Druidic exploits of a various nature!!

[v8druid]

have to agree ....... they don't take many prisoners !!

[v8druid]

Does anyone have experience of/know what this cold lay tarmac repair stuff’s like?

Got two hollows in the drive that have been getting progressively deeper and SWMBO’s insisted on doing something with ‘em !!
I like ‘em there as it slows down the posty, big time, otherwise they all seem to go for the world land speed record up the drive!!

Good ol’ fashioned tamper seemed to get it down OK!



Got to go down in layers, apparently and the first one went down yesterday afternoon, as I couldn’t see it getting any warmer than it was!



Think this is the result of an old land drain or something like a trench settling, but no signs of it when I put the ‘French drain’ down the side of the driveway a couple of years ago, so ?????
Next layer today hopefully as it’s shaping up to be a pretty decent day again. Last night’s sky seemed pretty indicative of a good ‘un again !!



‘Psycho the loony horse’ got shifted yesterday afternoon, so it’s going to be a spot of ‘sapling bashing’ on the cards this morning, as Sean or Eddie didn’t show up over the weekend!!

[v8druid]

Well a few hours with the loppers saw the end of quite a few saplings this morning and by lunch time my feet were hanging off ...... to say nothing about my arms!!!

The neighbour turned up with his 'Charlie', after about an hour’s lopping, to deal the death blow to all the stumpy bits – which promptly conked out !!!
Unusual – I normally hear it going full bollox, on a regular basis.

So I lopped and he tidied/stacked/piled up the ‘victims’ in heaps, ‘til we were both knackered and decided it was lunch time /‘Charlie’ fixing time.



I was about to head up there this morning, when this arrived in’t post ....



I've been ‘watching’ this and another similar one for several weeks on Fleabay and trying to get some info on it from the sellers ...... to no avail, so thought – sod it the other night and bought it; if it ain’t what I want, it’ll make a ripper tooth !

Thought it was something else, I’d been waiting for and was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box and found it – looked about right !!

So this afternoon, after a coffee, sat in the sun and fixing the neighbour’s ‘Charlie’, after he’d appeared on the patch with his chainsaw in one hand and a heavy box under t’other arm, which had been delivered down at his place, while we'd been massacring the saplings, he headed off to exercise the rejuvenated ’Charlie’ and I got to open the 'other' box .......... with these in.



A set of 70mm Engcon bosses, that’ll fit that hitch I had from Mick.
They’d been another Fleabay steal, after negotiating a far more sensible price with the seller, than he’d been trying for and failed, on Ebay !!!

After a quick suss that these were indeed the ‘McCoy’ I hoiked out the Akerman bucket with the ‘Drema for a tooth trial fit.

Guess what ........





........ a perfect fit !!

I’ll ring this lot tomorrow, where it came from and see if they’ve any more, but ........ as they only listed one, I doubt it. If they can give me some numbers for it though, it’d be very helpful !!

Treatment day today, so the day got curtailed abruptly at five by the instruction from ‘Nurse Gladys’ (SWMBO) to get my arse indoors .... now !!

So all in all, not a bad day really .......... unless you’re a sapling!!!!!

[v8druid]

VA-r went back on lunch time, with the grab, for a spot of rock sorting/shifting/stacking.



Unbelievable how long it all took to sort, shift and get piled up tidily-ish!!
Last big ‘un for now getting top spot ....



Job done and back down for a de-mount



Great to be able to just drive up and down.
Hour in the morning with a bucket to tidy up and drop some of the harder bits and pieces into the bottom of the ramp, which has squashed down in some order, after a good wetting last time it was raining and having been tracked over a few times today.

Quite a collection of lumpy bits coming .........



...... and a lot of hardcore !!

[245dlc]

More like rip rap Graeme. Looks like your having more fun than work with your Duck. I think in the spring I'll be putting some advertisements up on some local websites for mini-excavator and maybe skid-steer work if I'm all done with up north work. Ideally I'd like a baby duck like the Hyundai 55W or as big as 8.5 tonne, the land here is a lot drier than what I had to contend with back home which makes job site travel much easier. The only problem is there is little for used ducks on this side and the ones that are available are all round 18-22 tonne.

[v8druid]

More like rip rap Graeme. Looks like your having more fun than work with your Duck. I think in the spring I'll be putting some advertisements up on some local websites for mini-excavator and maybe skid-steer work if I'm all done with up north work. Ideally I'd like a baby duck like the Hyundai 55W or as big as 8.5 tonne, the land here is a lot drier than what I had to contend with back home which makes job site travel much easier. The only problem is there is little for used ducks on this side and the ones that are available are all round 18-22 tonne.

Just what is Rip Rap Bert? River type stone or quarried, or just general rubble????

Got a bit of everything in amongst that lot

Are you still going to get the snow and freezing conditions there Bert as you did where you were before?

[v8druid]

Well the bank got it’s bi-annual haircut this afters – I was commanded to: “go find a decent pallet”, as the boss wanted to strim the bank (saved my feet having to do it) !!



