The first order of action this weekend was to mow. The Cub is a more nervous mow than the Craftsman (I almost fell off it to the side) but it is a lot faster. It isn't the larger deck that makes the most difference, it was the hydro transmission allowing me to change speeds at will, and the fact that it will go up an incline without spinning out. I did the whole front and the far back (my immediate back yard is too treacherous for a rider) and it only took a little over an hour. And I ran out of gas halfway through so I had to take a break.
I did stall it once, I guess this hump was not little enough. It scalped it so bad it stalled the mower.
I did notice that it digs a lot of places too. Most of the front yard I did on 5, the rougher parts I did all on H (the highest setting). I didn't hit any rocks thankfully, but the deck isn't as high as it looked when I put it back on.
It did the sides of the driveway too. I did these the same way Dad used to do the bank by the road. I clearly need more practice.
I didn't see a good way to do this little patch though. Right behind the leech field pipe isn't large enough to drive the tractor around the pipe, and it wouldn't climb the hill and come up to it from the other side. Oh well. It still did ~85% of the steep parts, which is far greater than the Craftsman ever did.
It did this steep section with aplomb and without damage. The grass in this picture is directly responsible for 3 spindle deaths on the Craftsman.
We will see how long it lives, I could feel the steering breaking as I mowed. I know the tie rods need replacing.
After that I worked on the trailer some more. I primed the underside until I ran out. I also pulled the wheels and dust caps off, and took a look inside. The wheel that still works was bone dry, not a good sign. It still spins freely, so everything is probably ok, but all the grease in it is dried out, so I am guessing (though I have never done any of this work before) it will be a lengthy restoration process.
The other side clearly needs at least a hub seals kit.
It at least still had grease in it, so it probably doesn't need the whole hub replaced, just a new seal kit. I will take a look at all the parts I need to finish this today to decide whether or not to finish the project or stop while I am still ahead.
After that, I finished up the boards for the camper power center.
I got everything I needed cut. It is obnoxious to use my miter saw with everything in the carport.
I got everything cleaned/brushed off and laid out before I turned in for the night.
Something I didn't think about when I rearranged the carport last. Hopefully it doesn't hurt it.
Sunday was all about assembly. One downside of restoring boards is that they aren't quite 1.5" thick anymore. This means that 3" nails go all the way through. Oops.
With everything cut and using the air nailer (despite my air compressor being unhappy with life) the base was assembled pretty quickly.
One thing I didn't think of: because I changed the design, I no longer have enough angle aluminum. I will have to pick up another couple pieces at some point.
I got the top cut and assembled. It is just waiting on the angle aluminum to be attached to the base.
This is kind of what it will look like when done (this picture is from the back). All this was built without buying a scrap of wood too. The only parts I had to purchase were the aluminum. The central board is where the bus bars will go.
So even though Sunday was supposed to be the image of perfection (70F, light breeze, sunny), I ended up dodging pockets of rain all afternoon.
A couple of other odds and ends from the weekend: A couple days ago, I dumped the really old mixed gas I had lying around on some of the knot weed. It seems to do a better job than the glyphosate. The gas seems to kill the stalks as well as the leaves. I don't think I can go around spraying my whole yard with gasoline though, that sounds like a really bad idea (not to mention highly illegal).
All the annoying parts of nature are out in full force. I killed almost a dozen bees this weekend. Annoyingly, most of them were inside the house. I am not sure how they are getting inside. The bathroom vent has a cover on it, and I checked and it is still working. The windows were closed when I first started seeing them, so they have a way in other than the holes in the screens.
While I was waiting for a shower to pass, I decided to poke through the Northern Tools catalog. I think they need to find a new printer.
I also need to pick up more bug spray. I used some on Sunday since I got a few bites on Saturday (it is dire times for them if they are biting me) and this is my last bottle. It works great, though it is 98% deet. Even the bees left me alone when I put it on (though that might have been because of the genocide I was committing).
I also went out and filled up some of my gas cans. The Cub apparently has a very large tank on it and refilling it drained my entire supply.
I also did a little design work on a few other things I will likely need. The first is a baffle box for the generator. I did a lot of reading last week (thank you useless meetings) and while I think this is ludicrous overkill, should work quite well. It checks all the boxes: no direct path for sound to get out, (hopefully) adequate air flow for the generator, and multiple layers of sound protection with different materials since each material attenuates certain frequencies better. There are no dimensions on it yet but the selected generator hasn't reappeared yet, despite it being several weeks. I might have to switch to another generator if it doesn't come back anywhere soon.
I also started to look at a truck cap, since the power center will need to be kept dry, and preferably behind a lock. I miss the old days when trucks were square. This looks annoying to build, and most of that is because trucks are rounded these days which is an annoying profile to match. Suddenly the few hundred dollars for a truck cap doesn't look quite as bad, as long as I can find one. My truck is old now and they are hard to find.
Good progress is being made, but no items are complete.
2021 Projects:
Prepare summer equipmentCarport repair- Windows in shed
- Shed supports
- Table
- South wall siding
- Bridge over creek
- Review options for house (mobile home vs stick built vs modular)
- Trailer hub
- Rebuild smaller trailer
- Level back yard
- Level side yard
- Level front yard
- Clear trees to creek
- Remove dead/dying beech trees
- Retaining walls?
- Eliminate pile of crap in back
- Camper Power Center (portable AC power source and generator)
- Clean up/level area down by second parking spot
- Driveway round three
- Fix shed door.
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