Quick update

I have been working long days, so I haven't gotten too much done.  I did get the metal brought to the scrapyard.  I got more than I expected, and if I am reading it right, it means there was about 600-650lbs in the back of the truck.  

I finished upgrading my Drobo.  I now have enough space to last me for another 5 years.

Side note, the new Blogger interface really sucks.  I used to be able to seamlessly add pictures, now it takes like 20 clicks to add a damn picture.  The editor has become a steaming pile too.  It helpfully destroyed this post twice before I got it behave (kinda).  It refuses to make this text left justified.  I know Google doesn't read my blog, but it would be really nice if they had tested their software.  I have already found 3 bugs writing a simple post with 2 pictures in it.

Jackstands and metal.

I was apparently really tired after yesterday, since I didn't roll out of bed until almost afternoon, which unfortunately meant I missed the coolest part of the day.  I think I need to find a new spot for the temperature sensor though.  It was hot today, but it wasn't that hot...

Today's project was jackstands.  All the moisture under the house was gone today, which is a good sign, it means that I just need to install a few pieces of vented skirting in the summer, and there are no leaks.  Because of the heat, I took a lot of liquid breaks, but they are all done.  The house still feels solid.  The strength of the 4x4 isn't my concern though, it is the resistance to lateral movement that concerns me.  

All the jackstands are now ready to go back.

Today's other project was to get the rest of the metal out of the yard so I can get the dumpster.  I was pretty beat by this point, so I made use of the tractor to lift everything (I have become a wimp).  I am sure this use of the tractor is OSHA approved.

All the metal is in the truck except for the old water tank from the Rambler and some small stuff that I didn't care enough to throw in.  The rest will end up in the dumpster.  

It is probably not a good idea to do this to the truck when it is having transmission troubles, but it will have to get over it.  If I get out early enough, I might go back to Wilder Auto to let him know it isn't fixed.

I think I am going to go with the shed roof down by the slab, so I will hopefully get around to getting that prepped this week.  The tractor is also really due for the first greasing, it is sitting at 9.8 hours, and the greasing is done every 10 hours.

Yet another mower. Weight analysis underway.

I was really bored at work on Friday, being in meetings pretty much all day, so I started the weight analysis on the camper.

I was correct in that I could beat the estimates I saw from the pre-built sheds, but the further I got into it, the more I realized that I was still way over the weight.  After taking some initial structural downgrades into considering (I originally had 3/4 plywood for the flooring for example) and getting it closer to reasonable, I ended up 1520lbs for the shell.  Considering the water alone is 250lbs, that is still too high.


So, I went through and made some structural compromises: 2x4 floor joists (there is no span, so 2x6 was overkill.  I reduced the wall sheeting to 1/4".  I didn't like doing that one since it has an impact on the wind strength of the trailer, but the wall sheeting was almost a quarter of the shell's weight.  I still intend to put aluminum wind bracing inside as well.  I considered switching to a 24" OC wall stud, but haven't made that jump yet.  I got it down to 1350 for the shell, though that is still heavy.  It is worth pointing out though that I assumed an 8' wall (which it won't be, it will be closer to 7'), so the estimate is still high.  The biggest problem is that adding 30 gallons of water and a couple hundred feet of wire isn't light.  I used steel siding, which I would swap out for aluminum, but I couldn't find any aluminum to use as a reference.  I asked Dad to stop by Mansea (sadly I don't have a metal plant near me) and try to get some info on corrugated aluminum.  If they have it thick enough, I could use it in place of the sheeting for the walls, similar to the Rambler that I wrecked for the frame for the tiny home.  Here is a throwback to how it was constructed.


The weight analysis spreadsheet is in the same shared workbook as the solar research I did, just on a different tab:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16g0W-_9pEH2vaUiGeYPaBuW3A21ksxqL/view?usp=sharing
I am currently sitting at the weight rating of most of the trailers that I looked at, and I haven't finished filling in any of the interior stuff.  Small problem.

Friday night I went out to Stefan's to pick up the hard drives I left there that I bought from Matt.  I installed one of them into my Drobo this morning, and it is now upgrading my array.  Disappointingly upgrading one of the 4TB to a 6TB didn't actually increase the space all that much.  That said, I don't really need more space...


Unfortunately on the trip to Stefans, the truck started acting up again, so it is still busted.

This morning I went and picked up another nice lawn mower.  It is a Troy Bilt, like the one I killed that I really liked.  It was a bit more than I normally pay for a mower ($75) but it isn't a bad price for a self-propelled.  That wasn't a feature I specifically looked for, but it had it.  It had a bagger on it, but I won't use it.


The mower doesn't have a lot of hours on it.  The muffler is barely discolored.


The self-propeller worked better than I expected.  It noticeably draws a fair bit of power, but it pulled the mower up the steeper part of the hill by the septic tank.  It also cut down the tall crap like the queen anne's lace with just one pass.  The yellow Poulan would typically only cut half of it and just lay over the other half. 


I finished up the front with it, even though it was really wet out.  The deck is set substantially higher than the part that I did with the free mower, which is why it looks funny.


