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I mean, if you can save $5k in transportation costs it might be worth it still.
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Mar 22, 2023 21:28
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Skid steer prices have gone psychotic in the last couple years. If I were to bid $15,500 or less that would be under-budget even with buyers premiums and sales tax. I’m looking at Ritchie Bros. auctions down south where inop units are selling for 5 figures so I suspect this particular one will end up $20k+
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Mar 22, 2023 21:55
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There's a solid markup for conditioned cabins too. Seems alright? put eyes on it or hire out someone to do a ppi
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Mar 22, 2023 22:12
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I've given up on finding a cheap (10k 70ish hp) skid loader. The same machines I was looking at are now almost double. If you want another project there are cab kits for a lot of models and adding heat isn't impossible. If you want to run a snow blower like I do high flow hydraulics and 60+hp is where you want to start. Avoid machines that have been used with a jackhammer/machines used to clean up manure. Block heater is probably a really good idea in your area, if it's regularly below 0f think of a heater for the hydraulic fluid and let it run for a while before even thinking about moving the thing. That's what I remember most from when I was serious about getting one. STR posted:I can't really contribute much, except those hours are pretty drat low. Does it have a PTO? Aux hydraulics, not pto. Hydraulic motors that spin at 540rpm are a thing though.
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Mar 24, 2023 19:12
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Thanks for the tips. I actually don’t want a snowblower as our snow is more akin to half-set concrete. I’m trying to get *away* from a snowblower. Bucket, forks, and plow are most of what I’ll be using, though I just noticed that a stump grinder attachment is cheaper than hiring somebody to do a couple. $10k is unreasonable around here unless I find a divorce deal. Even then it’s unlikely. I’m aiming for $20k which still feels like I’m low, but I need to keep some sort of a budget. Thankfully we don’t get below zero Fahrenheit much, and when we do that means it’s too cold to snow. Oil pan and hydraulic oil heaters hooked to a smart plug are definitely in my plans, though - I could have the heaters start an hour before I get home. Anybody have experience with rental equipment? Does it tend to get maintained well or is it ‘YOLO, we’ll just send it to auction in a year’? Edit: was talking to a co-worker about his ongoing project to build a house and he described how long and steep his driveway is going to be. I asked “how do you plan to deal with snow removal?” “Oh, I’ll probably pick up a cheap skid loader”. …Oh my sweet summer child. Advent Horizon fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Mar 24, 2023 |
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Mar 24, 2023 22:43
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Advent Horizon posted:Anybody have experience with rental equipment? Does it tend to get maintained well or is it ‘YOLO, we’ll just send it to auction in a year’? Rental equipment comes in two flavors. Unmaintained and had the shitballs run out of it Sort-of-maintained and had the shitballs run out of it. They're sold when they're no longer profitable enough. I look forward to your co-workers discoveries in the used equipment market.
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Mar 25, 2023 01:39
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CFO approved bidding on the local skid steer. They want payment and pickup the day after the auction ends (auction ends Wednesday, April 5 at 6pm) so I needed to get a money transfer scheduled today. The only viewing appointments will be the same day the auction ends so I’m going to get that scheduled as well. I’ve also talked to the neighbor about bringing it home; his family’s construction lot is basically across the street. To catch up, this is the auction: https://bid.alaskapremierauctions.com/ui/auctions/97561/11059427 It sure looks like it only got used to move trailers around the yard and as a gravel-capable forklift. It shows up on Street View in 2011:  And from the overhead you can see why they would want to use a skid steer to move trailers:  I probably won’t win but I’m getting excited anyway!
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Mar 29, 2023 19:54
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Yeah…I shouldn’t have bothered getting excited. Crazy people outbid me. Why crazy? I had the only appointment to look at any of the auction items in person. Everybody else was bidding sight-unseen. One other item in the auction was this 1990 backhoe loader; the description said it ran when parked but wouldn’t start now:  That $9,700 bid ends up being just just under $12,000 after fees and taxes. Less than two hours after the end of the auction this was posted to Craigslist:  The Craigslist listing said it ran when parked but left out the ‘doesn’t start now’ part. So - I guess I’m still looking. If I don’t find anything locally in the next 6 weeks I’ll probably go check out the Ritchie Bros. inventory down in Chehalis - their next auction is June 28-29 and there’s already half a dozen Gehl R105s listed. Those seem like they’d be the perfect size for me, and it turns out my preferred hardware store is a Gehl dealer so I can get parts locally, but I don’t know anybody that actually has experience with their skid steers. Unrelated to all this, I’ve been going through Facebook deleting most of my old posts but saving copies of all my old pictures. I came across this one of the Unimog I drove for a couple years during my 6 years at the zipline (4 as a guide, 2 as the driver + part time guide + bartender). I’m the one sticking out of the cab hatch:  I got it up to 8th gear in reverse once. Once.
