jarhead
Well-known member
Old post I know, but that Corvette mural is "Bitchin" 
Above 1200 Sq/FT Restart
- Thread starter Honch
- Start date
Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
Thanks for the feedback, that was a fun project and hard for me to believe it was over 10 years ago.Old post I know, but that Corvette mural is "Bitchin"
Thank you it's going to be so nice to not move three things to do one project, or to be able to walk away from something half complete if I need to. The best part is not needing to explain to the wife unit why her car is going to spend days outside, I always felt guilty about that especially in the winter.
Just a few things from the weekend.
My mower has had a tire leaking since pretty much the week we got it. I battled with the mower place with no luck over it being a flaw in the tire versus a puncture. There is no way to really prove one way or another, all I know is its leaking from well up the sidewall. You can see the circle I have marked in the picture at the 2 o'clock position. Initially I thought oh well I'm out 40 dollars for a new tire, little did I know I was off by over 100 dollars so this weekend I put an ATV patch on it and if that doesn't hold up, I'll put a tube in it.
I also got some more stuff organized by hanging all my rolls of heat shrink, Velcro, etc. under the loft, I still have a few rolls left to hang but I think this will work for me in this location.
Lastly, I picked up a new tool, this is something I have wanted for a long time but couldn't justify the cost, until this came out.
its 3/4hp and seems to be fair quality for the cost. It does have rubber feet for which I guess you could do some very light buffing. I plan to make a wall mount for it with some FPR as back splash to make it easy to clean up. I need to get my hands on some 3/8" plate to get the mount built.
My mower has had a tire leaking since pretty much the week we got it. I battled with the mower place with no luck over it being a flaw in the tire versus a puncture. There is no way to really prove one way or another, all I know is its leaking from well up the sidewall. You can see the circle I have marked in the picture at the 2 o'clock position. Initially I thought oh well I'm out 40 dollars for a new tire, little did I know I was off by over 100 dollars so this weekend I put an ATV patch on it and if that doesn't hold up, I'll put a tube in it.
I also got some more stuff organized by hanging all my rolls of heat shrink, Velcro, etc. under the loft, I still have a few rolls left to hang but I think this will work for me in this location.
Lastly, I picked up a new tool, this is something I have wanted for a long time but couldn't justify the cost, until this came out.
its 3/4hp and seems to be fair quality for the cost. It does have rubber feet for which I guess you could do some very light buffing. I plan to make a wall mount for it with some FPR as back splash to make it easy to clean up. I need to get my hands on some 3/8" plate to get the mount built.
I ordered some smart plugs that came in yesterday, so last night I set them up in the shop. I went with these HS103P2 smart plugs in particular because I have had good luck with tp-link products in the past and they make Kasa products. I also chose to go with smart plugs versus outlets because they are easier to move if necessary. These are rated at 15amps which isn't very common with smart plugs most are 10-12amps.
To control them I had an Echo I wasn't using from our previous house which I set up near the door to the shop. I used one of the smart plugs on a power strip that runs my 12-volt power supply, subwoofer for the stereo and lights in the bin cabinet. The second one controls the stereo and lights on the work benches. The third one controls the lights and electric knife charger in the Lista cabinets and the fourth one turns on the auto drain for the compressor.
Everything being controlled by these has its own on-off switch this just makes turning them on and off much easier. Each of the four switches can be turned on individually by voice command, timer or through an app, or they can be turned on as group. I set up a group called shop and it works as easy as me walking in the door and telling Alexa to "turn on shop".
The compressor was what initially sent me down this path. The auto drain is awesome but can only be set to a maximum frequency of once every 45 minutes. This would be fine for a commercial environment, but I don't need it draining that frequently and causing the compressor to run just because it is draining every 45 minutes.
It only took about 20 minutes total to set everything up, that's with me being familiar with the Echo, I have never used these plugs before.
I'm not sure if ill add anything beyond this automation wise, I did look a bit at smart locks, but I am reading as much bad as good about them. It would be nice to walk up and have the door unlock from proximity to my phone, or a keypad.
To control them I had an Echo I wasn't using from our previous house which I set up near the door to the shop. I used one of the smart plugs on a power strip that runs my 12-volt power supply, subwoofer for the stereo and lights in the bin cabinet. The second one controls the stereo and lights on the work benches. The third one controls the lights and electric knife charger in the Lista cabinets and the fourth one turns on the auto drain for the compressor.
Everything being controlled by these has its own on-off switch this just makes turning them on and off much easier. Each of the four switches can be turned on individually by voice command, timer or through an app, or they can be turned on as group. I set up a group called shop and it works as easy as me walking in the door and telling Alexa to "turn on shop".
The compressor was what initially sent me down this path. The auto drain is awesome but can only be set to a maximum frequency of once every 45 minutes. This would be fine for a commercial environment, but I don't need it draining that frequently and causing the compressor to run just because it is draining every 45 minutes.
It only took about 20 minutes total to set everything up, that's with me being familiar with the Echo, I have never used these plugs before.
I'm not sure if ill add anything beyond this automation wise, I did look a bit at smart locks, but I am reading as much bad as good about them. It would be nice to walk up and have the door unlock from proximity to my phone, or a keypad.
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
I've seen the Terminator movies...I don't need Skynet running my shop 
My tech level is sub-terrainian, so most of that stuff makes me untrusting of the wizbangs and gadgets. With that being said, I do LOVE my Lorex wifi security cameras that I successfully installed.
That's a bummer on the mower tire, surely the patch will do the job. If nothing else, you can slime them and skip the tube.
My tech level is sub-terrainian, so most of that stuff makes me untrusting of the wizbangs and gadgets. With that being said, I do LOVE my Lorex wifi security cameras that I successfully installed.
That's a bummer on the mower tire, surely the patch will do the job. If nothing else, you can slime them and skip the tube.
I've seen the Terminator movies...I don't need Skynet running my shop
My tech level is sub-terrainian, so most of that stuff makes me untrusting of the wizbangs and gadgets. With that being said, I do LOVE my Lorex wifi security cameras that I successfully installed.
That's a bummer on the mower tire, surely the patch will do the job. If nothing else, you can slime them and skip the tube.
It's definitely not for everyone and one of those things where I had no real need, but I could.
As far as a Wi-Fi security camera, that would scare me, all I need is the stupid mistakes I make being recorded.
