Druidic exploits of a various nature!!

[v8druid]

It's quite remarkable how one little thing can completely **** up yer plans !!


Had arranged with my old scrappy to come collect an assortment of [s]crap from me on a Thursday, end of October, then I was going to take him up to Ken and Doug's (Pam's elderly farmer cuzs) to pick up all their [s]crap.


Once loaded and away I was gonna stay on there and drop a few dead trees with Charlie, block/pole 'em up and haul 'em back .... they've been nagging us for months to come and get some firewood.


All sorted ..... 'til I get a call from Tony (the scrappy) on the Wed.s evening, to say one of his regulars had called, begging him to go empty their swarf bins, as they were up to the arses in it. He couldn't turn 'em down and I wouldn't have expected him to.


He was supposed to have been doing it Friday and I was supposed to be lifting the neighbour's roof sheets on for him that morning too.


Anyway ..... what was gonna get did then, got done on the Friday instead ... after a lot of re-organising ... mostly Ken and Doug !!





Glad I got Charlie a new chain the previous week ... what a difference .... I've a proper chain grinder/sharpener, but the old 'un had seen some action and was well past retiring age .....


blocked the first victim (or some of it, at least) where it dropped and stuck it on Kens 4x4 pick up, who promptly decided it'd be a good idea to leg it back to Chez Druid with the spoils, for Pam to chuck in't lil' trailer, so's I could at least move it about.
Poor lil' trailer !!!!!







dropped a couple more and stick-ed 'em into 4+ footers to stick on the front loader on Doug's traccy, to lug 'em out the wood and back to the welcoming arms of me bigger trailer





Got back home in time to block this lot up, 'fore tea, but a bit too late for the roof sheet job, so that got postponed 'til the next morning





Deprived the scrappy of a nice length of 14" pipe .... "make a nice 'garden roller' Pam, full of concrete and suitably chassis-ed" I also had a.n.other idea for it too ..... suitably mounted !!!


Dual purpose roller !!!!

So........ was all set to go do yon sheets next morning ..... 'til about 10 that night, when me mate from Ross (the garage dig) rang .... could he come and sort his car out in the a.m.
We've had custody of it for months .... not enough room at his for his works van, his missus car and his, plus all the works occurring .


'Course, it's been here so long the MOT had expired a few weeks ago so needed to do a few things, so's he could drop it off at a mutual friend's who'd MOT it the next week.


Discs and pads all round, drag links, and an exhaust clamp/bracket, which took longer than the rest put together, to get the old bugger off.
Fairplay, he's damned quick on the spanners .... but the clamp was something else!!
" Cut the ba***rd off Serge ... I'll make you a new one "
best decision of the day ... we'd have been there for most of it otherwise.


Neighbour wandered up just in time for coffee and could see why I'd not been down to his yet !!


Anyway .... got Serge finished, re-located all me tools and he left with his mate Ken in the two vehicles, I grabbed a load of slings, shackles, some chains, a 4 ft bucket and headed down to Chris's field!!


Didn't think we'd had that much of the wet stuff overnight ... but 'twere pretty damned slick and 'squelchy' getting in there !!
Grabbed an old leccy pole on the way in, to sling his sheets under and got it leveled up over the sheets, to sling 'em onto it .... 7.5M sheets need careful handling, to keep 'em looking 'new' !!





Picked well and 'the man' was happy with the technique, so we trundled 'em further in to where they had to go ....and I thought the way in was so so !!
I hate making a mess ... especially of someone else's field !! Tramlines were, shall we say .... significant !! Oh for some floaties !!
Cross camber is not my favorite direction of travel, especially one that soft.
would've been an easier lift without that bucket on .... no way was I dropping it anywhere, that I couldn't get at it again!!


In retrospect, I should've drooped a.n.other chain, from me hook over the back of it to the front edge and lifted from there, but hadn't brought anything suitable down with me and had hoped to have had yon 4 footer off out the way ..... however ... 'tweren't 'appening !!


We got 'em up there though, sat securely and not a mark or a ding in the sheets.....





think I'd have had a few more purlins, meself, but I wasn't asked !!





Got the pole detached from the sheets and after dropping it off once, to hop meself over a bit closer to where Chris wanted it, I swung it into a new 'home', ... less messy than tracking about trying to get in position to reach.


Walked meself sideways a bit more to get out the ruts, which were getting slicker by the minute ... it'd been drizzling here all day .. not what was forecast !! and exited yon swamp!!


