Machine Builders Network+ Forums Machine Builders Network General Discussion What odd jobs did you do today?

yep Ive been contemplating selling my old Cat trackloader and buying into a compact track loader(tracked skid steer)- easier to move and I dont need permits to do so..I hate to let the big Cat go as there's no substitute for tonnage and power..so Ritchie Bros has had a acre of skid steer attachments for sale at the most recent auctions..most are imported off shore manufacture..up close the welding is not as clean and neat as others but a stump bucket doesnt have to look pretty,eh? And if it breaks thats what we have 7018 rod for right? just picked up a 71" skid steer brush cutter,not too bad for 1700 new in the crate..ive heard a lot about them and you have to put 80/90 oil in the gearbox and upgrade the lovejoy coupling between the gearbox and the hydraulic motor..no big deal..Ive got work for it in the spring

Neighbor just got one of the mowers for $1,400 at our last auction along with the little trencher for $1,600, --both in crate and I talked him out of the crates!!! HIGH QUALITY ANGLE IRON!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol!
Them mini exes's were selling for between 5 and 6 thousand at this sale.
Looks like there is a shitload of this stuff nationwide flooding the market! Maybe that will bring the price down a lot!
I was bidding on the orange fork extensions. looks like $100 to $110 average on them. Neighbor got one set for $100. I might should have tried harder but they have a truckload of them so more will be on the next sale on Jan 10'th sale along with the Amerin power company junk stuff!

got 1 new tail light put on the truck. got a wire that I dont know where it goes. could have been the back up lights,--they never have worked so no way to tell and anyway I have tail/turn/stop working on 2 wires so I guess call it good!
Anyway I'm beat working outside in this 30 mph wind and mud!

Finished the zip line repair.... so far so good

decided to do a test run on a piece of scrap to see what the chrome powder coat will look like.

I think it'll be great on the spoked rims for the MGB.

picked up about 120# of leaves and gumballs out of the driveway in front of the shop probably have another 200 pounds worth of crap to pick up. Lots of gumballs this year more than normal.

That would look great on the rims Jim! Its not too flashy annd would go great with the paint color, --- kinda accent each other!
You have gum trees??? Wonder if the seeds would grow?
I think there may be 1 tree in the cemetery where we will be buried. --- gotta try some seeds!

the LAST g#$ damn tree I would ever plant is a sweetgum tree..absolutely useless PITA not even good for pallet wood..doesnt split in a logsplitter,it just explodes to into shards..and those damn gumballs everywhere.
Last tract my brother and I logged had gum ball trees on it,we were after the Oak and Poplar for saw logs..every oak we went after had 10 gum ball trees in the way of it..pulling a white oak up and out to the landing I ran over a gumball tree sapling and took out the hyd steering hose on the tractor..lost a whole day because of that sweetgum tree
friggin gum ball trees..Did I say I hate sweetgum trees Sonny
1204am sunny and bright because theres no friggen gumball trees in the way
12/30/22

WOW! --- I guess most people hate them. I figured 1 growing in the road fenceline wouldnt hurt.

got a bit more done on the trailer wires --- truck's done. trailer is more complicated cause the wires from the frame to the bed gotta be able to move when the bed goes up. Think I got it figured out now.
Damn butt splices are not the greatest thing but I did use a few. MOST of the joints are twisted and soldered then taped.
5:46 pm 12/30

Arrrrgggh gumball trees..
Arrowsmith,IL is where your farm is Sonny? Im gonna find that growing gumball tree via satellite pictures on your fenceline and come out there and put it out of its rooted misery before it reproduces or gets any bigger..maybe the two of us take that flatbed F350 and a chain and see just how deep the roots are on that new gumball tree LOL..course that'll give us a reason to fix whats left of the spring hangers then afterwards laughing and cussing at the same time
Happy New Year All

Good one Bunk!!! LOL! Farm is not hard to find!!
Happy New Year everybody!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish the Oak trees would run over the damn sweet gum trees here. Cleaned out the shed that houses the entertainment stuff today. got the projector fired up beer in the fridge and popcorn for popping. ready to bring in the NEW YEAR.

Been transplanting a row of assorted trees here along the road. got a couple foot tall oakes, some walnut trees, one landscape type tree I have no idea what it is. some of them came in a load of landscape fill dirt and I drug them out and planted a couple.

didnt get much done today. cleaned up a gas grill that came from the auction last summer, got spuds cooking on it right now, and started leveling a place to set up my 2,500 gallon water storage tank.

cleaning out the back shop found a rolled-up heavy duty vinyl 20ft long color banner from the '96 Atlanta Olympics.."Atlanta Welcomes the World"..too bad there were people there that wanted to cause mayhem..What a mess

This little bitch had a plastic oil drain on it. Well, it tipped over and that plastic thing broke.



freaking amazing how big of a mess 1 quart of oil can make.
Had to fix it puppy got into it


had oily paw prints all over the house.

SO.... the wife said, I want a dog door blocker. Had to make one.




used my plastic welder to heat it up to bend over the handle.

Fixed the gate. Vynal folded over backwards with the high winds & wouldn't latch any more. some S/S screws and plastic pipe hanger strap and I was able to get it back up to latching.

