What did you do today?

[8ntruck 8,911]

Over the last couple three days, we've been playing 3 dimensional magic tiles.  Mrs 8N wanted her sewing room moved.  This involved moving desks, tables, and shelves between houses and between basement and main floor.

 

To help with the shelving swap between the house and lake house, I woke Pack Rat, the AC B-110, up from his winter nap today tow the garden cart between the houses to swap the items.

 

This tractor has a very grabby clutch.  It is very difficult to feather the clutch enough to NOT carry the front wheels off of the ground for a few inches. I've tinkered with this machine enough to get it usable, but it is far from where I'd like it.  Today, i decided that the clutch will be the next thing I'll tackle.  

[ebinmaine 78,996]

Morning tasks:

 

A#1 not negotiable. Drink coffee. 

 

Then, tractor fun... we're headed to the garden area this morning.  

 

 First - rip garden surface. 

Then whatever conditioning Trina decides... Re-pile rows, mounds or whatever...

 

Plant. 

Add manure. 

 

Then, a few trips from the front yard, around the far side of the barn, to the garden, hauling the mulch I made with the Mackissic chipper shredder. Busy day coming up. 😀

 

[rjg854 13,061]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

Busy day coming up. 😀

Never fear,

Trina is here.

 

[ebinmaine 78,996]

1 hour ago, rjg854 said:

Never fear,

Trina is here.

 

 

You're darn tootin'

 

[squonk 46,652]

Tore out all of the old weed paper and an old trampoline fabric out of the garden. Then had to move 4 bucket loads of mushroom dirt and topsoil from the driveway to the front flower bed with Elvis. Halfway through I was thinkin, "Is there enough gas in this? "  Nope! 

[Sparky-(Admin) 25,372]

  Went with a friend for my first ride of the season. Around 115 miles, went up into Massachusetts and back. 
  Good ride, bike ran well. No idea why but the right front turn signal busted off. Duct tape repair on the side of the road got me home. 
 I don’t have GPS and we both wanted to avoid all highways, so I scribbled directions for all back roads on paper and shoved em in my pocket to be referenced when we stopped 

 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 78,996]

14 minutes ago, Sparky said:

Around 115 miles, went up into Massachusetts and back. 

 

Pretty country up through the southern Quabbin region there. 40 minutes up Rt 202 and you're near my mom's place.  

We'll be down the weekend of the 13th to help her out some.  Stop by for 🐻 coffee.  

[19richie66 17,887]

Went outside to dream. Can’t wait to get this building done. 

[8ntruck 8,911]

I was hoping to get the pontoon ready to go into the water today.  Didn't go to well.  The engine started without a whole lot of hassle.  Had the garden hose earmuffs over the water intake, but there was no indicator stream.  I pulled off enough cowling to check the hose between the engine and nozzle.  Yup, it was clogged - with a piece of water pump impeller.  I cleared that, and started the engine with the hose not connected.  No water - in fact, it was dry when I took the hose off.  I pulled the thermostat cover - everything dry in there.

 

I'll guess that the piece of impeller was from the one that failed last year, not the replacement I installed.  I was only idling the engine on the earmuffs, so the water pump flow might have been insufficient to fill the cooling system.  The next step is to take it down to the boat ramp far enough to get the lower unit underwater, start it up and give it some revs.  Ran out of time to do that today.  Got to get a rebuild kit coming - just in case.  Seems like an impeller ought to last more than a year - I don't run it dry.

 

"Tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always tomorrow.  Its only a day away."

 

 

Edited Sunday at 10:46 PM by 8ntruck

[Razorback 1,328]

I got a couple of rows of Roma 2 Italian flat green beans planted. Watered them in using a 12V source, an RV water pump, and rainwater collected in a 275 gallon tote that is by my shed. I also watered some lettuce, kale, collard greens, and water melon that got planted yesterday. Took the time to run lots of water on the compost pile.... almost emptied the tank. So, I moved the pump to another tank down the hill by the house and am refilling the tank by the shed.

I still need to get a 4th tank to put at the high side of the garden. 

These RV pumps and totes come in real handy with the garden.

Edited Monday at 12:31 AM by Razorback

[8ntruck 8,911]

Mrs. 8n and I partook of our health system today.  She got carpal tunnel surgery on her dominant right hand, and while I was at the hospital, I got another blood draw.

 

Her surgery went without complication.  She had a choice of local anesthesia or general anesthesia.  She chose local.  Said she had a nice conversation with the anesthesiologist while the procedure was performed.  Didn't take long.  I left for the hospital lab just before she was wheeled off for surgery and was back in the recovery room when I got back to the room after my blood draw.

 

When I asked what this draw was for, I was told it was to check my parathyroid levels.  When we got home, I looked up what the heck a parathyroid was - 4 pea sized glands behind the thyroid that control calcium in the blood.  The symptoms for improper operation of these glands read like a list of general complaints about getting old.  Apparently, extra effort and testing is needed to see if one is normal or has parathyroid issues.  The interweb also informed me that there is no drug therapy for this - the only known solution is to dig the offending part out.

 

Edit: Results came back - parathyroid markers are within the normal range.  Fly and watch.

