Druidic exploits of a various nature!!

[v8druid]

as I've already said ... me digging's been progressing ...





and been finding plenty more rocks .... in all shapes and sizes....





including one large boulder, which has obviously come out of the boulder field at some point in the past ...... then buried up in that bank !!!! a good 12 ft above the boulder field level .....


t'were a bit of a lump .....





..... on the forks !!


but makes a good fork rest .....




have been ripping out some of the rock bed, Thursday afternoon and Friday morning ....





the bigger lumps have been taking free fall lessons ..... and coming apart nicely





as you can see from the first pic .... we've had a few 'showers' the last few days ..... 'kin monsoon type showers ... short and sharp !!


Just before one of said 'showers' Friday lunchtime I was ripping into it when I suddenly thought .... "I can smell plantohyd!" .... usually means one thing .... if haven't already seen it .... oil is escaping somewhere to atmosphere !!!
jumped out .... looked under her ... sod all .... walked around her to see a small fountain down in the turntable region ... back in and off PDQ !!





I could smell it and sure as hell see it, but was f***ed if I could see exactly where it was originating from ..... looked for ages .... but no obvious signs, so had to run her up again and try to spot it .....


OK .. nailed to approx. region it was spraying from, but COULD NOT see exactly WTF it was spurting from ..... had to be a pipe from the two engine mounted pumps for the servos and the brakes/steering as it was continuous.


delved through 3 layers of pipes, looking, but again now't obvious ...... finally having tied up two layers to get a look at the third 'layer' I still had to run her up another twice to isolate the culprit ...... What a b****rd place to go ..!!!!


Brake / steering pump pressure line to the pedal and orbital ..... under the sump, through the off side, side frame, across the turntable with 5 others, into a rat's nest of servo pipes, etc., exiting through the nearside, side frame, under the cab, then full length to the front of the cab floor and to the brake pedal .... f**k!!!!


remember my 'note to self' ... not so long back .... well she'd chosen to play silly buggers, cross chassis!!!!


good job I'm relatively slim and slender, 'cos I've had to squeeze into some pretty tight gaps/spaces, to get at the lil' sod.


reckon this must be one of those 'first fit' pipes when they build 'em .... unreal location for the union .... "HTF am I going to get a spanner in there" after finally tracing the route of the exact pipe ?????


lying there, staring at this in disbelief and noticed the head light next to it .. aha!!!!!


light out and there it was .... still pretty tight but suddenly a whole lot more accessible and visible .....





eventually got this 12' pipe off about 6.15 Friday night .... ready for a trip to Raglan Saturday morning!!!




spent the rest of the evening after tea .... cleaning the turntable out of all the accumulated crap ....





hoovers are wonderful weapons for nigh on inaccessible shite


and no that's not Pam's best hoover .... tha's my 'dirty' one usually reserved for boiler servicing ..... it did well last night coping with God knows what, altogether!!!


In Raglan ready for opening at 9.00 yesterday morning .... hose made, two drums of hyd. for Alex, while I was there, in't car and back by ten, in time for Serge's arrival at 10.30.


as said Genny partially serviced, Pam and Serge's other half went off for a walk, whilst we sorted that and set the world to rights .... followed by a leisurely lunch in the sun and joined, just in the nick of time, for a share, by Alex, who'd called by to collect his oil !


Serge and Jane had to shoot off after lunch ... 'bout three and I set to, getting the pipe back into spot on't 'Drema, assisted by Mr Playle, feeding it in, as I threaded it into some very silly/tight/bloody stupid locations





my right arm has paid the price!!!!! Some bloody sharp bits under there !!!





got bruises everywhere and some very sore ribs, from hanging off the bonnet, delving into the turntable, getting the buggered one out and new one back in.
Arms could've done with being 6" longer!!


would've been a hell of a lot slower going back in without Alex's assistance yesterday!!

[v8druid]

getting back to the brake pads for a minute .....

I was doubly pissed off, as I've dealt with these guys since they opened in Aber 30 odd years ago and have always tried to patronise them, where possible. .... Keep it local !