WOW Jim, you been busy!
I only got 1 generator running,--the other one now has either fuel pump or carb not working! Did get a couple more blocks laid for the big water storage tank and burned the trash pile in the hole! --- Oh, and make a couple hambergers on the gas grill to test it out

still cleaning out the back shop found a lot of hydraulic motors left over from the small articulated loader build, wow have they ever gone up in price on eBay used to see 'em all the time for $100 now they are pulling $400 for a used hyd.motor! wow talk about inflation..found a whole case of detroit fuel injectors for an 8v71, dont own that engine anymore and they wont fit a 6v53 so off they go..so trashing old stuff after I sort thru it, dig it out let it sit for a day to think about it,maybe then another day, then off to the scrap or trashcan..tired of tripping over things..not to mention losing parts amongst all the inventory...found a whole case of Racor fuel water separators just buried under a few boxes of crap leftover project parts..hate being lost in inventory and getting behind.
OK Sonny get back to work let me catch up to you with all those posts..now 'I' gotta get back to work
800am 1/2/2023

Yeah cleaning out the shop is how that engine got tipped over and puked oil all over but I'm getting there too as far as cleaning out the shop goes

When you guys ge your shops empty, ----- I could use a hand in my garage!!! LOL, actually a big loader might be quicker! lol!
My garage is not tall enough to get much in so gotta do everything outside. The machine shed has dirt floor making it impossible to move shop crane around or line anything up but at least some of my shit is in out of the weather.

Got the oil spill cleaned up. used one of those foaming guns from HF and some Super Clean. let that set a while then blasted it all away with the steam Jenny.

So noticed my sign was crooked in that pic so I straightened it up. Also put a new cord on the hyd pump for my lift so I don't have to use an extension cord any more.
a friend got me the sign.

we all need some of those signs posted down at the Mex border..might havta be in Spanish too

still pluggin along at getting shit squared away so I can roll the MG outside & was all the dust off so I can start laying some paint on it.

4:35 pm --- 1/3/23 burgers, onions, sweet tato and regular tato on the grill sure was good!! LOL!!

Jim I like the way the awning worked out for you on the front of your shop..gives ya a little shady spot for auto work and whatever comes along..I'd do the same thing but aint stayin here much longer

It keeps a lot of water off stuff that I can't get inside too. Allows me to keep the doors open on not so good days Etc. when weather gets too crappy, I just stow it.. I'll probably do the same thing when I get settled in Florida in a couple years.

digging my way into-(and later)-out of- a 20ft sea container full of electrical materials, wire, generator cables, reels, crates, etc..putting some lights up inside in advance for the springtime cleanout.
I'm catching up to your post count Sonny
2:17PM EST
1/4/2023

made it to the mail box in the cold wind. Dont know why the dont build wind farms around here!!!!! LOL!!!! Got another one over on the next mile south went up last summer 100 big boys in it. It might be runnin in a year or so, transformers and lines out are not up yet.--- one 30 miles southwest of us been up for 2 years and still no transformers or lines out on it.

Bunk you got a lot of posting to do to catch up to Sonny. Hell I can't catch up to Sonny he's on a dead run for 1st place.

Cleaned ALL the crap off of and out of the MGB today.. It's time to start moving forward again.

Rigging up a makeshift wrecker attachment for the Polaris. Buddy of mine broke a tie rod end on his quad out in the woods. I hope to be able to wiggle it through the woods & get it back to a warm dry garage to effect the repairs. It's actually a spare tire rack I rigged up for the wife's car. It has no place for a spare because it came from the factory with run flats. I have a winch that will mount on top.

That should work great! --- Beats trying to pull it out by hand!! ---I didnt think I would ever see the MG again!! LOL! lookin good!

I'd rather make posts that mean something and say something other than the check-in thread every day

Jim,ever think of using the Dynamat sound deadening mat material inside that MG? the silver foil coated/bitumen/lead sheet that goes on over your firewall and floor-it adds mass and really works to deaden road noise and vibration..there's some online as well called Noico- we use it on genset housings,man does it work good..

As far as your quad wrecker,Ive thought of the same thing for towing dead quads out of the bush..a lot of the rides we go on are 50miles from no-where up in the mountains of PA..it's a bitch to tow one out and back to the truck when the ONLY way back is the trail. Most of the time we just ratchet strap it up to the bumper on my quad in 4x4 low range and work our way back..the King Quad usually managed to break the tie rod ends so often I upgraded to HD rod ends and CrMo tie rods..It helped it a bit..I have a Canada made HD full-width bumper on mine..lots of places to set straps,lift and tow with..interested to see what you come up with!

I have a winch that mounts on top of that. That's How I get the Harley up on the trailer without the threat of running it up on its own power & losing control. I weigh less than 150 Lb soaking wet & fully dressed, the Glide weighs almost 1000. I'll look into the Dynamat. I was just thinking last night that I needed to replace all the crap that's there now.

Jim we've been using sound deadening mat from Noico, its 80mils thick, foil faced with self adhesive bitumen tar like, you have to burnish it into place with a piece of smooth wood or heavy metal roller, once in place it really does a nice job..its a bit cheaper than Dynamat but from what we've seen just as good..Did all the cab body panels in my Chevy K30,inside the doors,etc,really helps keep it as quiet in the cab as a 350 with headers can be.
The doors when shut felt tinny and light, man put the Noico on the insides of the doors WOW now they shut right and feel really solid.

We've used the GTMat brand as well, the Noico has been the best..on eBay all day long,check Amazon as well.. FWIW,just our experiences with it

Bunk I appreciate it. was looking at Dynamat earlier. I have some time, as I won't need it until I get the paint down.