A week ago, my son bought his first car on his own, it's a slightly used 2022 KIA EV6 Wind. Apparently, the original owner didn't like the color and bought a different one. The kids have been looking at EVs for almost two years, six months ago I gave them my 93 Silverado and now it's their most reliable vehicle. The problem with it is it's not as safe as most current vehicles. It doesn't have airbags or child seat attachment points.
They purchased it from a dealership 165 miles from my house and it's another 30 to their house. When the dealership closed, they had only gotten the car to 65% charge and its rated range is 274 miles. By the time they got to our house to pick up our granddaughter the car had 31 miles of range showing to drive 30 miles. I told my son not to risk it and just charge the car for a bit. He then explained to me that it didn't come with a 110 adapter to charge only one to back power the house. The level II charger that it came with was still installed in the original owner's house and it would be a week before the one he ordered came in. So, their new car sat in my shop for a week waiting for a charger. Why didn't he just go to a public charger? They didn't plan properly when returning home, it was late, and they thought they would make it.
There are multiple debate points on EVs and I'm not 100% sold on their value, I am glad though that they have something that has safe ratings.
The wife unit's car needed some attention this weekend as well, nothing special, just an oil and filters change.
With it approaching 100k miles and because it's been throwing random P0171 codes I did some research and found this model is the only Cadillac with a serviceable fuel filter, so I looked it up on Rock Auto and ordered one. I was able to locate the following diagram online which shows the filter location. In reality it is not there so I am guessing it's in the tank, and this appears to be a saddle tank which would require the exhaust to be removed to drop the tank(s). Not something I was going to attempt with the amount of fuel that was in the car. So, the next easy step I will take is a deep dive into the PVC system, it has hard plastic lines which are reportedly notorious for cracking and causing this code.
Over the last few weeks, I have been looking at wall cabinets, I wanted something for near my drill press that I could put my reamers, drill index etc. I didn't want to spend a ton of money and I was looking for something that didn't stick out from the wall terribly far. I looked at Gladiator, Perfomax, Masterforce etc. What I didn't know was HF had one wall cabinet, I had never seen one on display in a store, but it showed on their website, so spent $100 and got the cabinet along with a free Warrior heat gun.
The shelf came in two separate boxes one weighing just over 19lbs and the other over 30lbs. It has horrible instructions and basically you end up putting it together twice while trying to figure out what panel goes over the top of the other without scratching all the coating or bending the thin metal. The end result is a fairly decent cabinet for the price.
I decided not to use the included mounts, instead I used some wood to space it from the wall 1". This gives enough space to use pegboard hooks on the back wall, it actually came with six hooks and six shelves. The doors only open about 110° allowing me to position it so they wouldn't hit anything. The only thing I really don't care for is the key locks, I may remove them and put magnets in place.
They purchased it from a dealership 165 miles from my house and it's another 30 to their house. When the dealership closed, they had only gotten the car to 65% charge and its rated range is 274 miles. By the time they got to our house to pick up our granddaughter the car had 31 miles of range showing to drive 30 miles. I told my son not to risk it and just charge the car for a bit. He then explained to me that it didn't come with a 110 adapter to charge only one to back power the house. The level II charger that it came with was still installed in the original owner's house and it would be a week before the one he ordered came in. So, their new car sat in my shop for a week waiting for a charger. Why didn't he just go to a public charger? They didn't plan properly when returning home, it was late, and they thought they would make it.
There are multiple debate points on EVs and I'm not 100% sold on their value, I am glad though that they have something that has safe ratings.
The wife unit's car needed some attention this weekend as well, nothing special, just an oil and filters change.
With it approaching 100k miles and because it's been throwing random P0171 codes I did some research and found this model is the only Cadillac with a serviceable fuel filter, so I looked it up on Rock Auto and ordered one. I was able to locate the following diagram online which shows the filter location. In reality it is not there so I am guessing it's in the tank, and this appears to be a saddle tank which would require the exhaust to be removed to drop the tank(s). Not something I was going to attempt with the amount of fuel that was in the car. So, the next easy step I will take is a deep dive into the PVC system, it has hard plastic lines which are reportedly notorious for cracking and causing this code.
Over the last few weeks, I have been looking at wall cabinets, I wanted something for near my drill press that I could put my reamers, drill index etc. I didn't want to spend a ton of money and I was looking for something that didn't stick out from the wall terribly far. I looked at Gladiator, Perfomax, Masterforce etc. What I didn't know was HF had one wall cabinet, I had never seen one on display in a store, but it showed on their website, so spent $100 and got the cabinet along with a free Warrior heat gun.
The shelf came in two separate boxes one weighing just over 19lbs and the other over 30lbs. It has horrible instructions and basically you end up putting it together twice while trying to figure out what panel goes over the top of the other without scratching all the coating or bending the thin metal. The end result is a fairly decent cabinet for the price.
I decided not to use the included mounts, instead I used some wood to space it from the wall 1". This gives enough space to use pegboard hooks on the back wall, it actually came with six hooks and six shelves. The doors only open about 110° allowing me to position it so they wouldn't hit anything. The only thing I really don't care for is the key locks, I may remove them and put magnets in place.
68400BIRD
Well-known member
I agree the shelves are pretty good for the cost. The instructions are horrible. I remember adding a few more screws and nuts when I put them together. I also added magnets to the doors and put the locks in the open position. I did not like how the doors aligned up and down between the three. I added some small black plastic washers on the bottom to get centered and even between all three. Your garage is looking great. Thanks for the tips on the Rapid Air system. I had been debating if I wanted the coil or hard line (more money/shipping) system for my garage. I think lines not being perfectly straight would drive me up the wall.
It did come with plenty of extra screws and nuts. I didn't have any issues with the door alignment, I was actually impressed by how well they did line up with each other and their fitment. There is a very good chance I am going to buy a second one at this point.
If you were able to clamp the lines every 16" or less, you would be able to make them appear to be very straight. Their 3/4" clamps are about $2.00 each, with my situation it would have made it worse. If my shop was finished inside, I would have done it that way. Amazon also has the Fastpipe kits with no shipping charges, at least in the 7.6-foot lengths, I don't know about the longer ones.
Earlier this week I tried to do some more troubleshooting on my wife's Cadillac but I didn't have a T30 to take off the engine cover. It came in yesterday so I pulled it off this afternoon and found two cracked PVC lines, either of which would probably be enough to throw the P0171 code. The picture below shows where the lines were cracked, and they are part of this overall assembly that sells for around $60.00. I ended up going to the parts store and buying a foot of 1/2" and 3/8" to just replace the plastic lines.
