Eat yer heart out, tractor man.....

[Joe (SoCal)]

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[L.W. Baxter]

Since cattle beasts will mow and fertilize your neighbours lawns,you could charge them a fee for the service and save on fencing.
R

if they would just stop and graze the first patch of good grass they came to, that would be great.

but what they do is blow through the neighborhood on their way to timbuktu.

the one time my herd has escaped, i was fortunate that they trapped themselves against a roughly u-shaped blackberry thicket, up against a creek 1200 yards north of here. took them about ten minutes to get there.

[Ron Williamson]

Critters like an adventure,too.
Maybe let them out more often, to get it out of their system.
The range cattle that I had experience with really liked the nice grass at the camp where I worked and always left their calling cards.
A bit squirrelly,and not at all afraid of a skinny 17 year old,either.
R

[JayInOz]

B6242288-7991-4910-A237-188211D8E023.jpg

Now that right there is a fish out of water

[John B]

Thank goodness for the blackberries once more.
Blackberries to the rescue.

[John B]

B6242288-7991-4910-A237-188211D8E023.jpg

Hey , is that Lee with a haircut?

[Ron Williamson]

There's big money in Buffalo chips.

Taste like Buffalo Wings,correct?
R

[John B]

Taste like Buffalo Wings,correct?
R

That's where the whole red bull gives you wings thing came from, I think.

[Ron Williamson]

R

[Joe (SoCal)]

Now that right there is a fish out of water

I was actually a pretty good tractor operator

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[L.W. Baxter]

Hey , is that Lee with a haircut?

that guy has gymnasium muscles. fuggedaboudit.

shaved head guy without a cap does remind me of something though.

one of my last significant construction jobs, the "site supervisor", for reasons of his own damn fault, needed to insulate the daylight basement concrete before i framed wood walls around the interior perimeter. he was in his mid thirties, weighed about 250lb, had a shaved head, and the day was bright august sun. not really hot, but bright.

i mentioned to him, hey, don't you want a hat. he told me he never wore one. i asked him, do you never work outside? he was a little irritated.

by the time he was halfway done tacking styro panels to the concrete, he was beet red and gasping. mind you, not a really hot day. but bright.

this was the guy i was supposed to relay my concerns and requests to the builder through. at the moment he bailed after doing two thirds of the job, i wouldn't have hired him to push broom for me. a couple dozen styrofoam panels. seriously. i finished his job, for free, while i was taking a break.

which is why i had to quit working in that environment. guy that doesn't know enough to wear a hat. and i'm supposed to come to that guy with questions or concerns?

[Ron Williamson]

I got an epic sunburn on the backs of my ears on a day like that.
June 1986 saw me with short hair for the first time in a loooong time.
Nasty fat blisters.
R

[JayInOz]

I was hired as a formwork carpenter building the forms for the concrete supports for all the buildings in a big new coal fired power station. Previous feller did half the job in just over two months and then quit. I finished the job and was onto the next stage in eight days. The boss found some small jobs for me here and there and then had to sack me. He apologised profusely and told me I was one of the best workers he'd ever had blah blah, but from here on all the work was at last forty feet up inside the cooling towers, and I'm totally unable to work at height. Seriously- I cease to function at about fifteen feet JayInOz

[John B]

Funny, I've been out on the water tractor doing jobs, needed maintenance , stuff like that. Ya see it just isn't smart to fire up any machine in the marina anymore even if its just a little multimaster buzzing away. Karen rings marina and complains that dolphins are being killed by that guy with the fein so no. Marina has to send a guy down to check on the environmental terrorist with the detail sander, it gets messy.
So my gimmick is drop the lines, go a mile or two away and get to it. Spent saturday night out , back in sun night and out again for the day today. Vac up and bag any dust or shavings etc , of course, goes without saying, but still have to hide from karen.
anyyyway, my reason for this convoluted tale..
I got burnt. Just always forget to put some of that stuff on early season because slow learner. Thank goodness for Peter Lemonhands and the laughing polar bear cap or it'd be worse.,call me kubota neck.
This was the Sunday worksite. A pretty little spot by myself with perhaps 2 other boats in the whole inlet, but they were a mile or so away.
20221204_111140.jpg
no fish were harmed.

[JayInOz]

John I'm sure I've mentioned this before on the forum, but there were only two people who wore baseball style caps where I lived. One was a school mate who died from a cancer which started in his cheek, and the other was a next door neighbour who died from a cancer that started in the top of his ear. They suffered much and for a long time before losing the fight. Wear a bloody hat. JayInOz

[John B]

You're right , I do have straw brim hats on the boat but like I say, early season , first sun after a spring of rain and gales, slow learner.
Nek time I'll be smooged up and hatted.

[Stiletto]

Good advice. I've had a chunk of my ear removed this year because of cancer.

