Druidic exploits of a various nature!!

[v8druid]

lovely day, so spent some time yesterday, juggling firewood about .. been meaning to get this done for a while .... woodshed needs filling for the winter, 'fore it rains properly again and it all gets soaked





slung three down onto the drive and took one down with me ...





then slung the rest down .....





bag lifter is so easy and quick ...and 'Pam friendly' ... POP to use





three and a half bags later ... and two hours of in/out - up/down in that bloody wood shed .... remembering to duck every time - almost!!




get a few more in there yet, I reckon ..... after a bit more of a square up and losing the last half bag already down there ................... and my feet have recovered


losing the bags, from up top, made me some space to relocate some of me pallet pile and the third wood box, which've all been sat on the new flat area





and got this all cleared, ready for some black stuff and 40mm








when it eventually arrives!! .... the black stuff guys are real busy ATM


Also lifted me band saw out into a more usable spot .... got a few jobs for it shortly and had yet another small reshuffle of a few items, while I was at it

[v8druid]

I keep forgetting to show you guys Alex's truck that we did the bed for a while ago


not the greatest of pix and still bits to be done ... the back end has some under-body tool boxes being made ATM, to come down to the wings and infill the 'void'. They took some measuring up a few weeks ago .... the body guys did a superb job on it including some stunning paintwork. Making flat ali panels that well takes a LOT of doing .... he's since put a full set of up-rated 'susspendies' on it with IIRC +2" of lift and pre-loaded for the additional dead weight.
Gives about 800kg payload, with it all fitted





























he designed it and had it made by some bodybuilders ... it is VERY smart ... I spent some time straightening out the bed for it, that he fabbed up and making the wings, if you recall ...... Need a good bench and some practice to make flat beds and keep 'em flat.


and here's one with the roof rack on the back end .....





He spent a few years in Oz and it's a combination of all the best features he saw on 'utes' out there :thumme: and a few of his own ideas. he tells me that you can buy just a chassis cab out of the dealers out there ..... or spec. exactly what you want on it and it arrives in this sort of spec./flatbed/whatever .... new out the box

His Lloyd went onto the Mec .... without the SMP ..... bit tight with it apparently ....... and won't flow enough oil anyway



face shovel style was easier ... for running / loading it ... does a hell of a job

[v8druid]

Get your shed up first, or you'll have a load of rusty toys!

I could've fitted it in a box Andrew ..... just .... with two inches to spare in the height dept. .... could also do with having the facilities it would provide me with ....
academic now unfortunately ... for now, at least

[AndrewMawson]

Get your shed up first, or you'll have a load of rusty toys!

[v8druid]

have done very little, most of the weekend other than 'net browsing.


Been looking for a turret mill and had found a real tidy Ajax, not far from me, full DRO, ex training school, so light use and very nice.


eventually got some com.s from the seller, only to find he'd blown it and a load of other gear out to a dealer, to clear it all for the new term's start ... well pissed off!!! ..... would've been ideal.
so new saved search entered and see what crops up.
would've preferred this over a Bridgeport .... heavier built all together !!





Gutted !!









Like new, near as ..... I'd have taken all three if I'd only heard from the guy in good time ... other two'd have been well sale-able and a peach for myself

[v8druid]

went off for a trial fit this morning .... see if anything else needs tweaking, but hopefully not. ..... unlikely to be run under the SMP anyway, by the sound of it, as the flow rate is pretty serious

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it may be called a "Nanostar" .... but sod all 'nano' about it

pissed down just after we got it strapped down ...... hence i'm sat here

[v8druid]

actually managed to find a new vibe drive belt for me roller this week ..... old one's a bit tired and intermittent on the ol' vibe . So managed to put the roller over everything and really get it whacked down ready for the black stuff

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oh and the bloody acorn season has kicked off damned things rain down, in some order, when they get going.
Rolling them under the planings ain't an option...... if you don't want oak trees everywhere

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need to get the black stuff here and spread about PDQ

spent some time yesterday sorting a.n.other lil' job for Alex ...

needed a mount that'd take various cheek sets .... the primary one being one of my S50s I made for him a while back..
the S50s are the same width as the Lloyd mounting centres .... as in EXACTLY ..... those 6 x M20 bolts sit precisely under the S50 cheeks so ..... spacer plate required with all mounts tapped into it

M20s to mount the spacer adapter

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and M16s for the S type

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had to fit the tags to carry the plumbing/valves, as they originally fitted under the M20 bolts holding the tiny head plate it arrived with.

