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15-25 years ago, was pretty friendly with the lady who ran one of our local dairy farm stores, her husband ran the farm itself. They did and still use those glass returnable bottles, and I remember her mentioning the state or the CDC were making it increasingly difficult for them to continue...

Same. Each time I have a hydraulic or oil change disaster, kitty litter is step 1... and then often the last step. I am routinely amazed the way it can continue to suck oil out of pavement or asphalt, long after you think that stain is dry and set, especially when a second or third application...

I can understand that perspective. I always liked his voice, but now that you mention it, he didn't exactly have a lot of range. But he was pleasant to listen to, unlike Dylan, who just makes me want to punch a window. If you're going to go off on those who had a huge influence on music, or...

Come to Pennsylvania! Our number of small family-run dairy farms began to dwindle when the generations born before WW2 were retiring and selling off their farms, but we still have enough that it's very common to see those glass jugs in many of our stores. Many of the farms also have their own...

That's funny. I was going to say the opposite, that I've been really impressed with most of my younger hires, but then I realized it was more than 10 years ago that I hired my last "fresh out of school" engineer. So the group I'd be defending is more the Millenials, than the gen-Z kids you're...

Has anyone seen a variant that screws directly onto Stihl FS-KM straight shaft? It seems the Echo comes with an adapter that will allow it to attach to Stihl, but it sounded less than ideal.

I remember the Chickanic showing off the fast wind spools, I think it was the Echo Speed Feed system? If I had to refill my trimmer head as often as you, I'd definitley be switching to one of those.

My kind of neighborhood! :ROFLMAO:

Cool. You put full 1000' spools in a bucket of water, or just enough for your next head change? Like a few others here, I'd never even heard of doing this. I'm dubious as to it's effectiveness, but willing to give almost anything a try, once.

She?!? :ROFLMAO:

We still buy our milk in returnable glass jugs, 1/2 gallon. But we have a few local dairy farms that still have farm stores, selling their local milk products.

It's everywhere now, not just fast food. It's a cultural shift of entitlement, and people thinking they shouldn't have to clean up after themselves, everywhere. Our prior country club was one of the worst places for that in recent years, we've since dropped our membership as a result, but it...

I have both, and honestly, my favorite is a double-walled plastic with spout and vent: Of course, we're all working under different conditions. I like this one, because it's very easy to pour the used oil back into the 5-quart bottles I buy it in, or into the 5 gallon gas can I also use for...

What do you use to keep the water from turning green? Biology always finds a way...

It depends a lot on what you're trimming around. Edging around mulched gardens, I can go a mile and never have to advance the string. But edging along my stone walls or loose rubble wall, I'm advancing string every few dozen feet. The rubble wall is the worst, because unlike a neatly-stacked...

Wow. I’m old enough to remember when Honey Nut Cheerios hit the scene, the original Cheerios tasted like cardboard to me. My 12 year old likes to call my childhood “the olden days”. Of course, she thinks I’m contemporary with Elvis or Sinatra, not Alanis Morrisette or Jimmy Fallon. :rolleyes:

Wow. I’m glad I don’t have to live in your brain, Massey! :ROFLMAO: Grandparents spoiling grandkids is a rite of passage of every generation, probably going back millennia. Parents are too busy to be spoiling the kids, that’s the grandparents’ whole job, in a sense. The parents just need...

I also take my depth gauges (“rakers”) down below stock, but when you have a forum full of relative notices recommending 20” bars on tiny 50cc saws, that doesn’t work so well. Every thousandth of an inch you reduce that raker height increases the bite accordingly, and takes a little more...

I suspect that, scaled for inflation, chains must be much cheaper today than 40-50 years ago. Increases in offshore manufacturing and automation essentially ensure that. As to how far to take them down, it seems to me nearly every chain I have ever owned has a scribe mark across the top of...

Am I the only person on earth that actually likes my DPF? I guess implementations may vary, but on my 3033r, it has been totally trouble-free. Every time I have to run an old 855 or 950, I remember how bad it was, being choked out of the shed while hooking up implements or even warming up a...

Good excuse to epoxy coat it, now? My barn had a huge oil stain like that in the middle of the floor when I bought the place, so that was my method of solving the problem. Still looks great after 15 years of regularly parking the FEL and pallet forks on the thing, as well as all sorts of...

Having spent more time sailing from both than most people you know, lakes are gross. Give me salt water and sand, over fresh water and mud or slimy rocks, ten times out of ten.

You sure you meant to quote me there, Oak?

You're a lucky man. You can't take your money with you, but you might be lucky enough to keep the memories. If you have the means and the time, then grab it while you can. They're only this age once, and grandparents become so much less "cool" around age 14. Spend all the time with them you...

Of course you're correct. But outlawing the sale of only new fluorescent fixtures, rather than the bulbs, would be a much less disruptive means of eventually achieving the same result, without forcing immediate costs onto every property owner. If the sale of new fixtures were banned, the...

