What did you do today?

[DennisCA]

Check out the gearbox between the two augers. It probably has grease in it which gets rubbed out of the worm gear causing premature failure. Filling it with oil will likely quadruple its lifespan. Note that the input bearing probably has no seal so expect oil to leak out so fill it regularly.

The previous owner mentioned that, said it was oil in it though, he's replaced it once. Machine is 6 years old but the paint looks unused, pretty impressive. But he did say he sold it because the municipality shovels his farms driveway for him and he has his own tractor to boot, so it basically sat mostly in his shed, well it looks like it anyway.

[Dan Dubeau]

Someday, check out the cost difference between a set of ice cleats and a run to the emergency room in the ambulance. Yak Trax help a bunch.

I have about 5-10 pairs of different slip on ice cleats. They are sitting with my ice fishing gear...... You can lead a horse to water......

Sun's been out all morning and the salt/sand has broken up all the driveway ice now. It's much, much better.

Summer project is to build a sander for the back of the Jeep. Now that the rear frame/suspension is fixed I can put some weight back there. I'm thinking an IBD tote tipped on a 45 and cut in half would provide a nice sized container for that would fit perfect back there. The rest of it should be easy enough to fabricobble something together for.

Tundra I'd love to head out your way to the mountains one day for a sled trip. I'd need a different machine though, as I don't think my old Vmax would do so good in the deep stuff lol.

[Tundra Twin Track]

Tundra I'd love to head out your way to the mountains one day for a sled trip. I'd need a different machine though, as I don't think my old Vmax would do so good in the deep stuff lol.

Ya Dan riding the high country of BC interior is kinda of like heaven,I drive 5-10 hrs west to ride there.3" paddle tracks are the $hit for the real deep stuff a meter plus,I'm riding 15 doo 174"x3" track right now.There a snowbike project in the shop now,155"x3" paddle track 12" wide,pretty pumped to see it go
will do some preliminary testing at home here then head out to the mountains to see how it performs.

[Dan Dubeau]

174"? You'd never be able to get that thing turned around in the trails out here lol. Watching some youtube stuff of what you guys get into out there in the backcountry and it looks awesome. Very different than what we get here. Even a couple hours north of me where where they get "real" amounts of snow still doesn't compare. Looks mega fun, and the views must be amazing.

Those snow bikes look fun too. Was trying to convince my neighbor to buy one a couple years ago so I could ride it . They won't let them on the trails here (no tracked atvs either), so you're pretty limited on where you can ride them. I'm sure they'd be wicked fun out in the powder.

I've never been west yet. Wife is scared to let me go, as I might not make it back . I'm sure I could make a nice home for myself in the foothills somewhere.

[plastikosmd]

Took delivery of the new to me jeep. Neighbor has an rtv1100. Fun machine for around our property here.
My first reaction after borrowing it was wow=LOUD inside. Having had a gator I liked the rear for carrying stuff (saws, shooting bags, wood etc) but I hardly utilized the “dump” feature.
I preferred to haul gravel/dirt/debris in my dump trailer (maybe I was “overprotective.”) Anyway, flipped the gator for a dozer and began to look. I didn’t see the value (for me) in a 23k++w plow/options. Used were still overpriced.

Begin to analyze what I exactly wanted/ needed.

4wd
Easy to repair
Reliable
2 seats
Some weather protection in winter or rain but I do like nature, spring-fall and prefer no doors during that time
Plow
Some ability to haul stuff
Ability to tow

Bonus items:
Pto
3 point hitch
Dump
Roadworthy

In the end, 1963 cj5
Pto (run my sawmill)
plow
(it had a 3 pt hitch in past life, first owner used to post hole dig as fence contractor ) will add it in future
Soft top

Overall nearly same size as rtv1100 (bit more narrow and bit more ground clearance with the 32”$ so great on my swampy trails where we have a good deal of standing water (generally less than 18”)
Same length, quiet, reasonable to fix/repair, road worthy is trade off for dump in the end. It may not be for everyone but for a few thousand, I am happy.

[RB211]

Playing Tetris in my garage, assembling the gantry crane. Also picked up my wife's E-bike she just bought. Has a nice Bosch drive system. I am glad she finally bought an expensive toy so maybe she'll stop giving me crap!

