Staying Busy and out of trouble, 2020-21?.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, beenthere thought the same thing and I am beginning to come around to this idea. If that is the case, it will just hang on the wall for a long time, I have no interest. I seem to remember being told it came off of a pole trimmer, which explains the short bar. No way would I waste time on a gimmick sharpener.
 
The last 2 days or so I have been lazy and just doing a few chores. I decided yesterday I would get that water tank going so that I can get that all cleaned up before it gets cold. I needed to take a full barrel out of the way, so I started a siphon to drain most of it while I looked at the ground prep I needed to do and make a plan. I then got a text from a friend who was cutting white oak about 2 miles from me and asked what I wanted. SO I dropped what I was doing, hitched up the trailer, grabbed a few tools and headed over. They are doing a new septic field for a large nice house with a brand new black top driveway, the landowner is 'fussy' and doesn't want anybody driving off the driveway edge, lest it break. So I hung out and chatted with the guys and helped feed brush into the chipper until they were ready for me. I picked out 5 smallish logs and they loaded me. It was so close to home that I only threw one chain on it, just to look good. Got home, unloaded and decided I needed to fix up the log pile, so I set up to parbuckle the logs up. I haven't used the Mule much lately and the battery was not fully charged. I killed it with all the winching, flat dead, right in the middle of a lift.


 
So I ran an extension out and put the charger on it, also tried using the booster box but after another log, I drained that too. I alternated between charging sessions and winching until I got it done. I pulled a few of the logs higher up in addition to the new ones, but the operation took longer than I thought and killed a good part of the day. My legs were also pretty shot from 'helping' the winch get the logs up. I pulled it back in the shop and put everything on chargers.

 It was 3:30 or so by that time, so I went back to the original task, moved the barrel out of the way and started digging and leveled the selected spot. Then I hauled in a wheel barrow or 2 of crushed stone to level it off and keep the weeds from growing up in it.



 

Now I have to go pick up some 4" block to set it on, cut off the downspout, paint the stand, paint the tank and frame, set it, hump the tank up on top, plumb the feed pipe, mount the pump and plumb that and I am done. ;D We MAY have rain by Tuesday, so I would like to see if I can at least get the tank in place by then to collect water with the single downspout. Really I just need to get this together to clean up the piles of mess it has generated, the tank is in the way, the stand is in the shop, parts all over as I think through the connections. I hate a mess.
 Around 7pm my neighbor called (the one who is moving) and asked if I had a use for a couple of new bags of sackrete? Sure, bring it on. He came up with the 2 bags, plus two 50#bags of potting soil, 25# of weed and feed, a 4' 2 man whipsaw I had admired in his garage, the bassinet we had loaned them for their newborn, a tub of wood putty (the only thing I ever borrowed from him (twice) and he thought I should have it), and a large dinner plate filled with 4 different types of cakes and pies leftover from his wife's birthday party. We shot the breeze over a beer until after 9. I am going to miss those folks.
 Time to get at it.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well last night I spent over an hour writing a detailed post here, but then my thumb hit the 'back' button on my mouse and it was all gone. I didn't have the heart to start over. But I already had the photos in the gallery so I have to use them. Here is the cliff notes version of the lost post.
 I tried out a paint sprayer my wife bought 2 years ago and we never used. I thought the water tank stand was a good candidate.


 
 That cheap little sprayer worked pretty well so I painted the new logs I got the day before. I will be trying this out with the solubor when it arrives.
 I got some blocks and fittings from HD and set and leveled those. Moving that stand (about 250#) was tricky alone, but I got it in and set.


 

 Getting the tank on top, alone with no equipment was the tough part. It was stupid to do, but after 3 tries and some heavy grunting I managed to get under it and just before it rolled over me I got it to flip up. I wonder what that weighs empty with the skid and cage? I should have called and waited for help, but what the heck?
 I did a lousy job with the feed plumbing, nothing is straight or correct. I was tired and getting sloppy and don't like ladder work. It showed. I have a new plan and will do it over when I get back at it, but if it rain now, it will take water. I pumped about 100 gallons in to give it some weight and empty those 50 gallon barrels that are cluttering things up. This is how it ended up.



