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Our whole family has worked on this recipe for some time. There are many peanut sauce recipes online, we tried quite a few, but did not like them. This one finally tastes as good as what we get in our favorite Thai restaurant. Ingredients for Sauce: 1/2 cup peanut butter, we use crunchy 2...

Yes we make it too. A daughter brought us fresh beans from Madagascar.

I agree with that. The Home Depot app is also great. Going back to what the thread is about - probably the stores would like more customers to use the app.

I always look up the items online and note the price and location before going to the store. Saves a lot of wasted time looking in aisles more or less at random. HD is very good about the items being where the website says. Lowes not so good. In recent months I haven't had any problems...

With restaurants largely shut we have learned to make some of our favorite meals at home. Mostly Mexican, Thai, and Japanese. This is an easy recipe that always turns out great. Ingredients: 1.5 lb chicken breasts 1 poblano chile 1 jalapeno chile 8 tomatillos 5 garlic cloves 1/2 sweet onion 1...

Used to get about 4 minutes of obstruction in 12 hours. Now down to 4 seconds. The trees did not move. So I assume the dish is now being handed off from one satellite to another to keep the signal.

I got tired of 5 gal cans so got this 100 gal transfer tank and put it on a pallet. The pallet is reinforced with plywood for stiffness. The tank is mounted on rubber bumpers that allow the pallet to flex without stressing the tank. To avoid cracks. I put it in back of the truck to take to...

This is a bit off topic. There were a few times when I wanted to save a piece of trim with an out-dated profile. The alternative might be to spend a few hundred dollars at a local mill for them to grind a matching set of knives and make some new material. But mostly it does not make sense to...

I spent some years as a carpenter and contractor. Never owned or used the dedicated nail puller. For that matter never seen anyone use it. My uncle had one in the bottom of a tool box, but I never saw him use it either. I am sure it works fine. For most situations I use the two tools below...

Slow progress on the satellite cable trench. The utllities located the incoming electric and landline feeds, but thats not the end of the story. In that area there are 3 electric lines, 2 water lines, 2 phone lines, and one propane line. Digging by hand through compacted rock and our hard...

Got a starlink user survey today. Apart from predictable questions about performance and satisfaction, there are useful questions about the phone app, obstruction issues, and installation details.

I've got the Makita 36v chainsaw and 36v leaf blower. They are perfect for my uses. I would definitely get a 36v trimmer, except I bought a Husqvarna 4 stroke trimmer just before I figured out the 36v tools would do the job. It is quiet and easy to start and will outlast me.

From what I can tell on craigslist, the rate for a herd of goats is about $50 per week per acre. Might be worth a try.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_California_urban_areas The city council responds to noise from constituents. Generally. I guess there is not much of a constituency for 2 stroke engines. Other than the mow and blow lawn companies.

Oakland/SF is listed as the 2nd most urban place in the state of CA.

The Oakland City Council passed that resolution on Oct 6 last year. The record of the meeting and the staff report prepared as a basis for action are available online. Hint: Oakland is 100% urban. The city council gets a lot of complaints about leafblowers and string trimmers. I would get...

I put in a better photo that shows up the details.

I use either lime or flour. For a small job 5 lbs of flour is perfect. Very visible.

Fire abatement goats in Oakland. https://localwiki.org/oakland/Goats

Getting ready to make a 85 ft trench for the Starlink satellite dish cable. I use flour to mark the trench line. The underground utility locator service marked the electrical cable with red paint. Still waiting for the telephone locator to show up. We've never used the landline but I still...

This is a high end Bay area landscaping company. https://www.gachina.com/landscaping-services/goat-grazing/

I've seen small herds of goats on fields here recently, they clear cut pretty fast! https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/using-goats-to-prevent-wildfires-51327045/

I think the improvements mentioned in the email are underway. This morning I show 200 down, the highest yet. Plus zero downtime due to "no satellite in view". And the "show obstructions" page says there are none. Shifting from satellite to satellite to keep the connection is a big step...

There is a reddit Starlink beta users group with many discussions and photos of mount solutions.

Using starlink I can reduce my monthly Verizon bill by $80 (less data, fewer devices) and eliminate the Dish bill for $115. With the $99 starlink bill that is nearly $100 month less expensive. This morning I am getting 2 mbps down on the LTE connection vs 130 down on starlink. And no data...

Yep. On Amazon too. Not cheap though. The Makita 18v batteries can be found on sale for a lot less. I have a lot of Makita cordless tools, never had a battery, charger, or tool go bad.

I got a Roku gizmo and set it up so my wife can watch her programs using the satellite feed. It has been working fine for several days now. Over the last 12 hours, the starlink app shows 3 - 4 minutes of downtime each for obstructions, and for no satellite in view, and for beta downtime...

Hah children long out of the house although me and wife can do a pretty good job still.

We like the St. Louis style ribs cooked on the grill. We use a simple marinade, don't care for the thick heavily flavored sauces. I slice the rack into individual ribs, season with salt, pepper, thyme and garlic. Then marinade for 2 hours in a big bowl covered with apple cider. Cooking takes...

