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Above 1200 Sq/FT Harley Jim's place

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harley jim

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Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
I'll try harder! LOL!
Didn't feel like getting dirty today so Pat and me went back to the Amish market and bought more veggies.
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Been helping Her chop veggies, she is making Chow Chow.
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I made a jug of kraut.
I have enough cabbage to make another jug, just not sure if I want to chop another 5lbs of cabbage tonight!
 
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harley jim

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
It finally quit raining! So I worked in the yard today, first thing this morning I picked the garden.

20250522_121141.jpgthe squash are loving all of the rain we have been getting. There loaded with squash and blooms.
20250522_121939.jpgpicked these today, and it looks like there will be another bucket tomorrow. The onions and lettuce will need attention also.
I mowed, then I was going to spray weeds but the new sprayer that I just bought will not work! I will empty it and flush it with clean water, if that dosnt do it, it is going back to tractor supply!
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I have been wanting to fix this spot for a while, it will not grow grass, I was at Lowes earlier this week and they had bags of potting soil for two dollars per bag so I got five! I spread them out and seeded it. Now the funny part! I got the sprinkler out and started watering! I know, I know, if I had done this 10 or 12 days ago it would have gotten wattered for free. The last time I fixed this spot the rains came and washed the soil and seed down the hill! The grass looks great down the hill by the way.
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Pat was given a picnic table for squirrels by some retard relative of hers several years ago, it was falling apart and she had asked if I thought I could fix it. Well it was rotten, there was no saving it, so I broke out the table saw and cut some strips of pine and went to work! In a few minutes I had two new picnic tables for the squirrels, Pat has a favorite squirrl. It's name is stumps, yep, you guessed it, no tail on this yard rat! I put a coat of gloss white on them and will give them a couple more coats tomorrow.
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But thats enough for today, I've had a bath and got the grill fired up. Tonight's menu is steak, baked potato, corn on the cob, and fried green tomatoes.
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And Muscadine Wine.🍷from N. Caroline. Uncle Willie will be so proud!
 
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harley jim

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
It's been raining again! Imagine that!
We were going to set trusses Saturday, but it rained, we said to heck with it Sunday, and it rained!
So I stayed in my shop for two days,
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This mess was bothering me, this is the Mule I bought earlier this year.
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So I started fixing linkage!
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I have a drawer full of hyme joints, so I found a good one and started cutting.
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I got this one done and went back for the next piece!
20250525_154701.jpgAnd, I found this! It was tacked welded to the bottom side of the linkage bracket! It was time to stop and find a repair manual!
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Turns out kawasaki Muel 550 has a cable shift not linkage, someone didn't want to spend 20 bucks for the correct part, so they improvised, in the past I have improvised, but not for 20 bucks!
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The new cable will be here in a week or so. On to the next problem.
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I replaced the driven half of the clutch earlier, but it still didn't want to shift without grinding a bit. I pulled the drive portion of the clutch off and disassembled it, naturally there is some wear, it probably has been hot and the springs do not want to hold the centrifugal portion (in) like it should, so the new drive portion will be here in a couple of days also.
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The previous owner bought this to rebuild and flip, but he admitted that he was in over his head and just wanted out. Whoever owned it before him was a true redneck jack leg!
Sometime way back it quit starting with the key so a push button was added to make it go! After tracing wires as far as I could reach, Donnie came over and went under it and after removing an inspection panel found a broken wire going to the key switch, two feet of wire and it was back in business, it will now start and stop with the key.
While I was at it I ordered a couple of other small parts, Im still way on the good side of the money on this project. A few parts now will make it worth more later, if that makes sense.
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While I was in the shop I plugged the coke machine in to check it out. It actually got down to 18 degrees, I set the thermostat to a warmer setting, it should run around 38 to 41 ish degrees, the optimum temperature to store and serve ..... coke, (clears throat) it isn't responding very well so it will need to be looked into a bit more at a later date, it may be that the bulb on the thermostat needs to be cleaned or repositioned, worse case is a new thermostat, they are about 50 bucks so not a big deal.
Well! That kind of brings me up to date, were going to the lodge this afternoon for a family gathering, there will be 15 or so attending, it's much easier there than at my house, we can all sit at one table.
 
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harley jim

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Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
Worked on the Mule again today. It's been leaking 90W from the right rear so I jacked it up and put it on stands.
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There is supposed to be a seal in front of that bearing. The new set was 26 bucks, it will be here Friday!
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Got it cleaned up.
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Pulled the bearing, with my homemade bearing puller. It was a 1/4 20 bolt until the grinder got it reconfigured!
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Wire brush, on a die grinder, and some paint.
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Then to the front, there isn't any lining on these shoes!
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Tossed all of that in a bucket and wire wheeled all of it. Put some paint on it also,
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The plan is to keep the Mule and sell the Yerf Dog, it's a great little truck, it has never let me down.
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I use it as a tool not for playing. But it has a live rear axle and dose tear up my lawn, with all of the trees here my lawn is shaded and therefore thin and it will take up roots and all if I turn to short. So I'm going to build the Mule as a keeper, and hopefully it will run as good as the Yerf Dog. Only time will tell.
 
