Good morning!!!!

[dave1949]

When you were there did you look at how you would change the spark plugs ??
I've got a 02 twin-turbo Legacy wagon (M) with 210k ks on it. Apart from regular maintenance the only problem was a bearing on the back of the gearbox went out. Still goes like a scalded cat but I don't change the plugs as often as I should.:thumbsup:

I didn't look that deep. :laughing:

The reviews for the OEM Yokohama Geolandar G91F tires aren't that great. They are All Season M+S rated but I wonder if I would be better off getting some real snow tires for the winter.

 

[RoyJackson]

2015-08-03,

58 right now...90 is the predicted high, then lower temperatures the rest of the week.

Dave

The reviews for the OEM Yokohama Geolandar G91F tires aren't that great. They are All Season M+S rated but I wonder if I would be better off getting some real snow tires for the winter.

I'd try it without snow tires for the first winter. Subys are really good in the snow...I don't think you'll need dedicated snow tires.

 

[Eric Salop]

Was just about to walk back home for breakfast when I looked towards the far hay meadow and had a nursery rhyme moment.

Little boy blue, come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn

6 ewes and one little lamb had made it around another fence that had been left high and almost dry by the receeding water level of the big pond. When they saw me coming, instead of running off, they looked at me with their best sheepish expression, then as I opened the gate, they voluntarily walked back 30 yards or so to file past me. I was truly amazed and dog just sat open mouthed in asthonisment at what he must have thought were my new found sheep staring skills.

I can't see them being so compliant a second time, so I got the nearest thing to hand to temporarily extend the fence line - an old canoe. No doubt they are now planning their next adventure and are looking for the paddles.

 

[daugen]

72 going up to mid 80s in showers, cooler day.

as far as a/c, I do think there is an issue with the upstairs insulation. It was 77 degrees up here in my office when I just came up here, second floor, when it's only in the low 70's outside. Heat isn't getting out of the attics. And I even replaced both attic ventilators when I got here.

Two hot water heaters, three a/c compressors, two refridg/freezers, one giant crawl space dehumidifier and a hot tub.
Yeah, not the most efficient arrangement for one guy....
this fall I'm going to have an insulation company come in and blow in more insulation. Windows and doors are all new so that part is done. The bill for the separate meter on the barn went up 50 bucks a month just running the a/c unit back there. Boy is that thing inefficient...bought a larger, higher SEER unit to replace it. And I'm going to turn it off unless I'm in there if I don't have an active project going. Need to conserve...am feeling really fuelish at the moment. I'd love to put in solar panels and I could probably hide them pretty well here. But the upfront cost is in the tens of thousands of dollars right? How am I going to recoup that in ten years? don't think I am...but a really good idea. And inverters are not going to run three 4-5 ton a/c units, i think...but might do the hot water heaters, something peripheral.

errands to run this morning and a new fairly large Echo 280 weedeater to pick up with a brush blade attached. Never used one of those before but looking forward to it, and not trying to do to my ankle what Dave did to his finger. (I sure hope you are doing better with that Dave) Main purpose is to clear woods brush out from the front of the property, and I guess I'll take it down to the rear side and clear out the other road frontage. Have about 3-400 feet of frontage on two different roads and it is a constant battle to keep the area cleaned out. I will not use herbicides so it was time to up my game with a little more hp. If I get back before it rains, I'll fire it up and see how it does.

My three month old Echo 260 weedeater has a frozen motor. Awful feeling the helper may have put straight gas into it, even though I have 50-1 premix there. But the smaller gas can had been moved, not the little one with the 2 cycle mix. so I'm wondering...time for a large magic marker to write the obvious on the fuel cans. Took it into the shop late last week; should hear today if it's fixable. I thought about shooting some penetrating oil down the plug hole but it's still under warranty so figured best to do nothing. Will be interesting to see how difficult Echo is on this; I mean why should they pay if I burn up my motor using straight gas?....the trick is proving anything. Will mention to the dealer that I now own three different Echo weedeaters and perhaps the factory could cut me some slack. or not

 

[ronjhall]

First cup of coffee has been poured. 67° with light rain this morning. Heading to 78° with partly cloudy skies. Big storm over night. Got some yard cleanup to do today.
Good Morning All.

