Druidic exploits of a various nature!!

[v8druid]

As mentioned previously elsewhere --- something different last night.


Neighbour about 1/2 a mile away .... as the crow flies .... two by road, has this ....





Ovlov EC15B ....





not had it very long and giving strange issues. Contacted me through a series of PMs here ..... guy I've not seen in 40 years and we're 1/2 a mile apart !!! LOL


could I possibly lend any assistance with some trouble shooting ... he'd seen me gauges in a thread on here.


Not having seen John in such a long time, was quite a surprise to find he was so close ... so yeh, I was up for a catch up and a shufty.


Machine is losing all hydraulics intermittently and if provoked will stall the old girl too ??


After a bit of a catch up after I'd arrived, we got down to the beast ... three Staufs .....





A appears to be directly adjacent to the main P line into the chest/block ......
C is on a block which I can only assume is a pressure reducer valve from main to servo pressure - has a P and a T and feeds the servo circuits.
B is a bit of a mystery and looks for all the world like an LS line ??
the pump that's on it though is a gear type, fixed displacement, not a VP, which'd need the LS line to function, so I'm a bit nonplussed as to quite WTF it does?????


Stauf A produces no movement on the gauge - AT ALL - no matter what you try/do/operate .. this is supposed to be where main circuit pressure is measured at ???


Stauf B produces 140 bar when a motion is operated - any motion


Stauf C is showing 25 bar, constantly when the machine is running.


the MRV is missing its seal cap, which is lying under it, in the guts -- yellow thing, under the blue MRV which is under Stauf B and shows signs of having had an allen key in it, but no witness marks in the paint on the lock nut or the body ???





I also discovered that it's been 'gotten at', before John's ownership !!


I'm told by a reliable source (MUZ/Mattir) that MRV should be set at 180 bar and the servo circuit pressure should be 35 bar.
if the MRV has been wound down, I'd see it on the body, devoid of paint on the threads, but it wouldn't then make her stall??


if it's been wound up ( ? ) which is more likely, I'd expect to see a LOT more than the 140 bar I'm seeing at Stauf B.


Any one else have any suggestions/information/knowledge of these beasties ... a hydraulic schematic'd be awesome ...and in particular, what sort of pump is fitted to 'em - FD gear or VD?

the reason I ask about the pump is ...... this one appears to have been off , or perhaps replaced ..... note the bodgery/stilson marks on the hyd fittings and the angle the jubilee is sat at on the feed hose








and wondering if the right pump is fitted to the machine ???????


the mount face looks like it has had a larger pump fitted, previously ??


Spent most of yesterday evening, after I got back, from John's, proof reading, punctuating and spell checking half of Pam's daughter's dissertation, for her PGCE course she's been doing, this last 12 months, followed by the other half this morning, after I'd un-fried my brain, with a few hours sleep.


So wasn't the earliest of starts for my job for the day .....


four down ......







reckoned on another two to go....





aside from the re-packing of the three dumpies, currently sat on me cages!!
Squeak was exhausted by all the effort ...... of watching me do it all .......



Managed to blag myself a few pallets on Friday on the way home from some 'cherry shopping' .....





and got me 'cable collection', relocated onto one of 'em Friday evening, 'fore committing the remains of the previous pallet, under it all, to the burning bin.
This lot came home from me workshop .... wasn't leaving it there for their demo boys....I have a use for it and fixtures and fittings weren't included in the sale !!! .. enough there to sort my new shed's requirements ... and some !!





Saturday day'd been a write off, as far as doing anything was concerned, other than entertaining Clara, whilst her mum frantically finished off her dissertation, for our perusal.


weather forecast is pretty good for the week, so might even manage to relocate some spoil, if yon field's dried enough!!

[v8druid]

couple more pix ...... from the top of the spoil heap this evening .... bit dark for pix really







getting a bit crowded down there







been shifting more stuff down from teh upper level this afternoon ...

me saw bench - 3ph so not been used in a while ..... generator required - urgently


2t gantry hoist for the ridge of me shed



and its block



poor old girl is not wearing well, under a tarpaulin



if he's not under me feet ---- he's under the wheels ---- or on the lower carriage - -- - somewhere





I prefer him either under me feet or on my lap ... least I can see him then

a part of the cause of an afternoon start to the 'stuff shifting' .....