Here is the engine with the cover off and the new lines in place. The hose is on top of the valve cover and oriented the same as in the first picture above. The natural curve of the 1/2" hose let me put a nice, tight 90° bend without collapsing the hose.
The lettering on the engine cover was wearing off.
While I had it off, I decided to touch it up.
After putting it back together I reset the code and it never came back on, I'll probably drive it to work most of next week just to validate.
I also spent some time in the shop this afternoon, I ran a 25' CAT7 line from my endpoint to my laptop. I had been using it on WIFI and it was working fine but nothing is a substitute for a hard line.
After I finished the cable I started on the mounting plate for the Bauer buffer I bought a few weeks ago. I got my hands on a scrap piece of 4"x4"x1/4" angle iron, which I cleaned up and cut the center out of.
This left me with two 3.75" pieces which I welded to the sides of a 2" square tube.
I realized I was out of black paint so this was a good stopping point for today.
Here is the engine with the cover off and the new lines in place. The hose is on top of the valve cover and oriented the same as in the first picture above. The natural curve of the 1/2" hose let me put a nice, tight 90° bend without collapsing the hose.
The lettering on the engine cover was wearing off.
While I had it off, I decided to touch it up.
After putting it back together I reset the code and it never came back on, I'll probably drive it to work most of next week just to validate.
I also spent some time in the shop this afternoon, I ran a 25' CAT7 line from my endpoint to my laptop. I had been using it on WIFI and it was working fine but nothing is a substitute for a hard line.
After I finished the cable I started on the mounting plate for the Bauer buffer I bought a few weeks ago. I got my hands on a scrap piece of 4"x4"x1/4" angle iron, which I cleaned up and cut the center out of.
This left me with two 3.75" pieces which I welded to the sides of a 2" square tube.
I realized I was out of black paint so this was a good stopping point for today.
Today is my birthday, so I went out for lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant and had Carnita Fajitas. Coincidentally driving there takes me right past Harbor Freight so while the food was being prepared, I browsed the sales flyer and decided what I wanted to for my birthday.
Today's purchase was a "Surface Conditioning Tool" I have wanted one since I seen Eastwood release theirs, this is just a different color 40% less cost version, today was the first time I had seen it on sale.
Once I got home with it, I tested it on one of my work benches that has a 1/4" top. My friend borrowed it earlier this fall, to cover a large tool box with bed liner which splattered and dripped all over the top. The area on the left was done with my 6" ARCO DA sander with 180 grit paper and took about 3.5 minutes. The area on the right was done with the Surface Conditioning Tool and took about 20 seconds.
I look forward to experimenting with it on various metals, it did not appear to remove as much metal as the DA while still removing the same amount of paint and surface rust in much less time.
Today's purchase was a "Surface Conditioning Tool" I have wanted one since I seen Eastwood release theirs, this is just a different color 40% less cost version, today was the first time I had seen it on sale.
Once I got home with it, I tested it on one of my work benches that has a 1/4" top. My friend borrowed it earlier this fall, to cover a large tool box with bed liner which splattered and dripped all over the top. The area on the left was done with my 6" ARCO DA sander with 180 grit paper and took about 3.5 minutes. The area on the right was done with the Surface Conditioning Tool and took about 20 seconds.
I look forward to experimenting with it on various metals, it did not appear to remove as much metal as the DA while still removing the same amount of paint and surface rust in much less time.
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
Happy birthday!
Thank you, this one I was feeling a bit mortal. Without going into a lot of detail I had some medical issues that were potentially life threatening and after testing came back negative, it was a roller coaster of a week.
This weekend I needed to move a few heavy items. I obtained two 55-gallon barrels of PPG Aerospace Eldorado Astromat Orange DF Gel, which is an aviation cleaner / degreaser which works very well but like anything aviation has a shelf life. Each barrel weighs 515lbs so I set up moving a couple other items that would be enough to make it worth loading up my buddy's skid steer to get everything.
First on the trailer were 2ea .188 thick 4'x12' sheets of aluminum. I got them a few years ago and this was the first opportunity I had to get them to my shop. They were at one time used as a back for a sign, so they have a few #11 holes in them along with some glue, but I have nothing invested in them and I plan to use them in the construction of a powder coat oven. They are just stupid heavy and a pain to try and move anywhere, they will probably live on the floor where they are for a while.
Lastly, I was able to get my Southworth lift table moved home, it weighs 632lbs. It has been in storage for close to 12 years and the top was covered with grease. fiberglass resin, stickers and the bane of all, old masking tape. I spent about an hour wiping as much as I could off the surface, it would have clogged any abrasives or blocked any paint strippers.
Coincidentally I just happened to have this new surface conditioning tool which I tried on a small area after I got all the grease removed.
I have some 2k spray paint in grey which Ill respray the top with once it is a bit warmer out. The tabletop is 66"x42" and lifts up to 2k lbs. 42.75". When I first posted that I had bought this I did not know for sure what I would use it for. Now I have an idea with putting two Arcflat welding table tops on it and using it as a height adjustable welding table. Its plenty strong and has a nice overhang to be able to sit with the foot pedal your legs under the table.
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Yesterday I spent a few hours in the shop starting the following project. Today it was beautiful out and I had a few hours to work on it some more.
I have had this a while and never was able to use it because I had no space to mount it in my old garage.
I always thought it would be easy to clean up, I have aviation grade paint stripper. The thing I never considered is the paint on this isn't mixed and is only partially dried, so the stripper had little to no effect.
It also had large amounts of glue and sealant that apparently people had used this to shake. That with the semi dried paint made it difficult to even media blast. The media would just bounce off a lot of the rubbery material.
To get a break from the blasting, (I put 1.8 hours on my compressor), I worked on the post mount to get it cleaned up and repainted. I'm not really sure why I pick days its 37° out to try and use paint stripper and paint things. I was able to get it to a decent temperature buy using my space heater and the radiant heater, but it made it just that much more of a pain to do.
The most difficult areas to clean were the back sides of the clamps. There are lots of lips and tight areas for liquids to flow and settle. Aside from using ice picks and very narrow scrapers the only real way to get the area clean was blasting it, which took the most of the time.
When I started this, I was not sure if I could keep the original finish which is similar to a float bowl on a carburetor, that slightly shiny pot metal finish. Now that it's all cleaned, I don't know if I'll leave it with the blasted finish or paint it something like dove grey.
One benefit of cleaning it beyond the cosmetic aspect was the top surface had paint so thick it wasn't possible to know it had information cast into the surface, none of it was visible.
