Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

[quattro_sinko]

Thank you for following along !!!

Full time unemployment is going well so far


Thank you for following along and posting in here !!

Managing the heck of a grind has been taking a fair bit of Windsor lately but it keeps going !!

I can honestly say I've never given that particular aspect of the soil profile having less saturation in it much thought. It makes sense though. Wet and damp soils will move more when they freeze/thaw so yeah, I'd wager to guess rocks should come up slower. All the more reason to put another couple hundred thousand feet of tile in the ground !!!

Thanks for the in-depth reply (no pun intended). I live in rural farm country in the northeast, and the countryside is sectioned off everywhere with frost heave/field stone walls outlining every field that was ever worked.

PS: The camaro surprise must have been incredible. Please post drone vids of Dad spinning donuts.

 

[jblnut]

Well done Mike, your dad looks good behind the wheel!

Jay

He sure does !!!

Well done!!!

That is almost as good as an "atta boy" !!! Yessssssssssssssss !!!!!!!!!!!!

NICE!
Your Dad must have been incredulous when he saw you towing that up the driveway.

I actually drove in the yard with it and he was outside. The look on his face was worth every penny !!

I like it!
Nice work.

Picasso I like it !!!

Thanks for the in-depth reply (no pun intended). I live in rural farm country in the northeast, and the countryside is sectioned off everywhere with frost heave/field stone walls outlining every field that was ever worked.

PS: The Camaro surprise must have been incredible. Please post drone vids of Dad spinning donuts.

Once we get it licensed/insured there will be more pictures and videos I'm sure !! Pops is pretty stoked

 

[Bob Heine]

Mike, your present is living proof:

"The only difference between men and boys are the size of their shoes and the price of their toys."

I had the same look on my face when I pulled in the driveway with my Cadillac.

 

[jblnut]

This summer I've been trying to keep one of the littles home one day a week (Lily gets Monday and Friday though) to hang out with me. Today was Leos day and he was Grandpas shadow all day long !!


I found a stellar grinder at an auction for $90 !!!


A fellow GJ member came up last weekend to pick up some hamburger and steaks and do some welding in the shop.


We were bullshitting and working and such and I forgot to take in progress pics but here is the finished product. A used Wishek Disc blade, a chunk of oil well pipe and a piece of 1/2" plate will make a nice grinder stand !!


Sweet 8" grinder on this bad boy


He wire wheeled it clean and painted it.


I got a couple pictures of it and an excited "Look you can see the Wishek in the disc !!!" Sweet deal !!!


Switching gears to building an A/C bracket for Mama Bears new house. I didn't want it A/C condenser to sit on the ground as I had a habit of blowing grass and junk into the last one. I used some old bed frames and apparently a broken tape measure to build it. Nothing a little low heat MIG welding and a copper plate can't fix !!


Booger that stuff in there !!!! Yessssssssssssssss !!


I sent these pics to a union welder buddy and he sent back a bunch of those throwing up emoji's so I know it's "good enough".


Turned out decent after powder coat though !!


Just gotta get it hooked up now


The inside of my "new" grain bin needed some black smooze smeared on the bottom panels where they met the concrete so I did it on a 95F day so it was all nice and gooey ....


It turned out well enough and worked great but I puked my guts out when I got out of the bin after about an hour ..... I brought the ol' Milwaukee Temp Gun in there later and the bucket of black goo in there was 130F. No wonder. Could have been a bad deal


On to today's project !! Or rather the beginning of the wood boiler shed. This drain will be in the way so it's going to get dug out and buried inside a larger pipe to discharge past the new wood shed.


I only caught the pipe with the bucket tooth once. Still made a HUGE gash in the pipe though


This location is half way between the shop and the house AND right in the middle of a waterway. Perfect place for a shed !!!


Boiler will be over there'ish. Haven't decided inside or outside the shed yet but I'm leaning towards having the entire thing inside the shed.


40' of 18" dual wall pipe to take the surface water and 60' of 10" single wall to sleeve around the 8" from the drain by the shop. The 4" shop floor/outdoor drain will tie into the 10" as well. A casual $1,400 in pipe sitting there


I cleaned out my tile supplier with 18" couplers for another drainage project .....


As you can see I tried to makeshift a coupler to join together the cores that come with the tile we use in the field. I think it'd work BUT it was a huge PITA. The couplers were $14/ea so that seems cheap .... The plan is to bury a pair of 18" culverts all along here to get the surface water GONE and I can plant grass nicely over the top of it all.

