Something just clicked…..

[Strouty]

I was wondering if you could do something like that.

With all the snow that you get wold it be better to put plywood over the top of the boat instead of a taurp?

I was thinking of that as well, the way the boat is setup, it has an aluminum frame with plywood over the main area. I think that the tarp will probably work for the "rest" of the snow season. I have my hopes that we will be seeing less snow per storm with some melting in between. I can use my snow broom to get most of the snow off the tarp.

Another thing I need to do is pull out Bev (freightliner) and put actual tire chains on the tires, I have been using cables and they freeze in when it is parked, then rip off when you try and move. It ticks me off that I didn't just put the chains on it to begin with.

Then we have the 5 ton, I need to setup a 24 volt booster pack. I have a 24 volt charger, but it doesn't seem to charge it for any length of time. I should start a separate thread asking about that. The charger is for a forklift and only has 3 settings 8 hour daily, 12 hour overnight, and 16 hour weekend. I don't understand exactly how it works, it show as much as 40 amps when charging the forklift, then it drops as the battery gets up to charge. When I hook it up to the 5 ton, it will go to 40 amps for a few minutes, then it drops off to nothing and the battery charger makes funny noises. I have tried hooking the charger up to the slave plug on the truck, as well as using jumper cables directly to the battery bank. I have confirmed that I am hooking things up and I have cleaned all connections. Hopefully the booster pack will allow it to crank a little faster, the batteries in the truck are weak when it is cold, but are fine down to about 35 degrees. I did check the water levels, but I have not checked each cell to see what the PH is. I just wanted to avoid spending $500 on batteries for a truck I only start once or twice a month.

 

[Strouty]

So I took Mbdeck1's advice and went to get some plywood. I was at lowes and they had a bunch outside in the clearance area. I guess someone returned nine sheets of 1/2" cdx plywood and they are an older sku that isn't in the system anymore. They wanted $100 for all of them. I talked to the manager and offered $75, sold! So with tax it was just under $80 for nine sheets of plywood. Now I have to figure out where to put them.

My brother doesn't want the other steel, so I am also going to have to deal with about 3000 pounds of steel. I should say no thanks, but there is so much good steel that I can't do it. At 8 cents a pound it is a no brainer. Just a royal pain in the ***.

 

[Strouty]

I forgot to mention that I sold some tools today as well, overall it was a good day.

 

[Strouty]

Well, the steel deal fell through, apparently the guy was going to get himself in trouble. He said he could still sell it, but at 29 cents a pound, at that price it was a little over $800 and I don't want to lay out $800 for something I don't know if I even need. At 8 cents a pound it would have been a deal and I would have sat on it for a while.

So I guess one less headache. I will get the small pieces from the other day put away. I have a friend coming over tomorrow night to help me get a truck unstuck and get the boat turned around so I can get it out of the shop. It is going to be nice to actually have my shop back, I am looking forward to it.

 

[Strouty]

I got my smaller steel all loaded on the rack, boy is that a mess, I can see I need one more upright to make it work much better. I may need to build a rack just for under eight foot stock, I am totally wasting space right now.

 

[Strouty]

I am working on getting my tools sorted, I have a bunch that I am selling, gotta make room for the new stuff. My goal is to have an area just for my GJ/ebay/craigslist stuff so I can keep track of what needs to be listed. I used to have an area, but I moved all the shelving around and lost it. Once the boat is out, I can access everything easier. The plan is to be listing things next week on a consistent basis again.

I have to go out and plug in a few trucks so I can start them tonight when I have help to get them unstuck, last time I had help, they would not start due to the damn cold. I am not going to have it happen to me again.

 

[Strouty]

It was a fun afternoon at my shop. I got the trucks going (after a few hours plugged in) and then I put the tire chains on the one that wasn't stuck. Then I set everything up so when my buddy got there we could pull the stuck one out. He got there about the same time as the sun left, and the truck that I put the chains on would not engage the rear air locker for some reason. It took way more effort than I would have liked to use but we got the stuck truck out. As soon as it was out, we switched the chains from one truck to the other and then plowed all the snow that I could not get to.