‘Fraid there ain’t any ‘action shots’ as I left me phone on the bench and going to get it with Pam on the pallet wasn’t happening !! Not if I valued my life anyway!

Had a couple of hours beforehand, this morning, sorting out a few bits and pieces up on the top level, as it’s forecast to rain on Monday and that’ll probably be the end of our dry spell !!
Had some lumps of steel cwtched at the back of everything, that I might want shortly and a pile of fence posts that I wanted out the way, so I banded them up and they got swapped with the steel and put the steel where I can reach it from the bottom level.

After the grass massacring had been completed, (‘least the boss had had enough of it-I’ll have to finish it off clinging to the bank, mountain goat style ), I stuck the edged 3 footer on, face shovel style and tidied the ‘shelf’, behind the newly tidied ‘kit parking area’ to give me yet more accessible space to park buckets.

Unbelievably I took a dumper-ful off/out of there and stuck the ‘regulars’ up on there, together with a pallet load of Mick’s, just in case I manage to get around to doing something with his Hill, under the VA-r.

Even managed to empty the dumper and get parked up before the bell !!





Didn’t get all I wanted to do done today though, so Sunday or not, there’s going to be a bit more noise going on, than usual, of a Sunday !! If it’s dry .... it’s got to have it .... end of !!

[245dlc]

Just what is Rip Rap Bert? River type stone or quarried, or just general rubble????

Got a bit of everything in amongst that lot

Are you still going to get the snow and freezing conditions there Bert as you did where you were before?

Rip Rap is usually stone that is either blasted like quarried, or large river stone. I have always had a preference for the quarried material as its more uniform in size and 'locks' in better. However with that being said the river type stone has a more aesthetic appeal.

[v8druid]

Cheers Bert !

Have seen you use the expression a few times and wondered !

[v8druid]

To quote U2 – “Sunday Bloody Sunday” !! Banned from making any noise today, even with the threat of rain tomorrow!!!!!!!!

So – mountain goat impersonating for a couple of hours, raking all the damned grass off the bank!

I’ll swear that Mr Sparticus must’ve been some sort of operator/driver in a previous existence – if it ain’t the ‘Drema he’s sat in it’s ........



........some seat or another !!

Ended up with a trailer full of ‘donkey food’, which’d dried out quite well in 24 hours and lit well this evening, if not a tad smokie !!

Looked better for a scalping anyway ....




Just about to find myself something to do ....... out the way, when ‘the boss’ says “Can you just nip up there and lop off those couple of scrubby ash saplings” (more bloody saplings!!) . As I’m scrabbling “up there” there’s this “oh, and can you just give the blackthorn a seeing to while you’re up there too .......... please”

So now there’s a damned great pile of blackthorn sat up there for disposal of too ...... job for the grab in the morning ...... hateful stuff!!

Haven’t been up on the top of this bank for a while and had forgotten just what a good view it is from up there! Be a nice place for a seat ........ apart from the scrabble to get up to it.



Been a funny old day today though and the sun never really burnt off the mist/haze!



Forgot to say Friday, that I went to collect the roof sheets for the shed, from Hereford.
Interesting lil’ place, with a hell of a range of stuff for cladding.
All I need now is the wall cladding to arrive and get it cut up and coated, then I can stand it all up .......... just in time for the rain’s return !!!!!
Still, as long as we don’t get the precipitation they had in Nice/Cannes yesterday !!
7 inches, in two hours !!!!!
OMG!

[v8druid]

A while back someone posted up some trommel buckets, on t'other, from Red Rhino, using mixer drums as the body - looked alright too.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SOIL-SCREE...item3d02d6a56d

So........... Druid’s grey matter’s been firing on all 8 for a little while since the trammels got posted up and I've been eyeballing what’s available on the usual source for misc. bits.
This came on there and no interest.........



..........so dropped a max bid on Saturday night and went to bed.
Finishing Sunday a.m. about 07.00 !!
Amazed to find it was mine when I surfaced!





Seller told me the drum was in very good nick and had done very little work, which the pix seemed to confirm. Also said it was pretty heavy duty and not bashed about, so let’s hope he’s as good as his word

The drive system looks ideal for a bit of a conversion to .............. a Druidfab trommel



It’ll be a while before this gets sorted, but can’t wrap my head round it without the necessary to work around. Looks ideal and a decent size!

For 65 quid and another 35 to get it home, it’d go back on and show a profit, from what I’ve seen of some of the other ‘junk’ making 150 to 190+ quid!!

Better get the pipe bender warmed up I ‘spose!!

[v8druid]

Some time ago I bought a hitch ....... cheap(-ish) – sold to me as a 70mm pin-er – it was 65s when it turned up !!
Hadn’t been used in a while and it took some stripping down – had to drill one pin out of the rod end. It was bought as a possible unit to fit under VA-r, but when it turned up, aside from being the wrong bloody size pins ........ it was also a serious lump ... too ****ing big!!

So it’s been quietly re-furb.-ed in the odd hour here and there and would happily pick up 65mm pinned buckets.
All I had left to do was make up a new pin, which I did a couple of days ago and I finally finished off re-assembling ‘the Lemac’ ........









