Druidic Dabblings and General Twaddle !!

[V8Druid]

had a couple of hours 'fiddling' with a new acquisition Monday
bought as a non runner/unknown condition
- got it running, but found it to be in need of some new bits
- after a bloody good blow off with the air line and 150 psi through the blaster nozzle.
bits ordered and have arrived this afternoon -

I have a solenoid here, that I bought for the Dane, some time ago (and didn't need, as the fault was elsewhere - eventually), but spent quite some time looking for the damned thing, in all the places I would've been likely to have put it - to no avail
interesting washer/nut combo - new one on me ...


- Harper and Clara day (deliver and collect the latter to/from school), after they get dropped off with us, so not a lot gets done on a Thursday - combine that with some pretty serious wet stuff, with a right hooley and sod all done today, aside from keeping Harper amused / occupied / etc., with some story reading, painting, more stories read to her, drawing, all sorts - has quite an imagination for a 4 yr old .. sadly she's a week too young to have started school this year so, up to us to get her ready for when she does eventually - counts very well and starting to get the alphabet/recognise short words and motor skills are good with a pen/pencil

..... she loves the train set .. has a battery operated loco and it's surprising how much fun she has with it - after I've built her a track, but she is starting to get the idea with that and it's a case of some tweaking now, more than a complete build - unless she's in a CBA mood
she built a lot/most of that herself - I just had to get the ends to meet

Mysterious package arrived this morning - met the parcel-farce van at the top of the drive, coming back from delivering Clara to school ...
could not think WTF I'd bought that was that heavy ????
seriously well packaged and a bit of a battle to get into, to find a great surprise from a member ...
huge thanks for the effort
These Holps'd had a fair trip too

these two got to 'luxuriate' on me for a couple of hours last night, as I sat and watched a bit of 'box' --

I like Simon Reeve and there was a new Grand designs on too, followed by Phil Spencer, eyeballing some spectacular 'gaffs' in NZ, concluded the evening's goggle boxing with Point Break, which I've seen many times, but a great film and made for a very short night with an 07.00 start this morning

 

[V8Druid]

new bit fitting time ......
fuel pump went on sweet as ....

followed by the solenoid after a few mod.s secondary bracket had to have it - up against the exhaust

and this is what they went onto

spun over and started sweet .... let it warm up whilst I went and found a 9" for starters - no problem running that, so plugged some leads in (what's on there is from stock - nothing with it)--what a lovely rod burner on a rusty ol' bit of cr*p

having got that sorted and usable, was time to go attend to 'the grid's' 'rags'
as i suspected the under tie bars had been run on into the concrete, fore and aft so drove some chisels into the gap to open it up enough to get a 9" at 'em - just

on all four points

and it now lifts on all corners with a gorilla bar and is ready to get ripped out tomorrow - G-day
forecast today was blue sky all day ... started to piddle just as I got the grinder plugged in .... but having made the effort it was gonna have it ...
took my little Hodna up to run it - does a decent job with a 9"

have had it donkeys' and keep it as a standby for the central heating and the fridge, in case National grid are slow off the mark with a genny for any prolonged outages ... 's handy for summat like this or my big Spit masonry drill, away from the house/power supply ....
(trailer could do with a wash)
mission accomplished, cleaned a lot of the crud out from the edges/ends and took down some of the side rails, that'd interfere with hoiking the old wreckage out

so back to HQ/me patch to get the next bit readied ......

and this is what I acquired last weekend - minus all the leads - they'm from 'stock'
hung off the 'Drema, I'd cranked up for the bit after this -- and to chuck this in the 10 x 5 - might need it tomorrow

apologies for pic quality .... was now lashing down ... the croc clips are for a battery - got nothing small enough to sit in the little battery tray and it's easier to just not have one on board .. drop a 'proper' battery on the floor beside it as and when it's needed .....
so got that in the trailer and dropped a tarp over it and then ......

 

[V8Druid]

got the grid down from where it was stood and flat on the deck .. slung it and up it went - was now absolutely hammering it down and running out of light fast ......