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harley jim

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
I spent the morning cleaning the shop, so many buckets of stuff sitting around, I just had to clear some of it out. I moved some cabinets around and stacked the fridge on top of the new drawer unit, then moved the coke cooler against the wall, trying to get some floor space.
Pat had a set of curtains ready to be put up at the lodge so we went there and did a couple things and the curtains.
Went back to the shop where I cleaned and painted more mule parts. I made a bracket for the exhaust, I made a ware bracket for the ebrake cables to ride against the swing arm, there are some rubber fender flaps that run down the frame rail on the front, they are ripped up so I want to make new ones, all of the Phillips head bolts are rusted into there holes, I welded ½" nuts to the screw heads to get them out, they were really rough to get out!
 
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harley jim

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
Terry, they spoiled me on this one, a fork lift and a scissor lift, it don't get any better.


We finished the trusses today.
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We put the facia boards and the wall cleat on it while it was on the ground.
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Jeff drove the fork truck.
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He walked it out the front, then we held it while he repositioned.
He lifted it up and I attached the right corner. He backed up until the left corner landed, I screwed it down.
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It's hard to see but I started in the back and added X braces all the way to the front. Both gable ends are exactly plumb and every truss is tied together.
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We built half of the front wall. The bil told me the finished opening was to be 10'x 10' after we got it up here decided it was supposed to be 10' wide,x 8' high, so I have to go back and correct that. No big deal with the scissor lift! I'd been pissed if I would have had to do it on a ladder.
I may start putting the osb on the roof tomorrow, Pat said she would help me tomorrow!
 
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harley jim

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
Didn't do much Monday, had to go to town, return a bunch of stuff, took Pat out for lunch. Ordered a new weed sprayer for my lawn tractor.
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Today Jeff and I tore into Kayla's car. She said the temp gauge has been fluctuating.
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We did a pressure test on the cooling system and heard air escaping from the intake area.
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Then Donnie called and wanted to know if I could drive the tractor for him, he had some damage to his tractor shed.
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He had a couple of bar joist he needed help putting up.
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So we got them in place.
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He has done most of it himself but sometimes we all need a little help.
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So we tore it apart and found most of the intake bolts were loose, like almost finger tight loose. We could see fluid tracks in the gaskets where the antifreeze has been going into the intake runners.
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Went to the parts store and got a gasket set, oil and filter, and a thermostat!
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Scrapped the gasket surfaces and started Reassembling the motor.
We ran out of time tonight so we'll finish tomorrow.
 
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harley jim

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Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
I have been playing hookie,

Wednesday the bil hired a crew of Mexican roofers, they installed all of the facia, the osb, and the underlayment paper in about four hours, they did a fantastic job. I sat in a lawn chair under a tree and watched.
I got Sergio's phone number, I have several jobs that he is going to inherit,
Yesterday Pat and me took our new neighbors Rebecca and Jeff, antique shopping, we went to "Smalls" drive in for lunch.
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Jeff got the double bacon cheeseburger! Jeff, the owner of smalls looked at me and asked if he knew what he was ordering! I said suprise him.
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There double bacon cheeseburger is a full 1/2 pound of meat plus all of the trimmings and a pile of fries, thats a plate full! Jeff ate it and died out half way through the fries. He didn't want dessert either! I had a regular burger, and a black cherry shake for dessert.
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Jeff the owner is building an ice cream shop next door to the drive in, his grand opening date is August 9th, he asked if I could organize a car show for the grand opening, after we discussed it we decided to do a cruise in with the bil as the DJ and some live music mixed in throughout the evening. Car shows typically run from 11:00 to about 3:00, this cruise in will start at 2:00 and run til closing at 8:00 that night. Cruise ins are less formal and you don't have to stay for the full show!
I'm headed back to Jeff's shop now, we need to finish up Kayla's car.
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We pressure tested the cooling system after Reassembling the top end and found another leak behind the front structure plate, so the whole front of the motor is coming off now, this gasket set was only 19 dollars so it's getting cheaper anyway! The battery died and the front pads are almost on the sensors so that will be fixed also.
 
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harley jim

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
That burger looks divine!
Zanyad, I had the regular bacon cheeseburger and they are perfection, you would think that thick it would be raw in the middle, it's not!

Prices aren't too bad either!
Mr.zippy, they have great prices at both of there restaurants, plus they feed hundreds of veterans for free all year, they fed 1,200 on veterans day this year.

Back when I was a teenager, 2 lbs of burger was just enough for my brother and I to have burgers for dinner. Two burgers each and we weren't stuffed. Now adays, one 1/2 lb burger makes me beyond uncomfortable.
Me too!
There used to be a place here in Cleveland, (Angela's) they had a 1lb burger called the Tennessee tornado, plus a large fry, I have eaten a bunch of them, it would kill me today!

I was going to say I wish those prices were the same around here but those days are gone. :sad:
Typically most places are much higher. Smalls and Quick burger have good prices and great burgers and very long lines!
My two favorite places.