Shouldn't have dealt with a minion on the phone .... so was waiting for the 'boss' to call me back when he was in .... we are friends and even socialise together.


10% for the convenience, 'praps, but 100% is taking the piss. Was gonna be surprised if 'the situation' wasn't rectified

after a conversation ..... me Mintexs were now £45 instead of the ultra silly 65 quid ..... was still a tenner more than available elsewhere but not worth the argument, or falling out over ..... but duly stored in the memory banks for again

bad news for Ferodo lovers when I got to changing the pads ....





must've not had any Mintex the day I bought these !!!!


as said ..... pads at about 70% wear-wise ...... life-wise .... totally fooked











having had the fronts off and checked as well ..... they were fine ???


I have had a pad separate once before ... long time ago and was standing on 'em at the time, from some seeeeerious speed, when some Richard Cranium decided to stop, for no known reason, in the middle of a dual carriage way!!! *rick !! .....
new underwear job that was, when the brake pedal disappeared to the floor ..... a few pumps later and retardation was restored, all be it with some very loud metal to metal screaching from the OSF caliper !!!!


got bloody rained on lthursday night .... dawn chorus woke me up, as usual at five to four .... with the windows wide open ATM, they're hard to miss and the rain started just after. Had stopped by eight, but left anything brown and dusty decidedly sticky under foot - or wheel !! So that knackered the morning!!


so P38 went in the air, as above and sorted the pad issues, as I wanted/was in need of some 'cherry'.
Got her sorted ..... and took some pix ... then went off for some fuel.


by the time I'd gotten back, filled the 'Drema and Thwaites up, off loaded the drum onto the floor and topped up the old girl with Plantohyd, things were looking a lot dryer, but the day was knackered.


while i had her running, I thought I'd give the Meba a lift onto the bench ...





needed to sort a wiring issue ..... looks to have had, (I'm guessing), a key switch robbed off it!!





and it was going to be a bloody sight easier to do up there, than grovelling on the floor ...... it was too ..... job sorted that evening after tea.


Just had to get a chassis plug attached and wired into it and could give her a try.
could also do with a few more hours spent on the cleaning front .... God knows what's all over it !!


Me muck shift/dig is progressing well

as said above .... leccy spaghetti all back as it should be





and chassis plug fitted.





these were originally fitted with a simple push button on/off .. when the saw finished a cut and dropped to its rest a set-able button 'push' pressed the stop button.....


someone's obviously had issues with the original set up and has replced the original switch gear with a proximity sensor for the 'stop at rest'/cut finished, auto shut off ..... very fancy and highly complex in the 'box of tricks' dept. ... took a bit of sussing





My mate Serge, the genny man, came around for a few hours yesterday morning with some distilled water for me, to change out the coolant in the genny. Having sorted that, we ran her up to temp. to check for leaks, etc.!!


Whilst she was running seemed like a good opportunity to give the saw a try .... runs sweet as a nut ... and in the right direction - first time ... which is unusual for 3 ph ..... sod's law usually dictates the need for a wire swap.


Also ran up the belt grinder which runs as you'd expect ..... other than backwards, initially ...... quick swap in extension for now, but will return that to std and alter the phases in the grinder's control box, when I've time ... keep it all on a std pattern.

[v8druid]

Certainly not in the case of our local authority. They don't keep the staff anymore and outsource it to an agricultural consultant who generates a report.

i was concerned he'd kick off about the minimal stock I had, so I arranged to be pressure washing a stock trailer when he arrived and told him that that'd be last use this year 'now they've gone'

Spent most of the time eating my biscuits and drinking my tea and telling me how much he was looking forward to retiring!

Surely you need your shed at a more secure place for your farming tackle as your remote holding is a long way from people and vulnerableand here you can keep an eye on it

great argument Andrew ...... plus t'other'd be rented and hardly want to build a machine store on rented ground

[AndrewMawson]

Certainly not in the case of our local authority. They don't keep the staff anymore and outsource it to an agricultural consultant who generates a report.

i was concerned he'd kick off about the minimal stock I had, so I arranged to be pressure washing a stock trailer when he arrived and told him that that'd be last use this year 'now they've gone'

Spent most of the time eating my biscuits and drinking my tea and telling me how much he was looking forward to retiring!