All massacred again for a few days .... sposed to rain here again tomorrow afternoon, so it'll need doing again Monday ..... gonna be wet Sunday too apparently
I've decided that a VERY regular cut regime is the way to an easier life on the grass front ... as long as it's dry enough to get on it.
The lawns look equally 'short'
Trying to summon up the enthusiasm to do the bank on the left of the drive .... cutting it's the easy part .... it's the collecting it up's the killer

[v8druid]

the 3 ft Akerman came out to play today







those Bofors teeth did a fine job on ripping up the rock bed and finished off with me favorite Geith edge-er







for trimming down a few ridges and loading 6t of it into the Thwaites for starters ... had a job for some fill in the gully where the rocks were stacked.





the spoil pile grew a bit more too .....







and got the bank reasonably shaped up .....









first south westerly we've had in a week .... needed to get some rubbish burnt.


Interesting bed of rock under the mud stone layer ..... like slabs with joints, from what I see so far ????





Batter is going to need a bit more 'light attention' once I've got the bulk of it out and been resisting putting the VA-r on all afternoon, due to the rock that needs to be ripped out at the lowest point -- bloody hard!!
looks alright (I think) .... for a 3 ft bucket in a concave curve - first pass anyway !!
Little bit of finesse-ing required here and there :D




AND .... that oak has gotta have it soon especially whilst the deck is relatively clear

[v8druid]

sat chilling in the sunshine today ----- for a change and it came to me what I was doing four years ago this weekend ..... kick off at 08.00 on the Saturday morning ......



back at the house by 09.00 ..... with #1



followed by #2 .... by 11.00




and #3 in and finished by 13.00 .......



a well planned and executed day
Pam was on coffee & camera duty ..... and hell did she take a few

for those who're either interested ........ or gluttons for punishment ......

http://s1275.photobucket.com/user/v8...show/box%20day

doesn't seem like four years ago

[v8druid]

Do you mean her own expressed milk, or her own formula stuff ? If its the former .. I havent heard of that ? Didnt think the wee ones would be that fussy .. unless she (mum) is a herbivore perhaps

He's a PITFA apparently .... if he ain't latched on, he won't have it, not even from her ...... we were doomed from the off

[Muz]

flatly refused a bottle of his mum's milk ... no way - no how was he having it, at any angle we parked him at .

Do you mean her own expressed milk, or her own formula stuff ? If its the former .. I havent heard of that ? Didnt think the wee ones would be that fussy .. unless she (mum) is a herbivore perhaps

[v8druid]

well the sun has shone on the righteous .... and Druid central today ...


Have had the day to myself .... the boss, Clara and her mum have been out, sort of baby sitting Shem, in Bristol as his mum has been at her sister's 'hen' weekend do there. He won't bottle feed and so has to be within relative feeding distance every 4 hrs or so, which makes for an interesting weekend for her.


So, whilst conditions were right .... and the ground is relatively dry .... on me patch at least, some 'digging' was had ...... after I'd made a bit of space to park a stockpile, ready for transfer at a later date.





had a bit to shift/juggle about first, including all me buckets, forks, grab, etc., for under the VA-r and still leave me enough space to get where I needed to be !!





ripping out the mudstone bed was hard going .... should have sorted me ripper by now .... but haven't !!
some careful use of my favorite geith saw it peeling up reasonably well, as long as I didn't get greedy





was doing reasonably well, getting an area down to a level-ish bed, from a stand on the planings and was about to move up onto the ramp to get a pull along the edge





when Pam's elderly 'farmer brothers' cousins arrived ....... with the boiler out of their Aga....in need of some attention .... bugger!!!!

three hours later !!!!! after performing some minor miracles on paper thin seams, I was relatively confident that I'd got the leak(s) !!!
had to build everything back up, before I could make a secure seam again !!





I used to make firebox boilers for Agas and Rayburns for a local guy who used to install/modify existing units, many years ago - done dozens of 'em - in 6mm plate.
This bloody thing was a combination of 2mm stainless and 3mm steel .. amazed it had lasted as long as it had ..... and the welding on it was sh1te!!!!


so whilst it cooled off, we had a cuppa, before sticking it back in their pick up, so's they could go rebuild their Aga.
'Twas now gone six and thought I'd better call it a day .... the sound of scraping mudstone was just a tad on the loud side .... and I was ready for me tea !!
Damned near seven by the time I'd tidied up and put the old girl to bed for the night ....... running out of space quietly !!!!





I hadn't finished the last mouthful, when team granny and sproglets returned, exhausted from a long day's play and in need of feeding !!!!


I got left 'holding the baby', in the shape of this lil' fella, whilst they ...