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Apr 7, 2023 07:00
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Woof, it’s been a while. I have not been productive enough with the projects for this thread but have been busy with a ton of other stuff. I booked tickets for last Friday to visit Washington to check out the Ritchie Bros auction inventory. On Tuesday I was obsessively looking at my watchlist and noticed that all six of the skid steers I was interested were no longer visible. When clicking my saved links they all said ‘not available’. Well, crap. I had Friday off anyway so decided to head up to Skagway, which I haven’t visited in a few years. It’s a cool little gold rush town that stuck around because they built a narrow gauge railroad and now it’s a big cruise port. The flight up on Alaska Seaplanes was in a TPE331-swapped Cessna 208. MOAR POWER. Amazing views from every seat:  It was a smooth ride and I could even see my return transportation along the way:  That’s the brand-new, in service for less than a month, Alaska-class ferry Hubbard. Landed in Skagway and I walked the town for a while playing tourist. White Pass was the only narrow gauge common carrier in North America that survived to dieselize back in the day, and in the last couple years they have purchased brand new 3000 horsepower monsters to replace the 900 horsepower GE-Alco units from the 1950s:  Walking around town I got to contemplate that I really need to up my snow removal game…  That rotary is still steam-powered and they occasionally bring it into service for spring foamer events. I will definitely come up to check it out whenever the next time is! I stopped by a shop at the north end of town and they showed me what was described as ‘the last of the v8 speeders’:   They drug it out of the woods last winter and are in the process of fixing up the aluminum body. The original Ford flathead apparently still runs like a top and it moves through a 4 speed toploader transmission. After I had spent a few hours checking out town it was time to get checked in at the ferry terminal; it is definitely tourist season now:  The ferries use an airport Tug for walk-on passenger baggage; I like the smilie face on the roof:  I have a bunch of pictures from the ride but really not much noteworthy for here - my phone can’t really pick up porpoises at a distance. We saw a lot of wildlife, the weather was great, and the water glass calm for the whole ride home. As you may have noticed above, I brought something back with me from Skagway. Everyone, meet Guido:  A 2011 Bobcat S100, Kubota-powered, with 1,068 hours, a full cab, and joystick controls. The Bobcat paint is crap but it’s in otherwise fantastic shape - the seat isn’t even ripped!
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Jun 26, 2023 02:42
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Did they let you drive it up on the ferry? That's hilarious, hope you cracked jokes the whole time about getting the wrong vehicle for tourist season.
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Jun 26, 2023 13:20
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Alaska ferries DGAF as long as you’re not a hazard. I walked up to the counter to check in and had this exchange: “Are you Advent Horizon?” “Yes…How did you know?” “You booked that as an ATV, right? Nobody books ATVs from here so we weren’t sure what would show up or if it was a booking mistake.” “Is that going to be a problem?” “Nope, I just need to double check the measurements!” I booked as an ATV because they don’t have an option for equipment. It’s 4x10 with the bucket attached and there are side-by-sides bigger than that. It fits perfectly under the deck out of the weather, this is a major reason I was looking for something small:  After I got home I saw this in a FB group:  That guy bought a cheap, burned, skid steer at an auction and is trying to fix it up to use. He’s had a few posts now, including ‘how do I get it off a trailer’ and ‘where can I find the manuals cheap, the dealer wants a ton of money’. Oh, that reminds me, my seller also included paper copies of the full service manuals. Those will be handy. It also turned out that they had listed it for the wrong price; they also had a 2008 with hand/foot controls and double the hours - both accidentally were listed for the same price. I got a pretty decent deal on it and that means there should be enough left in the budget for some attachments 
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Jun 26, 2023 17:03
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Advent Horizon posted:Alaska ferries DGAF as long as you’re not a hazard. I love your ATV. And that poor guy. I guess he’s never before found out that buying something cheap can sometimes be far more expensive.
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Jun 26, 2023 17:13
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That is quite possibly the best RV I've ever seen.
