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Working on the second round stack of firewood. The first stack can be seen in the background covered by a brown tarp. We have used up the firewood from the front half of the first stack. I cut holes in a vent pipe for the center of the round stack. This pipe provides a conduit for air...

The same storm knocked down a tree at the edge of the front yard. Unfortunately, it was also leaning against another tree. After cutting the trunk near the stump at an angle, this tree didn't fall. What I didn't realize was that the tree was lying on the tall stump of a smaller tree that...

Yes, I did get the tree down. It required cutting the leaning tree trunk at an angle so the tree could slide freely off the stump. I don't think I would have figured it out without youtube.

Now that I can post pictures, continuing where I left off... I removed what limbs I safely could from the top of the leaning tree. I then tried to cut the trunk about 10 feet from the root ball thinking the tree would fall to the ground. Nothing doing. The angular force of the top of the...

I was able to upload one file tonight then no more. I have tried it from 2 different computers using IE9, Firefox, and Chrome. I noticed this same issue 3 days ago. I can attach previously uploaded files as seen below. Obed

Cleanup I cut off some of the top of the widow maker that was over the basement driveway. NOTE: I had to stop this post prematurely due to troubles uploading files.

Gutters My wife called 4 gutter guys about the repairs and only one returned her call. Sometimes we are just glad we can find anyone to do a job and can't be picky about who we get. One bonus to the gutter damage was that gutter was originally installed draining water the wrong direction away...

Storm Damage (cont'd) Many of the downed trees are leaning against other trees. These leaners are known as "widow makers" because of the dangerous unpredictable ways the trees often fall when they are cut. While it is difficult to assess the size of these trees from the pictures...

Storm Damage Two weeks ago, when returning home from a day excursion with the family, we noticed hints of a recent storm as we drove down the driveway. The farther we got, the worse things looked. There was a straight line path about 200 feet wide with the tallest trees blown over. The path...

The new push mower seems to work well enough. I tried mowing in regular side cut mode and mulch mode. When in mulch mode, I didn't like the noise the mower was making in the tall grass. So I switched back to regular side cut mode. I installed this safety feature on my mower. I was...

Hornets Nests These are the first two hornets nests I've had to remove from the house since we built it. One nest seemed abandoned. The other nest had an occupant. I waited for the occupant to leave and knocked the nest down with a telescopic pole. The occupant returned but it no longer...

My New Push Mower It is a Troybilt TB130 with a 160cc Honda engine. It is not self-propelled. I can push a non-self propelled faster than I can walk behind a more expensive, heavier, and harder to maneuver self-propelled model. So I greatly prefer a push mower over a self-propelled mower...

Last weekend I visited some people who had these carpenter bee traps hanging on their porch. They appear to work. The bees crawl in the holes. When they crawl into the plastic jar, they cannot find their way out of the jar. I need to get some of these.

Replacing the Drive Belt on the Kubota Mower In order to fix the issue I had getting my mower to drive up a hill two years ago, I replaced the drive belt, tension pulley spring, and fixed the tension pulley. Unfortunately, the mower is having trouble moving again. So I decided to try...

Here's half of the winter spinach harvest from the garden.

I bought this TroyBilt push mower from the Box store for $255 + tax. It has a Honda engine with a real oil cap. It also has a valve between the gas tank and the carburetor. I think I'll be able to close the valve and run the engine until all the gas in the carburetor is burned up. That...

By throttle control, I simply mean increasing or decreasing the speed at which the engine runs - just like I can do on my log splitter, my riding mower, and the push mower I borrowed from my FIL. The MTD push mower manual says a throttle control is an option. See the picture of the manual...

Today I went to Home Depot and bought a $180 + tax MTD Yard Machines 21" push mower. I didn't want a self-propelled mower; I have found that I can push a lightweight push mower much faster than any of the self-propelled models I have tried. I opened up the manual to familiarize myself with...

The above quote is from 2 years ago. Now my old Kubota lawnmower is broken again. I just can't figure out why a 20 year old lawn mower would keep breaking. The mower will barely move up a slight hill. I suppose the belt could need replacing. The tensioner pulley seems to be doing its job...

Recent Toys We bought a cordless Milwaukee drill and impact driver. I used the impact driver to fix a door hinge problem. The door to the master bath is a heavy 32" solid core door. It was installed using tiny screws that only secured the hinges to the soft 3/4" door frame. These short...

Can you see these?

Jim, I had the welder create a mount for a hitch ball just as you suggested. I'm really looking forward to pulling my 5x8 trailer around without having to take off the box blade.

As you guys may remember, last year I found a crack in my box blade when I removed the bent 3 point hitch pins. I bought a cheap HF welder but found out that I was probably never going to be a very good welder. My little welder isn't powerful enough to weld this thick steel anyway. So I...

It turns out she didn't totally fix it. Replacing the starter definitely helped. However, the batteries still aren't charging well. We had the auto parts store test the 2 batteries; one was bad so we replaced it. So this morning I decided to remove the alternator so my wife can take it to...

