Yanmar JD’s, and they were great tractors for their time, but the cost of parts on these 40 year old machines is insane, and availability is starting to become a problem. The last one was sold when one of my steering knuckle castings cracked. I had to buy a whole new front axle...

You clearly haven’t been reading the flat earth thread. Another forum I used to read is filled with stories of guys snapping the end off their cylinder rods, just like 4570Man describes. The conclusion among that group was that the only safe way to limit stroke is to place a slug inside the...

Yes, tank size requirement goes up with pump flow rate, but quoted gallons per gpm can vary with many factors. Most commercial splitters seem to be built around 1 gallon of tank per 1.5 gpm flow rate, but I've pushed as far as 1:2 gallons/gpm without any real penalty. My current splitter is...

What... 36 ft. above sea level isn't high enough for you? :ROFLMAO: Just a small sampling of the iconic food companies based in or near Philadelphia: Herr's Hershey Martin's (hot dog rolls, potato chips) Musselman's (mayo) Tastykake Turkey Hill Utz Snyder's Starbucks coffee (yeah, they...

We all think what we see around us is "normal" for everyone. You can't all live in the "the potato chip capital of the world" that is Pennsylvania! 😛 https://www.tastingtable.com/1150424/the-us-state-known-as-the-potato-chip-capital-of-the-world/

lol... esp. that machine. I usually change the oil after each use, as I never know how long it will sit until the next extended outage. We sometimes go 3 years between uses, so I just re-prepare it for storage after each usage, knowing it'll be ready to go the next time. Anything is possible...

That's a huge assumption. My tractor was bought new in 2019, and I'm not "worried" about running a splitter from it, but just don't see a need for it, or any advantage in it. 1. I use the loader on my tractor as my log lift, it lifts the rounds to where I transfer them onto the splitter...

My preferred method is banks that require a one-time 2-factor authentication, but then remember your IP address or cookie your machine, to pair with the login/password. That way, you can do repeat logins from your own computer(s) with userid/password, and skip the onerous 2-factor, but you...

I agree with your principle, but not your numbers: "10's of thousands." She's shopping for a $20k package, which probably means $14k tractor + $6k in implements, or thereabouts. She's not saving tens of thousands of dollars between brands, on that. And if you're planning on living another...

My splitter is the one machine that sits outside. I purchased a cover for it from Amazon, actually quite cheap. The covers last about 5-6 years, given my storage location isn't full-sun, and keep the machine totally clean and free of rust. You do need to watch out for wasps or hornets when...

It's a tractor forum. It's what we do. Your money will go farther with TYM / LS, than with Deere/Kubota. What you lose in the long-run is resale value and knowing that the thing will be supported both by the OEM and the handfuls of third-party vendors that surround the two premium brands...

So, here's something new, that came up this week. We had high winds and lost power for most of the day, earlier this week. No worries, I fired up the ever-reliable portable genny, shut of the main breaker and back-fed the house. Basically no interruption, we were able to keep running our home...

For several years before buying my own, I used to split about 75% - 90% of my wood by hand, and just toss aside the stuff that was going to be difficult. Then I'd rent a splitter one day or weekend per year, to both plow thru the difficult stuff, and get a little ahead on the rest. A Saturday...

... and if on the Deere side, I'd be looking at the 2R series, such as 2032R. In fact, that's my favorite Deere compact series, since it has better ergonomics and visibility than my larger 3R series. It's also a lot easier getting on/off the 2R, as entry is easy from both sides, versus just...

Here's one I'm feeling this morning: 2-factor authentication. Every effing website seems to be going to this, now they want me to wait 5+ minutes to receive a stupid code by email, or else give them my cell phone number for a slightly faster retrieval, just to log into my account on their...

Here's one: people who just assume you're in agreement with their politics. People make assumptions based on your wealth, race, education, choice of vehicles. Being a somewhat contrarian guy, not following the social norms of either party with sufficient conformity, I get it from both sides.

Especially fun when it's an item for which you need the tractor and pallet forks, and it's a rainy day when you can't just leave everything staged outside in the driveway.

If you click on the tracking number, or copy/paste it into the courier's site, that info should be listed there. Another annoying one is when they send you an email was shipped, but then you check two days later find status is "label created, not yet delivered to or retrieved by courier". It...