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Jun 26, 2023 17:15
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On Thursday morning I called a Tree Guy who took down some spruce for a neighbor across the street. I’d called another Tree Guy over a month ago but he never came out. The trees in question were two at the bottom of a staircase and one behind our house; all three had overhang over buildings. New Tree Guy stopped by at lunch to scope it out - “$1200 and I can start tomorrow”. Uh…Crap, I wasn’t expecting that, but this weekend is as good as any! He had all three trees down in about 6 hours; he estimated the one behind our house at 130 feet tall. The two by the stairs had only one direction they could go without damaging anything - straight into our ditch.  The biggest log is about 25 feet long as pictured. This shows why it all had to go that direction:  That layout meant getting the Bobcat around to get everything out of the ditch was very very tight. On the stair side I had about one inch to spare away from the railing, on the downhill side I had to stay really close to the shed to keep from being too off-kilter:  But, in the end, we got it all out and any reservations my wife had about whether we really needed a skid steer are now long gone. Getting all this pulled out manually would have been an even worse job than it already was!  It should also be noted that the ditch is thick, deep mud and a mosquito breeding ground. Stirring up everything did not help the bug situation. At one point the neighbor who is way too nice to us stopped by and made a comment that he might like the big log to have milled into something - not sure what but it’s a nice log. At that point we had taken off two 4-5 foot chunks, leaving 16 feet. We did manage to get it out with the Bobcat doing some heavy lifting.  I also rented a large wood chipper this and we chipped all the limbs - anybody want about 20 cubic yards of mulch? I’ll even load it into your truck.  Lastly, a special shout-out to my wife; today is our 13th wedding anniversary and she spent a lot of it elbow-deep in ditch mud chaining logs. I think learning how to operate the Bobcat so I’m the one doing the poo poo jobs is pretty high on her to-do list.
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Jul 3, 2023 05:58
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I’ve been getting way more use out of the Bobcat than I ever expected and it’s getting to be time that I baseline it before winter. The PO used NAPA Gold (Wix) filters, which you all know I’m not a fan of, but finding a good alternative for this particular size filter took a little digging. I found a Denso that fits the bill and both showed up today so let’s compare! Both look very similar on the outside:  The Denso box has this on the bottom and it’s super helpful - why can’t everybody be this smart?  Right off the bat things aren’t looking great for the Wix, though. Despite coming in the same shipment both Wix boxes are trashed and the plastic covering the bottom is barely, if at all, attached:  I cut open the Wix first, set it aside, then opened the Denso. When the casing cut through the base plate (and my cutting tool) went flying - the spring in the Denso really works! You can see that from this comparison:  Here’s the full set of guts laid out:  This is where Wix suddenly pulled into the lead:  The Denso has 56 pleats, the Wix 54. Pretty close and not enough to make up for the height difference. In addition, the Wix pleating is a lot deeper than the Denso - this picture kind of shows what I’m talking about; the Denso is on top:  I would absolutely be willing to run either filter BUT I would change the Denso earlier than the Wix. I’m probably going to order up a case of Wix for the shelf but run the Denso this winter and change it again first thing in the spring.
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Aug 26, 2023 03:32
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Good to see. I generally stick with Wix because it's a fairly known commodity, but the opening of that post had me worried something had changed.
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Aug 26, 2023 17:29
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If you go back, my earlier posts had found Wix were the worst filters I tested. My theory is that this one is an industrial filter and it’s better for that reason. I honestly only bought the second Wix so I would have a filter to install if the Denso didn’t work for some reason. This is also why I intend to order a case - at this point I don’t trust anybody to make the same quality year after year. What is being sold in that size right now is good so I’m stocking up. This is also the first Wix I’ve cut open that was made in South Korea. The garbage ones I looked at before were Mexico (the worst) and China (still bad but not *as* bad).
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Aug 26, 2023 18:24
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You are literally the first person I have ever seen that dissed Wix. At least they're better than Fram.  edit: I mean, you had actual evidence, so not saying you're full of poo poo or something.
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Aug 26, 2023 21:03
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Advent Horizon posted:The big project I ‘completed’ was finally making a welding cart. This is my first fab project ever, and I’d welcome any critiques/ideas for improvement:   aka, thanks for the motivation! I'm still wrestling with additional stuff storage ideas ... the .30 cal can seems easy enough, but not quite right for me. Also perfectly stable without the gas cylinder, but obviously more so with it. I haven't used the TIG yet, but the plasma cutter is unbelievably fun.