Shed Delivery My wife laid down some boards on the ground to mark where the shed should go. The shed mover has obviously done this a few times. The trailer has 8 wheels. Inside the normal dual axle wheels, there are 4 more wheels oriented 90 degrees from the normal for wheels. This second...

The task I had to do on Monday evening when I got into the wasp nest was to finish smoothing out the ground where the shed would go. That's why I was attaching the scraper blade to the tractor when I got stung.

Stung by a Wasp Yesterday evening, I got stung by a wasp while trying to attach the scraper blade to the 3PH. Wasps had build a nest inside the implement and I got stung on the back of my right hand through the glove I was wearing. I'm surprised it took the wasps as long as long as it did to...

Hillbilly Gate

Filled in the hole with some rocks left over from the yard grading. Here's the shed location without the maple tree. The maple was the biggest tree, by far, that I've taken down with my little backhoe. However, the tree came down without a hitch. This task was quite satisfying.

Digging the first trench on the side of the tree where I wanted the tree to fall. Setting a safety cable before digging on the backside of the tree. Digging the second trench on the back side of the tree. Notice that the remaining uncut roots act as hinges to make sure the tree falls...

Garden Shed The rental house has a 10' x 15' metal shed on the lot. We are going to move that shed to our house near the garden. There was a 55 ft tall maple tree at the spot where the shed is going to be located so I had to take it down. I was a little nervous about taking down this large...

Raspberries from the Garden

The right brake on the tractor locked up on me. Investigation showed that a spring that releases the brake had broken. I needed to use the tractor and couldn't wait to order the part. So I used some rebar wire to reattach the spring to the brake linkage. It was a complete jury rig but it worked.

It is too bad the original photos failed to upload. Here's another attempt.

My wife's green bean plants started getting eaten. We suspect the groundhog. After 2 garden seasons without needing a fence, we reluctantly put up a chicken wire fence.

I'm not sure what happened to the picture in the original post. Here's the picture.

Saplings were growing on my septic drain field. I spent a day clearing them with my 14" Poulan chainsaw. My drain field is below the house in the woods. The excavator cut 3 paths through trees and installed the drain field. The saplings have had about 5 years to grow. This monster...

I used the angle grinder to sharpen the mower blades. That angle grinder certainly has been useful. Thanks for the suggestion guys!

Success! I ditched the impact wrench and bought a 15" breaker bar today. I wedged the mower deck between two trees. I attached the 30 mm socket and slipped a 4' steel pipe over the breaker bar handle. The bolts broke loose easy without any issues. The bolts really weren't that rusty...

Today I decided to sharpen my Kubuta mower blades. I didn't have a wrench big enough for the bolt head so I used a pipe wrench. I couldn't break loose the bolt. I even banged on the wrench handle with a hammer to no effect. So I got out my torch. I'd heard you could break bolts loose...

Groundhog??? I just saw this animal in our front yard. I'm guessing it is a groundhog. Obed

Mad:mad: I found this today at our property border in the back. The house closest to this pile was apparantly foreclosed on last May. The house is empty. This pile of trash happened sometime this winter. I'm likely going to have to haul off this pile or it might grow. There goes a Saturday...

drajj5, yes after spending years in a camper, I think we appreciate lots of simple things that we would have otherwise never noticed. For example, when temps got down in the single digits a couple weeks ago, we could still use the toilet in the house. That wasn't possible in the camper. Now I...

We finally have shelves in the master closet! They are not completely finished. The trim pieces that will cover the edges of the plywood for the long shelves and uprights have not be installed. We also will build some more shelves along the wall opposite from the door between to shelves...

Bill, We have 30 acres of woods, mostly mature hardwoods. I am still cutting firewood from a pile of logs resulting from clearing the lot for our house and garden. I would guess I have 2 winters worth of potential firewood left in the pile. I doubt I will ever have to cut down a tree for...

Scooter78, We did the same. We picked the location of the fireplace and designed the house plan around it. We had our fireplace choices down to two models/manufucturers, then designed the house so that either of the two models would work. Our fireplace is located close to the center of the...

We got some snow yesterday. I had to park my car at the bottom of the street after work. I could not make it up the hill. I should have driven our Subaru to work but I didn't. I worked from home today. The temps at night are in the low teens. It certainly is nice being in a house and...

It has been a cold winter. We burned all the firewood I had stored in the pallet crates. We've started burning wood from the round stack. On the weekends, I've been filling a couple pallet crates with firewood from the round stack and moving them closer to the house. Once a day we fill up...

At the end of December I was finally able to mow the leaves off our lawn. This method sure beats a rake.

After Christmas I finally got the leaves off the yard at the rental house. For the previousmonth, every weekend was too wet for raking leaves. I had to rake the front yard by hand which took most of a day. I raked the leaves onto a tarp and dragged them to a pile in the back yard. The...