I ran out of time before I could start mounting it to the floor, I am still tossing around a bit on where I want to put it, since it is getting anchored. I really probably won't shake many gallons of paint, but I will definitely use the heck out of it to shake paint cans.
Yesterday I started to install a hand pump I bought for my barrels of degreaser. I had pumped 5 gallons out of one for a friend with a small HF hand pump and it took a good 15 minutes, so I was looking forward to what a real pump would do. When I tried to connect it to the barrel, the pump had 2" NPT threads and the bung on the barrel was a buttress thread or at least that's what the plastic plug I took out said. I started searching for an adapter to go from NPT to buttress and they were over $20.00. Now I'm frustrated and I'm reading reviews on the pump, showing people with the same problem. I'm debating on sending the pump back, when on a whim I took the seal off the other bung, and it was NPT. I had no idea that's how at least plastic barrels are, Ive always had steel barrels with 2" NPT threaded bungs.
I have had this a while and never was able to use it because I had no space to mount it in my old garage.
I always thought it would be easy to clean up, I have aviation grade paint stripper. The thing I never considered is the paint on this isn't mixed and is only partially dried, so the stripper had little to no effect.
It also had large amounts of glue and sealant that apparently people had used this to shake. That with the semi dried paint made it difficult to even media blast. The media would just bounce off a lot of the rubbery material.
To get a break from the blasting, (I put 1.8 hours on my compressor), I worked on the post mount to get it cleaned up and repainted. I'm not really sure why I pick days its 37° out to try and use paint stripper and paint things. I was able to get it to a decent temperature buy using my space heater and the radiant heater, but it made it just that much more of a pain to do.
The most difficult areas to clean were the back sides of the clamps. There are lots of lips and tight areas for liquids to flow and settle. Aside from using ice picks and very narrow scrapers the only real way to get the area clean was blasting it, which took the most of the time.
When I started this, I was not sure if I could keep the original finish which is similar to a float bowl on a carburetor, that slightly shiny pot metal finish. Now that it's all cleaned, I don't know if I'll leave it with the blasted finish or paint it something like dove grey.
One benefit of cleaning it beyond the cosmetic aspect was the top surface had paint so thick it wasn't possible to know it had information cast into the surface, none of it was visible.
I ran out of time before I could start mounting it to the floor, I am still tossing around a bit on where I want to put it, since it is getting anchored. I really probably won't shake many gallons of paint, but I will definitely use the heck out of it to shake paint cans.
Yesterday I started to install a hand pump I bought for my barrels of degreaser. I had pumped 5 gallons out of one for a friend with a small HF hand pump and it took a good 15 minutes, so I was looking forward to what a real pump would do. When I tried to connect it to the barrel, the pump had 2" NPT threads and the bung on the barrel was a buttress thread or at least that's what the plastic plug I took out said. I started searching for an adapter to go from NPT to buttress and they were over $20.00. Now I'm frustrated and I'm reading reviews on the pump, showing people with the same problem. I'm debating on sending the pump back, when on a whim I took the seal off the other bung, and it was NPT. I had no idea that's how at least plastic barrels are, Ive always had steel barrels with 2" NPT threaded bungs.
A week ago last Friday we had a mini reenactment of Noah's flood, and during the night my 9 month old sump pump decided to stop working. I realized this when I could hear water gurgling in the heating ducts of the house. I went out to the crawl space entrance and there was about 1.5' of water. I had two 1k hour utility pumps that I threw in the water and four to five hours later the water level was still rising. I then went to Rual King and bought a 7hp trash pump.
At 160 GPM it had the majority of the water evacuated in about 45 minutes.
I then loaded everything I thought I could possibly need in a 5-gallon bucket and headed to the sump. This crawl space is right around 3' tall and the areas I can pass though require the bucket to be turned on its side to fit past. This means a lot of the distance is not hands and knees but alligator crawling, which isn't very pleasant in 50-degree ground water. The area around the sump was still about 4-6" deep and I had to lay in it while I cut the PVC to the old pump and transferred everything over. As I was putting the new pump in I was happy that I had brought everything I needed until I opened the can of cement and realized it had completely dried. I poured PVC primer over everything and stuck it together while it was still wet, it seemed to melt the PVC enough to work with the minimal back pressure it would have. The cord on the pump was 6" short of reaching the outlet, I swear that is something they are doing to save money. Because it did look short I had thrown an extension cord in the bucket.
I did find an alarm in the bottom of the sump, no idea what was going on with it, it looked like someone had dropped it or knocked it off the sump ledge.
It's all working now though. the sump is too small for a backup pump and I'm not sure I want to try and plumb an external backup. Alternatively, I'm looking at a new alarm and I bought a very inexpensive wireless outdoor camera to mount above the sump so I can look at it whenever I need to. I'm currently testing it in the shop and very impressed with how it works for less than $25.
This weekend I installed a mulching kit on my Bad Boy, but never thought to actually take any pictures. It was nothing real exciting, the baffles were all made out of water jet cut pieces but other than that not much to it.
My buddy brought his truck by and we started building his Move bumpers. The cuts and bends on the kit were very nice but the instructions were a bit lacking. We got the front bumper 85% done its a big heavy beast.
The front bumper gets built in place on the truck and after lifting it up in place a couple of times I realized were five feet from a lift table, so we started using it.
The rear bumper has a lot more pieces than the front but I think its going to be much easier, most of it can be built on the bench.
Last but not least, I have been researching tractors for about six months now. I originally thought I would spend 10 maybe 15K tops to buy a tractor for some projects I have around the property. Little did I know that a 1967 50hp gas John Deere with a loader would be 16k and that's for a farm tractor not a collector's piece. Thats when I really started researching what I wanted versus what I needed, and the cost associated with both.
A few weeks ago, I ordered one of the tractors in this picture.
It came into the dealer last Friday and is being assembled now. I never thought in my life I would need much less want a tractor. I obviously didn't need a brand new one but the prices on used Tractors are just crazy.
At 160 GPM it had the majority of the water evacuated in about 45 minutes.
I then loaded everything I thought I could possibly need in a 5-gallon bucket and headed to the sump. This crawl space is right around 3' tall and the areas I can pass though require the bucket to be turned on its side to fit past. This means a lot of the distance is not hands and knees but alligator crawling, which isn't very pleasant in 50-degree ground water. The area around the sump was still about 4-6" deep and I had to lay in it while I cut the PVC to the old pump and transferred everything over. As I was putting the new pump in I was happy that I had brought everything I needed until I opened the can of cement and realized it had completely dried. I poured PVC primer over everything and stuck it together while it was still wet, it seemed to melt the PVC enough to work with the minimal back pressure it would have. The cord on the pump was 6" short of reaching the outlet, I swear that is something they are doing to save money. Because it did look short I had thrown an extension cord in the bucket.