Not true. We can't gather the data for him, but remote diagnosis happens everyday, on everything from mechanical to medical issues. For example, inability to turn over would be another data point in favor of hydro-locking. If he gathers some of the other data points requested (compression...

Sometimes, it's because they're worried the slow guy is about to get off at the same exit, and then they'll be stuck behind him on the local road(s). If someone wants to go faster than me, I have no problem at all with them passing me, whenever... wherever. The only ones that get under my skin...

No loss, Jstpssng! They're crap, anyway. 😛 The only chips I eat any more are the kettle chips style, thicker than the usual Lays/Herrs crap. Cape Cod makes a decent kettle chip, if you're looking for a national brand, but you can find even better thru local brands.

Those burning elm in non-catalytic EPA stoves (tube/baffle stoves) often report elm burns with a blue flame, almost like acetylene. I'm running catalytic stoves, so mine goes from open fireplace type flame in bypass, to dead black box at lowest burn rates.

Yeah, I’ve done a bit of sledding myself. Although it was years ago, even back then it was pretty easy to top 70 mph, without even thinking about it. You can do a lot of damage hitting a wire fence at that speed. My buddy thinks he was doing 50-60 mph when he hit the deer. Knocked him out...

I’m burning all hickory right now. My system is FIFO, at a relatively high rate of usage, and it seems max heat demand almost never coincides with the highest BTU woods in my stacks. I’ll probably be burning ash in January, after ripping thru this hickory in October, but keeping to FIFO is how...

Interlocking grain structure, so it’s a mess to hand split, but a hydraulic splitter does just fine with it. Stringy, but it burns beautifully, a good solid medium-BTU wood that dries in a reasonable two summers.

... excepting from the occupants. 😛

This was a good catch. OP is going to have to tell us location of PCV, and if machine rolled in a direction that's likely to have sent oil that way. On most V-type engines, PCV is from one valve cover, so you have a 50/50 chance on whether tipping the machine will keep PCV dry or submerged...

Holy carp! 250+ cords in 4 years!!! That's a whole lot of cutting. You're into wearing out bars and sprockets territory, there. Also, 346 is just a farm and ranch saw, not a pro saw, so you're really getting your money's worth out of that one. Yeah, you shouldn't be having carb problems...

I never cut a cord with a chainsaw, or any OPE, but I have admittedly come close and gotten lucky with corded hedge trimmers. My grandfather had an electric mower, which must have been from the 1950's or 60's. He had a Bolens garden tractor for most of his mowing, which he replaced with a...

Hydro-lock seems unlikely, if it was only on its side for a few minutes, unless it was some old engine that was already burning oil thru leaky rings or stem seals. But still always best to check all fluids, then remove glow plugs or spark plugs from all cylinders prior to cranking, to ensure...

Great post, ultrarunner. And it all made sense to me, except this one line. Aren't these powered by Li-Ion batteries? While incidence of fire while charging is rare, I'd think it'd have to be nearly on-par with fires caused by gasoline-powered OPE. My father had an electric saw and two or...

Why? I cut a lot more than most, maybe as much as any non-pro you'll ever meet, and mine last decades. Pro saws are designed for more hours per week of use, than most firewood cutters will see in a year, and are usually only junk when parts become unobtainable after 20-30 years. I'm still...

. 54 tires. Given the frequency of tire failure at that time, and especially in those conditions on logging roads, I'd be willing to bet there was never an uninterrupted period of 24 hours where that truck didn't have at least one flat tire. :D Dude on that bridge had brass cajónes.

$20k/acre for a medium lot like that would be a steal, around here. Local pricing is more like $1.0 - $1.4M per 1/2 acre in town, down to $100k per acre for 2 - 10 acre lots outside of town. Larger lots are cheaper per acre, and those under federal or state protection (open space deals) are...

I actually had one of those, but a slightly older version of it, from my Grandfather. I'm guessing mine was older anyway, as it had two threaded pipe handles instead of one cast trigger handle like yours, which I believe were OEM, as they were nicely machined and knurled shorties. The reason I...

Yeah, I felt a bit skeeved by that myself, until I actually used it. The rotary fitting into which the water plugs is well-sealed, and doesn't leak back at all. All water comes out thru the hollow core of the bit, and you control flow rate with the little 1/4-turn 1/4-inch or 3/16" ball valve...