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Aug 28, 2023 22:26
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Krakkles posted:Your image above was on my desktop for a couple weeks before I built this: Hey, that's the same Yeswelder multiprocess I got through Kickstarter! It's been working well for me - I need to get some Argon so I can start learning to TIG. I had Advent Horizon's cart in mind when I built min, just sort of scaled up for two machines and tanks, plus storage:  I might have been able to get two machines and tanks on a two wheeler, now that I look at it... 
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Sep 5, 2023 22:22
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Darchangel posted:Hey, that's the same Yeswelder multiprocess I got through Kickstarter! It's been working well for me - I need to get some Argon so I can start learning to TIG. It showed up and it works great, though! You could definitely fit two tanks on, I think two machines would be possible too. Your cart impressed me, though, because that was some admirable use of scrap!
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Sep 6, 2023 00:46
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Krakkles posted:You actually inspired me on that part! After I saw you posting about it, I went and looked for the kickstarter, then sent them a message asking if I could get added in. In the probably sketchiest thing I've ever done, it was simultaneously the most I've ever given to a kickstarter AND I wasn't really an official backer. Ah, cool! Thanks. Yeah, it was nice being able to build the thing for like $50 maybe? $20 for the cabinet, and like $30 or so for the HF wheels. Literally the only thing bought. The cart is sized for the cabinet, really.
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Sep 6, 2023 23:52
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Those welding carts look awesome! We have received a letter from the Central Bureaucracy:  After googling the NHTSA number on the paper (as the QR code told me there wasn’t a recall), this is what I found:   Nissan would appreciate if I could kindly ship my car several thousand miles to Washington so they may insert a card into the manual telling me not to run the defroster fan on high. No, they will not mail it. In other news the Leaf’s wiper motor died and is not available new OEM, new aftermarket, or rebuilt. A junkyard unit is on the way. I can’t complain too much because the car has 126,000 miles and probably 80,000 of those had the wipers running.
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Sep 28, 2023 01:42
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While we were in Gustavus for the demolition derby (I really need to make a post about that weekend…) one of the Mazda’s headlights went out. The last time I can remember changing them was in Fairbanks at -20*F; it was memorable because the whole freaking grille has to come off. The truck has been in Juneau over 17 years now so at least those headlights had a good run. I don’t want to spend a ton of money on proper LED lights for a vehicle we don’t actually drive very often so instead I picked up a set of Hella e-code H4 housings for $100 including bulbs.  Of course, absolutely nothing on this truck goes the way I would like so actually getting them installed took me several hours and multiple power tools.  Several of the little screws were either rusted in place or the threads holding them were stripped so I used all new screws with nylon lock nuts in the hope I never have to remove them again.  Tonight is a nice clear evening and I had some time so drove to the office and properly adjusted them - a laser level makes it much faster and not nearly as much of a PITA.  Of course the truck fought me and one of the adjusting screws came out, necessitating removal of the grille in the dark. F-yeah, I hate working on this truck. At least now the headlights are much better than stock, adjusted properly, and with the rear access I should be able to change bulbs in minutes instead of hours.
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Sep 29, 2023 07:15
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Last week I left some chalk marks on the State Office Building wall to adjust headlights. This week, for the first time in over a decade, they’re power washing the exterior. Coincidence?
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Oct 6, 2023 22:01
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The first pallet fork frame I ordered from Bobcat had a manufacturing error. I won’t go into too many details here but they elected to send a replacement frame at no cost to me. I have a hilarious doorbell video of a UPS driver unloading a 130-pound pallet fork frame by hand. OSHA who? I’m pretty sure I owe that driver a beer. Because shipping to or from Alaska is $  $ Bobcat elected not to recover the bad frame. It’s mostly still good, and I have a hot glue gun, so I decided to do some modifications: It turned out great, though my welds definitely need more practice. I went next door and picked up our boat; the Neighbor Who Is Way Too Nice To Us let us park in his yard while our roof was being replaced. It’s really weird to be driving in reverse but with the trailer ‘in front’.  It’s super easy to back up a trailer using the Bobcat and it’s also handy for lifting up and draining the bilge. Or, you know, just storing the boat at a bilge-draining angle.  I haven’t painted it yet and when I brought the frame back into my shop I realized it could be a potential shin wrecker:  I was scratching my head trying to think of the best way to weld on another tube to store the balls when the light bulb turned on and I realized I could just turn it around backward.  Perfect! This whole thing is going to make my life so much easier. The best place to park the boat is normally between our house and the shop but it’s been a royal pain to get backed around the deck posts (plus we had to ask our tenants to move their cars) and it also required using a Hi-Lift to get the tongue up high enough for the bilge drains. This bypasses those issues quite nicely.