 

[jblnut]

Mike, your present is living proof:

"The only difference between men and boys are the size of their shoes and the price of their toys."

I had the same look on my face when I pulled in the driveway with my Cadillac.

No kidding. As a kid I was excited to gift a macaroni creation to Mom and Dad and now it turned into a damn car. I think we got a fair deal on it considering it's condition but it was a rather large spend for us. Dad has been REALLY good to my sister and I over the years and this is a fraction of what he's helped us with so it was an easy decision. Buy the damn thing !! He's given us more than this over the years in labor and good deals so he's essentially paid for it already

Bob, I follow your thread and don't post often but I appreciate you following along here. This may be the late night Pendleton talking BUT it truly humbles me at how many follow our adventures and send PM's asking for pictures/descriptions of different things. Lots of things in other threads on GJ that make me smile as well. It's fun sharing what we're doing and I've learned a lot from this community over the years.

 

[SKFengineer]

On the car for your dad... My FIL has his first '64 Impala SS that he bought new, there are tons of family memories in that car and every time he drives it we hear them all. I could tell the stories myself at this point but for some reason it never gets old. Great job finding the car and getting it for him.

 

[drivesitfar]

Sorry I’m a bit lax lately on posts but wanted to say a few things.

1) awesome gesture giving your dad an old restored Camaro. I’m sure he loves it and it might help him smile even on those tuff days on the farm

2) awesome that you’re living in your new home

3) great idea to keep kids home on their OWN days with you and dad to learn gaming or just hang.

4) since you got sick from that stuff you used to repair bottom of new bin are you going to keep it covered so smell/fumes or it won’t get on or into your product?

5) keep up the great work and keep posting as you have time cause a lot of us still love reading your posts even if we are not posting all the time.

Lastly I’m hoping all those 3 inch rain days didn’t wash all the expensive seed away and it did more good than harm.

Take care!!

 

[jblnut]

On the car for your dad... My FIL has his first '64 Impala SS that he bought new, there are tons of family memories in that car and every time he drives it we hear them all. I could tell the stories myself at this point but for some reason it never gets old. Great job finding the car and getting it for him.

I've heard so many stories about this car and the adventures it took him so I know what you're talking about !!

Sorry I’m a bit lax lately on posts but wanted to say a few things.

1) awesome gesture giving your dad an old restored Camaro. I’m sure he loves it and it might help him smile even on those tuff days on the farm

2) awesome that you’re living in your new home

3) great idea to keep kids home on their OWN days with you and dad to learn gaming or just hang.

4) since you got sick from that stuff you used to repair bottom of new bin are you going to keep it covered so smell/fumes or it won’t get on or into your product?

5) keep up the great work and keep posting as you have time cause a lot of us still love reading your posts even if we are not posting all the time.

Lastly I’m hoping all those 3 inch rain days didn’t wash all the expensive seed away and it did more good than harm.

Take care!!

Thanks for stopping by Drives !!

Pops will hopefully drive this car enough that I don't have to pester him to do so. Once his house and shed are done and he can have it near him I'm sure it'll get miles put on it !!

Living in but not fully moved in lol

Kiddos are having a good time thus far so we'll continue as long as we can. One at time is the max I can safely keep an eye on here on the farm.

100% sure I puked after being in the bin because I got way too hot. I've had heat related stuff in the past and have thrown up then as well. Like today .... I almost lost it and had to lay in the shop on the cool floor for a while while drinking Pedialyte. I push too hard and don't drink enough fluids when it's hot out and always regret it.

I'm taking a bunch of pictures of stuff again and looking forward to keeping this thing more current.


Thousands of dollars in lost corn yield washed away with those big rains. Not enough to warrant an insurance claim and replant but almost. Sure does ****. That's farming though I guess.

 

[jollygreengiant]

I've heard so many stories about this car and the adventures it took him so I know what you're talking about !!



Thanks for stopping by Drives !!

Pops will hopefully drive this car enough that I don't have to pester him to do so. Once his house and shed are done and he can have it near him I'm sure it'll get miles put on it !!

Living in but not fully moved in lol

Kiddos are having a good time thus far so we'll continue as long as we can. One at time is the max I can safely keep an eye on here on the farm.

100% sure I puked after being in the bin because I got way too hot. I've had heat related stuff in the past and have thrown up then as well. Like today .... I almost lost it and had to lay in the shop on the cool floor for a while while drinking Pedialyte. I push too hard and don't drink enough fluids when it's hot out and always regret it.

I'm taking a bunch of pictures of stuff again and looking forward to keeping this thing more current.


