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I have a typical imported engine hoist that uses a long 3 ton hydraulic cylinder. It won't hold up a load any more. I filled it (it was down a lot), and tried the bleeding procedure several times, but it just creeps back down when you try to pick up anything heavy. I assume it's shot? A new one...

I finally figured out I needed a landscape rake to groom my field after discing. I watched the local ads for about three years, and finally decided to just make one. I bought 37 rake tines ($200, free shipping), and used steel I had laying around for the rest of it. The main boom is 74" long...

After nearly 10 years of on-and-off barn and house building, I'm finally getting around to my domain- the shop. I insulated this wall (there's a staircase behind it), and decided to do a test run of some materials. I put a PT 2X4 on the floor, followed by 4' of galvalume roofing, and then 4' of...

I have a long set of stairs in my shop, going up to a storage loft. I just insulated the wall, so now there's fluffy insulation sticking out in the stairwell. NBD, but I'd like to cover it. Of course, plywood and OSB are at record prices right now. I'm thinking of just using Masonite sheets. $8...

I found an old vise on FB yesterday. It's made by General Fire Extinguisher Company in Providence, RI. It looks pretty good, except screw doesn't pull vise open. I assume there's some kind of yoke like a Wilton has? It's fairly big- the seller says it opens 10". Anyhow- Are these things worth...

Well, my old cherry picker failed to get it up this morning (I can relate!) I've gone through three cylinders over about 35 years. The first one lasted the longest. Then, I got a two-pack from Northern. One failed quickly; the second one lasted for many years. The question is- Is there a good...

I have a project in mind that will use 20 oz. copper sheet. I need to cut it cleanly and bend it cleanly with some measure of control. This might lead to making a few bucks on the side if I can get my process dialed in. HF has a 30" combination shear/brake/roll that would probably work OK, but...

I'm looking to replace the photocell on my dusk-to-dawn light on the side of my garage. The problem is that the existing one is too sensitive. On cloudy days the light stays on all day. Only during the brightest part of the day does it shut off. Part of the problem is that it's in a shady area...

We have about 450' of driveway here, some of it sloping. Most of it has held up pretty well, except the sloping areas wash out during the monsoons we get here periodically. The original driveway is about ten years old, and is what I would call crusher run. There's some recycled concrete in it...

I keep planning to get an open carport built for my truck. I was going to go with a faux-timber frame look using PT 6X6's, but they're stupid expensive right now. What's cheap is round poles. There are several places selling green-treated ones for $2/ft. I'm wondering what would be involved in...

I recently picked up a barbell, dumbells, and plates for my home gym. I'd like to build a tree to hold everything in an orderly and convenient fashion. Anyone build anything like this? I need pegs for the plates, and I'd like arms to hold the barbell at a good height, as well as the barbells...

I'm trying to figure out how useful a 12V/120V power inverter would be during a blackout. I know you couldn't run any large appliances, but there are a lot of things, such as TV's and LED lights that don't use much power at all. I know Ohm's Law, so I can figure out watts vs. amps and 12V vs...

Our power was out for several days after Hurricane Zeta. I have a 6500 watt generator, and we were able to keep the food cold and heat food up. I want to hook the thing up to the whole house with a transfer switch or whatever to be safe and code-compliant. I know it won't run everything, but I...

I'm going to pour a small sidewalk out the door of our walk-out basement, 40" wide by 10' long. I'm going to pour it in two sections, as my truck (and back) can't handle more than half of the concrete at a time. Basically, two separate 40" x 60" sections. Should I bother with rebar? I do have...