Bunch of little updates.

So last Sunday I wimped out and did a bunch of little things.  I got my bug zapper hooked up with a new timer so it only runs in the evening.  Unfortunately it only comes on when it is already dark out, so I might put some shades on it so it thinks it is dark earlier.


I got the receiver attached to my lawn tractor.  We shall see how it holds up.


I also got the yard mowed.  Kinda.  I was able to hit more of the front than I thought.  Most of the yard above the leech field was cut.


The far end of the leech field notsomuch.


On the other side of the leech field I was able to mow too. 


I also did up to the shed and down to the creek.


I tried to do the back yard.  It ended poorly.  I mowed as far back until I got stuck.


I did get around the house done at least. 


I called them on Monday since the dumpster is still there, and they said they would come pick it up next Tuesday.  If the rain holds off on Saturday, I might be able to rent a tractor and get the stuff out of the backyard after all. 


I also got another basket for spices hung up.


The silicone for the bathroom is now complete.


While I had the dremel out I also made it so that my front door closes again.


I also started playing around with a grill pizza pan.  The first time I used it was a disaster; half the pizza ended up getting tossed, the crust was literally charcoal.  This time it came out much better.  It is still slower than I would expect (it took almost 20 minutes to cook) so maybe if I can bump up the heat a little more it would be ok (the grill temperature said it was at 500 though...).  It makes the crust a bit more crunchy than I like, but at least with the foil it didn't burn the crust or light the pizza on fire.


Yesterday at work during lunch, I got bored and decided to start assembling the york rake.  I got the draw bar assembled during lunch. 


Today I got the first half of the rake itself assembled.


I hope the weather holds up this weekend.  It would be nice to be able to rent a tractor and get the pile of crap in the back out.  I  am debating whether to try to install the drainage this weekend as well.  Currently though, the storms have moved back into Saturday, and I don't really want to spend a couple hundred dollars on renting a tractor for half the job.  It is cheaper than getting another dumpster though.  We shall see.  Originally the storms were supposed to be in the afternoon and evening, it was only the last day that the moved them up to starting late morning.

Front brakes are fine.

Despite getting poured on a few times today when it was supposed to be a nice clear day, I got the truck pulled apart, and the front brakes look fine.  If I can find the receipt I will return the parts.  I don't particularly want to do the backs, so I will be bringing it in somewhere else.

The calipers look like hell, but the pads look fine and the rotors looked fine.  The front driver has worn maybe a couple of millimeters off the pads, that is it. 


The front passenger was a little more worn down, since that caliper is known to stick from time to time, but the lower of the of the two brake pads is still about 50%.


They also delivered the yard rake yesterday.  In the pouring rain.  And since it rained again, the boxes are trashed.  I tried to put the receiver hitch on my lawn tractor today, and it won't fit.  I need to get a smaller bolt for it. 


On a side note, they never came to pick up the dumpster, I wasn't supposed to have it for this weekend, so I might take another few loads down. 

More dumpster work.

Not too much has happened over the last few days.  The rain has been dodgy for a change, so I was able to get more stuff in the dumpster.  It is between a quarter and a third full now.  I don't recall if they are hauling it away today or tomorrow, but this is likely all it will get. 


I mostly cleaned up over here in this area.  I tried to put the cover in it too, but I wimped out.  I can't really pick it up to move it well. 


The back yard had some stuff removed, but it wins this round. 


I will need a full week of sun at this point to dry everything out.  If I can manage that, I will get another dumpster for the back and put it on the slab, rent the excavator, etc.

I made a trip to Cold River materials (where I have been getting the gravel) and asked them what their construction fill is.  Turns out it is mostly silt, with a little sand and clay mixed in.  Basically leftover dirt that isn't good enough to be dirt.  Silt is very fine, but packs well, and will grow grass just fine if I can keep it from eroding away until the grass (who am I kidding, it will be weeds) comes in.  I tried to find Ground up at lunch as well, but their address leads to a forest.  One of my coworkers has been there before, so I will poke him more on that.  I called another quarry, didn't get anyone though. 