I've used water levels as well as laser levels. If you have to set the elevations of (let's say) 15 deck piers, it is a fair amount of work to set up the stakes and associated elements to use the water level at each place with +- 1/8" accuracy. With the rotary laser and a grade pole, you can...

I think the first segment is 0-30 degrees starting where the dish is pointing ie north in my case. Then clockwise from there. That worked for me when I was trying to figure out the obstructions. There is no documentation I could find on the debug page, but some of the reddit group users...

I also think the power supply is too hot. I think it is hot enough to harm wood finishes. So I arranged an elevated location with full air flow.

On obstructions. Try: Starlink > support > advanced > debug Near the bottom of the debug page is two sets of 12 lines each. Each line stands for a 30 degree segment of the field of view. The line is blank if there is no obstruction. There are numbers on the line if there is an obstruction...

About 15 years ago I bought a Spectra LL200 laser level. At the time I thought it was overkill for my needs. But it is so easy to use and so accurate I have never regretted it. A similar current version is this...

My 2004 B21 has never been under cover and I never put grease or whatever on the cyl rods. Coastal environment. The rods are as bright and shiny as the day I bought it.

I am up to about 200 mbps now. Anything over 10 or so is wasted on me. But my wife likes streaming programs, and when the daughters are visiting they are usually teleworking too, including video meetings and conferences. Before, all that was marginal to impossible. We hit the Verizon data...

At one point my Dad needed a small water-cooled engine for some project or other. So he bought a running fully intact Renault Dauphine for $20. It was only a few years old but nobody wanted them even then. We cut up the whole thing with a torch in a day or so, except for the engine, which I...

In 1969 I bought a 1968 Camaro with 427 tripower 4 spd and 4.10 rear. Sold it when I went into the army. Would love to have it back. Faster than stink.

I'm not using it for a mast. It is for mounting to an existing very sturdy wood frame trellis. Unsupported length max 12". A cleaner solution than trying to use the three leg thing. I measured the length of the 1.41" stub, it is 2 7/16".

Standard steel and aluminum tubing with 1.5" OD comes in .035 wall thickness which gives ID of 1.43". So the dish tube (1.41") will be a slip fit in it, same as the three-leg base. I looked that up because I am going to put the dish on a length of that tube.

For testing I set the dish on the dump trailer which is in a place open to the sky. First speed test with the Starlink app was 150 mbps down, 54 up, latency 25 ms. In comparison our Verizon LTE connection is 5 down, 2 up, 35 ms. The satellite connection could be 5x worse and still be 5x...

I wish (removed) would use normal lettering. I think there is good info there but can’t figure it out.

Mine is still on the table in the front room. Has not got to the top of the to-do list yet. Maybe tomorrow afternoon if the weather stays dry.

Yep! And in addition to the cost there is getting the tractor on and off the flatbed which is not a minor problem if you are not in the business.

When I moved from Virginia to California was quoted $3500 by a couple outfits. So I bought a new equipment trailer for the same price and towed it myself. Sold the trailer in California for $200 less than I paid.

I decided to install a proper slide on the work table. It is from China and very well made. No play anywhere. Linear bearings for the slide mechanism and a ball screw for the movement. For $150. I could about buy the materials for that and then still have to make it. I also got a magnetic...

I got the beta invite on Feb 8, paid for the package on Feb 9. It shipped yesterday, arriving tomorrow. The property is filled with tall redwoods, but there is a north facing gap. If that doesn't work I might have to hire a tree climber to install it on a 100 ft redwood. I think one or two...

Me too

That's a great update.

I don’t see spending many thousands on a tractor with backhoe then losing considerable functionality by saving a few hundred on buckets. I have 6, 12, and 24 inch buckets for the B21 and switch among them often.

I tried the method of clicking on the photo title. That allows me to paste the URL into the new post. But the photo doesn't show until clicked on which is a nuisance. I could not figure a way of getting something from the attachments page into the attach files buttons. But I am good with...

OK folks thx for the advice. What I did that works for me is: on the attachments page, click on the post rather than the title of the image copy the image from the original post paste into the new post. (not using either of the attach files buttons, just a straight paste.) This is on the laptop.

What do I do next? I did that and found the old photos. How to get one of them into a new post?

Adding a new photo to a post is easy. I can't find a way to pick out one of my old photos (already uploaded to the site) and insert in a new post. I am sure there is a way, I just can't find it.

This sauce uses fresh green peppercorns still on the vine. They are milder than black peppercorns and more flavorful than dried green peppercorns. It is a very simple sauce, just takes a few minutes. Ingredients: 1 - 2 tbsp green peppercorns, crushed in garlic press 1 med shallot, cut up...

Half my avatar photo is gone. Doesn’t need to be fixed just making a note.

Ok many thx will give it a try that way.

