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just back from my surgeon , rated newest x rays , perfect in all respects , see you in 5 years , unless there is a related injury or pain . told him I was regularly daily walking a ball field track lay out , forward / backwards / alternating stretching , thru out , track time . showed me a perfect reference x ray , overlap . spot on . keep doing what you are doing . will keep that going . pete

The world celebrates Good Grief Day on November 26 every year to honor the life and the legacy of one of America’s most revered, legendary cartoonists Charles M. Schulz. Schulz is best known as the author of the “Peanuts” comic strip, and his stories and characters have brought boundless delight to the globe. The fact that his characters — Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the rest of the gang — have withstood the test of time demonstrates how influential these legendary characters have had on global pop culture. Named after the iconic Charlie Brown catchphrase, Good Grief Day celebrates the life and work of the immovable Charles M. Schulz. Schulz was born on November 26, 1922, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His interest in the arts was evident during his upbringing, as he would spend his days taking in the works of Pablo Picasso, Edward Hopper, and Andrew Wyeth, while also developing a penchant for cartoons. As a child, he would draw dozens upon dozens of cartoons, inspired by either the cartoons he admired or the world around him. Growing up, he aspired to be a cartoonist, and at the age of 15, he sent one of his drawings to the “Ripley’s Believe it or Not!” weekly column, which became his first published cartoon — he knew from then on that this was his life. After returning from military service in Europe in 1945, he would further develop his career as a cartoonist, scoring his weekly series in 1947. That cartoon was “Li’l Folks,” which would be the predecessor of his magnum opus. “Li’l Folks” would later draw the attention of mega publishers United Features Syndicate in 1950, who asked him to develop a new weekly comic strip. Thus, on October 2, 1950, “Peanuts” was born. The iconic series would later become the longest-running comic strip in history — running until Schulz’s death in 2000.

Bright lights shining in my bedroom window at 5 AM got me up in a hurry. Just lime spreader getting an early start. Oh well, I'm awake and it's raining. Good day to pull out the Christmas decorations. Check some lights and set up the Nativity set that my sister made over 50 years ago.

Winter! New tensioner cog and drive shaft bearing on the blower. Waxed up the shoot and the blades. Decided to fill the rear tires with RV antifreeze and distilled water. 5:2 gallons respectively (7 gallons is capacity). Much easier than anticipated. Takes a bit of time to get it all in there but these wheels really bite now.

All: The C81 I purchased from @Sparky this summer had a rear that had walked inward and I could not get it loose with my puller; in fact I cracked the flange while attempting to do so. I planned on using my HFT Portable Bandsaw to cut the hub, but the flange diameter was greater than the saw's 5 inch throat opening. Snapped the broken flange piece with a large Crescent wrench, now the saw fits. Supported th hub with a jack to help keep it from rotating the axle and the plan was to cut thru the hub at the top of the keyway - and not touch the axle itself. A little more cleanup and the entire top of the keyway was exposed. Used my puller to remove it - got to love that "Snap" sound when it finally breaks free. Damaged the Woodruff Key in the process Used the Vise Grip / Slide Hammer to convince it to leave... 

My surgeon has two kids in a European college, a wife that wants a divorce, and a high maintenance girl friend. He says I need to see you every six months!

Awhile back, I picked up a New Holland GT22 on the cheap. Non runner, 745 hours and non power steering option. After getting the engine running and sealed up, I cut some grass and it ran real good. I really have no interest in non power steering machines now that I am spoiled, so I put it on the back burn as maybe a flip. In between, along came a Toro xi that was good for parts and it had good power steering. When I disassembled it I saved the tower and associated steering parts thinking I just might install those into the GT22. I figured if given a couple two three afternoons I can get it installed. A scheduled surgery got delayed and that opened the window of opportunity for the GT. Put her in the shop and got started. Lets just say the two to three was a pipe dream. After six it is all done. Now saying, if I would have just had to install the steering the original estimate would have been good. (would have stretched it to three to four, I like taking breaks) Other problems. The first one was the steering wheel on the donner would not come off. Soaked, beat and air hammered, no go. Ended up burning one afternoon making a special puller. (pic 1 @2) I wanted to just switch the dash and gauges out. Next came the electrical gremlins. When I turned on the key the cruise control magnet would activate. That locked the hydro control in neutral or close to neutral. Okay dug into that and found the cruise indicator light was back feeding the cruise relay. I repaired that it worked fine. (I had installed a spare cruise relay for testing) I switched back to the original and it would not work at all. So, two problems a bad light socket and relay. Another afternoon burned up. That's my story and I am sticking to it! Got to strip r down pretty good