Thousands of dollars in lost corn yield washed away with those big rains. Not enough to warrant an insurance claim and replant but almost. Sure does ****. That's farming though I guess.

As someone else who has trouble with heat related stuff, don't push yourself too hard. You can get into trouble pretty quick if you don't take notice and slow down, which it sounds like you are doing. You've got a bunch of little ones there that are counting on you being around for a while. Now yes that sounds extreme since heat related stuff isn't usually considered a life threatening condition unless it's an extreme case, but the combination of heat issues and running machinery can be dangerous.

Good job on getting the Camaro back though! I'm sure your dad is loving it!

I'll be following your outdoor boiler install closely. We are looking at heating options for the house and eventually the shop here so I will be interested to see your thoughts on it as you go.

 

[jblnut]

As someone else who has trouble with heat related stuff, don't push yourself too hard. You can get into trouble pretty quick if you don't take notice and slow down, which it sounds like you are doing. You've got a bunch of little ones there that are counting on you being around for a while. Now yes that sounds extreme since heat related stuff isn't usually considered a life threatening condition unless it's an extreme case, but the combination of heat issues and running machinery can be dangerous.

Good job on getting the Camaro back though! I'm sure your dad is loving it!

I'll be following your outdoor boiler install closely. We are looking at heating options for the house and eventually the shop here so I will be interested to see your thoughts on it as you go.

I usually know my limits in the heat but sometimes "I'm almost done, just 5 more minutes" wins out and I regret it. When it's hot I usually carry around a couple Gatorade bottles with water in them and will drink 10+ easily. 2 gallons of water in a day isn't unheard of for me when I'm working in the heat. I usually have a couple of those Pedialyte packets for adults in my lunch box and a few in glove boxes just in case.

The Camaro has been sitting in my garage since the day it got brought home waiting on plates/insurance. It'll get miles put on it when it gets plates though !!!

Boiler install pics (sort of) in the post below. I plan to have someone come hook it all up once I have the pipes installed. I don't really want to mess with connecting into the in floor boilers in the house and shop. I plan to have the heat exchangers mounted in the furnaces and such before they get here though.

Fun stuff for a later post but the shop is getting central A/C soon

 

[jblnut]

The pad for the boiler and wood shed are coming along nicely.


18" dual wall ?!?! Yes please !! Gotta make sure to LUBE it so it slides in nicer .... mmmmmhmmmmmmm


Okay so once in a while (ok WAY more often than that) I look at something and giggle WAY more than I should just because some immature side of myself sees something that isn't actually there. This is one of those times. Something about that gasket slot had me giggling for WAY too long


8" line from the outdoor shop drain patched and stuck into the new 10". 4" shop floor drain/outdoor drain overflow tied into it as well. The 10" here was WAY overkill but my supplier had it on hand and I didn't have to make another trip up there to get it.


The ol' Bobcat pulling it's weight. One day I'd like to update this to one size larger machine .... Like a Cat 315


All those pretty pipes in a row nicely. I wanted them to be slightly not in a straight line ..... yeah .....


Backfilled with pit sand and I watered the **** out of it all to get the sand to flow into the open areas.


I figured since I got the tire packer option for my Bobcat S300 I may as well use that to pack each lift as it went in. Turns out with an 8' snow bucket full of dirt it packs better than the little plate compactor I usually use. An added benefit is the A/C works better in the Bobcat than the one on the walk behind plate compactor. Who'd have thunk it


"Eventually" all that will get cleaned up with a pair of 18" pipes going under the driveway. Plus the owner might start cutting his grass once there are not as many land mines scattered around .....\


Time to do the relax and go camping thing over the 4th weekend. I didn't take a picture of behind me but there were a total of 19 campers here !! Mama Bear has an Uncle that has an amazing chunk of land (320a piece) that we go to on most Holiday weekends. He dug in a 600a service to feed all the hungry A/C's and we've all "sponsored" a campsite by helping clear out some woods and helping with the cost of the electrical upgrades over the years. It's an amazing place to say the least !! 50+ miles of maintained trails to drive on, multiple little ponds with docks and pedal boats, a 600' dock to the actual lake, dozens of primitive campsites in the woods and the list goes on.


There are 4 pedestals with 4 50A RV plugs on them. Our camper easily runs off a 30A plug. Here is the extension dealio we built a few years back so us and the camper next to us can get power.


There is a chunk of 6/3-8/1 MHF going to a 50A plug on one of the pedestals. Just a simple little double 30A RV plug setup.