 

 So I still have to redo the feed pipes (and install the one to the other side of the shop) then plumb in and mount the pump (underneath) and figure out the way I want it all dressed up. Hopefully it will be done in time to drain and winterize. ;D
 Today we are going to a street festival my wife usually has a booth at, but took a pass this year. She wants me to get a booth there next year, but I dunno. We will go check it out, but the advertising for it has been nil and I am really wondering if they are even having it. They have my wife listed on the web page as a vendor and she never put in an application this year. It is a nice day for a drive out to Margaretville though, but the tourist traffic makes me nuts. Leaf peeping season is approaching.
 Maybe I can get something done this afternoon and salvage the day.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, we made the hour drive out to Margaretville mid-morning and it was a nice day for a drive. We didn't spend a penny (except gas) and we didn't see anything either.....because apparently it was cancelled, even though their website has today's date  and no mention of any cancellation, I was a might miffed. SO my wife wnet in a quilt shop there while I caught up on reading here, then we headed home. I stopped and looked at a clearing job my friend is doing to see what trees he has there. a couple of millable poplars, one nice cherry and some other odds and ends. I'll have to see if I can hook up with him. I know he wants me to mill the cherry for him, but the other stuff I think, is up for grabs.
 Then we got home and had lunch, I went back to work on the water tank. I re-plumbed the water inlet, it looks much better now.


 

Then I got to work on the tank to pump line and figured something out for that. I ran out of the right fittings to make a manifold outlet, but that is easy to add later. I hooked up the air and tired it, it works fine, but I think I need to add a filter before it is all done. For now, it functions and there are no leaks or drips.
 

 
I still have to connect the gutter on the other side of the shop, but I may let that wait until spring. I want to see how much it takes to fill this tank, rain-wise. There is about 600 sq. ft. of roof filling that tank.
 Anyway, time to wash up and take the wife to the diner, she doesn't feel like cooking and I don't either.
 Tomorrow is another day.

[Ljohnsaw]

There is about 600 sq. ft. of roof filling that tank.

If my math is right, that 330 gallon tank should fill with less than 1" of rainfall.

Soooo, I went a little overboard on my aquaponics tanks a couple years ago.  Every time I found a free IBC, I would grab it.  I have about 400 to 600 sq-ft of roof?  Its odd shaped stuff and only a tiny fraction of my roof (4,000 sq-ft of roofing).  Anyhow, I have two 330 gallon and five 275s.  I have them stacked two high and plumbed so that when one fills, it overflows to the next lower one (on a slight slope) with the last one overflowing.  So 2,035 gallons of storage, or, roughly, 270 cu-ft.  If I take 270 cu-ft and divide that by 400 sq-ft, it would take 8" of rain to fill them all.  In a normal wet season, we get 15-20" of rain - so I fill up pretty quick in the season.  I put that much in so I would not have to use tap water to top off my system.  Since my system has been down, I use it to top off my pool in the summer.

[thecfarm]

Looks good. I suppose you put a screen in on that pipe? There was a member that put in quite a system, seem like 3-4 1000 gallons tanks. 

[Old Greenhorn]

That is @EOTE  who has not been around for several months. I hope he comes back, I miss him. His system supplied all his household and farm needs. My system is just a small supplement and not potable water. Should the need prove out I might add a second tank, but that will be it. I have to look at the requirements and usage rates, as well as the supply rates. 
 I did not add a screen on the inlet yet, but I have room, just need a piece of material. I did try using a terry towel for a filter, but it clogged tight enough that it overflowed. I need something a little more 'open'. I have a whole house filter I can use on the output side if needed. Somehow I got some grass in there that clogged the hose nozzle. Not sure how that happened, probably when I pumped out the 55 gallon barrels, they had junk on the bottom.
 One other thing I just realized is that I did not account for overflow, which was in my plans, but slipped my mind when cutting and gluing time came. >:( Easy to add, but I need a few more fittings, then I have to figure out where to land the runoff. I will just add a stand piper that spills just before the tank overflows. I did not glue the lower input pipes, just put in sheet metal screws so that I could pull them out and redirect that pipe to just dump on the ground during the winterized months.
 I did do a collection test last month within 20 minutes of putting the gutters up. We got a heck of a storm cell come through and I stuck a 53 gallon barrel under each gutter. They filled in less that 10 minutes (most of the water overshot the collection funnel, otherwise I think they would have filled in 5). True, the rainfall rate was just under 2"/hour, but still.. ;D
 This has been a very dry summer for us, next year might be different. We will see how it goes.