These rarely-achieved lifetime estimates are usually based on the LED itself, which will legitimately last damn near forever. The trouble is that any electrolytic or tantalum capacitors used in the driver circuit may have lifespans of just 10,000 - 20,000 hours. So what you end up with is a...

How to cook squirrel? :p

I remember giving some gifts of printed toilet paper containing B&W photos of a certain political candidate, a few elections back.

You've got to play to the environment you're in! If I could get by with sand and cacti around here, I'd save an enormous amount of time and money on lawn care and mowing. But around here, covering something with lawn is about the only way to prevent it from becoming a wild mess.

... and therein probably lies my problem. I want to be sure they're clean enough that I'm not picking up dirt and injecting it into that or the next fitting. Yeah, that's why I like the older loader designs so much. The Zerks were always hidden under the loader arms, where they could almost...

Maybe I'll have to start keeping boxes of Q-tips in the barn, for this. I prefer the exposed zerks that I can just give a quick wipe with the paper towel, but after some bitching and moaning about it, I can adapt. Even in that project, if drive between scoop and dump is 800 feet, the actual...

Want to guess which lawn is mine? Yeah... the only green one in the middle! Same issue, I watch the rest of my neighbors let their lawn grow up to 9" height, and then whack it down to 3". If they don't manage to kill it on a hot week, it usually ends up looking as cooked as the one in the...

Beats a steel shot pellet in the bird you're eating!

eww... They're installed in most European hotel bathrooms, and I always look at the thing with curiousity, but never had the desire to mount one and try it. I can't imagine how I wouldn't make a mess of myself or the room, in the process. lol... :ROFLMAO:

Oh, I do have a question for you folks greasing the loader damn near every time you climb on and off the tractor: How are you cleaning those hateful little Zerks that recessed into the pin ends? All of my old loaders were so easy to grease, right thru the side of the cross tube at each...

My memory and personal records indicate my Deere 855 manual must have specified a 50 hours schedule for greasing the loader, but I don't have the manual handy to reference anymore (machine sold), and it's possible one of two things happened: 1. Manual was referring to greasing the rest of the...

I guess I could update this thread, 18 months on. The sealed tire holds air better than any of the non-damaged wheels, now! Runner's bead sealer did the trick. Per 5030's explanation, now I tell the dealer to ONLY use stick-on weights whenever replacing tires, but the damage to these wheels...

You would hate my driving. :ROFLMAO: It used to be almost routine that my wife's trip computer would be reading 30 mpg when I'd hop into her car to borrow for a day, but 19 mpg by the time I was done with it. I'm not sure what my present truck and car are "rated" at, but I average 14 and 12...

Soil test, you're flying blind without it. Get your pH right. You can throw all the money in the world at fertilizer and seed, but if the pH is way off, it's all a waste. pH correction is both cheap and critical to everything else. Spring pre-emergent weed block, usually mixed with a granular...

I like @Jstpssng's solution best, but knowing some are unlikely to show up for that duty when ordered, it's worth remembering the law has a standard prescription for this, already. Failure to meet one's obligation, usually initially just a simple fine, results in late fees, then additional...

That was my childhood, actually. My grandmother was the youngest of a very large family, one of 22 kids, 11 naturally-born and another 11 foster siblings. When that group reached their 80's, between each sibling and their respective spouse's, it felt like I'd damn near taken up residency at...

Oh, we get along just fine. We just have very different spending habits. Then again, she was the one who told me to just buy the 3046R when I was debating between that and the 2038R. I compromised and bought the 3033R. She also told me to just go buy a new 385A backhoe, when I mentioned...

I love that! It's honestly too bad that 90% or more of my junk mail comes in the form of email today, or I'd start doing the same.

My wife and kids order from either Starbucks or one of our other even-more expensive boutique cafe's, probably 5 days per week. As an extra kick in my financial pants, she door-dashes it at least 3x per week. I have no idea what that all costs, but assume it can't be cheap. And it's not that...

Or just pinch exposed end in a vise.

Isn’t reduced mail volume the thing that got so many post offices closed and workers laid off, 10-15 years ago? Seems they’d want to do the opposite.

Wow. Even our mini pinschers, who were bred specifically for small varment hunting in German barns, never managed to catch a squirrel in the open. Our current dog ain't catching anything, but she's a good watch dog, barking at each delivery person that comes onto the property. :ROFLMAO:

The largest part of our house was built in two phases, 1730’s and 1770’s. Most of the oldest Suffolk thumb latches were replaced with rim locks in an 1820’s renovation, but a few still remain which we use dozens of times every day. Between the big hook style catches on the door jambs, the drop...

If a system is operating properly, there should be no opportunity for a hose to collapse, as even those on the return side of any circuit are under slight positive pressure. I can't remember the reservoir venting situation on the 850, but assuming it is vented in some way, there is no way for...

You'd think that with a $199 Ring camera, the county could not only eliminate the expenses associated with this, but actually make money of anyone illegally dumping.

I like the shackle, but worry that eye bolt is going to try to work loose, unless you deform the exposed threads on the end of the bolt to prevent the nut from walking off.