I did find an alarm in the bottom of the sump, no idea what was going on with it, it looked like someone had dropped it or knocked it off the sump ledge.
It's all working now though. the sump is too small for a backup pump and I'm not sure I want to try and plumb an external backup. Alternatively, I'm looking at a new alarm and I bought a very inexpensive wireless outdoor camera to mount above the sump so I can look at it whenever I need to. I'm currently testing it in the shop and very impressed with how it works for less than $25.
This weekend I installed a mulching kit on my Bad Boy, but never thought to actually take any pictures. It was nothing real exciting, the baffles were all made out of water jet cut pieces but other than that not much to it.
My buddy brought his truck by and we started building his Move bumpers. The cuts and bends on the kit were very nice but the instructions were a bit lacking. We got the front bumper 85% done its a big heavy beast.
The front bumper gets built in place on the truck and after lifting it up in place a couple of times I realized were five feet from a lift table, so we started using it.
The rear bumper has a lot more pieces than the front but I think its going to be much easier, most of it can be built on the bench.
Last but not least, I have been researching tractors for about six months now. I originally thought I would spend 10 maybe 15K tops to buy a tractor for some projects I have around the property. Little did I know that a 1967 50hp gas John Deere with a loader would be 16k and that's for a farm tractor not a collector's piece. Thats when I really started researching what I wanted versus what I needed, and the cost associated with both.
A few weeks ago, I ordered one of the tractors in this picture.
It came into the dealer last Friday and is being assembled now. I never thought in my life I would need much less want a tractor. I obviously didn't need a brand new one but the prices on used Tractors are just crazy.
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
My 3515H Branson is still worth what I paid for it in 2020. Which was more than my current daily driver, haha.
Kubota makes a great product and they stand behind it!
Kubota makes a great product and they stand behind it!
I would have loved to get a skid steer like you did, I actually looked quite a bit but short of spending 50k+ everything I looked at was beat to ****. It's not something a nice old guy buys, keeps a few years, puts 200 hours on it and sells it. I think I will be good with depreciation, a lot of it is based on how you take care of something. It will probably be more buyer's remorse than anything. Not that I bought the wrong tractor, but more around did I need to spend so much.
The private market out where im located is crazy for used tracked skid steers. My budget was less than 30k. Everything I would find in my price range was beat into the ground. I didnt feel comfortable investing that much money on something thats got over 3k hrs and is late 2000s. My wife an I discussed about buying new. I didnt want the payment and Its mostly going to sit for now until I retire. I picked mine up on an auction. It was a rental. I got lucky... knock on wood. Everything seems pretty good except the tracks are gonna need to be replaced and minor cosmetic damage. Is kubota still doing 0%? I have a few friends have bought kubotas last yr. I was tempted to get one but my skidsteer buddy talked me out of it. Good luck with your tractor show us some pics when it you get it.
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
Did you price out the tracks?
Tractors and skids steers both have their place. I've owned both now, and on my property the tractor has been a more useful critter. There are times I'd still like to have a skid steer, however, ideally you'd own both!
My desire for a skid steer versus a tractor is based on the time I have spent around my buddies SVL95-2s which was double the price of the L3302 I ordered. I have always been impressed with how versatile it is, how little of space it can operate in, and how much it can lift. I will be able to lift around 1,150lbs, his SVL95-2s would be able to lift my tractor with me on it and my 1,150lb max load all at once. Not that I need to be making massive lifts but lifting a pallet of bricks off a trailer would be nice, the welding table in my shop or a mill should I buy one. The skid steer does that with no problem. The lift height on the tractor is 94 inches the skid steer 128.5 inches which is important if you have a shop with a loft.
I know it's an apple to oranges comparison, the skid steer would not be my first choice to finish mow with and I don't have a truck or trailer that could safely tow its 12,000lbs.
Oh, and 4ea R-14 tires aren't exactly cheap either, if you add the beet juice, they may actually cost more than tracks
I know it's an apple to oranges comparison, the skid steer would not be my first choice to finish mow with and I don't have a truck or trailer that could safely tow its 12,000lbs.
Oh, and 4ea R-14 tires aren't exactly cheap either, if you add the beet juice, they may actually cost more than tracks
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
My desire for a skid steer versus a tractor is based on the time I have spent around my buddies SVL95-2s which was double the price of the L3302 I ordered. I have always been impressed with how versatile it is, how little of space it can operate in, and how much it can lift. I will be able to lift around 1,150lbs, his SVL95-2s would be able to lift my tractor with me on it and my 1,150lb max load all at once. Not that I need to be making massive lifts but lifting a pallet of bricks off a trailer would be nice, the welding table in my shop or a mill should I buy one. The skid steer does that with no problem. The lift height on the tractor is 94 inches the skid steer 128.5 inches which is important if you have a shop with a loft.
I know it's an apple to oranges comparison, the skid steer would not be my first choice to finish mow with and I don't have a truck or trailer that could safely tow its 12,000lbs.
Oh, and 4ea R-14 tires aren't exactly cheap either, if you add the beet juice, they may actually cost more than tracks
That L3302 is basically similar in size to my Branson. My 3515H w/loader & bucket tips the scales at 4200lbs...and it will lift more than it should, rated around 2200lbs. That 30-35hp size is great, you'll never want for HP...that always worried me when I was looking at the smaller 25hp size tractors.
ya i know how much tracks are. I got in knowing that parts, maintenance is going to be pricey. Im not out of money but were doing ok at the moment.Did you price out the tracks?
Tractors and skids steers both have their place. I've owned both now, and on my property the tractor has been a more useful critter. There are times I'd still like to have a skid steer, however, ideally you'd own both!
I worked on a lot of different random projects this weekend.
First thing Saturday morning the dealership dropped off my L3302. it was probably one of the coldest days I have spent in the shop. It was about 30° out but the wind was blowing a steady 25mph. The dealership owner was more than happy to get the tractor in the shop asap to do his walkaround. I ended up getting a 6' finish mower, loader and bucket along with a set of pallet forks. I bought Land Pride implements because of the savings they had with buying a new tractor. It's very orange...
