Above 1200 Sq/FT The Salvage Garage

[tin medic]

Subscribed, I love this thread. Do you know how long it takes to read 36 pages on an iPhone? WAY TO LONG.

Strouty, the Lista cabinets really make your garage, cant wait to see the finished product.

 

[Strouty]

Thanks for taking the time, will hopefully have more updates at a consistent pace. I have been swamped with non shop related stuff and I really did not want to bore anyone.

 

[Strouty]

Here are the pictures of the mess:










I did get some work days be on the bucket truck so I could use it to paint at the MIL's house. Had to gut the system and start fresh, there used to be a huge electric powered pump to run it without engine power, but parts were leaking and the motor was seized, so I reworked things. All this stuff was replaced with one line from the main pump and two shorter lines.

 

[jakemac]

Glad to see you playing in the toy box again.

 

[Strouty]

Me too.

I am going to take a load to the dump today, then the plan is to load up scrap for tomorrow morning.

 

[LXCam]

Me too.

I am going to take a dump today, then the plan is to **** tomorrow morning.

good for you! Ya got to admire a man who has his **** together.

 

[Strouty]

For a second, I thought autocorrect actually changed my post.

 

[Thumper68]

Hey Strouty, I like the pics of the "Mess" it is so much better than 2 years ago I can see floor and walking space in every picture. Keep it up brother!

LXcam well played sir!

 

[jakemac]

LXcam -

 

[86turbodsl]

Just stopping in to say keep it up, it's looking good and coming together!

 

[Strouty]

Thanks guys, will be working on the outside mess today and most of tomorrow. I need to have things ready for SNOW

Sorry, had to say it.

 

[Strouty]

Looks like just a dump today, no ****. (just for you LX!)

Things got carried away at the Lawyer's office and I didn't get started until later, so now I have a full truck ready to go to the dump, but I am don't think I will have time to go to the scrap yard tomorrow. Let me rephrase that, I won't have the dump truck long enough to make it to the scrap yard, I definitely have enough time otherwise. I actually have enough stuff for another load to the dump.

I figure before the snow flies, I will have another dump run and one good sized scrap trip. That will get things cleaned up really well.

Goal for tomorrow is to finish cleaning and setup the Lista cabinets that are staying. Then we will work on cleaning up the ones that are going. I may list them on Craigslist just to see what happens, but if they don't sell, they are headed to the auction for sure!

 

[Strouty]

I was all set to send my car to the auction and now my Brother has me talked out of it. I guess I will look at the repairs as a learning experience and keep moving forward. I just feel I have way too much money ******* in the car it is time to cut things loose, his point was that at least I know what I have when I am done. I really can't argue with that position, so the car stays.

$99 was what it cost me to get rid of all the wood and debris from yesterday, I totally forgot to take pictures, sorry. I still have more to go, will space that out over the next month, as long as things are cleaned up before snow flies I will be happy.

On the forklift front, I was trying to adapt the 5 ton military wheels to fit the old 6 lug deuce and a half lug pattern and it seems that it will be a costly and time consuming mess. Luckily I found that MRAP wheels can be adapted much cheaper and my Father has a bunch of those rims floating around, so now I have to go to his place and get some rims, then I will need to order different o-rings to make sure they seal, but it looks like the forklift tire swap will be a lot less painful once I get these rims. I hope he has steel ones, then I may be able to just weld up the centers from the old rims and things will be even simpler.

Will post some picture updates as I get things cleaned up, looks like today will be another productive one!

 

[Strouty]

So these are in the way now......

 

[Kev442]

Ugh. After this weekend you can keep all that heavy equipment. My medium equipment was a big enough pain. Had to drag my crawler out of the shop with the tractor due to a locked up left brake.
Being unable to steer meant it couldn't be centered, which resulted in having to remove the blade. That should be a five minute job until you find out the center pivot pin is bent.
What was expected to be a 30 minute job took over 5 hours. Oh well, I'm loving all the extra space to work indoors this fall.