I'd guess that's more a distinction for people working in the building trades, than other industries where a contractor is anyone who works jobs under contract, licensed or not. In my industry, you're called a "contractor" if you're billing a company for hours rather than product, but not an...

Common gray squirrel, or something else? I've been watching mine and other dogs chase squirrels my whole life. But never once have I ever seen a dog manage to actually catch one. Our local squirrels seem to be faster, more agile, and maybe even a little smarter than most dogs. That said, I...

I guess I don't know what topics his lyrics covered, but a good song can stay relevant damn near forever. Battle Hymn of the Republic still grabs me every time, and it's what... 160 years old? :ROFLMAO:

Probably fine. Most well-greased bearings won't even notice a single dunking at the ramp, it's the cumulative effect of many dunkings without frequent-enough re-greasing, that ultimately does them in. Most tail lights made the last 40 years are of the "diving bell" design, a vent/drip hole at...

...plus your salary time. I refrained from mentioning it in response to an earlier post, but I had a boss get fired for bringing personal work to trash and putting into the company dumpster. In that case, it included medical waste, mostly used syringes he was using to treat his many dogs. But...

Yep. But they're less common today than 20 years ago, the electronic solutions having gotten better and cheaper. And those still going the rotary route are looking for mostly 900 RPM motors (very quiet) or something old and unique looking. This was a generic early-2000's 1750 Baldor, which...

That's a father who "gets it". Someone is always watching and looking to peg you, especially when you're a minority. Being seen as a good example or good steward to your community, has value that can't be easily communicated or shown to the young. In response to claims that people like George...

Reminds me of the speech my shift manager gave me, my first day working fast food, around age 14. :ROFLMAO: He said something like, "everything in this place is either hot, sharp, greasy, or or all three, and they will mame you if you don't pay attention." The back alley of the kitchen that ran...

This is the most "first world" debate I've heard in awhile. :ROFLMAO: No way are folks in sub-Saharin Africa, or your own depression-era forefathers, debating the ideal serving height for their dog's food bowl.

... which seems to be the case at least 2/3 of the time! When you find a truely skilled and professional craftsman or woman, hang onto them for dear life! I used to do everything myself, but our present house is too big and too old for me to manage it all, among other responsibilities. I now...

Oh! Yeah... then there may have been a Baldor or two in there, as well. Too many have gone under the bridge to remember them all. I just tossed a Baldor 7.5 hp 3ph motor at the dump last year. Brand new, nothing wrong with it, but listing it on C'list and ebay failed to sell it, so I just...

Maybe! Grease is certainly a heck of a lot cheaper than re-bushing a loader and replacing the pins. I wish the manufacturers were clearer on this, but conditions vary so widely that it's probably hard for them to give exact numbers. I have seen worn-out loaders, in fact I owned one for about...

Oh geez! Didn't think anyone would even take me up on that. :ROFLMAO: But I should have known, with this crowd... You were right on the size! But not the brand. This is a 3 hp repulsion induction (RI) motor from Wagner, being set up on a 32" Crescent bandsaw from the WW1 era. RI motors...

As long as I don't misbehave too badly during the day, I get to sleep next to one most nights! :p

I also used to own a relatively large fleet of late 19th century and early 20th century motors, more than half of which had recirculating oil bath plain bearings. They work great, and have infinite service life, if always kept oiled and if the owners changed their oil at least a few times over...

Wow... one for the really old folks! While we've been discussing a triad mostly from the 1980's, this guy's heyday was in the 1950's. Just looked, and the dude nearly made 100!

Not exactly "free", but scheduled large item pickup is included in our monthly or quarterly pricing, here. I'd suspect it's probably by law, as we independently schedule our own haulers, and every last one of them includes "free" large item pick-up. When I had a mattress to dispose of last...

I converted my Woods brush hog to be quick hitch compatible, because I have the Deere iMatch quick hitch system on my tractor. It was as secure as could be, zero issues, and I'd imagine any other quick hitch would be similarly secure. Bonus, it would only take about 30 seconds to mount or...

I'm not running out to the filing cabinet in my barn at 11:30pm, but I'll try to remember to pull the manuals tomorrow to check. It's possible I mis-transcribed the schedule into the spreadsheet I keep on my laptop for OPE maintenance, but I don't think I did. It's also possible that my 855...

That was the biggest fear of getting cut at my grandparent's house: grandpa running for the iodine! Mom used Bactine, which wasn't exactly fun either, but the stuff was a walk in the park next to iodine!

Same system here, but in 505's, since I never liked button flies. For a guy who's always busy scrambling around the shop or trying to finish one more thing at the desk before finally running to the bathroom at the last possible moment, the 10 extra seconds that button fly on the 501's requires...

YKYO when you remember your mother saying, "walk it off" after every injury, rather than coddling you like today's helicopter parents. No joke, I dislocated my shoulder, and tore some ligaments and tendons... and mom's response was to tell me to "walk it off". :ROFLMAO: I spent a full day or...

What I'm always hunting for are those solid-color flannel shirts that are as thick and heavy as cardboard. If you've ever owned one, you know what I mean, they make "regular" flannel shirts feel like a woman's nighty by comparison. You used to be able to buy them from Land's End and Eddie...

