What did you do today?

[Handy Don 13,431]

2 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

I can't imagine how much 5 hours of labour for two men along with the jetting truck and camera gear would have all cost. 

 

Skilled laborers in our village’s public works department have base salaries of $80-90,000 depending on seniority for ~2,000 hours per year. That equates to $40-45 per hour before benefits (vacation, health care, pension contributions, training, etc.) and other overhead (supervision, workspace, clothing allowances, etc.) which together I roughly figure as adding 50% to the base wage. So the labor (portal to portal, not just time on site) without any overtime: 2 x 7 x $65 for $910. At least $1,000 per day to own a jet truck (including fuel, insurance, maintenance, and depreciation) and $00’s for the other equipment. And those are on a cost basis without any profit margin! Easily a $3,000 invoice if done privately. 

[HyperPete 607]

It's been raining the last couple of days, so Donna & I went shopping for plants.  We need to finish the vegetable garden because it's well past frost season and we don't want to miss more growing season.

I've purchased a bunch of pollinator friendly flowers (milkweed, beardtongue, bee balm) to supplement the goldenrod at the edge of the woods, the butterfly bushes, and the various annuals yet to be planted.

 

Clematis is off to a good start, too.

 

[ebinmaine 71,033]

2 hours ago, Wayne0 said:

Just wait. They'll come on their own!

 

Absolutely unavoidable.  

 

But I gotta admit... I do kinda like running the Ripper Spikes around for seat time.  

[ebinmaine 71,033]

Spent more time organizing the barn and the new workshop space this morning. 

The workshop will have two heating methods. 

Main heat will of course be a woodstove. 

The other will be electric. 

Two appliances, one a each end. One is a very large 220V AC and heat combo unit that could potentially be set in a window. We're building a permanent wall mount for it. 

The other is a 5000W fan driven heater that'll hang from the ceiling. 

We need two separate circuits for them. 

This morning I fastened the wires to a truss of the barn. 

 

I've also started marking out a hole 🕳  to be cut for a 20 inch square exhaust fan to be above my welding corner in the barn.  

 

 

[cafoose 3,393]

3 hours ago, 953 nut said:

The center of the quake was Maryville, TN, about 70 miles away. My niece lives nearby, called her but went to answer phone, probably talking to her mom.

Maryville is about 80 miles from me. I didn't notice anything here.

[ebinmaine 71,033]

Here's the before n after for the exhaust fan installation. This'll help with welding smoke and sanding or grinding dust.  

 

 

 

[953 nut 58,267]

57 minutes ago, cafoose said:

Maryville is about 80 miles from me. I didn't notice anything here.

Seems it ran along the Blueridge and was felt in Northern GA as well. My niece is near Knoxville and seems like we felt it more than she did only 30 miles away. 

[HyperPete 607]

Donna & I worked on her new garden today. 

Until I began to level the 4x6s framing them, I did not realize how much slope my yard has.

 

The far side is leveled, staked, and screwed in place.  The closer side is level, but we need to support the beams better.  The low side had to come up 5 inches.

 

Donna said she didn't care if it was level, but it would always bother me, so level it will be!

Now I think I need 2 or 3 more yards of soil between the two beds.

 

[Tractorhead 9,107]

18 hours ago, adsm08 said:

 

Peeled back the original weld and inspected it. It actually went down better than I thought. I still stitched back over the whole perimeter, and it looks much better. Not as pretty as some, but I am far from a professional welder. My training has all been very informal, learning from guys who actually know what they are doing as I need to do it.

 

It doesn't look as good as what I'd expect from a body shop, but the whole repair cost my $35. I'd have spent at least 10X that at a body shop.

 

 

The seams be ok for my opinion.

 

they must not be extreme pretty, on the Truck they Should last.

here we call them „Working Seams“

you can grab a grinder and grind the seam smooth, but who cares?

 

But please allow me one comment:

 

If you fix a Frame i would suggesting

drill the Edges from the Patch your going to replace before you cut them out with the Grinder.

The reason for that is while a frame is in permanent structural movement.

the rounded edges prevents that a rip in the frame can enlarge further because on structural movements..

 

whenever you see a rip in any flat surface

drill the edges of the rip first

to prevent the rip continoues.

 Here a 5-6mm drill would be the choice - imho

 

 

 

 

[adsm08 2,769]

5 hours ago, Tractorhead said:

 

 

The seams be ok for my opinion.

 

they must not be extreme pretty, on the Truck they Should last.

here we call them „Working Seams“

you can grab a grinder and grind the seam smooth, but who cares?

 

But please allow me one comment:

 

If you fix a Frame i would suggesting

drill the Edges from the Patch your going to replace before you cut them out with the Grinder.

The reason for that is while a frame is in permanent structural movement.

the rounded edges prevents that a rip in the frame can enlarge further because on structural movements..

 

whenever you see a rip in any flat surface

drill the edges of the rip first

to prevent the rip continoues.

 Here a 5-6mm drill would be the choice - imho

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, not leaving a hard edge that can rip is important. I did not drill them, but I did round the corners of the hole during final prep. My last weld also extends about 5mm past the edge of the cut.

[Bar Nuthin 988]

According to my wife, it's time to start putting down fresh mulch!

 

 

From the front, my property may look small. things open up in the back!

 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Bar Nuthin

[oliver2-44 10,418]

21 hours ago, HyperPete said:

Now I think I need 2 or 3 more yards of soil between the two beds.

Leave room for yearly mulching with leaves and yard clippings. 