Wow... good eye. That does indeed appear to be a taper shank bit. Here's my most recent bit of "big" drilling, although I wish I had something in the photo for scale, as that rig is nearly 4 feet long. Yeah, I know the pool noodle is hokey, but this was "leaning into it with your shoulder"...

Agreed. And I would absolutely never buy a machine with a pinned bucket for dual use as a mower, despite @2manyrocks question about the actual need to switch FEL implements, because she's likely going to find that dropping the bucket before mowing and retrieving it when done is the quickest way...

Does PoA in MN give the authority to regulate driving privileges? I don't think that would fly, here. I think you need to get the state / DMV involved, on that.

I'm pretty sure there was a Dukes of Hazzard episode based on this synopsis. Maybe three.

My MIL worked as an ER nurse in the great lakes snow belt. She saw at least one snowmobiler almost fully-decapitated by livestock fencing. I had a buddy hit a deer at high speed on another. But the total man-hours communally spent on snowmobiles every year is so many orders of magnitude below...

Not superstition! None of the guys who work at gas stations would fill up during or immediately after a fuel delivery. We could see on our meters that the water in the bottom of the tank got stirred up during a delivery, and it would take awhile for it to separate and settle back to the...

Call me biased, I've lived almost exclusively in very old farm houses (current one is coming up on 300th birthday), but around here the farmers just piled or stacked the stones at the edges of the fields, or to define the yard. So my current house, like all others before, has a rubble wall...

My elementary school nurse had the most finely-tuned and well-exercised BS meter I've ever encountered. She must've had decades of dealing with kids who suddenly "don't feel well", just before an exam or a project due date.

Tough to say based on what's been shown, but if the rocks are localized to a few areas such as the one shown, then 1 operator + 1 skid steer + 1-2 days with a rock bucket and a regular bucket might be all that's needed for the major rock removal and sculpting. Then you'd take it from there with...

Good point. My experience was early-1990's, pre-ethanol days, so I hadn't thought of that. I wonder how they manage it, then? Based on my experience working several years at one of the larger stations around, it's just not possible to keep water out of those buried tanks, at least those of...

You're probably right! It was already a historic note, by the time I was asking such questions in the 1970's. I do recall learning about the early polio vaccines, Joseph Salk's injected version, versus Sabin's "live virus" on a sugar cube version. But I never had either. It's very likely the...

What was it towing? 😛

I think manufacturers have reserved that size for aviation applications, for whatever reason. Ever since car plugs went to 100k mile intervals, and me never keeping a car long enough to hit 100k anymore, most of the plugs I encounter are on OPE and run 13/16" or 3/4".

If you're talking about underground storage tanks at gas stations, it actually works differently than you might imagine. Water settles to the bottom, and it's normal to have 3-4 inches of water in the bottom of any underground storage tank. The pickup for the gasoline pumps is 6 inches above...

Of the chores I remember you listing so far, I'd say HP is only important if you plan to till. For everything else I recall you listing, HP is really not a factor, any engine combination for a given chassis (assuming Deere/Kubota) will likely be sufficient. Since I use my machine 99% as a...

Good post, and perspective, Joe. But on this one point, I don't think it's universal. My older tractors (Deere 750, Deere 855) definitely operated as you describe here, with the hours racking up proportional to engine RPM. Operate at 1/2 PTO speed, and it might only rack up 0.5 hours for each...

Never really needing the money for any implement or item I'm selling, I usually just tell the seller to offer me whatever they think it's worth. Roughly 10 times out of 10, they offer more than I would've asked for, to begin with. When faced with the opportunity, most good people are too...

Agreed on the tree falls, but OP reports wanting to brush hog a property that's mostly meadow:

The Little Orphan Annie?

My brother and I, two polar opposites in our personal interests and aptitudes. He was a very smart guy, could digest, internalize, and memorize entire text books at a pace I could never match, and graduated top of his class in medical school. But he couldn't even maintain his own bicycle when...

Here it is Subaru and Wrangler. I will damn near drive a family off the road, to get in front of any Jeep Wrangler, the single worst on-road vehicle ever built. Subie drivers are just slow, almost universally, excepting the WRX kids. <-- has owned Wranglers, but never a Subaru

I suspect that may have been a regional thing, or even varying by a particular doctor's practice or hospital. All of the older women in my family have/had a scar on the upper bicep, which I remember them telling me as a polio vaccine scar.