 I may take today 'off'. I had a cough thing start last night and for some reason I slept until 10am this morning, that's 11 hours. That never happens unless I am out partying until 3am (which has not happened in a long time). So something is going on, for sure. I was supposed to go fishing with the Grandson's today, but the last thing I want to do is share this 'thing' around until at least I know what it might be. Probably just a run-down cold, but there is always more sinister stuff out there. :-\ :-\
 Let's just see how the day goes.

[Resonator]

Watched a youtube video recently of a rainwater collection tank for an off grid build, learned couple things might be useful. The system used a suspended floating inlet supply hose for the pump from the center of the tank to avoid clogging. The thinking being debris would either float at the top, or sink to the bottom, and not be in the middle. Also noted unchlorinated water in a clear tank can become a "science experiment", so your using a dark colored tank is a good idea. They also painted the PVC pipe so it wouldn't break down in UV light, and used a cable suspended counterweight/float setup to gauge the water level.

[Old Greenhorn]

All good and useful ideas, thanks!
 I had planned to paint the tank just to make it look a little nicer, but the spray paint I had for plastics turned out to bed too old and the cans were dead, even though full. >:( Time being important I skipped it for doing at a later date (spring?) and moved on. Painting is still on my list, but at a later date is all. The tank is dark because it's previous life was shipment and storage of black highway paint. The paint is long gone, but there is still a little residue of dried black paint flecks working their way out, so I am running unfiltered for now to get those cleaned out. In the meantime I will be finding the material and fashioning an input screen to keep larger junk, bugs, and critters out. I figure, or am hoping, that eventually I will have a clean system if I am creful and plan well enough. Let's see if I am fooling myself. ;D
 I was looking for a piece of 2" clear pvc pipe to use for a sight gauge but the stuff is too pricey for me. I might try the local surplus shop just in case, otherwise I may live without it. That float idea sounds like something I could look into and do with spare junk, just have a balanced weight hanging off the outside. I am not too concerned about keeping exact tabs on it, just a general idea of how it is doing. I will search my junk boxes for hardware to make that.
 The 'science experiment' aspect has been on my mind for the long running operational periods next season. My initial thoughts were just adding a few drops of bleach now and then and learn as I go. If it stays full up for most of the time, then the actual surface area is low and it should be a minimal issue. But likely I will have to deal with it. For now I will observe and learn as I go.
 I have never messed with anything like this so it is a much a fun game for me as it is functional and useful. Learning as I go, so your additions are most helpful. 
 It seems like no matter how old you get, guys like playing with dirt, water, wood, power tools, engines, and all sorts of other 'stuff'. I am just an old kid playing with water right now.

[Old Greenhorn]

Man, I didn't do a dang thing yesterday, just sat around, read the FF, and wasted the day. Didn't even pull my boots on until 4pm. No motivation at all. Used to be for decades, I learned to force myself to work because I had to make a living, which of course usually made things worse. Now I am trying a new tactic because I can. If I don't feel good, I am taking it easy. Maybe because of this virus thing I am more cautious and I think that is the right thing to do. I have no reason to be sick and can't help but wonder what is going on with me. We were supposed to watch the boys here today, but given my 'iffy' state, my wife is going to their place to watch them and I will stay away. I don't want to run the slightest risk of sharing something (until I know what it is  ;D). Feeling slightly less tired this morning after 8 hours sleep, but why run the risk, any risk?
 We did get .25" of rain overnight and I just came in from checking my tanks. The new tank took on about 100 gallons of water and the 55 gallon tank is overfilled. So 3/4 inch of rain should fill the tank (330gal). I don't know if I need to connect the gutter from the other side of the shop to keep this tank in the working range unless I decide next year to do a second tank. Right now I don't see the need.
 Looks like your calculations were spot on @ljohnsaw ! Not sure how you figured that, but thanks. I started out with just under 100 gallons I pumped in there, now just under 200, it should be full before the big rain they are predicting overnight Tuesday. Guess I have to get working on the overflow system before then.