 

[Thumper68]

This might sound like a stupid idea but can't you cut the center out of the rim and weld it into another one that the tires fit onto?

I would never do that with a on road wheel, but have done it many times for off road only vehicles. Or is a fork truck that different?

 

[Strouty]

Kev that doesn't sound like much fun!

Thumper, that was my original plan but all the rims I have are the wrong style for the tires I bought. I am looking into buying the correct rims, but it may be cheaper to buy different tires at this point.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Some times when you don't have the time, you must use your wallet.

 

[Strouty]

Hopefully after Tuesday's meeting I will at least feel like I have more time.

 

[Kev442]

Tuesday's gone.

I have started phase II of swapping drivetrains on the vans. You aren't going to let an old fart beat you against putting a 'burb together, are you?

 

[Strouty]

If this was a race, I would probably not even place. As for Tuesday and the meeting, my application has been approved, with conditions. The conditions are going to cost us about $30k to make a road that is perfectly capable of supporting a fire truck capable of supporting a fire truck?!

It was either agree to that or lose at least another month, probably two and I can’t justify that for any amount of dollars.

Tomorrow morning I am going to try and sell all the fancy Mercedes Benz fluids, I stopped in today and talked to the owner of the shop that specializes in them, he seemed very interested.

 

[BBChevro]

Hey Strouty, I just caught-up again - so I thought I'd better leave a bookmark.... er, I mean, "comment".

I may not have said it before, but I do like all that storage.

 

[Strouty]

Thanks for checking in, the storage is a bit overwhelming right now, but eventually it will be totally worth it.

 

[Strouty]

I have gathered several things for the auction, I can start bringing that stuff over on Monday. That will make a quick and big dent in things! I dropped off all the Mercedes Benz fluids today, we agreed on $250, I would have been able to get more on eBay, but it would have also been a lot more time, plus the thought of shipping fluids did not sit well with me. Happy to have the money and the space cleared out. I am making decisions on a bunch of tires that I have, they are all miscellaneous ones and threes, so no full sets. I think at this point I will dispose of any tires that are not a currently used size for my fleet, at least ones that are not sets. I have one great set of studded snow tires for an older Volvo and those are going on Craigslist. I am on the fence about selling the F-350 dump truck, but I really don't want a project and I am truly not a Ford guy.

Unfortunately, I still have a ton of paperwork to do and things that need to be done in the office, so I am trying to balance that with shop stuff. I know the auction stuff is definitely top priority now, I do not want to be storing all this stuff once the snow is flying.

Once the shop is cleaned out, I need to fix the glow plugs on the suburban, swap the plow controls so I can use the V-plow, I am also going to wire up the back blade thing a magij that I bought so it will be ready to go.

The excavator is supposed to be back early October, I want to get my burn pile taken care of ASAP. I need to level up the back area and will most likely need to bring in some fill so I don't have a pond out there in the spring.

My To Do Lists have To Do Lists!!!!!!!!! I am working on that as well, mapping out lists of projects, organizing supporting documents and supplies. It is much tougher than I thought, I keep finding more things, luckily I have also decided to do away with several of them.

 

[rmalkow2]

So, life is pretty much normal then?

 

[Strouty]

Yes, except I have lots of Lista cabinets now.

 

[Kev442]

You've talked about your "analysis paralysis", self help books and To Do lists many times over the years, in addition to the old thread helping to motivate. I found this completely opposite finding to be interesting when I read it today:

"Shouldn't you announce your goals, so friends can support you? Isn't it good networking to tell people about your upcoming projects? Doesn't the law of attraction mean you should state your intention, and visualize the goal is already yours? Nope.

Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen.

Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you're less motivated to do the hard work needed.

In 1933, W. Mahler found that if a person announced the solution to a problem, and was acknowledged by others, it was now in the brain as a "social reality", even if the solution hadn't actually been achieved.

NYU psychology professor Peter Gollwitzer has been studying this since his 1982 book "Symbolic Self-Completion" - and recently published results of new tests in a research article, "When Intentions Go Public: Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?"