Water heater complete. More rain.

I went to put the tractor back together Friday, but it turned out the part didn't fit.  I ran out of daylight so Saturday morning I pulled out the Dremel and made it work.  My Dremel works good, since this is the first real usage of it.

I got it back together with the modifications.

I got the wheel straightened as well.

I then went and finished the front yard.  It is all cleared up now.  I still need to find a york rake or something to smooth it, but it is largely free of trash.  I didn't get everything, but it is mostly clear now.

I really didn't need a dumpster for it.

I then tried to start getting rid of the pile in the back yard.  I had a few boards that I have picked up for the trailer, put them down, and started to back into the back yard.  I was worried I would get stuck, but I stayed on the boards and it was ok.

I couldn't get very close though.

The back yard is soup.

I then tried to to get the tractor over around the side, the route I took when I mowed the back.  It didn't even make the boards before it got stuck.

I then changed my plan of attack and got the front cleared off.  All the insulation I put up for the winter is off.  

I also cleaned up some trash I had up near the slab.  I took a full truck load to the dumpster.  

I finished off the evening with a trip to Tractor Supply to get a new hitch pin (the car fell off the mower twice this weekend, grrrr) and more importantly some rubber boots for the soup.  

Today was another wet rainy day naturally.  I went and started moving some of the stuff in the pile in the back, but I think I am going to need an excavator to get most of it out.  I was able to get some of the stuff that wasn't buried out, but most of it is so well buried since it was put there with an excavator I couldn't lift it out.  It is unfortunate.  I stopped once I was getting soaked through my sweatshirt.  The only rain coat is my camo hunting one which I am not going to destroy trying to haul tires and crap out of the back yard.  I am hoping it lightens up soon, so I can at least get another load off the slab.  

Instead I decided to do some interior work.  The water heater is done done.  I also taped the seams with some aluminum tape I borrowed from work just as a better safe than sorry since the joints weren't properly screwed together.

I also put out some ant killer, since I have been seeing an increasing number of ants of late.  Not the little ones that indicate the place is messy, these are the huge carpenter ants the size of your fingernail.  I am at the point of killing north of a dozen a day, so hopefully this will take care of it.

I got the dumpster to clean the yard and the pile in the back, but it looks like I am not going be able to accomplish that goal, I will have to get another dumpster when I have the excavator up there to install the drainage.  It is frustrating since the dumpsters are several hundred dollars a pop, and this one will be less than half full when they come to pick it up this week.  It is supposed to rain every day this week naturally, and if I try to run an excavator in the back yard now it will never come out.  I am writing this now hoping the rain will lighten up this afternoon.  If not, I will be investigating the gas line leaks around the stove.  The last pressure test I did after installing the stove failed badly.

Short exhaust vent update.

I went up at lunch yesterday with Rich (one of my coworkers that I play Frisbee with) and we finished getting the vent on.  Last night I went and got the outer plate siliconed in and got all the screws in it.  Unfortuantely the screws I had previously put in to hold the elbow to the outside piece are now in the wall, so I have some metal tape to put on it to hopefully cover the holes. 

It isn't a good silicone job, but I was getting eaten alive when I was doing it.  It is definitely mosquito season.


I saw something interesting this morning.  I couldn't quite tell if it was a beaver or a big woodchuck, but it was chewing on grass on the hill.  Unfortunately my phone failed to capture anything useful.  I will eventually need to get another real camera.


A little bit of work on the interior and the water heater will be done.  I also want to do one last pressure test of the gas lines before they get hooked up.  But the hot water heater should be done tonight.

So I can find it again my tractor is 917.252540. Vent for water heater almost complete.

Just as a note to myself my tractor is a 917.252540.  When I looked through the parts manual and got the name and part number, I was able to find a part for the tractor, so I will be ordering one.

Today was hot but I got some work done anyways.  With the tractor laid up, I decided to finish the water heater.  I got as far as I could, the pipe is now through the wall.