I don't wear denim jeans for work anymore, I switched over to Dickie's carpenter jeans years ago, which are much more durable, and have better pockets: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N8TJNS?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1&psc=1

Article didn't name diesel, so I'd assume it was a gasser. Most boats were inboard or I/O when I was growing up. Engine in an enclosed compartment, either at back of boat or under the floor. Any fuel leak would lead to fumes trapped in that space, and they'd tend to go "boom" when starting...

I remember my mom ironing those patches to the inside of my jeans, because that looked more acceptable than outside, I guess. But it was like having a stiff and scratchy bit of fiberglass board against a delicate knee at age 4. :ROFLMAO:

I agree, on tractors, but much less so on mowers. Zero turn mowers are 2500 hour or 20 year machines, and most sealed bearings are rated way beyond those numbers. Tractors obviously last a lot longer, I've owned several over 30 years, and one over 60 years. My old 60 year machine is out there...

So, everything that would normally end up on the toilet paper was being rinsed onto their shower floor. Lovely. Not a place I'd want to grab a shower. :p lol... that brings back memories! My mom would never buy us Levi or Lee's when young, we wore thru jeans too fast, and those were...

I seem to remember ours all closing the teller's windows at 4pm during the week, maybe even 3:30pm on Fridays. The bank stayed open until 5pm for loan officers and other services, but the tellers closed at 4pm to do their counting and cataloging. They were open Saturday mornings, but the hours...

I know very little about RV's, never owned one. But I'd be awful leery of sleeping in anything with 40 gallons of gasoline stored beneath me, and questionable wiring throughout. I assume most today must be diesel? With all of today's safety regulation, it's almost hard to believe they're even...

I think this one sentence sums of the whole debate, perfectly. Your parents or grandparents wouldn't have udnerstood stone washing, to make the jeans look used, and you don't understand today's kids holes in jeans. If that isn't a great demonstration of generational gap... Like Jstpssing...

You're probably right, but I'd guess that by the time I pick up material, take it to where it's going and dump it, a 10% - 20% duty cycle is probably not far from reality. It definitely gets a heavier workout during some chores, but far less with others, to where 10% might be close to the...

Recommended service schedule for pedal and brake linkage on tractor and zero turn is 100 hours or annual. Tractor trunion and mower spindles are spec'd for 50 hours or twice annual. FEL pins are also spec'd at 50 hours, which is about 2x per year for me.

Check out Nuun, like Gatorade for adults. Lower sugar, and because it comes in tablet form, you can mix to your preferred strength. I mix mine at half strength (1 tablet / 32 oz. of water) this time of year, which gives the water a little flavor and the desired sodium and electrolyte kick, but...

You're right! But at the same time, 24 zerks on a zero turn seems kinda ridiculous. Didn't anyone tell Kubota the rest of the world switched over to sealed bearings for most applications, 40 years ago? Even the idlers on my 2007 Deere mower deck are all sealed bearings, the only greasible...

Classic “time is money” problem. I remember when I got my first manufacturing job, being admonished for taking the time to bend over and pick up screws or dropped wiring terminals. The wage they were paying me was worth more than the bit of hardware, so I was costing them 2 cents trying so...

Question for you fellow terror owners: we have a Boston Terrier, 2 years old, that wants to play more hours per day than we have time to entertain it, or at times we’re just not available. It seems a second dog is in order, so she has a playmate. We’ve done the dual dog thing before, we had...

I remember waiting in line to cash paychecks, and the silly mad scramble to get in line early enough to reach the teller's desk on a Friday, before they closed. Crazy short opening hours that were completely impractacle for anyone with a regular job, but they had us by the short and curlies...

No grease gun needed?!? You're a lucky man! I know plenty of people who don't maintain their cars, equipment, home, etc. But I never thought I had the right to tell any of them they need to sell their stuff. :rolleyes:

Perhaps in this specific situation, a pivot pin would be less likely to fall out? They come in all shapes and sizes. There's also these crazy doo-dads, but I've not a clue what to call them:

As I read 11 pages of talk about electric and cordless grease guns, and pistol grip versus traditional two-hander with a hose, all I could think about is how little of the time I spend on the job of greasing anything is actually spent pumping grease. Getting under the equipment and cleaning the...

A buddy found a $50 stuffed into an empty beer or soda can under the old abandoned railroad loading dock in my home town. We were thrilled, but looking back on it much later, I realized it must have probably been the savings of one of the semi-homeless people that frequented the area. I say...

Anyone who has lived with a Lab will recognize this behavior. Those dogs live for food.

It's gonna be different for everyone. For me, it was Neil Peart, my childhood hero. RIP.

I know a lot more about engine building than engine debug, as I've built quite a few, but don't get a whole heck of a lot of opportunity to chase down problems in misbehaving examples. Like you'd I'd check fuel delivery, and I'd check spark strength with a proper spark gap tester. I'd check...

Not to mention Theo! The Cosby show loomed large for most kids and teens of that time.