I finally decided where I wanted to mount the paint shaker and got it in place and working. It also gave me the opportunity to figure out how thick the concrete is.
While we were welding my buddies bumper last week, I noticed that the area closest to my loft was darker lighting than anywhere else in the shop. its where the ceiling lights end and the under the loft lights begin. To help remedy, I ordered 4ea Bolt III lights from Prime Lights where I got all my other shop lights. Last Wednesday they arrived and while the main box said Bolt III's the boxes inside were labeled Bolt II's and contained two bulb lights. After a three minute call they had the correct lights headed tome with a prepaid shipping label to send the wrong ones back.
Saturday, they arrived and took me a couple of hours to install. Pictures don't really show the difference or even the lights that well, I ended up mounting them along the bottom of the first rafter next to the loft. They fill in the area I was trying to supplement along with lighting the loft.
After finishing the lights, I helped my buddy with some work on his rear bumper. He decided he wanted to add cutouts for backup lights. I don't think I would have, I don't like how they look but it's his truck. We still need to figure out how to mount the backup sensors and some lighting for the license plate. Then on to a warm day to paint and apply bedliner to both.
Today it was a bit warmer but still quite cold outside, I ended up working on the lighting in the wife units craft room. We're going to try some can lights over her sewing area and see how that works. I don't want to get too carried away and make the room into only a craft room when we try and resell the home. But if I need to, I will add all the lighting she wants. The difficult part with putting these lights in was the roof had regular batting, then sheets of wood fastened to the rafters with another 12-14" blown in on top of the wood. So all wire runs happened from in the room. I was able to get from the fan to the closest light, then make the "L" in about 4 hours of cussing.
And then to cool off I broke in the tractor by moving 4ea buckets of dirt into a rut next to the shop where the triaxle trucks were sinking in. Now it looks like a tractor.
First thing Saturday morning the dealership dropped off my L3302. it was probably one of the coldest days I have spent in the shop. It was about 30° out but the wind was blowing a steady 25mph. The dealership owner was more than happy to get the tractor in the shop asap to do his walkaround. I ended up getting a 6' finish mower, loader and bucket along with a set of pallet forks. I bought Land Pride implements because of the savings they had with buying a new tractor. It's very orange...
I finally decided where I wanted to mount the paint shaker and got it in place and working. It also gave me the opportunity to figure out how thick the concrete is.
While we were welding my buddies bumper last week, I noticed that the area closest to my loft was darker lighting than anywhere else in the shop. its where the ceiling lights end and the under the loft lights begin. To help remedy, I ordered 4ea Bolt III lights from Prime Lights where I got all my other shop lights. Last Wednesday they arrived and while the main box said Bolt III's the boxes inside were labeled Bolt II's and contained two bulb lights. After a three minute call they had the correct lights headed tome with a prepaid shipping label to send the wrong ones back.
Saturday, they arrived and took me a couple of hours to install. Pictures don't really show the difference or even the lights that well, I ended up mounting them along the bottom of the first rafter next to the loft. They fill in the area I was trying to supplement along with lighting the loft.
After finishing the lights, I helped my buddy with some work on his rear bumper. He decided he wanted to add cutouts for backup lights. I don't think I would have, I don't like how they look but it's his truck. We still need to figure out how to mount the backup sensors and some lighting for the license plate. Then on to a warm day to paint and apply bedliner to both.
Today it was a bit warmer but still quite cold outside, I ended up working on the lighting in the wife units craft room. We're going to try some can lights over her sewing area and see how that works. I don't want to get too carried away and make the room into only a craft room when we try and resell the home. But if I need to, I will add all the lighting she wants. The difficult part with putting these lights in was the roof had regular batting, then sheets of wood fastened to the rafters with another 12-14" blown in on top of the wood. So all wire runs happened from in the room. I was able to get from the fan to the closest light, then make the "L" in about 4 hours of cussing.
And then to cool off I broke in the tractor by moving 4ea buckets of dirt into a rut next to the shop where the triaxle trucks were sinking in. Now it looks like a tractor.
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
That Land Pride stuff is built here in KS, originally a Great Plains product. Kubota bought them (Great Plains) a few years ago...great AMERICAN product.
More light is always good, especially as I get older!
More light is always good, especially as I get older!
Two weeks ago, I noticed how bad the window in my blast cabinet had gotten. I just replaced it a few months ago and it had about two hours of use when I finished blasting the paint shaker. When the original window had gotten cloudy, I looked up a replacement for which they wanted about $80. Instead, being the cheap *** I am, I ordered a couple of Econoline replacement windows from Granger without really researching them. They were around $30 for two and the first one as I said, lasted about two hours because they are just acrylic plastic. I then decided to call a local glass shop and priced out a 12"x24" piece of laminate glass, for which they quoted me $69 and some tax. It was also the two days after I ordered it and their banker hours to which I said, no thank you.
Friday night I decided to look a bit more online but took a different approach and ended up ordering two 12"x24" tempered glass shelves from Amazon for less than $40. I have bought TVs that weren't packaged as well as these two shelves. It wasn't until I did replace it that I realized just how bad it had gotten and very fast.
I was very impressed with the packaging and the finish of the glass. As shelves they did need nice, rounded edges but didn't necessarily need to have good clarity. As you can see these look very good. From what I have read tempered glass is a lot stronger than laminate, I am curious to see how well it holds up. I have used the plastic peel layers i the past on my old cabinet and really don't want to go down that path again.
Friday night I decided to look a bit more online but took a different approach and ended up ordering two 12"x24" tempered glass shelves from Amazon for less than $40. I have bought TVs that weren't packaged as well as these two shelves. It wasn't until I did replace it that I realized just how bad it had gotten and very fast.
I was very impressed with the packaging and the finish of the glass. As shelves they did need nice, rounded edges but didn't necessarily need to have good clarity. As you can see these look very good. From what I have read tempered glass is a lot stronger than laminate, I am curious to see how well it holds up. I have used the plastic peel layers i the past on my old cabinet and really don't want to go down that path again.
I didn't get as much done this weekend as I hoped. Too many different projects and distractions. It started out with a major wind and rainstorm that caused my pool cover to collapse, this started a chain of events where the pump cover fell in the pool and drained the entire pool. The worst thing you can do to a fiberglass pool is drain it without shoring. Now the ground water has pushed up from the bottom and split the pool at least 14'. Thankfully it falls under our homeowner's insurance. This didn't directly stop me from doing anything this weekend, it was just a mental distraction.
