Recent content by abfish

I had both steel and aluminum 36" wrenches on my company service truck. None of the guys, who were the beefy construction type, would use the steel if they had a choice. Too dang heavy. No way I'd buy a big steel pipe wrench for my own use.

We have a large Montezuma on a lube truck. The truck is built on a flatbed, so no built-in side boxes. Adding a quality, heavy duty drawer system would have been much more expensive. I like the Montezuma for my application. In the shop, I find drawers much easier to use. I do like the...

We've used 12 inch buckets on rubber tired backhoes for 30 years. A 12 inch is perfect for your use.

Do you have a side business? That's the ideal way to lease a shop that can serve for business as well hobby use and storage. Keep in mind that many landlords require a minimum of a two or three-year lease.

I've built several small metal buildings (3,000 to 8,000 sf) in the past few years. Two different concrete contractors, but both have a reputation for quality. All anchor bolts were wet set. No significant errors in any of the four buildings. I look at epoxy-setting as something you do...

I remember sitting at my kid's basketball games and marveling at the clear, straight-grained lumber that was used to build bleachers. Where did you get the surplus bleachers?

A four post lift. Reignited my interest in wrenching on cars. If you ask me next year, it will be air conditioning.

A friend developed a large retirement property like yours, over an extended period of time, with sheds, guest cabin, pond, main house, etc. He hired a landscape architect who prepared a plan that sited all of the proposed buildings in relation to the pond and topography of the site. Some of...

Freeze machine- fascinating. We installed public utilities for 20 years, but I've never heard of that. In the water systems we worked in, the service lateral "upstream" of the meter is the responsibility of the utility. The homeowner's responsibility is "downstream", from the meter to the...

I did away with a small compressor at my house, as it was only used to inflate tires. Cordless inflators fill that need. At my company shop, there's no replacing the compressor for running big air tools and the plasma cutter.

If he's truly stranded inside the building then the building is in clear violation of the fire codes regard emergency exits.

The worker is not trapped. His truck is trapped.

To cutting your walking in half, buy another mini-ex and stage it on the other side of the property. Duh!

Bought my first lift at age 50. It restored my interest in working on cars. Seriously. Started with a 2-post MaxJack. Graduated to a 4-post a few years ago.

If you'd like to install the shiplap parallel to the LVL's, you could install 1x4 strapping across the LVL's and then nail to the strapping. That's a detail used for drywall in the northeast.