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We got the Lumina finished today, two gasket sets, six plugs, oil filter and oil, air filter, antifreeze, front pads, a handful of missing bolts, a radio antenna, and wiper blades, it was a mess, some p.o. must have not torque anything when they replaced the same gaskets we replaced. Several bolts were just slightly more than hand tight. When we pressurized the cooling system you could hear air leaks everywhere. It held 14psi for 30 minutes when we finished. Jeff also vacuum filled the cooling system, that eliminates having to purge air from the system. I drove it around the block and it ran great. I had no intention of fixing the car for personal reasons, but Kayla's aunt on the other side of the family started dialysis and has no car, so now she has a ride.
I came home and started mowing about halfway through it started raining, so what the heck! I kept mowing, Pat laughed her **** off when I came in dripping wet!
Hoping to get back on the Mule tomorrow!
 
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harley jim

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Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
Ok! Never got to touch the Mule this weekend, I worked on the soffit and facia on the bil's garage Saturday and today. The heat and the ladders got to me Saturday, thought I was going to get sick for a few minutes, my bp fell, I told them I'm done for the day.
Today we were able to walk on the roof of the semi trailer in the back, that made things just too easy. I told the bil to call the man and get the metal installed on the roof! I can do the facia and soffit on the sides after the roofers are gone. Jeff has two cars to work on Monday and Tuesday, so maybe Wednesday we can finish the front wall.
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I've been talking to Uncle Willie, he has a truck that I'm interested in. I may be heading his way to get it.
Tomorrow is another day, we'll do something!
 
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harley jim

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Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
I got out early today and started cleaning, I had a bunch of pallet lumber that was in my way so it got sorted, some went to the pile in the woods, and some got sorted into the stack. I picked up several loads of limbs and yard debris that went to the woods. Picked the garden.
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I have been sifting the wood ash that comes out of my wood stove over the winter. I saved it in a 35 gallon barrel, now I have wood ash to add to the garden, It contains potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium, which are all important for plant growth. Also it is alkaline and can help neutralize acidic soils, which I have, plus bugs don't like the chemicals and quit eating my plants! You can see what they have done to my cabbage. Little buggers! I picked up about 20 cinder blocks that were scattered around everywhere, I had four stacks of block that I consolidated into one stack and got rid of three old block pallets, gave one of my smokers to Jeff, we hauled it to his place. Planted grass seed in the back yard on the hill and spread straw on it and added seed fertilizer! Whew, this is making me tired!
Pat called and said lunch was ready, so I went in and took a shower and cleaned up, had lunch and a nap! Was jolted awake by a clap of thunder! Yep! It's raining again. We'll I guess it's going to be a Main Cabin Masters marathon on the magnolia network this afternoon!
 
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harley jim

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Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
I woke up this morning, sat straight up in bed at 6:00 and said, Rick's gas tank! Oh Sh.t!
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Rick bought my Blue Madness trike when I was in Florida, he did some more work on it and it's now street legal.
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Rick saw Roy's trike with the sporster gas tank, and of course he wants one also. So he shipped this to me, and I totally forgot about it. He sent it to me just before I cut my finger, so I kind of had an excuse! Sort of!
I cut it, and just like Roy's the bottom spreads and the top now is smaller than the bottom!
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You can't use the top for a lid if it's smaller than the bottom! So you have to do things.
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I put a ratchet strap around the tank and squeeze it together, it got cut a second time and squeezed some more. I added about 2 inches to the back.
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I had to add a strip of metal to each side also. You could see between the top and bottom without them.
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Did some sanding, added a lock and hasp.
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There is a hinge welded to the front center of the bottom and bolts to the top, you can separate them if you need to
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The lock sets into the C shaped notch, this keeps the top from moving side to side, you can see the hasp on the left of the notch.
It's going to powder coat tomorrow. I have to redo a fender bracket for his front wheel, I need to make the bracket wider and rotate the mounting holes.
 
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harley jim

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Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
Knocked the fender out this morning
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It was easy once I stared at it for a minute.
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I just cut the back half off of the existing bracket, heated and re bent them from 4¼" wide to 5¾", drilled four new holes.
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Then I noticed a big dent in the fender, I had to dolly it out, grind and sand to finish! Always something!
 
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harley jim

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Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,404
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
Drove to Vale N.Carolina up hwy 74 and back home through the Nantahala gourge today, 528 miles total. That gourge is where the hurricane Helena came through and killed so many.
It still looks bad in many places, and hwy 40 is still one lane in several places.
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And of course it had to rain, hard.
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It was a lot longer coming home that way, but the trailer brakes quit working and we couldn't fix them so we did not want to come back over the mountain through Murphy and Duck town, it's way too twisty of a road for that, especially with it raining! Over near Murphy is a piece of road called (the tail of the dragon), google that and you will understand!
But we made it home with a truck.
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I delivered a set of amp research running boards to a Man 10 minutes from where We picked up the truck, and I left a trike with this young man, the guy that bought it could not get off work, so he picked it up later.
It was a long day, Jeff and I talked for 14 hours about everything, but it was a good day!
 
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