I saw another deer this morning when I woke up.  This was just a fawn though. 




I also had an annoyance when I went to use my clothesline.  It is kind of obnoxious that I have to sweep it for spiders every time I go to use it, but today I had another problem.  I watched a mouse climb into one of my short's pockets.  I didn't think they could climb PVC, or the drum for that matter, but he found a way.  Grrrr


After chasing the mouse away, I decided to get rid of some other pests.  The bee traps are worthless (I couldn't find pear juice anywhere, not at Hannaford or Market basket), but the bee spray isn't.  I won this round, even if they won the day.


After that I went and walked around before it got hot.  Other than my finger being in the way, it is good to see that my sink hole/old well is still filled in after the storms late in the week.


After that I went to pull my utility out.  It was behind where they dumped the gravel though, so I decided to pull it out through the yard.  I turned the trailer, and turns out the bees built a nest in the frame (I think) of the utility trailer.  I didn't see the nest, but I saw about a half dozen of them come flying out, and I didn't stick around to analyze the situation.  I am not allergic to bee stings, but I do react to them (they swell a lot), and 6ish was more than I wanted to pick a fight with.  Sigh.  So the trailer is still down there.


After that it was getting hot, so I went out shopping.  I picked up the stuff I needed for the 10 hour servicing on the tractor.  It is crazy to think that with everything I have done with it that I still only have 10 hours on the tractor.  I grabbed another mineral block while I was there.  I got that put out when I got home. 


A more zoomed out picture of where I put the test brick.  I put one in the front and the back.


While I was putting out the one in the back, I found the trails that the deer have been using.




I also picked up a 4x4 so I can redo the supports for the tiny home.  Harbor freight (yeah, I know) recalled the jack stands that I was using for supporting the frame.  Fortunately since I was lazy, I didn't go and get the replacements for the recalled ones, which they recalled last week (way to go Harbor Cheap, recalling the recall replacements). 

Apparently there is a lumber shortage at the moment, Tractor Supply didn't have any 4x4 at all, and Home Depot only had longer lengths (the more expensive ones).  The lumber aisle of Home Depot was scarily empty.  Something to keep in mind when I go to build the carport, regardless of the path I choose to go.


I opened up the underside of the house so it can get some air.  I intend to replace the jack stands with chunks of 4x4 and concrete block.  I never got vented skirting which could be the cause, but I might want to poke around a little too, since there was more moisture than I would have liked to see under there. 


I actually forgot that I still have a set that I never even took out of the box.  I will bring them back; I only paid 17 bucks for them, and they are taking them back for 30.


As I was putting stuff away, I noticed that my chainsaw leaks a little bit of bar oil.  That is pretty common though.

Truck repair not bad at all.

The last couple of days I have had to wait for the garage on the truck, and haven't gotten home until late.  They claimed the issues with the truck was just mucked up sensors (he said the throttlebody sensor, the throttle position sensor, and there was a different sensor; welcome to drive-by-wire), so we shall see.  It ended up only costing a few hours of labor.  The truck seems to drive better.  I will find out this weekend.

Testing the new mower.

I made a run up to Tractor supply to get some bar and chain oil and stuff for the saw, and when I got home I had a nosy deer.  He just stood there watching me as I got out of the truck and put stuff away.


I fired up the new pushmower.  The issue with the RPM was that the throttle cable was stuck.  I manually pushed the valve open.  It ran pretty crappy at first, but by the end of the evening, it sounded like it was running ok.  It is definitely not putting out 3.5HP anymore though, it bogged easier than I would have expected.  It cut real nice though.


It was kind of a pain to push around, the rear wheel is bent.


It actually cut and discharged though, which is something my other mower can't say. 


It is set waaay too low for my yard.  It was constantly dragging.  If you replace the wheels, I would likely get larger ones to raise it up a bit.


This was as far as I got before running out of daylight and gas.  It wasn't running bad by the time I finished.  It mows nicer than my other one, though the deck height is a deal breaker.

Free mower. Short update.

I picked up a free mower in Hinsdale yesterday.  It runs, but not terribly well.  It sounds like it is running about half the RPM that it should be (and the throttle cable doesn't seem to work).  The deck is worn out too.  All that being said, it actually cuts and discharges better than my other one.  I will probably use it this week if the rain holds off and finish the yard.  I fired it up quickly was reminded that the deck on this is set a lot lower than my other one.  I will probably bring it to KY for Heather.  I think I will buy a nicer one. 


The apple juice was a failure, still no bees.  My parents used to use pear juice in theirs, I will try that if I can find it.

Another roaster. Driveway done.

I brought out the chainsaw in the morning, even though it was already over 80 by the time I rolled out of bed.  I got some limbing done.  Thankfully there was enough gas and oil in the saw since I haven't bought anything for it yet.  I got the branches that whack me while mowing removed.


I also cleaned out all the crappy shrub stuff around the maple down by the parking spot at the bottom.  I nicked the tree while I was cutting since it cut much faster than I was expecting, but the tree should be ok.