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Oct 11, 2023 05:31
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Living the dream, add a rearview camera to take your maneuverability up to the next level now. You'd be able to parallel park a hay wagon.
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Oct 11, 2023 18:15
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I do have a camera waiting for some garage time to install. Hopefully very soon, along with a battery tender and hydraulic tank heater to help with cold (winter) starts. We spent the last week down in Washington & Oregon hoping (but mostly failing) to see the eclipse. Spent a couple days in the Portland area and met up with LloydDobler, who was kind enough to receive several packages for me and play tour guide. One thing that’s been on my list is checking out the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. I knew it was big but I really wasn’t prepared for the 747 parked out front on the lawn to look small in comparison. We took a tour of the Spruce Goose cockpit; I’ll spare this post the usual tourist pictures and instead show the twin APUs, mounted in the cockpit. I can’t even imagine how loud it must have been inside.  They have several space capsules on display; one thing that caught my eye was that the Mercury capsules did not have guidance computers - those only came along with the 2-person Gemini program. Imagine orbiting Earth in a tiny, tiny, capsule and trying to navigate using this paper-based proto-chartplotter:  One very special item tucked away in a back corner was this thing:  Can you figure out what it is without me telling? It’s a DH-4 Heli-Vector:  You’ll note that the Wikipedia article above says there’s only one left - it’s missing this one, which was the original prototype that was found in 2012. This thing was just as, if not more, dangerous than you’re thinking - at ‘high speeds’ the counter-rotating propellors would flex and hit each other. While we were nearby we stayed at The Vintages, and decided to splurge on the Spartan Royal Mansion:  The outdoor room on the left has a soaking tub; my wife quite enjoyed it. It wasn’t cheap but vintage campers are a neat gimmick and was actually pretty darn nice overall. But now vacation is over and it’s time to get back to my stupid projects. The Leaf’s rear hatch switch (not latch, they don’t do simple things like latches anymore) died a week before our trip so the replacement was one of the packages I picked up. Tonight I tore into it and answered the question of whether dirt could get behind the switch cover piece:  Yeah, that doesn’t seem like a great design. I also broke off several of the plastic clip things that hold the interior panel onto the hatch, thankfully they are close enough to the ones Toyota uses that I have a bunch of spares:  I got it all tested, buttoned back up, and went out to collect the baggage that arrived 24 hours late. When I went to open the hatch at the airport I felt the plastic inside the switch break and now it won’t open again. Goddammit. That switch was $150 and I really hope they warranty it.
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Oct 20, 2023 07:14
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Winter is coming and I need to make sure the Bobcat is up to snuff before the snow flies. I am really glad we didn’t buy anything bigger! On my to-do list is a full 1,000-hour service since it has 1099 hours and I can’t assume the PO did it. Among other things that includes draining the hydraulic fluid and flushing the coolant. Now’s my first real wrenching on the thing, so how’s access?  See that circled bit? That’s the fitting you’re supposed to disconnect to drain the hydraulic fluid. Where to? No idea. The bottom of the machine is a tub so there’s no way to go down from there. What about the coolant drain? Well, if you zoom in on the picture you might see the exhaust manifold. The coolant petcock is around 6” below the manifold, about straight down/behind that hanging blue electrical fitting. If I reach around from the other side I can just barely touch it with my finger tips. From this side I can see it but not reach it through the hydraulic hard lines. gently caress. That. Noise. The good news, though, is that both jobs are now done. Thankfully Bobcat put a drain hose on that petcock from the factory. I was able to work a steel rod in from this side and turn the valve using that rod, both open and closed. It actually worked pretty well - In Rod We Trust! The hydraulic fluid, however took more time. A lot more time. I spent somewhere around 8 hours in total with a 12V transfer pump getting all the fluid out of the tank and chain case. If anyone has a suggestion for a better pump I am all ears.  Note: the pictured fluid is the chain case bath. No filter, no pressure, the drive chains just bath in it. The actual hydraulic fluid looked nice and clean While the cab was up we also installed a backup camera; it really couldn’t fit any better than this:  All the wires are routed behind the cab panels and are secured in a way that lets the cab tilt back properly. I decided against hard-wiring the power; instead it’s plugged into the 12V accessory outlet which is above and behind my head for some reason. In other news, the Leaf went to loopback when we arrived at the office on Thursday: 
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Oct 30, 2023 07:37
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I feel so 7334 that I get that loopback joke. Just like "there's no place like 127.0.0.1".