Surely you need your shed as a more secure place for your farming tackle as your remote holding is a long way from people and vulnerable and here you can keep an eye on it

[v8druid]

I'm on my iPad so not easy to include links, but Google 28 day notice and all should be revealed

I just had to submit the form, a modest fee, and a location plan to a prescribed scale showing where on your land it is, and where your land is. I did all mine on line.

yes you need to be farming it, but that is a loose description, just have a few sheep around when the chap comes round, and a few bales of hay etc

if you go on your local planning portal you can read all the other current and previous applications and their consultants reports which gives you a clue as to what and what not to write!

Thanks Andrew
I'll have a look this evening ..... be real good if I can swing it ..... save a lot of hassle .... our local planners are tw*ts to deal with

So their 'consultant' isn't even a planning officer then ?????

[AndrewMawson]

I'm on my iPad so not easy to include links, but Google 28 day notice and all should be revealed

I just had to submit the form, a modest fee, and a location plan to a prescribed scale showing where on your land it is, and where your land is. I did all mine on line.

yes you need to be farming it, but that is a loose description, just have a few sheep around when the chap comes round, and a few bales of hay etc

if you go on your local planning portal you can read all the other current and previous applications and their consultants reports which gives you a clue as to what and what not to write!

[v8druid]

Druid, if you have 5 hectares or more of agricultural land then you have permitted development of several thousand square foot of buildings per annum so long as it's not to house livestock. You slap a notice on the local planners and they have 28 days in which to object, but there are very few reasons that they can use.

as for boys toy sheds, mine genuinely houses two small Tractors (Ford 4000 and 4600) a JCB 803, a dumper truck, an Ifor William, a Forklift and several pallets of fencing materials, post hole borers, oh and a hedge flail like yours. All ESSENTIAL for maintenance of the land.

On the day of the visit I was down to one pig and a dozen sheep, might help if you let your neighbour graze your field 'on the day' !

oh and the 5 hectares doesn't have to be all yours, you can 'rent' to make up so long as it's within 5 miles or so

More Q.s

when you say "have" .... you don't have to be farming it? just "have" it ??

I like the sound of the "several thousand square foot of buildings per annum" ... not as I need that, but may well go for 60 x 40 rather than the 45 x 40 (1800 sq ft), which seems an easier proposition for my usage. ... was planning on getting a 45 x 40 up and banging an extra bay on at a later date, once it was all sorted

"Notice" ..... is there a 'prescribed form' for this, or does one just write informing them of your intentions to erect said shed, as a 'formal notice of intent' ??

Are there then any time constraints on carrying out your intentions, once they've been notified and been through the procedures?

Presumably this method avoids all the planning notices and all the consultation BS that one would normally have to do ???

Next door'd be pissed off with no opportunity to object ..... or would that constitute one of the " very few reasons "

Mine'd be " genuinely " housing my toys (sorry tools) too, plus a bit of kit needed for the maintenance of said toys (er .. tools)

Need a conversation with Pam's elderly cousins

Thanks so much for this gem of information

[v8druid]

Druid, if you have 5 hectares or more of agricultural land then you have permitted development of several thousand square foot of buildings per annum so long as it's not to house livestock. You slap a notice on the local planners and they have 28 days in which to object, but there are very few reasons that they can use.

as for boys toy sheds, mine genuinely houses two small Tractors (Ford 4000 and 4600) a JCB 803, a dumper truck, an Ifor William, a Forklift and several pallets of fencing materials, post hole borers, oh and a hedge flail like yours. All ESSENTIAL for maintenance of the land.

On the day of the visit I was down to one pig and a dozen sheep, might help if you let your neighbour graze your field 'on the day' !

oh and the 5 hectares doesn't have to be all yours, you can 'rent' to make up so long as it's within 5 miles or so

only got 1.8 acres ....... how strict is the 5 miles bit?
Pam's elderly cuzs have a good 40 acres and I'm sure I could be 'renting' some o' that for the relevant period

Thanks for the info. ...... really handy stuff to know ....
never really looked at ag. planning rules ... always been commercial and of course dev. for my old w/shop site

I need to read up on this ........ where there's a will ....