[PStechPaul]

I found a laptop computer advertised on Facebook Marketplace, for $20, from a guy only a mile or so from my house. It's a Lenovo with Windows 7 Ultimate, and the power supply has an Indian power plug, but he sold me an adapter for $3. It works, mostly, but the fan is noisy, the WiFi is a bit flaky, the CD/DVD drive doesn't work reliably, the sound worked and then didn't, and the battery is dead. I mostly wanted a cheap computer to give to my 87 year old friend, Gordon, who was given a new Apple I-Pad, but he doesn't know how to use it and I find it very frustrating trying to figure out how to do simple things. We both found ourselves cursing at Siri, who politely said, like, "I can't process that request. Do you mean four cues?"

Anyway, here it is, good, bad, and ugly:


The seller had removed most of his files, but it still has Microsoft Office 2003. The hard drive was partitioned with C: only about 20 GB with 3 GB free, and then three other unused partitions with about 30-50 GB each. I played around with the machine for a long time, installing updates, extending the C: drive to 80 GB, which required installation of a free partition manager, since the Windows Disk Management utility can't extend the system partition into unallocated space. I set up an Admin account with password, and a regular account for Gordon. I learned a bit about networking and user account control, too.

I took the machine to Gordon last night, and spent hours getting it set up for him. I could not find his router to establish a network connection, and I thought perhaps he did not have internet in his FIOS package. I figured his Ipad might use cell service for its internet. But I called Verizon and they were able to supply the password for his WiFi. Maybe his router is built into his set top box?

Anyway, I think I taught him enough to be able to access web sites via Firefox, and I set up a Gmail account for him. He has some difficulty seeing the tiny text and icons on the screen, and when I used the magnifier and large text options, it made some things impossible to see. He also has Parkinson's which makes it hard for him to use the touchpad. Maybe a mouse would be easier for him to use. I also found out that he is paying about $180/month for FIOS, and he could save about $50 if he got rid of premium access for HBO and Playboy, and he has two TVs, each with their own STBs and separate monthly charges. And he is in a subsidized senior apartment so he can't switch to Comcast as I did to get a better deal.

He also has trouble managing his finances, because his bank charges extra for paper statements, and he has not been able to use their electronic web-based access. Well, maybe now he could, but this computer does not have up-to-date virus protection. As I was setting it up, it ran the Malicious Software Removal Tool and it found and got rid of a couple Trojans. If he becomes proficient enough with this computer, perhaps he could buy a better one for maybe $200 or so, or I can give him my tired old Win8 machine once I get everything transferred to my Win10 laptop. I actually like this ugly old Lenovo machine and it seems much faster than my Win8 Dell, probably because of five years of accumulated junk. It will probably perk up if I wipe the HDD and re-install Win8 and just some basic software. But I like Win7 even better.

[Bob Engelhardt]

I found a laptop computer advertised on Facebook Marketplace, for $20, from a guy only a mile or so from my house. It's a Lenovo with Windows 7 Ultimate, ....

I found a laptop at the dump, with Windows 7. I was able to download Windows 10 FOR FREE, just because there was a legitimate copy of '7 already there. In case you'd rather have '10. I forget the details, but Google knows.

[RB211]

Some reading material, and going to mount my garage door opener higher up, tip up the gantry crane, and maybe get my new lathe situated, and the old one in the crate.

[Jon Heron]

Made a new keg fridge on the weekend and I needed a temporary drip tray, until I can find a good deal on a stainless one.
I whipped one up in freeCad to 3D print.

I used fillets on the inside to make it easy to clean and used super magnets to hold it on the door of the fridge.
It turned out pretty good.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3417885

Cheers,
Jon

[brian Rupnow]

Hey RB211--Is it you who are going to build my flathead engine? I seen a post a couple of weeks ago that somebody on here was planning to, and now I see you have the magazine articles on it. I always get a bit of a thrill when I find that somebody is building one of my engines.---Brian

[RB211]

Yes Brian, I have been the one emailing you about the plans, the wjh email.

[RB211]

And here is pictorial proof that I did something in the shop. Raised up the garage door opener, and installed the crane. The tetris puzzle continues... Every muscle and joint in my body is killing me.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

I finished sorting all my drill bits. I used a spare huot to organize my drills from 1/2" to 1". I also started planning what I'm going to be putting in my Lista. I've labeled two drawers so far. I need to move over my most common tools from my older craftsman chests and organize them in the Lista.

[RB211]

I finished sorting all my drill bits. I used a spare huot to organize my drills from 1/2" to 1". I also started planning what I'm going to be putting in my Lista. I've labeled two drawers so far. I need to move over my most common tools from my older craftsman chests and organize them

Some nice cabinets there!
Going to move some lathes around today, and assemble the new stand, get the old lathe created perhaps. Ceiling insulation and A/C in the garage going in tomorrow!