[Garret]

About a month ago, I got my newly rebuild snowblower back together on my little Kubota. Once again, Kubota prices forced me into an alternative route. It's a 54" blower & I snowblow a 350 ft. gravel stretch. The gravel, particularly before the ground freezes, gets picked up & thrown through and this beats the crap out of the center blower. I had lots of bumps & even a couple of small holes, so it was time to do something. Thing is, a new "body" for the blower (not any of the moving parts) is $2300US. Whole new blower is over 5K. I pulled the guts out (augur, blower, chute etc.) & dropped it off at a place near me that can both build & fix most anything. 3rd generation set of 3 brothers run it - their grandfather was a wheelwright & repaired all the wagons & carriages in the area. Nowadays they mostly do farm equipment & fab for small companies (& new stainless water tanks for my boat). They welded in new steel inside the round part of the blower & straightened out the blades. $320US.

I didn't bother repainting the inside, as it'll just get worn off & a rattle can of Kubota orange is $23US!!

SBFront.jpg

This is the left side of the housing (after applying some of the valuable paint) - when new it was smooth. The steel they welded in is inside this.

SBOutside.jpg

[John B]

Took me a bit of looking to see how that thing works, not a common machine in my end of the planet.
Can do guys like that are priceless. Losing ones infrastructure of trades/ engineers/ electrical specialists etc is frustrating. My brake guy retired, favourite mechanic the same, My fix anything auto electrician sold up and my last discovery , the guy who rebuild my windlass motor a month ago, he's trying to sell and retire, but no interest in the business. Because the business is him and his knowledge.
Showers today so no boat work, the sunburn is not much and actually just arms it seems. Must have been wearing a shorter arm T shirt than normal because that was what was in the work T shirt pile. Either that or my arms have stretched from moving dirt and tree trunks, or sumpin. Probably the latter come to thing of it , I wondered why my knuckles have scrapes.

[Ron Williamson]

Those front-mount blowers are lighter built(less stress for steering axles) and not as tough as the 3 point-look-over-your-shoulder kind.
Our man Derek didn't even notice as he shredded a 2'x8' alumin(i)um scaffold deck that was buried in a snow bank.
R

[Garret]

Took me a bit of looking to see how that thing works, not a common machine in my end of the planet.
Can do guys like that are priceless. Loosing ones infrastructure of trades/ engineers/ electrical specialists etc is frustrating. My brake guy retired, favourite mechanic the same, My fix anything auto electrician sold up and my last discovery , the guy who rebuild my windlass motor a month ago, he's trying to sell and retire, but no interest in the business. Because the business is him and his knowledge.
Showers today so no boat work, the sunburn is not much and actually just arms it seems. Must have been wearing a shorter arm T shirt than normal because that was what was in the work T shirt pile. Either that or my arms have stretched from moving dirt and tree trunks, or sumpin. Probably the latter come to thing of it , I wondered why my knuckles have scrapes.

The driveway setup at my place doesn't have a good place for putting the snow with a snowplow, so a snowblower is best as it'll throw the snow 20-30 ft out of the way. The horizontal augur turns fairly slowly & pulls the snow into the housing, forcing it towards the center. The 2nd stage is basically a big fan that takes the snow & blows it out of a chute that can be aimed. This one willl do 2 ft. of snow @ walking speed. A pic of it in action:

Blowing.jpg

Those front-mount blowers are lighter built(less stress for steering axles) and not as tough as the 3 point-look-over-your-shoulder kind.
Our man Derek didn't even notice as he shredded a 2'x8' alumin(i)um scaffold deck that was buried in a snow bank.
R

Ouch! I have learned that picking up a piece of firewood will snap shearpins - but that's what they're for. On the 7 ft. rear mount my brother & I used, it'd go through a 3" branch no problem. Bigger than that would snap its (much bigger) shearpins. It'd blow 40 ft off the road & go though 2 1/2 ft of snow at 6-8 MPH.


Having used both, a front mount is much, much nicer. 45 minutes of craning your head around to see where you're backing gets really old.

[Ron Williamson]

I use a 6' rear blower at home because of the tight area.
Over sized for the 20 hp tractor and space but it works great in low range,even through the plow bank at the road.
And it was cheaper than a smaller one.

The shop laneway/yard is a minefield (logs,lumber,rock, blocks,skids etc) ,so it gets plowed.
R

[Garret]

I use a 6' rear blower at home because of the tight area.
Over sized for the 20 hp tractor and space but it works great in low range,even through the plow bank at the road.
And it was cheaper than a smaller one.

The shop laneway/yard is a minefield (logs,lumber,rock, blocks,skids etc) ,so it gets plowed.
R

We ran the 7 footer on a 35HP machine - the blower is Canadian of course. The little one is only 18HP, but I got it cheap... Having a cab is really nice.

Driving into your place must be interesting!

As a complete drift - some Quebec towns still rolled their roads up until about 1980. A friend used to work on the 2 half-track school buses owned by a school district near the border.