Four different tests of 63 people found that those who kept their intentions private were more likely to achieve them than those who made them public and were acknowledged by others.

Once you've told people of your intentions, it gives you a "premature sense of completeness."

You have "identity symbols" in your brain that make your self-image. Since both actions and talk create symbols in your brain, talking satisfies the brain enough that it "neglects the pursuit of further symbols."

A related test found that success on one sub-goal (eating healthy meals) reduced efforts on other important sub-goals (going to the gym) for the same reason."


I tend to keep my goals to myself for completely different reasons:

A) life throws you a curveball constantly. I don't think I've ever set a goal for a specific week that didn't get delayed by something. Similar to the "It always costs twice as much and takes twice as long as budgeted" statement.

B) It sets false deadlines that just annoy/depress me. "I need to get this done today" Doesn't happen. Results in someone saying "Weren't you going to do this today?" Bad feelings ensue.

C) Sometimes I just abandon an idea as not what I'm going to do after all

That being said, I do need the van out of my garage before the snow flies...

 

[Strouty]

That does seem very true. My new goals are:

I ain't saying

None of your business

It's a secret

 

[Strouty]

Talk about turning the world upside down, thanks Kev.

Now I see that all these Lista cabinets are just an identity symbol that I am using because I want to be organized. I always new that keeping too many books was because you wanted to show people you were smart. I figured hoarding was just my way of surrounding myself with distractions so I didn't have to deal with the real issues. I had never figured that publicly stating a goal would be detrimental, but I will say after thinking about it, there is a lot of merit to that.

I am currently reading about entitlement and how most people truly feel entitled in some way, even when they don't think so. It is amazing when you take a deep look at things, sometimes what stares you back can truly be awful.

 

[Richard Cranium]

strouty, I would be will to take them lista tool cabinets off your hands, just give me a call. Might be able to stay a few weeks and help you arrange your shop while I am there. I got the new motor home, Just want to leave before the snow flies... lol. good luck Rich

 

[Thumper68]

You've talked about your "analysis paralysis", self help books and To Do lists many times over the years, in addition to the old thread helping to motivate. I found this completely opposite finding to be interesting when I read it today:

"Shouldn't you announce your goals, so friends can support you? Isn't it good networking to tell people about your upcoming projects? Doesn't the law of attraction mean you should state your intention, and visualize the goal is already yours? Nope.

Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen.

Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you're less motivated to do the hard work needed.

In 1933, W. Mahler found that if a person announced the solution to a problem, and was acknowledged by others, it was now in the brain as a "social reality", even if the solution hadn't actually been achieved.

NYU psychology professor Peter Gollwitzer has been studying this since his 1982 book "Symbolic Self-Completion" - and recently published results of new tests in a research article, "When Intentions Go Public: Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?"

Four different tests of 63 people found that those who kept their intentions private were more likely to achieve them than those who made them public and were acknowledged by others.

Once you've told people of your intentions, it gives you a "premature sense of completeness."

You have "identity symbols" in your brain that make your self-image. Since both actions and talk create symbols in your brain, talking satisfies the brain enough that it "neglects the pursuit of further symbols."

A related test found that success on one sub-goal (eating healthy meals) reduced efforts on other important sub-goals (going to the gym) for the same reason."


I tend to keep my goals to myself for completely different reasons:

A) life throws you a curveball constantly. I don't think I've ever set a goal for a specific week that didn't get delayed by something. Similar to the "It always costs twice as much and takes twice as long as budgeted" statement.

B) It sets false deadlines that just annoy/depress me. "I need to get this done today" Doesn't happen. Results in someone saying "Weren't you going to do this today?" Bad feelings ensue.

C) Sometimes I just abandon an idea as not what I'm going to do after all

That being said, I do need the van out of my garage before the snow flies...

I think that the studies are correct for what they are. However I find that personally that if I state a goal the need to follow through and complete it to show others that it can be done helps me move things forward.

