Coffee, June 15, 2013

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 4:53 am

Come right in, the coffee's hot & there's plenty of it. There's even tea for those in need of lighter fare. Breakfast? I'm thinking a good ol' calorie filled woodsman's special, something that will let us work all day before we think of eating again. How about a three egg ham omlet, homefries & toast with chokecherry jelly? Maybe a sausauge patty on the side. OK? OK!

We had the driveway sealed yesterday. It was fun trying to keep the cats & dogs off of it. So far, no black paws. Now I have to paint my white stripes again. I think I'm the only house with stripes, but without them idiots can come in with one car & frig up the entire drive. It's amazing though, since I painted two stripes people instinctively follow the unwritten rules.

I'm not sure what's on schedule for today.... I guess check the *new* John Deer over, see if it needs filters or anything. Or.... take a day off. That sounds better..... walk the dogs every hour, watch a bit of the US open, let my thumb heal. Yes.... I cleverly took a soft tipped hammer to my left thumb yesterday. It may have been a plastic tipped hammer, but it wasn't particularly soft as it drove my thumbnail through the skin. Yup, when you're stupid, you're stupid for a long time. ;)

Ohhhh.... maybe clean the AA. Get it ready for next October. Clean, vac, lube rollers. Yaaaaa maybe.

Hope you all have a smooth, productive weekend!


 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 5:52 am

Good morning. The sun is just starting to get over the trees and shine in the window, which is a big improvement compared to last evening. We got blasted with a thunderstorm at 5:30 pm, about an inch of rain in 30 minutes and hail the size of rice coal. Here is a picture of Ivan showing me the hail...it was flowing right out of the gutter downspouts with the rain.
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The good news is that I don't have to look at peeling paint on the porch roof for a while, it has been hail-blasted smooth! :)

Freddy, nice deal on the new "green machine". Give it a drink of your favorite diesel fuel treatment (Power Service, etc) and put it to work. After a few days of use I would change every fluid and filter in it, then you know what you are starting with. The transmission on most of those is due for the first service at 250 hrs, then then a longer interval after that. They aren't picky about engine oil (as long as it is rated for diesel use), but for the transmission/hydraulic fluid I would buy what you need at the local JD dealer. JD filters are very good quality also.

Coal news - I have gotten my EFM down to 14 lbs of coal per day, and that is with no sacrifice in hot water and no outfires. I added insulation to some piping, and put a new control on the boiler that purges any latent heat out of the boiler before the stoker can start...I am also running the boiler at a lower temperature. With those numbers it costs me 40% less to produce my domestic hot water with coal than fuel oil. :dancing:

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 6:12 am

Mornin all. Nice breakfast choice Freddy. Amish are having their yearly auction up the road--much stuff-- from critters to corn huskers. I've got my eye on a couple things I probably don't really need :clap: toothy Gotta get going. Have a good day people:)

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 6:21 am

Don't get "auction fever". This week I ended up owning an extra refrigerator and some stainless racking from the company auction. :oops:

 
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michaelanthony
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Post by michaelanthony » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 6:58 am

Good morning all. Looks like a nice breakfast freddy and an even nicer day out there. I'm off to work soon must get the restaurant ready for father's day, I need to make some chocolate torte's this morning almost as good as my world famous cheesecake ( in my world anyway :) ). My everyone have a great fahers day!

 
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anthony7812
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Post by anthony7812 » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 7:42 am

Good morning all, looks like today may be the best day to get some much needed outdoor things taken care of this week. Too bad its the weekend to work. Maybe I will have to borrow the neighbors hay baler to get my lawn mowed. Anywho, hard to believe the days are gonna start getting shorter by the end of the week already. About another month I will be fillen up the bin for the upcoming fire season. Freddy did you seal your driveway yourself or have it done? I gotta do the same and I have never sealed a driveway before. Doesn't seem too difficult from what I read. Have a good weekend folks.
Last edited by anthony7812 on Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 7:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

 
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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 7:53 am