[Robbie 2]

John I'm sure I've mentioned this before on the forum, but there were only two people who wore baseball style caps where I lived. One was a school mate who died from a cancer which started in his cheek, and the other was a next door neighbour who died from a cancer that started in the top of his ear. They suffered much and for a long time before losing the fight. Wear a bloody hat. JayInOz

I had a brown patch removed from my right cheek quite a few years ago.
The test on it came back negative...no cancer...
However, the very nice young plastic surgeon lady who did it said: "Wear a hat".
I replied that "I always wear a hat outside".
Her reply: "A hat or a cap"?
I had to admit to wearing a cap.
Ever since then I wear a hat outside and only occasionally a cap.
On a side note, the op left a slightly visible curved scar on my right cheek.
Her comment on that: "Say it was a jealous husband".

[John B]

I go for a walk to check for damage.. I get followed.
20221206_105445.jpg
Bizarrely the only issue is a really nice young native tree which has decided to to batter the stone boat, yes.. the very device that instigated the whole thread.. beaten down.
Frustrating. I just planted 2 x 2 ft high of this species a week or so back and now an established tree in what I thought was in a sheltered spot just decides to let go.
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[JayInOz]

John I arrived home after shopping in town a few weeks ago and there was a tiny little duckling swimming around in the puddle at the front gate all on its own. Picked it up and went looking for the rest of the family but not a sign. Just finished carrying the groceries inside and my friend Jane arrived to pick up the surplus Jersey milk for her critters. I said You don't want a new pet do you? And took the duckling out of my shirt pocket. She said No worries- just moved a batch of newly hatched bantam chicks from the incubator to the brooder- it can go in with them. Anyhoo- duckling was fine and healthy for two weeks and then a few days ago it just curled up and died. I hate it when that happens because I can never figure out the cause. JayInOz

[John B]

John I arrived home after shopping in town a few weeks ago and there was a tiny little duckling swimming around in the puddle at the front gate all on its own. Picked it up and went looking for the rest of the family but not a sign. Just finished carrying the groceries inside and my friend Jane arrived to pick up the surplus Jersey milk for her critters. I said You don't want a new pet do you? And took the duckling out of my shirt pocket. She said No worries- just moved a batch of newly hatched bantam chicks from the incubator to the brooder- it can go in with them. Anyhoo- duckling was fine and healthy for two weeks and then a few days ago it just curled up and died. I hate it when that happens because I can never figure out the cause. JayInOz

Ah yeah, the attrition is terrible, I've tried to save a few weakling/runts but it never works. We seem to have 13 to 16 ducks in total living here this year, 2 of them duckling survivors and 3 more that mostly live elsewhere but visit.. out of about 35 or 40 ducklings hatched. 1 heron out of 5 eggs made it.

[John B]

I have a question of the machine guys, serious like.
Should the exposed metal of the hydraulic rams be oiled or protected in some way? You know , sprayed with Corrosion x or similar.

[Ron Williamson]

If it's going to sit unused in the open air,yes give it a spray of something.
Set the buckets to drain water and dry out(ie not sitting flat in mud) and close(retract) the cylinders as much as possible.

If it's under cover, even an open shed I wouldn't bother.
R

[Joe (SoCal)]

that guy has gymnasium muscles. fuggedaboudit.

shaved head guy without a cap does remind me of something though.

one of my last significant construction jobs, the "site supervisor", for reasons of his own damn fault, needed to insulate the daylight basement concrete before i framed wood walls around the interior perimeter. he was in his mid thirties, weighed about 250lb, had a shaved head, and the day was bright august sun. not really hot, but bright.

i mentioned to him, hey, don't you want a hat. he told me he never wore one. i asked him, do you never work outside? he was a little irritated.

by the time he was halfway done tacking styro panels to the concrete, he was beet red and gasping. mind you, not a really hot day. but bright.

this was the guy i was supposed to relay my concerns and requests to the builder through. at the moment he bailed after doing two thirds of the job, i wouldn't have hired him to push broom for me. a couple dozen styrofoam panels. seriously. i finished his job, for free, while i was taking a break.

which is why i had to quit working in that environment. guy that doesn't know enough to wear a hat. and i'm supposed to come to that guy with questions or concerns?

I have NO IDEA what you are talking about, but as a bald man for almost 30 years and now living in Southern California I think know a thing or two about hats.

This is about 1/10th of my current hat collection. I have a few in my car, my vespa, the pet taxi etc etc etc.

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[L.W. Baxter]

thank you for making us a collage

[Paul Pless]

Our man Derek didn't even notice as he shredded a 2'x8' alumin(i)um scaffold deck that was buried in a snow bank.
R

lmfao

[Garret]

I have a question of the machine guys, serious like.
Should the exposed metal of the hydraulic rams be oiled or protected in some way? You know , sprayed with Corrosion x or similar.

What Ron said. Whenever possible, retract so no piston is exposed, but also make sure buckets don't sit full of water. Hydraulic oil's probably bet as it repels water and is compatible with itself.

Cue Jake with something the rest of us never thought of...

[John B]

Hmm. Yes, the last thing I want to do is something that will upset the seals.

[JayInOz]

They invented this thing for protecting hydraulic rams- it's called a shed