My buddy was over both Saturday and Sunday so we could work on his bumpers. They both came out really nice and were much more work than I would have imagined. Adding parking sensors, back up lights and license plate lights took a ton of time.
One more coat of bedliner on the front and they can be mounted, then I can get the tetanus table out of my shop!
Before I could start working on installing the Propel system, I put together a work platform because over 50% of the work was going to be from an elevated area. Two weeks ago, I got my hands on 11 2'x5' pallets that came with some equipment we purchased at work, I added some screws to the existing joints and then screwed two of them together to make a 4'x5' work platform.
I then added a scrap piece of OSB to the top and closed in the fork pockets so it would not tip over if I stepped on the edge.
CONTINUED:
My buddy was over both Saturday and Sunday so we could work on his bumpers. They both came out really nice and were much more work than I would have imagined. Adding parking sensors, back up lights and license plate lights took a ton of time.
One more coat of bedliner on the front and they can be mounted, then I can get the tetanus table out of my shop!
Before I could start working on installing the Propel system, I put together a work platform because over 50% of the work was going to be from an elevated area. Two weeks ago, I got my hands on 11 2'x5' pallets that came with some equipment we purchased at work, I added some screws to the existing joints and then screwed two of them together to make a 4'x5' work platform.
I then added a scrap piece of OSB to the top and closed in the fork pockets so it would not tip over if I stepped on the edge.
CONTINUED:
I'm not sure what happened but the previous post stopped responding as I was making it then I couldn't post at all. When I had time to try again, I had to go out of town for work, so this is the first chance I have had to get back to this.
Back to my teaser post before, I have been researching options doors / openers on my shop. I priced out replacing the sliding doors with a rollup and then openers for both. In the end the cheapest option was to motorize the sliding doors, the problem with that is there are not a lot of options. I spent some time this last winter deciding if I could just do it myself using standard garage door openers. There is some information out there on people that have done it, but the videos I saw of them in operation didn't instill a lot of confidence and it looked like it would be more trouble than it was worth. So, I picked an existing company Propel, and found that Menards carried their openers. They were very expensive and no one at Menards knew anything about them. Frustrated, I found the company online and decided to call them two weeks ago. My call ended up dialing down to the owner and we discussed his openers for about an hour. He ended up selling me a system for about 1/3 less than Menards and I had it at my door in less than a week.
The system is based on garage door openers that are manufactured by a German company called Sommer. The operator follows the door using a sprocket that drives against a fixed chain. All of the receivers and limit switch controls are placed in a separate control head housing.
When I opened the boxes for the Propel openers, both operator covers had been damaged the same exact way during shipping. A text message to the owner had a response in less than 3 minutes of "I will have two sent to you right away", awesome guy and great customer service.
For the first part of the installation, I needed to install a new circuit with an outlet on each side of the door, to plug in the control heads. The control heads have a button that open/closes the door, a light, and all the force limit adjustments.
After wiring up the outlets I had to reposition every light circuit in the shop I had routed along the face of the door header to the top of it. This would allow me to mount brackets for the operator rails. After getting one bracket in place, I ran out of time for the day.
Working off the platform on the loader was so much better than doing this at 12' from a ladder. My only disappointment was how fast the loader bled down. I know that's not what it was designed to do but if I was using it to load and move firewood, I would expect it to stay in position for at least 15 minutes. After searching some on the net it seems that 2" of height drop in 5 minutes is acceptable and 2" of cylinder movement on the curl every 15 minutes is acceptable. This means in 10 minutes over 6" of drop at the tip of the bucket could be an acceptable condition.
In the end, the reality is that I can't use it alone with a ladder up to it and the wife unit is becoming a fairly proficient loader operator. She was able to maintain my height without tossing me off the platform, or really even disturbing what I was doing.
I'm not by any means getting rid of it anytime soon though, the following day I had it outside to see if it could lift the 1,100lb pallet, which it did, just only that high though
This weekend I should have more time to work on the door operators, if not finish them. Then my next big decision will be where to keep the door opener on the tractor.
Back to my teaser post before, I have been researching options doors / openers on my shop. I priced out replacing the sliding doors with a rollup and then openers for both. In the end the cheapest option was to motorize the sliding doors, the problem with that is there are not a lot of options. I spent some time this last winter deciding if I could just do it myself using standard garage door openers. There is some information out there on people that have done it, but the videos I saw of them in operation didn't instill a lot of confidence and it looked like it would be more trouble than it was worth. So, I picked an existing company Propel, and found that Menards carried their openers. They were very expensive and no one at Menards knew anything about them. Frustrated, I found the company online and decided to call them two weeks ago. My call ended up dialing down to the owner and we discussed his openers for about an hour. He ended up selling me a system for about 1/3 less than Menards and I had it at my door in less than a week.
The system is based on garage door openers that are manufactured by a German company called Sommer. The operator follows the door using a sprocket that drives against a fixed chain. All of the receivers and limit switch controls are placed in a separate control head housing.
When I opened the boxes for the Propel openers, both operator covers had been damaged the same exact way during shipping. A text message to the owner had a response in less than 3 minutes of "I will have two sent to you right away", awesome guy and great customer service.
For the first part of the installation, I needed to install a new circuit with an outlet on each side of the door, to plug in the control heads. The control heads have a button that open/closes the door, a light, and all the force limit adjustments.
After wiring up the outlets I had to reposition every light circuit in the shop I had routed along the face of the door header to the top of it. This would allow me to mount brackets for the operator rails. After getting one bracket in place, I ran out of time for the day.
Working off the platform on the loader was so much better than doing this at 12' from a ladder. My only disappointment was how fast the loader bled down. I know that's not what it was designed to do but if I was using it to load and move firewood, I would expect it to stay in position for at least 15 minutes. After searching some on the net it seems that 2" of height drop in 5 minutes is acceptable and 2" of cylinder movement on the curl every 15 minutes is acceptable. This means in 10 minutes over 6" of drop at the tip of the bucket could be an acceptable condition.
In the end, the reality is that I can't use it alone with a ladder up to it and the wife unit is becoming a fairly proficient loader operator. She was able to maintain my height without tossing me off the platform, or really even disturbing what I was doing.
I'm not by any means getting rid of it anytime soon though, the following day I had it outside to see if it could lift the 1,100lb pallet, which it did, just only that high though
This weekend I should have more time to work on the door operators, if not finish them. Then my next big decision will be where to keep the door opener on the tractor.