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so we were ready for a trial fit

M20 SHCS,s were a mil. too long so had to grind them off flush ..... other than that

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perfick

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had to tweak the plumbing a bit to get things to sit right ..... but it'll do .............. nicely

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mount hole sets are std kinshoffer 140mm x 140mm ctrs x 4no and 175mm PCD x 6no ...... same as all his other att.s .... keep it standard. ... and guess who else uses those 'standard' mount dim.s on his att.s too

[v8druid]

new internet server went live today ... BT cut me off bang on midnight last night ... plugged in the new one .. spent an hour and a half trying to get my 'puter to talk to it : ... could see the wifi, but not listed and would not communicate .... phone fine ... pam's laptop fine .... having been through every setting in the list, I've concluded my old wifi ain't compatible ... despite the fact that it is the right 'speed'/frequency and the router is only 6 ft away. "No wireless networks found"
Gave up and went to bed


dragged the old girl out this morning for it's 3 monthly blast out with the air line ... routed an ethernet cable and moved yon router even closer to reach the cable.
stuck all the leccyspaghetti back together and hey presto ... nice, new, much faster, BB and no more BT tossers to deal with in Bombay!!


Half the price of the previous crap ... no contract and price fixed for 3 years
should have done this ages ago !!


One to make you smile .... in the gents at The Heath hospital Tuesday .... a complete pictorial set of instructions ........... on how to wash your hands !!!


FFS !!!

[v8druid]

well it dried up ............... eventually ... and I set to sorting the last lil' bit of bank and deck/floor .....







ripped this out to bed rock below at about 450mm and then back filled it with all the crushed up rock from the bank that I ripped out .... bout a third of it left here ...


went down pretty well







and looked even better with the old roller over it ....














last bit was a bit of a fiddle .....







once i'd moved the pallets of rock out the way

load 400 went down the rock tip yesterday ..












he got some pile of road stone there now ..... that was his last .... unless SWMBO has a change of heart and I get to rip out a lot more bank .. just not worth the argument ATM ........ job done, apart from black stuff and clean 40mm


been down the field today with Jake ..... trying to spread the soil about a bit ... some of it's like bloody concrete ... been standing some time, some of it and had some serious wettings







went armed with a couple of options







had Clara last night, so not the earliest of kick offs, by the time she'd been collected ...... ran out of time .... and patience by tea time ... it's all a lot flatter, but not to my satisfaction ..... another session required .... and may well be with summat on tracks and circa 5t .... 'tis 'challenging' on wheels down there ... cross slope is 'exciting' !!!!!!!


new 'net tomorrow .... **** off BT ..... have had a serious titsful of them this last 12 months



halved the bill and got shot, all in one hit .... no contract ... not happy? .... move next month .... fixed price for 3 years

BT went up every 3 months for a totally shit service

Clara discovered grand dad's roll of 'emergency plasters' in't jakie Saturday ..... she loves a plaster ... or ten !!

[v8druid]

jeeeez have we had some rain last night & today ....








drained well though when it eventually stopped for an hour .....long enough for a certain aspiring op. to get some seat time ....





We also seemed to be 'the destination' for next door's pheasants .... obviously released a hatch yesterday .... 46 of 'em on the lawn !!





they must know it's a safe haven

[v8druid]

been a right pissy couple of days .....





... and nights here ... sod all progress ... too soggy


been ing about sussing a template for a cheek change this evening after it'd dried up this afters .... and after I'd been coerced into a spot of brick laying for the boss ...








Yon riddle bucket's going S50





But not before it's had a stint on Jake, down the field ... if it ever stops being pissy wet overnights.
couple of piles of riddled material to top off with'd be well handy !!

[v8druid]

had a bit of a 'brainwave' Tuesday morning .... Jake is mobile ..... a lot more mobile than a load of pallets of stone .... so wound him up and vacated the space he's been parked in for months .. started first flick .... good ol' 4.236 Perky ... never fails





and slotted a dozen pallets into the spot










creating some serious space to fit a 'Drema into and get some rock ripping finished







Yesterday morning saw that rock bed get reduced by another 6-8" and completely demolished in places, to create a drainage channel to meet the existing one down the centre of the patch ......







then backfilled with a load of crushed stone, etc.





bang on target for the 40mm clean filled 3'x2'channels across the centre of the patch


....


ready for 'the treatment' and a good rolling ....




which it got .....



Belt on the roller was playing up this afters and decided to give it some belt dressing ... which I've had sat about for years .... pressed the nozzle to spray the belt and the damned thing absolutely showered me in dressing ..... like a champagne bottle going off !!!!!


'twere looking better by tea time anyway and Jakie got relocated for now ....








well pleased I decided to rip that last bit of rock bed out ..... looks so much better and will drain now


Loads more pix in the usual place for anyone interested .......