To this end I have a white board that I list the to do's on, plus making announcements on my Youtube channel for upcoming projects also drives me to move those ahead in a more timely manner.

 

[Strouty]

There are two types of people, the ones that public announcement of the goals helps and then there is me.

I have been working on my big picture goals, but I don't really announce those. I do think I may be better off posting my completions and not my goals, projects, or someday maybes. It can't hurt to try, I do feel sometimes I am looking for encouragement, but other times it seems like an excuse to not do something. I guess seeing this is better than denying it.

 

[jakemac]

Well, now that you've announced it, does this mean you're not going to try it ?

 

[Strouty]

Yes, but you won't know until I finish it.

 

[Strouty]

I hear a big truck, then a backup alarm. I see my excavator on a trailer. My Brother tells me "I am bringing your excavator back today."

Glad the yard wasn't a mess, the guy would have had a hell of a time turning around.

My process for project organization is not even really started and I am overwhelmed. Unfortunately the process involves writing all your projects down with all the steps needed to be done (reasonably detailed). So one step leads to another and so for and so on. I have a feeling it is going to take me the better part of a week to actually do this, I have been assured that after doing it I won't feel as overwhelmed. Not 100% sure if that is true, but I need to give it a shot, it has totally worked for the Tower/Planning Board project so far. I can't wait until next week, I can get rid of some of the stuff in my way, let the auction do its magic and turn my junk into green stuff.

 

[RacerRick]

I always just try to do one thing in my shop, or related to my shop every day. I find that just actually doing one small task gets me over the hump, and I usually end up continuing. This is what gets me over the planning paralysis of my projects. Plus they get done, slowly but surely.

 

[Strouty]

Yeah, that was working for me right up until the point my shop puked Lista cabinets everywhere. I am still recovering from that, not that it is a bad thing, but it is an issue.

At this point I am more concerned about the mess I have made in the office areas. I was looking for some documents and things are way worse than I thought. Even the computer files are crazy. I need to go through and purge some files, rename a bunch, and change the file structure a bit. I probably have 400 documents related to the tower project and I have been using the search function to locate them rather than a simple folder tree. The best part is that I have everything setup to sync across all my devices, so when I change the layout it does it everywhere automatically.

 

[Kev442]

I always just try to do one thing in my shop, or related to my shop every day. I find that just actually doing one small task gets me over the hump, and I usually end up continuing. This is what gets me over the planning paralysis of my projects. Plus they get done, slowly but surely.

This is where I am at these days. Taking an hour to maybe two is the only way I am going to eat the elephant on my projects.
I have a friend who used to work swing shifts that would allow for 12 7 day offs per year in addition to paid vacation. You would think that would be beyond awesome, but he told me human nature goes like this:
First two days: do everything most people do on weekends to get caught up.
Next couple of days: Relax! Got plenty of time to do things
Day 5: Ugh, gotta get something done. Maybe get something done
6 and 7: spend all your time dreading that the 7 off leads into working 4 nights in a row. Wallow in self pity.

He said his 3 offs were where he got stuff done:

Day 1, only three off, gotta bust ***!
Day 2, Ha! Three off in the middle of the week, in and out of the stores in 20 minutes flat!
Day 3, wrap it up and relax, working days tomorrow.

Humans are a pretty nutty lot when you get down to it....

 

[Strouty]

We are a weird lot.

I get distracted way to easily, that is one reason I like the idea of a stock room. I spent two days looking for the nuts that hold the 5 ton rim halves together, they ended up being in a box that I looked through first, they were mixed in with deuce and a half lug nuts. Go figure. I still have a lot of decisions to make before Monday. I did another walk through and found a bunch more miscellaneous stuff that should go to the auction.

 

[Orionrising]

I have the opposite problem, I tend to do things for the goal then loose interest. I want get/ build/learn the best way to do X... then once I do, dont care anymore and never do it again.

I am debating going to an auction in the morning, this could be bad.... bunch of tractors and stuff I realllly dont need... and trailers and stufff...