Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

[jblnut]

Yes, I suppose you already have a pretty good IH utility

I do like this 884 but one can never have too many tractors. Never.

Great thread jblnut. Finished reading through on the weekend.

I'll add my vote for the inkzall markers, I seldom go far without one. Gave one to one of the guys in our mothers group a while back, he is a Radiographer and said he used it marking a patient for x-rays and the marks were still there a week or more later on the next visit.

Cage nut finger *****, I've had a few of those in my time as well, stings like a *******.

Thanks for sharing.

PS. Steak and corn with onions for dinner last night

GB

Thanks for stopping by and mudding your way through all of it.
You were a busy dude the last week or so, I see you went through cliftonbros thread as well !!

When I get InkZall ink on my hands it has to wear off, nothing seems to take it off without an amazing amount of scrubbing !!

It doesn't get much better than steak, corn and onions !!!

 

[davo727]

Winning quote >

one can never have too many tractors. Never.

 

[Seagoon]

The Dorchester plant wasn't the only IH plant in Europe but I believe it was the first in the late 40's to make IH branded tractors outside of the USA. The plant closed in mid Dec 2007. As far as I know all 84 and 85 series tractor were produced in that plant. The 784 we used to own had "Made in Great Britain" on the tag as well.

Thanks for following along from afar !! If you ever get closer come check out the 884 that was built in your back yard

I would love to do just that. I have never been a farmer but my Grandfather and Uncles were so it always interests me to see what you do. And when I was a Truck driver I did some loading and hauling live poultry (mostly turkeys but some chickens and ducks)so it's interesting to compare methods. Never my favourite job because all the farms were smaller than your chicken shed so it took some inspired driving to get in and out sometimes!

 

[jblnut]

Winning quote >

Well it's true

I would love to do just that. I have never been a farmer but my Grandfather and Uncles were so it always interests me to see what you do. And when I was a Truck driver I did some loading and hauling live poultry (mostly turkeys but some chickens and ducks)so it's interesting to compare methods. Never my favourite job because all the farms were smaller than your chicken shed so it took some inspired driving to get in and out sometimes!

Come over whenever the grass is green and I guarentee I'll be able to keep you busy doing something. We could trek to any number of dairy farms with or without robotic tech and you can see whatever you wish. It'd be a grand time.

Maybe I should host a summer get-together "Out on Quaker Road"

 

[jblnut]

I got in my loaner minivan and it told me it was cold out. Never seen this before.

Apparently when it's -39F dry shelled corn freezes in a big clump and doesn't flow. I had to get in the wagon and shovel it apart !!!

This morning it was very cold and there was almost no wind so the fog rose until it cooled from the fans in the chicken barn. It was pretty neat with the sun in the background.

Chickens are nice and warm in the 85F heat. Dad brought some more oak shavings from the planer and we spread them out for them to play with.

Although this beef looks a bit freezer burnt they don't seem to mind the cold at all.

Stupid steers lick at the water and play in it until the waterers are damn near frozen shut. It doesn't take long for the ice to build up when it's this cold out.

I was happily chipping away at the ice and I kept having the feeling I was being watched .....

Now quit screwing around and drink nicely !!!!!

I decided it was a good time to manually do Windows updates on the ol' PC and was proven wrong. It didn't want to boot so I tore it out of the media stand and brought it downstairs. After a bit of troubleshooting it seems one of the RAM sticks had gone bad and was causing it to hang while booting. This machine is rarely turned off as it's my Plex server, NVR and hosts an FTP site I use at work. It needs to run so it went to the tippy top of the priority list as I'll need it tomorrow for work. The timing ***** because I have a 1TB SSD and another 16GB of RAM on the way for it. That seems to be how it goes though. Never good timing.

 

[STClurker]

Maybe I should host a summer get-together "Out on Quaker Road"

I'm in, sounds like fun

 

[red]

I decided it was a good time to manually do Windows updates on the ol' PC and was proven wrong. It didn't want to boot so I tore it out of the media stand and brought it downstairs. After a bit of troubleshooting it seems one of the RAM sticks had gone bad and was causing it to hang while booting. This machine is rarely turned off as it's my Plex server, NVR and hosts an FTP site I use at work. It needs to run so it went to the tippy top of the priority list as I'll need it tomorrow for work. The timing ***** because I have a 1TB SSD and another 16GB of RAM on the way for it. That seems to be how it goes though. Never good timing.