Then we moved the boat around inside the shop and got it ready to go outside. I decided to not cover it, I just packed up everything that could get damaged and we hooked it to my dump truck. It is now outside and I have the shop back!

This weekend my buddy is coming over with a tracked skid steer to help me move the piles of snow out of the way so I can get to my projects before all the snow melts. I hope to start working on one of my suburbans as early as next week. It is going to be really cold tonight, so tomorrow should be another fun day.

I will update with some pictures tomorrow, I really have not been keeping up with the pictures at all.

 

[Strouty]

Here is the shop semi emptied again, of course now I am starting to tear things apart, you have to make a mess to get organized!








Then we have the outside, hopefully that will be taken care of, or managed slightly, this weekend.

 

[Firebrand]

Strouty, I'm impressed how the shop looks and at the same time, saddened to see your air system is inactive. I noticed your garage thread from the upgrading air plumbing' thread with the contrary to popular belief concept from MTW. My system needs hardlines and I am planning to follow your lead and concept from MTW in my system. I hope your plans to push back your snowpack is successful ahead of the next big system scheduled to hit us in New England starting Sunday afternoon by us and later on for your location.

Your boat project has me intrigued as that is sweet deal! If all you need to do is install an oil injection reservoir tank in order to get her running, why not just set the tank in the motor well and test fire up the old girl? I do know that tanks like that use a different type of rubber line that may be tough to locate at non-marine stores. I need to replace mine in my Whaler Newport 17' and had to go to a dealer/ship's store to get a quality hose product.

 

[Strouty]

Thanks Firebrand, the shop is definitely a work in progress, I am getting excited again for sure!

The way MTW recommended worked awesome, I can't wait to start on the air compressor, it is taking up a lot of space right now. Once I get the pieces back together, it will be a little more compact. I think I may start a thread on it, but not sure, I guess I could add it to my air line thread.

The boat is less important to me right now, probably mid to late april I will feel different. I figure most of the stuff that needs to be done can be done outside. The motor was running last year, so it is just plumbing that needs to be done. I will also have to replace the throttle and shift cables as the old ones are a little short.

Tonight I am going to help my buddy with his 1966 (IIRC) suburban. We are going to try and get it so it moves. Then this weekend he is going to help me with the snow, so I can get to my 1999 suburban!

 

[Eriehunter]

I've been following this thread for a while but have not commented until now.

Things are looking good !!!

I was overwhelmed when looking at what you started with and I don't have anything invested. lol

Keep at it.

 

[Strouty]

I've been following this thread for a while but have not commented until now.

Things are looking good !!!

I was overwhelmed when looking at what you started with and I don't have anything invested. lol

Keep at it.

From my point of view things are feeling good as well. This thread has been and will continue to be a journey. Glad you could come along for the ride. Hope I didn't stress you out too much!

 

[rabies]

our old neighbor died like that. what an absolute nightmare to die buried in stuff.

looks like your on the right track though.

i had went through this too at one point. after tragedy struck me in the most horrifying ways i lost everything. i eventualy mentally let it all go. what peace i had.... peace like a river. no more stuff. it will all rust and melt or even corrode away anyways

 

[Eriehunter]

Hope I didn't stress you out too much!

No, but it did give me some inspiration to get going on some of my stuff. I'm usually pretty busy in the summer months so I just decided to spend one hour a day in my garage and DO SOMETHING, ANYTHING sweep the floor, move the tool box, anything..

Once I got going I found I was out there for more than an hour and things started to happen. If I missed a day then I spent two hours the next day to make it up.

I've now got a place where I can work on stuff w/o having to rearrange threw out a bunch of junk. I have two project cars and started on one of them again.

Now that it is winter I haven't spent much time out there, it's been crazy cold and being laid off I don't want to spend the extra money to heat the place.

Hopefully next week will warm up some and I can make some progress on some little projects that need done.

 

[Strouty]

Eriehunter, that is a great way to approach it, I am adding that to my bag of tricks. It is tough trying to stick with it, but as you said the hardest part is getting started. I hope it warms up a bit for you too, today was almost 30 and the sun was nice and bright. It felt great!

Rabies, I know what you mean, I do get the feeling that my stuff owns me. I am working through some of my own personal issues and I feel I am making progress, it is definitely a longer process than I originally thought. I have been told that it didn't get this way overnight so I can't expect it to be resolved quickly either.