What I don't get about the TLB recommendation, or really any backhoe, is the OP said their primary need is a 3-point mower. TLB's remove the 3-point hitch, and even a regular CUT with subframe backhoe, is 3-point easily accessible? Laugh about goats, but I had a friend go this route. Worked...

One of the ways this knowledge is passed on in today's worlds, is forums such as TBN. It's not helpful at all for an all-knowing jerk to post crap like this, when someone comes here asking for help. It's not only arrogant and rude, but it's counterproductive to the very principles of a forum...

Thanks! Never seen that, although I don't think it would help this particular situation. Ram 1500's have the oil filter mounted above the front axle and 4wd solenoids, in a location almost impossible to reach, and you have to snake the filter out by tipping it one way, then the other. It's...

Maybe a bit of overkill for the OP's described needs and budget? :oops:

My buddy who was the primary driver on that car reports it was the 1.9L 4-cyl turbo diesel with 130-140 hp. I remember it did pretty well on the Autobahn, as it was the way I made a very fast run from the Czech border to the Stuttgart international airport, late one night.

Likewise, I've dealt with both my whole life. Not a huge deal, but it would be more convenient to just have one. Especially when I was young and just building up my mechanic's tool sets, buying two of everything (long and shorts in every drive size, times two for metric & imperial!) is kind of...

Loader controls are often referred to as "lift" and "curl", the first being the hydraulic cylinders that lift the loader arms, and the latter being the hydraulic cylinders that dump or roll the bucket fore/aft. When directing an operator at the controls, we typically use the wrist to show curl...

??? So, you'd own a Mahindra (India), a Kioti (Korea), Fendt (Germany), or Kubota (Japan), but not the one brand that still makes more tractors in the USA than all other brands? :rolleyes: To be fair, Kubota does make some tractors in USA, but most of the CUT's they sell in USA are built in...

Aren't 4-in-1's pretty heavy, when mounting on machines that only have ~600 lb. lift at the wrists? They also require a 3rd remote channel plumbed up to the end of the loader, something not common to sub-compact tractors, especially if shopping used. Not saying it's not an option, or even a...

I suspect the 3000 - 4000 lb. trailer is actually a good metric for measuring the range of a CyberTruck, as that's about the weight of the campers and boat trailers pulled by all the weekend warrior doctors and lawyers, that likely make up the key demographic buying 6-figure priced EV truck toys.

Definitely. But once you've done a few implement changes without even leaving the seat of the tractor, you'd fall in love with the quick hitch. If I raise my 3 point near max, I can release the levers and swap implements from the seat. Even easier if I draw the hydraulic top link in, it's not...

Back when I was building fast cars (college years), our house was in town, and became sort of the rallying point and common shop for a lot of my buddies. One of the down sides to this is that whenever someone in town would call the police with a noise or speed complaint about someone in a loud...

I remember wandering around the pediatrician's office around age 3 or 4, while the doc was giving my younger brother a check-up. I remember it very clearly because, after wandering into an adjacent exam room, a nurse came in and gave me a shot in my rear! I was so upset, thinking I...

Our Durango is only the R/T version (5.7L Hemi), as it's my wife's daily driver and I couldn't talk her into anything faster than that. But yeah, on that version there's just an open hole in the bottom cover, which I reach up thru to access the oil filter. Like you, I kinda wondered if there...

I have a quick hitch (Deere iMatch), and I love it. I'll go weeks without switching implements, but then will have a single day or weekend when I switch implements 5-6 times, such as when aerating and seeding and fertilizing. They're a great convenience once set up, but may require slightly...

Well, the SRT is bare over the intake, probably just no room to put much there with that engine under that hood. But they do have plastic covers over the valve covers, which is weird because they're plastic replicas of valve covers over what I suspect is cast valve covers. :rolleyes: There's...

Good posts, Renze, except maybe this one point. Even my very loud tuned-exhaust SRT cars are covered in plastic. No way you’re hearing much valve train noise over the bark of that exhaust. As it was explained to me, this was largely to control engine temperature, relating to emissions.

Hey, I like bacon... is that just as relevant as river crossings? The subject was cars that have been submerged in water, to where critical components are submerged. Driving 4wd trucks thru streams has absolutely nothing to do with this subject, nor does driving on frozen lakes. But to answer...

Yeah, that's the greater part of it. However, those who claim emissions equipment hurt mileage are correct, even if to a lesser degree than they think. One of the fundamental changes made when emissions came along, was to increase engine operating temperature. Increased temperature means...