You're timing isn't that bad . . . Capt Morgan is at your disposal

 

[XJSuperman]

Maybe I should host a summer get-together "Out on Quaker Road"

Im in. I keep meaning to swing by anyways.

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: looks like your NINNIES might be a bit on the cold side at -39. GEESH!!!

looks like the chicks are happy and you say the cows are ok I bet they could use a blanket or two.

all the extra work on the farm at these low temps looks EXHAUSTING, but I know you are somewhat used to it.

we are supposed to get snow here this weekend, but it's been in the 50's and sunny for a good part of January. the hard part here is trying to get around cause even a little rain causes the idiots on the roads to jam up with accidents and snow is great for me, but others who move here from hot climates have never seen it and don't know that you have to plan for your stops.

thanks for posting up all the pics of your working and farm life.

cheers (Yep i saw the bottle there for quick warm you ups)

 

[davo727]

What does it cost to heat the 32,000 sq ft ? chicken barn for a month of that cold?

 

[sublime68charger]

Nice work!

How many water stations due you have for the cattle!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Winning quote >

X2

 

[oldironfarmer]

The steers are just bored. Put a few cycling heifers in there and they'll leave the water alone.

I had cattle just sipping the water one time. Turns out I had a bad ground and they were getting a mild shock when they touched the water. Electric heater was leaving stray voltages in the water. I felt bad they had to get shocked to drink.

 

[jblnut]

I'm in, sounds like fun

Im in. I keep meaning to swing by anyways.

Hmmmm. Maybe a Saturday BBQ or something. We could have a tractor/car show. Might be fun.

You're timing isn't that bad . . . Capt Morgan is at your disposal

Although Capt Morgan wants to be helpful, The Capt seldom is in the right ways

JBL: looks like your NINNIES might be a bit on the cold side at -39. GEESH!!! The Ninnies got chilled but didn't freeze so all is well !!!

looks like the chicks are happy and you say the cows are ok I bet they could use a blanket or two. The steers don't seem to mind the cold. Not sure why but they get frosty and eat WAY more and are happy.

all the extra work on the farm at these low temps looks EXHAUSTING, but I know you are somewhat used to it. One never truly gets used to cold THAT cold.

we are supposed to get snow here this weekend, but it's been in the 50's and sunny for a good part of January. the hard part here is trying to get around cause even a little rain causes the idiots on the roads to jam up with accidents and snow is great for me, but others who move here from hot climates have never seen it and don't know that you have to plan for your stops. We dealt with people that didn't know how to drive in the snow when we went to Arizona a few years back. It was HILARIOUS watching them struggle !!

thanks for posting up all the pics of your working and farm life. Not going to lie I still find it boggling that as many people stop by as they do for what is my normal day to day grind. I'm glad to share !!

cheers (Yep i saw the bottle there for quick warm you ups) But what you don't see is the Dr. Pepper it gets mixed with. Ever had a shot of Morgan ?? That'll put hair on your chest !!

What does it cost to heat the 32,000 sq ft ? chicken barn for a month of that cold?

The tanks were going down about 10% per day. I think they fill the 1,000gal tanks to 88% or something goofy so that would be 352gal/day of LP. Seems like a lot but there are 28x80,000btu heaters in there. The heaters only ran about 60% of the time so they weren't really struggling to keep it warm.

Nice work!
How many water stations due you have for the cattle!

Thanks dude
So far only two waterers but there will be an additional one in the barn addition .... whenever that gets finished

X2

You are my idol Andy ... well you and your tractor collection. The casting/foundry stuff and your CNC deal are neat but that whole mess of tractors you have just sitting there to look at makes me drool

The steers are just bored. Put a few cycling heifers in there and they'll leave the water alone.

I had cattle just sipping the water one time. Turns out I had a bad ground and they were getting a mild shock when they touched the water. Electric heater was leaving stray voltages in the water. I felt bad they had to get shocked to drink.

I don't think there's stray voltage as they do it in the summer with the power turned off as well. I think they're bored and this is something to do. Yeah, a couple heifers would sure keep them "busy" alright

 

[davo727]

Ok I guess the chicken company just has to average it out, lose their shirt on the winter batch and make it up in the summer. People still eat chicken in winter so they have to maintain supply.

 

[sublime68charger]

For the bad ram stick did you try the old pencil eraser clean/shine up the contacts and plug it back in?

That has saved me a bunch of times!

Or as my old coworker coined,
Rubbing the ram!

 

[jblnut]

Ok I guess the chicken company just has to average it out, lose their shirt on the winter batch and make it up in the summer. People still eat chicken in winter so they have to maintain supply.