 

[vtsnowedin]

2015-08-03,

58 right now...90 is the predicted high, then lower temperatures the rest of the week.

Dave

I'd try it without snow tires for the first winter. Subys are really good in the snow...I don't think you'll need dedicated snow tires.

But Roy you live on a paved state plowed road. My daughter living on top of my hill had studded hukapalitas put on her Subydo and was glad she did. It's all a matter of the conditions you drive in.

 

[Thomas]

58F now heading low 90's for high good chance of t-storms late afternoon.
Trimmer getting work out to bouncing on the rider mower helping Mrs. w/her projects helping friend weekend flew by,Monday back down to the valley for another work week.

Enjoy the day all.

 

[dave1949]

56F headed to 88F today.

We kept the Ford Sport Trac. With decent tread remaining on All Season tires and 4x4 it has not needed snow tires but it is a heavier vehicle too. We live on a 2-lane state paved road and being retired usually have the option to just wait until the roads get better following a storm.

Drew, you know in a home energy audit they film the exterior with an infrared camera, and sometimes while pressurizing the interior to locate leaks along with poorly insulated areas. With a ten-year time frame I don't think solar will work out for you but any efficiency improvements would be needed (make sense) for solar too. It's cheaper to insulate and seal than to buy solar panels and will add more to your comfort also. In a grid-tied system the inverter capacity is sized to handle just the solar generation, not the total household load. If you used solar, you would opt for the grid-tied system where the utility fills in what your solar system lacks in meeting the total load.

 

[wngsprd]

60, should hit 93 and no rain in sight.

Weeded and watered my newly planted Christmas trees yesterday - lost 5 of the 16. I'll replant those next winter and try again.

Poblano, jalapeno, and New Mexico peppers are looking good in the garden.

 

[bakerg]

Good morning all, thunderstorms over night brought an inch of rain, 66F now heading to 81F with a chance of more rain. Got son's shed together, got to go back and lad it to the concrete pad. It's a Civic holiday here in Canada, so I am working at double time today.:thumbsup:

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 69˚ now but when the sun appears it will zoom to the 100s. There has been no rain for a month.

All the hay fields have been in the county have been cut for the summer and that will be it unless we have another rain. There is only one oil well, about 15 miles from me, being Fracked-pretty slow for new wells since the price of crude dropped 50%. They are pumping water from a large stock pond - it's gone down about 5'. So far I have seen no objections in this county concerning Fracking. It's nice to see diesel ($2.31) cheaper than gasoline ($2.34).

 

[dave1949]

I wonder if the price of diesel vs gas will stay as it is? Diesel is within a couple cents of gas here now after being more expensive, sometimes much more, for the past ten years. I've heard various theories but have no idea.

 

[farmer2009]

65 this morning and headed to 95 today. Rain chances start tomorrow night or Wednesday morning. Managed to get the corn shucked and about half of it cut off. Green beans are broke and ready to be canned. I had the boy last night while my wife was trying to finish her classroom. School starts Wednesday. I try not to run the pressure canner with him here, so no pulling double duty canning and cutting.

Back to building today. Well only after I migrate two houses of birds. They're already a week old and need more space. Need to get purlins up and might start laying out the shed roof off the back. But do need to get lumber picked up anyways.

Dave glad to see that article. I use to raise those birds. Raised them for about 4 years. I started when only the females got that treatment. Then they added some male flocks. But when this complex stopped raising roasters we went to that as the minimum standard. All birds raised here meet those guidelines the ones I raise are a step up from them. Between them and full organic.

 

[newbury]

Drew - have you thought of getting your a/c unit zoned if it isn't? Some method to turn off air going to places like the guest bedroom or other places you rarely use.

 

[Larro Darro]

Good Morning. 0910, sunny, 83F with 85% humidity. Forecast high of 95F with 20% chance of rain today, and a low of 76F tonight. Looks like another hot one on the way. Little chance of a rain shower to cool it off.

I need to change the Woods RFM with the small bush hog on the B7500 and mow over at the old house. The grapes, pears and apple persimmon are really grown up, and will be getting ripe soon. I slept through the first half of the race last night, then was up til 0200 reading, so I may take a nap before I do anything though. Right now I'm having trouble getting motivated.