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
That's strange...generally they will do that when the seals are worn, not on a new tractor.
Chrisb62
Well-known member
Depends on the quality of the valve as well ..... not picking on the brand of equipment.
Quality of the valve seat inside the valve will keep a load stationary as well as the seals on the pistons.
This apparently is the official Kubota bleed down limit chart.
It would be fairly easy to make cylinder locks for the lift arms, they wouldn't be any different than spoiler locks or gear locks used on aircraft daily. The one that can't easily be locked is the curl function.
It would be fairly easy to make cylinder locks for the lift arms, they wouldn't be any different than spoiler locks or gear locks used on aircraft daily. The one that can't easily be locked is the curl function.
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
That's wild, must be in their joystick valve. Yes, cylinder locks are an easy thing to make. We had quite a few sets of them around the farm for different equipment.
Neighbor had a John Deere 4010 that was a gas burner, it had an F11 loader on it. It was always parked with the loader raised all the way up, just incase it had to be pull started. It was also a tricycle front gear which made it somewhat unstable for loader work!
Neighbor had a John Deere 4010 that was a gas burner, it had an F11 loader on it. It was always parked with the loader raised all the way up, just incase it had to be pull started
. It was also a tricycle front gear which made it somewhat unstable for loader work!Im kinda surprised that they seem to bleed down that much. Next time im working on my skidsteer ill check the bleed down. I left my bucket up in my shop for a few hrs. I didnt notice any bleed down. I had to fill the hydro. Its on the right side of the machine in-between the track and the boom. You have to raise the boom to fill up the reservoir. ****** design but oh well. I dont recommend walking underneath the bucket while its in the air... really no other way.
Its definitely weight related, I used it as a workbench a few times today and the droop was almost negligible. My buddy did some tests on his SVL97 the droop on it was negligible load or not.
Friday, I got a call on my way home from the gun store wishing me a happy tax stamp day. They really should ask what your doing before they drop that on you, I was driving like an idiot to get there before they closed. After waiting almost a year, I was able to take home my Griffin Armament Optimus Suppressor.
Saturday they were having a parking lot event, one of the main prizes was the highly modified AR15 below. They said the theme was if AR15s existed during WWII what would they look like. It looked extremely heavy but many of the parts were made of carbon fiber to offset the weight.
Last night I got the outlets wired up for the door openers and we installed my buddies bumpers on his truck. The lights at that point still needed wired but the end is in sight.
Today I was able to finish installing the Propel openers, I didn't get a lot of pictures while doing it because while the parts and the system were fairly impressive the instructions were really poor. I was spending more time trying to figure things out and wasn't thinking about pictures.
I did get a couple of the rail and chain, the rail slides together and the chain keeps it together with tension. The chain fits into a plastic track to keep from electrifying the rail.
Setting the tension on the rail was simple, there is a arrow that you line up with the head of the tensioning bolt.
While I didn't get many pictures, I did take of video of it in operation. I put a remote in my garage and pushing the button that would normally turn on the opener light, opens both doors at the same time.
I am totally stoked about how well it works, and look forward to getting a lot of use out of it. Not that it matters for this application but the operators are by far the quietest I have ever heard the rollers on the doors are the loudest thing you can hear when they are operating. Unfortunately the sound during the operation was cut out by Utube because I had copywrite music playing in the backgroudn.
Friday, I got a call on my way home from the gun store wishing me a happy tax stamp day. They really should ask what your doing before they drop that on you, I was driving like an idiot to get there before they closed. After waiting almost a year, I was able to take home my Griffin Armament Optimus Suppressor.
Saturday they were having a parking lot event, one of the main prizes was the highly modified AR15 below. They said the theme was if AR15s existed during WWII what would they look like. It looked extremely heavy but many of the parts were made of carbon fiber to offset the weight.
Last night I got the outlets wired up for the door openers and we installed my buddies bumpers on his truck. The lights at that point still needed wired but the end is in sight.
Today I was able to finish installing the Propel openers, I didn't get a lot of pictures while doing it because while the parts and the system were fairly impressive the instructions were really poor. I was spending more time trying to figure things out and wasn't thinking about pictures.
I did get a couple of the rail and chain, the rail slides together and the chain keeps it together with tension. The chain fits into a plastic track to keep from electrifying the rail.
Setting the tension on the rail was simple, there is a arrow that you line up with the head of the tensioning bolt.
While I didn't get many pictures, I did take of video of it in operation. I put a remote in my garage and pushing the button that would normally turn on the opener light, opens both doors at the same time.
I am totally stoked about how well it works, and look forward to getting a lot of use out of it. Not that it matters for this application but the operators are by far the quietest I have ever heard the rollers on the doors are the loudest thing you can hear when they are operating. Unfortunately the sound during the operation was cut out by Utube because I had copywrite music playing in the backgroudn.
Is there a quick detach to open during a power outage? I love the setup.Its definitely weight related, I used it as a workbench a few times today and the droop was almost negligible. My buddy did some tests on his SVL97 the droop on it was negligible load or not.
Friday, I got a call on my way home from the gun store wishing me a happy tax stamp day. They really should ask what your doing before they drop that on you, I was driving like an idiot to get there before they closed. After waiting almost a year, I was able to take home my Griffin Armament Optimus Suppressor.
Saturday they were having a parking lot event, one of the main prizes was the highly modified AR15 below. They said the theme was if AR15s existed during WWII what would they look like. It looked extremely heavy but many of the parts were made of carbon fiber to offset the weight.
Last night I got the outlets wired up for the door openers and we installed my buddies bumpers on his truck. The lights at that point still needed wired but the end is in sight.
Today I was able to finish installing the Propel openers, I didn't get a lot of pictures while doing it because while the parts and the system were fairly impressive the instructions were really poor. I was spending more time trying to figure things out and wasn't thinking about pictures.
I did get a couple of the rail and chain, the rail slides together and the chain keeps it together with tension. The chain fits into a plastic track to keep from electrifying the rail.
Setting the tension on the rail was simple, there is a arrow that you line up with the head of the tensioning bolt.
While I didn't get many pictures, I did take of video of it in operation. I put a remote in my garage and pushing the button that would normally turn on the opener light, opens both doors at the same time.
I am totally stoked about how well it works, and look forward to getting a lot of use out of it. Not that it matters for this application but the operators are by far the quietest I have ever heard the rollers on the doors are the loudest thing you can hear when they are operating. Unfortunately the sound during the operation was cut out by Utube because I had copywrite music playing in the backgroudn.