I'd imagine its something like that. On warmer days like today the fuel usage is quite low. From last night to this morning I didn't even notice the gauge drop. It is 50F warmer outside today though

For the bad ram stick did you try the old pencil eraser clean/shine up the contacts and plug it back in?

That has saved me a bunch of times!

Or as my old coworker coined,
Rubbing the ram!

Oh yes, I rubbed the RAM, I rubbed it good !! Still didn't want to post so it'll run 8GB short for a few days, no biggie.

 

[jblnut]

Today we'll be pulling the tractor in half


To keep dirt and junk out of the oil/fuel lines I use fingers cut off of nitrile gloves with tape and zip ties. It works well and is easy and cheap.


BooYah !! It's apart !!


The first use of the Northern Tool hoist was a wild success.


Clutch end ...


Trans end. The PTO and Trans input shafts are in great shape so that's one less thing that needs to be replaced.


Clutch looks to be in decent shape but is definitely worn down. It is quite oily though and that may be causing more slippage than the wear.


The flywheel looks to be in great shape with no visable wear. Good deal. If it was worn that's one more thing that would need to be repaired.


Well there is a plate that needs to be removed that ends under the console so off it comes.


A few more lines taken apart and capped and we're off and running !!


After removing an inch of dirt and oily goober we found the top of the plate !!


Got the plate off. The T/A that is causing issues is the wide metal looking deal towards the bottom of the picture. There are mini clutch packs in there that need to be replaced.


Here's where it sits for the night. My co-worker buddy is gonna come over tomorrow and help pull the trans and T/A apart.


A trick I use when dissembling things is to put parts and pieces in ziplock bags and label where they came from. Too many times I've put everything in a big bucket and not known where everything goes. This works well and is simple.


This evening after supper Mr. Leo came out to inspect our work. He approved but had to use the extra long screw driver for a while.

 

[davo727]

The top of that trans looks familiar, I have an old International 250 A backhoe that im going to try and get back up and running this month.

Main problem is I have to redo the linkage for the FWD/Rev. Its all seized up. It just pushes a plunger up and down to change the flow to whatever in the trans.

I could just make up a cable instead of the linkage....

 

[oldironfarmer]

Great work! Is that the T/A shift lever going in the top plate? I've never been around that new equipment.

I cap lines with foil tape, I think torturing nitrile gloves might be more fun.

Looks like it has a ball bearing for a pilot bearing.

Did you know you can grease the pilot bearing on an H or M with no disassembly?

350 gallons per day, Whew! is that out of your profit or is that on the chicken company?

 

[jblnut]

The top of that trans looks familiar, I have an old International 250 A backhoe that I'm going to try and get back up and running this month.

Main problem is I have to redo the linkage for the FWD/Rev. Its all seized up. It just pushes a plunger up and down to change the flow to whatever in the trans.

I could just make up a cable instead of the linkage....

If I'm not mistaken that 250A is very similar to the 684. They're made alongside the 84 series in the same factory around the same time. Is your's a hydro ??

Great work! Is that the T/A shift lever going in the top plate? I've never been around that new equipment.

I cap lines with foil tape, I think torturing nitrile gloves might be more fun.

Looks like it has a ball bearing for a pilot bearing.

Did you know you can grease the pilot bearing on an H or M with no disassembly?

350 gallons per day, Whew! is that out of your profit or is that on the chicken company?

Thanks Andy !! The lever in the middle is the gear selector and the lever/plunger towards the front is the T/A shifter.

Foil is a great idea as well !! I put on a fingerless glove and Dad said it looked like what a homeless surgeon would wear

The pilot bearing is indeed a ball bearing. It looks to be in great shape but I'm thinking I'll replace it anyway as long as I've got access.

All inputs are paid for by the chicken company. The gas man came yesterday and so far this flock the barn has used 2017 gallons of LP. It has been heated between 85-94 degrees for 16 days so 126 gallons per day average so far. That average will only go down as time goes on as the set temp will drop gradually to 67 towards the end of the flock.

 

[Muzzy]

By the pictures everything looks to be in good shape in there!

Since you have it apart, will you replace the clutch plate anyway?

The guy who sold you the tractor probably did you a solid by letting you handle the repair instead of screwing it up. You guys are making it look easy.

 

[davo727]

Yeah I guess its a hydro- It has the forward reverse lever and I assume it has a torque converter and then the funny thing is it basically has a manual range transmission attached to the rear of the fwd rev auto section...

