I bought a folding aluminum trailer from Northern tool a few years back. It's 4'x8' and I store it in my shed when not being used. Not the easiest thing to unbolt and fold but it's doable.Got a pork **** with a bacon weave on in the smoker this morning. Just covered it with foil to push it over the stall point.
It was time to cut the grass, so out came the mower and tools. Got it all cut and I also got rid of some of the stuff by the little shed and put the rest in another spot for now. The ladders will go in the bunker, but I need to organize it still.
Here’s the back yard.
Cleaned up around the smoker also.
The riding mower lives beside the garage for now, I don’t want to drive over the new grass in the back yard. Other wise it would be in the shed or bunker.
The little trailer is very useful around the yard, but it’s an eye sore. I’ve been thinking of maybe getting a small aluminum folding trailer that I can tuck away somewhere out of sight. Anyone have any suggestions on a 4’x6’ aluminum folding trailer that can be pulled behind a vehicle but big enough to put a riding mower on it?
Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT The Texas Barn in PA
- Thread starter madison069
- Start date
Workspaces between 705 and 1200 squarefeet.
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madison069
Well-known member
As much as I could probably use an 8x20 aluminum car hauler with hydraulic tilt deck, I don't think I could justify the price. If I did get an 8x20 car trailer I would get rid of the steel car trailer that I got as a college graduation present from my dad. Can't keep two big trailers on the property. I think I'll just look for a 6x8 or 4x6 aluminum trailer for yard work and small haul jobs.
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madison069
Well-known member
Haven’t posted much about the barn lately. With some work piling up that requires being in the garage, I figured I would get stuff moved around and organized. I’ve also been selling off stuff that I’ve decided is not going to work in the barn or anywhere on this homestead.
So up first is a view of the front area. The two tall tan cabinets are up for sale. They are too tall for the bunker and they are not worth the sqft in the barn. So off they go to Facebook. The gray one will go in the bunker when I get to organizing the bunker.
This is all stuff that I need to find a home. I think one of those 4’x2’ shelves assembly will be going in the bunker. The toolbox is to go back to a buddy but we haven’t been able to meet up.
Here is the wall of base cabinets, they are annoying that they aren’t the same height, but they work for now.
The part cabinets are on marketplace and the table is my middle daughter’s who will be taking it to college in August.
These black totes and blue totes are empty and needs to find a home either somewhere else, marketplace, or landfill. Themini fridge is the middle daughter’s and it will go in August too.
I finally got the two by four cabinets assembled and got them loaded up. The supply cabinet has a lot of room to accumulate more supply.
The car cleaning supply cabinet has room to grow too. For now it’s just home for all cleaning stuff.
Now to finish up this generator and get it back to the customer so I can eventually bring in my truck to work on it soon.
So up first is a view of the front area. The two tall tan cabinets are up for sale. They are too tall for the bunker and they are not worth the sqft in the barn. So off they go to Facebook. The gray one will go in the bunker when I get to organizing the bunker.
This is all stuff that I need to find a home. I think one of those 4’x2’ shelves assembly will be going in the bunker. The toolbox is to go back to a buddy but we haven’t been able to meet up.
Here is the wall of base cabinets, they are annoying that they aren’t the same height, but they work for now.
The part cabinets are on marketplace and the table is my middle daughter’s who will be taking it to college in August.
These black totes and blue totes are empty and needs to find a home either somewhere else, marketplace, or landfill. Themini fridge is the middle daughter’s and it will go in August too.
I finally got the two by four cabinets assembled and got them loaded up. The supply cabinet has a lot of room to accumulate more supply.
The car cleaning supply cabinet has room to grow too. For now it’s just home for all cleaning stuff.
Now to finish up this generator and get it back to the customer so I can eventually bring in my truck to work on it soon.
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madison069
Well-known member
Worked on a generator for a customer. It had a bad leak at the tank’s shut off petcock and the carburetor was really gunked up. I had to drop this one in the carb chemical dip in the gallon can to get it cleaned.
