Continuing Thread: What Are You Fix-It'ing Today?

[911 Rod]

Installed outdoor speaker for the front patio.
Just in time to drown out the neighbours jumpy castle!

[john70t]

What I am not fix'in today. (sorry the photo is dark)

I should have done this several years ago when the thing was smaller. The invasive Chinese/Stinking Sumac grows very quickly but has soft lightweight wood and easy to cut. A nosy neighbor came over from a couple houses down and started yelling about needing city permits for trunks over 12" but they are all that or smaller. There is a larger oak which provides the same shade so functionally it would be the same.

I had to be able to get to the circled part to be able to make cuts with the electric pole chain saw. They would drop to the left and right away from the deck. It would be a little sketchy but there was space underneath for them to fall. I could fix anything damaged on the garden surround if needed, and is not a safety issue.

Two shoots remaining. One trunk could have been dropped entirely into the driveway but the other had to be taken down piece by piece from the top.



The K-Pro (Keller) articulating ladder above is lightweight and handy, but bouncy at the pivot pin when used as a pure extension ladder.
I needed a real one.

I special-ordered an aluminum 20ft 300lb rated extension ladder (Keller/Werner). Lightweight and would be easy to move around. That should have been a clue.
It took 4 weeks to arrive.
In the meantime the trash tree probably grew another 4 feet.

Then:
1). Plastic on a 300lb ladder? Seriously? (note: that is a matrix not a solid block)
2). The end is an open "C" and not boxed in. One side is floating.



3). Ladder is very bouncy even though I am well under rated spec. The aluminum used is minimal and not stiff aka aircraft quality.
4). They even saved money on washers.



I looped it over the circled tree stub and shook it solid on the driveway.
Went up and roped it to the tree.
Small limbs previously peeled over and tried to knock the ladder out from under me.

Then the thing twisted about 15-20 degrees while I was up there. WTH.

I was in Go Mode. Every mental fiber in my brain said to continue....but I chickened out....

This job will need pros and a bucket truck. They previously gave me a quote for $1,000 for the little thing. An hour job. Geesh.

Very disappointing let down.

[911 Rod]

^^^It's worth the grand for the bucket truck. We don't heal as quick as we used too!
I find using my pole chainsaw difficult on a ladder. When it finally cuts through you instantly feel the weight of the saw and it wants to go down and take you with it.

[Baz]

John:

I use a ratchet strap to cinch down my extension ladder when going that high. I use 2 of them. One at the base and another a little further up. Really makes a difference being about to tighten it down with the ratchet.

I know my limitations though and try to respect them no matter what.

-------

Some Alexander Palm seeds I just sprouted. I use the baggie method. Put 'em in baggies with dampened sphagnum moss and wait to see sprout formation. Sometimes it takes a month or more....

[rsrguy]

Paint on!

[rsrguy]

Got a jump on installing an AOA/heated pitot on the pacer wings, also prepped epoxy primed and first coated with polar gray. Photos show prep, epoxy and color coats.

[Baz]

She's really coming along, Guy - nice work, sir!

[rsrguy]

Originally Posted by Baz

She's really coming along, Guy - nice work, sir!

Thank you sir! One color at a time... along with hours of wet sanding

[bugstrider]

Originally Posted by rsrguy

Got a jump on installing an AOA/heated pitot on the pacer wings, also prepped epoxy primed and first coated with polar gray. Photos show prep, epoxy and color coats.

Absolutely beautiful work. If I didn’t live so bloody far away, I would offer my services as “shop gofer” with hopes of gleening some of your trade secrets and pointers.

What three days of work gets me. Blocks 20-60# each. Had so walk them 40' and load into the truck, move truck and off load block. Trench for gravel base in a hard rock infested bits of earth. Stack block, pin with fiberglass rods. And for desert, move several tons of 3/4" crushed rock to back fill wall. One shovel full a a time. I stopped counting round trips after if felt like a thousand….

Only had 17 block left out of two pallets of left over block from the original wall project.

What three days of work gets me. Blocks 30-60# each. Had so walk them 40' and load into the truck, move truck and off load block. Trench for gravel base in a hard rock infested bit of earth. Stack block, pin with fiberglass rods. And for desert, move several tons of 3/4" crushed rock for pike to back fill wall. One shovel full a a time.










All in hopes of getting me into the mindset of the large block project of decorative garden walls all 13 pallets worth.


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[bugstrider]

Loaded 800+#’s of Positano Kapstone into the ol trusty Volt for the trip home after work. Toppers for the wall above.




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[bugstrider]

Originally Posted by john70t

What I am not fix'in today. (sorry the photo is dark)

I should have done this several years ago when the thing was smaller. The invasive Chinese/Stinking Sumac grows very quickly but has soft lightweight wood and easy to cut. A nosy neighbor came over from a couple houses down and started yelling about needing city permits for trunks over 12" but they are all that or smaller. There is a larger oak which provides the same shade so functionally it would be the same.

I had to be able to get to the circled part to be able to make cuts with the electric pole chain saw. They would drop to the left and right away from the deck. It would be a little sketchy but there was space underneath for them to fall. I could fix anything damaged on the garden surround if needed, and is not a safety issue.

