so waht ya doin today?

[Bret4207]

I have a lot of redheads in my family. "Nuts' doesn't quite fit the bill. Tried that flavor once and decided that was enough. A lot of the guys I worked with seemed to enjoy trying chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, sometimes all at the same time without letting any of them know that. My observations lead me to believe every flavor came with NUTS!

Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho! Just got done with that freakin' skid steer! Not a sign of spark on either cylinder when I started. After unbolting a half million bolts and removing enough shielding to build a Ford Pinto, I still ended up having to unbolt the engine from the frame and twist it around to access the coils. I don't recall why I did it, but I had Gord turn the key as I held each plug to a good ground. Well dip me in butterscotch!!!!! Now the freakin' thing has a bright blue spark!!!!! WHAT?!!!!!!! The sad part is I can't recall exactly what I did outside of wiggling one wire on one coil. I'd say, "Oh, that must be a kill wire and you gave it a good circuit, but it runs without the wire attached at all! I'm mystified and PO'd. This makes zero sense to me. I'm going to button it back up and go back through the wiring. It could be a problem there, but this thing turns off by shutting a fuel valve near as I can tell, not by killing the ignition. Sheeesh!

 

[Rally]

Met mine in high school when she was 15 and I 16. She had her hand on her right hip and her hip cocked to the right. Married her when she was 16 and I 17. After 43 years marriage I know what the hand on the hip meant then, I was in trouble!

Bret,
Sounds like maybe the engine is grounded through the frame via the engine mounting bolts. You may have cleaned them enough by removing them, to regain your ground.

 

[popper]

Ran into that on a spanish bike, ignition NOT grounded to frame! Scrape off the paint and doesn't care if the wire gets loose. Redundant system in case the frame gets rusty?
As a 'carrot top' I object! Only had one date with a red head (back when they didn't paint their hair), guess we both decided it would seal any kid's fate.

 

[Mitty38]

I should have a box of 30-06 brass [approx. 1-K] sitting at the P.O. today or Monday.
I don't know why I bought them, I'm pretty sure I don't need any more 30-06 brass.
I guess having 1-K once fired cases delivered for just under 75$ was too much temptation for me to pass up??
maybe I just like having them around so if I need to make cases for something else I can [shrug]
I will probably just sort them, clean them, process and store them until someone does need them.

Or maybe you could full length size some, and send out small flat rate boxes of them, to us guys who ony have a neck sizer,for Christmas gifts????

 

[fiver]

once I get it sorted out you should be getting another care package. [brass and some bullets to give a run through]
I will most likely run it through the size-trim die then clean it and sort it.
there looked to be quite a bit of this and that in the mix [but I didn't have my glasses on] when I looked at a couple of handfuls.
when the weather turns off I'll be inside looking for stuff to do and that brass is already sitting in the que.

BTW,, way to ruin the spring surprise... LOL.

 

[JonB]

I broke my wood splitter today

But I was able to have my buddy weld it up...but that took several hours...here's the story.

In the past, I have broke the bolts (they are grade 5 dirt plow blade bolts) that hold the V-block onto
the I-Beam frame. Today, I broke it at the weld, that holds the V-block on mounting plate,
BTW, it was a continuous weld, just like shown in the photo, except the photos show the New weld beads.
I also had my buddy weld the blade area, that had been cracked for a long time.

My buddy is a heavy drinker. I like to ask for favors like this, right when he gets off work, so he
is relatively sober. I called him at 2pm as I knew he was about to get off work. He answers his phone,
he sounded drunk. He said he was at home and that he retired last month, He is 62, I had no idea
he was gonna retire?

Hesitantly, I asked him if he had time to weld this for me, I would prefer he was more sober...but I really
wanted to get this done today...anyway, he says, yeah bring it over, I'll weld 'er up.

I arrive, and yep, he is quite clear he has been drinking all day. He takes a look at it, and says, gee those
are some rusty welds. There must have been water getting inside the block...I should have taken a
photo of the broken welds, as they didn't look that strong.