Colonel Monk, I've been fine tuning my firewood cutting/moving process. Forks on the bucket are indespensible. I put chicken wire around some pallets and can easily move cut and split firewood around. For moving logs, I cut them up about 8 feet long and carry them on the forks. No dirt on...

O Happy Day! We moved into the house 3 years ago this month. My wife has been able to park her car in the garage since day one. The other side of the garage has been filled with lumber left over from building the back porch and deck. So for 3 winters I have been scraping my car windows in the...

After cleaning the gutters on the rental house, I was able to start cleaning the gutters on our residence in the woods. I really do love the ladder levelers (bottom of ladder) and the ladder stabilizer (top of ladder). I still have more gutters on our house left to clean out.

I cleaned out the gutters on the rental house. The rental house has gutter guards. While the guards did keep most, but not all, of the leaves out of the gutters, the gutters still needed cleaning. One side effect of the gutter gards is they caused leaves to settle on the roof. By the...

Reinstalling the Shower in the Rental House If you recall, I had to replace the shower pan; the one in the shower when we bought the house was cracked. We were able to find a shower pan that was the same size as the shower sides. The shower is a cheap mobile home shower insert. I spent a lot...

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Our master closet has not been finished. It has no shelves or clothes hanging rods. My wife hung some new plywood shelves in the basement in order to put polyurethane on them.

I replaced a sink drain in the rental house. Plumbing is definitely not my gifting. On my first attempt, I did not use any plumber's putty which resulted in a leaking sink. I got it right the second time using copious amounts of putty. I still haven't finished fixing the shower so the...

I came home today and found that my wife was burning firewood in the fireplace. It's only November. She must think the stuff grows on trees !

Dave, I didn't know about those. Thanks for the idea. It's a little pricey but sounds like it would do the trick. Installation sounds easier than my quickcrete idea.

3 1/2 years ago, I replaced the tractor battery. You can see the pictures and hear me complain here. Yesterday, the battery was dead again. I put a battery charger on it last night overnight but the battery would not charge. So today I tried to loosen the bolts that hold down the battery...

The replacement shower pan is a little taller than the original. I had to shorten the shower walls to compensate. The Dremel worked great as a cutting tool.

I observed that rain runs from the concrete parking pad into the carport. As a result, the bottom of one of the wood carport walls gets wet when it rains. I need to divert the water. Does anybody have any suggestions?

I screwed some pressure treated 2x4s to the concrete block walls using tapcon screws. The original shower framing was not attached to the concrete; it just had some 2x4s resting against the concrete but not attached.

The framing around the rental house's basement shower was not very good. I debated whether or not to reframe it. I really went back and forth. However, end the end I just couldn't leave the framing like it was. I removed most of the framing and started from scratch. The framing under the...

The next door neighbor to the rental house is a plumber and seems to be a really good chap. I paid him to install a pressure reducer and put in a new cut-off valve where the city water enters the house. The house had no pressure reducer and was exposed to whatever pressure was at the street...

The original framing for this shower insert was a real hack job. Many of the 2x4s were just screwed to the plywood on one end but there was nothing attaching the other end of the 2x4s to the contrete wall. The farthest ends of the plywood were just hanging in mid-air without anything attaching...

This shower has been quite a job. The shower is a cheap plastic insert that was placed inside an existing concrete block walled shower in the basement. The shower pan was cracked so I had to remove the entire shower. When I removed the shower faucet handles and parts, I didn't realize I...

We bought a rental house. That's been keeping me busy. The house is less than 2 miles from our property.

For a while, I've been having trouble putting my tractor in reverse. The JD has hydrostatic transmission. When I would push down the reverse pedal, the tractor would move in reverse just fine. However, the pedal would "stick" in the down position. I would have to actually pull the pedal up...

I had more pine logs to dispose of. This time I decided to skip the "skidding" step. So I cut up the next pine log into 5' sections at the log pile and rolled the pieces down the steep path in the woods beside the log pile. This is the same path where I got my tractor stuck a couple years ago...

I have arrived at a section in the log pile that has a lot more pine logs than I thought. I wish I had told the excavator to burn all the pine logs and only stack the oak logs. But alas I didn't. I decided to hook up the chain to some pine logs and drag them off to debris dump I have created...

My log pile got overgrown this summer. It didn't take long to clean it out with my Stihl. I was extremely fortunate. While cleaning out the briars and saplings, I got a little careless while moving around in the mess with my chainsaw. After I had cut a sapling, I started walking while...

We bought a new stone for sharpening kitchen knives. My wife likes them sharp. If you look closely, you can see she is dripping water on the stone while she sharpens the knife.

I added some shingles to the round firewood stack.

My wife picked up some leaf mulch that is free from a county that is adjacent to our county. At certain times of the day, they will load your truck for you with a loader. Here's our original pile of leaf mulch before we added to it. I pushed the original pile back to make room for the...

We put up the Scarecrow deer detractors at the garden again this year. They have done the trick. It is great not having to fence the garden. Here in the woods we see lots of deer close to the house.