Ive been told this base unit shares with a 574 tractor. Has the 239 engine.

If I'm not mistaken that 250A is very similar to the 684. They're made alongside the 84 series in the same factory around the same time. Is your's a hydro ??

 

[jblnut]

By the pictures everything looks to be in good shape in there!

Since you have it apart, will you replace the clutch plate anyway?

The guy who sold you the tractor probably did you a solid by letting you handle the repair instead of screwing it up. You guys are making it look easy.

From what we can see it looks decent. No chipped gears or anything out of place. The clutch housing area has a lot of oil in it, it doesn't look to be coming from the rear engine seal but rather one of the two seals on the trans. I don't know how I'd ever get the clutch cleaned up to the point I'd trust putting it back in as it's full of oil. That may have been more the issue with the clutch slipping than anything else. There is noticeable wear on it but it still has a lot of life left in it.

I purchased the tractor from Van Wall Equipment (a JD Dealer in Nevada, IA). Everything seemed to check out when we drove it around on the lot but as soon as we started using it a few things became apparent. The Hour Meter doesn't work so who knows how many hours are actually on it, the T/A was just strong enough that it worked on the lot, the clutch didn't slip on the lot but we didn't put it under load .... all kinds of things but that's what you get with something used. It was also almost $4k less than anything locally so it's not so bad really.

Yeah I guess its a hydro- It has the forward reverse lever and I assume it has a torque converter and then the funny thing is it basically has a manual range transmission attached to the rear of the fwd rev auto section...

I've been told this base unit shares with a 574 tractor. Has the 239 engine.

If it's got a High and Low range on the left fender as well as a 3 speed trans it's got a T/A on the dash. If it's got a High and Low and a 4 speed trans it shouldn't have a T/A. If it's a Hydro it should have only the High and Low on the left fender. A Hydro 250A would be a nice tractor to have !!!

I'm digging into the foggy back areas of my brain here but I'm pretty sure the older IH 2500 Industrial tractor and the 574 were close cousins and the IH 250A and the 684 were siblings but I could be wrong. I'm often wrong I guess ....

 

[jblnut]

I got the wood stove fired up in the shop this morning again so we can continue to tear apart the 884.

It was around 25F all day so we went outside with the littles. The first stop we had to make was to look around in the barn

After lunch Pete and his son came over to help tear down the 884. Currently he's under the tractor getting a snap ring off the rear of the PTO clutch so the trans can come off the tractor.

Behind that cover is the PTO clutch and the band for the parking brake. Not a real easy place to get into ....

1000 RPM PTO shaft has to come out .....

Annnnd it's finally free after about an hour of screwing around taking more stuff apart !!!!

In our haste to take the trans off we forgot to drain the oil out of the rear where the PTO comes out ... I caught a bunch of it but at least half is getting sucked up with floor dry

The front of the trans where the clutch housing is shouldn't have any oil or moisture in it. Clearly one of these two gaskets is leaking because the backside of the engine is nice and dry.

WhooHoo the T/A is finally out and on the bench !!

What a mess again !!!

 

[red]

I got the wood stove fired up in the shop this morning again so we can continue to tear apart the 884.



1000 RPM PTO shaft has to come out .....

Annnnd it's finally free after about an hour of screwing around taking more stuff apart !!!!




What a mess again !!!

No wonder why it's so expensive to get it done by the dealer.

Now the hard part finding all the pieces to get it back together . . .
Seems like no matter how carefully you put the pieces away and in order, ya always is missing one more piece of hardware.

 

[ripperd]

Awesome thread. I just spent the last week reading through it entirely. I have relatives that farmed about 45 mins north of Alexandria for a long time, they retired and moved off the farm though. I also moved out to the very edge of the twin cities, where my cul-de-sac ends in a farm field, and there are 2 dairy farms adjacent to that field. Fun to see the inner workings of it all. Keep it up!

 

[Farmall450]

The steers are just bored. Put a few cycling heifers in there and they'll leave the water alone.

I had cattle just sipping the water one time. Turns out I had a bad ground and they were getting a mild shock when they touched the water. Electric heater was leaving stray voltages in the water. I felt bad they had to get shocked to drink.

Yikes!

 

[Farmall450]

Great work! Is that the T/A shift lever going in the top plate? I've never been around that new equipment.

I cap lines with foil tape, I think torturing nitrile gloves might be more fun.

Looks like it has a ball bearing for a pilot bearing.

Did you know you can grease the pilot bearing on an H or M with no disassembly?