What you get is a solid 4 days off, after running ragged for 3! I remember one job where I was passing my 40-hour threshold by Wednesday night or Thursday morning, more often than not. I was never directly compensated for those hours, but I did get the biggest raises, bonuses, and fastest...

I think you're just not paying attention to what was out there at the time. I drove a mid-1990's diesel VW Passat wagon company car for a few weeks in Germany ca.1998, and I'll double-check with one of my old work buddies this weekend, but memory tells me it did roughly 60 mpg from one fill to...

I don't know how many of you read the Walt Longmire books, actually Netflix made a TV series about them. But I'm getting visions of Lucian Connelly, thinking about Arly's FIL. Take your flak jacket. Arly!

I think good arguments could be made both ways. I would agree with your thinking, if we lived in a country with a largely unhealthy job market. But that hasn't been the case here, for at least most of my working life, and the free market has a way of fixing this problem without federal laws...

Agreed. Aside from that, forks really aren't very useful on a machine of the size she is likely shopping. My forks and frame, even totally empty, would be eating something like 70% of the max capacity of the loader on a 1-series or that Bobcat machine that was recommended earlier. I wouldn't...

Liters per 100 km is standard in Germany, and I would guess probably all of Europe.

What emissions components were added to tiny diesel cars in the 1980's? I thought only the gassers were subject to emissions, at that time.

I have also fallen asleep during a root canal. :ROFLMAO:

Oh yeah, definitely the right decision. Wasn't trying to imply, otherwise! In fact, if you told them fuel for the genny would be $10k per day, it'd still be the right choice, to avoid interrupting operations of a large facility.

You'd better get video for us, for when he starts shooting at you guys, as you head down the road. :ROFLMAO: My FIL was the same way... to start. Then, I think he realized the rehab nurses are pretty damn cute. When his rehab was finished, he actually bought a gym membership at the facility...

Yeah, but we're talking weeks or months, versus years. My life-long hobby is boating, and I've seen first hand how sun eats more materials than salt and water ever will. You want to ruin any rubber or plastic? Leave it out in the sun for a few years. My tractor indeed has some sun damage to...

I was at Lockheed when they shut down the local Newtown facility. They had just built some new $3M - $6M buildings in the last year or three, all abandoned. It felt odd, until you consider the salary burn on that place was over $1M per day. The buildings were basically throw-aways in that...

I'm a skinny guy, 6' 0" and 170 lb., and I hate those damn machines. I don't know how bigger guys can even tolerate them. Think they could make that tube any damn smaller? I'd pay double for Kramer's "luxury lanes", in any MRI.

I wouldn't even look at a CUT that's been stored outdoors. Not because of rust, but because the tires, seat, dash cluster, and every bit of plastic on the thing is going to be trashed. So, that leaves you with buying tractors from prior owners who were not idiots, and actually kept their CUT's...

Yeah, there's no half-opening a full wing to get out! But most gull wings honestly take less space than a side-swinging door. It depends on where the hinge point is, but most are smart enough to move it toward the centerline of the roof. It’s a compromise, as you give up roof strength by...

As the engineer in charge of many new designs over-promised by management, I honestly wonder how Tesla manages to hang onto technical staff. It must be a very frustrating environment, working for someone who continually and repeatedly sets you up to fail on schedule and goals.

I'm not a heavy equipment operator, but from what I've seen, it appears steel tracks have no sideways traction... right? If they have any lugs at all, they're usually straight across the tread, at least those I see around here.

I'm an engineer, and so always salaried, and generally always exempt from overtime pay. It works out nicely for the companies, because although my salary is high, my hourly rate gets pulled way down by the long hours I tend to work. But one very inexperienced and unqualified HR manager at one...

Granted. Yes. I have full coverage on all our vehicles, as do most owning newer cars in flood-prone areas. No way do I have the time to deal with a flood car, as my personal vehicle. If I had a teen driver like Dftodd, then I might consider keeping it for them, if it could be made whole...

It's not the salt, it's the water. Sink a car in 2 ft of water, fresh or salt, and the insurance company is almost always going to total it. This has been my personal experience, anyway. Living along the Delaware River most of my life, we and neighbors have lost many ICE cars to these exact...

ICE's definitely take the win, on disaster avoidance and recovery. Any vehicle that sits in salt water 2 ft deep is totaled, EV or ICE.