I'll get some better pix tomorrow ... was like a drowned rat at this point ... now this is a job for some ratshits ...
's 2.7m wide and is gonna be tight through the 10ft gap between the black shed and trellis in the morning .. gonna need to line it up right
was now so wet I had to come down the house, lose my fleece and put a dry coat on to get in the car to move it
wrapped up, locked up and went and had some tea
busy day tomorrow

 

[Storrsy]

got the grid down from where it was stood and flat on the deck .. slung it and up it went - was now absolutely hammering it down and running out of light fast ......
View attachment 76736
View attachment 76737
I'll get some better pix tomorrow ... was like a drowned rat at this point ... now this is a job for some ratshits ...
's 2.7m wide and is gonna be tight through the 10ft gap between the black shed and trellis in the morning .. gonna need to line it up right
was now so wet I had to come down the house, lose my fleece and put a dry coat on to get in the car to move it
wrapped up, locked up and went and had some tea
busy day tomorrow

What's wrong with the old one? Doesn't look too bad

 

[6feetdown]

got the grid down from where it was stood and flat on the deck .. slung it and up it went - was now absolutely hammering it down and running out of light fast ......
View attachment 76736
View attachment 76737
I'll get some better pix tomorrow ... was like a drowned rat at this point ... now this is a job for some ratshits ...
's 2.7m wide and is gonna be tight through the 10ft gap between the black shed and trellis in the morning .. gonna need to line it up right
was now so wet I had to come down the house, lose my fleece and put a dry coat on to get in the car to move it
wrapped up, locked up and went and had some tea
busy day tomorrow

Weather was shite this afternoon

 

[V8Druid]

What's wrong with the old one? Doesn't look too bad

I'll get some detailed pix tomorrow - funnily enough was just thinking the same, looking at those pix .... it's basically falling apart - not made out of heavy enough materials and gets 18 tonners over it a couple of times a month picking up skips (and everyone comes over it like missiles)
only a question of time before a total collapse and/or it shreds a few tyres - lots of sharp edges from disintegrating 3mm box section
could spend a day trying to repair it (now I have that little Mosa), but'd not last as the 'parent' material is collapsing

 

[V8Druid]

Weather was shite this afternoon

was shiter than shite here .... so much for the forecast blue sky

 

[V8Druid]

What's wrong with the old one? Doesn't look too bad

wanna buy a s/hand cattle grid ??

 

[Routy56]

got the grid down from where it was stood and flat on the deck .. slung it and up it went - was now absolutely hammering it down and running out of light fast ......
View attachment 76736
View attachment 76737
I'll get some better pix tomorrow ... was like a drowned rat at this point ... now this is a job for some ratshits ...
's 2.7m wide and is gonna be tight through the 10ft gap between the black shed and trellis in the morning .. gonna need to line it up right
was now so wet I had to come down the house, lose my fleece and put a dry coat on to get in the car to move it
wrapped up, locked up and went and had some tea
busy day tomorrow

Good luck for tomorrow Gra
If I was nearer I’d pop along and help

 

[V8Druid]

What's wrong with the old one? Doesn't look too bad

's ferked ... cheap if you want to throw 3 or 4 days at it trying to repair it

what's under the plates is worse

it is literally falling apart - was surprised it stayed together to lift out this morning TBH

 

[Storrsy]

Ah yeah! Think you've got your monies worth out of that one.

 

[V8Druid]

Good luck for tomorrow Gra
If I was nearer I’d pop along and help

cheers Dave ... I did actually have some help this morning in the form of the usually less than pleasant neighbour, who actually volunteered to help clear the pit and has been quite good today ... glad he did - we had some sort of crud out from under the old one - six an' a bit 0.6m3 bucket fulls
had all the gear up there for 10.45, as agreed - took the car and grid first .... did not want it blocked in, in case the 'Drema blew a hose on the way up there - she's not been far in some time and'd be just my luck, but she made it fine
first order of the day was whip the scrap out ...... apologies for the poor image - sat in 'the seat' and probably vibrating

Rob Taylor ( @Hydremaduck ) said to me, many years ago - " never go anywhere without a bucket " and I don't, even if it's sat on me forks - can get yerself out of a world of sh1t as long as you have a bucket on that dipper
good job I took it too - as said above - lorratish - wheel barrow'd have taken all day

the uphill area was full of serious roots from the tree beside the drive and took 80% of the time to clear --- the lower section was a POP in comparison

there was all sorts of extraneous concrete'd been dropped into between the bars of the original, presumably left overs from the 'grout in' .... did for some of what was gonna obviously be an issue and then it was flight time for the new one

and it went in like a glove --- with a little pressure from my QH on the one edge to overcome the 'interference fit' with a mil or so's concrete in the centre -- 's why the chains're off and sat

