Good morning!!!!

[daugen]

my friend with the little Kubota is having a ball learning how to "do stuff"
with his tractor. A tractor which sat for a year with a snow plow on it and no snow came.
Time to put it to work.
You've seen this trailer before. This tractor was what it was bought for.

He put the box blade I gave him to good use helping a friend from church
put in a small gravel driveway for a storage shed. They had to rip through roots and stuff that
actually hung up securely enough to stop the tractor.
Snagged. I hoped he just backed up and went faster, he wasn't going to hurt
that Land Pride box blade.
am glad he is enjoying himself

this is a very small tractor but well equipped.
when you see tires that small on the front
tells me that front axle might not be so robust.
But I'm sure Kubota has sized it for expected weights.
It was really bought to push a snow plow/pusher for the business/company parking area.
and this is what I get to borrow.

one call and your tractor is delivered.
my guess is first adventure will be with a small phd for planting trees.
There is a bit of Johnny Appleseed in me perhaps.

I have a few spots in the back yard I'd like to add some privacy trees and a few where
I'd like to plant a few fruit trees. Maybe another Willow. First one is thriving.
I have watered once a week since new.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 66F @ 5:30AM. Plentiful sunshine. High 94F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Broken record for the next few days, then back down into the 80s by mid week.

Don't get me started on modern engines, Kyle. Can't do much besides change oil and filters, and hope they make it to 300K miles. If anything goes wrong it takes a special computer to diagnose, and even then the experts end up throwing parts at the problem only hoping they've guessed right. All at your expense after the first 50k miles/5 years. Then there's the electronics. I hope my car lasts a lot longer than my laptop, but how long will I be able to get the electronic parts that will fail with age and heat? Like your computer, the tech behind the electronics advances and they stop making replacements. You can try finding replacements at the junk yard, but they're old, too. So you junk, er recycle, the whole car. And spend the $30-$50k for a new one. Good thing money grows on a tree in the back yard, huh?

Been using one of the Oregon chain sharpeners, the one with the pivoting head. I set it up so the wheel barely touches the chain when the head hits the stops. Then flex it sideways just a tiny bit to sharpen. Hardly takes any metal off, and the teeth keep their temper.

A good sized flock of Canada geese just buzzed the house, very vocally, and low enough I could hear the wings beat through the air. Wish they'd slept in a bit longer, though. Now down the hill I can hear the low moaning of a pair of mountain lions out looking for their breakfast. Nothing but a screen door between them and me, but so far they've been very shy.

Got an early text from the contractor yesterday morning letting me know the stucco crew would be here in an hour. They got the scratch coat on the chimney chase, but not before they had to send a man back to town for stuff they'd forgotten. They left at 11:30, leaving no word on when they'd be back. So I'm up extra early to have the gate open for them, just in case.

I did get the tractor put back together. Dang, that axle and case must have weighed fifty pounds. Lifting it out of the trunk and then waddling over to the jacked up tractor was done very carefully, as was threading it over the studs on the other half of the gear case. Then the usual dance using the FEL to get the wheel studs at just the right height so I don't have to lift the wheel to get it on. Good thing, as the darn thing is so heavy I almost can't lift it. Reused the oil that came out of the gear case, straining it through a paper towel. More metal than I'd have liked in the towel.

While the oil was filtering, I pulled the leaking wheel off the side-by-side and found a cut near the sidewall that was leaking. I think I put a large patch on the inside of the tire a year or so ago, so apparently that has failed. Put a package of tire sealant in it, pumped it up, and laid the tire down so the cut was at a low point. Blue goo oozed out for a while, then stopped. Flipped the tire over and it started leaking again. Repeated that several times with the same result, so left it face down overnight, hoping for a miracle.

I think I may have found a RAM ProMaster with most of the options I want and very few that I don't. Only problem is it's 900 miles away in Idaho. I have yet to drive a ProMaster, so if I don't get hung up watching the stucco clowns, I might wander down to Yuba City take a test drive.

TGIF gang!

 

[Looking4new]

Good morning, the low temperature is 48 and the high to 70°F. Wind SW 10 to 15 mph. 90% chance of rain this afternoon.

The grass seed I spread yesterday will get watered in good. Rain starting at 3 P.M. and continuing through the night and tomorrow.
The rain will keep my tractor off the field for the next few days (I did get the compost pile turned), but I can pull stumps for the neighbour. They are right beside her driveway.

I had a 305HO motor that I put 202 heads on with headers and an accel super coil and dual point ignition and a Q-jet. All that coupled to a powerglide tranny with a 2.73 rear gears. I could light the tires with it. The points would float at 6500 rpm. That was my rev limiter. Pulled the modulator valve vacuum hose off the tranny and shifted it manually. According to the speedo, normally I would shift into drive at about 40-50 mph, but try and 'run' me and I would take it up to 75 mph before I shifted and never let off the gas. Keep it floored.
I had taken the carb off and cleaned up all the casting marks and shellacked the gaskets and set up the butterflies so when I went to wide open throttle the secondaries did NOT go over center.
She was a fun truck while it lasted. I would still have it today except that I bought this place (money pit) and one of my other money pits had to go.

Time to eat and get on with my day.

Have a safe day all

 

[pennwalk]

When I was a kid, 300k would have seemed like a miracle. My dad's cars were lucky to make 100k. You can get a great deal on cars over 150k now days. If they make it to 300k it is almost like free driving. And modern cars don't seem to rust as fast. Of course when I was in high school you could get a VW beetle for less then $2000. Times change.

Years ago my Uncle the doctor used to get a new Caddy every 2 years. That's one way to have a reliable car.

Chris

 

[jbrumberg]

Don- 80#’s harvested from 10#’s planted is a great return.

