Obnoxious joint complete.

I got another late start, I went to a party after working yesterday and was there for a while.  Apparently the bees were out in force today, one of them stung me in my armpit (I was lying down doing plumbing), and doomed almost a half dozen that I saw flying around.

The first thing I did today was I decided to put the blade on my tractor.  It doesn't bolt up quite correctly, I was only able to get three of the four bolts in, but that should be plenty. 


Much to my surprise, power is definitely not an issue.  I will definitely have to get extra weight for the back though, especially since my tractor doesn't have a locking differential.  Still though, I was able to level out one of the humps in the driveway without too much trouble.  It took a few passes, the blade didn't bite well enough to get it all in the first go, but pushing it was not an issue.  If I can bulldoze with it, I don't think plowing will be a problem.  I had to use first gear for bulldozing, but I think I will be able to plow a little faster.


This is the only thing that concerns me.  Because the blade was designed for a garden tractor, which has much larger wheels and is higher off the ground, this is all the clearance on the blade that I have.  You can't really tell by the picture, but it is only about 4 inches.  Something else that bothers me is that the added weight accentuates the problem that my tractor has no brakes.


When I was playing with it, I noticed that the swivel is seized up, but I can probably free that up, it looks like the cable is too stretched as well.

Because I tested it before reinstalling the hood, the plug for my headlights was flopping around...  Right next to the muffler.  Oops, my bad.  I wanted to make a splitter for it anyways since the built in headlights are awful and I want to install something better.


I will probably get some tire chains and a lot of weight for the back, but while I am still concerned about the general health of the tractor, it seemed to handle the blade just fine.  I might still pick up a cheap snowblower or see if I can poach Greg's since he is moving and won't need it (it isn't big enough to do the whole driveway, though it would be possible in a pinch), but I don't think that I will need to come down and pick up the 4-wheeler.

On the plumbing side (grrr, I hate plumbing) I tried once again to get that troublesome joint together and once again failed.  So I got angry and "fixed" the problem with my reciprocating saw.  With that old crap out of the way, lining up a new line that fit together wasn't so bad.


Outside of the last joint, it all went together nicely too.  Looking at this picture, this all better be water tight, since if it isn't, I pretty much will have to completely rebuild the plumbing.  Likewise if anything leaks in a few years, I don't envy the plumber I would call to fix it.  Everything seems to be be all fitting and no pipe, which will make repairs very difficult. 


The last joint met at the correct angles, but kept pushing itself out, so I screwed in a block into the joist to hold it in place until it cures. 


I also dry fitted the laundry side.  I have enough fittings that doing this one should be easy.


I hope to finish up the laundry side tomorrow.  I don't think I have enough fittings to do the kitchen which will be the last piece.

Once again, I hope that I can come close to finishing the sewer tomorrow.  The good news is that the source lines I don't have to worry about temperature, the crimper works at all temperatures.