He starts by grinding off the all old welds...Did I mention he has a large & old 3 phase Lathe?
yeah, I helped him get it wired up in his new shop with a 3 to 1 phase converter.
I'm side tracking here, but I recall Keith mentioning that he was gonna do any welding or
grinding in his garage instead of his new shop, to keep it clean. So, I had that in the back of my mind,
as I watched my drunk friend grind the welds off my stuff and he was showering his lathe and welder
with a ton of sparks ...he did that for at least 20 minutes.
All that grinding dust can't be good for either of those, right?

After the grinding is done, my buddy takes a beer break. We talk farming and gardening. He wants
to expand his large garden and start selling garden produce at the local farmers market. After there
are 3 more empty beer cans on the floor, that was previously littered with many empty beer cans, He says
it's time to start welding ...Stand back he tells me ...don't look at the arc he tells me.
BTW, I didn't drink any beer, I have some sore throat bug I'm trying to kick, so I told him I wouldn't drink
any.

He said he was gonna tack weld it with the Tig setup, then hit it with the stick welder. I'm not sure if he
forgot what he said, or maybe he just changed his mind? But he tigged the whole thing. I kind of wished
he used the stick welder to lay a nice big Bead, I figure that'd be stronger. But, for a drunk guy, he sure did
a nice job with the Tig ...maybe 40+ years of welding experience helps? All I know is this thing sees a lot of
pressure. I guess, if this thing breaks again soon, I can ask him to use the stick welder, and maybe add a
couple supports too?

I'll bolt it up tomorrow and try to split that stubborn chunk of white Oak that broke the welds today.

 

[Mitty38]

once I get it sorted out you should be getting another care package. [brass and some bullets to give a run through]
I will most likely run it through the size-trim die then clean it and sort it.
there looked to be quite a bit of this and that in the mix [but I didn't have my glasses on] when I looked at a couple of handfuls.
when the weather turns off I'll be inside looking for stuff to do and that brass is already sitting in the que.

BTW,, way to ruin the spring surprise... LOL.

Wish there was a way I could pay you back for all you have done for me already. You have opened up a hobbie my family and I can share together. I even have my wife helping me get lead out of the range bank, and she loves shooting up the .38 special and the .380 acp my boy and I load together.
Actually him and I were just sitting down , sorting, prepping, trimming the last of that.556 crimped primer pocket military brass you sent us. Got it all sized trimmed primed and bagged up ready to go. Got a small ammo can full now. Before we were just loading up the same 60 over and over, till one started to split.Then I would trade that one out for another one from the stash you sent
But I finally got a primer pocket swager a couple months ago.Then just bought a box of 500 primers. Gave me and the boy some face time the last couple nights. And I will not have to prep or anneal any . 233 brass for a while.

 

[Mitty38]

I broke my wood splitter today

But I was able to have my buddy weld it up...but that took several hours...here's the story.

In the past, I have broke the bolts (they are grade 5 dirt plow blade bolts) that hold the V-block onto
the I-Beam frame. Today, I broke it at the weld, that holds the V-block on mounting plate,
BTW, it was a continuous weld, just like shown in the photo, except the photos show the New weld beads.
I also had my buddy weld the blade area, that had been cracked for a long time.

My buddy is a heavy drinker. I like to ask for favors like this, right when he gets off work, so he
is relatively sober. I called him at 2pm as I knew he was about to get off work. He answers his phone,
he sounded drunk. He said he was at home and that he retired last month, He is 62, I had no idea
he was gonna retire?

Hesitantly, I asked him if he had time to weld this for me, I would prefer he was more sober...but I really
wanted to get this done today...anyway, he says, yeah bring it over, I'll weld 'er up.

I arrive, and yep, he is quite clear he has been drinking all day. He takes a look at it, and says, gee those
are some rusty welds. There must have been water getting inside the block...I should have taken a
photo of the broken welds, as they didn't look that strong.

He starts by grinding off the all old welds...Did I mention he has a large & old 3 phase Lathe?
yeah, I helped him get it wired up in his new shop with a 3 to 1 phase converter.
I'm side tracking here, but I recall Keith mentioning that he was gonna do any welding or
grinding in his garage instead of his new shop, to keep it clean. So, I had that in the back of my mind,
as I watched my drunk friend grind the welds off my stuff and he was showering his lathe and welder
with a ton of sparks ...he did that for at least 20 minutes.
All that grinding dust can't be good for either of those, right?