Trundled back to the patch and parked up, packed the gear away, got out my Oregon splitting mawl and spent the next couple of hours turning blocks into split blocks!!!!!





Before anyone says it .. Stock, Muz, et al ..... no I ain't made meself a splitter ...... yet !! I will have by the time the next lot need doing, believe me .... my back was in half that night .... not the mawl .... picking the ba***rds back up and into the trailer.
It all split incredibly well ..... even the ones that looked like being real buggers .. no problems.


In case anyone was thinking that tomorrow was a Sunday ...... it was'nt .... it was pack the woodshed day .. here at least !!
Woodburners are very nice to look at/sit by/etc., but jeeeeeez they are a lorrawork !!!

[v8druid]

Woodshed packed ..... trailer empty .... chainsaw dust/chips, burning in the bin ....all cleared up ......... was gonna need another two of them trailer-fulls to fill yon shed


First job in the morning was gonna be ..... suss a splitting att. for the Micron.


either something along these lines


]





but scaled down a tad


or this





this looks a handy enough tool and fairly straight-forward to knock up.
Didn't see any point in building a dedicated splitter m/c for use only a few times a year


what yer reckon chaps?????

had a little bit of time after all that lot to get this stuck in place with a couple of M6s, ........








......then persuaded the wiring into spot for it, to link to the screen, I'd managed to get installed the other day.


!00% better idea of what is behind me now .... getting a tad dark for a true assessment of 'quality' but certainly better than sod all for sure.


Much head scratching and thought followed, on just where/how to mount the 'mirror' substitute/supplement
Jury was out for days
Doubtless something would come to me, but was'nt an easy one!!

we had a few nice days that week and a few good ones of these .......







trouble is they were now arriving earlier an' earlier ..
the rock pile makes a great vantage point for taking these from

[v8druid]

well something did come to me eventually ......





Little bit of fiddling about and ....





looked like it'd do the trick......








which it did !!


Got a view of 2/3rds of the engine cover back and a hell of a lot of the side's surroundings .... little bit more tweaking to get it just right but..... beats the hell out of the mirror ...... which still gives me a good distant view with the boom suitably positioned travelling .

the one on the tail weight had to have a bit more attention too ...


wasn't quite getting a close enough view for my liking, without seeing the top of the tailweight ..... so ........





moved the mount point back 50mm





worked well ..... coat of Firwood's best Bitter Choccy





and job done!!







Can now see both leg mounts/etc. and anything that's likely to go under the wheels .. cats/kids/whatever !!

routing the wiring was a bloody nightmare

Back end was fairly straight-forward, but getting a cable out to the extremity of the bonnet was fun, especially dealing with the hinge point and making sure it didn't get killed by the bonnet ...
got there in the end with a lot of cable ties and sticky mount pads .... hopefully it'll all stay put ...
if they do let go I've a roll of the stickiest double sided 3M tape I've ever found ... they don't let go a second time!!

[v8druid]

having allowed my mind to consider 'splitters' one is naturally drawn to Ebay !

Don't know what the hell this bloke was planning on splitting with this, but jeeeez it's a tad OTT !!


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Duty...3D262692463228


Almost worth it for the various bits and pieces .... almost!!








Some 'interesting' fabrication

Had five very cold hours, wielding the 'fabricators friend' and 15 quids-worth of fence paint later in the week .....





the next time this needs anything doing to it ...... it goes in the wood shed !


We do not need a fence there ... there's a perfectly adequate boundary wall !! ..... plus a good seven foot drop into their yard .....
hopefully by the time it needs any further attention, Clara will be old enough not to be doing any Lemming impersonations


Plus I hate the look of it anyway

well I bit the bullet Friday .... filled all the 1" pipes with plantohyd as I connected it all up and fitted the final QCs to the long uns, before plugging the bugger in to the breaker circuit.









Set the flow rate to an approximate 65-ish L/min, tweeked the pressure bypass adjuster to 'roughly' where I reckoned it ought to be ..... 'bout 150 bar ...
Tee-ed in a Stauf and connected a gauge to the LS line from the valve ...





Greased the rotor bearings ... they're located in the end caps inside the cowl and real easy to get at with the Z-coupler .... not where I'd been told they might be


plumbed up the Aux pipes to the tilt ram on the arm .... and picked it up.


Stuck it over the 'lake area', horizontally .... if anything was planning an escape, I wanted it buried in the mud, not heading off in any direction .... and ..... pressed the breaker button briefly, ............