 

[Strouty]

Today was very productive outside, minimally so inside. My buddy Nate came over and he ran the tracked skid steer around like a madman moving snow while I shuffled vehicles. Once we got the snow away from the suburbans and the crane I got motivated and a little creative. I pulled the crane out and turned it into a makeshift wrecker. I think I may make a permanent tow bar of sorts for the front of the truck, because it worked awesome.

 

[Strouty]

Well, today is supposed to be 50 plus degrees, I am hoping to get the 5 ton out of the snowbank. I can then load some stuff into the trailer, that will be a big help, since I have no good place to put the stuff right now.

The weather forecast for this weekend is up in the air, some say we could get 5 to 8 inches of snow. That will be fun, since there is a ton of mud right now. The goal for this week is to get the 5 ton out and bring the first project suburban inside the shop.

 

[Strouty]

It is a beautiful day for sure. Of course I am getting sidetracked, but at least the 5 ton is going!

 

[Kev442]

I haven't had much to say lately, my building gets the winter off.
I sure couldn't make any scathing remarks about how the boat kinda ruined all your winter plans when I back slid myself with a new parts car this past fall.
I then added to it by picking up a used rotisserie in January.
Today was the day to open things up. I plowed the 6 inches of snow hidden by the trees and used a 43 degree day to see what's what.

You have now officially surpassed me. You have more open usable space and probably less clutter. Three months away let me look at things without the glow of things accomplished last year. I've got a long row to hoe yet....

 

[Strouty]

Kev442, sounds like you are on the right track for sure.

Well, Friday my friend says can you fly with me to North Carolina to pick up a truck. I say yes. He means Saturday.

I left the house at 330 am saturday. We got home 330 am today. Mercy mission, but we did stop in Allentown, PA to eat. If you have never been to a Brazilian steak house, you should go.

 

[Modern Jess]

Haven't checked up on this thread in a while. The shop is looking great!

 

[Eriehunter]

If you have never been to a Brazilian steak house, you should go.

Love Brazilian steak houses. First time I went to one was in 2008 I was in RI for a sporting clays tournament.... I ate so friggin' much I had the night sweats, didn't sleep well and I was still full at noon the next day, I had a two o'clock shoot time and was still sluggish from overeating. It was sooooo good. They lost money on me that day Didn't shoot well that day.

 

[Strouty]

Haven't checked up on this thread in a while. The shop is looking great!

Thanks, I am actually using it for some repairs on my car tonight. I think it will just keep getting better, it is a long process though.

Love Brazilian steak houses. First time I went to one was in 2008 I was in RI for a sporting clays tournament.... I ate so friggin' much I had the night sweats, didn't sleep well and I was still full at noon the next day, I had a two o'clock shoot time and was still sluggish from overeating. It was sooooo good. They lost money on me that day Didn't shoot well that day.

I wish I could have eaten that much, but I was afraid if I ate too much, then jumped in the truck for another eight hours, well you get the idea.



Proof that I am actually using the shop!

 

[Strouty]

I heard a clunk the other day, then there was a lot of grinding.

I guess the caliper had frozen up and the inside pad was wearing at an extreme rate. The pad finally detached from the backing plate and was now metal to metal on the rotor. There were big chunks of pad in behind the rotor. So now I have to get some parts, then finish it up tomorrow.

I also have to do brakes on my suburban. I had a pitman arm installed when I went for an inspection sticker and they used a torch on it. Apparently it heated up my break line enough to somehow get air in the system, I could bleed the rear, but both front bleeders broke off. Gotta love rusty vehicles!

 

[Thumper68]

I heard a clunk the other day, then there was a lot of grinding.

I guess the caliper had frozen up and the inside pad was wearing at an extreme rate. The pad finally detached from the backing plate and was now metal to metal on the rotor. There were big chunks of pad in behind the rotor. So now I have to get some parts, then finish it up tomorrow.

I also have to do brakes on my suburban. I had a pitman arm installed when I went for an inspection sticker and they used a torch on it. Apparently it heated up my break line enough to somehow get air in the system, I could bleed the rear, but both front bleeders broke off. Gotta love rusty vehicles!