[Old Greenhorn]

As promised I took it easy yesterday but had to get something done. Sitting around isn't for me. I ran to HD and got a few more fittings and added the overflow and sight gauge on the tank after the rain tapered off late morning. There is some tank spigot sag as it fills, so the overflow came out crooked. I will add a brace later when I find where I put my pipe clamps.


 

I used some re-purposed 1/2" clear tubing for the sight gauge and it is functional.



 



 

SO it all works. I stuck another barrel under the overflow just to see how/if it will work. In theory I could hard plumb in two barrels and hold another 100 gallons or so, but I would need to add some valving to be able to suck that back into the system or I can use the 12v pump to just pump it back into the tank when it gets low. That will all decide itself next spring when I see what the usage requirements really are.
 I don't know why but I shot a short video of how it is put together and works. Maybe just for my notes and thinking over the winter.
Water collection system, quick and dirty - YouTube
Today is another day.

[Ljohnsaw]

Nice.  So did you put an air gap at the top of your overflow?  If you don't, there is the risk it will siphon all the water out of the big tank!  You could just drill a little hole but I used a T with another few inches of pipe sticking up.  Your extra tanks could also be at the same height as the main tank (or slightly below).  OR all your tanks could be plumbed together through the outlet valves.  They could be stacked (your tank is not in the right cage) and you could manually open valves and let the lower tanks fill from the upper tanks and then shut the valve.

[Old Greenhorn]

I did not think of the air gap/siphon break but we are going to find out in the morning.  ;D It started raining a couple of hours ago and we've had over a half inch so far. I just checked it and the overflow barrel was full, so I assume the tank is topped off. But the overflow tank was not quite overflowing itself. Probably I happened out there just as it hit full. based on the amount of rainfall, and the fill rate of the tank, it seems about right, timing wise. It is raining hard enough and is late enough that I will wait until daylight. Because the rain trickles in and never really fills that 'J' at the top of the overflow I am not sure if it can create a siphon, BUT I am not going to bet any cash on that. Now it is raining pretty hard and when I was out there in the dark it seemed like there was a lot of water on the ground, so that made me wonder a bit. I checked the stability of the ground supporting the tank, that was my concern, and it is all good, no settling I could see. That's a lot of weight on 4 points.
 I will check it in the morning in greater detail and probably pop a vent in the top of the overflow at some point, but the way I have it plumbed I can shut the valve on the main tank and suck water out of the overflow system, so I need to be able to close that vent to do that.
Tomorrow is another day and that will tell the tale. :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Morning report. I got out there before first light, just put on my heavier boots a jacket and headlamp. It rained like a horse wetting a flat rock last night!



 

That clip above shows the rainfall and rate of fall between midnight and 7am. Add to that the .91" we got yesterday between the evening and midnight and we have a total of exactly 2", so a good test platform for this tank. (Green line is the rate, and blue line is the accumulation.)
 @ljohnsaw you had me going with the vent question. Since the overflow is 1-1/2" pipe and the tank level raises until the level is high enough to run over the top, so the likelihood of the water 'filling the pipe' I felt was low and it would need to do that to create a seal and start a siphon. That was my thinking anyway. But when the skies opened up at 3:30am and it was coming at nearly an inch an hour rate, I thought there might be an issue because the overflow tank was WAY full, the outlet was under water, and the inflow MIGHT just get the pipe full. So I laid there awake trying to parse out the physics in my groggy state. ;D I finally rolled over and figured it would make sense after coffee in a couple of hours. :D
 So I checked it out at 6:30. The tank was full, the overflow tank was full, and everything was stable. Guess I got lucky. I pulled in another barrel and siphoned off half of the 1st overflow tank into it. The rain is quickly tapering off and I see the system on radar is moving out fast to the NE, so I don't know if I will get enough to refill that 1st barrel, but this is just a test for now. It's water that would otherwise hit the ground.
 A cold front came through with this rain and the temp dropped 10° in a hour last night and is at 55 right now. Expecting a cooler trend in the coming week. My son is doing truck work in the shop today, I think, so I started a small fire to take the dampness off and prep for him opening that door and letting all that fresh wet air in. It was 65 when I lit the stove, so no pressure to warm it up, just keep it dry.
 Time to get at it.