Agreed. Going solo on finding and buying a $10k machine is great for home shop mechanics and those who've already owned and repaired a tractor or two, but comes with risks that increase quickly with lack of experience. I would seek local help, whether that be from an independent mechanic...

Or when you go to bed okay, but wake up hurt. :ROFLMAO:

Yes. Why not? Just one of many life skills, and a heck of a lot easier than some. Greasing some fittings, fluid changes, filter changes. If you can do those three things, it's probably going to be 99% of your maintenance on any reasonably new machine. Grease it 2x per year, change oil and...

I suspect my Ram would trip the pump if it were any faster than the car aisles. Heck, sometimes it trips those, until I withdraw the handle about 1/2" before locking the lever.

I'm not going to say you're wrong, but I will point out that most folks fortunate to live long enough do eventually downsize to a smaller property or even a retirement home or assisted living facility. All of these people are selling their tractors, most that have nothing wrong with them, and...

Damn. 110 gal in a pickup truck? Do you go grab lunch while that thing is filling? :D My pickup is 36 gallons, and when I'm near empty, even that feels like a long wait on a cold windy night. I will usually have a jacket in the back seat, but don't usually like to wear one while driving...

Good call, and it might be worth checking with your local Deere dealer, as I'd bet they still service Yanmars. They would probably even stock most engine components and filters, even if they don't stock all of the Yanmar chassis components for newer models. Deere has had a 50-year relationship...

Diesels produce soot under heavy load. Normal, but you might want to consider what your asking that engine to do. If a gasser, then that's different, usually burning oil / rings issue.

In that case, you can just use the bucket on the FEL to move snow when you need or want to, no need for a separate plow. I used to do 500 ft. of 12 ft wide driveway + two parking areas with the bucket on my old Deere 855, as long as the snow was only 6" or 8" deep. It wasn't super fast, but it...

Yeah, it's a big site. I find all big company sites to be a challenge to navigate, just too many rabbit holes. 9000 ft. view, you're looking for a "utility tractor", as apposed to an Agricultural (Ag) tractor. More specifically, you're somewhere between a compact utility tractor (CUT) and a...

I had a few jobs with a mandatory lunch break, when I was working my way thru college. Always jobs where you needed the full crew together to be able to get the job done. But it's weird that a company top-down would impose some specific period for lunch. Why not just leave it up to the crew...

Really nice list! Only thing I'd add would be a ballast box, as that's pretty much always attached to my machine. It's also configured as my tool carrier, which would probably be very useful to the OP, if they're gardening with it: But am I the only one having trouble figuring out how...

Oh... but you would have been committing a violation, he just hadn't thought of it yet.

These are the top two brands, and there are some good reasons for that. They're well-configured products, very well supported, and have the best resale value. Just be aware that the penalty for all those benefits is a slightly higher purchase price. Your usage is very much like mine, if you...

Great post, and as a business owner, this gave me a new idea. "It's not collusion, Sir. We owners just unionized!"

Same here, and PA is generally one of the cheaper east-coast states in which to do business.

The house cat puts it all in perspective. :ROFLMAO:

You picked up on my allusion in that last post. As bad as the Camaro was, I later owned a Mustang with a 429 cid big block stuffed in the hole from which we took the original 302 small block. Skinnies up front, street slicks in the back, 10 point cage, and a high rise intake on that motor so...

Not to joke about a serious situation, but she should see if she could get her brother added to that committal, while she's at it! :D It's tough getting old, as much for the patient as their family. I'm sure I'll be about the most cantankerous mother-effer you'll ever come across, when my...

I always want to re-attribute Churchill's famous democracy quote to Capitalism. He said something like, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." There are a myriad of problems with unbridled capitalism, but at least it's fundamental principles align with human...

Good system, that works for you. But your story just reminded me of a guy I knew growing up, who drove a massive over-sized Peterbilt all over the country, with a special trailer so large they had to get DOT route approval for each time they moved it. His daily driver was a little MG...

My story is nowhere near as good as Fuddy's, but I had one of those "lights on your rear bumper" stories, that also turned out to be a cop. In my case, it was right around the time the new Chevy Caprice came out (1990?), and all the cops in our town still had the old boxy model... or so I...

That truck was so stout, it might've been fine pulling that off. But that time we actually had half of a classic Dodge Charger cut up and stuffed into the bed. A buddy's aborted project, we were hauling to the junk yard. Oh, and this one was f'ugly. Tailgate was shaped like a "U", because...

