Overdue weekend post

The weekend was wet and rainy so I didn't get a whole lot done.  Saturday I slept and was lazy most of the day and did some chores, but not too much productive.  Sunday I felt the itch to actually do something, and dodging the rain, managed to at least get the shelving over the toilet complete.  I didn't actually need the extra storage in the bathroom, but I did need the towel bar. 


I also did a little cleaning outside as well, and came across this.  I already have the two for the snowblower, so I am guessing this one was dad's and should have gone down with the tractor...


Monday was fairly nice most of the day, so I decided to get a load of gravel.  This is the first time using the load handler thing. 


I managed to get exactly one ton.  The gravel has gone up a lot in price since last spring too.  Last year, this was only 10 something a ton.  I might want to shop around before I start getting dump trucks of it delivered.


The load handler did a decent job.  It spilled over the side on my feet a little, and didn't completely clear the bed, but as you can see by the shovel that was still rusty (I used it to chip ice most of the winter), I didn't need to use it. 


It is a little disappointing just how little a ton covers.


Then came time for the spreading.  The first pile was fairly small and the tractor with the dozer blade did a really nice job on it.


The second pile however was too large for the tractor.  This is where it stopped.


Because the tractor is waaay too small for what I am doing with it, it wouldn't back up the hill either.  Some "assistance" was required.


It dug some pretty deep holes very quickly.  It didn't help that everything was soggy, the holes already had water in them by the time i got it dragged back up the hill.


I had to spread the rest by hand, but that isn't a huge deal.  It was actually easier to spread it with my feet than it was with the shovel.  I will probably get another load today.

I am not sure how I feel about the load handler.  On one hand, it did greatly ease unloading the truck.  It is worth what I paid for it, but you really need 2 people to use it effectively; one to drive the truck, one to unload the bed, so I don't see it replacing my desire for a dump trailer or a bed that dumps in my next truck.  It was a real pain to install, the design for the straps that hold it on the tailgate is poor.  It is almost easier to remove the tailgate to install it.  Time will tell if it holds up, but there doesn't appear to be any significant damage to it.  If I had a real tractor with a bucket, it would be a lot more useful since I could just dump it all in one pile and then move and distribute it with the tractor.