Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT A trip back from the edge.

[mybigwarwagon]

Gee, it sounds like a bunch of old people in here comparing ailments.


I would type more but the arthritis in my hand is killing me.

 

[jon72vega]

Gee, it sounds like a bunch of old people in here comparing ailments.


I would type more but the arthritis in my hand is killing me.

I resemble that remark!

 

[Strouty]

My GF has had shingles twice now and she is just now old enough to get the vaccine, her cases were mild, but still no fun.

Hope everything is back to normal for you.

 

[xtremek]

................Hope everything is back to normal for you.

Yep, back to normal, for this summer at least. Since I was feeling better I had an aggressive plan of attack for yesterday. I popped the heads off the GF the other day to make sure I wasn't having head gasket issues (definitely a cracked block). So yesterday's plan was to borrow the neighbor's Kubota to move some rubble out of the She Shed site, Robin would start moving dirt with Claudia (the Cletrac), while I got the GF running, then I'd start hauling the piles of dirt away. Yeah, about that. Claudia decided she's had enough abuse, and let her clutch slip terminally. So instead, I got to moving dirt with the neighbor's Kubota, until the second round of rain came through. Ever try and drive a tractor over undulating ground around a deep hole while driving/sliding with a full bucket of dirt. Spent an hour power washing his tractor after I cried "UNCLE".

 

[harley jim]

All back to normal I see.
Sounds just like my place.

 

[racer-john]

No hair, why do I need shingles?

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Already broke your new toy.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Yep, back to normal, for this summer at least. Since I was feeling better I had an aggressive plan of attack for yesterday. I popped the heads off the GF the other day to make sure I wasn't having head gasket issues (definitely a cracked block). So yesterday's plan was to borrow the neighbor's Kubota to move some rubble out of the She Shed site, Robin would start moving dirt with Claudia (the Cletrac), while I got the GF running, then I'd start hauling the piles of dirt away. Yeah, about that. Claudia decided she's had enough abuse, and let her clutch slip terminally. So instead, I got to moving dirt with the neighbor's Kubota, until the second round of rain came through. Ever try and drive a tractor over undulating ground around a deep hole while driving/sliding with a full bucket of dirt. Spent an hour power washing his tractor after I cried "UNCLE".

I keep telling myself to be happy that all this rain isn't snow.

Honestly I'm to the point where I'd take the snow.

 

[xtremek]

I guess I get to become a heavy equipment mechanic now, as well.

Rain? You mean like it's doing right now? Again. And it's supposed to do Thursday and Friday? Yard is a total mess.

 

[harley jim]

I worked on heavy equipment for a few years, and it was one of the worst job I ever had. You usually have to fix them where they are at. It's not like you can just pull it in the shop. I feel bad for you.

 

[Strouty]

We all have one of those uncles....

 

[mybigwarwagon]

We all have one of those uncles....

Or more

 

[jollygreengiant]

I guess I get to become a heavy equipment mechanic now, as well.

Rain? You mean like it's doing right now? Again. And it's supposed to do Thursday and Friday? Yard is a total mess.

Yeah, that stuff that just a few months ago we were really wishing for.

We got another 2" yesterday on ground that is already saturated. I have never seen so much water laying around, or for so long.

 

[xtremek]

Around here, the 3 R’s (Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle) are important to us. So, what do you do with old hot water tanks, and compressor tanks? Here, they become feed troughs.

 

[xtremek]

Well that didn’t take long. Claudia decided she’d worked hard enough, and she deserved a break. A broken (slipping) clutch to be exact. Now I’m a heavy equipment mechanic. Clutch Dynamics is doing the relining. I feel lucky because he seems to be one of the few left in the state (country?) and they’re local.

 

[Strouty]

There is a pair of cletracs in Connecticut that someone was offering up for free. I thought of you.

 

[xtremek]

I wouldn't mind having a few more running gear parts. They seem to be the high wear parts. But not enough to drive that far.

 

[xtremek]

Another project knocked off the list was the dishwasher refused to clean the dishes. Robin pulled it out, ordered the part, and a week later, we had clean dishes

 

[sublime68charger]

Clean dish's are important thing to have.

 

[Poor Ron]

Yes, Dan & Jerry at Dynamics are good people.
Have dealt with them many times.