It ran up .... assisted by a few on/offs on the button to give it a chance .... and got up to speed ..... no horrible noises ...
pump loaded and gauge showed circa 130bar (which'd put the actual at about 180 bar with the extra 50 bar from the delta pressure) ...
'bout 30 bar below the 3000 psi one of the guys on 't'other' came up with !!


I had Doug with me Friday afternoon (Monaro man) and he was keeping an eye on things on the floor ... from a sensible distance.


Let go the button and it wound down slowly with the CLRV doing its job nicely .... to the point he could see which direction it was rotating in.


Bugger .... wrong way .. and I was pretty convinced I'd got it sussed. Took a while to come to a halt too.
Parked back in it's usual position ... motor uppermost and dropped both pipes off for a swap with minimal spillage ...
whipped the pipe ring bracket off to turn 'em and the CLRV, then stuck it all back together.


Back to hovering over the mud and ran it up ...... right direction this time!


All seemed good, so pulled her forward a bit to get closer to some scenery/greenery and introduced it to a bit of hedge ..... hedge didn't stay put for long !!


Doug had to disappear, so sat it back on the deck and was going to drop it off the Miller, as the light was also gonna be disappearing anytime soon, when Pam appeared for a demo !!


Do you think I could get the bloody thing to run up !!!!!????????
Faffed and ******-ed about with the pressure adjuster, just in case I'd been on the lower limit ..... but sod all .... No upstroke and now't on the gauge...
I'd say the valve wasn't playing ball ?????


Beaten by the light, I'm afraid, so 'twas a job for the morning ..... and I wanted a.n.other look at the valves info./spec.s PDF, to be sure I was twiddling in the right direction ... I was!!


However, there is an interesting note, re. a min. 9 bar pressure in the A port, feeding the breaker QC and the need for an inline check valve??


Now I'm thinking HTF would you couple up/uncouple a 3/4" FF QC with 9 bar in the line ... not going to happen .... is it?


Lines came off the dipper sweet as, when I eventually conceded defeat and dropped the 'hedge killer' off for the night ...
sod all happening even dead ending said valve .... very confused .... is the solenoid valve, on it, operating is my first guess ???


More tomorrow on the valve front ?


Remembered to get a few pix, just before the light went, of the Druid's-eye-view in the cab, courtesy of the new TV channel !!




Off side mirror supplemental camera






Photobucket was STILL down ..... had been for a god 36 hrs and snotty email went off to 'em .... longest it's been down since I've been using it !!!

[v8druid]

returning to the Log splitter subject ...... I'd've been bidding on this beast, if it weren't so bloody far away ..... or had been on a roadable chassis











Some time and effort gone into this ..... love the rise and fall 4 way blade


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Diesel-log...3D282217637201


I had made an offer on a very nice one though ...... and it was a cross yer's fingers for I jobbie ..... didn't gt it and didn't even get an acknowledgement of my offer

Saturday morning, armed with a printed copy of the valves details, I refitted the gauge to the Stauf, reset the pressure adjuster, to exactly the same position as I'd had it and changed the DIN plug on the solenoid's coil, for one with an LED in it, to see it operating/being energised

It was ... ran her up and left her warm for five ...... get the ol' oil a bit warmer as it was one cool start to the morning.
Picked the revs up and pressed the button, expecting/hoping for a 'dead end ...... nada

So got Pam to come and sit in her .... engine off .... whilst I got the solenoid coil off to see what its 'pull' was like ... Very good would be my description.

Stethoscope out and listen to the valve with the coil back in place and sounded like we had actuation/movement ..... so ..... stumped

Got collared by the boss for the rest of the day, assisting in painting the wood baskets/cages, in anticipation of an imminent move for them.

[v8druid]

well my thread is still the same Muz .... can barely see the box !!

[v8druid]

Sunday morning, (7th Nov), got the boss on my case to shift the cages, to their new home!!
Alex - mate off t'other, who lives close by - rang and asked if I was about for a cuppa and a natter ... yeh fine matey !!


So after a cuppa, a bit of a chin wag and a warm up ... pretty damned chill wind here last Sunday, ... guess who got roped in for a bit of assistance!!


shifted three of 'em to some where a bit more reachable from the house drive and chucked the fourth one on the end of the Miller to trundle down to the house with. .....


where it got 'offered into spot' ......








... bout 800mm short on reach .... bugger, so dropped it on the deck and had to re-locate Pam's garden table (my old surface table - I know - sacrilage leaving it out!!) so's I could come forward that extra 800+mm





Anyway, with that out the way, said basket went in sweet as ....
followed by the next one ......










and the other two in quick succession ...





