Catching Up

Well, it's been awhile now and that stinking crankshaft post is still at the top of the blog. I really need to put some kid pics up or something, but....we'll just have to catch up on my narcissistic endeavors for a bit instead.

First, for those fans of the firetruck, it's finally moved on. Andrew sold it on Ebay for a small profit to a broker in Tennessee who has a buyer lined up for it at a huge profit. I don't think that Andrew was excited about this, but his marriage depended on it. However, the broker didn't want to pay for the nice diesel Onan generator on top of it. The tractor wouldn't reach that high, so we had to rig out of a tree and use the pickup to hoist it free of the fire engine. This was late Thursday night in the dark (but of course :)) Gotta love being a wanna-be redneck.


When I got into my truck to hoist that thing, I noticed a spiderweb looking windshield. Dang it all. Looks like an old, rotten section of branch fell out of the oak trees above my truck and hit right at the top edge. That was it. Same thing happened to the horse lady's car last year. Both times you couldn't find the offending projectile, just rotten shrapnel.

Since I can't think of a better place to park, it was time to take revenge in the trees. Saturday Jason and I each went up a tree and started deadwooding them. Actually a great climb while Erin and Katy went to the Rascal Flatts concert. Both Jason and I get more comfortable each time. I don't think he's ever gone quite as high as this time, and I have never been at the extreme tips of the canopy before where the branches are 3 inches or less that I'm tied to. Things move a lot at that point. He came down first since his tree had less to cut out and grabbed the camera. Here I am almost to the top.


I also cut a couple lower live branches off to neaten things up a bit. Well that and inflict a little payback on the tree... A jump cut is where you get the branch to 'jump' off the tree, avoiding the hinge effect and letting it fall horizontal to the ground. Never tried it without a chainsaw before this effort.

We climbed a little more for fun, trying out some new techniques. When I came back in, the girls had made themselves dinner and some substantial desserts:

Finally, I have to mention that the wiring is roughed in and the ceiling drywalled in the bathroom. Check out my crew....

The Crankshaft Is OK!!!

I know you have all been concerned since my last post, so I'd thought I race up to the house and post the results of the crankshaft operation.....

First I had to get it out of the lawn mower. The poor patient looks a little worse for wear now:



Then very carefully with a file and many grits of wet-dry sandpaper I was able to remove the friction-welded aluminum from the journal surface and smooth the grooving a bit.

It's within spec, with minimum measurements at about 1.6134" and max measurements of 1.6141". That actually happens to be the min/max spec values exactly, and falls within the 0.001" out of round tolerance. We also meet the 0.0005" taper tolerance. It's nice that Kohler publishes these values in the service manual which is free to download. So the only question is surface finish, for which I can't find a spec. But I think I got it pretty good.


Now that I know you can all sleep better tonight, I will be able to sleep myself.

Lawnmower Problems

So, Erin was mowing and I was weedeating yesterday. There's an embankment along the side of the road that needed weedeating, but I wanted to mow as much as possible first. So after Erin finished, I took the mower back out. Sitting on the left fender I was able to mow at about 40 degrees maybe along the side of the hill. Then the oil light flashed on and the engine started to die. Dang. Killed the engine and towed it back to the shop with the big tractor, kicking myself the whole time. I knew I was getting close to an oil change, and hadn't checked the level for awhile.

When I got into the shop, I checked the level and it was low, but still in range. Huh? So how bad could the damage be? I started pulling apart the Kohler 20hp single piston engine to find out. Not how I imagined Father's Day, but....

So the pickup for the oil pump is on the left side. I had all the oil tipped to the right side. Plus I just read that the engine is only designed for operation up to 25 degrees.


Well, here is the damage.


The crank has some aluminum from the connecting rod friction welded to it. Not sure if it can be cleaned up or if I need a new one. I'll find out tonight when I pull the crank. I'm hoping I can skip the $200 crank and just get by with the $90 for a new rod and gaskets. Time will tell. At least the oil is being changed at the same time, right?