I knocked down wasp nests and mud-dobber nests. The pesky mud-dobbers keep coming back. I'll knock down a nest and they build it back the very next day as large as the one I just knocked down. I also found the beginnings of a hornet's nest in the walk-in attic. It was left over from last...

It was impossible to mow that tight corner at the porch and the retaining wall with the lawn mower. So we added some leaf mulch behind the back porch. My objective is to not have to get off my backside when I mow.

While we were sitting at the table eating breakfast, it was raining heavily outside and we noticed water pouring over one of the gutters. That surprised me because I had cleaned out all the gutters last fall after all the leaves had fallen. I particularly did not like the location the water...

I decided to finally try my hand at welding on the hitch receiver tube onto the grader blade. I cleaned off the spot for the receiver tube. I made a pitiful tack weld. I then made a test weld to prove I could get some penetration. I tried my first attempt to weld the receiver tube...

My wife has been using lots of the leaf compost in the garden. The leaf compost is a great help for minimizing the weeds between the rows and plants.

One of the local counties has a place where you can pick up leaf mulch. My wife went and got a pickup load. I unloaded them. We are using the leaf mulch in beds around the house.

I made some more practice welds using my 1/4" thick pieces. Here's the first one. Second one. Third. Fourth Cutting off the practice welds wore out a cutting wheel. Fifth Sixth My last one looked really good to me. I probably should have done some more to try to burn...

I moved my welding classroom to the basement back porch. My wife didn't like the smells my welding and grinding created in the basement. Also, I was making loud noise under my daughter's bedroom which meant I couldn't practice welding while she was sleeping (naps and evenings). More...

The dehumidifier in the basement stopped working about a month ago. It runs all the time but doesn't remove any water. It came with a 1 year warrantee. It broke 13 months after we bought it. Yesterday I called the manufacturer and they told me to send it back to them. They provided a return...

Dave, I have to say THANKS for suggesting the angle grinder. I didn't know anything about them until you suggested it. I wish I would have had one a long time ago. Last night I sharpened my maul with the angle grinder. Obed

I'm enjoying how green things are with all the rain we've had this spring. I really like this view. The garden area can be seen in the background. Last fall we poisoned and reseeded much of the lawn that had weeds in it that we suspect came from the straw we used when we first planted...

My wife has planted her garden. She decided to "cut back" on her garden this summer season. So she only planted okra, squash, green beens, butter peas, tomatos, bell peppers, watermelon, cantelope, and a few other things I can't remember. So much for "cutting back"... she just couldn't help...

I bucked up a little firewood yesterday. The weather turned out glorious although there was some light rain a couple times earlier in the day. I got to use a Northern Tools $5 stump vice for the first time when I sharpened the chain. I have several pine logs at the front of my log pile...

We picture framed our deck. It added a lot of time to the installation but does hide the exposed ends of the composite decking.

I've been wanting an illuminated light switch for our basement stairs for a while. I finally got around to buying one and installing it. Now there's no more groping around the insulation in the dark while trying to find the light switch. Installing this switch is an example of where it can...

The kitchen sink drain was leaking a tiny bit. I removed a plastic gasket and cleaned some gunk off of it. I reconnected the plastic drain pipe to the sink and snugged the nut hand tight. That seems to have fixed the leak --- for now.

My technique was improving and I it appeared that I had found a good wire speed setting. So I cleaned off all the welds and tried again. This one was the best attempt of the day. Here's the side view. The cooling of the weld pulled the T-joint slightly off of 90 degrees. This behavior is...

The wire speed I was using was 3 out of 9.5 which seemed to be working. Next, I ground off the bad part of the weld but left last inch on the right. Then I filled in the part I had ground off. Here's my next attempt.

I've really been struggling with being able to see what I'm doing while I'm welding. I decided to shine a work light on my work area and see if it helped. I ground off the old weld and tried again with more light on the subject. Actually, the last inch on the right of this bead looked...

I tried welding several "T" joints today. My first attempt wasn't so great. I laid another bead beside the first one. Not great either. I laid several beads on top of the other beads while experimenting with wire speeds and my technique. Pretty ugly - at least that's what my wife...

I was able to get good penetration with my practice beads on the 1/4" thick metal as you can see below. Ignore the first bead on the left. It was made with the highest wire feed speed setting. However, I am struggling with penetration on my tack welds.

Pete, Your black metal deck rails look great and should not obstruct the view too much. Are you going to put cap rails on the top of the porch rails? They are very useful for providing a place upon which to set drinks or plates (depending on the width of the rail). Plus, the cap rails help...

If you recall, I tried to tack weld two 1/4" thick pieces of steel together without success. My welds were not penetrating the metal. My flux core welder was set to High current with the wire feed on the fastest setting. So last night I practiced laying some beads on the 1/4" thick metal...

Here's a picture of our chimney and chimney cap. If your chimney cap needs to be that high, I would for certain make the contractor raise the height of the chimney the reach the chimney cap. You would need to do that before they start putting the siding on the chimney. Your chimney looks a...