OK I marked all forums read. When I go to Watched it shows everything starting with the first post in the thread. So I have to move to the end of each thread to read the latest post. The old My Home feature did not show all Watched. It only showed subscribed threads with new posts, and then...

I liked the My Home feature because it only showed a subset of watched threads with new posts. And took me to the new post. Very efficient.

I use a 2x72 belt grinder a lot, it is very versatile and powerful. I decided to make a sliding work table to improve accuracy on some operations. Photo 1 - this is the fixed work rest I made when I first got the grinder. 1/2" aluminum. It is much larger than what is normally used but...

I almost never use the clamp on a miter saw but it is very useful for bevel cuts on long floppy material like siding. The usual clamp, that comes wilth all miter saws I have seen, is awkward and slow. I am doing a lot of bevel cuts for my siding job so decided to put some time into making a...

I am putting up new cedar siding and have a lot of gable end cuts to make. Rather than measure and free hand the cuts I made a simple jig. It works for both left and right side cuts on the shiplap siding. It is made like a track saw track, the edge of the guide is exactly where the left side...

I am putting new siding on all the buildings, there are many repeat cuts. To save time I adapted the length gauge from my Incra table saw sled. I replaced the 5" Incra guage rod with a 12" rod to get closer to the blade for short pieces. The setup works fine for repeat cuts up to 70". I used...

My wife and I have no idea what it is or where we got it. Or who got it. The frame is brass and the scrapers are steel, hand filed.

Asian restaurants usually have chili oil which I really like. They use sesame oil and that kind is easily found. But sesame oil doesn't go with everything. So I started making my own using grapeseed oil which is neutral in flavor. There are a million recipes and I make it several different...

I decided to have Fit Rite Hydraulics modify my draft links with these hooks. Photo attached. I've done all my own welding since before I left home, but decided to give myself a treat and have Brian do it instead. They look great. I have used a fixed quick hitch for quite a while, but it has...

One of our daughters lived in New Orleans several years and we really liked the cooking there. Several of those dishes have become family standards including this one. Ingredients: Roux 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 cup flour Veggies 1 large onion chopped 2 cloves garlic minced 1/2...

We like these as a condiment in Mexican restaurants, especially on tacos and carnitas. Dead simple to make at home too. 1 red onion, sliced thin. Boil for a minute or less to remove the sharpness, then drain and rinse. Put in glass jar with: juice of 4 limes 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp...

Hello, When I go to "manage attachments" to select a photo I get a new page with only two options, upload from computer or from web. The many photos I have previouisly uploaded are not there to be selected. When I go to my home page and look at my old attachments there, the photos are still...

Quite a while ago I got a ditch and bank mower. Bestsco AGL145. Several members cautioned me up front that it was too big for my B21. When it arrived I could see at a glance they were right. Too much weight, too far back, and especially out to the side. It would be ok when the roller is on...

We make this for just the two of us, up to about 20 people. Very easy. Meatballs Knead together: 1/2 lb ground pork 1/2 lb ground beef 1 egg 1/2 cup corn flour 4 crushed garlic cloves 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp cloves salt and papper Form into balls about the size of golf balls, set aside. Sauce...

I've got my Dad's old Victor o/a torch and regulator setup (cutting and welding). It is on an oxygen and an acetylene bottle that are also very old but still have gas. I just dragged it out of a back room, it has not been used in decades. I want to see if it still works. I don't have a clue...

My wife learned to make this dish a long time ago from Indian friends. I am always glad to see it! Ingredients: I lb ground lamb or beef 1 small to medium onion diced 1 whole serrano chile 4 cloves garlic pressed 14 oz can diced tomatoes and juice 1 tsp garam masala 1 inch piece of fresh...

Some friends of ours in Rwanda wrote to say that the country had closed the airport, nobody in or out. So I checked on what is happening in Africa. In a nutshell, many countries are shutting the doors especially to Europe and the US. The link below is already 4 days old but I could not find a...

This was the first meal my future wife cooked for us back in 1972. We still make it the same for special occasions, and it always brings back good memories. Ingredients 1-1/2 lb. round steak 1/2 cup flour 1 tsp dried marjoram 2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, diced 1 clove garlic, pressed 8 ounces...

Yes. What I benefitted from is that you could describe what you wanted to do and he would give you an experience-based best practice answer.

This is another family favorite we got to like when our daughter lived in New Orleans. Now I make it a couple times a year when we have leftover ham. Dead simple. Ingredients: 1 lb small white beans, yellow eye beans, etc 1 leftover ham bone and about 1 lb of ham cut up 1 large onion, chopped...

I finally got my wife to write down her recipe for bread stuffing. It has been a family favorite for many years. She uses it in turkeys, chickens, game hens and also baked with pork chops or chicken. Ingredients: 12-14 slices sourdough bread, lightly toasted and torn into bite size pieces 1...

I've made this for late breakfast, the morning after Christmas, for years now. In one form or another. This recipe is for 2-4 people, just use more leftovers to make it bigger. Picadillo Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large frying pan. Add: 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 small onion finely chopped 2...