About as much fun as going to the Dentist & the DMV on the same day... Really quick cutting the cast iron when you use a new 10-14 TPI staggered tooth blade. That saw has nice control & variable speed. There has been various folks that mentioned cutting a hub off; I figured I'd post it - with pictures.

Yes, it was her project in a ceramics class back in the 70s. So I made the rustic barn to fit in the display unit.

You thinking what I'm a-thinkin'??

Diesel wheel horse

It is amazing how fast the past 18 years have gone. Thank you all for your support and patience over the years. It has been quite the journey. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to you all.

Put an air cleaner on it first. Snow engines don't come with air cleaners

So, he signed your "OK to go back to Work" note...???

Leaf season was pretty tame this year. No rain or snow, so leaves were lightweight. Wind was constant, so leaves fell quickly and many of them blew to the neighbors. Two strong grandsons eager to get some seat time, and I didn't have to do anything but watch.

More cool pictures

Loaded the car for weekend visiting. Off early tomorrow. - borrowed tow-behind core aerator - the camp generator I re-engined - a set of kids building blocks I rehabbed - bike rack parts - “go” tool bag (there are always small repairs needed!) - some wheels to drop off with @ri702bill - a stereo to “pass on" - cooler for our Thanksgiving meal contributions My spouse asked if there would be room for her!

You won’t. I ended up “decanting" my penetrant into little 2 oz. bottles like these. I can drip or squirt.

I recieved some custom decals from @Vinylguy today. He does an excellent job with making these.

EXCELLENT WORK !!

Well, Pete, sounds like you'll be back to slathering grease on any component that needs it. Good report!

Good idea on the bandsaw. I hope I never have to remember that. I cut one off using a Sawzall once. That was fun.

I can do that! Thanks!!!

The cheapies can be hit or miss. I've used them on non-critical tractors but I'll probably just use up what I have on the shelf and be done with them. I use Mr. Gasket 42S and will stick with them only because it keeps everything common. There are lots of good ones out there. All the pumps I've seen are 5/16" fuel lines. Depending on the install I use 1/4"-5/16" brass fittings or a fuel filter that has stepped in/outs. As far as power I usually just come off the key switch but I have put a separate switch inline (fuse at the pump). Your choice but I wouldn't come off the accessory terminal. It cuts out in the start position. I really like this location for the rear tank tractors. 1/4" at the tank valve to a 1/4"-5/16" 90° brass fitting to the pump.

I did get a bit when he made the turn, but I'll still have to buy a half ton to lime the rest of the yard and garden. I add lime every winter.

Hoodstand ready to be installed. Hoodstand bolts ready. I ended up just using 10 of the shorter bolts, the longer ones were not needed. Hoodstand and foot control auto-center lever ready to be installed. Hoodstand sat into position on frame and two front lower bolts screwed in to hold it in position. All the lower side bolts screwed in finger tight then the top left bolts were screwed in finger tight. This will properly align the hoodstand. The foot control auto-center lever is now ready to be installed. Picture shows slightly longer bolts (7/8") but these were not required so I used the same length bolts as in the rest of the hoodstand (5/8"). Foot control auto-center lever installed. All 10 hoodstand mounting bolts including the ones in the foot control auto-center lever torqued to 17 ft/lb. The 1/4" pivot bolt in the foot control auto-center lever is just tightened enough to not have any side to side play but must pivot freely.

Get it dirty wash it off put it to work.

Does your car have roof racks? And does she have a good grip?

I'm still amazed that those astronauts could fit in those little capsules. ...Not thier entire bodies mind you, just the large shiny brass balls they were toting with them. Courage? I think it takes courage to go to the store when my wife needs feminine articles. Those early astronauts were on an entirely different plane of existence.