Here's the winter spinach crop. My wife cut it up, filled up some ziplock freezer bags, and put them in the freezer.

I bucked up a dead red oad tree that fell over. I got some poplar from the log stack. This guy was sunning himself on a log. I started working on the "roof" for the round stack. I split some pieces into "shingles" and started positioning them around the top of the stack. I...

We added a grab bar in the shower for my mom.

Miserable Welds Last night I tried to do a "T" weld using 1/4" thick scrap metal. Using the angle grinder and the drill cup brush, I cleaned off the areas I would be welding. I took a piece of angle iron and set it upright on a flat piece. I set the welder on high current and the fastest...

It's carpenter bee time again. They are trying to eat our porch and deck again. I got out my carpenter bee racquet and have killed a couple. The racquet will stay on the porch all spring.

Pete, I've read the facia comments on this thread and to tell you the truth couldn't follow much of the details people posted without accompanying pictures. Here are some pictures of our facia. We do not have drip edges. We built and moved into our house 2+ years ago. I am happy with the job...

I found this piece of 1/4" angle iron at the scrap yard when I went back to find some heavier metal on which to practice my welding. It's about the size of a brick lentel. However, I keep picking up practice scraps and then thinking of some real use for them which makes it difficult to then...

I mowed the yard for the first time this season. The mower performed extremely well with the new belt and tension spring. It's nice to not get behind on mowing the yard like I did last year when my mower didn't work at the beginning of the season. Here's what the first mowing looked like...

Tonight I made my first attempt at welding something together. I cleaned off some of my scrap, then cut a piece off of the end. I made a couple tack welds to help keep the pieces together while welding, then laid a bead along the top. I reoriented the metal and welded the first side...

So what do I need to heat up the flange so I can beat it straight? That flange is 1/2" thick. Thanks, Obed

Alright, I got to practice laying some welding beads today with my flux core welder! I used the box blade as my welding table which worked out great. Thanks for the tip Dave. I cleaned off my piece of scrap metal with the angle grinder. I also cleaned off a spot for the welder ground...

I put the new belt and pulley arm spring on the mower. It now goes up a hill just fine! I suspect the mower would have been fixed without the new belt and spring. The big problem was that the pulley arm would not swing on the pin before I cleaned greased it. Thanks for your suggestions...

I measured the box blade draft link pin holes. It turns out that the holes take regular 7/8" dia. Category 1 pins. However, the pins wobbled around in the holes and wore the steel so the holes are now a little bigger than 7/8". The hole is bigger on one side of the plate than it is on the...

When I my welder and accessories arrived, I decided to try out the new angle grinder and remove the 3PH pins on the box blade. It took some trial and error but I was able to eventually cut off the first draft link pin. I started by trying to cut through the nut but failed miserably. I...

Welder and Accessories Arrive!

I used my Dremel with a lawnmower sharpening attachment to sharpen (sort of) my lawnmower blades. The Dremel is really undersized for the task. The blades did end up kind-of sharp with some spots obviously still needing attention. Some guys have mentioned sharpening the blades with their...

I worked on my lawn mower yesterday. My 3 year old girl told me that if I had any trouble fixing the lawn tractor that she would help me fix it. If you recall, the the lawn mower slows way down when going up a hill. In fact, if I push the HST pedal all the way forward, the mower will come...

More turkeys visited the back yard yesterday. If you look carefully, you can see that one of the turkeys is white, an albino. Here you can see a male strutting his stuff.

I laid out more pallets for my second round firewood stack.

I installed second bathroom fan timer, this time in the master bath.

I asked him how much it would cost if I carried the implements to him. He said $180. That would include the cost of all the supplies (receiver tube, metal, etc.) with the exception that I would provide the replacement link pins for the box blade. I don't have a good reference regarding...

Yay! I finally found a Cat 2 to Cat 1 pin for my box blade! I was about to give up. Tomorrow I will verify the thread diameter that I need is 1 1/8" then order a pair of pins. Learning that I can cut off the nut with an angle grinder has opened up my world. I can't tell you the times I've...

The round firewood stack gets taller. I figured out that the log splitter isn't very easy to pull when I forget to move from the vertical position to the horizontal position.

I gave my nephew my old 20" Poulan chainsaw. I hand sharpened it before giving it to him. I still have a 14" Poulan in addition to my new 20" Stihl. So I still have a backup saw if I need it. I'll be curious to see how the 14" Poulan cuts after I sharpen it. My wife has been asking to use...

I would also like to fix the 3PH pins on the box blade. One of them is in particularly bad shape; it is loose and is bent. I am talking to the welder to see if he might replace them. I doubt I can get the nut off. Also, it looks like the hole the pin fits through is too large.

Hitch Question I talked to a welder today who said he could weld a hitch receiver onto my box blade. I have been dreaming about getting this done for a couple years. With a hitch receiver on the box blade, I could pull my 5x8 trailer with my tractor without having to remove the box blade. I...