They almost never are, but they don't really need to be perfect, either. It's using the percussive pressure created in the crankcase by pistons going up and down to drive a diaphram pump, the bleed-down rate of that hose mate is not a big problem, unless hose is completely torn at the end. I...

For repairs and extenssions that will never need service or separation, I've fallen in love with the submersible well pump splices. Uninsulaed metal crimp ferrule with the gooey self-sealing heat-shrink tubing atop. Damn near as strong and reliable as the wiring itself.

Each one has a relatively wide range of gauges, such that it's hard to imagine many scenarios they won't cover. One of the most common versions handles AWG 18 to AWG 12 in stranded wire, and AWG 20 - 12 in solid wire. My only gripe with them is always having to have, and then know to use, the...

You owned a business for most of your career, so you know that every business owner tends to be closely tied to their banker. But the funny thing is, I've never met mine face-to-face! All of our business happens over the phone or MS Teams chat. Most of our major purchases also get delivered...

lol... I'm just the opposite! If there's a way to mail-order it to my house, then sign me up! I would go weeks on end without ever leaving my own property, if it weren't for chauffering kids to activities and the fact that I can't get my wife to shop for beer or liquor. :ROFLMAO:

True, but I thought we were talking about tail light and running light wiring on RV's, not site wiring. Either way, the point remains the same. There are 120V connectors that could similarly reduce failures, assembly time, and debug or reconfiguration time, if harnesses were built on harness...

That's an interesting point, but I'm not convinced portion size is a dominant factor, next to rent and wages. Most of the higher-end restaurants I go to have what I consider very reasonable portion sizes, about exactly what I'm willing to eat in a single sitting. Meanwhile, the more...

Damn, you guys are cheap! You're screwing the poor wait staff and restaurant owner, saying they're a rip-off, while you probably wouldn't even be willing to work for what they're making. Service isn't free, everyone needs to make their wage.

Buchanan is still around, mostly known for making those uninsulated copper metal ferrules used for crimping together twisted bundles of bare ground wire in junction boxes. The company was bought by AMP connectors, who were subsequently bought by TE, but they still retain the Buchanan name, and...

I grew up in a cash-poor household, and my wife grew up in a very wealthy household. This has generated two very different ways of looking at every problem and every purchase. I carefully plan most purchases, analyzing the options and hunting for ways to save money, and invest way more time...

The rediculous thing is that it doesn't take much more time and money to install proper automotive connectors. Especially if you have the harnesses made externally before installing, it could actually be a total cost savings, versus having your assemblers dealing with wiring nuts and then the...

More an issue up here, than in Texas or Louisiana, surprisingly enough. We generally have to stick to cool season turf grasses, to survive our several straight months of sub-freezing temperatures through winter, and keep growing a reasonable April - October season. Species like Tall Fescue...

Engine model number is 44Q77-0136-G1, it's a very common model, and in fact I think OEM on some Scag models... not that I'm any Scag expert. Damn near every site that lists that motor claims a different max RPM, but most seem to be either 3350 or 3400 RPM maximum. If this is the OEM motor for...

Not only that, but we thought Otis and Curly were both obese in their day. Today, they look normal and average! :ROFLMAO:

Blizzard of Oz was my first introduction to the guy, I remember receiving that on cassette tape, as a birthday gift. Great album, for the time and genre, way better than most of the hair bands that were crowding in on that scene. Despite not listening to a whole lot of metal, I was instantly...

There should be a sticker on the side of the engine cowling with an actual engine model number, probably the same label containing the serial number. That's what the Brigg's experts will need to identify the spec'd RPM for that engine, as well as the throttle plate and choke options.

I know a guy who uses a car trailer as a boat trailer, for hauling his racing boat all over the country, about 30,000 miles per year. When he backs down the ramp into the water, it looks just like this, but bigger.

You should be able to look up the spec's and parts diagrams using the engine model number. Post a photo of the engine label, and maybe we can help. 3000 rpm is a common maximum RPM for many of those engines, but some others are 3600 rpm. It's possible the prior owner of your machine...

Watch the episode when he got an earring, and was trying to hide it from his father. Or the bus driver / "regular job" episode, sometime. That kid was great in both. Another gem was when he had his sister Denise sew a designer shirt for him.

Keeps the riff-raff out! :p Our local system is heavily graduated by lot size, and depends a lot on zoning (e.g. rural 1 vs. rural 2, town, or commercial). There are also huge breaks for giving up your development rights, for various free-space initiatives. I have had family members on 100...

No need to light, with gasoline. In fact, it probably works better if you don't light it, as it's the heavier-than-air fumes that do the killing... essentially suffocating them. I guess that lighting it off after they're all dead the next day can be bonus fun, but I'm usually curious to dig it...

Could be the engine has some other problem, but before diving into that, it’d be good to at least identify the linkage components and what they do, so you can determine when and where in throttle movement range the choke is closing.

What a way to go!

For most of the Briggs engines, there are multiple throttle plate options. So look up your engine and see if you're able to swap it over to a throttle plate that would be more compatible with your mower controls. That said, just stopping the throttle short of the position where it closes the...