You can almost always get a speeding ticket reduced to a no-points violation, at least around here. Just show up, and the officer will usually offer "failure to observe a traffic control device" or some other no-points violation, during pre-trial conference. They don't want to waste their own...

My newer Ram 1500 Crew Cab 4x4 on 140" wheelbase actually does better than most of my prior 4x4 trucks, on turning radius. It's no Fiat 500, but it really isn't terrible.

I've personally drifted a long-bed dually C3500 over a winding stretch of road in light snow. :devilish:

As expected. Not to be too-brutally honest, but if they were even remotely competent, they'd be working in the private sector.

The ranch and farm community is one of the few places these long wheelbases probably find a good home. No issues with turning around in town, or on a tight construction site. And that's an important part of the market, but probably a very, very, very small part of the market. Yeah, Chevy...

I don't think the amount of "stuff" you can fit onto a standard 140 or 150 inch wheelbase was any different in 1990 than it is today. The only thing that has changed is the popularity of one configuration over the other, on that standard 140 inch wheelbase. The anomaly, at least around here...

In situations like this, you're always best to just keep your mouth shut, and let him write the speeding ticket. You can have it thrown away when you go to court, if the reported speed was not actually above the limit. Argue, and the ticket may morph into something you can't argue out of...

Just happened to re-watch that old episode of Cheers, where Norm was promoted to be the hatchet guy for his company. Probably one of their better episodes, still holds up today! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0539890/

My truck is only a 5.7L Hemi motor... because that's the biggest motor Ram offered that year. But my car has the 6.4L Hemi. I was actually kind of bummed I could get the 6.4L in a car, and an SUV, but not a 1/2 ton pickup truck.

The guy who buys a 6.6L pickup is probably not buying "typical" cars! :D Yeah, my truck can leave a nice burnout, it has a limited slip rear and a light a$$. But the car has an extra 100 ponies and 65 lb-ft more torque thru a full posi rear, so it wins every time!

True... but finding FEL's for old tractors is a lot harder than just buying another old tractor with an FEL. Back when I bought my first CUT, a coworker who was a big tractor collector said, "you're buying the FEL, a tractor comes with it for free." What he meant was that an older FEL on a...

Yes. I have a newer Ram 1/2 ton with a 5.7L Hemi, 8HP70 trans, and 3.93 rear. It's a rocket, by comparison to pickups I've owned in the past. But it's still a total turd, in comparison to every sporty sedan or coupe I've ever owned. :D

^ This. When threatened with losing a good employee over a salary discrepancy, no employer for which I've ever worked will hesitate in correcting it. On the flip side, when it's a problem or unproductive employee doing the whining, it's often an equally-good opportunity to be rid of them. The...

Hah... actually, I have! And you're right, they're terrible. When I say "Europe", my mind so often goes back to Germany, as I've spent more time in that country than all others combined. Italy is a mess...

Don't get too excited. As already noted, the Senate needs to also vote on this, and it's very unlikely they'll vote it down. I wish they would, but I don't think it will happen.

Doesn't necessarily have to be either/or! I keep a pickup truck in the driveway, for when I need it. I also keep a car in the garage, for when weather and what I'm hauling allows it. Much more fun to hop in a sporty car to go pick up milk or a kid from school, than lumbering into town in a...

Ames actually goes back to the 1950’s. We had them in our area 1980’s - early 2000’s. They probably appeared as a flash in the pan to communities that got a store later, toward their end.

Keep in mind that these systems are all created by very fallible people! It's possible it's a non-conforming system, which made sense in some planner's head, but isn't technically legal. Around here, we have a lot of right-turn signals, essentially a right-turn arrow that changes from green to...

Maybe not the driving component, as moving violation history is probably a better indicator of competence there, than any 15 minute driving test. But yes, I think most people could use a refresh on the written component, every 10 years. If nothing else, it'd force everyone to pull up a copy of...

Agreed. There isn't much that European countries do better than us, but this is definitely one place they have us beat, as they make it much more difficult and expensive to get a driver's license. In addition to a higher level of training and competence, it comes with a greater desire to...

Obviously a very bad cut and paste job on the audio. Elon may have said those words, in completely unrelated interviews, but never in that order.