Grilled Chicken with Raspberry Chipotle Barbecue Sauce This is dead easy and one of our favorites. Sauce: 1 bag of frozen raspberries or fresh equivalent in season 5 canned chipotle peppers with some of the sauce 4 green onions, chopped, both green and white parts 1 tablespoon apple cider...

This might interest some. I decided to add roll out drawers to our bottom kitchen cabinets. Rooting around on our knees in the back of those cabinets is getting less fun as the time goes by. There are 20 of them so I took some time to make a clamping jig for assembling them square. See...

A while back I posted on the 10% Lowe's military discount. Only learned about that by accident. It is very useful. Now the same thing with Apple. I was buying a replacement cell phone cord at the Apple store. The employee noticed my USAA credit card and said do I have military ID or a VA...

I don't think you can go wrong with pork belly anything. I made this for a family get together a few weeks ago. One of the very small Mexican eateries we go to had pork belly tacos, delicious. So I decided to make it up myself using parts of several recipes from the internet. To make the...

In the last few weeks I discovered that my new flail mower from Betstco and my new pallet jack from HF are both a dead-on match for Kubota Orange II spray paint. In the photo below the side brackets and the wheel bar (that I am making) are spray painted with Kubota paint. No way to tell the...

This is real country cooking but from West Africa. Both our girls went to Peace Corps in West Africa and this is something they both liked a lot. I figured out how to make it from talking with them and the internet. There are variations. Can use beef or mutton or fish instead of chicken, or...

We usually have baked beans for 4th of July. I start things the evening before so they are ready by midday on the 4th. I have used the same recipe with minor adjustments for a long time. The actual prep time is minimal but cooking takes a while. Day 1, evening. Cook up the beans on top of...

This relief is on the backhoe valve stack. About half of it looks like it has been gnawed by a rat. You can see the pinhole in that area. The relief is in a place where debris never accumulates and has a light coating of oil because I spray the backhoe linkage periodically. Never seen a...

Making mayonnaise by hand is very laborious but with a food processor it is easy. Just takes a few minutes. You can get it exactly the way you like and leave out the preservatives, sugars, salts, corn syrup, and thickeners in store bought mayonnaise. This is our basic mayonnaise and then...

Since Lowe's started the all-the-time, all-the-stuff 10% discount that is the only big store I go to. This morning I went to the two closest, chasing floor tile. Couple of things I noticed. Both now have designated veteran parking. A nice gesture I thought. Then inside, it used to be on...

I make 6-8 different kinds of chili depending on what I feel like, and who will be at the table. But on my own I usually do this basic chili. Two ingredients, chiles and ground beef. Or three if you count salt. Actual time spent making it, under 5 min. 1. Take a bunch of dried chiles and...

These have a lot more heft to them than flour pancakes or "buckwheat" pancakes where a bit of buckwheat is mixed in with wheat flour. 2 cups buckwheat flour 2 cups milk or nonfat milk 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 egg Mix the dry stuff together. Mix the...

When the kids were still at home I sometimes made this for Sunday brunch, along with buckwheat pancakes and scrambled eggs. I will do the pancake recipe separately. I still make it for Mother's Day and some other special days. For the breakfast sausage, we got tired of store-bought, pumped up...

Honestly I think there should be a whole forum on meatloaf. It was a standard on the table when I was growing up, a Plain Jane version my mom made that I loved. When I met my future wife meatloaf was one of the first things she made, quite a bit more involved than what I was used to at home...

When I first built my hydraulic thumb, I bought a Kubota thumb to save time. The B21 never had a thumb. The one I got is made for a B76, but by comparing bucket pin part numbers I figured out it would also fit a B21 hoe. It fit perfectly. After a while I added a quick coupler to the backhoe...

I make this for steak, pork chops, baked potatoes. There are complicated and detailed recipes, most involving wine. This one is simple. I don't give quantities because it really doesn't matter too much, just use what you think looks good for the people who are at the table. Melt butter in...

Then the fire department arrives to put out a fire.

This is not about welding except I figure many of you interested in welding might be interested in a 2x72 belt grinder. Our girls have been asking for handmade knives since I retired, which sounds like a good thing to do, and obviously an excellent reason to get a new tool. I studied the...

A while back I put up a recipe for shrimp in diablo sauce, very red. I decided to put up a matching green shrimp recipe. A long time ago I had this in a restaurant somewhere, cannot remember where, and had no idea how it was made. Last week I found a promising recipe in a 20 year old cookbook...

Here in Sacramento you can buy great salsa at Mexican groceries, so I seldom make it. But the green salsa is often too hot for me so I figured out a recipe. Dead easy and very nice. 8 large tomatillos 4 "mexican" onions. The local groceries all have these mexican onions which look like fat...

For years I have got by at the Mendocino place with a old 3500w Craftsman construction generator. It feeds into an interlocking manual switch that selects either PG&E or generator power. The switch has two breakers, 100 amp goes to the house and 60 amp goes to the shop. The setup works fine...