350 gallons per day, Whew! is that out of your profit or is that on the chicken company?

Yes, it's a swell design.

 

[jblnut]

No wonder why it's so expensive to get it done by the dealer.

Now the hard part finding all the pieces to get it back together . . .
Seems like no matter how carefully you put the pieces away and in order, ya always is missing one more piece of hardware.

When they gave me the price there was a bottle of lube on the quote

Awesome thread. I just spent the last week reading through it entirely. I have relatives that farmed about 45 mins north of Alexandria for a long time, they retired and moved off the farm though. I also moved out to the very edge of the twin cities, where my cul-de-sac ends in a farm field, and there are 2 dairy farms adjacent to that field. Fun to see the inner workings of it all. Keep it up!

You went through it in a week ?!?! That's pretty good !!! It took me over 4 years to put it together

Thanks for following along !!!

Yikes!

Eh' I think they're fine.

Yes, it's a swell design.

NEver done it I guess, just been greasing the H and M for years. They just keep going.

 

[Grover C]

Awesome thread thanks for sharing storys

 

[jblnut]

Awesome thread thanks for sharing storys

Thanks for stopping by Grover !! I'm having a good time sharing what I do and sure do enjoy sifting through all the great threads on here as there are so many !!

 

[jblnut]

Dad dropped the T/A off at the local CNH Dealer to get rebuilt and there is a lot of misc stuff to do before it all can go back together. The flywheel is soaked in oil and needs to be shiny and clean before reassembly.

Just about used an entire can of brakeclean to get this done but it is nice and clean !!!

Next up .... old gasket removal. This *****.

Time to make use of a power tool.

The straight blade did alright in the areas that were wide open but I couldn't get in the clutch housing or back by the PTO and I didn't have a right angle blade to get in there nicely so I made one.

It even fits !!!

Er'ma'gawsh this thing works VERY well

Yet another use for this neat little magic wand. To remove this old white paper gasket only took maybe two minutes. Sure beats using a hand scraper or razor blade.

 

[Farmall450]

Neat use of a multitool, might have to try that someday: I rarely find uses for mine.

 

[red]

Dad dropped the T/A off at the local CNH Dealer to get rebuilt and there is a lot of misc stuff to do before it all can go back together. The flywheel is soaked in oil and needs to be shiny and clean before reassembly.


Next up .... old gasket removal. This *****.


Time to make use of a power tool.

The straight blade did alright in the areas that were wide open but I couldn't get in the clutch housing or back by the PTO and I didn't have a right angle blade to get in there nicely so I made one.

It even fits !!!

Er'ma'gawsh this thing works VERY well

Yet another use for this neat little magic wand. To remove this old white paper gasket only took maybe two minutes. Sure beats using a hand scraper or razor blade.

Wow, best tool I ever bought!
My brother is constantly borrowing my Dewalt after I bought it.
(Gave him my old HF but it's noisy and corded)

Can't believe I never thought about using those scraper blades for getting those damn gaskets off.
Fantastic idea!

 

[XJSuperman]

I always use a right angle die grinder and scotchbright type pads. Just be careful not to sit in one place too long and ruin the surface.

The tractor is really coming along. Keep after it.

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: hard to believe there is profit in the CHICKEN BUSINESS when you talk about using that amount of fuel. I know the company you work with has the CHICKEN BUSINESS down almost to a science and you've tweaked a lot of the stuff they didn't to maybe make your job a lot easier so i'll let you (and them) count the beans so to speak.

I bought a FEIN multi-tool maybe 3 or 4 years ago and OMG it's a handy tool. i've used that blade you cut and rewelded at a 90 degree angle to cut my 3/4 and 1.5 inch rubber mats instead of using a utility knife. I've also cut tough to cut holes in wood (think an outlet hole in the middle of some 3/4 inch oak trim for one example or trimming up a piece of wood instead of in a tight spot instead of the old days having to remove it or everything on top of it. nice job making a new gasket removal blade that you should call FEIN and tell them to make one for all of us. (FESTOOL might make the nicest one, but the German made FEIN was maybe first and then a lot of tool companies put one in their tool line and I've got a battery operated Ryobi 18v one too that isn't as heavy duty and doesn't have the 15 foot cord on it that Fein does).

looks like you are still in the DEEP FREEZE and we finally joined you now cause it snowed here about 4-6 inches on Sunday night and monday morning and we don't do snow well in our city.

stay warm!!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Neat use of a multitool, might have to try that someday: I rarely find uses for mine.