[Ljohnsaw]

The tank was full, the overflow tank was full, and everything was stable. Guess I got lucky.

Great to hear!  Amazing how fast you can fill one of those tanks, isn't it?  I cheaped out on my tank set up.  I interconnected all my tanks with 3/4" (so the probability of siphoning is high) and I made the overflows about 6" from the top of tank.  That way there is a buffer from start of spilling to the next tank to max level.  We seldom get gully washers here.  Maybe a 2 or 3 that last a minute so I think the buffer helps to alleviate the potential for overflow.

Speaking of laying awake, fearing the worst...  At my cabin project, my well pump is like the old windmill type - a push (actually a pull) rod to a foot pump at the bottom of the well operated by a solar-powered motor.  Anyhow, it was doing something weird for a while - pumping along it would make a strange sound like it missed a beat/clunk.  Well, using it on Monday to fill a jug it made that sound one last time and then ran fast pulling no water.  I had milling to do so I would look at it later.  That night I dreamed up the worst - the fiberglass sucker rod snapped and it fell down the well!  I pulled it apart in the morning and found the top threaded rod to the crankshaft had unscrewed.  When that happens, it drops about 1 inch to a stop.  Whew!  Five minute fix.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well accidents happen and sometimes things work out fine. :D I wasn't fearing the worst, which would have been if the ground settled or got washed out under the stand feet and it fell over. I just didn't want to waste the water because I did something dumb. As with your foot valve, all the worry was for naught. Man I wish I could dig a shallow well here for a yard pump, but I would need a blasting permit. 2 inches down is broken shale, 1 foot down is clay and 2-3' down is shelf.
 Cooler today and I am working on getting my lumber sprayed with solubor, a new adventure is frustration.

[samandothers]

Those are the happy results to the unexpected issues!  

[Ljohnsaw]

Man I wish I could dig a shallow well here for a yard pump,

Yeah, my well is shallow for the area at 148' @60 gpm.  Although, I think it is more iron than water :-\ The others are over 600' to get 5 gpm.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well yesterday after messing with the tank in the morning I started a small fire in the shop stove to dry things out and make coffee. Then I set about trying this solubor spraying thing to reduce damage extent on my milled pine. (see the 'spraying boron thread'). That just turned into a lot of labor pulling the whole stack apart and spraying 3 sides, then flipping each row as I restacked and spraying the backside.
 I had clogging problems with the pump sprayer and some undissolved crystals, so on my second gallon I tried using the electric Wagner sprayer. That moved a lot more product a LOT faster with a more uniform coating but the little cup also emptied very quickly. Near the end of that gallon I was also getting a little clogging issue. Don suggested using a paint filter, so I ordered those this morning, along with a kitchen scale so I don't have to borrow the wife's. ;D SO the pile is all back together.


 
 I moved 4 2x10's into the shop for a winter project, no bug damage on those yet. I think they were too dry when the beetles arrived. I put 2 of those boards in the attic to see what they would do and left 2 upstairs for the same reason. I will start comparing in a week or so. Yesterday it was mid 50's outside but 80° in the attic with 45% humidity. We will see what happens.
 Then I cleaned up all the messes I made through the day and put it all away.
 By that time it was late afternoon, so I climbed up on the water tank and finally put on a critter screen to catch debris and chipmunks.