While disassembling it, there was a small foam piece on the throttle shaft and it deteriorated during disassembly. I tried running the generator without the foam piece and it had a massive air leak at the throttle shaft. Went looking online for a replacement and it seems they aren’t common. A lot of wrong info on different sites and discussions saying to just leave it off cause it doesn’t do anything when in fact it does block off a big air leak. So in the mean time I decided to use a foam air filter to make my own. This is a time when I wish I had gasket maker punches to make nice circles. But none the less I cut a piece off and was able to make one that worked.
I’ll have to dig around and see if I can find some to keep in my part bins.
Here is the generator running with 2 heaters to put a 3,000watt load on it.
Generator with a make shift gas tank to test the carburetor repair.
Overall it was an easy one, just required a more harsher chemical cleaning of the carburetor.
While disassembling it, there was a small foam piece on the throttle shaft and it deteriorated during disassembly. I tried running the generator without the foam piece and it had a massive air leak at the throttle shaft. Went looking online for a replacement and it seems they aren’t common. A lot of wrong info on different sites and discussions saying to just leave it off cause it doesn’t do anything when in fact it does block off a big air leak. So in the mean time I decided to use a foam air filter to make my own. This is a time when I wish I had gasket maker punches to make nice circles. But none the less I cut a piece off and was able to make one that worked.
I’ll have to dig around and see if I can find some to keep in my part bins.
Here is the generator running with 2 heaters to put a 3,000watt load on it.
Generator with a make shift gas tank to test the carburetor repair.
Overall it was an easy one, just required a more harsher chemical cleaning of the carburetor.
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madison069
Well-known member
Well, I hit a milestone with the barn. I drove my truck into the barn for the first time.
It’s a little tight, but it works.
My front passenger side brake was grabbing and it eventually got bad enough that I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I ordered rotors, pads, loaded calipers, and stainless steel brake hoses for all 4 corners.
Let’s just say, that’s the most I’ve ever spent on brake parts at one time.
It’s a little tight, but it works.
My front passenger side brake was grabbing and it eventually got bad enough that I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I ordered rotors, pads, loaded calipers, and stainless steel brake hoses for all 4 corners.
Let’s just say, that’s the most I’ve ever spent on brake parts at one time.
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
Ridiculous how expensive the "whoa" parts can get Cody!
Good to see you working in the barn.
Good to see you working in the barn.
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madison069
Well-known member
You’re not kidding Marc, I hope for $1,600 I get some stickers with that purchase!
Something I didn’t noticed on the truck was the rear brakes has dual drop down hoses from the frame to axle. I was surprised when I saw dual drop down hoses as an option for the truck and had to verify if that’s what I had! The brakes on the truck has been very lacking and so I decided if I got to change most of the stuff on the corners and flush the fluid, I might as well upgrade the hose to steel braided.
The tires also looks worn enough that it’s probably time for new tires plus I found a stick on weight was missing on the rim which could explain the shimmy I had at certain speed.
What it boils down to, is it’s time to do some serious maintenance on this truck. Just hope I can financially recover from it!
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
I'm about done with 90% of the Tundra stuff as of today, it will need tires end-of-summer/early fall....I'm not impressed with the prices I've been seeing
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madison069
Well-known member
I haven’t looked, scared to…….I'm about done with 90% of the Tundra stuff as of today, it will need tires end-of-summer/early fall....I'm not impressed with the prices I've been seeing
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madison069
Well-known member
Some pretty whoa parts come in today.
I opted for the powder coated red calipers and brackets to help corrosion and pretty them up.
The rotors and pads came in.
What’s left is the rear calipers and the hydraulic hoses. The calipers are supposed to come in Tuesday, the hoses are to come in possibly a month from now if their statement of give 25 days to manufacture them as they are made on orders. I hope they got a set of stock hoses on the shelf to ship out.
Digging around in my spare parts of mower carbs I found the little foam circles for the throttle shaft.
I will be taking the generator back apart since it decided to not fire up this morning unless choke was on. So I’m going to inspect the carb base, gaskets, and the plastic spacer a little closer for a break that allows air in the intake.