X2! Exactly.

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: just to clarify I use a different bit for wood. I used the tile bit to dig out grout on a bathroom tile removal and replacement a few years ago and I just won't use it for 4 hours at a time cause it killed my elbow the next day.

the blades are spendy for Fein, but i've found a few substitutes. that said I've never like their metal cutting blade so I use my sawsall or other tools for metal.

yep that custom 90 degree bend you made could almost be PATENTED it's such a good idea.

Just proves that those FARMERS REALLY not how to GET R DONE!!

 

[jblnut]

Neat use of a multitool, might have to try that someday: I rarely find uses for mine.

This is the first thing I've actually used it for. I had a cheap Tool Shop one I wore out doing trim work in the bus over the years. Well okay I guess it didn't ware out but it was a PITA dragging a cord around so it had to go.

Wow, best tool I ever bought!
My brother is constantly borrowing my Dewalt after I bought it.
(Gave him my old HF but it's noisy and corded)

Can't believe I never thought about using those scraper blades for getting those damn gaskets off.
Fantastic idea!

I scrapped a bunch of gaskets Sunday evening and used a wire wheel on a drill which wasn't great either. I thought there must be a better way and decided to try the multi-tool. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked !!

I always use a right angle die grinder and scotchbright type pads. Just be careful not to sit in one place too long and ruin the surface.

The tractor is really coming along. Keep after it.

A right angle die grinder has been on my to get list for a while and I think it may move up a spot or two. The multi-tool works well but it doesn't get it 100% clean. It takes the bulk of it off very well though !!

JBL: hard to believe there is profit in the CHICKEN BUSINESS when you talk about using that amount of fuel. I know the company you work with has the CHICKEN BUSINESS down almost to a science and you've tweaked a lot of the stuff they didn't to maybe make your job a lot easier so i'll let you (and them) count the beans so to speak.
There must be money in it or they would keep expanding I guess. As long as my rent check comes I'm happy

I bought a FEIN multi-tool maybe 3 or 4 years ago and OMG it's a handy tool. I've used that blade you cut and rewelded at a 90 degree angle to cut my 3/4 and 1.5 inch rubber mats instead of using a utility knife. I've also cut tough to cut holes in wood (think an outlet hole in the middle of some 3/4 inch oak trim for one example or trimming up a piece of wood instead of in a tight spot instead of the old days having to remove it or everything on top of it. Nice job making a new gasket removal blade that you should call FEIN and tell them to make one for all of us. (FESTOOL might make the nicest one, but the German made FEIN was maybe first and then a lot of tool companies put one in their tool line and I've got a battery operated Ryobi 18v one too that isn't as heavy duty and doesn't have the 15 foot cord on it that FEIN does).I looked all over the great big internet and couldn't find a 90 degree blade like the one I boogered together. They can read this thread and steal the idea and I think I'm okay with it

The other brands make fine tools but are too spendy for my liking. If I'm going to damage/destroy a Ryobi tool I more than likely will do the same to the nicer tool as well. I'm a big Ryobi fan. They're cheap and work well.
Heck, they really are just green Milwaukee tools

looks like you are still in the DEEP FREEZE and we finally joined you now cause it snowed here about 4-6 inches on Sunday night and Monday morning and we don't do snow well in our city.

stay warm!!We're staying plenty warm here !! It always makes me chuckle when people talk about how "cold" it is in their parts of the world. I think -35F is pretty cold and I'm sure there are many that think -35F ain't so bad

X2! Exactly.

Even I surprise myself sometimes. I assure for ever idea that works out there are MANY MANY that fail miserably. Failure isn't a bad thing, it's an opportunity to do better is all.

JBL: just to clarify I use a different bit for wood. I used the tile bit to dig out grout on a bathroom tile removal and replacement a few years ago and I just won't use it for 4 hours at a time cause it killed my elbow the next day.Yeah, I read that twice and thought you must be crazy to cut wood with a scraper blade

the blades are spendy for Fein, but i've found a few substitutes. that said I've never like their metal cutting blade so I use my sawsall or other tools for metal.I just ordered a 20pk of blades off ol' eBay for $11.74 shipped so we'll see how kind of quality they are

yep that custom 90 degree bend you made could almost be PATENTED it's such a good idea.

Just proves that those FARMERS REALLY not how to GET R DONE!!If I don't have it I try to make it. I grew up with a scrap pile in the back yard and a shop with a welder and cutoff saw. You learn to make what you need and anything is possible !!