I sure do enjoy working until I can't stand each day but I do appreciate doing this once in a while .....


Over 100 people warrant quite the cooking setups. 3 Blackstone griddles, 1 HUGE firepit grate grill and multiple roasters for each meal are normal. Who are all these people ?! Mama Bear's immediate and extended family. Her Dad is one of 14 kids and her family is the smallest with 5 kids in it. Now the kids mostly all have 3+ kids so it adds up quickly !! A few years back an entire pallet of Busch Light disappeared in one weekend .... yeah ....


This was new this year

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

What a pisser......I have been thinking about putting one in my shop when I expand.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[jblnut]

What a pisser......I have been thinking about putting one in my shop when I expand.
Thanks for sharing.

The owner's Brother works at a bottling plant so he has an "in" I guess

Thank you for stopping by !!!

 

[jblnut]

6-pin Round Deutsch bulkhead connector. What a BI#@H these are to work with !!!


Until you buy a set of proper tools that is. Yikes these weren't cheap BUT it saved a JD service call so yeah. Worth it I guess.


I've debated a few times sharing what stuff costs and I'm on the fence so here goes .... This is a $3,999 Sukup Power Sweep that I'll be installing in my "new" grain bin. It happens to be for a 27' bin and mine is a 24' bin so it's going to need to go on the operating table for some adjustments.


The farthest square hole is a backup to the main sump in case a chunk of something crusty gets caught and plugs it all up. I can open that one and hopefully the rest of the bin will empty. The closest two holes are only opened when I want to totally empty the bin out. The power sweep will sit above these holes and I'll put it in gear to clean most of the rest of the corn out once all sumps are clear. I'll post more pictures of it all installed and it might make more sense if it's foggy now.


Since this was for a 27' bin I had to move the closest sump in a ways. It ended up being fairly simple. I cut the sump off and made a new hole slightly larger than the old one.


I put the cut out plate for the new hole over the old hole and boogered it on there. I tried something new with my welder on that long weld and don't think I like it


And just like that it's ready to go in my 24' bin !!


Oh and this. Now the whole internet knows I called a successful DIBS !!! And apparently COVID is still a thing cuz I gots it for the 4th time. Or so says a pair of those at home tests. Who really knows. Good grief.

 

[jblnut]

Time to install the transition cone to adapt a round fan to a skinny rectangular hole into the bin under the floor. Sort of Apollo 13ish


Yeah that looks like it was simple and went well and no one got burnt with the spicy red sawdust that grinders create because he forgot to put pants on and wore basketball shorts and it melted a hole ..... play stupid games win stupid prizes I guess.


Hey LOOK !!! It's LeRoy loading fill sand for the boiler pad


Sure is handy having a little sand/gravel pit on the property !!


I took a video on the way back from one of the loads whilst trying to kill some mosquitoes !!!
https://flic.kr/p/2nwJJjq

 

[Riley]

Thanks for catching us up during your retirement!! Looks as busy as ever, farm, ranch life I guess. Happy to see the "little's" getting to be the "not quite so little's". My "little's" are now 23 and 26 and beginning to fly the coop. It goes much faster than you think. Happy to hear you are able to make time with them as individuals as well as a team.

PS - Absolutely great job on the car for your Dad! Sounds as thought it was a family effort too boot! We'd be a better place if everyone could be as well grounded and thankful for the efforts of thier parents. I know I underestimated mine.

 

[jblnut]

Thanks for catching us up during your retirement!! Looks as busy as ever, farm, ranch life I guess. Happy to see the "little's" getting to be the "not quite so little's". My "little's" are now 23 and 26 and beginning to fly the coop. It goes much faster than you think. Happy to hear you are able to make time with them as individuals as well as a team.

PS - Absolutely great job on the car for your Dad! Sounds as thought it was a family effort too boot! We'd be a better place if everyone could be as well grounded and thankful for the efforts of their parents. I know I underestimated mine.

The littles are getting larger. Much larger. It is fun watching them grow and turn into actual people lol. Lily is smarter than a few of the guys I used to work with already. That's not really fair though because I think one of my chickens could hold it's own while troubleshooting anything with one particular guy

Pops is talking about taking it to his upcoming college reunion and is excited to see his buddies drop their jaws when they see it. Apparently they still all gossip about the adventures they had in his first one. It looks to be the same orange color that Golden Harvest uses so I plan to use it for some marketing things for our seed business. I think Pops reads this thread from time to time so we'll see how long it takes for him to give me a hard and loud "NO"

 

[jblnut]

11l-15 implement tires are more expensive than buying new 16" rims and putting free truck tires on them. I purchased a set for the hay trailers that get ALOT of road miles and floatation isn't as important.