Fair play to Alex .... such a pleasure to work with, knew exactly what was required and how to do it ...
Pam's a real help when two pairs of hands are needed, but requires much in and out the cab to show her what and how, even after a 'tool box chat' first.


With Alex's able help we had it sorted, double quick time!!





And a tight ol' fit they were too, but went in sweet as!!

real nice to have this space back, on the patch .......





And a huge thank you to Alex (Playle - APEarthworks) for his stirling and most willing help


I'll see what I can line up for his next visit


And for those with a real gluttony for punishment ...... click on any basket pic for a link to the folder .... Pam really went for it Sunday, with the camera and there's a virtually blow by blow account, in pix, of the job!!

[v8druid]

Nearly forgot to say that, when I parked the ol' girl up for the night, after juggling a few more bits and pieces about and stretching her out .... I gave the breaker button a quick tweak ..... and ...... bugger me ...... she dead ended/loaded the pump !!

I suspect there are a few of those lil' furry f***ers called gremlins at large some where!

Was going to give her and the 'hedge killer' a work out on the monday morning, after brekky .... 'til the phone rang and it was the guy who used to own the farm. He went to Oz 30 odd years ago.
He's over for his Mum's 90th, for a few weeks and as he missed Pam the last time he was here (apparently about 2 years ago - seemed like yesterday) could he drop in for a catch up ..... several hours later .... 'twere a tad late for attacking anything green ...... so .... 'twas a job for the morning.......again !!

Did manage to get around her with the grease gun, top up the fuel tank, with a few jerries and check the oil/water, before John arrived.

Also got the antifreeze tester out too, seeing as it'd been a bit on the white side here for the last few mornings.

Good for -18C .. it'll do for now, but any future top ups are gonna be neat Glycol ... I like to see 50% mix in my motors ... currently 33% according to the tester.

Not had much time these last couple of days for any 'gremlin hunting', but I'll get the lil' bar stewards .... eventually ... all they got to do is pop their heads above the parapet!


After the last few days of dry-ish weather and the ground drying enough to actually get on it, the precipitation returned one night, end of last week and turned from torrential, early evening, to the more frequent of late, biblical ...... the lake was back in the morning when I looked about half seven last Wednesday... or was it Thursday ??





And the ground was back to its usual cheesecake consistency !!!!!!


So not a lot's gotten done these last few days and been busy on other things. Funeral occupied most of today, but should have the day to myself-ish tomorrow ('Cept it's a Clara day) .... so the hedges and grass banks'd better look out ..... if the breaker circuit wants to play ball in the morning !

And that gentlemen just about gets yer's all up to date ...... so far !!

[v8druid]

new toy/accessory arrived today for me test kit ... been waiting for this un ...



3/4" BSP to go in the breaker feed line, so's I can get a definitive feed pressure, rather than relying on the LS line pressure reading to set up that breaker valve

Bought a few other bit an' bobs too whilst 'browsing' ebay .. in the same sort of ilk .... ain't arrived yet, but a few more port tees, to leave in situ for future use and a 1" BSP test tee too, for peanuts ... had to be had !!

Found a lad in Ireland flogging hyd fittings real cheap .....clearing stock, so must do him a shopping list and see what he wants for it all. His test tee prices don't even cover the Stauf points

[v8druid]

" ..........test tee prices don't even cover the Stauf points "

At £3.64 inc., each, delivered ..... I couldn't not buy these ....





Posty dropped 'em in this afters ...... arrived new, in RS bags ... stock no 231-7726 @ £26.15 ea + VAT


http://uk.rs-online.com/web/cpo/2317...hTerm=231-7726




And now ......... something very different ......





couldn't resist this when we saw it ....... 10 months ago !!


Guess who was one year old yesterday? ........








she's developed quite a liking for baa,s .... unsurprising really as Vicki's father in law (nick named - 'sheepy') and his dad (Clara's grampy and great grampy) are renowned in the sheep rearing circles around here!!




We've also discovered 'Clara magnets' ..... with the new wellies on she seems to have lost the power of movement in her feet and legs ... like they're welded to the floor .......





Seriously doubt it's gonna last long though !!

[v8druid]

Ok ..... bit of a catch up .....

one hell of a wild night here night of the 19th! A good 6" of 'precipitation' accumulated in 'the lake', which'd gotten pretty low





To say now't of the white stuff on the hills around, the lawn and the cars in the morning !! First time this winter on the drive.
Snowed in November in 2010 and hell didn't we get some that year!


