moving sand

[TomG]

Mark: Thanks for the side-plate source. I was just passing along a comment, probably from you, that I recalled.

Let me sharpen up my notion of gauge wheels. You mention them on a rake. I imagine them as adjustable height wheels that hold a blade off the ground. Unlike skids, wheels wouldn't dig into soft surfaces. Such a thing sounds really useful on a box scrapper for spreading, after humps and dips are taken out. It also sounds useful on a blade for snow plowing on gravel before freeze-up.

Yes, box scrappers seem like the 'pliers' of implements. They can do a whole bunch of things, but none of them as well as the specialized tool. I used mine to make a shallow excavation for our raised leeching pit. I'm sure it was easier than using the loader. Besides, I get tired of shifting from go to back. Sometimes, even I wish for HST.

I found you get real interesting results digging with loaders. For example, when the front wheels go into the excavation. Another one was having a full bucket and getting the front wheels 'crabbed' while trying to maneuver in the hole. Wheels wouldn't straighten out. Took awhile to figure out I had to drop the bucket of dirt and lift the front with the bucket. No problem doing the excavation with a scrapper though.

 

[Billc]

Paul, have a suggestion on redoing your roof. First, you need a box blade!

Actually there is a way you may be able to redo your roof at minimal cost. I buy, fix up, and then either sell or rent the house. Two years ago I learned of a way to get a new roof and all it will cost is the insurance deductable.

I was working on a house that had a very bad roof. Called several roof men out for estimates. Two guys came out, quoted me a price, and left. The third guy who came out really new his stuff. He looked at the roof and said you've had hail damage here. "So what," I said, "this is Georgia, everybody's had hail damage at one time or another." He said I was right. He also told me that hail damage is something homeowner's insurance covers in most cases. I told him I had bought the house 1 month before and we had had no hail in that time. He said that wasn't a problem, if I contacted the person I had bought the house from, and if they had had homeowner's insurance, their insurance would pay for the new roof! Paul, you could have pushed me over with a feather. I contacted the person I had bought the house from and they had had homeowners insurance. I agreed to pay the deductable plus give the the old owner $100. She agreed. So I had a new roof put on the house for $600 which was much better than the $3000 I had been quoted.

Now, when I buy a house, I redo just about every roof using this method. I love it when the homeowner has a $100 deductable.

The key is to find out if there has been hail damage in your area. Call a bunch of roofers, because an insurance man won't tell you anything. A roofer can point out any hail damage easily.

I was pretty steamed at my insurance man. He knew what I did but never mentioned this to me. I replaced a lot of roofs before I found out about hail damage being covered under homeowner's.

Hope this helps.

 

[MChalkley]

TomG - Yes, you summed up the benefits of gauge wheels pretty well. They save a lot of time when doing fine grading, that's for sure.

Mark

 

[DaleW]

There is a good picture of a set of homemade gauge wheels for a york rake at http://www.his.com/~msimpson/tractor
Looks like a pretty easy job for anyone with a welder.
Dale