I have a mushroom, onion, and cheese omelet in my very near future. :D


 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 8:09 am

Rob R. wrote: After a few days of use I would change every fluid and filter in it,
Yaaa, Generally when I buy anything used I do exactly that. The first time everything will be factory original....after that....we'll see. As you say, at least then you know where you stand.
michaelanthony wrote: I need to make some chocolate torte's this morning almost as good as my world famous cheesecake
Ohhhh gosh.... now I have an urge to drive 2 1/2 hours north!
anthony7812 wrote: Fred did you seal your driveway yourself or have it done?
I paid to have it done. That's the one motion that kills my back...reached out, bent, twisting, pulling. It pained me just to watch! However it IS a job that most people can do themselves & save some money. Two things: 1) No matter what, no matter how careful, you will splatter tiny dropplets. If doing up against a garage door or something, have cleaner ready before you start. That also means wear old sneakers and pants. 2) If you hire it done make sure it's a reputable place. There are some places that use the cheapest stuff and then thin it down. My Mom paid some fly by nights once & months it was like they were never there. And, if you do it yourself, buy the good stuff.

 
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009to090
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Post by 009to090 » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 8:13 am

Morning all, I got some green Tea today. A little honey, and I'm good to go.
It was nice and cool last night, the high '50s. No Fans, no A/C, and no heat. Just what Mother Nature brings into our open windows.
We got a brand new Refridg last week. Lower freezer, and French doors for the fridg. I just compared its efficiency to our 10 year old fridg. Both are 25CFt. Old fridge used 10 amps, new fridg uses 3.8 amps! DANG near 3 times as efficient! AND, the new one has an ICEMAKER! Wow, we finally entered the modern age!

Freddy, have fun with that new JD toy you got there, it looks really nice.
I gotta go fix an older John Deer mower at our neighbor's house. Not sure which model, or even what is wrong. The only details I got is, "it stopped working". Gotta love 78 year old kind-hearted ladies, who hire the cheapest person she can find to mow her yard. :mad: They just beat the crud out of mowers. Rock in the way? NO PROBLEM... just try to chop it down to grass level. Tree root in the way? NO PROBLEM.... just run it over, and hope the deck goes over it, as it gets all bent up.

Time to take advantage of this fine day, and get some chores done.

 
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Post by KLook » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 8:45 am

Morning all, finally got some sleep after working 65 hours or so this week. Now off to work for niece and then my son. It never ends. Just coffee and a banana for me. Enjoy the day everyone.

Kevin

 
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Post by samhill » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 9:13 am

Morning all, got a lot of running around to do today so getting breakfast out, certainly not as good as what Freddy has to offer. Dropped the deck off of my Toro zero turn yesterday (mower was cutting funny) checked the blades, sharpened again, cleaned everything, remounted & everything checked out & looked OK. Then I thought I'd check air pressure, near as I can tell I was running almost flat, tires only take 13PSI & my gauge starts at 10, guess I got to look around for my old sport ball gauge :oops:. Found this that may BEE of interest to some. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/bee-sperm-bank-p ... bxmIN7D-M8

 
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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 11:05 am

Just keep that bee semen away from me Sam! :funny: Needed a chuckle this AM - thanks!

I'll take a 8 egg omelet Freddy! Brought some fresh guinea fowl eggs. Hope you got a hammer handy!

Been working on all kinds of stuff this week. Finally gave up on the Suzuki Bandit gas tank. Stripped the old liner out, washed it with some heavy duty degreaser, etched it with acid ... and then it immediately flash-rusted back to the way it was before I did anything. :roll: Owner just wants it gone, so gonna run as is. Also finally got a battery for a Cub Cadet 1864 that's been here for a month now. Damn company had battery on backorder ..... I wait 4 damn weeks ... and the battery shows up BONE DRY with NO acid pack!! I was livid. Had to spend $20 on 2 quarts of acid down the autoparts store .. and that STILL wasn't enough. Luckily I had about 3/4 of a quart of acid left over from a battery I prepped years ago for a backup sump pump system. JUST covered the plates on the 6th cell. Talk about cutting it close! Let it charge on my 3 stage at 2A for 2 days, and tossed the battery in yesterday. Fired right up. I'll tell you what - they don't build Cub Cadets like THIS anymore! This thing is a beast! Power steering, and power deck! Weighs about 900 lbs.. Everything is built tough. It's a '94 with just under 700 hours on the clock. Thing hauls ass too! Got to be close to or over 10 mph, easy.