Cream colored wheels on a John Deere trailer would look absurd so they got a quick spray with some classic yellow !!


More boiler shed updates !!


The dirt is almost all in. Finally


We set the inside screed stakes and got to work leveling it all out.


This same depth gauge board has been used for every building on the property that Dad and I have set up so far. It gets close enough. When the 2x4's drag, pull dirt away. When they have space under then, add dirt. Simple simple.


We got the dirt all in and I got it tamped last night. I also decided to spread the topsoil back out because it was suppose to rain today.


All in all I think we hauled well over 125yds of fill in here. 56' of 18" dual wall pipe, 80' of 10" single wall pipe and around 8yds of concrete I think.


Turned out okay I think. Once it's all grass it'll look like it belongs.

 

[drivesitfar]

Nice work on the property as per usual and I hope that boiler gets set up and working nicely before winter temps show up again.

Do you have a good source for wood?

Hope you and your family are having a nice weekend!!

 

[jblnut]

Nice work on the property as per usual and I hope that boiler gets set up and working nicely before winter temps show up again.
Do you have a good source for wood?
Hope you and your family are having a nice weekend!!

I hope to pour concrete Thursday or Friday this week and have the guys out to run the pipe sometime in Late July or Early August.

We have MILES of fence lines that are overgrown with trees that need to go so yes, I have lots of wood to cut !! I honestly do not think I can burn it fast enough to keep it from growing up and causing issues. Part of the reason for the stove is to make use of stuff we are cutting anyway and putting on piles to rot or giving away. We're doing most of the work already so I may as well burn it and hopefully save some $$$$$$$$.

We had a great weekend. Sunday was our 12yr wedding anniversary and Mama Bear and I went to a local restaurant that is well known for their amazing Walleye. We held hands and went for a walk around town after dinner. Oh such fun to pretend to be kids again

 

[jblnut]

This morning we had a really quick really forceful rain shower and some of the first water ran through the new pipes. Oh for fun !!


Time to dig in a couple sleeves that will have the boiler heat pipes coming through them and up under the stove. This one will head to the shop.


This one will run to the pump house and then to the house. I figured I may as well put in two conduits if I'm going to go through the effort of putting one in. That is not a burnt spot, it's residue from the template I used to bend and cool that pipe .....


I didn't have any Sch80 pipe on hand so I sent this pic to my electrician asking if this would suffice and I got back one of these . He didn't say no so it's all good !!!


I thought this may trigger the "you can't use truck tires on a trailer" folk so here it is. Blizzaks will be going on one of my hay trailers soon. Gonna handle like a Tokyo Drift car


Today having adult money and internet access did me in again. Dad and I went and looked at this flex header a few days back and it is in really nice condition. Local dealers are asking $14-19k for just the head and this has an air bar that is close to $15k new so I think we got a pretty decent deal. Not a screaming deal but a decent one. We'll have our 20' header to sell which will offset some of the cost of this newer and larger unit.

 

[jollygreengiant]

I give it 2 years tops until you start thinking of upgrading to a bigger header.

 

[Sifan]

The question is did you get two new hats thrown in in the deal? Never a great deal without hats

 

[XJSuperman]

I give it 2 years tops until you start thinking of upgrading to a bigger header.

This is funny, but really, they'll be looking at a bigger combine in 2 years, knowing they need more trucks first, and wondering when the dang kiddos are gonna be big enough to help drive everything...

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Congratulations on your 12yr wedding anniversary!

 

[Sifan]

This is funny, but really, they'll be looking at a bigger combine in 2 years, knowing they need more trucks first, and wondering when the dang kiddos are gonna be big enough to help drive everything...

No worries, everything will be driving itself

 

[XJSuperman]

No worries, everything will be driving itself

Thats another whole convo I can certainly add to. I think Mike won't have to worry about that for a few more years.

 

[Sifan]

Semi's need to drive themselves, rules changed and made it harder and more $$$$ to get a CDL.

Family farms are arguing for my services

 

[RickP]

Wow -- you've been busy! It looks like "unemployed" life suits you well. I'm just catching up on the last few weeks of your adventures after being away over the 4th -- your attitude of just git-er-done around the homestead is inspiring (and exhausting)!

Great idea on mounting the AC compressor up high. I'm sure it'll make it easier to mow and also keep the weeds from growing up around the concrete pad you eliminated.