I recently got a magnetic drill so I could use annular cutters for large holes in steel. Normally the mag drill is clamped on top of the work. I wanted to use it with smaller pieces of steel where clamping on top would not work. So I made a drill table. The drill table is bolted together from...

I have this pretty regular either at a Peruvian restaurant in Sacramento, or a Mexican restaurant in Upper Lake, on Highway 20 on the way to the north coast. I studied about a half dozen recipes and figured out how to make it for family and friends. 1 lb large shrimp (I use cooked and cleaned...

I made this to go with the black beans and pork from the other day. Some years ago a friend took us to a Cuban restaurant and I had something with roast pork that was really nice. So I got on the web and figured out a recipe. There are lots of them, all about the same. Easy to make...

This is similar to Cuban style black beans. 1 1/2 lb pork belly in 3/4" cubes 1 med onion chopped 3 garlic cloves chopped 1 poblano chile chopped Put all above into pot with 3 tbsp olive oil and fry it up somewhat. Add: 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp mexican oregano 1/2...

Last year I got an old side draft cutting table from a scrap yard. The first purpose was to set it up for plasma cutting with movable 1x1 and 1x2 slats (photo 1). It works well for material of many different shapes and for containing the grit. The second purpose was for welding. I...

As a kid I spent a lot of time with my dad in the California desert. He was not much for cooking on these trips. Lots of times we just had canned pork and beans, sourdough bread, hard salami, and canned sardines. That was it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I still like canned pork and beans...

There is a first time for everything. I am using California white cedar from a local sawmill for jamb extensions on the new windows. The white cedar is much nicer to work with than what is available at the big box stores. Cutting a batch I noticed something shiny. I had just cut through the...

Just got this Milwaukee tool chest, top and bottom combined. In terms of capacity and price it compares closely to the new HF top and bottom tool chests. $798 and about 27000 cu in. I looked at the HF, Craftsman, Husky, and Kobalt as well as some others. All seemed about the same to me...

About 25 years ago we had dinner at a small restaurant in Mt Shasta. I had the black bean chili which was really good. The owner had a self-published cookbook with all her recipes, so we bought that before we left. We have been making black bean chili by that recipe ever since. 2 cups black...

When I first starting working as a teenager, "wood screw" was a clunky triangular thing with a flat blade head. Hard to remove, even harder to drive. There has been so much progress in this area, and so many excellent screws. I can remember when long "drywall" style Phillips head screws came...

I use zip ties to wrap up the long ends of ratchet straps when transporting stuff on the lumber rack. It is quick, neat, and fail-safe.

This recipe shares some DNA with 2Lane's green chile pork stew. It is good in a bowl or as filling for tacos, burritos, enchiladas. Meat Get a 4 pound pork shoulder or butt roast. Needs to have some fat in it for flavor. Cut into 1" slabs. Salt and black pepper. Then sear on the outside...

Our daughter and son in law now have their first baby. My wife and I drove out to Cheyenne to help with cooking and housekeeping for the first week. And to meet the new baby! Tonight is my turn to cook so it is red pork chili and yellow Peruvian beans.

One of our daughters went to grad school at Tulane University so for several years we were in New Orleans regularly. So much good food! One of the things I learned to make was red beans and rice. There are lots of recipes out there, the one I follow comes from a cookbook we bought at a museum...

This recipe is close to the 1880's original San Antonio chili and other very early chili recipes. I prefer it to more modern complicated chili recipes. It does not taste anything like the usual American roadhouse chili with beans and tomatoes. I like that kind of chili too, but everyone...

Also called mayocoba beans, peruana beans, canary beans. They are a side dish in a Peruvian restaurant we go to a lot. The beans are yellow, and they taste different from pinto beans. Very simple to make: 1 lb beans 1 med onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 serrano or jalapeno chile...

The new country cooking forum is great. Now we need a tool forum. TBN folk have a lot of experience and wisdom to offer on tools let's give it a home!

We really like carnitas (Mexican pulled pork) in restaurants so I decided to make it at home. I studied about a dozen recipes. They were all different except for the basic idea, which is simmering a large amount of pork at low heat for a long time so it can be pulled apart. So I decided to...

I am replacing the windows in the Mendocino place, they were cheap aluminum sliders 25 years ago and have not aged well. The new windows are double hung, I think about 60-70 lbs each. Getting them into the openings, sill height 5-6 ft, is not easy. Using pieces of lumber from the scrap pile...

I am replacing all the windows and siding on the Mendocino place. Three buildings and a lot of work. Rather than ladders or scaffold I decided to make a work platform for the tractor. I have seen two or three TBN folk use IBC Totes, which looked like a good idea. So I did the same. I will be...

Saw one of these at the dump yesterday pretty slick about $1400.

The hoses for my 4 in 1 bucket reach about 5 ft when the bucket is dumped, and about 1 ft when the bucket is curled. So the slack was flopping everywhere. I made this hose retractor to keep the hoses out of the way. It uses a strip spring, about $4 from McMaster-Carr. The rest is ordinary...