Yep. Of course. But there are good reasons those jobs left the USA, in the first place. We need jobs, but I'm not sure that assembling tractors or their components are the best jobs to be had, at least in peace time. I see military security as really the only justification for maintaining...

I can only imagine what that would actually cost.

I used to live along the main street in one of Pennsylvania's many old Victorian-era towns, main street also being a state highway that got plowed by the big tri-axle trucks that also handle the interstates and turnpike. Losing mailboxes was just part of every snow storm, there. So nearly...

In light of Fuddyduddy's recent post, my new limit appears to be somewhere beyond 71.

That's insane. I had no idea a buyer could ever gain any traction with a lawsuit, upset after they offered too much on a house! :rolleyes: Was someone forcing them to make an offer? :ROFLMAO:

It's been awhile since I've worked on an 855, but I used to be intimately familiar with them, as that was my primary tractor for many years. I remember the pedal linkage on them was troublesome, and something as stupid as the driveshaft tunnel cover (between foot boards) being loose could cause...

For the last 20 years, my wife! She's late 40's. On her birthday each year, I get to say, "Lock the door while the kids are still sleeping, I've never fooled around with a __-year old woman, before." And once she passed 33, I wasn't even lying about it, anymore!

Yep. Which is one reason my head just about explodes, every time I hear someone whining about "made in China". We all live better today, on the sweat of cheap Chinese labor. It creates a huge problem with defense hardware, as the same capabilities that allowed us to manufacture components for...

There you go! A refrigerator was 3.6 weeks salary! That'd be like the average professional today paying more than $10k for a damn refrigerator. Of course, they did last a lot longer, back then. :ROFLMAO:

Televisions. For as much as six decades, the average "large" family room television had cost very roughly $700. But what you would get for $700 improved dramatically over that time, and the value of said $700 kept decreasing over time. Yeah, I've paid double that for leading-edge TV's (e.g...

I have spent a lot of time thinking about this over the last few decades, and even still can't find an easy way to compare, because the standards of daily life have changed so much. Things like smart phones, wireless plans, and data plans all cost us a fortune, and are yearly expenses our...

Sounds ideal, if only it weren't a bunch of 80 year old women! I can appreciate a cougar as much as the next guy, but there is a limit. :D

Most juristictions actually have laws against placing SMV signs on fixed objects such as mailboxes or driveway markers, if they can be seen from the road. You can use them all you want, on anything you want... until they can be seen from the road. So, it's really just a matter of getting the...

"We honestly don't see many cases of tennis elbow, in your age group."

Viagra might have helped.

We had some odd RPM records for our old Victrola, some at 78 rpm and some way down at 16.6 rpm. I seem to recall there was even a setting to run the thing up around 90 rpm, but I don't think we had any records cut to run at that speed. By the time I was buying records ca.1980, everything was...

The modern American version of, "get your ducks in a row"?

I'm no doctor, but I do recall hearing more than one doctor claim that sugar intake in kids is a whole different ball of wax, than sugar intake in adults. For whatever reason, higher metabolism or other factors, they consider high sugur intake in kids normal and non-detrimental. But the same...

I just bought a solar/rechargeable unit off Amazon. $100 even. I did not spend a whole lot of time researching, but they all seem to be 1080p, and have some sort of night mode enhancement (likely cheap infrared LED’s). So I chose one with a magnetic mount on the camera, suction-cup mounting...

Pepsi is too sweet. I liked it as a kid... then I grew up. :p

It looks like all of these systems run about $60 for the camera and monitor, and then another $60 for the battery(s). :ROFLMAO: I say that, because the median price for 12V units powered off a cigarette lighter jack is about $60, and the median price for the rechargable battery-powered versions...

Great minds think alike? I did the same for my pallet forks. And like you, found it works great, but would require a pretty big job of moving a lot of pallets to make up for the time lost in setting it up and re-adjusting the mirror positions.

You have more refined taste buds than me. I'll admit I was only a pre-teen in 1985, and unlikely to really notice any subtle difference in my sugar- and caffiene-rushed state. But I've switched between Mexican Coke and USA Coke many times as an adult, and I'd honestly have to taste them...

Wow... never imagined I'd see a day when that required explaining. But here we are... 2025! :ROFLMAO: On the same note, we still have a 1940's rotary phone in our kitchen. It's fun to watch my kids' friends pick up the handset and try to figure out how to dial it. Heck, some don't even...

I need that. Any recommendation on brand and model would be appreciated, even if it's just knowing ones to avoid.

Thinking is to load trailer primarily with backhoe, but I'm sure the opportunity to load with loader while backhoe is mounted will also come up. Like masscity, I suspect that pushing and pulling a 4000 lb. trailer around a very hilly property, with anything mounted to the end of the backhoe...

This seems to be standard across most soda brands. USA Coca Cola has HFCS, but Mexican Coca Cola has real cane sugar. One treat of going to a Mexican restaurant is that most of them around here will stock bottled Mexican Coca Cola, at least for themselves and friends if not on the menu, and...