 

[xtremek]

Clean dish's are important thing to have.

Robin also put in a new water softener. Kind of nice not to have mineral/rust deposits on everything.

Yes, Dan & Jerry at Dynamics are good people.
Have dealt with them many times.

Jerry has left, but I agree, Dan is really exceptional. Parts for a '46 Cletrac aren't widely available, but he's figuring out how to make things work properly.

 

[Poor Ron]

Dan owns some patents on clutch designs.
He lives up by GR and commutes in each day.
One of very few shops that pre heats a flywheel before machining it.

 

[harley jim]

I used to love working on that old iron, it was a good feeling to make them run again, then I got old,

 

[xtremek]

Dan owns some patents on clutch designs.
He lives up by GR and commutes in each day.
One of very few shops that pre heats a flywheel before machining it.

It does make me wonder why he doesn't set up shop closer to home. I'd drive an hour to have him do work for me. He's been working 7 days a week lately.

I used to love working on that old iron, it was a good feeling to make them run again, then I got old,

I'm with you. There is still a sense of satisfaction on keeping our current fleet running (is it because I'm cheap?). But these days, I'd rather build new things than spend my time repairing everything that's broken.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Really glad to hear you have a source for parts/repair on that machine.

My grandfather has an old John Deere crawler loader. Trying to find parts for it is a nightmare.

 

[xtremek]

Really glad to hear you have a source for parts/repair on that machine.

My grandfather has an old John Deere crawler loader. Trying to find parts for it is a nightmare.

For clutch parts, see Dan at Clutch Dynamics in Lansing. I swear he can fix anything clutch related.

 

[xtremek]

Just because Claudia is down, I need to keep things moving forward. I borrowed the neighbor’s Kubota AGAIN. I think I dug about 60-80 yards out of the build site over the last weekend. I’d guess I’m about 1/3 to ½ done. And the owners dropped by again, to inspect the progress.

 

[harley jim]

That's a lot of dirt, did Dan give you a date on your clutch and parts.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Giving that Kubby a workout.

 

[xtremek]

That's a lot of dirt, did Dan give you a date on your clutch and parts.

You should see the whole pile. Dan said he hopes to have it done tomorrow.

Giving that Kubby a workout.

I'm doing my best. I wish we had enough money to buy one. But even used, they cost more than my Sonic did new ($20k).

 

[jollygreengiant]

You should see the whole pile. Dan said he hopes to have it done tomorrow.

I'm doing my best. I wish we had enough money to buy one. But even used, they cost more than my Sonic did new ($20k).

I can't believe how much compact tractors sell for new. I also can't believe how many people have new ones.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Right now the price on used Tractors is going up. With manufacturers not wanting people to work on new ones it is driving the used market up.

 

[xtremek]

The neighbor's tractor runs $40-45k with all of the attachments.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

You have to have attachments.

 

[sublime68charger]

Im thinking your gonna own the neighbor some blood and sweat work for getting to use the Nice tractor and loader to get your dirt moved! Glad you have neighbors to lean on when your best plans to get it done on your own dosn't stay on plan.

 

[xtremek]

I've already told him that I'll be doing several fab jobs on his equipment. He's 80 and I'm going to make some changes to his stuff to make it more user friendly for a man of his age. But I'll never be able to pay him back.

 

[sublime68charger]

some nice steps and a good Hand rail on his tractor should be on the list! make it easy for him to get on/off of it.

though maybe they are all ready there?

 

[Strouty]

There will be plenty of repairs to do, he will back into things and run things over, just like my Dad....

 

[xtremek]

Steps and grab rails are already there. Three of the next projects are a high mount on his tractor for a front facing camera so he can see what his bucket and blade are doing, a mount for the winch in his horse buggy trailer, and a pair of lift points in one of his stalls (he has a horse with a bad hip that can't get up some times).

 

[sublime68charger]

Steps and grab rails are already there. Three of the next projects are a high mount on his tractor for a front facing camera so he can see what his bucket and blade are doing, a mount for the winch in his horse buggy trailer, and a pair of lift points in one of his stalls (he has a horse with a bad hip that can't get up some times).

heck you should be able to get that all knocked out in a afternoon. Me would be a 2 week project to get that stuff done!