Bending the lead wires a few times while handling one of the un-potted voltmeters was enough to break off the red lead wire at its connection point, where solder in the copper strands creates a stress riser. To protect against this kind of damage, I potted the voltmeter in such a way that the leads are well secured against bending anywhere near the solder joint on the board.

We're( Mrs. K and me) are now over 80 and attend the Silver Sneakers stretch, balance, and strength classes at our Anytime Fitness gym three days a week. Although they receive many grunts and groans, squats are included in the programs.

On my drive to work this morning. Top of the hill near the Worcester airport

I went up to the top of Mt. Washington on the Cog Train. It was a cloudy day at the bottom but once we got above the clouds it was bright and sunny.

Smoked a couple of brisket flats today for Thanksgiving, Wife picked up a couple at our kid's request so I was delegated to smoke them. They came in the same package and cost as much as a tire for the Wheelhorse! Put them on at 6:30 this morning. At eleven I wrapped them in anticipation of the stall when they reached ~162 degrees. One wrapped in aluminum and the other in parchment paper. I thought this would be a good side by side test of how each wrap functions. The aluminum flat was done by 12:30--and had nice smoke ring and super tender. The parchment piece was pulled out of the smoker at 196 degrees at four o-clock this afternoon. At this writing, it's still resting but the temperature probes slid into the meat like butter. I made gravy out of the drippings in the pan below the briskets and ate it with toast for supper.

Your sister's nativity set has certainly be well taken care and in really good condition. I, for one, like the items that have special meaning and longevity in the family. Below is a celadon ceramic nativity that we purchased more than 30 years ago while in the Philippines. I made the stable from narra a wood that is premier wood of the Philippines.

Good to hear that all is going well.

if using a snow blower, i guess i would want to carefully patrol the leaf piles first to look for rocks, branches etc - - so as to not damage the blower auger etc

Thanks, but I don't think I'm the best, maybe the best documented.

100%

From what I understand the early 60s like 64 65 had those vacuum pumps. Not 100% sure. Some people like them I personally did not. I have an 856 I did not like that vacuum pump that had on it so I opted to go electric fuel pump that was before I knew about then and now so I saved that page and I will be giving them a call.

Your blade quadrant resembles the curved #11 in the IPL clip below. This early one shows 3 holds--left, center, and right for positioning the blade straight rotated to either side. Some later models came with 5 holes with the extras being left and right of the center halfway to the “outer” holes. Some members with a 3 drilled it to become a 5 and are quite pleased with the extra positions. (Note that blades before 1964 had a different style of quadrant)

That one looks like a catastrophe fire or a huge explosion. Nice catch!!!!

I normally take the pics outta my post "quotes" but this deserves to be seen twice. Nice work. Here's a couple I meant to post yesterday and today. Saco Bay ME. Portland ME. Warren Avenue headed east from my warehouse this morning.

I got bored this afternoon so I decided to see just how frozen the exhaust nipple was. It had soaked in Kroil for a few hours so I smacked the open end a few times with a large hammer. Next using a 24" pipe wrench I tried tightening it some. I don't think it moved but couldn't be sure. Using a 24" wrench I tried to loosen it. After a bit of leaning on the wrench it actually gave in. I reversed the process and tightened it again and then when I tried to loosen it again it turned about an 1/8 of a turn. From there it was just coming out. The nipple did deform when it first started to loosen but that just made it easier for the pipe wrench to get a grip on it. Exhaust parts are on order so now I wait....

It's safe to say the condenser has seen better days. I've got another one on order. Between the condenser, carburetor rebuild and replacing the exhaust system it'll be a week or so before I can start the engine again.

It ain't me!! From the webs: "Birds: Woodpeckers: They are known to raid hornet nests for the larvae. Summer Tanagers: These birds catch hornets in midair and smash them against tree branches. Other birds: Animals like starlings, magpies, and blue jays also eat hornet larvae, especially in the fall. Mammals: Skunks: They are known to dig up and consume wasp nests, even very large ones. Bears: These large animals will tear open nests to get at the larvae. Raccoons and badgers: These mammals will also raid nests for the protein-rich larvae. Wolverines: These animals are also known to eat wasp larvae from nests. Weasels and rats: These smaller mammals also prey on hornet larvae".

Here's a question: What would you plan on doing with it besides hanging your hiking clothes to dry?