Well worth the price of admission. Altough I haven't gotten a ton of use out of the tech manual for my newest machine (2019 model year), I've damn near worn out the spines on those for my 1986 and 2007 machines. If you haven't had enough need for it to feel $230 is a bargain, just wait... your...

The backhoe brackets replace the drawbar bracket under the axle, so I permanently lose that if I add a backhoe to the tractor. I'm not sure if there's still a means to add a drawbar to the backhoe brackets, or if you permanently lose the ability to tow via drawbar after adding the backhoe...

Some agents list below market to move houses quicker. They make up for taking a slightly smaller commission on each unit, by selling a lot more houses. A story on that theme: My wife and I are both engineers, and I'm the guy who makes spreadsheets for every purchase, analyzing all the options...

lol... it's worse than that. I have had two tractors three different times in my life! :ROFLMAO: The trouble is, no matter how much storage space you have, there's always one more toy vying for the space where that second tractor might park. So, is there any drawbar or socket for a hitch...

It's mostly likely just an artifact of imbalance, sign of a floating neutral. It'd be interesting to see the neutral to ground voltage under both scenarios. There's also a small chance it's the result of an auto-ranging meter with badly-differing resolution at two different amperage levels...

It's a DIY home built splitter. Why do people do all kinds of stupid things? Point was, if breather element is a paper filter or otherwise incompatible with total oil saturation, it might be worth just ditching it and going to either the usual bronze breather type or a simple vent hole.

Yep. Not a great setup, but really the only solution for a single meter on a split voltage system. It would at least show total current flow, with the overcurrent devices still being the only means of tripping an individual leg overcurrent. Agreed. Although unless wattmeter is actually...

Best of both words. Similar weight to a fab'd deck, but without the welded corners and crevaces that cause fab'd decks to collect grass and rust in the corners and welds.

Thanks, guys. I'll start another thread on the subject when I have a chance, rather than de-railing this one. Lots of good ideas here, though!

When I was young and idealistic (naive?) I got irritated that Allstate would raise my rates every year, despite zero claims in 20 years, and then magically be able to drop them every time I called and threatened to cancel. I'd always think, "if you had the ability to offer me a better rate...

They can run the two legs in opposite directions through the inductive loop, in order that they add despite being out of phase. But I agree, one ammeter on a two-leg system with split voltage leaves enormous room for ambiguity. I'm surprised there aren't two ammeters, one for each leg...

When not clearly spelled out in black and white, or open for any level of interpretation, the interpretation which will cost the insurer the least will always be favored. If you believe there's another interpretation of the policy that lands more in your favor, then I think it's going to be up...

Trailer is set up with live center valve, and normally hooked into Power Beyond loop. And while this can run in series with the backhoe, I'd have to extend the hoses to reach around it. I do have a third function out to the end of the loader, and that could be used for dumping, but I'd have to...

Here's a reversal on the towing question: What do you folks with backhoes do, for towing a utility trailer while the backhoe is mounted? I have a few projects for which I'm contemplating buying a backhoe, which would be added to my 3033R. Trouble is, I'll be moving dirt from one place to...

I always leave mine on when trailering, no matter which way I face the tractor. My truck might be moving slowly, approaching or accellerating away from a stop. I don't think the SMV means "this vehicle can never move quickly". That said, Deere always specifies that tractors be towed in a...

We're going down the rabbit hole, now. :ROFLMAO: I still liked the first two albums (Wind & Wuthering, and Trick of the Tail) after Gabriel left. Phil's singing doesn't bother me at all, in fact I think he's pretty good for the style of music. But they transitioned from serious...

... assuming vent screen is something that can tolerate oil saturation.

Nothing good came from those guys after 1978. :p But some call me biased. :ROFLMAO:

Same, my filler plug has a 1/16" hole drilled in the side of one the wrench flats. It will "vent" a little oil if I over-fill the reservoir, which I guess is a nice feature, but other than that it's always dry. I'd ditch the valve, and replace the valve with a coupling, and just drill a 1/16"...

I've always said, California is great, if it weren't for all the damn Californians. :p Amazing landscape and natural resources, maybe second to no other state in that regard. But I'll take the east coast for food, culture, history...

I've explored raising our deductables each time we've switched insurance companies, and to my surprise, I've always found the savings to be so minimal that it really wasn't even worth consideration. I think the savings to raise our homeowner's deductable from $5k way up to $50k was only $70 per...

I was asked years ago, if I'd ever get a tattoo. I had suggested one across my chest, that said, "Dear Embalmer, please try CPR, one last time."

the o-ring between the oil cooler and block was leaking on mine when I got it. Made a big mess, over time, until replaced.

I don’t know about the 31 hp variant, but if like the 25 hp version, it’s probably time to pull the valve covers and adjust the valve lash. Also check valve guide protrusion, and replace head(s) if they’ve slipped at all. The guides on the 25 hp are not serviceable, I guess head replacement...

Top link can work well for this.

You win.