 
 I did a bunch of reading on borate and borax wood treatments trying to get up to speed and figure out how to do this on an ongoing basis without driving costs up too much. All these extra things keep adding time and money. It's a lot to get a handle on at times.
 Today is another day and I have no idea where to start. :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, slow start given the snotty weather. I started a small fire in the shop to keep it drying and make my second pot of coffee. I cleaned out some tool boxes and bags that have been bothering me while I figured out what I was going to do and eventually decided to do a test run with those hallow cookies. SO I grabbed the worst one out of the attic and traced a circle on the back to rout out a spot for the mirror to sit. I tried to rout it out working to the line but that proved to be problematic (problem being I couldn't see the line with the router running)  and knew I would have to make a template, so I grabbed some plywood, did the math and layed out the hole, made a compass to draw the circle, drilled a start hole, found the jig saw, cut it out, sanded the cut to smooth it off and layed it on the cookie. Then I re-did my math, got another piece of plywood and made another compass, drilled a start hole and this time cut one out with allowance for the router base. ;D Anything worth doing right is worth doing twice, right? :D
 Then I clamped it up and routed it out. Long time since I used a router, I needed to re-train my hands. I wasn't looking for a slip fit and this worked out just fine.



 

 I didn't put a huge amount of work into this one because the bark fell off in a few places and it is thin. I was just trying to figure out the process and how it would look. I sanded the front until it cleaned up and put a coat of tung oil on it to get an idea of appearance. I haven't figured out the mirror retainer system. Something better than glaziers points I think are in order here. There rays show up pretty nice in this RO.



 

Here's the general idea of how this will look.


 

The hole through the middle is natural. Not sure how I am going to finish that. On this one I will likely chip off the bark and finish the outside the same way, whatever that is.
 I'm not really sure how these will appeal to folks but what the heck, right? 
Tomorrow is another day.

[WV Sawmiller]

OGH,

   Those aren't cookies - they are donuts. :D I think they look pretty good and I'd think they would sell at craft shows and such. Have you done anything to them to help prevent the likelihood of them cracking? We had a guy make all our household furniture at one point and on the big hutch mirrors he used soda can tabs to hold the mirrors in the frame. They work very well. Seems like on some he even put a little piece of cardboard between the glass and the tab I guess to prevent scratching the silvering off.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, I did the ol' Doc Henderson routine with alcohol soak and a cardboard box. I got a little bit of surface mold because I was not very good at the follow-up flipping, but that came off with a simple wire brush wipe. So far, very little cracking and I have about a dozen of these. All of them are thicker than this one which was an uneven cut and a tiny bit warped.
 The pull tab idea isn't bad, but I will keep looking and if I don't find something I like more, go with that.
 I chipped all the bark off this one this morning and burned all the remaining cambium hairs off. Looks OK with a little tung oil, then I got distracted by the coffee perking and haven't gotten back to it.  ;D It's a nice day out so I may do some cutting. I was messing around with a one man crosscut saw. More on that later.

[Nebraska]

Ah good another reason to have a diet Pepsi once in a while....  ;)

[Old Greenhorn]

Sorry soda of any kind is not my thing. I just don't care for it. Sometimes I will have a little mixed with good scotch, rye, or Bourbon, but that is even very rare. Coffee, water, beer, and milk. Those are my intakes. :D
SO weekends are supposed to be for fun stuff, I usually forget, but this morning I decided to try something I always wanted to do, which was see if I could sharpen an old crosscut saw. I have about 5 of them, all different, all rusty. I'd like to fix them up over time, but I have no idea why or what I will do with them. So I grabbed one and started in. It's pretty rough.


 

I pulled the handles off, hit it with wire brush then a palm sander to get some of the rust off and oiled it a little. The set on all the teeth looked really good as did the tooth height with no damaged teeth or rakers. This one has a Champion Tooth pattern.