Neighbour says to me " Graham Hookham, that is what you call a fit - amazing - I'm impressed " ... I was pretty chuffed it went in first try ....
it's bound to settle some .. as the nice neighbours come over it at mach 6 as a rule and one of their chariots is a Tesla
" you run your machine back down and I'll clear the roadway off " -- the duals'd spread a fair bit of tish about as I'd had to track into the soft to empty the bucket 7 times and don't they ever collect shi1t, 'til you're back on the black top, at which point they like to 'divest themselves' of what ever they've collected and spread it - everywhere
Trundled her back to me patch, threaded the bucket back into its spot, where it'd been sat and walked back up for the car and trailer, after I'd had a coffee, with Pam .. who was itching to see the new grid in place -- she was impressed too

" Gimme your phone - I want to take some pix - and I want one of you on it - you're never in your pix " ..... so - yer I be

hell I'm looking old
and if that wasn't enough ..... " you gotta 'christen it' - first one over it " so had to reverse the trailer back over it so's Pam could get her pix

when I down loaded them earlier she said " where's the one of you fully over it? " -- " 'S all that's in the folder Pam - couldn't have pressed the button hard enough Babe "
she was not happy

Got the car back down and Pam's like " right come and relax - you've had a busy day "
" er - don't think so babe - got all the tools to put away, trailer to unload and park up and the boot of the car to empty of more tools "
" How much stuff did you take with you ?? "
" enough so's I didn't have to come back for anything .. PITA being on site and not having the right tools "

so half an hour later it's all away and I'm demo-ing the new Mosa to her, which was greeted by the usual " WTF do you want that for? " when it arrived ... " hell that runs sweet, doesn't it-- HOW MUCH did you say that cost you !!! "

Started 10.45 - away by 15.15 ...... would've been a hell of a lot quicker without all the bloody tree roots ... and a hell of a lot longer without the neighbours efforts in the pit, fair play - I was impressed too - he really went for it with the spade and the axe .
If we'd known they were in there, I'd've stuck Lil' Jake on the forks, on the dipper, bucket on top of the grid, on the trailer and carried him up, with a ripper and 15" edged bucket, but we were well into digging 'fore we found them !!

 

[topkit]

Has anyone seen that new welding tool and cutter that appears in the current youtube ads. If its to be believed its a game changer for not a lot of money, I will try and get the details up.

 

[V8Druid]

Has anyone seen that new welding tool and cutter that appears in the current youtube ads. If its to be believed its a game changer for not a lot of money, I will try and get the details up.

it's a piece of crap - some guy did a vid on you tube on it - what you see and what you get is a universe apart - glorified soldering iron - look closely at the vid .. there's half a dozen different torches used in it

 

[topkit]

I did wonder there is a soldering attachment for it, I showed it to someone i know who repairs printed circuit boards and he was also on about getting one to try.

 

[Monkeybusiness]

cheers Dave ... I did actually have some help this morning in the form of the usually less than pleasant neighbour, who actually volunteered to help clear the pit and has been quite good today ... glad he did - we had some sort of crud out from under the old one - six an' a bit 0.6m3 bucket fulls
had all the gear up there for 10.45, as agreed - took the car and grid first .... did not want it blocked in, in case the 'Drema blew a hose on the way up there - she's not been far in some time and'd be just my luck, but she made it fine
first order of the day was whip the scrap out ...... apologies for the poor image - sat in 'the seat' and probably vibrating
View attachment 76759View attachment 76758
Rob Taylor ( @Hydremaduck ) said to me, many years ago - " never go anywhere without a bucket " and I don't, even if it's sat on me forks - can get yerself out of a world of sh1t as long as you have a bucket on that dipper
good job I took it too - as said above - lorratish - wheel barrow'd have taken all day
View attachment 76757
the uphill area was full of serious roots from the tree beside the drive and took 80% of the time to clear --- the lower section was a POP in comparison
View attachment 76756
there was all sorts of extraneous concrete'd been dropped into between the bars of the original, presumably left overs from the 'grout in' .... did for some of what was gonna obviously be an issue and then it was flight time for the new one View attachment 76755
and it went in like a glove --- with a little pressure from my QH on the one edge to overcome the 'interference fit' with a mil or so's concrete in the centre -- 's why the chains're off and sat
View attachment 76754
Neighbour says to me " Graham Hookham, that is what you call a fit - amazing - I'm impressed " ... I was pretty chuffed it went in first try ....
it's bound to settle some .. as the nice neighbours come over it at mach 6 as a rule and one of their chariots is a Tesla
" you run your machine back down and I'll clear the roadway off " -- the duals'd spread a fair bit of tish about as I'd had to track into the soft to empty the bucket 7 times and don't they ever collect shi1t, 'til you're back on the black top, at which point they like to 'divest themselves' of what ever they've collected and spread it - everywhere
Trundled her back to me patch, threaded the bucket back into its spot, where it'd been sat and walked back up for the car and trailer, after I'd had a coffee, with Pam .. who was itching to see the new grid in place -- she was impressed too