Hell comes with vinyl siding. Every time I drive thru any modern development, even the up-scale ones of million-dollar homes, I think I'd probably turn suicidal if I ever found myself living in one.

Mine is hinged, but I should also remove it. A previous owner of my prior tractor had removed that one, and it was infinitely easier to connect the PTO. I'm convinced those shields can only make the whole thing less safe, not more safe.

I memorized many old phone numbers (grandparents, aunts, uncles) who were old enough to still be giving them out with the exchange name in the 1970's. They lived in the farms around New Hope, in east-central Bucks County PA, and all had the exchange "LY8". But now that I look it up, it doesn't...

We don't have many coyotes in the east, but like you, our pheasant also disappeared. It happened here in the mid-1980's, right around the time I turned old enough to start hunting pheasant on our family farms. I have only seen maybe 2 or 3 wild pheasant since 1990, it was like someone flipped...

I've maintained good relationships with both the buyer of my prior house, and the prior owner of my current house. The guy who bought my old house called me maybe twice in his first few years there, to ask how something worked or if I knew the history on some detail. The guy who I bought this...

Common practice in sailing, for clip fasteners (e.g. carabiners, shackles, etc.) that one can't afford to have come un-clipped, is to just tie a loop of dyneema (e.g. Amsteel Blue) line as a back-up to the carbiner or shackke. That way, if it manages to come un-clipped, you still have the loop...

I've spent my life living in old houses, and the one thing folks ask more than any other, when they hear I live in an old house, is... "is it haunted?" Well, no. My current house is 290 years old, and it's not haunted. Sorry. But I did live for a dozen years in a much newer 1870's house that...

Never did that, but I did lift my Bronco enough that I couldn't clear the drive thru overhang, around age 19 or 20. Thankfully I noticed the clearance problem before pulling forward and hitting the thing, but there are few things more frustrating and embarassing than being in a line with 5...

Same on most ZTR's. I used to try to throttle down to start the clutch, but I was snapping a lot of mule belts that way, as the grab at lower speed seems to be higher and put more stress on the belt. I also lost 2 or 3 electric PTO clutches, although an exhaust leak that was blowing hot gas...

"I'm so old, I don't even buy eggs more than a half-dozen at a time, anymore." - my FIL, explaining he might not be around long enough to use a full dozen.

I don't really run any high-inertia PTO-driven implements anymore, but I guess I never even thought of the fact that there may be a friction brake used to stop the PTO. I've always been in the habit of starting the PTO down at low idle speed, but stopping it at whatever speed I'm running at the...

Yeah, I've watched it all happen, being there nearly every year since the mid-1990's. But the trouble is, I'm in a different country each year, and while some of the changes are common to most, it's not all universal.

I'm lucky enough that we still have one good family-owned propane company in the area, all the rest have been bought out by larger companies with the usual ridiculous policies and contract requirements. My company allows me to run my own piping and install my own appliances, but they do ask...

It would have to be "a", as the definition of "all" will surely change during the life of service, in almost any home. Even our propane companies around here want "a" gas appliance installed before connecting, but you're free to add more after that.

Yeah, counterintuitive at first glance. But I guess it makes sense when you stop to think about the fact that the lower GPM trade-off is greater lift. You can achieve greater velocity with changing impeller size and pitch, but the greater lift pressure at a given input HP may require more...

That makes sense. I assume the big difference between nameplate pump capacities is the size and pitch of the impeller, effectively changing the mechanical advantage?

True. But given the size of today's homes, I think that's a pretty standard size to specify.

... and we called them Russian Tea Cookies. Same thing, pecans, flour, powdered suger. Damn good, until the powdered sugar gets sticky after a few days. :ROFLMAO:

Interesting. I see lots of charts like this, courtesy of Google: It seems to show the 3/4 hp pump petering out around 260 ft depth, and only delivering 5 gpm at 240 ft.

I heard a memorable quote today, in an audio book I was playing while working: "I wonder if politicians are born without souls, or if they lose them at puberty."

I've spent a good deal of time in Ireland in the past, but this particular stop will be just one evening, as a stop over from a longer trip in contintental Europe. Enough time to meet up with an old friend for dinner in a pub and a walk around town, but not much more! So, other than news from...

Probably even bigger than that, at your depth. I think they usually recommend over 1.5 hp when going that deep, and usually more than that if you want reasonable pressure and flow rate. I'm no expert, just going off the graphs I see online. But I think 2hp delivers about 13 gpm at 400 feet...

I see a lot of people writing about having to manually move the mower around to get the 3-point links onto the pins. But if your mower is too heavy to just shove around, it's pretty easy to move it using your top link. Even before I had all the iMatch quick hitch and hydraulic top link crap, I...

He looks just a wee bit different, today. :D

Mixed bag, I think. So much of the older stuff had to be serviceable, simply because it broke and required servicing so much more frequently, or because the failure rate wasn't known or easily predictable with the design tools available in that time. But if a design can be made better...

Return of the Giant Hogweed! Some old-school Genesis, anyone? Bonus points to anyone under 50 who recognizes that singer.