How to waste a day

[Corley5]

I had a four wheeler that I couldn't get to run.  Pulled the spark plug and it was pretty nasty so I put in a new one and it still wouldn't go.  Cleaned the gas screen, put on a new filter gave it ether.  Nothing  >:(  Messed with the carb, and ignition switch.  Decided to check for spark at the plug.  I put the plug wire back on and it started right up.  Smoked for a bit from being flooded but it ran fine  :

[sawguy21]

I don't what to talk about leaving oil plugs out!!!! : : :

Bruce

:D :D :D :D I remeber wondering why dad's lawnmower took somuch oil.. until I saw the stream down the driveway. Or the day my car ran crappy after a razor sharp tuneup, discovered one plug wire flappin in the breeze doin absolutely nutin'

[Cedarman]

It's not near as bad when you are trying to solve a problem and you work on it for hours and finally see the dumb mistake as when some smart... comes along and asks what about this thingy or whats this part or have you tried this?  And in a moment of the sun coming up and light shining all over with the obvious, you sheepishly fix the problem and try not to act too embarassed.

My trucks power steering was acting up about 2 months after I had it fixed.  Had that whining sound like it was low on fluid.  Checked all the fluids, they seemed fine. Son comes home Friday and I tell him.  He goes out and says, dad, you are a 1/2 pint low on fluid.  What do you mean I ask?  He says come here and shows me the little container down beside the engine that I didn't know was there.  I hate it when they do that.

[Justin L]

I have a Mattison ripsaw that stopped working one day- no power to the switches or anything. I couldn't figure it out, so my brother(who works at Square D) came to help troubleshoot the electrical system.  After a few hours of both of us tracing it down to the magnetic starter, we remove it. We were careful to note where each wire went so we could put it back together, when we found one wire that would stop the starter from working. It also went to a reservoir with oil for the feed chain. Hmmm...  Add oil, the wires not shorted anymore...put it all back together and it works fine! Great way to waste a day:)

[scsmith42]

Bruce - sometimes it's not the age, it's the mileage (and my odomoter has turned over a few times, ya know?!)

How to waste two days, part 2:

Week before last Laureen comes in and tells me that the power is out at the small run-in shed and chicken coop.  Hmm, not good.  Five years ago I direct buried some 1/0 aluminum wire, that I had gotten for free from an overhead line that was converted to underground.

I asked around about direct burying "aerial" wire, and was told that most of the time it would work.  The operative word here being "most"...

About 9 months ago one of the legs went out.  Good juice into the line, but nothing at the load center in the run-in shed.  No big deal, I simply disconnected the bad leg, and jumpered the box across the two legs.  Did not have anything running on 240 anyway.

Soo.....  week before last the other leg gives out.  The only thing that I can figure is that there must have been some bad spots in the insulation and water has been seeping in and corroding the aluminum strands, and they finally gave out.

So, late last week I start shoveling out the wonderful North Carolina Clay around the building where where the power originates for the run-in shed.  This is a bad spot, as underground there are at least 5 different conduits that cross through here feeding the house, the well, and three different buildings.  There's also a burried water line.

30 minutes of digging, and no conduit is in sight.  Hmm, here's a man with a nice backhoe that's busting his back on a shovel - you know where this is headed, right?  Yup - 30 minutes later the conduit is unearthed, but unfortunately in the process Mr. Backhoe kissed the main feed conduit.  Fortunately, I did not break the wires, only the conduit, but now we have another project.

So I continue on digging up  the old wiring and end of the conduit, so I can feed new wiring into the building where my power originates.  Nightfall comes, and I cover up the hole and dirt pile with a tarp.  What happens next?  2" of rain over night.  My project hole is now a swimming hole, and the main feed conduit that I broke is saturated with water.

Hmm, better get the hole pumped out ASAP, before I short out more wiring and create more problems.  So I pump out the hole, and get the bright idea of digging a few scoops from the bottom with the backhoe in order to get the muck and water out.

Oops - there's the water line, or I should say, there "goes" the water line...

Sigh...

[Snag]

How to waste a day (yesterday to be exact)- spend half the day servicing the mill, setting up a new winch mounted on the tractor draw bar to skid the logs on some corrugated guiderail so I can load logs (I will post some pics of that later), going to town to get gas, etc.... fail to scan the white cedar log for metal because there is NO WAY there are nails in it, no way, not where I got it from.. :   Two nails later: I hope the retipping jig I ordered from Timberpro gets here soon.  That was my last good blade.  >:(

[submarinesailor]

Scott,

I you sure you never worked for one of the renovation contractors at the Pentagon? ??? ??? ???  This one contractor had thing of our 36" chilled water lines under the south parking lot.  One time he hit so bad, that we lost 1.2 million gallons of treated and already chilled water.  Of course he hit it in the summer time when we had three 450 hp chilled water pumps on line.  Filled up his hole real quick. :D :D :D :D :D  And the funny part was that he hit it right on a joint, taking out 2 pieces of pipe, not just a single one.  36"x20' fibrecrete pipe w/ insulation I'm sure is real expensive.

Bruce

[Fred]

You guys are funny ! :D 
I would never do anything like that..

[scsmith42]

36" main??? Wow - that's a major league bad day. 

I only hit a 1" poly pipe, so I guess I ought to be grateful!   :D  :D  :D

[BigTrev]

At a show, a few people watching, yanking the guts out of a pull start Honda................................leaning on the E-stop.

It don't just happen to the old hands it happens to the newbies as well.

That was my first ever show, not likely to ever forget it :D

[Part_Timer]

Is that kinda like trying to start a new customers mill to no avail because it could not possibley be out of gas, it was just running 5 minutes ago.

At least he had a sence of humor. 

[amberwood]

wasted day in progress..have taken day off from current paid work

have new to me 9 year old LT40 that has no number plates..have reciepts money etc  head off to Vicroads,(vehicle registration).

Discover that the VIN does not exisit in the computer and therefore cannot be registered..a compliance import number has to be obtained form the federal transport dept to allow the registration to proceed.  this will take 2-3 weeks. aaahhh

DTR