Just gotta get it hooked up now

I'm impressed by the amount of thought (and $$$) that you're putting into fixing your drainage problems. I've got some drainage issues on a much smaller scale, so I can appreciate how much work you've done. It's shocking how much that pipe costs...

A casual $1,400 in pipe sitting there

Doesn't a family vacation by the lake make it all worthwhile?

I sure do enjoy working until I can't stand each day but I do appreciate doing this once in a while .....

That campsite by the lake looks about perfect. I just returned from a family reunion as well, so I totally get how fast the kids add up. Our reunion attendance was down this year -- only 75 aunts/uncles/cousins made the trip. Having a family place to go back to every year really helps keep distant relatives together (our youngest generation are 5th cousins). I'll bet you and your family are looking forward to many more years of fun at the lake in the future.

Over 100 people warrant quite the cooking setups. 3 Blackstone griddles, 1 HUGE firepit grate grill and multiple roasters for each meal are normal. Who are all these people ?! Mama Bear's immediate and extended family. Her Dad is one of 14 kids and her family is the smallest with 5 kids in it. Now the kids mostly all have 3+ kids so it adds up quickly !! A few years back an entire pallet of Busch Light disappeared in one weekend .... yeah ....

I noticed the blue school bus parked behind one of your buildings -- how's the new camper working out?

 

[jblnut]

I give it 2 years tops until you start thinking of upgrading to a bigger header.

Nah. Need a bigger combine to run larger than a 30' header and that ain't happening anytime soon. This 2388 is a great size for the # of acres we farm and a larger machine and header won't play as nice with our hills and crappy terrain.

The question is did you get two new hats thrown in in the deal? Never a great deal without hats

Nope. They took my money and hung up

This is funny, but really, they'll be looking at a bigger combine in 2 years, knowing they need more trucks first, and wondering when the dang kiddos are gonna be big enough to help drive everything...

A Deere X9 1100 could combine our whole damn farm in one day if we could get from field to field quick enough and keep the grain away from it. Sort of wild to think about that lol

Congratulations on your 12yr wedding anniversary!

That makes for an even dozen !! Thank you

No worries, everything will be driving itself

Next week we're going to go to our local John Deere dealer and order some GPS stuff for the planter/sprayer tractor. I have no idea how long until some driven automation will show up on our farm but I doubt it'll be anytime soon. I'd love to get an old International 1466, turn it up a bit, hook it to big digger and let er' eat !! Watch it smoke and spin the tires .... I like driving tractors too much to want some robot to do it for me !!!

That's another whole convo I can certainly add to. I think Mike won't have to worry about that for a few more years.

We should chat sometime about GPS stuff. No full automation unlocks here anytime soon.

Semi's need to drive themselves, rules changed and made it harder and more $$$$ to get a CDL.

Family farms are arguing for my services

I have my CDL with air brake, double/triple, tanker and hazmat so I'm good to go for just about anything but a school bus. Family members can drive Semi's without a CDL on the farm in MN. Not sure about down there though

Wow -- you've been busy! It looks like "unemployed" life suits you well. I'm just catching up on the last few weeks of your adventures after being away over the 4th -- your attitude of just git-er-done around the homestead is inspiring (and exhausting)!

Great idea on mounting the AC compressor up high. I'm sure it'll make it easier to mow and also keep the weeds from growing up around the concrete pad you eliminated.


I'm impressed by the amount of thought (and $$$) that you're putting into fixing your drainage problems. I've got some drainage issues on a much smaller scale, so I can appreciate how much work you've done. It's shocking how much that pipe costs...


Doesn't a family vacation by the lake make it all worthwhile?


That campsite by the lake looks about perfect. I just returned from a family reunion as well, so I totally get how fast the kids add up. Our reunion attendance was down this year -- only 75 aunts/uncles/cousins made the trip. Having a family place to go back to every year really helps keep distant relatives together (our youngest generation are 5th cousins). I'll bet you and your family are looking forward to many more years of fun at the lake in the future.


I noticed the blue school bus parked behind one of your buildings -- how's the new camper working out?

Thank you for following along Rick !! My attitude of just git-er-done is frustrating to Mama Bear unfortunately. I need to spend more evenings in the house sitting next to her and setting puzzles and the doing the **** she likes I think. Getting in the house at 10pm has become the norm and we've barely been talking to each other lately because we're in the same room for an hour a day while we're awake ............

I mowed the weeds and rocks under it once already and the Hustler and I fit under it quite nicely !!