After the grinding is done, my buddy takes a beer break. We talk farming and gardening. He wants
to expand his large garden and start selling garden produce at the local farmers market. After there
are 3 more empty beer cans on the floor, that was previously littered with many empty beer cans, He says
it's time to start welding ...Stand back he tells me ...don't look at the arc he tells me.
BTW, I didn't drink any beer, I have some sore throat bug I'm trying to kick, so I told him I wouldn't drink
any.

He said he was gonna tack weld it with the Tig setup, then hit it with the stick welder. I'm not sure if he
forgot what he said, or maybe he just changed his mind? But he tigged the whole thing. I kind of wished
he used the stick welder to lay a nice big Bead, I figure that'd be stronger. But, for a drunk guy, he sure did
a nice job with the Tig ...maybe 40+ years of welding experience helps? All I know is this thing sees a lot of
pressure. I guess, if this thing breaks again soon, I can ask him to use the stick welder, and maybe add a
couple supports too?

I'll bolt it up tomorrow and try to split that stubborn chunk of white Oak that broke the welds today.

View attachment 11655


View attachment 11656

I grew up an a small homestead farm and around some larger ones. Seamed like something was always needing welded or brazed.

 

[Bret4207]

FWIW, every professional welder I ever ran across was a heavy drinker. Same for the Millwrights I knew. While I'm not a fan of drunks at all, I have to admit some people are functioning alcoholics and can do work far beyond anything I'm capable of stone cold sober. As long as they guy did a good job I bet his BAC was irrelevant. And FWIW, penetration is the key to a good weld joint, not bead size. You can only go so far beyond your electrode size before you get into porosity issues.

On the skid steer- This is a Briggs 23 hp Vanguard commercial engine. IOW, it's self contained and will run without be mounted to anything at all. I'm thinking I might have a wire with a bad connection or maybe a bare wire somewhere causing the loss of spark. I don't know, I've been thinking about it since I got done yesterday and I'm usually pretty fair at figuring these things out. I really wanted to figure a way to make the engine shroud a 2 piece affair so I could access the coils without having to pull things apart, but I'm hesitant to start cutting up an $1800.00 engine with maybe 150 hours on it. I know the original issue was related to a lack of a weatherproof ignition system, eg- the flywheel and coil faces rust. These are new coils in there now with maybe 45 minutes run time. I'll mull it over (and over and over and over) in my head. The wiring for this thing involves some... "solid state", for lack of a better term, doo-hickeys that I have no way to check or test. No points either. I so know there is quite a bit of start up drag from the hydraulics and drive system, so a fully charged battery is needed. But once started, it should be spinning well past fast enough to give a good spark. I dunno, gonna have to go back and spend more time on my knees I guess.

I met my wife when we were about 17. It was a long chase with a lot of falling down and getting back up again to chase some more. Been together pretty much solidly since 1977.

 

[KeithB]

I have nothing against people that drink socially and can control themselves, but most of the long-term alkies I've met were sloppy in all kinds of ways, even if they were "high functioning". As a teacher the only students I've ever had any problems with were under the influence of alcohol. I just invite them to leave or have campus security do the same. And anyone that works in my shop will be sober or GONE. Don't give a rat's rear end what anyone does at home but in my classroom or shop it's a different story. You walk in my door and I'm responsible for your safety and work output.

I bet we all have friends that may have some serious problems and we love them anyway. Not casting shade on anyone with friends like that. I know, have been friends with, and have worked for and around folks with serious substance issues. Some with tons of skills.

BUT NOT IN MY SHOP.

 

[fiver]

Emmitt.
I don't miss any of what I sent you,, really.
I got so much of this and that packratted away it's more like your doing me a favor by taking it, seeing you and the family using and enjoying it reminds me of where I was years back with mine.

this casting and reloading thing just puts so much more bench time within our reach versus what we would get having to buy ready made cartridges or even buying copper cased bullets, it pays back any investment 3 or 4 times over.

my grand total for jacketed bullets this year.... 1.
Littlegirls total.... 1.
I put close to 5K rounds down range though.