This little lady 'had her day' on the Sunday......christening and birthday bash all rolled into one








her and 'her mates' had a whale of a time with this lot ....





Whilst the 'bigger kids' stuffed themselves with Pam & Vicki's culinary delights !


The house had smelt gorgeous for days and there'd been a fair-ish bit o' taste testing going on.....tough job ... but had to be done !!

Bit of an early start on the 20th and a frenetic morning on the set up, before a dash to the church ..... suitably attired, of course











Team Cha-walla, setting up before the event!!





There wasn't a lot left, by the end of the day ...... other than a hell of a lot of washing up !!!
A good day though .... and now back to normal, hopefully, until Pam gets her 'Christmas head' on !!!!!!!! Time to hibernate!!

[v8druid]

well I thought the Saturday night was bad but jeeez ..... what a night on the Sunday .... followed by an equally horrendous day Monday 21st !!


Most rain we've seen in a long time ... Had to rescue me welding genny and diesel compressor lunch time .... lake was rising at an 1"+ an hour ....


Noon



2pm







High watermark Wed.s morning after it'd gone down about 8"





Rain was biblical again Tuesday .... drain ditches all working fine, up at the tank site though and 'gushing' well !! All water where it should be and going where intended .... result!!

the build up of crud behind the neighbour's bit of new fencing took some clearing .... may need a bit of a rethink ... but gotta keep the wooly-backs in somehow



Forgot to say that Clara's dress for her christening had been made by her mum.

She does with fabric/textiles, what I used to try an' do with steel .... create unique things from raw materials She's a degree in fashion and textile design, worked for a couple of 'famous' bridal design houses and now has her own shop designing, making and selling 'em .. doing alright too.


Her size 6 sister in law, in hers, that Vicki designed and made for her as per her 'heart's desire'





Can't find one of Vicki in her own ... that was amazing !!
She'll do 'meringues', or whatever you want ... just tell her what you'd like !!





" 'My Husband and I were married at the National Museum of Wales, home of the beautiful 'Blue Lady' by Renoir. I'd hunted high and low for the perfect dress, a deep blue (NOT pastel blue!) dress suitable for our evening ceremony- with no luck. A friend recommended Victoria, and the rest was easy. She completely understood my vision, and created what had seemed like the impossible; my dream dress.'
Katy X "


https://www.facebook.com/Victoria.Va...type=3&theater




shameless plug https://www.facebook.com/Victoria.Valentine.Bridal/


As you can probably tell ... I'm rather proud of her abilities!!

[v8druid]

well the tide's almost gone out ..... this was last Friday





..... but not been much of a week for getting a lot done. Between the appalling weather and having Clara a lot this last week ... Vicki has been exceptionally busy and Pam'd pulled a muscle in her lower back/hip, picking the lil' un up all the time, so with having had to be 'on hand, constantly, I've not gotten a lot done.


It'd been dry enough (and quiet enough) last Friday, to get a coat of not so shiny tish on the guard ...





but not really conducive to drying particularly quickly, so it got sat in a box for the night.
the reason it's required ......





.....Mr Morso's finest hot box .... can't be beaten when it's 'brass monkeys' outside, but deffo one to keep curious little people away from.


One to make you smile .... got back from the christening/birthday do last Sunday, to find one of the reserve/replenishment tins of sausage rolls ... sat on the table in the kitchen ... thought they'd all gotten through 'em pretty well



It's been a valiant effort on my part, this week ...... to reduce a very large tin, down to these few ....





.....thought I might just about finish the job Sunday ....... it's been a struggle but someone had to do it ..... single handed determination .... they weren't gluten free !!!!! LOL

Got banned from finishing 'em yesterday
she says they been made a week ... been in the fridge all week though and tasted fine to me .... had managed a few, 'fore I got my ear bent

hate to see food go to waste, but the boyrdys'd enjoy 'em I suppose!! Looked like they did this morning anyway

[Nobody]

Nice pond Druid! What's it for?
Good job on the sausage rolls too, sounds like you really went all in

[v8druid]

Nice pond Druid! What's it for?
Good job on the sausage rolls too, sounds like you really went all in

Temporary flood prevention/run off attenuation measures and if we get enough sub-zero temperatures an ice rink !! -8C again here this morning, 'fore the sun made an appearance !!





16.30 yesterday evening .......



as for the eating marathon......we all have to make these selfless sacrifices now and again ...... somebody had to deal with the situation