I hate water running over things so getting it underground is a priority of mine. Having the proper machines around helps with that but the damn pipe is still expensive. Once you get larger than an 18" dual wall pipe things get spendy in a hurry .....

A family vacation to the Edgewater waterpark/hotel in Duluth is planned for a few weeks from now. I'm pretty stoked to get away for a few days and soak my toes in Lake Superior !!

I think I'm going to turn the bus into a storage unit of sorts for lengths of lumber and metal. It's not worth much more than scrap and it seems like a shame to sell it for next to nothing. The new camper is working out quite well. The triple high bunk bed thing in the back is great to stack the kids in and put them to bed without having the complexity of a slide out and/or a much larger camper.

 

[jblnut]

Pops headed out to go cut some meadow hay and the haybine was spraying oil out like a scared skunk. Turns out it was a LOOOOOONNNNG $238 hose that ran through everything. Miss Lily and LeRoy got it all fixed up


I got my new to me tires and new rims assembled and on one of the hay trailers. Blizzaks and Firestone HT's make a good combo.


I kept having hay dragging on the baler hitch so I found some old belting and made a thing of sorts to prevent that. I've use it a bit already and it works very well !!


Gosh what a picture !!


Little man was having a day of it so I made him take a nap while I baled hay. It was a successful deal as he woke up and was all kinds of perky again !!


Lots of jumping around here .... Miss Alyssa and I tipped over the old corn crib on the property and started taking it apart. I gave her a fencing pliers and said go to town !!


We then went and moved a bridge that floated out of place in the monsoon this spring.


I've been doing some camera/wifi/IT work for someone for the last few weeks in the mornings and his ******* dog bit my. Yippy little thing found out he can be thrown on a damn roof. He was still up there when I left a few hours later whining and barking. I told the owner about it and he said do whatever I thought I needed to do. I told him he was on the roof when I sent him this picture.


My local phone company guy came out and located the various fiber runs I have around here so I didn't dig though them when I was putting the boiler line into the pump house. What a nice guy !!


Pipes are in and ready for rebar !!!


This middle child of ours is the most amazing and most frustrating person I've ever met. She is crazy smart for 7yrs old but forgets to put her shoes on when she goes outside sometimes. Show her how to do something once and she'll remember it forever though. Except for shutting doors and turning off lights when leaving a room. For some reason that doesn't stick


Hey look concrete !!!


I bet you wouldn't believe me if I told you the 9yr old in the picture troweled that back area where the stove will be so I won't but I will leave this picture right here .....


This piece got torn out a few months after it got put in the first time so I could have the fiber lines run into the barn. Well it's back and better this time !! I sloped it WAY more and gave it a brush broom finish so it's not so slippery in the winter.


The concrete pad in the above picture was formed in case there was extra concrete and these barrels are for the same purpose. They'll eventually be used in another grain bin project.


This orange bin that I use for corn now will be an oats bin eventually and the blue barrels of concrete above will be put under two of the legs to be used as piers of sorts. They'll go deep enough to get to virgin ground. I'll put one in each corner of the pad right under where the legs will be and pour the rest of the pad on top of them to tie it all in. Should work


I'm in the process of going through the insane amount of old computer junk around here and have been scrapping PC's like crazy. There is a lot of memory here. Should be worth something as scrap !!

 

[ripperd]

That's a post with a lot in it! Sounds like things are moving along...but make sure the relationship with the better half stays good!

When specifically are you guys going to Duluth?

We typically go to the canal park area at least once a year but dont have anything concrete set this year but would enjoy an excuse to go, and perhaps have a beer or two. PM me. We have kids with similar ages at 3,5, and 7... and an rv.

 

[csp]

I'd love to get an old International 1466, turn it up a bit, hook it to big digger and let er' eat !! Watch it smoke and spin the tires .... I like driving tractors too much to want some robot to do it for me !!!

Now that statement brings back some memories. I grew up driving a 1466 and a 4166 (or was it a 4126?). I never cared too much for the 4166. It had four wheel steer and was hell to keep rows straight, at least for a 14 year old.

 

[jblnut]

That's a post with a lot in it! Sounds like things are moving along...but make sure the relationship with the better half stays good!

When specifically are you guys going to Duluth?

We typically go to the canal park area at least once a year but don't have anything concrete set this year but would enjoy an excuse to go, and perhaps have a beer or two. PM me. We have kids with similar ages at 3,5, and 7... and an RV.