 

[uncle jimbo]

Going fishing today. Suppose to be nice day.

 

[popper]

Looking for a public shooting range near Jasper, Ar. Sylamore is too far away.

 

[Bret4207]

I come from a long line of alkies Keith, I get your point. Haven't had so much as a beer in over 10 years now and can't see where I'm worse off for it!


Sitting here for a minute, eating cornbread and drinking a glass of milk feeling sorry for myself 'cuz I gotta go out and unstick a tractor that I broke through the ice on! Funny how a little ice under the tires will make an otherwise insignificant mud hole into the biggest pain in the butt of your day.

 

[CZ93X62]

Bret points out the factoid that sells real estate in California--the almost complete absence of ice on the ground or on the roads in most of this State. Ice has to be sought out and hunted for hereabouts. And ice is a monumental PITA. Yeah, there is snow here once in a while--enough to be cute and charming if it arrives near Christmas, though most of it happens later in winter.

E.g.--clouds are building up today to bring rain tonight and tomorrow, somewhere between 1/4" and 1-1/2" depending on location in the southern third of the state. Daytime snow level will be around 6K feet, so overnight it will drop into the 3,500-4,000 foot realm and give the Cajon, Tejon, and (less likely) San Gorgonio Pass users and commuters a bit more entertaining drive time. But hard, slick ice is unlikely--just some slush and sufficient moisture to lower the friction coefficient into a plethora of collisions. A good time to NOT be on the road.

I can only recall two occasions when ice became a life factor in this area--in Feb. 1968, when low temp records were set for my area, complete with icy roads and a few houses with busted pipes for about 3 days. It barely went above freezing at mid-day for about a week. That week might have been the stake through the heart of our local citrus industry, a lot of growers and packing houses folded after losses of entire seasons' crops.

The other time was more recent--Feb. 2007, when the area had sustained night temps in single digits for close to a week and temps did not rise above freezing for close to 10 days in the lower elevations. I was at almost 3,000 feet (Yucaipa bench), and it was 30* or less for 2 weeks+. Most people had busted pipes; I had a sheet of ice from an outdoor gate valve behind my garage on a concrete apron that didn't melt off for almost 3 weeks. PITA! Still just a taste of what folks in the northern tier of states and Canada have to deal with. Give me heat and desert, thank you very much. It's what I know, though I don't always love it.

 

[fiver]

I was living in San Jose when that cold hit in 68.
pretty sure we were the only people in town with an ice scraper for the windows.
would have been a great time to own a windshield replacement business, after everyone poured hot water on them.
thinking about going fishing too, except I think the morning might be better than the afternoon right now.

 

[smokeywolf]

I remember driving my motorcycle over the pass on the 33 north of Ventura, headed for either Ojai or Lockwood Valley and the road being almost a solid sheet of ice.
Mid December of either 1987 or '88 we had snow along the 23 fwy in Thousand Oaks and along the 101 in Agoura. All well below 1,000 ft. ASL.

Had ice and snow here (North-Central AR) a couple of weeks ago. Funny, I thought I would miss the California weather. Except for the cold playin' hob with my arthritis, not missing it at all.

 

[Bret4207]

And the ancient, 2 cyl, 20hp JD 420 crawler comes tot he rescue again! Took me longer to get to where the tractor was than it did to pull it out of the hole. Then I opened a old ditch to help drain the hole. Gotta love tracks!

Now I gotta find the Dr's office I'm supposed to be at early tomorrow morning to have half my face froze off. I'm not a big fan of skin cancer.

 

[CZ93X62]

Marie has a bit of that same work getting done on Friday, Bret.

Snow chains for motorcycles are not a common item.

 

[JWFilips]

Finally got my Chipper / shredder all put back together & running smoothly ( Forgot how loud that thing is! Definitely need hearing protection!) Even got the tires filled & holding air.....that "green slime" tire stuff is amazing.