SA thanks. Learned a lot since I started here 2012. Appreciate what you have done. Will spend more time on WW.

Fair is fair! I put up another thread on DiscountHyrdraulicHose. I also ordered some fittings and valves from Surplus Center on the 20th. One part was out of stock and it took overnight to sort that out. The rest was shipped on the 21st and arrived here on the 23rd. Both these outfits have...

A note of appreciation. I ordered some fittings and one custom hose on 20 June. The package shipped the same day via USPS from Philadelphia, and was in my Sacramento mailbox 11am this morning 22 June.

I have most everything on tool stands with wheels. I use a block of wood to wedge them off the floor when I need them to stay put. Recently there were some helpful posts on built-in floor stops. Making a tool stand for a thickness planer, which needs to be very stable, I decided to do...

This is the last of my winter projects. A couple months ago I mounted my old HF engine hoist on a SSQA plate, it makes a very useful mobile hoist. I also had in mind putting my Remington pole saw on it. I've had this saw forever and really like it. But it gets heavy at arm's length, and...

I have about 100 ft of concrete walkway to break up and replace this summer. My old Makita hammer will do it, but my back is not what it used to be. This winter I made an adapter so the hammer can be mounted on the backhoe coupler. The backhoe is just used to position the hammer, not to put...

I'm getting ready for landscaping in the summer so one of my winter projects was to make a tilt coupler for the B21. To avoid degrading digging performance too much, I wanted to keep it as light as possible. Which means as compact as possible. So the basic dimensions are determined by the B21...

I use a Wilson directional antenna and amplifier to pick up a Verizon cell phone signal. It works pretty well. Without the antenna and amp, I have zero signal at ground level (ranging from "no service" to -110 db). With it, I get -80 to -90 db according to the iPhone internal signal strength...

Now that WW is back I am reminded of how helpful their forum on tools and machines is. I think a tools forum on TBN would be very useful and popular.

I have been using a couple Harbor Freight welding tables for quite a while now, and they are just fine. But a while back I got a plasma cutter. After a few cuts that blasted astonishing amounts of fine black grit all over the place, I realized I really needed a cutting table that would capture...

More than once I almost got my fingers crunched between the ROPS and a tree or branch. Coming up on my list of chores is to clear an area of small trees on uneven ground for a new greenhouse. I decided to make a grab bar so I would not be tempted to grab the ROPS. I used an old piece of 5/4"...

I have had an old Harbor Freight two ton engine hoist for about 20 years, a good tool. But I don't use it anymore, and I was thinking of putting it on Craigslist. Then I saw a thread here where someone planned to mount a small crane on their FEL. That made me think, I could do the same. Then...

This past spring I finally installed a high efficiency propane furnace in the 900 sq ft shop on California's north coast, so I can work comfortably in the winter. I've been trying to tough it out but finally gave up. It isn't cold compared to the central part of the country but it is too cold...

I made a simple ripper last year from a box blade scarifier. It worked OK but not great. Finally broke down and got a purpose-built ripper from BXPanded. I would say productivity is at least 2X my DIY ripper.

I have been thinking of making a quick coupler for my B21 for a couple years, but the project never quite makes it to the top of the list. Then the other day I read a post by LD1, making the point that if the attachment you want is commercially available, almost always it makes sense to buy and...

I got this 18ft 10k Big Tex equipment trailer yesterday. It replaces the 20ft 14k PJ that I traded off a while back. I wanted a trailer that would fit into the garage if need be, it is a few inches shorter than the 23.5ft garage. Also this trailer meets California's restrictive limit on what...

Taking advantage of good weather on the north coast.

Here is my old Vaughan framing hammer. According to their website still made in USA from US-made steel and American hickory.

I use them daily but only to keep stuff from sliding and on the dump trailer tarp. Never to hold a load.

Found this on local Craigslist for $5500. Still in regular use. Called a "road maintainer".

Another option would a hex drive cap screw with flat head. This would give full bearing on the bevel and allow full tightening against the mount.

My uncle made this bread knife from a hacksaw blade and chunk of mesquite. Wedding present to my wife 1973. We use it daily.

These guys are building in our neighborhood.

Years ago my father in law cut the legs off this nice old cherry table. All different lengths and angles. Unusable. It was recently given to my wife so I trimmed legs so it is steady.

Tappatalk keeps putting up a panel that asks for a favorable review. Pls make it stop. Or can I do that somehow. Thx.

I noticed another screw head not on the chart. It is called double-square. I ran into them when I had to replace an aluminum panel on a Haulmark trailer. You can get eight point driver bits but a regular square bit fits too.

This is my 80's ac/do Thunderbolt.

There does not seem to be a tool forum so will put this up here. After close to 20 years my old Harbor Freight die grinder is on its last legs. I figure I am due for a replacement. Decided to get one of the new IR no-oil grinders. A bit pricey but if you only buy one every 20 years the cost...

