What did you do today?

[ebinmaine 76,653]

11 minutes ago, adsm08 said:

help a friend and his son do exhaust manifolds on the son's 5.4 F150. That's an "if you know, you know" thing

 

I know I wouldn't touch one o' them with a 39 1/2 foot pole...

[c-series don 10,970]

Well it’s not what I did today, but this past week. Myself and another guy dug the hole for a foundation of a new house. Mostly I push material to the guy in the excavator who bales it out of the hole. Then I finish grade the bottom of the hole with the dozer +/- 2” for the masons. The hole is almost but not finished in the picture, I just snapped it after lunch one day. This is in one of the most expensive zip codes in the country. 1.9 acre lot- 7 million dollars. Spec house that will probably list for around 23 million! This whole area used to be nothing but farmland mostly potatoes and corn. From this point you used to look across approximately a mile of fields and see the ocean. Now it’s mostly houses with some occasional fields. It’s sad really. 

[Blue Chips 573]

12 hours ago, adsm08 said:

I went home to help a friend and his son do exhaust manifolds on the son's 5.4 F150. That's an "if you know, you know" thing. They worked on it almost all day yesterday, and a good chunk of today, I was only around for about 6 hours. We just finished up about 8 PM.

 

I remember a couple of long sessions with Ford Triton exhaust manifolds on my previous pickup (fF250 with the V10 version of the Triton). There were several exhaust manifold studs that needed to be replaced.

 

It was a great truck and engine, but it had a tendency to snap exhaust manifold studs. I managed to replace several studs without removing very much in the way of hardware by welding nuts onto the ends of the broken studs so that I could remove them. It was very tedious and fussy to weld in such an awkward position. I had to use a mirror for one of them so that I could see where I was welding. If I were going to do it over again, I think I'd bite the bullet and remove whatever was in the way.

[Ed Kennell 44,145]

1 hour ago, Blue Chips said:

I had to use a mirror for one of them

Reminds me of using a periscope for some welding in tight spaces.

[Treepep 972]

On 6/21/2025 at 10:02 PM, Ed Kennell said:

Got home from the Big Show Friday night and reloaded to head West or my Sisters 80th buirthday party this morning.   Four hours out, five at the party, and four hours return.   A quality day with the family, but I'm pooped.

 

 

 

Handsome family!  N ot certain that dog house in the last picture is going to work..  Each their own and stuff

[Ed Kennell 44,145]

55 minutes ago, Treepep said:

 

 

  Not certain that dog house in the last picture is going to work.

The bear proof bird feeder.

[adsm08 4,043]

8 hours ago, Blue Chips said:

 

I remember a couple of long sessions with Ford Triton exhaust manifolds on my previous pickup (fF250 with the V10 version of the Triton). There were several exhaust manifold studs that needed to be replaced.

 

It was a great truck and engine, but it had a tendency to snap exhaust manifold studs. I managed to replace several studs without removing very much in the way of hardware by welding nuts onto the ends of the broken studs so that I could remove them. It was very tedious and fussy to weld in such an awkward position. I had to use a mirror for one of them so that I could see where I was welding. If I were going to do it over again, I think I'd bite the bullet and remove whatever was in the way.

 

 

I would rather have been doing that job on that particular truck.

 

The shock towers unbolt from the frame leaving the whole thing out in the open, and the metal the 2V studs were made of drilled much nicer. Some idiot at Ford thought using hardened metal on the studs for the 3V would make them less likely to snap. It just makes them less likely to drill.

[adsm08 4,043]

21 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

I know I wouldn't touch one o' them with a 39 1/2 foot pole...

 

I did more than that.

 

I stopped playing nice.

 

[Blue Chips 573]

2 hours ago, adsm08 said:

The shock towers unbolt from the frame leaving the whole thing out in the open, and the metal the 2V studs were made of drilled much nicer. Some idiot at Ford thought using hardened metal on the studs for the 3V would make them less likely to snap. It just makes them less likely to drill.

 

My F250 4x4 had the earlier 2V version of the V10, which was simpler and probably more reliable than the later 3V version, which seemed to have a reputation for valve timing related issues.

[Beap52 1,880]

22 hours ago, c-series don said:

This  whole area used to be nothing but farmland mostly potatoes and corn. From this point you used to look across approximately a mile of fields and see the ocean. Now it’s mostly houses with some occasional fields. It’s sad really. 

 

I was telling my  wife a couple of days ago that it saddens me to see our farmlands being busted up into small acreages.  Minimum lot size in rural areas in Missouri are one to three acres dependent upon soil condition and perking for septic systems and wells.  Our subdivision started out with lot size of about 1 1/4 acres.  Then when the law changed, the remaining lots became 2 1/2 acres.  2 1/2 acres is a lot to mow, In my opinion, they certainly don't need that much land for septic system and well.  Land here in south Missouri isn't THAT productive but these overly-large lots are NOT productive.  We've got several farms being broken into 5 to ten acres.  I understand housing needs and I wouldn't want to give my 1 1/4 acres for a 1/3 acre lot in town.  On the other hand, some of the lots in town a person can barely ride a mower along side of the house.   There's 400 acres just down the road with a gravel road through it and homes being built.  Progress I suppose. 

 

Our family farm is pretty safe from "development".   It already has three oil lines and two overhead power lines and a oil pumping station on it.