Things are moving right along as usual. I gotta post more so they're not so jammed packed I guess

I don't know what we're all planning but we're staying at the Edgewater so they'll have a waterpark to play in at least one night. Wrist bands are $15/ea and are not included with the room stay. I know things cost money but that surprised me I guess.

Now that statement brings back some memories. I grew up driving a 1466 and a 4166 (or was it a 4126?). I never cared too much for the 4166. It had four wheel steer and was hell to keep rows straight, at least for a 14 year old.

Must have been a 4166. Rigid frame 4-wheel steer deal with no diff lock. They were sort of an oddball when they were new and are mildly collectable now. There is someone up here with a 4166, 4366 and a 4568 all fixed up and pretty. That 4568 is a neat beast !!!

 

[jblnut]

I purchased this table a while back with a pair of drill presses on it and really only wanted the table. So ... off they come !! If anyone has a use for these things and is close to me you can have them if you'd like them. 3ph motors on both. MT2 spindles.


For now they will go in a crate to be stored until I have my own auction most likely


The grain bin floor is on its way in !!


This is an early morning project so far. When the sun shines on the metal bin it warms up inside rather quickly.
When full there will be around 1,000lbs per square foot on this floor. These cheesy little stands are all that hold it all up !!


Pops got A BUNCH of meadow hay cut because there wasn't suppose to be much rain in the forecast. We got 1.8" the next day !! Yessssssss !!! That hay can sit and dry out as long as it needs to. The corn/beans will benefit WAY MORE from the rain than me getting my hay baled


This morning I decided to put a window AC in the shop. Just a little guy to hopefully take out some humidity. I'd been talking with my HVAC guy about central air in the shop but he's rather slow at things and wanted a pretty penny to do it so we'll try this first. It doesn't need to be 65F in there, just not quite as humid would be a great start !!


I cut off those silly little brackets on the bottom .....


And mounted it all into a double thick sheet of that plastic plywood stuff.


It looks a fair bit better on the outside

 

[cvairwerks]

Might net a few hundred bucks worth of gold out of all that scrap....

Shoot me a message with the maker/model info on the presses and I'll put the word out on a site where they are often quite sought after.

 

[jollygreengiant]

....and? How did the AC unit do? Come on man don't leave us hanging like that lol.

 

[RickP]

Makin' hay while the sun shines!

That's a beefy looking table -- should work well in your shop.
I hope you find a good home for those drill presses.
That window AC unit will feel nice after being in the grain bin.

 

[jblnut]

Might net a few hundred bucks worth of gold out of all that scrap....

Shoot me a message with the maker/model info on the presses and I'll put the word out on a site where they are often quite sought after.

Message and pics sent. Thanks for the help !!

....and? How did the AC unit do? Come on man don't leave us hanging like that lol.

I figured I'd wait until it had been running for a few days before reporting. It seems to be holding it's own as far as humidity and the temp goes from 71-75ish by mid afternoon and cools back off overnight. It's using 6.5Kwh a day so not bad there either. It feels AMAZING in there !!!

Makin' hay while the sun shines!

That's a beefy looking table -- should work well in your shop.
I hope you find a good home for those drill presses.
That window AC unit will feel nice after being in the grain bin.

I've used the table a ton already since taking the presses off. I should have done that a long time ago !!

The little AC is doing quite well for the size building it's cooling. The shop is very well insulated which I'm sure helps.

 

[jblnut]

Time to build a trailer !!


I've had these triangle frames around for a while now and they seem like they'll make the perfect start for a trailer.


These are rear ABS hubs for a 97-08 Grand Prix and I needed a bit of a spacer to hide the ABS chunk deal. A piece of oil well pipe worked just nice


Looks rough but a grinder makes a good welder out of all of us


I've had this chunk of 1-1/4" galv tubing around long enough it needs to be used. Sort of wish I had a chunk of 2" as the hitch coupler I have would fit better but meh. It'll work.


Some 1/2" strut nuts fit well in the tubing and will work just dandy to bolt the hitch coupler on.


Firestone Winterforce tires and the factory rims off my 98' Niner will make nice shoes for this pretty little trailer


I'm in unistrut heaven


Miss Lily is putting the finishing touches to the inside and it's done !!! The signs slide in and out if we want to change it up sometime. There is a little spring pin deal that comes out on the bottom unistrut and they slide right out. The extra pieces sticking up will allow for an additional 1' tall sign to add info such as "Customer Appreciation Dec 15th" and "Test Plot Tour Aug 26th" and whatever else we may come up with.


After looking at this picture I need to turn the sign around so the coupler is facing the road. Yup. That'll work much better.