The missing grease fitting is an easy fix. Just drill and tap the bushing for a fitting, one will be enough. The fit of the thumb is not an easy fix. It is too wide about 1/2". When you squeeze the thumb hard it will put a flexing motion on the pin. It might never fail on you or it might break...

Cats know how to relax.

I've had this for quite a while. Always starts first pull. And a lot more capable than I thought when I got it. Below some "lawn" mowing pics. It will cut anything up to about 1/2" stem and 4 ft high leaving only small shreds.

Digging away matted roots next to well shed so can plant something nicer than weeds.

There are many commercial grapples available. I decided to make one partly because I like to make stuff, partly because I had the material laying around, and partly because I can make it exactly suited to the work I have in mind. Photo 1: The main frame. The bottom rail is 3x3x1/4 tube. The...

Time for the one year update! No issues at all. Extremely handy to pick up and drop attachments quickly and effortlessly.

Map showing job growth 2015. Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.

My model 77 bought in 1973 finally wore out a couple years ago. Bought this Bosch to replace it. Pretty much the same as the old 77 except lighter and uses an extension cord plugged into the handle. I always had a 25 ft cord on the 77 anyway so this is even better. Truth is I got it mostly...

To close the loop. First I checked the 2x2 beam for straightness. One side was 3/32 bowed. I tacked the five brackets to the high side, and that straightened the bow. Then I clamped the beam to a 4x4x3/16 tube, with a piece of 1/8 strap under the bracket to be welded. Welded the middle one...

I recently installed a Top and Tilt setup, and am getting a lot more use out of my Bush Hog box blade. The manual scarifiers are the limiting factor in terms of utility and flexibility. There is a Cammond model that uses manual scarifiers, but can also be got with either mechanical or...

Using it to move box blade to workshop. Much better than lifting with chain.

I am welding 5 brackets and gussets equally spaced along a 5 ft piece of square tubing (2x2x1/4). One of the brackets will be right in the middle, two at each end, and then two equally spaced in between. The brackets and gussets are 3/16 material. I took a photo below of how the finished...

I use ring cotters they never get snagged out.

One thing I thought about is gussets on the "wings" at the side. Decided not to. The QA lips top and bottom add a lot of stiffness. I don't think it will bend under intended use.

I was able to get some rollback by grinding and positioning the QH. Picture shows it. More would be better but also a more complicated build.

I decided it would be too demoralizing to leave it half-black and half-rust. Painting a HF quick hitch is definitely lipstick on a pig though. On the question about use for me it is a convenience worth a couple hundred dollars and some work.

I decided to get one of these so I can use the trailer mover and some other things on the front of the tractor. Did not intend to make one but the prices were kind of high. $1000-$1200 from mainstream retailers and $500-$600 on ebay. So then I figured someone on TBN surely has already solved...

Here is a better picture of the valve and coupler mount. There is no room next to the fender so I put it on top. I wanted it accessible from the seat facing forward or backward. So the valve slides on the arm. The cover protects it from tree limbs and provides an arm rest. It is one piece with...

Many thanks for the comments. I've been using it for a while now, it works as planned. Just some fine tuning. Since the upper shackle/snubber assemblies do not interfere with the backhoe, I installed them with locknuts and they stay on the lift arms. I switch between backhoe and three point...

After some years of struggling with 3pt hitch implements, I decided to install a hydraulic top link and hydraulic side links. The top link was straightforward. I bought a $185 top link from Surplus Center (2x8). It had a double pilot operated check valve, which I don't want for this...

This is a good old thread time to wake it up. I made this rolling tool chest exactly 30 years ago. We didn't have much money so couldn't buy a steel one. I had some material left over from a cabinet job. The casing and drawers are glued and stapled. The drawers have adjustable dividers. On the...

Got the first set of hoses installed. As planned can slide the valve about 8 inches so accessible with seat forward and backward.

Yep. It is simple and clean. I used 2x6 tube to mount a diverter on the loader.

Finished the bracket. Showing front armrest/brush guard. The standoffs are slices of 4x6 tube.

Not much room on a B21 for extra valves. I tucked a two spool valve on the left side between fender and seat. It is equally accessible from the seat facing forward or backward. But there is no room on the right side. So I mounted this one on a bracket that attaches to the ROPS. It can be...

I was debating whether to make my own small press brake, then came across this brake on Ebay for $250. It is made in Stevensville, Montana. To save time I went ahead and bought it. I've made a couple test bends on 1/4" material, it works fine. I found one other press brake thread on TBN...

I've been reading up on top and tilt threads. There are a lot of TBN threads on this, I haven't looked at all but have looked at a couple dozen. The standard installation is a top link cylinder, a side link cylinder on the right, and shift the factory adjustable link to the left. I wonder...

When I made my hydraulic thumb, I used 11 of these flat face grease fittings on the mechanism. They don't stick out and can't be broken off. But I have had a miserable time getting grease into them, trying several different adapters. I finally found this needle adapter from Lincoln, which comes...