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planings and 40mm next ....... and get this end of the bank finished off !!

been a damp ol' day today on/off so little in the way of progress but 'sposed to be dry now for a several days ..... finish the bank, get the last of the crap down the field and get ol' Jakieb down there for a major square up and level off
40 t of planings ordered .... get them down and then get some clean 40mm in to do the edge drainage channels and a few other spots that need topping up
still no word from, or sign of the bloody stone mason

[v8druid]

run out of space in't shed .... well the high level space anyway ....

so picked up some more 225 x 47 boards last Friday and some angle to make more with.

after I'd sobered up from the night's 'drug excesses' I thought I'd get one up at least .... had a bit of a rough night last Saturday ... 5 a.m. to bed, waiting for the painkillers to kick in







t'other one Monday, between grand dadding

ground was drying nicely .......AGAIN!! had been blowing like hell here again all day and with no rain forecast for the week, I might just manage to get it all sorted ready for some black stuff and 40mm clean ...... better get it ordered



Monday was a long 'Clara day' ..... takes some amusing for ten hrs
Managed to get an hour or so and got the second shelf up in't shed ...








now to fill 'em both up


also found some 25mm bar for a lil' job I started a while back ... didn't think I had any ..... 'til I was putting away some material I picked up at Pete's fab shop, Friday and there it was


this was too good to turn into blocks ..... be handy between a couple of sun loungers ... always looking for summat to park a cup on .....




Squeak loved it .... and the boss was well happy with it too


Had a visit from Alex, late afternoon .... sharpen his chain saw chain, pretty please?? .... me Lidl chainsaw grinder does a great job .....left us a 'prezzy' on the drive .... brand new courtesy car ... his is in on a recall .....




bloody oil patches !!!!! out the bottom of a brand new Toyota hybrid Prius


he had a bit of a delay on his way home .....










this truck will have left their yard ... less than two miles from this bridge ... a known 'striker' .... gets one a month on average .... some one'll have had a bollocking for this !!

[v8druid]

........Was supposed to have been heading for Bristol airport by now .... pick up the kids at midnight.
phone call 20:15 ..... "er...... we missed our flight" ......
"How Josh? ... it doesn't take off for another two hours??"
"er .... it was 10.30 this morning .... not tonight!!" ..... PMSL !! .........

well they missed the wedding
..... all set and about to jump in't car to go get 'em from Brummy airport yesterday afternoon .... call to say they couldn't get on the flight, after all .....
Missed the evening do too


were gonna be coming into Bristol at noon today.


Called 'em this morning to make sure they were DEFFO coming ... yep 11:55 landing.


I can do Bristol centre in about 35-40 min.s usually, so left at 10:55, knowing they'd be a good half hour getting through check in, etc.


always go old bridge and into Bristol, for the airport .... signs take you bloody miles around and if there's any issue on the M/ways, you'm ****ed!!


M48's 4 miles were clear/completely empty, M4's two miles were reasonable, running at 70mph, M5's mile-ish was the same, clear to Aztec West/Filton and solid stationary traffic on-wards ... hadn't planned quite such a convoluted route through Bristol, but no choice and dived off into Filton !!


their Ryanair plane was coming in, for touch down, as I reached the crest of the hill at Lulsgate and pulled over to await a call, to say they were at the pick up area ...... parking, as at all airports, is exorbitant !!!!!! ..... roadside is free and I got to watch the big white birds coming in ..... never tire of watching those things coming down, or taking off


Loaded and away by one o'clock, decent run through Bristol's back routes, across the downs, through Westbury's 'suburbia' and back home at 14:10 ...... traffic was horrendous ..... in the other direction, on the bits of M/way that were unavoidable ... which weren't much .... without major back-road/country lane detours!!


three years living in Bristol maaaany years ago always gives me an edge


Day buggered again .... but mission accomplished !

[v8druid]

well they weren't bloody kidding on the rain front !!!!











has dried off a bit ... been blowy as **** here again today





couple to make you smile/smirk .....


had to dash into town last night .... no fuel in the Golf !!! .. pulled into the local garage in the village .... grabbed a pump and got to 10 quid before doing a double take ...... I'd only grabbed the usual green nozzle ..... SHEEEIT !
fortunately I had room for another 50 quids-worth of diesel on top of it .. so reckon on about 5-8% mix, max, with what was left in it too !


don't 'spose I fill the Golf in six weeks or more .... so used to chucking fuel in the P38!! ...... very lucky it clicked, when it did !!!




Was supposed to have been heading for Bristol airport by now .... pick up the kids at midnight.
phone call 20:15 ..... "er...... we missed our flight" ......
"How Josh? ... it doesn't take off for another two hours??"
"er .... it was 10.30 this morning .... not tonight!!" ..... PMSL !!


waiting to hear what they're going to do ... were only coming back, to go to a mate's wedding tomorrow, ..... they'd originally planned 3+ weeks holiday.


told 'em to stay ... rent another car and carry on with their hol.s .... head for a port, eventually and come back 'foot passenger', on a ferry ... cheap as!! .... £450 quid for flights tomorrow!!!! .... FFS !!


I can then go pick 'em up from Portsmouth as and when, or they go Roscoff/Plymouth and catch a bus home --- they live in Plymouth.




here's why the HPX had to have the turret .....














.....and the reason I made the pick up multi-holed for a choice of bolt on position !!
move it back one set of holes, on the 4 hole location and it'd have full opening on the gripper !!
Like I always say ..... try to cater for all eventualities !!