Grass is growing in nicely. It will be a shame when it’s time to do concrete work around here and fully redo the ground cause I know I need to level the soil more and get the whole yard flatter so it’s not lumpy everywhere.
Other then tournaments and just general house keeping, it’s just been normal days.
I opted for the powder coated red calipers and brackets to help corrosion and pretty them up.
The rotors and pads came in.
What’s left is the rear calipers and the hydraulic hoses. The calipers are supposed to come in Tuesday, the hoses are to come in possibly a month from now if their statement of give 25 days to manufacture them as they are made on orders. I hope they got a set of stock hoses on the shelf to ship out.
Digging around in my spare parts of mower carbs I found the little foam circles for the throttle shaft.
I will be taking the generator back apart since it decided to not fire up this morning unless choke was on. So I’m going to inspect the carb base, gaskets, and the plastic spacer a little closer for a break that allows air in the intake.
Grass is growing in nicely. It will be a shame when it’s time to do concrete work around here and fully redo the ground cause I know I need to level the soil more and get the whole yard flatter so it’s not lumpy everywhere.
Other then tournaments and just general house keeping, it’s just been normal days.
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madison069
Well-known member
The other set of calipers came in.
Now the hoses need to come in, but I fear I will have to repair the current brake sets, cause I might need the truck before the hoses come in. I think it’s the sliding pins that’s jamming them up.
On another news, I think I got the generator figured out. Using a razor blade I checked all of the mating surfaces between the carb and head of the engine. I found the carb mount base was warped. Strange I thought but I disassembled the carb and using a file I flatten the mount down. Reassembled the carb with the proper foam seal also and installed it back on the engine and it fired up with no issues and ran like it was designed to run.
No photos cause I left my phone on the back porch while I was working in the garage.
Now the hoses need to come in, but I fear I will have to repair the current brake sets, cause I might need the truck before the hoses come in. I think it’s the sliding pins that’s jamming them up.
On another news, I think I got the generator figured out. Using a razor blade I checked all of the mating surfaces between the carb and head of the engine. I found the carb mount base was warped. Strange I thought but I disassembled the carb and using a file I flatten the mount down. Reassembled the carb with the proper foam seal also and installed it back on the engine and it fired up with no issues and ran like it was designed to run.
No photos cause I left my phone on the back porch while I was working in the garage.
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bugnut
ALLIANCE MEMBER
@madison069 Loving the calipers. I did the red on the baja. A bit of learning, good aerosol brake cleaner will remove the powder coat. Ask me how I know.....
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madison069
Well-known member
Good to know, guess I’ll have to be careful when cleaning the brake rotors!
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madison069
Well-known member
I looked, $450 a piece for geolanders!I'm about done with 90% of the Tundra stuff as of today, it will need tires end-of-summer/early fall....I'm not impressed with the prices I've been seeing
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
Cody, when I learned from the master how to rebuild Q-Jet carbs, as he was fitting parts and checking for true flat surfaces, he had a piece of reinforced glass for a flat surface and would rub the part over the grit of his choice. Always worked quite well. Cliff would soak 5 carbs in the morning and then stab all 5 together over our afternoon break when I would get to work after class.
I've been shopping 265/70R17s and 255/75R17s in XL or C load...definitely going to be $250+, most are closer to or above the $300 mark. They quit making my beloved G015, it's now the newer AT4 G018...I'm not sold that it is a better tire, and from what I've read on the googlewebs, it's louder on the highway. Nitto Terra Grappler G3, Cooper Road & Trail (would be the Stronghold AT in your E load rating), and the Bridgestone Dueller Ascent AT are currently on my list...might even give the BFG K03 a look with its claimed better wet weather performance.