Here I am on the front porch enjoying a warm spring day last week. In the picture, I'm posting to this thread using my laptop with wireless access. I'm still waiting to get some use out of our back porch we finished just as the weather turned cold last fall.

We had a flock of wild turkeys, about a dozen, visit us several times the past week.

Pete, Here are some pictures of our under cabinent lights. They are just simple flourescent lights. The fixtures have two brightness settings. We keep ours on the soft light setting. For our needs, LED lights wouldn't have worked and looked any better than the less expensive flourescent...

After sharpening my chainsaw, I bucked some more logs. I removed some red clay the excavator had dumped on the log pile when he put some logs on the pile. I used the tractor to maneuver some logs as I cut them up. I finally was able to get to a stump that was buried in the pile. The...

Yes, the hurricane straps will protect your roof from more than just hurricanes and tornadoes. I saw several roofs blown off by a "microburst". I microburst is basically an anomoly caused in a thunderstorm and can happen just about anywhere. Microburst - Wikipedia A microburst is a very...

This weekend the weather has been terrific with temps close to 70 F. I'm currently relaxing on the front porch with my laptop. The front porch tends to be a little warmer than the back porch. The southern sun hits the front porch in the winter. The back porch on the north side of the house...

Here's what a Phoebe looks like. Last year we had a phoebe nest on one of our downspouts under an eave. I have debated about destroying the nest if they try to reuse it. If they do eat insects, that would be a bonus. However, I don't want them making a mess in the garage. Obed

I sharpened my chainsaw on a saw-horse in the basement. I jury rigged a couple of pieces of wood to place in the portable vice so the protrusion jutting out of the vice would not interfere with the chain. The chain got in fairly bad sharpening shape the last time I used it. I was...

We got a new rebuilt alternator for the F-350 to replace the broken one. The broken one from Advanced Auto had a lifetime warrantee so they replaced it for free. I replaced the serpantine belt with a new one while I was at it. The key phrase is "serpant". The belt snakes around 9 pulleys...

Birds in the Garage We have some pheobees wanting to nest in our garage. They tried to do the same thing last spring. If we leave the garage doors open, the birds come in. This one spent the night in our garage.

Pete, I concur that having the fridge tucked up right against the wall is something your mom won't like the first time she opens the fridge door. A friend of mine's fridge does the same thing in the house he built. You can't even open his fridge door 90 degrees because the hinge side of the...

Pete, We built our deck using Trex. We really like it. We just finished the deck this past fall so I can't yet speak to the mold issue. Trex is expensive. We were considering the cable railing like you are considering. That stuff is expensive. We wanted something that would not obstruct...

I got to work on my round wood stack today. I am certainly liking using the splitter in the vertical position. The key is sitting on something while splitting. I split wood most of the day today. My back would have been worn out if I had been bending over the splitter in the horizontal...

Look at how the cables run to the electrical panels in our basement. See how the cables pull away from the wall toward the top? These are all the homeruns for the entire house. Image trying to finish that room with sheetrock. A young unsupervised electrical worker cut the cables too short...

I just installed a timer for the hall bathroom vent. I got the idea from my BIL. Using a timer will run the fan run a few minutes after you leave the bathroom to give the vent time to remove any remaining oders. We paid $18 for this mechanical spring timer. The main reason we chose this...

Here's my mouse trap. It works very well. I plan to put it outside near the pickup truck tomorrow when temps get above freezing. I may alternate putting by the pickup truck and by the tractor. There is probably no limit to the numbers of mice running around in these woods.

My mother has moved in with us due to some health issues. She has been here for about a month. She has trouble getting out of normal height chairs so I made a platform out of some scraps in order to raise her recliner 4 inches.

The alternator on our 1995 F350 has not been working correctly. If I haven't driven the truck recently, I have to put a battery charger on the battery. When I start the truck and leave it on idle, the voltmeter in the dash shows less than 12V. After I start driving the truck I can watch the...

Pete, Have you thought about how the gravel under the garage slab will be compacted to prevent significant settling? Of particular note is the depth of the gravel at the area where the garage meets the house? I had this same issue at my house. We did not do it correctly and I may pay for it...

I started working on splitting wood that we bucked up last week. The plastic pipe in the middle of the round stack is supposed to help get air moving in the middle of the stack. Supposedly it acts like a chimney to move warm air up through the middle as the pile dries. Today I started...

A friend offered to help me cut some firewood. Yesterday was a beautiful day so we had a fine time with our chainsaws cutting wood from the log pile. Two people working together cutting firewood gets more done than two people working separately. While my saw was sharp, I could keep my...

pclausen, I'm enjoying the thread. I'm amazed that you are able to haul such large loads of logs with your trailer and truck. My 12 ton trailer has a 22' bed. I wish I had bought a shorter trailer, maybe 18', maybe even 16'. Mine is just too hard to maneauver. Unlike yours, my trailer is...