I bet about now you are wishing that the lift was installed instead of being stacked in the corner.

 

[Strouty]

As I realized that there is no way to jack up the rear of my car, I was thinking that. I guess after I do the front brakes and put the car on the ground, I can lift an entire side at a time. Basically, when you jack up the rear from a side, the entire car comes up off the ground on that side, or in my case, the jack stand.

 

[nine4gmc]

Good to see the shop being used for something other than storage, is it still snowing up there?

 

[rmalkow2]

Glad to see your shop in action after a long winter. As I'm cleaning up in the garage and moving vehicles around the last couple warm days it occurs to me I'm in a very similar situation as you just on a smaller scale. No 5-ton truck to move out of a snow bank, just my old F150 that needs new brake lines. My boat is only a 12 ft aluminum fishing boat but my garage is full of steel, cabinets, machines and, parts that were a "good deal" over the winter. Finally got most of it moved out to temp storage so I'm close to actually being able to pull a vehicle back in to work on it.
I guess we all have the disease, its just a matter of scale.

 

[Strouty]

Good to see the shop being used for something other than storage, is it still snowing up there?

It has not been accumulating, but it was snowing on Sunday. The rest of this week is supposed to be cold again, teens to low 20s for a high. It ***** when you get a few days of 50s and then back to that ****. All I can say is the weather should get better, I hope SOON!

Glad to see your shop in action after a long winter. As I'm cleaning up in the garage and moving vehicles around the last couple warm days it occurs to me I'm in a very similar situation as you just on a smaller scale. No 5-ton truck to move out of a snow bank, just my old F150 that needs new brake lines. My boat is only a 12 ft aluminum fishing boat but my garage is full of steel, cabinets, machines and, parts that were a "good deal" over the winter. Finally got most of it moved out to temp storage so I'm close to actually being able to pull a vehicle back in to work on it.
I guess we all have the disease, its just a matter of scale.

I have always said that having a bigger shop would definitely make things worse for me. I have been trying to get it through my head that it is ok to actually have shelves or cabinets that are not stuffed to capacity. It is hard, I see good deals and my impulse takes over. Of course it is not hard for me to rationalize almost any purchase as a "good deal" or that I "need" whatever it is. I still have a backslide here and there, I just figure as long as I am making forward progress most of the time that I am doing well.

 

[Strouty]

I got the brakes on the car done this afternoon, the suburban is now inside and waiting for its brakes to get done tomorrow morning. It is nice to have the shop working, but the next major project is the air compressor for sure.

 

[Kev442]

I've often thought about you with no decent air when I am working mine.
Just today nothing was going to do the job in my garage except the 3" cutoff wheel.
I can't imagine going without myself, I had air in my pole building before I had concrete!

 

[Strouty]

I've often thought about you with no decent air when I am working mine.
Just today nothing was going to do the job in my garage except the 3" cutoff wheel.
I can't imagine going without myself, I had air in my pole building before I had concrete!

Yup, it stinks. There are two things I would never recommend doing. One is selling your old air compressor before setting up the new one, and the other is selling your two post lift before being ready to install the new one. I am sure I have done more than that, but those two seem to haunt me on a regular basis. I guess they should both be priorities, but the lift needs to be a more permanent installation, so I am waiting until I know how the shop will be oriented before installing it.

 

[Strouty]

I spent some time this morning organizing my new wrenches, there is even enough room for the two Wrightgrip sets I will hopefully be ordering in the next week or so.

 

[Strouty]

I worked on the office desk and built a quick shelf for over the copier. I had originally wanted it to be super rugged, but I didn't want to spend all day making it.

 

[Strouty]

Then I had to take apart the suburban's brakes again, the parts guy gave me the wrong pads. It was only obvious after braking at low speed, the pads would shift and make an awful clunking noise. This time I am bringing the old pads with me. At least they said they would take back the pads that I installed.

 

[Kev442]

I worked on the office desk and built a quick shelf for over the copier. I had originally wanted it to be super rugged, but I didn't want to spend all day making it.

That office area looks good, almost too nice for a shop! More proof that you've covered a lot of ground in the last year.


