What did you do today?

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

10 hours ago, Horse Newbie said:

a ways with no saddle

 

Back in the early 70s I had a "Hodaka Ace" dirt bike with no saddle.  May azz hurt!  And legs too because most of the time had to be spent NOT sitting on the saddle anyway...

[Stormin 9,981]

Nice dry day, so decided to fire up the sawbench and cut up any of the tree I recently felled, of 5" or under. 2-1/2 hrs later a nice pile of logs.

[Tractorhead 9,064]

Playin arround a little with the new Snowblower for it‘s horse rework.

Firstly i disassemble the whole Unit and put all parts aside.

 

 

The new idler Pulley‘s arrives today.

 

 

i wonder a little, why it moves so strong and think i found an answer..

 

 

that both sleeve bearings are not greased and not fit‘s well, so they be hard to remove.

Could be an suspicious for the strong movement.

 

than i measured things to see what happens.

 

Things seems they may fit.

 

 

i have few options to spread that Axles. They all be 20mm and i have and flange bearing and also few cm of round Steel or also a

threaded rod, with 20mm diameter - check. Yap, Things fits snug together.

  

 

with the Threaded rod i found in my spare, i be able to spread it up to over 90cm workwidth simply.

longest threaded rod i have is 2m, so Material is enough here.

The flanged bearings can be greased, what is good for later Service purposes,

the main shaft is ballbearing supported, another benefit for a easy movement.

 

  

 

So the ends can also be provided by Ballbearings instead of the sleeves - cool 😎 

looks good to be a 2 Weekend‘s Project, but as you know, Evil is mostly in details.

i thinkering also about a mount to Attach it to my Horse.

 

Still have to wait for the Main pulley, what shall be here on Saturday -  i hope.

Things appears clear and i hope it can be built straight forward except the Mount.

i just have to decide the Sheet metal, will i use Steel or 4 mm Aluminum.

Actual i tend to Aluminum.

 

[ebinmaine 67,500]

@Tractorhead

Nice work there Steve. 

I'll be looking forward to seeing the finished product. 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

On 2/15/2021 at 11:22 AM, Jeff-C175 said:

Some more work in the crawlspace past week or so.

 

Please don't beat me up too badly on the quality of my block work.  I can do better in not such a confined space, honest!  I'm a frugal SOB and these block are OLD SALVAGE and not all the exact same size.  I had trouble cutting the old block for the small gaps at the end of the course, probably because they were so old, so I filled with foam.  

 

There was this opening in the foundation wall into the old 'well pit' alongside the house.  The pit is underneath a concrete patio, that's what you see in the first pic below the backer board piece.  The 'blackness' beyond is a 5x5x5 'bunker of doom'.  I sealed the well head and abandoned the pit in prep for contractors coming to 'encapsulate' the crawlspace.  Once the insulation is on the foundation walls no one will see my amateur masonry work.  In spite of it's looks, it's not going anywhere in my lifetime!

 

I framed above the replaced blocks to support the sill and joists that have been 'free hanging' for about 60 years.  They had sagged a full 1" over the years.  I don't know why the 'dead men' thought this was a good idea?!

 

An interesting side note, for me at least, is that I used the very same trowels and tools that were probably used to build this foundation back in the mid-20s!  All my Grand-FILs and FILs tools were left for me when we bought the home in the early 80s.

 

The 'bow' in the framing that makes it look 'crooked' is mostly from the fish eye of the camera lens, but there might be a 'wee' bit of sag on the left side.

 

 

Then I covered the framing with tile backer concrete board which I may spooge over with mortar if I can complete all the other jobs before March 3rd.  If not, it "is what it is".

 

 

 

SCARY for me!  Some of the CINDER (not Concrete!) block was starting to crumble apart.  I don't have any progress pics, but here is the end result. 

 

I supported the house best I could, chipped out the worst of the blocks, fearful for my life that the house would collapse on me, shoved in and mortared some NEW blocks in place, and parged the reapaired area with mortar.  I had much more room to work in this area and it was actually easier than closing up that well pit.

 

 

Next phase is to pour the footings for the support piers under the main beam... stay tuned for more fun!  Same bat channel, same bat place!

 

File this under "I'm too old for this 5h1t" !

 

 

 

Did some lifting and pouring footings this morning:

 

I thought the floor was mostly dirt but I stuck the shovel in to discover there was raked concrete underneath.  Swept the dirt away and poured the footing on top of the existing concrete.  It ain't going nowhere...  and these aren't bearing the full weight anyway, mainly supplemental supports.  You  can see the existing support just to the right of these.  I'm only taking some weight off that one.  It was in the 'wrong' place... Above this beam is a six foot wide opening between the kitchen and the dining room.  That existing support pier is not under the 'point load', it's about two feet from that, where the new post is going, and just to the left of center in the six foot wide opening.  The floor above this is visibly bowed 'up' from that pier pushing up.  It probably won't go back down in my lifetime, but at least it won't get worse! (as it has since we added a second floor about 10 years ago...  I know, I know, should have put the posts in then... )

 

 

That block is level and filled with concrete.  Each footing is three 80lb bags, two in the form first, then the block, and the third inside the block and around it.  I did put rebar in after the first bag, probably didn't need it, but it was 'in stock'. I used the 'Crack Resistant' concrete with the added fibers.

 

 

These are some BEEFY support columns!  1/4" top and bottom plates, 4" diameter 11 gauge tube.  AND the best part is I got 'em wholesale price which is like HALF retail!  Schweet!