Lot's of regionals. We had Hess's, which are now all Bon-Ton's. I had always assumed Woolworth's was also regional, until I'd seen far-flung members here mention it.

Oh Ford... :rolleyes:

Among all the talk of technology replacing jobs, look at our last 55 years, and consider all of the automation that has been deployed in that time: Again, the decreased pricing afforded by automation only increases consumption, never curtails total jobs. Some will require re-training, but...

I've retired several trucks due to rust, and not a one of them was in the bed interior. In fact, I can't recall a situation where it was anywhere other than from under fenders or inside door corners, working its way from inside out.

There are three different "extended cab" designs, which have become somewhat common among the major makers: 1. The original "extended cab", with the suicide half doors. These have become pretty uncommon in recent years, due to issue with having to open front door to access latch for rear...

Weather here has been terrible. A solid month of drought right at overseeding time, then a week of continuous rain washing away what little seed might have germinated, followed by another two weeks of drought. Doing what I can to keep it together.

Until a few weeks ago, the primary standards document governing a lot of the work I do was a paper copy from 1953. Or I should say, a probably-100th generation copy of the document, using every conceivable technology that has existed since 1950. Half the critical dimensions were almost totally...

There's trailered boat storage at our local lake, mostly used by racers who own boats not conducive to being left in the water at the marina. At least half their trailers have some deficiency as bad as this, which makes you really scratch your head when some of them disappear for winter...

There's also a difference between putting in some long/hard hours during a crisis, versus doing it week in and week out for years. Having always worked in engineering and product design, there have been countless times when we pulled all-nighters and worked through weekends for a week or three...

I used to fly a lot of Air France in the 1990's. They were affiliated with Continental, back then. I liked them as well, mostly because they had much better food than British Airways, Lufthansa, or US Air, which were our other options for getting to Europe, back then. Air France also usually...

I dropped my HD bucket into a burning firepit once! One of those true "oh ****" moments, as the fire was raging pretty good, at the time. Never hooked back onto an un-leveled bucket so quickly, before or since. :D It was probably the third time overall that I'd dropped my bucket, and...

That's exactly what my grandfather called our "5 & 10" shop, in Surf City, NJ. Grandma took it even one step farther, calling it "the nickel and dime store". Nothing there was a nickel or a dime, by the time they were taking me there in the 1970's and 80's.

We're taught to drive defensively. But then we're also taught that the best defense is a good offense. So... drive offensively. :ROFLMAO:

Nothing in my old neighborhood under $2M anymore, and those are the tear-downs. My parents bought one house there in 1971 for $22k, and a second at $125k in 1980 or 81. I find the area less desirable today, than 40 years ago, but others clearly think differently.

Same. I carry 3 chainsaws, my toolbox full of spare chains and tools, my straight gas and 2-stroke mix cans, and the starter cable set for my splitter all in the bucket, every time I head out to my wood lot. First stop when I’m down there is a stack of pallets where I unload and stage that...

I think this is where the several posts from others, about a hiring freeze, or at least slow-down, has real merit. Of course no one wants to push late-career guys out of the only work they’ve ever known, but it may be in the collective interest to dissuade younger guys from going into this...

I have the same mentality WRT all of my vehicles. Neutral color, no custom license plate, etc. The last thing I want, given my sometimes aggressive driving, is to be memorable or easily identified.

It's okay to aspire to be something other than a dock worker. 😛 The trouble with the "lost jobs" argument, is that we have more than a hundred years of proof that it's a fallacy. Tech never eliminates the number of jobs on the market, it only increases consumption and typically replaces...

"Big" is a relative term. Those in your photos appear to be 20" to 24" diameter, which is actually a really nice working size. There was a period of a few years, where the smallest tree I brough home was 40" diameter, and the largest was 59" diameter. When I mentioned 1400 lb. rounds, I was...

Still not an EV owner, but I love this guy!

Translation: Los Angeles has become such a hell-hole, that even Detroit looks great, by comparison! :ROFLMAO: Lame. Two thoughts: 1. If you haven't accumulated enough knowledge and skill to make yourself more valuable at 40 than you were at 20, you are an unemployable person. 2. Why...

SRT-10 was a nice concept, in fact I got it in my head to buy one at one point, until I learned they were only available in 2wd. Around here, and for what I do with them, a 2wd truck is as useless as teets on a bull. As to the AWD Charger being rare? Not around here. Very common...