Also spent some time working on a '61 Ford 631 Workmaster with 6v positive ground. Diagnosed a bad condenser after watching brighter sparks from the points than the plugs. :lol: No test gear needed for that one! Also being positive ground, someone had hooked the ignition coil up backwards, which reduces spark energy. Reversed the leads and threw new condenser in the next day and she lit right off. After running a while, I found the charging system wasn't working. I didn't have enough stuff with me, so I yanked the generator off and brought it home. Disassembled it, checked continuity on all the blades of the armature and commutator, greased the bushing, wire brushed the commutator, and reassembled. Got the wifey's 6v moped over to test the thing out. Made some long leads with alligator clips, and hooked them to the moped battery, then hooked the other end to the field circuit, then hit the gen with an impact gun to spin. IT WORKS! Had it putting out 12v at high rpm. That's good, because parts just became 10x cheaper. Regulator is only $30. 8-) Once that comes in I'll install everything and retest.

Someone tried jumping that tractor with a 12v battery pack!! If that wasn't bad enough, they hooked it up NEGATIVE to ground!! I found a puddle of molten lead from the battery cable on top of the battery. Melted right into the case! That guy was lucky he didn't get a facefull of acid! I think this is what toasted the fairly new regulator.

Gotta get back at it. Have a good one & stay dry! More rain on the way! :shock:

Attachments

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I marked the case before disassembly, but found I didn't have to - there's roll pins in there for indexing.

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'61 ford 631 tractor.jpg
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'61 Ford 631 tractor (2).jpg
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LsFarm
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Post by LsFarm » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 11:52 am

Good morning, another working weekend on the farm.. garden got a 'scare crow', more like a 'laugh manikin' but it will do the job, maybe.
Yesterday I found the rolled up plastic fence/corral,, It has a wire woven into the plastic netting, and insulated poles.. so you can make a corral, hook up a fenc zapper and let sheep graze on a single section of grass..
I use it to surround my garden and keep the rabbits from eating the vegetables.. I think the deer don't like the ocassional zap they hear, so hopefully the garden will have a chance this season.

way too many things on 'the list' so I need to get back at them..

Have a great weekend.

Greg

 
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I'm On Fire
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Post by I'm On Fire » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 12:24 pm

Afternoon all. Missed coffee this morning..and a few other mornings...I was up and out of the house before 6 am this today. I had to drive 90 miles to a job site. Still here in fact. Two dry systems and one wet. Still not done.

Spent my week in a military base doing fire alarm inspections. Got to see some really cool stuff. No pictures though. No allowed. The base I was at is Picatinny Arsenal. There's a lot of history there. I almost got into the tower you can see from Rt. 15. But there was no one to operate the elevator and escort take us up. We were told that if we really wanted to go we could walk up the stairs to the top. 600'. We looked at the guy and said, 'No thanks. There's just too many stairs.'

 
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Cap
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Post by Cap » Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 12:51 pm

Hello Everyone. On my way home from camping and touring nova scotia along with my 16 yr old son. Cape Brenton has got to be the top National Park to see in the eastern N.American continent. Just beautiful. Experienced car troubles on my way out of Canada. Jeep 4.0L developed a serious ignition miss. Bought a new coil pack, plugs & cam sensor along with ratchet an extension and plug socket. My son installed the parts in the dark at the motel lot in Bangor, Maine last night till 0130. All is good today. The jeep is running normally again. Turns out it was the coil pack. Money wasted on plugs, cam sensor and a few extra tools.
Happy Fathers Day

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Last edited by Cap on Sat. Jun. 15, 2013 7:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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