 

I don't have a saw vise for any of these so I just did it in sections on the bench vise, then flipped it and did the other side. I also do not have a raker gage but a simple check told me the rakers were high in some spots. I chose not to mess with the rakers by hand at this point, that would take longer than sharpening without a gauge. I had tried the saw before I did anything and just wanted to see if I could make an improvement. SO after an hour or more of work, I put it back together and tried it again in the same dried ash slab.


 

It cuts OK, (better for sure) but not nearly as good as it could. I am going to hunt for a raker gauge and see if I can reshape them and get them to the right height. I can tell for sure now, when it cuts it is riding on the rakers. I can't get it to bind at all. Another work in progress but I learned something today and that's always good, right?
SO then I grabbed a chainsaw and finally made myself start clearing some of the hanging trees on the back edge of my property and the front edge of my neighbors property. I had promised him I would do it a while back, but he really doesn't care. None the less I got all the major hangers down without issue, but there was one 6" diameter spring pole I nearly did not see that had a lot of energy in it. That was tricky to whittle down. I bucked up about 8 logs I will cut for firewood, then got the Mule. This is a tough spot to get into as I only have inches of clearance between the corner of my storage hut and the creek. I have to approach it at just the right angle or its a no-go. So I got in and winched the logs down to where I could grab them with the arch. But the tricky part was backing in, then I had to push the arch in by hand and hook it up. That arch is too short to even think about backing up more than a couple of feet with it, never mind navigating a tough and tight path. So I grabbed the first hitch and dragged it the hundred feet, dropped them and realized the fastest way to do the other trips was to disconnect the arch, push it all the way back by hand, then walk back and get the mule. For probably the 50th time I looked at my setup and said 'there HAS to be a way to do this easier!' I have tried to figure something out many times before and come up blank. This time it struck me out of the blue. Check this out:


 
I made the wheels levitate! Easy peasey. If you don't see it yet, maybe this will help.


 

A chain to each corner of the mule bed from the two back chains hooks on each side of the Mule. I have had this arch for 3 years and use it a lot. I don't know why I didn't see this before. True I only added the weld on hooks last year, but still, I should have thought of this. It works like a charm, solid, safe and sound as a rock. When I get time I will make up two chains that are the right length to make it easier and maybe the next time the welder is here I'll have him weld hooks on the Mule bed. Maybe I will come up with a refinement before I do that. Anyway, that was pretty neat for me to solve a longstanding pain in my butt. Adding up all the minutes, this will save me more time than you might guess.

So not a super productive day, but some fun stuff. Tomorrow is another one.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well a day that was supposed to be boring got a little interesting. Today was our monthly food shopping day, which means I lose at least half a day leaning on a shopping cart following my wife saying 'Yes Dear, that sounds good' and then hauling bags in and out of places to get it all put away. After lunch I was going to cut and split the wood I hauled in yesterday. I walked out back to grab an armload of the smaller stuff and while I was back there I saw some fresh wood through the trees where it should not have been. I took a few more steps and could see my neighbors shed had been modified in a hasty manner.


 
Now I knew what that big boom was I heard an hour ago. SO I immediately texted him to see if he was OK. He was. Said it didn't quite go as planned. Thought he had it covered, but no. He accepted my offer of help a little too late. So I went up and tried to figure out how to get this off with as little further damage as possible. He had ideas and said he was just making lunch. I told him to go have lunch and take his time while I gave it some thought. It was a little tight working inside.



 


By the time he ate his sammich, I had it cleared off.


 

It was easier for me to do it when I could think and look at the loads without more 'plans' about jacks and supports and rope and hoists. Easy work, no additional damage, no injuries.
 SO we pulled some sheet plastic he had over it and stapled it down. Then I bucked up the rest of the log and gave him a 5 minute demo on tree felling, notch direction, hinge importance, and wedging, just to give him an idea. He plans on fixing it himself, but he admits he has never done anything like this.
 I feel bad he went through this when all he had to do was ask for help. It was not that hard a tree to drop, but he cut it clean off, it had no direction control at all, no hinge of any kind. He just didn't know.
 Not what I expected to see or do today, for sure.

[Ljohnsaw]

Ouch!  Wow.  Well, at least he didn't get himself kilt!