Mark- I hope that you and your Wife have safe travels and a relaxing time as anticipated.

Popgadget- I thank you as well for helping Drew out. Nice haul from Costco. I wish you safe flights.

David- Congratulations on your CL score. I found the electrician who will be servicing our solar panel system tomorrow morning through CL.

Randy- Thank you for providing the information on the magnetic field information.

Ron- Thanks for sharing another morning wakeup picture.

Drew- Good luck with the “fine tuning” of your trip itinerary.

Buppies- That is one healthy looking bear. Thanks for sharing. I leave the house feeder on a rock so our resident bear does not have to pull down another pole to get at it. So far the bear has not exhibited any interest in the oranges and hummingbird feeders.

Kilroy- Good luck with the gravel delivery and dealing with the big box store’s “logistical challenges.”

RNG- Good luck with the tire.

Yesterday turned out to be a really great day. After the supply run I made lunch for the Wife and myself and decided that I was "done" for the day with anything serious project-wise and just enjoy the "moment." And even better Wifey made dinner, a rarity due to her chronic severe arthritic pain and debilitating Depression. 3 years ago "something" happened to my Wife. Was the "mild" concussion she experienced falling in the Costa Rican jungle breaking her wrist really an intracranial slow bleed or was it a reaction to the Covid vaccine? No one knows, especially the Dr.'s. It has been a rough 3 years. Many of the frequent fliers here can relate to caring for a ailing/failing spouse. It is what it is and life moves on.

It was another smoke haze and high level clouds mixing with filtered sunlight with 35ºF as the morning's low temperature. The clouds have burned off and it appears that the the haze is thinning somewhat. I hope to see those clear skies the NWS keeps predicting this afternoon with a high temperature ~70ºF. Once the Wife wakes up I'll hopefully get the string trimmer running and start whacking vegetation.

I hope that everyone has a manageable day today.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning! Low was 48°, only 50° currently, and raining for the past 4 hours or so. There's 1/2" in the gauge---- WOOHOO!

Supposed to rain off /on all day. Not complaining at all, we definitely need the moisture. Plus, I can now see where the rain is flowing and I can adjust my 'gravel spreading' accordingly. Diverting rain water to where it can be beneficial to the trees is the goal....

Back in the day, the worst mileage vehicle I had, was a '70 Olds 442. Had the "455ci Rocket' engine. Powerful right off the lot, but I had to "tweak" it some more.....
After installing a high lift cam, high rise twin manifold, 2- Holly 650 double pump carbs, and headers ---- well let's say it was just plain scary off the line.....

I can't remember how many sets of rear tires I went through.... And only about 6-7 mpg if it was babied.

The best mileage vehicle that I had (for the time) was an '89 GMC Suburban. 350ci (5.7L) w/ a throttle body. Got 18-20 mpg. For a 1/2 ton truck loaded with all the goodies ---- not bad. Wish I still had it. A great all around vehicle.

Considering my 2019 Nissan Frontier p/u only gets 16-17 unloaded......why? Smaller engine (4.0L), half the weight, half the size.... still trying to figure that out....

But.... our Nissan Versa Note gets a consistent 40 mpg. A little 1.6L 4 cyl. w/ a 5 speed. I should have gone with the CVT trans.... they are getting about 43 mpg. Great errand runner / commuter vehicle. It's a 2014, haven't done a thing to it except change the oil and replace the wiper blades.....oh, and 2 sets of tires....

I have held off on the new truck shopping... Ram, Dodge, and Jeep will be getting a 3.0L, Twin turbo, straight 6. If it's anything like the 4.0L straight 6, it will be bullet proof! Going to wait and see how well it performs.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Just checked the gauge ---- went up to 3/4" in the last 45 minutes .....

Jay, sorry to hear that Peg is still having a difficult time. It's even more difficult to try and find an underlying cause. I think you are down the right path, possibly a minor TBI.

Drew, nice tractor to be able to borrow.... I can see you getting into trouble easily...."I tore up the backyard for a bigger garden"......

Check, glad you found the old floating dock. Maybe set a small "party barge" for the renters?.... could prove to be interesting.....

RNG, good to hear the tractor is back together. Hope the tire seals on the SxS. Sounds like another road trip may be coming up to look at the ProMaster. We had a couple of them converted into ambulances. They rode really nice, had decent power, and overall ergonomically comfortable.
BUT ---- they had the little Mercedes diesels in them.... which resulted in them being in the shop frequently for repairs.....

I'm now going to sit on the porch and listen to the rain....
Everyone have a great day!

 

[sodamo]

70°F and no rain. Passing showers forecast.

Pw top item on agenda, well except a run to PO. Sophie’s prescription eye drops supposed to be there today.

H&F Dinner at friends later this afternoon.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[daugen]

Ted, what a great idea. Thanks

 

[jbrumberg]

Ted- Thanks. I performed clinical psycho-diagnostic evaluations for most of my career and Peg's "stuff" is unfortunately unique. I am embarrassed to post that there were times that I did some "subtle" "testing" to determine if there is an underlying dementing process going on, but there really is not (to which I may be "blind"). She can watch a muted news mix channel most of the day and she knows what's going on in the world which unfortunately does not help her Depression. I am encouraged that she seems a little more active with the domestic duties. We have a 4 day stay at an oceanside B&B in York, ME that We really like and visit at least once a year.

My Stihl® KM 131R started right up and I string trimmed what I planned. I have all kinds of attachments for it. This PM I'll attach the blower and clear the deck of its accumulated Winter debris. It's really convenient/easy to swap attachments.

When the NWS/Boston-Norton Office blows a prediction they blow it well. The cloud deck continues to thicken and lower and the temperature remains at 60ºF which is comfortable for outdoor activity.