I've been shopping 265/70R17s and 255/75R17s in XL or C load...definitely going to be $250+, most are closer to or above the $300 mark. They quit making my beloved G015, it's now the newer AT4 G018...I'm not sold that it is a better tire, and from what I've read on the googlewebs, it's louder on the highway. Nitto Terra Grappler G3, Cooper Road & Trail (would be the Stronghold AT in your E load rating), and the Bridgestone Dueller Ascent AT are currently on my list...might even give the BFG K03 a look with its claimed better wet weather performance.
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madison069
Well-known member
I’m shopping 325/65/R18 which is basically 35”x12.5”xR18.
I’m looking for something better in wet and snow conditions as the KO2 would loose traction on wet slopes. Since I’m primarily using my truck to pull the boat and my future parking spot for the boat and trailer is going to be a sloped concrete driveway, I’d like to get the best tires for those conditions I can get.
As for the carb filing, I had a glass just for that reason, but it seems to have come up missing since the move. So I just used the newest flat file I had and just slowly filed it flat.
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OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
K02s are flat dangerous in wet/icy conditions...supposedly the K03 is better.
The Nitto G3 had great wet and snow ratings, same with the Bridgestone and Cooper.
The Nitto G3 had great wet and snow ratings, same with the Bridgestone and Cooper.
Cdubu52
Well-known member
Im in the same boat for tires. Looking for new tires for the Gladiator. Im leaning towards the Nitto G3. I have Nitto Recon Grapplers on my daughters 4 runner and they actually ride great and are not noisy. I dont need anything that aggressive. Apparently the G3 is a great tire and balances out great, even in large sizes. I always had BFG Ko2's on my Wrangler and they were fine as long as I kept them rotated. The problem I had was finding good tires. The first time, it took 6 tires to find 5 that would balance good, and then the second time I put them on, it took 7 to find 4. I said then that was the last time I bought BFG. I have Falken Wildpeak AT3 on my Gladiator now and they are noisy and have started to cup a little. They were on it when I bought it and I keep them rotated. I am playing with the pressures now to get the best ride, but they are still noisy. Like I said, Im leaning towards the Nitto G3 based on some of the reviews I have seen.
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madison069
Well-known member
There’s a local Nitto dealer near me so I’ll probably be talking to them when the time comes.
Last night I popped the passenger side caliper off to see what’s going on and it was a rusty mess! Caliper pistons were also pushed out and the seal around the pistons were blown. Not leaking but just damaged. So I just cleaned it up of the rust, put it all back together so I can pull the truck out of the garage to work on other stuff while I wait for the hoses.
While I had the brakes off the rotor, I turned the hub assembly and it didn’t feel like there was any issues with the wheel bearing assembly. Tight, smooth turn and no crunchy feeling, I didn’t hear anything but that don’t mean much. But with 96,000 miles on them I’m wondering if I should replace them as part of maintenance? Project creep is seriously setting in as I am also replacing the vacuum lines from the hubs to the actuator assembly under the hood. The auto 4x4 failed to work recently and during testing I found the hubs were not leaking. Pulled the vacuum lines from the actuator and I could never pull a vacuum on the lines and hub due to a leak. So new vacuum lines is on order.
If I get hubs I will go back with Motorcraft from the dealer but that’s another $700 plus tax and what not.
Last night I popped the passenger side caliper off to see what’s going on and it was a rusty mess! Caliper pistons were also pushed out and the seal around the pistons were blown. Not leaking but just damaged. So I just cleaned it up of the rust, put it all back together so I can pull the truck out of the garage to work on other stuff while I wait for the hoses.
While I had the brakes off the rotor, I turned the hub assembly and it didn’t feel like there was any issues with the wheel bearing assembly. Tight, smooth turn and no crunchy feeling, I didn’t hear anything but that don’t mean much. But with 96,000 miles on them I’m wondering if I should replace them as part of maintenance? Project creep is seriously setting in as I am also replacing the vacuum lines from the hubs to the actuator assembly under the hood. The auto 4x4 failed to work recently and during testing I found the hubs were not leaking. Pulled the vacuum lines from the actuator and I could never pull a vacuum on the lines and hub due to a leak. So new vacuum lines is on order.