Chainsaw GTG

I've become addicted to this website, arboristsite.com. I found it when I was trying to find some info on how to splice a certain kind of climbing rope, and became hooked. I'm not the only one. They have about 38,000 members, although the regulars are a smaller crowd. Anyhow, the chainsaw guys had a Get-To-Gether in West Virginia on Saturday that I went to. Yeah, buddy....


Lots and lots of sawdust flying. Lots of noise. Lots of fun. And no, I don't expect many of you to understand....

Erin was out of town....

Erin was out of town for a few days last week, so I stayed up late working on Dav Projects. First up was splicing some prussik cord for climbing. Believe it or not, this little cord is rated for about 8000 lbs! And is heat resistant. Only the core fibers carry the load, so the outer braid is just whipped and stitched at the base of the eye. Two eyes make a prussik.



Here is the almost finished product. The core fibers are so fine and tend to snag that I whipped them so they would go on and off the caribiner easier. Below is the final setup, including a hitchclimber pulley.


Then the next night I decided to muffler mod my MS260 chainsaw for more power. See the bolt holes in the edges for attaching? That's about the size of the exhaust hole in the center before I started. Opening it ups helps a lot. Including swapping carbs for one with an adjustable H jet, it took about 2 hours. At the GTG on Saturday this thing ripped, people couldn't believe it was out-cutting bigger saws.

Erin's home now to save me from myself and make sure I go to bed at reasonable hours.....

Last Day Of School.

Alrighty then...today is the last day of school for Cailin and Marlee. But they keep correcting me -- it's not the last day, it's apparently the last 2-1/2 hours. And that's not a day. I guess this is one of the tough parts of educating your kids, they get smarter.

Dav

Not sure who he is calling, but I guess the helmet must be a safety
precaution.

2 Cuties in the grass

Taking the cat for a walk

Cailin is home sick today so we decided to go for a walk. Oliver
decided to join us. Did I mention that Cailin is bored to tears?

Happy Father's Day to me!

(from Erin)

Sailing with Mike

So we were going to go sailing with our friend J, but when we got to his boat Erin looked into the cabin and said, "Is there supposed to be water in here?" J responded, "Yeah, I've got bottled water in there." Not what Erin meant.

Luckily J's friend Mike was coming by on his boat, so the girls still got a ride.

Marlee

Cailin

Emma

Pirate Emma -- Arrgh!

Meredith & Mike

Erin is now contemplating life as a sailor...

Why the turtle crossed the road

So yesterday morning I was talking to Jane (the horse lady) about the turtle I had seen earlier. Then she called on her way out to tell me it was back, but was having trouble getting up the embankment on the side of the road.

The girls and I went to check it out. This turtle was smaller than the one earlier in the week, but still large. And it wasn't having trouble getting up the hill, it was burying eggs! If you look closely, this shot actually shows a white egg that dropped outta momma before she kicks it deep into the hole.

Concert

Meredith and David are staying with us for a bit over a week while their parents are in Maui. So, we've got concerts in the evening when Cailin and Meredith practice together.

Even rainy days are fun

Dave installed a hook in the sunroom ceiling tonight.

Why did the turtle cross the road?

The shell was about 15" long. I was going to move him across, but this snapper was a bit too feisty, so I left him to his own devices. Coming home last night there was no turtle goo, so I guess he made it.

Finally, some canopy time

Cailin had an orthodontist appointment this morning, so I just took the rest of the day. Along with being a bit productive around the house, I got to try out my new climbing rope in the big poplar next to the house. Here is the view from 80'. Nothing but green.


Oh, and don't look down....

Our kitty is cute too....

Wish I could sleep like that in the middle of a hard floor.

Mission Accomplished

Well, only if you break it down into mini missions. Gutting complete. Wow, there is a lot of space there when you remove the annoying walls.

Marlee

Found a quiet spot to read...

Don't stand between a woman and her new bathroom