Saturday, August 1, 2020
This month begins as the last one ended, with yard work and old car work. Yard work was pulling weeds and trimming trees in the back yard. Car work was finishing wire brushing bolts, prepping, and painting them, and wire brushing and prepping nuts. There will be more of that to do tomorrow. Nothing exciting, just things that need to be done.
Sunday, August 2, 2020 More of the same. First up was another
session of weed pulling and small tree removal. After a run to town for
a bolt to replace one on the tractor, I mowed a pathway to the barn so
I
can get out there without wading through tall grass. Between weed
pulling, tree removal and trimming, and mowing, I painted nuts. For
approximately forever I've painted nuts and washers hung on wires, each
wire with a hook at the top and a few loops to hold individual pieces.
To fit them in the oven for baking, I've been limited to five or six
pieces per wire. This morning it finally dawned on me that there's a
faster, easier way to hang them. So the nuts are now painted and will
bake
overnight. Tomorrow I'll do the washers. Today's last job was mower
adjustment on the tractor. I raised the rear of the mower so it won't
skin off the grass down to the dirt on high places, and moved it
forward a little so it won't catch the wheels when I back up with it
raised.
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Monday, August 3, 2020
Up at the crack of dawn, I went to the barn and wire brushed washers, then painted them. After breakfast I did a little tree trimming, then mowed. I did a lot of mowing and got most of the place done. I should have done it before the grass got so tall. In a lot of places I had to make a pass with the mower up, then go over it again with the mower down. Even at that, the tractor was close to bogging down in some places where the grass was thick and wet.
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Busy, busy. First up was more weed pulling and little tree removal in the back yard, followed by mowing there. This was primary day, so I walked over to the city building and voted. For some offices the only name on the ballot was an incumbent I don't like, so I left those blank. I didn't even take the time to write in Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse. This morning I emptied my last five gallon can of gas into the tractor, so next was a drive down to the gasino to fill eight cans. That 40 gallons of fuel should get me through the rest of mowing season and well into wood splitting season. Next came grocery shopping, then more yard work. I took a truckload of yard waste to the south brushpile and unloaded, and while I was down that way I cut down a couple of low-hanging branches to avoid scratching the top of the truck. I ended the work day bringing the truck and the tractor up by the house to be out of the mud if it really rains tonight.
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Not a drop. The overnight and morning rain failed to show. The sky was clear, with a few little white puffy clouds drifting by. I began the day with more weed pulling and tree trimming in the back yard. At one point I could have used the step ladder, but couldn't remember where it is. Rather than spend half the day looking for it, I used the other ladder and leaned it up against the tree I was trimming, and it was fine. I installed the new gas tank grommet in the Dixon mower so I could reconnect the fuel line, and removed a rear wheel with a flat tire. When I went to town I took the wheel to the tire shop and will pick it up tomorrow with the new tire installed. A big time waster this afternoon was trying to figure out how to print a mailing label. Trying to use data from one computer on a different computer with a different operating system is infuriating. I have to use the laptop with the old system to run the printer, which won't work with the more recent system on the desktop computer. It seems that user exasperation is an important part of computer design.
Thursday, August 6, 2020
The surprising summer cold wave continued for one more day, and a steady cloud cover kept the sun off so as to not overheat the old man, so I kept pulling weeds in the back yard all the way to noon. In the center of the picture is the pile of weeds I've pulled, and beyond that and to the left is the patch of weeds I still need to pull. On the right, Shorty is resting by the pile of trimmed branches. In the afternoon I went to town to pick up the wheel and new tire for the Dixon mower, and to mail a package. That was a transmission drum I'm sending to Dave Nolting. He will remove the hub and gear from the old drum and install it on a new drum for my 1923 touring car. That's pretty expensive, but I consider it worthwhile not having to worry about a nearly 100-year-old drum cracking and going to pieces, as the old cast iron drums sometimes do. The new drums are ductile steel and will long outlast me.
Friday, August 7, 2020
Morning rain kept me in the shop, where I sharpened the chain saw and looked up the tool post for my Craftsman lathe. I bought the lathe at an auction several years ago but have never needed to use it until now. I haven't been able to find the 7/32" rivets I need for the windshield frame on my 1915 runabout, so I'll have to make them myself. I have only one cutter to fit the tool post on this lathe, so I'll need to visit the Big Tool Store in Derby and get another so I have a spare cutter ready to use if I need it. In the afternoon I reverted to outside work, pulling weeds and slaughtering seedlings west and north of the shop. In the evening, after watching Washington Week and Kansas Week, I went back and finished that job before all the daylight was gone. I'll mow the area tomorrow.
Saturday, August 8, 2020
In the morning I mowed west and north of the shop and did other yard work until ten, then headed north. I went to the Big tool Store in Derby to buy a 5/16" allen wrench for the tool post on my lathe, and picked up a couple of spare cutters. I knew that neither of those things would be in any of the stores here. Also in Derby, I went to one of the Dillons stores and loaded up with enough diet Squirt to last several weeks, as it's not sold here. In the afternoon I loaded the Dixon mower on the trailer and hauled it to the repair shop in town. When I was younger I probably could have done the loading in twenty minutes or half an hour. Now that I'm old and feeble it takes over an hour.
Sunday, August 9, 2020
Another morning of yard work consisted of a lot of weed pulling and a lesser amount of seedling slaughter. I cleared away a lot of weeds, and there are a lot more to go. In the afternoon I went to the shop and got a little done on runabout reassembly, cleaning up the engine pan and other parts and trying to find the bolts and other hardware I cleaned last week. Naturally, none of that stuff is anywhere that makes sense. Of course I will find it all after I resort to using spares out of the parts drawers.
Monday, August 10, 2020
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Tuesday, August 11, 2020
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Wednesday, August 12, 2020
That recent rain made the ground soft for more weed pulling, so I did that until 11:30 and then retreated to my office to cool off and do some research. The research was reading about mag coil rebuilding in books and online, and asking questions on the Model T forum. The information I found pointed to rebuilding the coil ring myself rather than paying somebody else $300+ to do it. It appears to be something I can manage even as a first-timer. In the afternoon I unloaded the Dixon off the trailer and went to work on it. The small engine repair guy knew how to fix the engine, but the lack of reverse function on the left drive wheel stumped him. I was able to figure that out and make the adjustment that cured the problem. The failure of the hand brake to stay set proved more of a challenge. It appears I will need to alter two pieces of linkage for that, turning them orange and adding a bit more curve than they have.
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Rain wasn't in the forecast, but about midnight thunder rumbled and the moisture began to fall. It came down hard for awhile, and when I got up in the morning the rain gauge had .83". I split my morning between coil ring research and finishing the brakes on the Dixon. Since I bought that old mower at an auction several years ago I always had to hold the brake handle back by hand while starting it. Adding a little more bend to the linkages fixed it so the handle will stay back the way it's supposed to. I started the thing up and did some mowing with it and it worked well, so I am pleased. For the first time this year I have the push mower, the Dixon ZTR riding mower, and the Allis Chalmers Model B mowing tractor all working. My afternoon project was pulling grass and weeds along the driveway in front of the shop.
Friday, August 14, 2020
Today was a break from the usual stuff, with a funeral and a party taking up most of the day. The funeral was for a second cousin who died in May. Afterwards we went to his brother's place for their mom's birthday party, a few weeks ahead of the actual day. My cousin will be 100 on September 5.
Saturday, August 15, 2020
This was a day to avoid anything the least bit strenuous. I don't suppose the actual temperature got much above 90º F, but the humidity was enough to make a body want to just sit. I spent the morning doing laundry, as there was enough to do two loads. In the afternoon I went to town for medicine, then shopped online for flea and tick killer for the dog. The stuff I got last time seems to work well, but it's no longer available in the store and seems to be unavailable online too. I'll have to do more research and get something else. My last job of the afternoon was starting to dismantle that coil ring I aim to rebuild. I need to unwind the first coil to find out how much new insulating tape I'll need to buy.
Sunday, August 16, 2020
First up today was more weed pulling in the back yard. The weather was more bearable than yesterday, and I kept at it until after twelve. I was going to do some mowing with the Dixon, but it ran for just a few seconds and then died and wouldn't restart. I didn't feel like messing with it, so I let it sit and moved on to something else. That something else was working on the magneto coil ring for the runabout. I got a little done and there's more to do.
Monday, August 17, 2020
Today's first job was going to be pulling weeds across the road in the lane to the wood lot. I spent only an hour on that. Many of the weeds were so big that I couldnt just pull them, but had to dig them up with a spading fork. That was too slow and difficult to suit me, so I'll spray them instead. When they're dead the roots will rot and they'll be easy to pull. I went back to weed pulling in the back yard, much easier work, and finished up the patch I've been working on for several days. Next I'll cut off the little trees there and dose the stumps with Tordon, then I can mow the area. Next came that dead Dixon. It turned out to be an easy fix. The problem was a bad spark plug, and I happened to have a good one to replace it. Next was some more coil work. I unwound one coil and measured how much insulating tape I'll need to do all of them, then went online and ordered enough Kapton™ tape to do the job. The last job of the day was a trip to town to buy hardware to make a stretcher I'll use to straighten copper coil ribbon for rewinding.
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Yard work was first again today, cutting off little trees and dosing the stumps with Tordon. In fact I used up the bottle I had, and needed to make a trip to town for another quart. I spent way too much time online trying to find the right tape for wrapping magneto coils. I did find one that looke like the perfect product for the job, but it was sold only by the case. It's very unlikely that I would ever use up 96 rolls of the stuff. Maybe I'll get lucky and find something I can use at the local electrical supply.
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Spray day. I mixed twenty gallons and used most of it spraying in the woodlot lane across the road, along the road by the west field, on my north brush pile road, and two areas in the back yard. I'll use up the two or three gallons I have left on some of the invasive Asian honeysuckle in the wood lot. In a few days I'll see what's dying, and hit what I missed. My indoor work today was shopping for coil repair supplies and then starting to make a coil rewinder.
Thursday, August 20, 2020
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Friday, August 21, 2020
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| Saturday, August 22, 2020 Today I was going to spend just a couple of hours trimming some branches, but it turned out to be all day removing some trees that were causing a turn in the road too sharp to suit me. One of the trees I removed was a pretty good size — over six inches at the base. As I was walking down the road returning from a break a wild rose reached out and attacked my arm. It will pay for that with its life. All the sawing was easy until I got to this stump. It wore out the chain on my saw. The saw continued occasionally refusing to start, and I continued taking off the top cover, removing the air filter, and sticking a pencil in the choke to get it going. That worked several times, then it didn't. Looks like I'll be off to the reair shop again Monday morning. |
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Sunday, August 23, 2020
This was wrap-up day on the road. There's more tree trimming I need to do, but that will have to wait. I have other things that need to be done. After sitting overnight the saw was able to start. I installed a new chain first, and it finished cutting off that stump very nicely. I trimmed the small branches off the trees I had cut, set the trunks and small branches aside for future firewood, hauled the trimmings to the brush pile, and I was done a little before 5:00 PM.
Monday, August 24, 2020
Back to work on old car stuff. The main project of the day was making a coil winder to use in rebuilding my magneto coil ring. Being a slowpoke, I didn't finish it. Tomrrow is another day.
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Continuing where I left off, I finished the coil winder and got a good start on a stretcher for straightenng the copper ribbons before rewinding them. I should have that done tomrrow. Tonight I celebrated my progress with a tasty treat: cauliflower fried in olive oil with onions and garlic. Yum!
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Continuing on mag coil equipment, I finished the stretcher. Telling it is a lot faster than doing it. With time out for a trip to Winfield to buy some square tubing for it, then a side trip to gas up the car, it took most of the day. Tomorrow I'll find out how well it works.
Thursday, August 27, 2020
It works OK. I straightened one copper strip with it, leaving 31 more to do. But first I had to get all the coils off the mag ring, remove the old insulation, unwind them, and clean the strips. Today I finished the first part of that, getting the coils off the ring. I also took an inspection tour to see if the objectionable vegetation I sprayed recently is dying. Johnsongrass and some other weeds start to wilt wthin two or three days after spraying, while others take a week or more. The honeysuckle is stubborn, but it's starting to fade now, so I can see what I still need to spray. Aside from auctions and swap meets, I do not find shopping the least bit entertaining. My ideal shopping experience goes as follows: 1 Enter the store; 2 Easily find the product which is where it obviously should be; 3 Pay for it; 4 Get the heck out. Unfortunately, except for food and some household products, I find myself increasingly resorting to an online search for something that is no longer sold locally. Unlike Duke Wayne, I am not a good searcher. Too often I find: 1 The product is sold only in impractically large and grotesquely expensive quantities; or 2 a reasonable amount of said product comes with a shipping cost several times its value. Needing some ½" phenolic or similar product to make the base for a magneto contact button, today I posted this complaint on the Model T forum. Happily for me, one of the guys had some left over from a project and can send me a piece.
Friday, August 28, 2020
The forecast claimed this would be the last hot day for awhile, with a high in the nineties, so I chose to spend it on sedentary activity. Of course that was more mag ring work. Pictures are here. Tomorrow is supposed to begin a run of highs in the lower eighties with reduced humidity, so I'll get in a bit of yard work.
Saturday, August 29, 2020
The plan was mowing and spraying. But the forecast shows a pretty good chance of rain in the early morning Sunday and Monday, so the spraying will wait for a run of dry days. So today I mowed and trimmed trees. I still have plenty of both to do, so I'll continue those jobs tomorrow if the weather permits.
Sunday, August 20, 2020
Spray day. I was going to wait, but the rain isn't supposed to arrive until the wee hours of Tuesday morning. That should give the plants enough time to absorb the herbicide before the rain can wash it off. I mixed up ten gallons and used a little of it on weeds in the lane, but most of it went on that honeysuckle that threatens to take over the little patch of pasture that hasn't been covered by trees. The stuff makes a thick carpet covering the ground, and walking around on it is a pretty clumsy undertaking. I also got in a bit of saw time today, removing some low-hanging branches on the road to the honeysuckle patch.
Monday, August 31, 2020
Curses, foiled again! I set out to do some sandblasting today, and got a little done, but ran into a wet snag. I had left the blaster in front of the shop with a contractor bag over it to keep off the rain, but it seems the bag leaked and I wound up with wet sand in the bottom of the blaster. I spent a couple of hours with the blaster upside down while I tried to get the wet sand out of it. I think I got it all out, but didn't have time to finish my blasting job.
 Poking wet sand out with a
welding rod.
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