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Oct 30, 2023 17:56
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Some parts came in and my project ADHD kicked in - I wanted an easy win and installing some factory accessories should be easy right? Wrong! It took me three hours to install the factory switch and harness for a flashing light. What was I stalling on? The valve adjustment. Bobcat says to do this every 1000 hours, Kubota says every 800. I’m going to follow Kubota (or better) from here on out, but for now at least I know it’s been done properly and recently.  Thankfully these are spec’d cold as opposed to my Land Cruisers that must be adjusted hot. Hot adjustments suck. See how the exhaust had to be disconnected from the manifold? I wanted to be sure I had precisely the right socket so checked everything around that size - the bolts fit a 1/2” socket best. I tried 13mm but it had a little slop so I’m positive the head is SAE. When I bought new bolts it turned out the thread was M8x1.25. That means this exhaust, where ‘Bobcat’ interfaces with ‘Kubota’, mixes SAE and metric in the same fastener. Because of course it does. Another project was draining the coolant again and replacing the block heater. See if you can spot any discrepancies between the instructions and the part on this OEM block heater:  That’s right, the manual says this replaced the threaded drain petcock but the part itself replaces a freeze plug. In fact, this isn’t really a ‘block’ heater, as it doesn’t fit any of the freeze plugs in the block. It goes in the back of the head by the #4 cylinder. It’s a very tight fit, though, and I think the old heater wasn’t actually set into the hole all the way so they just caulked the hell out of it (not pictured: most of the caulk):  This was my first freeze plug fuckery and I was honestly pretty nervous about it but I managed to finagle it all the way in. It doesn’t appear to leak and it heats up pretty well so that’s another win. Maybe I’m not quite as bad of a mechanic as I feel like most of the time. Got the whole thing back together last night and today I took it on the world’s slowest road trip:  A former tenant/current friend had his pea gravel(!) driveway dug out and replaced with D1 by a contractor this spring and they left it such that it drained toward his garage. I went over and regraded things so that it would drain *away* from the house.  The Bobcat seems to be running like a top, no leaks, maintenance is caught up - it’s almost ready for winter! The only two projects left on it before snow hits are replacing a cylinder bushing and installing a trickle charger. I had a new NOCO but it was DOA so I’m going back to Battery Tender. One other really nice thing is my wife made a pocket that attaches to an inside window with suction cups. That gives me a really nice, accessible, spot for my phone. My earpro is bluetooth so the pocket makes things a lot easier for song selection. I’m looking forward to snow removal this winter 
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Nov 6, 2023 07:16
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Cab and wiper look like a good call for your area. Looks like you're set other than the inevitable hose failure.
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Nov 6, 2023 13:53
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With my luck I’m sure that will happen soon since I put over $200 worth of fresh hydraulic fluid in it. Either that or it will wait for the worst snowfall of the winter. I totally lucked out on the cab. That is absolutely one of those ‘nah, I don’t *need* that’ things that I would be hard-pressed to ever do without now. Advent Horizon fucked around with this message at 16:38 on Nov 6, 2023 |
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Nov 6, 2023 16:34
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A few weeks back someone we know from Gustavus was in town picking up a hot tub he got used about a mile from my house. Bobcat to the rescue! Came home and decided to get the boat engine replacement project started; my wife thought this was considerably less pleasant than I did:  She’s now taken the Bobcat out around our cul-de-sac a few times but that’s the extent of her practice. It’s at least a lot less herky-jerky on snow - speaking of, we’ve now used it for that a few times:  It works great! Unfortunately all the snow has melted away and been replaced with feet of rain. I do not like that trend. I took the dog for a walk on a Forest Service trail near our house and noticed a path trod into moss that I hadn’t followed before. We did some exploring and found this:  I have no idea what it is other than knackered. Came home and Doc was actually willing to be my shop buddy for a while:  He didn’t mind the power tools I was using on my new hobby, collecting and repairing vintage sewing machines. I *really* need to get this (likely) ADHD diagnosed and medicated… At least a lot of the tools I have cross over to this new hobby!  Is there a vintage sewing machine thread anywhere that anyone knows about? We’re up to 8, 5 of which my wife knows about (Christmas is around the corner). I also have the truck inside to repair some damage from this year. Remember the wood chipper? It bent the crap out of the bumper hitch and even jacking up the whole rear end isn’t bending it back! 