If I get hubs I will go back with Motorcraft from the dealer but that’s another $700 plus tax and what not.
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madison069
Well-known member
The more I think about it, the most I’m driving the truck these days are within 100 miles distance. If something happens I got AAA to tow it home. Last inspection showed I only drove the truck 1,800 miles for the year and that’s typical mileage for the past 4 years as most of my mileage is on the Forester.
I think I’ll let the hubs roll as long as they don’t show any signs of failure soon.
I think I’ll let the hubs roll as long as they don’t show any signs of failure soon.
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madison069
Well-known member
To prepare for some future concrete work, I needed to see if it was possible to raise the current concrete steps at the back porch. The steps are solid and most likely were poured in 1950’s or 60’s. If you know concrete, you know the old stuff was stout! The steps weren’t broke or cracked so it seems stupid to just destroy it and pour new steps when these are fine, but just sunken down.
So with a plan I got to work.
First thing to do was to dig a trench on both side of the concrete steps.
Then I dug out some notches where the bottle jacks can go in their places. I purchased these 2ton bottle jacks off amazon for $26 a piece.
Slowly going from one corner to the other I was able to lift the steps to where they needed to be.
You can see the void under the steps.
Then I started pouring concrete into the trenches.
You may ask, what about the bottle jacks?!?!
They will be remembered for all of the support they are providing the concrete stairs.
It took awhile to get the concrete shoved under the stairs. Using a small shovel and a thick stick, I kept pushing the concrete until it started coming out the other side of the stairs. Then I proceeded to fill the other trench and shoved more concrete under the stairs until it seems properly full.
Hopefully with the void filled with concrete and the wider footprints, this will keep the stairs up and in place.
Once the concrete has fully cured, I will fill the void behind the stairs to the cinder block wall with hydraulic cement. Apparently the last person who filled this void used a bunch of plastic bags as a backer material. One bag was a JCPenney and another was a noodle bag from 1978 per the dates on it.
I’ll use some backer rods or maybe the foam noodles to support the hydraulic cement.
But now, the steps are at their proper height, the top stairs are flush with the porch instead of having a lip overhang that would catch folks feet when stepping up, and it looks like it will work out for the new sidewalk that will be poured in front of these steps.
So with a plan I got to work.
First thing to do was to dig a trench on both side of the concrete steps.
Then I dug out some notches where the bottle jacks can go in their places. I purchased these 2ton bottle jacks off amazon for $26 a piece.
Slowly going from one corner to the other I was able to lift the steps to where they needed to be.
You can see the void under the steps.
Then I started pouring concrete into the trenches.
You may ask, what about the bottle jacks?!?!
They will be remembered for all of the support they are providing the concrete stairs.
It took awhile to get the concrete shoved under the stairs. Using a small shovel and a thick stick, I kept pushing the concrete until it started coming out the other side of the stairs. Then I proceeded to fill the other trench and shoved more concrete under the stairs until it seems properly full.
Hopefully with the void filled with concrete and the wider footprints, this will keep the stairs up and in place.
Once the concrete has fully cured, I will fill the void behind the stairs to the cinder block wall with hydraulic cement. Apparently the last person who filled this void used a bunch of plastic bags as a backer material. One bag was a JCPenney and another was a noodle bag from 1978 per the dates on it.
I’ll use some backer rods or maybe the foam noodles to support the hydraulic cement.
But now, the steps are at their proper height, the top stairs are flush with the porch instead of having a lip overhang that would catch folks feet when stepping up, and it looks like it will work out for the new sidewalk that will be poured in front of these steps.
gearhead1960
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Seen foam being injected for the same end effect…
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madison069
Well-known member
I thought about that foam company. I don’t have any first hand experience with it and I don’t know of anyone locally who has used a service as such. So I figured $160 in materials which includes the bottle jacks and some time, I would hopefully have a solid set of stairs.
I do know foam technology has come a long way compared to the basic seat foam cushion days!
Krfjkm
Well-known member
You’re definitely not afraid of a day of hard work! Good on you!