Two shoots remaining. One trunk could have been dropped entirely into the driveway but the other had to be taken down piece by piece from the top.



The K-Pro (Keller) articulating ladder above is lightweight and handy, but bouncy at the pivot pin when used as a pure extension ladder.
I needed a real one.

I special-ordered an aluminum 20ft 300lb rated extension ladder (Keller/Werner). Lightweight and would be easy to move around. That should have been a clue.
It took 4 weeks to arrive.
In the meantime the trash tree probably grew another 4 feet.

Then:
1). Plastic on a 300lb ladder? Seriously? (note: that is a matrix not a solid block)
2). The end is an open "C" and not boxed in. One side is floating.



3). Ladder is very bouncy even though I am well under rated spec. The aluminum used is minimal and not stiff aka aircraft quality.
4). They even saved money on washers.



I looped it over the circled tree stub and shook it solid on the driveway.
Went up and roped it to the tree.
Small limbs previously peeled over and tried to knock the ladder out from under me.

Then the thing twisted about 15-20 degrees while I was up there. WTH.

I was in Go Mode. Every mental fiber in my brain said to continue....but I chickened out....

This job will need pros and a bucket truck. They previously gave me a quote for $1,000 for the little thing. An hour job. Geesh.

Very disappointing let down.

John,

We have these on our 24’ extension ladder. They work great in flat and….. uneven surfaces. Take a bit to understand how they work, but they are great for any terrain.

Cheers



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[rsrguy]

Wow bugs... that's beautiful and a gobb of work.. after 4 back surgeries my lower back would be in knots.

[herr_oberst]

rsguy, let me reiterate what bugs said. If I lived nearby I'd love to be an unpaid gofer in the hangar and learn from your skills.

[Baz]

Trev......really nice work on the wall & rock.....you're an animal!

PS - Can you post a link for the ladder accessory you mentioned, please? Danke!

[rsrguy]

Your welcome to come by anytime... winter is cool because we can thrash powder too!

[mthomas58]

I've been doing some Handyman projects for friends, family and referrals. One of our neighbors is a Realtor and she has been referring me to clients for odd jobs. This week I worked on various punch list items for a new listing prepping the house for the listing photo shoot. One of the items was refreshing the front doors with a Western exposure that have taken a beating from the sun. Poly finish was dull and wood damage was minimal. The doors are massive and I did not want to take them down and client was paranoid about even having them open. I was able to lightly sand the dull poly taking care not to sand into the stained finish and after googling finishing options I elected to apply a UV protected spar urethane finish diluted 50% with Mineral Spirits wiped on with a lint free blue shop paper towel. Before and after photos after application of 6 coats re-sanding only after coat 4. I did not even take off the Baldwin locksets. Instead of masking them off I elected coat them with poly as well as they were dull and the finish restored them to new condition. Client was thrilled with the results.

[rsrguy]

Yesterday I hit the whole thing with 400 wet. Today I shot the last session of gray, about 2.5 coats. I'm very pleased with the results. After the first coat of aerothane is down I typically sand it all out then re coat, I end up with a much improved finish over not wet sanding between coats. You can actually see a difference in the pics. Stripes and white next

[varmint]

Ural’s starter gave out. Replacing it, the relays, a bunch of wiring and cleaning spots that haven’t been cleaned in ten years.

Hiding in the garage because the mosquitos are a nightmare this year.

[bugstrider]

Originally Posted by rsrguy

Wow bugs... that's beautiful and a gobb of work.. after 4 back surgeries my lower back would be in knots.

Thank you sir!! Yeah, my back is screaming after all of that.

I had to come up with a different plan of getting rock behind the wall. I also had to figure a way of removing all of the dirt and debris that packed up when we were flooded by the ruptured EID water line. So my solution was to hit the local quarry and get loaded up with a yard + in the bed of the ol 1995 K1500……. The guy at the yard said “ya, right, we can only give you 1/2 a yard.” I reassured him that I installed bags and could hold the weight, so far I’ve made three runs since Thursday afternoon. She is tired and grumpy like me, however she was my first new vehicle when I started my career and she will finish it with me whenever Inpull the plug. 346K original miles and she has always been there for me.
Ok, back to the plan…..
Even though I have most of a transfer load of gravel in the drive, I still need to get it up and over the wall to backfill. Since I dunt have a tractor and it’s me, myself and I doing this, I use the height of the truck bed and then shoveled it out from there. I can unload the bed in about an hour and a half if I don’t doddle around. So far, Thursday evening I was able off load the first yard, then removed enough dirt from the backside of the wall to fill the bed and then off-loaded that on the property. Today (Friday), was able to off load two more yards/beds full of gravel. Since we grow bloody big rocks, I’ve removed some biggies and using those as riprap in a drain culvert. The height of the bed makes it so much easier too.


My back is still sore but not like the night I was stupid enough to make what felt like a 1000 round trips lugging a shovel full of rock.

Still have a bit more work to do removing dirt and backfilling with clean gravel. When this is done, the fun begins with the butt-load of keystone legacy block project.

[bugstrider]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

rsguy, let me reiterate what bugs said. If I lived nearby I'd love to be an unpaid gofer in the hangar and learn from your skills.

Road-trip……….


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