To make these code compliant for PERMANENT installation one must encase the adjuster on the bottom in 3500 PSI concrete after tightening, which of course I will do (in a few months after everything 'settles' ). 

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[Pullstart 62,882]

On 2/15/2021 at 9:29 PM, Horse Newbie said:

I have took it down the street a ways with no saddle...for a quick burn out after a tune up...lol.

This pic was taken one day after it got a bath and I had not put the saddle back on yet

I rode my Shadow for a couple years on a steel or aluminum seat pan rigid mounted and top links in place of the shocks... super low!  No suspension!  And now I wonder why my body hurts once in a while!

 

 

[Pullstart 62,882]

My little niece buddy and I plowed a 1/2 mile trail in the field today.  Tractor rides, here we come again!

[Ed Kennell 38,175]

My horse plows his own trail.    

[Pullstart 62,882]

2 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

My horse plows his own trail.    

 

I’m thinking a blower might have worked, but it would have taken a long time to push that with a plow equipped horse   The Senior and Poppy do ok in deep stuff, but not pulling the sled too.  Some spots were as deep as my truck plow... whatever that comes to.

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

1 hour ago, pullstart said:

The Senior and Poppy

 

Is it my imagination, or camera angle?  Is that right tire bigger than the left?

 

[Pullstart 62,882]

1 hour ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

Is it my imagination, or camera angle?  Is that right tire bigger than the left?

 

Both tractors have matching rears, but the outer ones do look bigger!

[Handy Don 12,232]

2 hours ago, pullstart said:

Both tractors have matching rears, but the outer ones do look bigger!

Yep. You're seeing the work of optical and software engineers managing the distortion of a tiny lens (smartphone?) capturing a wide angle.

[Pullstart 62,882]

9 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Yep. You're seeing the work of optical and software engineers managing the distortion of a tiny lens (smartphone?) capturing a wide angle.

close, iPad.

[Pullstart 62,882]

Cleaned out some ash and pallet debris from the boiler.  It’s amazing how it adds up!  
 

Tossed some snow on the lid to keep it safe.  I doubt anyone will be near it while it cools, but ya know...  

[ebinmaine 67,500]

4 hours ago, pullstart said:

ash

Trina spread a bunch of that all over the side hill yesterday...

 

MESSY. but traction is excellent.

[Ed Kennell 38,175]

My wood ash gets distributed on the garden and fruit trees.

[Lee1977 6,659]

I went out to see what was scattered a long my property, Looked like torn up paper. Got out there it was paper backed 3M letters and numbers reflective orange back ground.

If it had been paper I would have left it to blow away or get ground up by the mower in the spring. Didn't think I want vinyl reflective letters ground up on my lawn. So I picked up a couple hundred.

They belong to the phone co. I had left a couple years back..

[lynnmor 7,306]

3 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

My wood ash gets distributed on the garden and fruit trees.

I have moss growing in the grass on the north (shady) side of all my buildings, wood ash makes short work of it.

[Pullstart 62,882]

6 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Trina spread a bunch of that all over the side hill yesterday...

 

MESSY. but traction is excellent.

 

 

6 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

My wood ash gets distributed on the garden and fruit trees.

I’d do the same, but many wood sources are pallets and the amount of nails that come from the ash I’d hate to get in a foot or tire for that matter... I suppose a roller magnet would help with that issue...

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

43 minutes ago, pullstart said:

I’d do the same, but many wood sources are pallets and the amount of nails that come from the ash I’d hate to get in a foot or tire for that matter... I suppose a roller magnet would help with that issue...

Run the ashes through a screen, like sifting soil for rocks, problem solved 

[ebinmaine 67,500]

No nails here but we've found fence wire grown into the trees a couple times

[Handy Don 12,232]

22 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

No nails here but we've found fence wire grown into the trees a couple times

Hope it wasn't the chainsaw that found it.

[ebinmaine 67,500]

6 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Hope it wasn't the chainsaw that found it.

Luckily no. 

I still have the split piece of one that has some ancient barbed wire through it. 

[ebinmaine 67,500]

9 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Hope it wasn't the chainsaw that found it.

Across the street and uphill from us there is a farm that was in operation from somewhere in the mid-1800s until the 1950s or 60s. 

 

It's about 40 acres or so now. Lots of stone walls around and in the middle of what used to be one of the pastures which is basically a side Hill, there is a house sized pile of boulders that we've taken quite a few rocks from to make our own walls.

 

That very venture is what caused us to find our first Wheelhorse tractor.

 

The current owners are wonderful people and we've traded favors back and forth a few times over the years. 

Couple years ago Trina let them borrow our wood splitter. Our idea of payment was to make sure it was full of gas when they returned it. Their idea of payment was to give us a half cord of wood.

 

This chunk of wood came from that land so it's literally a part of our local history. 

 

 

 

[Pullstart 62,882]

Stopped on the side of the road this morning to make sure a dude was alright.  Little car not stuck, but stopped with 4 ways on.  I saw him putting his coat on out of the back seat like he was getting cold.  Sure enough, broke down on the way to open the restaurant he works at.  20 minutes from home or work.  I dragged him home, stuck the car on the lift and had him order an alternator.  It was seized right up, enough that the belt stalled the engine out!  He had no money to pay, but that’s not why I stopped.  He did offer the family and I a full dinner from the restaurant whenever we’d like to stop by!  That kind gesture is enough to make me happy.  Greatful dude, safe in his car.  He left his gloves in my truck though