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Dec 15, 2023 08:15
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It’s a late forties Studebaker, possibly a ‘48 Commander. It’s the same generation as the bullet nose Studebakers, but the earlier version that had conventional grills. https://www.autobarnclassiccars.com/vehicles/699/1948-studebaker-commander
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Dec 15, 2023 21:28
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Per my Studebaker Fan Club Member uncles it is a 47-49 Commander or Champion based on the one photo. Great job Fornax!
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Dec 16, 2023 22:39
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You’ll have to careful on that trail in the future, I’ve heard that a Studebaker is a bear’s natural habitat.
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Dec 17, 2023 00:01
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I don’t take that trail very often in the summer because it’s next to a salmon stream and has a ton of bears. Wocka wocka!
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Dec 18, 2023 18:04
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I’ve had serious motivation problems this year, which is probably best solved by getting a therapist, and I have had half-done projects sitting around for months. This reel is for a friend; he needed it repaired and I took it apart in May. He’s been using my reels all summer because I didn’t want to leave him without.  One item you can see is the license plate I put in Mustache Ride’s AISS package, for posterity here was the haul he sent me:  Yes, we got each other this year. I stopped by the above reel friend’s house a month ago and hit a big rock trying to back down his driveway. It was dark, raining, his driveway is a hill with a 90* turn, and the one good reverse light decided to go out. I know it worked a couple months ago… I got new tail light lenses (the other side has been cracked and glued back together for at least 20 years) and LED bulbs but the driver’s side had a wiring issue somewhere and the passengers side had the bulb shatter when I tried removing it. I can’t do anything on this Mazda without a blood sacrifice! I gave up trying to get that bulb out and decided to try a new generic socket. I ordered two in case that might fix the other side, too. The new sockets showed up but needed some dremel work to the install tabs to make fit - unmodified on top, modified on the bottom:  Put those in and, drumroll please…  Success! That truck hasn’t had two working reverse lights in at least a dozen years. I hope the LEDs and new sockets hold up. So that I wasn’t starting a huge new project right before Christmas I decided to dive into refurbishing one of the old sewing machines we picked up. The first step was getting a non-marring screwdriver so I don’t mess up the 65-year-old shellac. I could buy a Wera or I could do something with what I have:  That works way better than it should. I might do that to more because it also makes the screwdriver easier to spin by the shank. Since I had my workbench clear(ish) from the reel being done I set up shop and made it all a terrible mess again:  Ten full hours of work later (so much for a quick project!) and here it is ready for another few decades alongside my late Grandmother’s Featherweight:  That big 201 is supposed to be one of the best sewing machines ever built; when the motor is disconnected I can just about spin all the mechanicals by blowing on the hand wheel. It is smooooth. Our flight for Christmas with family leaves in 2.5 hours so I should go start packing. Hopefully I’ll have some good AI content up there, my FIL has asked for help installing the body on his 1951 Chevy 3100.
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Dec 23, 2023 22:00
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That big singer is a beast. My mother has both of those and she still regularly uses the big one. The little one she inherited from her grandmother along with a table one with a pedal that's somewhere. I don't think any of them have ever been serviced and they looks as good as yours.Advent Horizon posted:One item you can see is the license plate I put in Mustache Ride’s AISS package, for posterity here was the haul he sent me: A couple of things I left out of the note like a dumbass: Lady McAuthurs salsa and Gardilenos I got from the best drat salsa place at the Texas Ren Fest. She makes all her stuff local and is a sweetheart, I always end up with a dozen jars to give away and last me through the year (they last like 4 months max). She does spicy stuff but hopefully this won't kill your pallet too much. The plastic nuts are truck nuts, they need to go on your truck. I raided my tools and defcon sticker collections, but you barely got 5% of the total stash. That's why there's a mix of weird technology stickers and kc tools stickers. The puzzle is exactly what you think it is. Please take it to your parents, lol I had some joke crap in a pile to give to my AISS but honestly couldn't shove it in the box without it getting massive and costing a small fortune. I'm going on a ncl cruise in July, might bring some of it for you, lol Merry Christmas dude. Mustache Ride fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Dec 23, 2023 |
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Dec 23, 2023 22:30
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