The pile of dirt still wasn't dried out (you can clearly see what is dried), so I continued working with the gravel pile.  The gravel isn't dried out yet either, but doesn't get sticky.


I finished the parking spot as much as I can until the pile is gone. This pretty much means the driveway is done, likely until winter.  If I run out of things to do (hah!) I might put a nicer smoother layer down (so far everything I have done is 1.5", top layers are usually 1/2" or 3/4").


I also took a few buckets worth and finished filling in the hole.


At that point I was well cooked, so I went did some chores inside.  When the sun went behind the trees, I decided to go out and mow.  I haven't fixed the deck (again) yet so I pulled out the pushmower.  I got the far back done before I hit something.


I tilted it forward to check the blades, and there was a piece of metal ducting caught up in the blades.  I cleared it out, and the pushmower started smoking ferociously when I fired it back up.  There was oil everywhere.  It isn't uncommon for them to leak a little oil when tipped, but I have never seen one quite this bad.  It was literally spurting out the muffler.


Even though it started running awful afterwards (I assume the plug got coated) I finished mowing the back with it anyways.  I might pull the plug today and look at it.  Or I might replace it, or both.

Roaster. Completing past projects.

Today was a real roaster.  Home Depot had the paint in stock last time I went though, so I finally got around to finishing painting the clothesline.  I might eventually paint the base, but it is otherwise complete.

Next up was the hole in the yard.  I got the tractor out finally (it had been sitting for a week) and started to fill in the hole.  It has gotten a lot larger than it was when I first spotted it.

Even after dumping two buckets of rocks in it, I was barely starting to make a dent in it.  That was all the rocks that I have picked up out of the yard so far.  I will be doing more eventually.

I also went and checked on the bee traps.  They were a failure.  There is a nest in the tractor somewhere (my guess is the underside of the steering wheel based on flight patterns).  I put four traps out today (they have no lid, so I don't just leave them out) and didn't get a single one of the bastards.  Looks like they win this round.  I picked up some apple juice to try for the bait, this was a recipe that I found on the internet.  It was lemon juice, sugar, and a couple drops of dish soap (so that they drown).

It was still kind of wet out, despite the heat since the yard has gotten real deep; it is growing really fast right now (daily rain and just enough sun) so I didn't try to mow.  It is bad enough that I will probably have to use the push mower again, I don't want to have to scrap the deck on it every 50 feet.  It was getting really hot so I decided to just do tractor work.  I went with the driveway because the dirt pile is still kind of damp and clumpy.  So I moved the car and started working on the gravel pile and doing driveway work.

The first thing I fixed was the major bump at the edge of what was kinda sorta paved.  It had developed a hole.  

I also fixed down by the bend where the power pole side had sunk a lot more than the other side.  It is now level (mostly) again.

The last part I did was the bottom part of the driveway that didn't have any rocks put down last year.  That now has a couple inches of rocks on it.  I packed it down by driving the car over all of it.  It came out not bad.  I did have to do some smoothing by hand though.  I still sometimes struggle with using the tractor for building things up an leveling, it is difficult to back drag the bucket flat when you aren't on level ground to begin with. 

We shall see after it rains, but I don't think I like the driveway gravel too much; it has too much dirt and not enough rock.  I know it is a lot cheaper than the crushed stone, but I think when I do the true top coat I will get just plain crushed stone unless this doesn't wash out and turns out really nice.  I still have almost half the pile left.  I still have to the parking area where the pile is located, and I might use the rest to fill in the hole, and perhaps I will try to the path to the shed, or potentially the area for the carport, should I decide to put the carport at the top of the hill by the shed.  

I had another thought on that, and I think I might try to build the carport where the pile of wood is now.  I have one load of scrap metal left to take out of there and then I can get a dumpster to start getting rid of the pile of wood and the pile in the back yard.

Speaking of the carport, I finally finished the cost analysis.  The spreadsheet can be found here: Carport Cost

The shed roof did end up being cheaper in the long run than the gable.  I also added a "cheaper" and a "cheapest" variant for each design.  The cheapest variant uses the thin metal siding (31 gauge) which I don't particularly care for, but is perfectly functional.  The cheaper option is the same but uses T1-11 preprimed siding.  I personally don't think the extra cost and maintenance (T1-11 requires painting) warrants the nicer appearance though.  Both of the cheaper variants also completely remove the front.  That can be added later if I so desire, but at the present moment I don't need a front on it.  Here is a snapshot of the spreadsheet.

If I do put it by the slab where the pile of wood is now, I could conceivably do a shed roof and then eventually put another one up next year or the year after and park the truck under it (essentially giving me a two bay garage), which is very tempting idea.  It also gets the carport somewhere where it is more easily accessed in the winter.  Putting it at the top of the hill means that I have to climb the hill uncleared to get to the tractor to do the clearing.  

Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter than today, so I will likely just mow and do some tractor work.  Keene is threatening triple digits tomorrow last I looked, and even Sullivan is looking well into the 90s (my thermometer said it got to 91 today).