I got started making side extensions for a new dump trailer today. Discovered that the sides are bent in about 3/4". That made the stakes slant inward about 6" at the top. Looked pretty bad. There is a lot of welding on the inside sheet metal right at the middle stake pocket, maybe it...

The new TBN format does not show tractor info in the poster ID box. I feel this is a real loss. It helped to relate to other TBN folk. And helped establish TBN's identity too. Is there some technical reason, or management purpose, for the disappearance?

Trying to decide MIG vs gas to make this clevis. Weld has to be strong. The nut is 3/8 -24. Tube is 3/4" DOM, 3/16" wall, 1" long. The tube is drilled out on the end to make a press fit lip for the nut. To hold it straight and also improve the weld. The lip is 1/16 wide and 3/32 deep. For...

Tried several times, reloaded browser and TBN, no luck. I can use photos that are already there but not add any. Tried to delete some, couldn't figure how to do that either.

I've never taken a cylinder apart. I am thinking of buying the cylinder in the link below. It has a stroke limiting sleeve inside and is held together with a snap ring. Can the cylinder be opened up and the sleeve removed with ordinary tools? Appreciate any advice. 0.875x3x0.5 DA HYDRAULIC...

I didn't start out to make a hydraulic quick attach, or even a quick attach. I started to make a grapple. But after taking off the factory 4-pin bucket to make some measurements, I changed the plan. The bucket (212 lbs) was easy enough to put back on, the flat bottom makes it scootable. But...

I saw something like this on a job once. It worked well for demolition and construction debris. On this property I have three decrepit old sheds to demolish, a bunch of poorly laid paver walkways to get rid of, and other similar clean up jobs waiting. With the sharp teeth and serrations, and...

For years if I had to cut and weld I did it on the floor or a couple sawhorses if I was lucky. Recently I got a Strong Hand Nomad welding table which is really nice for small stuff. Now I am getting started on a grapple so I am either back on the floor or find a bigger table. Working on the...

I made this in a morning by cutting standard steel shapes to size and drilling holes. I tried it out tonight. In a few seconds it took apart a small but tough stump and roots that the bucket had just bounced off. Will try it on larger stumps in the lawn after the ground dries out. Photo 1 -...

After 10 years I finally decided to install a hydraulic thumb on the B21. I was getting ready to make the thumb, and looked at Kubota parts diagrams to get some ideas. I learned that the BT751 backhoe and the BH77 backhoe use the same bucket pin. Meaning the buckets and also the mechanical...

I made this table to get more use out of my handheld bandsaw. It is very accurate. Photo 1: The frame is made of scrap aluminum plate using 1/2" bolts. Photo 2: The work is held in place on a fixed table, and the saw moves through the work on a carriage. The carriage slides on 20mm linear...

I've been looking at rakes for a while. Didn't find one with the features I want so built it. 1. Tool bar assembled to three point hitch. It can be offset either side for raking close to a fence. 2. Tool stand installed for easier hookup. 3. Rake teeth assembled on rake bar and attached to...

Some interesting news at autoblog - RAM pickup towing ratings using the new SAE standard system. The article says only Ram pickups will use SAE ratings in 2015. From autoblog: The new 2015 Ram SAE J2807 towing capacities are as follows: Ram 1500 with 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 7,600 pounds...

Maybe I am the last person in the world to figure this out. The problem was, how to remove mill scale from an 18x48 piece of 3/16 plate. Yesterday I did an experiment. I laid out paper towels on a piece of plywood, then soaked them in vinegar. Put the plate on top. Laid more paper towels on...

I recently got a new chipper/shredder, it works fine, but at 150lbs is not very portable even with wheels. No way to get it to most the places where I need to shred and chip. And tomorrow I am taking it over to a neighbor's place about 1/2 mile away. To make it easy to move the shredder, I...

I recently installed a ceiling and insulation in a previously unheated 36x24 shop. It was originally constructed with eave vents but no gable vents. After installing the ceiling/insulation I was getting ready to put in gable vents for air circulation in the now enclosed attic. This is on...

Here is a closeup of blade. lots of negative hook and a controlled feed design. rotation is normal.

I've used various steel cutting blades in wormdrive saws and had lots of hot chips everywhere. For a while now I have used the Makita saw below which generates chips that are almost cold, and most of them stay in the guard. It cuts 1/2" mild steel with no issues. The battery lasts long enough...

Don't want to see this thread fade away! I am sure there are lots of good ideas still out there. Will offer up a super-low-tech tool for something that comes up all the time - cutting of floppy sheet materials like plywood and particle board. See photos. Two long boards, whatever you have...

NASA image. California snow pack estimated at 4% - 22% of normal.

Last update on saw - I think it is done now. I've taken up all ideas and suggestions. I was thinking of rubber flaps, and JJ suggested a magnet. Combined the two ideas in a flexible rubber magnet material sold by McMaster Carr. See picture. It works great to capture and also control chips...