I decided to visit my building again, they had promised 50 degree temps, which turned out to be 42 max. Building was 36 when I walked in. So, being screwed on weather, I followed a parallel course, I worked on the separated area that is supposed to be the woodworking area. As with everyone else, I started using it years ago before the walls or ceiling was finished. Most of it was insulated and drywalled, except for the interior corner.
I got two electric heaters going and got to work. After 4 hours the area was cleared, the shelving emptied and removed. Temp was now 44.

Two hours more and the interior wall was insulated from the rest of the building for the first time. Temp in the room shot up to 54 at waist height. By the time I called it a day, I had the vapor barrier up and most of the drywall in that area. Temp was maintaining 55 with one heater on low.
This "little" project has been a long time coming. I think I'm going to concentrate on finishing this room 100% this spring. Man, am I sore today!

 

[Strouty]

That office area looks good, almost too nice for a shop! More proof that you've covered a lot of ground in the last year.


I decided to visit my building again, they had promised 50 degree temps, which turned out to be 42 max. Building was 36 when I walked in. So, being screwed on weather, I followed a parallel course, I worked on the separated area that is supposed to be the woodworking area. As with everyone else, I started using it years ago before the walls or ceiling was finished. Most of it was insulated and drywalled, except for the interior corner.
I got two electric heaters going and got to work. After 4 hours the area was cleared, the shelving emptied and removed. Temp was now 44.

Two hours more and the interior wall was insulated from the rest of the building for the first time. Temp in the room shot up to 54 at waist height. By the time I called it a day, I had the vapor barrier up and most of the drywall in that area. Temp was maintaining 55 with one heater on low.
This "little" project has been a long time coming. I think I'm going to concentrate on finishing this room 100% this spring. Man, am I sore today!

Awesome to hear that you are beating mother nature at her own game. It is windy and cold here today. I am going to finish the brakes on the truck, and change the oil. I may even swap out the radio in the truck. My car has everything set to listen to my ipod, but I need to change out the brake power booster, it is making some interesting hissing and honking noises. I have to unpack some shiny new sockets that I won on ebay.

I will post some updates this evening. I am also going to start listing some stuff on ebay. I keep spending without selling and the reserves are running low.

 

[Strouty]

I got the correct pads installed, I will know if it fixed the problem by the time I get home!

Probably wasted three hours cleaning the toolbox. I am now 100% convinced that I will be buying two shallower drawers to replace the one big deep drawer, it is wasted space for me. I also have four empty drawers and a a couple that are only half loaded. I am toying with the idea of removing the files and the hammers. The files can go in the vidmar cabinet and the hammers can go on the wall. I know I need to make a rack for the prybars, especially since I have more coming in.

I got nothing listed on ebay, but I spent a few hours this morning showing the 2000 gallon tank. I am crossing my fingers that it gets sold, but if not I am taking it to the auction.

Between upgrading tools and emptying the tool box, I have a lot of tools to get rid of. I will have to post some here in the classified section. Tomorrow I need to get an area cleared so I can take my pictures for listing any items. I am also going to dedicate an entire area just for items that are being sold.

Lastly, I spent a little time organizing a drawer in the vidmar. That is a PITA, it is difficult for me to figure out what I want to go where. Then I still want to make this over complicated organizing system. So this week I will be practicing KISS and hopefully I will have a few drawers that are organized and labeled! I must waste a few minutes every time I go looking for stuff, just opening drawers that have no labels. Then there is the mental stress of trying to remember what it where and why I put it there.

 

[Strouty]

I think I beat the brakes, no clunking or noises of any kind.

 

[Strouty]

I have still not accomplished any ebay listings. I did take over 100 pictures and sized things to flat rate boxes. I figure that is better than nothing. I also set up my speakers for the computer, I forgot how nice it was to listen to music through real speakers. Of course the sub/amp has some weird glitch that makes it pop and crackle if I turn the bass up above a certain level. I may have to dig into it when I have a few minutes (LOL, it took me 5 years to hook them up, who am I kidding!). I got a few more things fine tuned, so the office is getting pretty usable. I can see that I need to build a few more shelves and do a lot of cord management under the desk, other than that I am seriously happy about the progress. Maybe tomorrow night I can get something listed in the classified section here.