I filled up a wheelbarrow with firewood and moved it into the garage. Removing the plastic off the wood adds a little inconvenience to the process of filling the wheelbarrow each time. I'd like to find some scrap pieces of OSB to cover the pallet crates out of which I'm getting wood for...

Snow today.

I ran a couple Cat 5 network wires from the office to other rooms in the house, one to the LR and one to the guest bedroom. Wireless network connections are slower and less reliable than hard-wired connections. I eventually want to put a patch panel in the hall closet and run all the network...

Bob, At some point I want to replace the PVC pipes and valves near the filter with all copper. When I get around to that task, I may add a 2nd filter. Obed

Well Issues We have been getting some "sand" like debris in our well water filter that is located in the basement. In the past, we have seen the filter clog if we watered the garden too much. However, this past week and a half, we have had to flush the filter 3 or 4 times. We haven't been...

Rick, I was wondering how you fared with the ice. You didn't mention anything in your "Log House Project begins" thread. We were iced in Friday. I didn't attempt to go anywhere. I worked from home that day. A couple years ago I left my neighborhood with ice on the roads and ended up in...

Ice Storm

I may have enough wood cut and split to finish this season. I am now working on next season's wood. I am going to create a round stack called a holz hausen. Here's an example of a picture I found on the internet. I pulled my trailer of bucked logs and log splitter to the round stack...

Dave, That is something I hadn't considered. I could slide thin pieces of wood between the jaws of the vice and the bar to keep the protrusions on the vice from getting in the way. It would be even better if I could permanently attach the wood to the vice jaws. Maybe I could glue the wood to...

After I filled up the trailer with bucked wood and the saw ran out of gas, I tried my hand for the first time at sharpening a chain. I clamped a portable vice to the trailer railing then clamped the bar of the chain in the vice. Unfortunately, the vice has a protrusion that interfered with the...

My wife harvested some broccoli yesterday.

I had a feeling that a good chainsaw would cut much better than my cheap saw. However, I didn't have any idea HOW much better. This saw makes my old saw seem like a toy. In no time flat, I had that first log cut up and was rolling another log into position. Here's my happy pose. My...

I tried out my new chainsaw today. WOW! Cutting through the oak logs is easily 3 times faster than using my old chainsaw. It almost feels like cheating. Rick said a Stihl would put a smile on my face. He was definitely on the mark. I'm still smiling. I'm sporting a new set of hearing...

Snow in Tennessee

Turkeys 24 turkeys showed up on our property yesterday while it snowed.

Tom, These temps are ideal for concrete. As close to freezing as possible but without freezing lets the concrete dry slowly which results in strong concrete. I know you are glad to see some progress. We framed our house during the winter, something I said I would not do. However, you do...

Dave, I'll have to see if I can find a source for bar oil. $6/gal sounds a lot better than $13. Today I'm going to watch some YouTube videos to help get me started learning to sharpen a saw. When I bought the Stihl sharpening kit, I asked if the kit had instructions and I was told "Yes". Have...

New Chainsaw! Today I finally bought a new chainsaw. This morning I looked up the Stihl dealers in the area. I chose 2 that were each about 7 miles from here but located in opposite directions. I first went to the store that is on my way to work and would be the most convenient store for...

Our fireplace has a baffle at the top of it. Before I cleaned the chimney, the baffle had 2" of creosote sitting on it that had fallen down the chimney onto the baffel from regular use. We will have to keep an eye on the baffle and periodically clean it off. So the amount of creosote actually...

We have noticed in the last couple of weeks that the fireplace hasn't been drafting well. Opening the fireplace doors to add wood tended to let a lot of smoke into the living room. On Friday the fire was almost out when I returned home in the evening. I decided to let the coals burn out so I...

I was having trouble keeping the chain tension set correctly. I noticed the chain would somehow get to tight on the bar and cause the saw to stall. When I took off the chain cover and cleaned off all the sawdust, I noticed that there was nothing keeping the chain tensioning bolt from pulling...

More Firewood Cutting When cutting the logs on the ground, I orient myself in a full squat. I have found this position to be easiest on my back. Bending over with the chainsaw tires out my back quickly. Squatting is also good exercise for my legs. The cant hook helped me to roll a stump...

Outside: cold and wet Inside: warm, dry, and happy!

We needed to replace a burned out can light bulb over the fireplace. 60W bulbs are much less expensive than lower wattage bulbs (45W, 30W, etc.). However, two 60W bulbs are too bright for the fireplace. In consequence, my wife decided to buy the cheaper 60W bulbs and replace the standard...

Here's the last summer produce from the garden. My wife picked them around Thanksgiving. She turned them into stuffed peppers. We ate some and she froze the rest.

The hydrostatic transmission on my lawn mower didn't sound right so I had to rake leaves by hand at the entrance to our property. I had sworn I would not rake leaves by hand ever again but I did not keep my promise to myself. Yesterday I added some oil to the lawn mower's transmission and...