[AndrewMawson]

Druid, if you have 5 hectares or more of agricultural land then you have permitted development of several thousand square foot of buildings per annum so long as it's not to house livestock. You slap a notice on the local planners and they have 28 days in which to object, but there are very few reasons that they can use.

as for boys toy sheds, mine genuinely houses two small Tractors (Ford 4000 and 4600) a JCB 803, a dumper truck, an Ifor William, a Forklift and several pallets of fencing materials, post hole borers, oh and a hedge flail like yours. All ESSENTIAL for maintenance of the land.

On the day of the visit I was down to one pig and a dozen sheep, might help if you let your neighbour graze your field 'on the day' !

oh and the 5 hectares doesn't have to be all yours, you can 'rent' to make up so long as it's within 5 miles or so

[v8druid]

One to make you smile ..... message from Vicki in Vietnam this morning ......


" Last night we were walking through the town after dinner and Clara started shouting 'look, a rubber duck'.
We had no idea what she was on about - until I spotted a digger just like yours in grey not yellow. On wheels not tracks.
Amazing what she knows and remembers!! "


The Jake is no longer 'other one digger', but JCB now


I'm amazed by it, as I doubt if I have referred to the 'Drema as a rubber duck more than a handful of times, if that


quite remarkable what she remembers, love her

[v8druid]

bit of a rant


Been having squealy/sticky rear brake issues on the P38 last few times it's been out, so had the wheels off it Sunday for a shufty, expecting to find stuck sliders or enough crap/rust build up around the calipers to be causing a sticking issue.


All free ... plenty of crap but not stuck and pistons returning fine


Pulled the calipers off and .......... the Mintex pads have de-laminated friction and backing are no longer working in perfect harmony


fitted Aug. 2014 and done little mileage ... pads at circa 70% and I am not hard on the pedal. I don't do a great deal of miles these days.


If the backs are in this state the fronts are getting changed too!!!!!


anyway, aside from the issue of their demise, what really pissed me off today was the cost of their replacements.


In '14 both axles were 21 quid to sort, so WTF, if our inflation rate has been 3-5% annually, over the last 4 years, did it cost me 62 quid for two sets of Mintex pads today, FFS????


And while I'm on a roll ...... WTF has butter gone from 80p to £1-80 in the same space of time??????
not quite the trebling of the pads, but FFS ..... well over doubled.


3-5% A.I.R. ..... pull the other one!!

[v8druid]

I put my 40 foot x 45 foot Tractor Shed up on a 28 day notice - no issues. They sent their 'consultant' round who agreed (after tea and biscuits) that it was necessary for agricultural purposes

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4099[/ATTACH]

That's exactly what I want Andrew 40'W x 45'L - 1800 sq. ft. ... looks about the right sort of height too ....... tell me more about the 28 day notice thingy please .... does it work for Boy's Toys sheds too ?????

[AndrewMawson]

I put my 40 foot x 45 foot Tractor Shed up on a 28 day notice - no issues. They sent their 'consultant' round who agreed (after tea and biscuits) that it was necessary for agricultural purposes

IMG_6106.jpg

[v8druid]

Good progress, but getting the band saw and belt grinder it's getting imperative to get a shed up pretty soon to keep them dry.

It's coming .... be quicker without all the other crap I have to deal with too

Grinder is tucked away in a box already Andrew ..... I'll soon have a juggle and make space for the saw in the doorway of a box ...
get it in easy with the VA-r and forks on't 'Drema

As for sheds ....... you've never had to deal with MCC's planning dept. .... bunch of jumped up, un-informed, unprofessional, power crazed, tin God, hand crankers ..... wish we were in Herefordshire 3 miles away .... so laid back

[AndrewMawson]

Good progress, but getting the band saw and belt grinder it's getting imperative to get a shed up pretty soon to keep them dry.