..... fed Clara and themselves


I'm not the most experienced at entertaining six month olds, but 'we' managed .... the mogs assumed sentry duty and kept him fascinated, for quite some time .... they're 'canny' lil' creatures .... parked themselves just out of arm's reach





He's sort of had some semi-solids, as they're trying to wean him .. flatly refused a bottle of his mum's milk ... no way - no how was he having it, at any angle we parked him at ....... we'd managed to wear him out by nine ... been asleep since, but pretty sure that when his mum arrives, any minute now, he is gonna be ready for ........ Oh and here she is .....YAY!!!!!

[v8druid]

Mine are pallet sized and actually end of life rejects. A friend has recently retired from a lifetime of carting mainly apples, and scrounged some for me that I refurbished from his previous customers.

the wood dries fine if under cover. But I wouldn't countenance those cut down plastic 1000 lire jobbies Their cages would be ok though for big logs

reckon IBCs'd be ok if you attacked the plastic with a 2" hole saw ..... everywhere - emental style.

as you can see from the pix, compared to a dumpy bag, they'm LARGE cages

[AndrewMawson]

Mine are pallet sized and actually end of life rejects. A friend has recently retired from a lifetime of carting mainly apples, and scrounged some for me that I refurbished from his previous customers.

the wood dries fine if under cover. But I wouldn't countenance those cut down plastic 1000 lire jobbies Their cages would be ok though for big logs

[v8druid]

after mowing the damned lawn, yet again yesterday,



had an hour or two spare, for a tidy up on the patch, after the 'logging campaign' ...

try op.ing a duck with this lil' fella on yer lap .... only way to be sure of WTF he is .....



he has an annoying habit of appearing either, on the lower chassis, or in front of the wheels, so easier to have him on me lap, 'til he exits onto the chassis as I come around ... then it's all stop, find him and take him down the house, out the way

shifted the bags, then relocated the cages out of the way for now, 'til I decide where they're going to live for the winter




looks a bit more 'organised'/tidier than last week .....




and these can sit here for now ...... must get some vented bags bought, for now, in the absence of any more suitable receptacles - these transferred and the rest bagged up and parked .......



ready for some more ..... or dismantling said oak, that is in need of being on the floor .....

very overcast all day today and threatening rain all day, although it never appeared ...... been on the strimmer most of the day, tackling all the bits I can't get a mower at ..... in anticipation of it actually drying enough over the weekend to get 'the Dane' out and stretch its legs, on the grass beside the drive

tomorrow may well be a bit of time in the 'Drema though, if it doesn't rain tonight .... stockpiling some sh-1-t, ready for relocating ... offsite

[v8druid]

I use apple totes as that's all I've got, but I've been keeping an eye out for mesh stillages on eBay. So far they've all been too far away

are they the same as spud boxes Andrew ??



bout 2m L x 1.2m W x 1.2m H

how does the wood dry in them ?? ... any good

got a mate who makes them, but the best i can get 'em for new is 60 quid IIRC .... while since I had any from him

these are impressive for the money .....
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WOODEN-PA...YAAOSwgiRZv~z-
but way too small really and'd need attacking with a hole saw - big time ....... plus you need to be close to the seller

these look good too .... but not at 50 quid a throw

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wooden-Cr...Jh8pFf9EMN_lHQ

[v8druid]

Yes I saw the fold flat ones !

i have been given a load of heavy wall box section that would make stillages nicely, but heavy gauge mesh is silly money

Nice weren't they

Aye the cost of the mesh is the problem or I'd make some more to match my existing baskets ..... even buying a roll is silly bucks and a PITA to flatten back out, without my big rollers to 'normalise' it

IMG_3114.jpg

I miss my workshop

[AndrewMawson]

Yes I saw the fold flat ones !

i have been given a load of heavy wall box section that would make stillages nicely, but heavy gauge mesh is silly money

[v8druid]

I use apple totes as that's all I've got, but I've been keeping an eye out for mesh stillages on eBay. So far they've all been too far away

Ditto Andrew .... same problem ... saw some real nice ones a few weeks ago ..... in ****ing Norwich ..... everything worth having seems to live in Norwich .... the 'Drema came from there ..... was a 500 mile round trip to look at her.

there were 14 off ... fold flat cages to fit on std 1200 x 1000 pallets - stainless steel, drop 1/2 fronts and stack-able. Real nice, like new ... but ..... was gonna total up to about 600 quid, by the time they were here

I have a search set up

[v8druid]

Look at the cages in the back round in the pictures.


PLEASE NOTE THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME i HAVE ONLY LINKED THE PHOTO FOR REFERENCE..................

Here is a link to a specialist forum ......................
https://arbtalk.co.uk/forums/topic/110107-potato-boxes/

LOL Stock ..... I'd want nothing to do with that slinging either

here's a.n.other pic of something similar

ibc.jpg