The temps got down to the mid-20s. In the morning we noticed that our water pressure in the house was low. When we went down to the basement utility room to check things out, we could hear water flowing through the pipes. I went out to the garden and found that our scarecrow sprinkler we use...

We had 5 turkeys in our back yard. Somehow they survived Thanksgiving.

Now that I have my ladder set up, the only part of cleaning the gutters that really made me nervous was cleaning the gutters on the sides of the large dormer in the back of the house. I had to climb down the step 8/12 pitch roof to get to the gutter. I suppose I could put gutter gards on the...

It's gutter cleaning time again. Shortly after climbing up to the top the fully extended ladder, I felt something. I looked down and saw that my little girl was starting to climb up the ladder. We quickly rectified that situation. I got to try out my new ladder levelers. I LOVE THEM...

We visited my dad's farm and took our little girl out to see the cows. The bull came up to say hi.

On Thanksgiving Day, we went to my dad's farm. My wife saw my grandad's large farm bell sitting on a stump. I asked my Dad if I could have it and he gave it to me. I'm like a kid on Christmas! It is soooo cool to be able to have a such a momento that is a link to my ancestry. My...

My wife is tending her cool-weather vegetables: cabbage, spinach, brocoli, turnips, and turnip greens. An adjacent county has free leaf mulch. If you bring your truck or trailer, they will load the vehicle for you. My wife got 3 truck loads and put them on the garden.

I recently got to grill my first steaks on our deck using our "new" $25 grill. I'm looking forward to the springtime.

Yes, this morning I built a hot fire. I haven't been doing it every day because it gets the house too hot unless things are fairly cold outside. It got down to the mid-20's last night. Obed

To pour out gas, first remove the small red cap. Then, in order to allow gas to come out of the spout, you have to pull the red outer sleeve toward the gas can to open the nozzle and let gas flow out. Part of the problem is there is not a separate air vent on the can so you can't control how...

I started putting firewood on the area I have designated for my round stack. I put down nine 3'x4' pallets on the ground. I will actually end up with a "oval" stack.

Here are the gardenias we planted, actually - that my wife planted. I just did some of the grunt work.

When hauling off the red clay, I forgot about the septic tank and drove over it about 3 times. Yikes! I hope I didn't damage it.

The TBN safety inspectors gave me a hard time here when I cleaned my gutters last year. I recently ordered these ladder levelers Louisville Ladder LP-2300-00 Ladder Leveler for $59.00. They got very good reviews on Amazon. Some of the levellers only extended 8" which probably wouldn't be...

It's kind of sad. After we finished building the back porch, I was determined to spend some time on it. The combination of cool temps and a stiff breeze caused me to dress for the occasion. Underneath my coat, in the picture I am wearing a full-body snowmobile suit. I was quite comfortable...

Here's how I cleaned my gutters last year. The TBN safety inspectors gave me a hard time here. After reading your thread and knowing it is gutter cleaning time again, I just order these ladder levelers Louisville Ladder LP-2300-00 Ladder Leveler for $59.00. They got very good reviews on...

Bob, I know you are excited. Congrats. We built and moved into our final (hopefully) home a year and a half ago. After living in a camper for over a decade, it was really nice to finally feel settled. But it has been 3 years of lots of hard work. We are finally at a point where things are...

No rake needed!

Please let me apologize up front because I'm going to be a little hard on you but with good intentions. If your budget is such that you could never save up $35K - 40K and pay cash, then I would have to say that a $40K paved driveway would be unwise in your circumstances. If you have the money...

I suspect you are going to like that splitter. I went with a gas powered splitter so I don't have to disconnect whatever 3PH attachment happens to be on my tractor at the time I want to split wood. However, I do see the advantages of a 3PH splitter - faster cycle time, powerful, no gas engine...

Here you can see what is under the steps. A year ago when we were grading the yard, we reinstalled a drain line for the roof gutters. The grading contractor had installed the drain line under the spot designated for my wife's herb garden. So I dug up the errant drain line. We installed...

We finally have the railing installed on the back porch/deck! Yay! Now we can start using it. I screwed the cap rails onto the top rail from underneath the way Stanley suggested. I like the fact that there are no nails or screws showing from the top. I took some pictures last night...

Last night we bought this stainless steel gas grill off of Craigslist for $20. It's in fairly good shape. All the igniters work. One of the 3 burners is starting to rust out but is still useable. A set of 3 new burners costs $13 online. One of the casters does not work. For under $50 we...

Here's the first railing panel without the cap rail installed at the top. We have blocks nailed to the posts below the bottom rail and top rails for support. We bought some 6d galvanized finishing nails for attaching the top and bottom 2x4 rails at the local hardward stores. These nails...

This picture shows one of the rods beside a smaller drill bit I used for creating the drain hole. Hopefully, the drain holes will prevent water from collecting in the holes that hold the bottom end of the rods. Here's a closeup of a hole in the bottom 2x4 that will support the rods. You can...