The hole on the outside looks awful, but it will be covered up with a metal plate once everything is finished.


It isn't quite finished since I can't push on both sides by myself, so I will need a second set of hands.  I might grab Greg or Barry or someone at some point to do the final fitting. 

I also noted that I don't have a good way to get power out here anymore,  I can't run it underneath anymore because of the skirting.  I ended up running an extension cord out the window as you saw in the last picture.


I do have space in the box outside if I wanted to add another outlet.  I also forgot that I never installed the face plate outside.  Oops.


It was hot today.  Even in Sullivan we were up over 80, so I turned on my AC for the first time.  It started pulling down quickly, but seemed to struggle to get it all the way down.  I don't think it was a capacity problem though.  It was running at only a 25%-ish duty cycle.  When I was putting my hand around and feeling for temperatures, it feels like most of the air is hitting the bed and then getting sucked back in, so it thinks it is colder than it really is.  I wonder if this is why the heat was weird last winter too.  I might have to make a duct for it.  I moved my thermometer over on top of the dresser to confirm.


After all that, I went to a cookout.  I didn't realize that a lot of my coworkers had never had venison so I made some venison burgers.  They were well received.

I am considering buying a york rake for the yard.  It will work better than the drag because of the rocks.  My only major concern with it is whether or not my tractor can pull it.  I even found one that has a ball hitch on it.  It is a looooong trip to go get it though, it is literally in the opposite corner of the state, about 3.5 to 4 hours away.
https://nh.craigslist.org/grd/d/pittsburg-4-york-rake/6901111318.html

Cleaning up and breaking down.

I called for a dumpster to finish cleaning and to my surprise (and kind of an annoyance, since you only get two weeks and I was not planning on using it this weekend) it was delivered same day.


So today I hooked up my dump cart and started cleaning up the yard. 


I got two loads out of the front yard.  I need to get at least one more out.  Maybe two.


I would have finished it today, but my tractor decided it didn't want to work anymore.  I was backing the trailer into a spot and then this happened.


That piece of black plastic on the dash isn't supposed to be visible.  It is supposed to hold the steering up.  Instead I now have a tilting wheel on my lawn tractor, though it isn't really a feature.  I took it apart to make sure I could access it from the top, since if I had to completely disassemble the steering on the tractor I might have just bought a new tractor.  If I can find the part though, it is really easy to replace.


The problem is finding the part.  The only reason I came in today was to try to find one on Ebay, and the search isn't going well.  I know Craftsman the brand is on life support with Sears going bankrupt, but I am surprised at the lack of parts when you poke around.

Late night work

I couldn't fall asleep last night (made today a real bummer) so around 2AM I decided to get some work done instead.  I decided to install the rest of my kitchen.

Turned out I had literally just enough pipe tape for gas.  This was the last fitting that got tape.


The propane for the stove is all done too now.


It didn't look like anything got kinked or jammed when I pushed the stove back in.


I also fastened the last cabinet.  This cabinet is mostly unused at the moment since it isn't really accessible, the rolling cart with my tools on it usually sits in front of it.  But it is finally attached to the wall and the countertop is screwed down onto the cabinets.


Today I have a load of gravel to unload, and while it looks dark outside, if it is dry I will try to finish the exhaust vent tonight.  I am really tired today though, though we shall see.  I might not get everything done.

Since it hasn't made an appearance in a while, here is the checklist.  It doesn't really reflect the work to be done anymore though.

1. Install bathroom fixtures.
2. Get hot water heater installed.
3. Install some form of cabinets in the kitchen.
4. Install kitchen sink.
5. Install kitchen appliances.
6. Get propane installed.
7. Build bed frame.
8. Build closets.
9. Install table.
10. Smooth driveway enough to plow/clear
11. Fix snowblower.  
12. Winterize equipment (mower, undercoat the truck, etc).
13. Clear slab
14. Shed work
1. Extend roof to prevent snow pushing on the side.
2. Fix pilings