" Gimme your phone - I want to take some pix - and I want one of you on it - you're never in your pix " ..... so - yer I be
View attachment 76753
View attachment 76752
hell I'm looking old
and if that wasn't enough ..... " you gotta 'christen it' - first one over it " so had to reverse the trailer back over it so's Pam could get her pix
View attachment 76751
View attachment 76750
when I down loaded them earlier she said " where's the one of you fully over it? " -- " 'S all that's in the folder Pam - couldn't have pressed the button hard enough Babe "
she was not happy

Got the car back down and Pam's like " right come and relax - you've had a busy day "
" er - don't think so babe - got all the tools to put away, trailer to unload and park up and the boot of the car to empty of more tools "
" How much stuff did you take with you ?? "
" enough so's I didn't have to come back for anything .. PITA being on site and not having the right tools "

so half an hour later it's all away and I'm demo-ing the new Mosa to her, which was greeted by the usual " WTF do you want that for? " when it arrived ... " hell that runs sweet, doesn't it-- HOW MUCH did you say that cost you !!! "

Started 10.45 - away by 15.15 ...... would've been a hell of a lot quicker without all the bloody tree roots ... and a hell of a lot longer without the neighbours efforts in the pit, fair play - I was impressed too - he really went for it with the spade and the axe .
If we'd known they were in there, I'd've stuck Lil' Jake on the forks, on the dipper, bucket on top of the grid, on the trailer and carried him up, with a ripper and 15" edged bucket, but we were well into digging 'fore we found them !!

Great day’s work and even better if it helps thaw relations with the neighbour - life is too short to be living next to someone you don’t get on with.

 

[V8Druid]

I did wonder there is a soldering attachment for it, I showed it to someone i know who repairs printed circuit boards and he was also on about getting one to try.

 

[V8Druid]

Great day’s work and even better if it helps thaw relations with the neighbour - life is too short to be living next to someone you don’t get on with.

would be nice to think so Dan ...
he may just have come to realise what he's been missing out on the last several years ...
I bent over backwards to be as helpful as possible to them the first year or two they were here and saved them a fortune with all sorts ..
spent best part of a week trying to help him find a bad leak in their water supply line and eventually we laid in a new line, when we determined his leak was under his tarmac drive, which no one was keen to trench, looking for / following the line.
even dug up my own ground to route it for him
and although I say so myself - didn't do a bad job re-instating his bank after the various trenches in it ... VA-r rules for profiling ground
then got the bat shoved up my a**e a while after and that was the end for me !!
'S not my loss - I'm pretty 'self contained/sufficient' I don't need to pay anyone to come change my water filters, etc., etc., etc.... get the picture?

 

[topkit]

Love it i have just ordered my one !! What a con !! I love the way he takes a hammer too it.

 

[V8Druid]

just noticed we have a new member yesterday @Komatsu1 ....... made me look twice as the 'original @Komatsu (Ollie Kitchin is no longer with us RIP Ollie ) .. was looking at some of his posts after and this made me laugh

Sounds a bit like karma to me

and the cause of the comment - post #2,352 in this thread in 2020 (won't link?) ... can't believe it's been 5.5 years since I got locked up/confined to barracks, shielding from the 'coof'

and on the sad subject of people no longer with us - who bloody well should be - It's 9 years this month since Tim Rayner AKA Traxcavator departed for the plant yard in the sky RIP Tim