Slight quandary now –
(a) what’s it worth to move on??
(b) if it ain’t worth enough, do I bother, as the cylinder in it would be real handy for building my S type for under the VA-r
and
(c) if I use the cylinder, I could always mod this to a manual screw for 65mm pin buckets, of which there are loads about, but I’m pretty well covered in the bucket dept., for now really ........ unless ........ I fell over some nice 12”/18”/24” ones for not a lot.

Could always pick this up under the Miller and not add a great deal to the geometry!!!!

Anyone care to venture a figure on it and whether it might go on ‘Fleabay’??

[v8druid]

Been a ‘bitty’ couple of days – got to the bottom of the roller’s intermittent vibe syndrome – found two of the new rubber cotton reels had given up the unending struggle to carry the weight of the drive side of the roller, so pulled the drive side off it Wednesday and replaced ‘em with a couple of spares.





Job done and it’s rolling like a demon again so gave the planings another going over for an hour, now they’re well wetted after the recent deluges.








Managed to finally acquire some M to BSP adapters in town Tuesday – been out of stock, every time I’ve been in for some the last few weeks, which meant I could get the ‘pro tem’ QC adapters off the dipper and some FFs attached to the ‘Drema’s plumbing ....... and shorten up the hose runs by a foot or so.......





....... and get those damned screw poppet fittings off the rotate circuit’s feeds.



I know Rob (my 'mentor' from t'other one) likes these, but TBH I am converted to FFs – no mess and quick !!


Also had a couple of hours investigating the wiring issues that I still had with the ol’ girl the other evening ........



......... and jostling with Sparticus for position



Armed with the rudimentary wiring diagram Rob blagged for me a while back ........ and the enthusiasm to fix the bloody thing, I got a suss on the various issues.
So I’m pleased to be able to report; we now have working lights-front and rear, beacon, and the wiper motor now runs – all I have to do is investigate why the arm doesn’t talk to the motor when it’s switched on ....... and move as it should? That’s a wiper out the window jobby I think and can see a back plate that needs some attention/re-positioning where it should be!!

The horn still eludes me !!!!!

[v8druid]

Had a couple of hours knocking these out yesterday ......



The hoses are perilously close to the bucket link at times and I’m forever keeping a ‘weather eye’ on ‘em, when they’re coupled up.
Been pondering a solution to the matter, for a while and these came to me recently.

Ideal spigots for mounting something off ......



....... and the link never actually makes contact with them, so .........






Problem hopefully solved !!

Whilst rummaging for some bits for these I also found my favourite grease gun ....... a single handed Wanner, that I’ve had donkey’s years .......



Only down side with these is they’re manual fill, but a great little gun – effortless !!


Finally we come to today ....... up early (for me these days) for an 08.00 delivery ..... of the cladding timber for ‘the shed’ !!
Up, fed, coffee-ed, ‘Drema ticking over warming up, all by ten to eight.
Twenty past ....... phone rings ..... he’ll be with you at eleven – change of plan!!!!! Hmmm!! – bearing in mind that they’d rung me at five yesterday evening to make sure I’d be here at eight this morning!!!! Unimpressed.

He eventually arrived at a quarter to .......... one!! Morning knackered!!

Driver was impressed with the off load and said he’d never been unloaded by a duck before !



Well happy with the timber and all as ordered ...... makes a change to get exactly what you want ...... little family run mill, that I’ve dealt with many times over the years .... tell ‘em what you want ..... they cut exactly what you ask for .... A1 service !!



Humped my old radial arm out of its hiding place in a box (nearly bloody killed me – don’t remember it being THAT heavy)!!

Set it up ......



.......and spent the rest of the day lopping up 300 mm boards to length.


‘Bout 60% of the way through what I have to cut, so’s I can get ‘em painted, ready to stand up ‘the shed’!!

Been a beautiful afternoon here and had a stunning sunset this evening ..... going .........



........going



Gone!!



Forecast is reasonably decent ‘til next Sunday, so ........... watch this space !!!

[v8druid]

So ....... three guesses what I been up to today !!!!



Covers were off and all the gear ready for the onslaught!!
Door frame got hung on the Miller, as it was too awkward to handle and dropped in sweet as .....



Progressed reasonably well and it all went together like a dream .....



Mrs D’s been painting the cladding boards all day ....



Supervised by ....... you know who ....!!



She’s got half of the wall cladding done today, which was pretty fair going

This was half way for my bit ....



Getting there slowly ....



All the walls up, but running out of light ........ and energy !!



Out of light, but all the wall plates on and a couple of temp braces installed for the night. ‘Drema parked up and all tools away ....



And this was what I’d been waiting for, for two hours, by 7.30 – I was starving !!
Pam’s almost cheese free lasagne, (it doesn’t agree with me these days, although I love cheese), Garlic bread and two paracetamol – my feet were dropping off



Lots more here of the days progress .... http://s1275.photobucket.com/user/v8...lideshow/sheds

Pine ends, trusses and purlins tomorrow !!
Very, very happy with the way it went together !!