[8ntruck 7,444]

8 hours ago, adsm08 said:

 

Yes, not leaving a hard edge that can rip is important. I did not drill them, but I did round the corners of the hole during final prep. My last weld also extends about 5mm past the edge of the cut.

If you have a needle de-scaler, use it on the welds when you are done.  The small dents it leaves in the metal make compressive residual stresses, which will help to prevent further cracking.

[EB-80/8inPA 1,805]

Finished up phase one of a little landscaping project creating a decorative curvy brick edge between the grass and the “flower bed” if one could call it that.  Placed mulch.  Much improved.  Got under the kitchen sink to replace the broken faucet set.  Getting out the old stuff (which was crappy when I installed it) is half the fun while contorted on one’s back in a confined space.  And then I remembered I had a Sawzall and things went much better after putting that to good use.  Ah, tools!  I like tools.  They’re great!

[SylvanLakeWH 27,702]

 

[Sparky-(Admin) 22,271]

  My brother and I took my mom out for a bike ride for Mother's Day. She loved it! 
  We did over 12 miles. I kept asking if she wanted to turn back, she said no till we hit the 6.25 mile mark, then pedaled the whole way back without issue 
  Moms 81 years old. 
 

 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 71,033]

Trina and her mom put up an awning over the back door so the Momma can enjoy the deck more often.  

 

They did the full assembly of the unit in the ground. I helped with the hanging on the house part.  

 

 

 

 

 

Even the dog helped ... with box inspection.  

 

 

 

Edited 13 hours ago by ebinmaine
ADDED PIC

[EB-80/8inPA 1,805]

10 minutes ago, Sparky said:

We did over 12 miles.

That’s fantastic!

[Handy Don 13,431]

Very neat. Is there an option to put a short “shed roof” over the retracted awning to protect from snow/ice/etc.?

[ebinmaine 71,033]

5 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Very neat. Is there an option to put a short “shed roof” over the retracted awning to protect from snow/ice/etc.?

 

 

In our particular case it won't be an issue. The house roof will keep the snow and rain off the awning. 

Interesting you'd bring that up though.  

We've talked about building a permanent 10 x 10 roof there several times. 

 

 

[squonk 42,787]

On 5/10/2025 at 7:03 AM, Ed Kennell said:

Last year I had KROWN coat my 2010 F-150  ($180) and Mrs Ks 2024 Escape ($160).   It has stopped the existing 15 year old rust on the truck and turned it black like a rust reformer.

 

   About Krown Rust Control | Krown Rust Control

I had my GMC sprayed by Krown since 2019. Took it in last Sept and then I crawled underneath it because the year before they missed a lot of spots and I made them redo it. This time when I checked I found out they sprayed right over the frame rot holes! 

 

 

 

 

Got rid of it and bought a rust free Ridgeline. Went to Krown and asked for a discount since I had spent over $1500 there the last 5 years and that they sprayed right over the rot and never said a word. I had to fight to get a $15 coupon. I ended up spending the money For a Woolwax gun kit and doing it myself. 

Edited 13 hours ago by squonk

[8ntruck 7,444]

We drove from our Mo. location to our MI. location last Friday.  One thing I noted along the way was the lack of shipping container loads on semis.

 

One of the items we brought back was Aunt Helen's rose bush.  She always had a rose blossom floating in a small vase when we visited her in the summer back when I was in grade school back in the 60's.  We later ended up buying that house and lived in there for a number of years.  One of her rose bushes still survived.  We moved that bush to Ky when we moved there, then again when we moved to Mo.  Now it is back in MI.  

 

Got it replanted yesterday.  So far, it looks like it will survive the move.  Time will tell.

 

Took the dog for a walk in the nearby state game area yesterday and today (on a 6' lead).  He seemed to be following a scent and was headed in the general direction I wanted to go.  Then I realized that we were following game trails.  Made walking slightly easier.

 

A couple years ago, the DNR did some forest management in this area.  They contracted a logging company to cut selected trees.  Their intent is to encourage aspen tree growth.  Claims that this will better support the deer and small game population.  The clear cut areas sure give the land a different appearance than the semi mature hardwood forest that I grew up with.  I'm having to relearn how to navigate the area again.  The clear cut areas now have  a good crop of raspberries and aspen saplings that are 4 to 6 feet tall.  Think I'll pick a spot and take yearly pictures to document the growth.

Edited 12 hours ago by 8ntruck

[76c12091520h 3,795]

Laid down stripes..........

[adsm08 2,769]

2 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

Took the dog for a walk in the nearby state game area yesterday and today (on a 6' lead).

 

We did the same this weekend. Got our two out for walks on the game lands both days this weekend, which they love.

 

We let them completely off leash though. They are my hunting dogs so I can't have them on the leash all the time. I spent almost 18 months training the first one to stay with me off-leash. He pretty much taught the second one, although the younger one ranges a little farther than I like most of the time. I have them on GPS/shock collars, so if one runs I can track it very accurately for up to 10 miles. I also have them trained on voice commands pretty well. Anymore I can usually get them to listen just to commands, anymore its only occasionally that I have to beep the collars, and even rarer that I actually have zap one to get is attention.

[HyperPete 607]

7 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

Leave room for yearly mulching with leaves and yard clippings. 

 

I don't have a suburban lawn.  It looks good from a distance, but it's chock full of weeds/wildflowers.  I just run the mower over leaves and let it compost in the lawn.  Weeds go into the composter.  I'll likely add straw to keep the ratio right.

 

I will be mulching the bed & turning that under each spring.  If it should ever get too high, I'll transplant some soil into a needy flowerbed.

 

I just borrowed some of it today to plant milkweed - save the Monarchs!