You guys have a good one,

Larro

 

[RedNeckGeek]

64F@ 7:00AM. Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 93F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.

Don, last week Diesel #2 was $2.99/gal with regular gas a dime more, each grade going up $.10 from there. Best price on Diesel I've seen so far as been $2.70, and gas was less at the time. It may be a slowing Chinese economy creating less demand for Diesel that leads to the current lower prices. But I'm sure it's just a matter of time before it goes up again, though with Iran soon to start exporting, that may take a while.

The Consumer Reports review of the new Ford F150 said it only got 17 MPG, same as the highway mileage of my F250 Diesel. They also suggested waiting for the 2016 model, as the entertainment system will be revised to be more user friendly. The iPod interface I put into my old truck works just fine, and it's easy to work any of the other buttons or knobs on the dash. And with a youthful 160K miles on it, I wonder why I'd want to "upgrade" to a smaller truck that doesn't work as well?

Got the center and side stands back on the K-bike yesterday, and even got the side stand retraction working again. It's a safety feature: Pull the clutch lever when the stand is down and it will retract to prevent a nasty surprise in the first left hander.

Also got the drips wet sanded off the mirrors and fairing, but went through to the white original paint in a couple of spots. A little air brush touch up took care of that, so I hope to get everything rubbed out today.

If you like spy movies, "Jack Ryan, Shadow Recruit" is a good 'un! But knowing what I do now, I'd pass on "Easy Rider: The Ride Back".

Have a great week everybody!

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Hey David/MFW, what's with the avatar? Did your Kioti take green steroids?
suppose it could be your ex's attorney...what big hands you have

Drew,

I changed the avatar to my favorite piece of logging equipment, the cutter, just because it is cool, and I was having logging done. I need to take a new pic of the Kioti doing something interesting and I will update it.

Hope all-o-y'all are well!
David

 

[rswyan]

77F @ 11:30 with sun and clouds ... calling for heavy thunderstorms possible, highest chances around 12:00 - 14:00, and then decreasing after that ...

Front came thru last night around 01:30 ... all wind ... no rain ... which was a good thing 'cause I didn't get anything moved back into the polebarn. Bad thing 'cause we could use the rain.

Got two "No Trespassing" signs put up on the trails yesterday ... been meaning to do that forever. Had a flash of inspiration when I had to move a couple of 1' long scrap SYP 2" x 12"s in the polebarn ... they made perfect mounts for the signs. Cut and added a pair of skids to the bottom of the post hole digger storage rack, so I can get under it with the pallet forks.

Got the compost pile turned with the FEL.

Then the woman and I finished raking and cleaning up the area that is in grass, just above/north of the polebarn. Hadn't been mowed yet this year ... and was covered with debris from last winter when I took down a couple of quaking aspens for firewood.

After that, I used the shrub bucket to dig up a big clump of pampas grass at the northwest corner of the garage and transplanted it to the upper field. Still have two oaks (one 7' and one 2') to dig up and transplant before I can start trenching for the downspout drain line. Will do that once the woman comes back with fuel.

Got around 7 or 8 oaks pruned yesterday for transplanting. Have a bunch of black locust I could transplant as well.

Bluebirds are working on their second round of offspring this year ... four eggs in the nest.

RNG,

Thanks for the insight on your paint prep process. Now that I've got the splitter moved out of the shop and have a little room, I've started to prep various pieces/parts for finishing ... no water up in the shed, so I have to ferry stuff down to the back of the house ... so I have a way to rinse it off after giving it the Dawn treatment. Been using some of the KleenStrip "safer" muriatic acid with a paint brush to remove rust and mill scale ... I'd use a pump sprayer to make it easier and get better coverage, but I'm not real keen on atomizing it into the air ... brushing it on is plenty bad enough.

 

[rswyan]

What's the status on your furnace saga?

LOL ...

Current status is: quo ...

Did you get it fixed or replaced?

Neither yet.

Right now, I'm just happy the A/C is working good ...

 

[sodamo]

72°F and still raining, 4.26 inches last 24 hours. Looks like another inside day as the is the leading weather for approaching hurricane Guillermo.

Be safe
Have a great day

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet