What are you doing today? [Part II]

[Sparky]

Trying to work. Got poor sleep again (up too late last night with too much to do, then the infant wasn't exactly letting us sleep tremendously well). Dragging. Funny how normal noises seem super amplified when I'm tired...

 

[Mooseman]

Been riding the sled on the trails all week. Been good except today the winds were brutal. Wasn't cold, just -1c, but holy crap the snow drifts were nasty. And the wind would sometimes try to blow me off the trail and did a couple of times, winding up in the soft stuff and having to throttle myself back on track.

Tomorrow will be too cold to do anything outside, like -25c daytime, so will do other stuff. Snowblower's been slipping the drive wheels so will likely look into that.

 

[BrianF]

Well Moose, glad the cold left us but obviously it found you. It was -36 before windchill Thursday morning. Its maybe -3 now. Got a busy weekend so doubtful ill get much sled time.

I changed out some lights on the Trailblazer the other day and then did some maintenance on the skid steer. The quick tach mechanism was slightly gummed up so a cleaning and fresh grease solved that. Typical cheap azz John Deere as I find the wires coming from the servo have broken insulation already. Then rotated the spears on the bale spear as they were bending.

Now got the Traeger warmed up with some chicken breasts.

 

[Matt]

Got a HVAC guy out this morning. Woke up to 55° in the house. Blower motor is shot. He was able to change the speed to get it to work, but we are spending $755 to have a new motor installed. Looking at $7,500 in the next 5 years for a new furnace.

 

[BrianF]

Well I said fk it and put some miles on the newest sled. Wish my kids were here but they are scattered amongst the area with their friends. Had a blast as usual.

 

[Mooseman]

Yesterday, since it was pretty cold (-30c), worked on the drive issues on the snowblower. The friction wheel was fine however, this thing is equipped with some sort of clutch or limited slip thing on the drive wheel axles and it wasn't working right. Sometimes engaging, sometimes not. Took it apart and it's this sort of one way clutching system, similar to the starter one way clutch in my sled, however, this one is supposed to work both ways, I think to allow freewheeling when being pushed. Well this system sucks because the plastic parts were broken and some of the rollers were rusty. Gutted all the internals out, welded all the pieces together and and basically made it into a solid axle, basically the same as welding the gears in a diff. Older snowblowers were a solid axle so this will work well.



This morning, -34c, we were going to meet a friend for breakfast and then head to an open house event at the RCMP stables. Went to start the Trailblazer, not plugged in or anything, it started fine however, it blew the power steering return line where I bypassed the cooler so it's out until the weather warms up (probably tomorrow) and I can reconnect the hoses and refill it.



So went to start the Sierra instead, go to start it, and it does nothing, throws a bunch of errors like ABS and ESC disabled and lights flickering. Battery is dead. WTF? I would have understood if it had a hard time cranking but the battery was so low that the starter solenoid didn't even click. Put the charger on it and plugged in the block heater. Borrowed the DIL's clown car (Honda Civic) and headed out. After 4 hours on the 12A charger, still nothing. Put my battery tester on it, it said it was good but to charge it. Gonna leave the charger on all night and check again. It's supposed to be an 850CCA AGM with the stop/start.

Man it's cold!

 

[BrianF]

Yep!! Thats life to a T out here. Last year, early January, my TB did the same thing. Battery froze up. Charged it for hours, no dice. Brought the battery in for a couple days and charged it. Then it worked. My diesel did the same thing.

My TB hasn't busted a PS hose yet but even with a group 4 synthetic in the reservoir that has a -63c pour point, it will still puke it out the cap.

 

[Mooseman]

On another note, I wanted to see if my sled would start. After two attempts, it did! Didn't want to ride it in this kind of cold (I'm too old for that!) but it's good to know she'll start even when most other things won't. Pretty good with almost 20k km on the clock. That's Yamaha for ya!

 

[Blckshdw]

Let the EXT stretch its tires today. (I guess that's the equivalent of legs right?) Buddy got moved into his new house, and now that they live an hour and a half away, no more short notice requests for visits or help with stuff. Had a short list of things to assist with. Getting the living room TV wall mount up and TV hung, tinker with a TV that appeared to have its base screwed up by the movers, and get some curtain rods up.

Issue with the TV base was they slid the bottom on without aligning the tabs properly, and then put the screws in, so the TV leaned backwards. So that was easy. Curtain rods were simple. TV mount posed a bit of a challenge. Studs were 24" on center, and his mount was much narrower than that. He wanted his bolts at the corners, but only had the lag screws that came with it. Made a run to the hardware store, and got 4 toggle bolts for the corners, used the lag screws to center it on the stud. Nice and sturdy after that, so no worries extending the TV out from the wall to pivot towards the kitchen when needed.

Made a run to one of my favorite pizza places, since they don't have any locations out by me. Met up with a couple other friends, had some good laughs catching up. Came back and did some troubleshooting in his XUV. Radio had been in and out for a while, and now doesn't put out any sound at all. Pulled the panels in the back to get to the Bose amp. Checked for AC voltage on the input lines from the radio. Check. Plugged that back in and checked for the same on the outputs from the amp. Nothing. That settles that. He doesn't plan to replace the amp anytime soon. Opted for a BT speaker on the passenger seat, as the truck is no longer his daily driver.

 

[Matt]

Just for another kick in the balls, the dishwasher suddenly doesn't work. I've checked everything that I can and I have no idea, so here's more money on getting someone out.

 

[Mooseman]

Got the Sierra started but the charger I used overnight gave an error, probably a dead cell, and the money light is on with 3 codes for ABS issues. Could have been from the low voltage but I'm still bringing it in to have the battery replaced under warranty and they can check the codes.

Also fixed the TB's power steering line. Filled and bled it with the wheels off the ground. It should be OK until I replace the cooler in the spring.


I wanted to put two more clamps but thought that would have been overkill

 

[mrrsm]

You know ... as a SCIFI Movies Buff, I've been around since the original genre emerged from the 1950s. The contemporary problem though is that FINDING the rare ones that never appear over on The TCM Channel, is like pulling teeth. One of these films that I could NEVER locate is called "The Black Scorpion".

Well... Long Story Short, after scouring "The Internet Archive" tonight for all manner of Old SCIFI and British Dramas and Detective Films from that era, I stumbled over THIS Beauty ...it was hidden amongst an old "Three at The Bijou Theater" Double Feature. The resolution and sound quality is astonishing and since it is was saved in the *.MP4 format, it will be easy for us to download as "A Keeper" ...or you can just open and view it at this Link:

https://ia803000.us.archive.org/14/items/creaturefeatures3atthebijoudoublefeature/CREATURE%20FEATURES%203%20AT%20THE%20BIJOU%20%28double%20feature%29.mp4

***Spoiler Alert***

The dated storyline here shows a pair of scientists (Volcanologists) rescuing 'The Damsel In Distress' while out in the field down in Mexico and then investigating the mysterious disappearances of police officers and some of the local, superstitious Town Dwellers. Having an active Volcano in the background as the primer is also an Old Gadget in SCIFI.

But... Once you get a look at how accurate the depiction of these creatures are as Black and Dangerous Arthropods from the Arachnid Family, you should be impressed that this movie was created way back in 1957 and has very seldom been seen since. These Creatures have actually managed to survive on this earth (for real) for nearly 500 Million Years. The Special Effects here are quite superb and thus, they make watching all of the other predictable, corny story very tolerable. :>)

Please Enjoy...

"The Black Scorpion"

 

[azswiss]

Don't forget the second feature . . . The Monster That Challenged The World! I remember seeing these movies as a kid. Awesome!

 

[BrianF]

Another beautiful prairie day out at rhe Crimetown ranch. My buddy came out so we grabbed some rimfire and plinked at some plastic bottles and coffee cups. Didn't grab much for pictures but had a lot of fun. That FN Browning T Bolt was an absolute dream to shoot, the little Stevens 14.5 Little Scout was a blast and super impressed with the Walther HB target. My buddy cracked out his brand new Henry lever .22 mag as well. Just a beauty day!! Depending how we roll, I got ribs for the Traeger and pork belly curing in the fridge.

 

[BrianF]

Ribs turned out great.

 

[Mooseman]

I saw some ribs on sale. Maybe I'll shovel off the deck and get the smoker going. Might get me out of this funk I'm in right now.

 

[Matt]

Brewing beer today. Got off to a bit of a late start but she'll be right.

 

[Mooseman]

Boom!

 

[BrianF]

Damn rights Moose!!!! Back ribs were on sale at the local butcher and the one guy there knew I like them so he tossed a few racks into hiding for me. They did not last long at all.

Today was warm again so we did some sledding and then scraped some paddocks with the skid steer. Always something on the go.

 

[BrianF]

Moose, on a side note, what spice you use? Cook temp, time, etc?

 

[Mooseman]

I try just about anything as a rub. Had an envelope of Miramichi rub and another one from Weber. 250f on the pellet smoker. Went about 2.5 hours when I wrapped in foil and added some apple cider vinegar and water. Almost 2 hours and they were already falling apart. Unwrapped them and basted them with G.Hughes sugar free original sauce and let them ride another 20 minutes. Fall off the bone and a nice bark. Sorry, no staged pics after the cook they were gone that fast.

I'm more a traditionalist for rubs but my wife likes this different stuff. I'll be looking into making my own rubs. It's hard to find pre-made stuff without sugar and it's way cheaper to make your own using spices from Bulk Barn. Might also look into making my own BBQ sauces using sugar free Heinz ketchup as a base. The G.Hughes ain't bad but I need something better.

 

[BrianF]

Thanks for sharing. I take for granted how much sugar actually goes into these things. I do an overnight rest with mustard, slat, pepper, garlic powder and some lemon juice. Then 225F for 2 to 3 hours (good back ribs can take three), then wrap in tin foil, water, lemon juice with some brown sugar. Give or take 2 hours in the oven at 275F. When the fat renders out nicely, your done. Then braze on the gas grill with bbq sauce.

If I don't get rushed by my needy kids, they fall off the bone and are on point.

 

[BrianF]

And hollehhh just calls me out on staged photos. Who would do that?

 

[Sparky]

The Element saga continues to drag on slowly...

Ended up chopping the screw heads off the throttle body to remove the idle control valve. Except, it didn't budge. I tried to pry it. Nothing. I resorted to beating on it with a hammer trying to knock it off there. Nothing. Like seriously, the screws heads are gone, it shouldn't be staying on there anymore, right? Nothing I did would get it off, though I did manage to damage my tools trying.

End result though is I got it done. By ordering a new one through work for $400. Ouch. But my BIL wants it. OK, fair enough. I should have done that a couple weeks ago instead of mucking around with the dumb thing. Now to put it back together here soon. Then the front struts still need swapped out...

 

[BrianF]

We are just in the midst of another warm spell. Next week its back to -30. This working Monday to Friday days is not a bad gig so I will do some sledding this weekend, work on the Trailblazer and maybe some other leisurely odds and ends.

On a side note being desk btch, I fired up the office Traeger and we did ribs for lunch.

 

[Mooseman]

Not much going on here. Couple of days ago, drove 45 minutes to go assess a sled for repairs. It's the same as my previous sled and know it inside out. It has very sloppy steering, is slow to start, has oil leaks and other issues. He's willing to pay me to do all the work. I figure it's gonna need at least 10-12 hours of work unless more issues are uncovered. He bought it used and got shafted. So I've been emailing him back and forth for which parts he'll definitely need. So now I'm just waiting for my son to finish the work on his GF's 2 smoke that blew a piston. Hope he finishes this weekend.

 

[BrianF]

The weights came in for the skid steer. Classic JD, don't include instructions but rather a generic note to search for the model number on their site. The model number is on the shipping crate.... of course it doesn't work. Found a completely different model number on the weights themselves. Nope, still nothing.

Got the assorted bag of bolts figured and got the right side mounted and the left side requires the battery cover removed. What a dumb design. So uts mounted but I will drill out some holes in the cover so it will work somewhat better....

On a side not, 200 pounds of balast really made a huge difference, it really changed the dynamics in a good way.

 

[Sparky]

The new throttle body is installed on the Element, just need to reattach one of the bypass hoses that I had to wait to arrive, and I haven't had time to get back to it.

Front struts were literally 15 minute swap-outs, aside from jacking up and pulling the wheel. With how everything else had gone I was totally expecting something big and bad to happen when it started off so easy, but this time it didn't go totally sideways.

I didn't do the passenger tie rod end as it was stuck on there and I'm not getting into another big mess there. Driver side tie rod end came right off. Not screwing with the ball joints as I have to yank axles and such, and the nuts are apparently one time use or something like that so big fat nope I'm not tearing the front end down that far.

I'm hoping to throw the last hose on the thing, snug it up, and see if it runs this weekend. If so, OUT of the garage it goes!

 

[BrianF]

The cold warning lifted so no excuse not to hit the trails. A slow pull to free the pistons, a couple primes then first pull she comes to life all cold soaked. Maybe she wasn't happy to idle on her own for a couple minutes but she got over herself and ran great. Not much for deer lately, lots of coyotes, maybe a hybrid, rabbit and a young moose tracks are all I spotted.

 

[BrianF]

Finished the day off with the Evinrude, then steak, ribs and chicken on the Traeger. My wife hosted a working equitation day at the arena so the girls and a friend got some riding in. A great day all around.

 

[xavierny25]

Woke up to a leaking water heater. Had to call out of work head over to Loews and pick 1 up along with some copper fitting and other stuff. Called and picked up my brother-in-law cause I needed a set of hands to get things moved around. After a few hours and another trip to loews for a gas valve and some black pipe fitting we got everything squared away and we now have running hot water and a dry basement floor.

 

[TollKeeper]

Did that exact same thing a year or two ago.. My old wasnt bad, just to small.. I upgraded to the AOSmith Commercial 100gal. Now I can fill my jacuzzi tub!

 

[xavierny25]

Did that exact same thing a year or two ago.. My old wasnt bad, just to small.. I upgraded to the AOSmith Commercial 100gal. Now I can fill my jacuzzi tub!

I knew the old 1 was 11yrs old but I was hoping for it to hold out another year cause I was planning to go tankless. After replacing it now looks like those plans will get pushed to 2 maybe 3 years.

 

[Mooseman]

Now that the DIL's POS Skidoo 2 smoke is finally out of the garage, time to give mine some love. Steering had been squirrely despite the replacement of the suspension bushings. Steering components were solid, time to check the ski alignment. Well, they were toed-in almost 2 inches. To get to the inner tie rods, had to pull the battery and its rack. Adjusting it was tedious, adjust, measure, adjust some more, measure again. Had to do that 5-6 times. Got it spot on dead straight with a bungee on the loops so while riding, they might toe out about 1/8". Perfect.

I then adjusted the front coils to lower the front body and flatten the A-arms to widen the stance for more stable cornering.

Checked fluids, coolant was a little low for some reason. No leaks found. Topped it off and buttoned it back up. Sharpened the carbides and she'll be ready for tomorrow.

 

[Redbeard]

I've got a question for anyone that has snowmobile, motorcycle, or watercraft (or the like). My Spyder ( by BRP: bring rings & pistons!) is coming up 29k miles and the book shows to replace the iridium spark plugs at 28k. I've gotten 100k on the iridium plugs on the TB and they still looked great, so is there any good reason to change them now on this motorcycle? Engine runs good and strong and I can't see why the designers would want to change out good plugs so early. Then engine is 1330 cc, liquid cooled, 2020 model. Plus the lazy side of me doesn't want to spend multiple hours removing the tupperware around the engine to change out something that doesn't need replacing yet. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Mooseman]

Iridiums I would chance it however I don't have those in my sled. My only concern would be fouling over time, especially if it's a 2 stroke. If it's a 4 stroke and fuel injected, I'd leave them in. You would probably notice misses or poor performance if they are worn out. My sled's aren't anything special except that there are two ground electrodes. However it may not be fair to compare to a regular vehicle if your Spider's engine revves higher. My sled spends most of it's time between 3-4000 RPM with a redline of 8500. My previous sled, a 500CC, was even higher and a redline over 12,000 RPM. Both don't even say when to replace the plugs, only to check them every 4000 km and clean them if necessary. Yeah, never did that for the same reason as you. However if I did go there for something else, I replaced them.

Maybe you should check out a Spider specific forum or post the question there.

I have considered getting a Spider and my son is also encouraging me to get one, however, I have never driven a bike, don't have my M license and have seen too many motorcycle accidents and their results. Co-mingling an open vehicle with cars, trucks, idiots is not conducive for me to get one.

 

[TollKeeper]

Had a really ruff weekend. Another tooth had to get pulled.

Saturday was a really good day..

Or at least until exactly 336pm saturday, when I put my truck into park after getting home from work. The pain went from nothing to 150mph faster than a nitro methane funny car.

I have had broken bones before, but never, EVER, had pain like that. Almost went to the ER, but found my local office had a branch open late on Saturdays.

Normal drive is 26 minutes.. Made it there in 14.

Tooth is extracted, and feeling fine. But the healing process is going to be shity. Soup for a week, to stave off any possibility of infection.

Anti-biotics, and Oxy for everything else. Havent touched the Oxy yet, but I will have it ready!

 

[BrianF]

Well Tollkeeper, I hope you a speedy recovery.

Me? Just plugging along. In a week got two flats on my Grand Mormon van. Thankfully one was a slow leak so I could just drop the whole thing off at the tire shop. This last one, well.... I parked to open the shop door to park it and heard the air leak over the engine idle. From the time I stopped to parking it inside it was flat. So I ripped her off and got it patched. Then a tire rotation on her.

Then onto one of my Golden Ghosts. This is the one I had to rip the chain case off to service the secondary. Never could fix the wobbly fixed sheave and created an oil leak on the chaincase output seals. Got it to where its a mild seeping that I can live with. With the secondary serviced it flat out hauls now. Only to find the primary isn't seated correctly. I need to pull the main bolt and readjust it. No big deal.

 

[Redbeard]

.

I have considered getting a Spider and my son is also encouraging me to get one, however, I have never driven a bike, don't have my M license and have seen too many motorcycle accidents and their results. Co-mingling an open vehicle with cars, trucks, idiots is not conducive for me to get one.

The Spyder is a blast to drive. It is large and colorful enough that folks see you so there is much less chance of folks doing stupid things around you. It had been 35 years since I had last owned a motorcycle and the Spyder is more "sure footed" underneath. It is also a blessing that most drivers in my area are courteous and respectful of one another. See if anyone in your area rents one and try it out for the weekend. They aren't cheap to purchase, but I'm glad I did! If you get a used Spyder make sure it has the 1330 cc engine. It produces about 115 h.p. and 95 pounds torque. It's a four stroke 3 cylinder engine that runs well. I have found two forums for the Spyder, but they are not overly helpful to many folks and on one forum the moderator quickly comes down hard of folks asking questions. That takes most of the joy out of a community trying to help one another. I am thinking about leaving the irridium plugs in for a few (or a lot) more miles before changing them out on this engine. I don't have any codes showing up and the engine runs strong so why change something that isn't tired and wore out. Check out CoachBob 3 on youtube if interested in a Spyder.

. He lives in Tallahasse Florida and gives honest straight talk on the spyders.

 

[TJBaker57]

Today I will likely continue sending in fraud reports wherever I can.

A shopify webstore sent me emails confirming an order, shipping, and delivery of an order I did not place, referencing a credit card I do not have, and for which no parcel arrived, although UPS shows it was delivered.

The Shopify webstore looks to have used a stolen identity to register their LLC with the Colorado secretary of state and is even listing her address as the store address and a pickup location for orders!! I spoke with her and her husband and they started getting business mail a couple of months ago and are trying to rectify the issue with the post office.

Naturally no answer to emails or phone calls to the webstore.

I can't figure out the angle. What is this operation up to?

It looks like they used someone elses credit card so I am not out any funds. No suspicious activity on my credit reports. A package of some sort was shipped via UPS from Charleston TN to somewhere near my location but not my address which was shown on the webstore order details. The value was low, $20. Are they moving contraband? Has someone taken parts of my identity using my name, my girlfriends address and an email address I got back in like 1990? I just can't figure it but something smells very fishy here.