Edited 11 hours ago by 8ntruck

[ebinmaine 78,996]

57 minutes ago, 8ntruck said:

general complaints about getting old.

 

Science is learning a LOT  in recent years about aging and our lifetime possibilities.  

 

The US health system is very good at keeping us alive..... and sick. 

It is not very good at making us healthy.  

 

Be happy you're getting tested. Heed the results and recommendations.  Do your own research.  

 

Remain healthy.  

[8ntruck 8,911]

That's the plan.

 

We don't see a doctor, rather, we are working with a nurse practitioner.  She is really heavy on preventative stuff - which we both like.

Edited Monday at 08:48 PM by 8ntruck

[ebinmaine 78,996]

Starting to reassemble my Electrical repair area. This is the front corner of the barn.  

 

 

 

Got this cool bag of trinkets from @peter lena a few years ago at Zagray.  

It has a permanent place.  

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 78,996]

Trina and her momma got the garden area mostly finished this afternoon. 

More plants will be added soon. The plain areas shown have seeds in. 

Tomatoes 🍅. Peppers 🫑. Onions 🧅. Potatoes 🥔🍠. Beets.  Carrots 🥕🥕. Bush beans🫘🍛. Cucumbers 🥒. Spaghetti squash. Other squash. 

 

Diatomaceous (sp?) earth applied for insects.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Handy Don 16,670]

30 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Diatomaceous

Yep!

[Blue Chips 759]

I pulled the cab off the M37 today. I managed to do it by myself with no issues. Before lifting it, I removed the doors and all of the removable floorboard panels to lighten it and make it easier to set up the lifting straps. I raised the chassis on my lift and set it down on the car dollies so that I could roll it sideways into the empty bay and use my engine hoist to lift the cab.

 

 

The frame under the cab looked very good. There was practically no rust at all, other than a few very small areas of thin surface rust that should clean up easily by hand with some sandpaper, and there was no flaking paint anywhere, so it should be really easy to prep for priming and painting. After I de-grease and pressure wash the transfer case, I'll have a closer look at it to see what it might need. At a minimum, I would install new seals and gaskets, and change the oil. I'll check the U-joints while I'm at it. 

 

While I have the cab off, it will be much easier to remove and replace the rest of the wiring, fuel lines, and brake lines. The engine block is still at the machine shop; I'll give them a call tomorrow to see how things are progressing.

 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Blue Chips

[ebinmaine 78,996]

@Blue Chips

You ever take things to Owl's Head Transportation Museum shows?

 

[MainelyWheelhorse 2,604]

Today, I swapped some old rugs under my snowmobile that’s on the bottom of some racks outside to deter grass from growing up and rotting it out. I cleaned out my front garden and took care of the weeds. And I worked on this…

 

 

It’s a David Bradley walk behind tractor that’s from somewhere in the 40’s or early 50’s. It’s been in the family since I was a child or possibly before that so at least 40 years+. My youngest brother had it and though with my tractor expertise, I could get it working. So far the gas tank has been taken off and as you can see the absolutely shredded tires. There is no motor but it’s not uncommon to Harbor Freight repower these or put another newer engine on them. I’d like to put a Kohler or Honda as both seem to be bulletproof. For being outside for multiple decades it’s in remarkably good shape. A repower, new tires, some brake and throttle cable, with a paint job, and this should be good. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it once it’s done but I’ll figure it out.

Edited 5 hours ago by MainelyWheelhorse

[ineedanother 2,416]

On 5/31/2026 at 2:22 PM, Sparky said:

  Went with a friend for my first ride of the season. Around 115 miles, went up into Massachusetts and back. 
  Good ride, bike ran well. No idea why but the right front turn signal busted off. Duct tape repair on the side of the road got me home. 
 I don’t have GPS and we both wanted to avoid all highways, so I scribbled directions for all back roads on paper and shoved em in my pocket to be referenced when we stopped 

 

 

Made a deal with my wife (long-time Trauma Nurse at a Level I Trauma Center) when I turned 60. Sold my F650 and got fitted for a new set of golf clubs  First time in 50 years without one 

[Blue Chips 759]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

You ever take things to Owl's Head Transportation Museum shows?

 

I've been an Owl's Head member for years, but since we moved to Maine about 18 years ago I haven't had a finished vehicle to take to any of their events...yet. Maybe next year, if I can keep the momentum going.

 

When we lived in Utah I restored/modified/repaired a number of what I consider classics (I only owned one at a time...as limited by budget). There were several that I wish I still owned. 

[adsm08 4,502]

My last two nights have been spent working on my truck. I've been chasing an exhaust leak since this time last year. I'll fix one thing, it will seem OK for a day or two, then it starts getting worse again.  Sunday I found a hole in one of the header tubes and the brazing rods I've repaired everything else with would not stick to that metal. I couldn't get the flange bolts in the head to budge, so last night off came the cab.

 

Tonight I actually go the headers out, with only two broken bolts. Thankfully those two are in flanges and I can just drill them out over-sized and re-tap without worrying about damaging over things. I've already done it to the same engine in another of my vehicles.