Druidic exploits of a various nature!!

[v8druid]

I would say the seals in the slew ram are leaking and filling slew pinion area and then it is coming out the vent .
Was operating a mates 1CX for him ,in the middle of nowhere Last job on the list ,Needed to clean out the inlet and outlets of a pipe under the road so we could clean the pipe out . Contractors we were on hire to were on rostered weekend off , and had forgotten to do the job . So with trusty 300mm teaspoon bucket set about trying to expose the end of the pipe . Got about 6 buckfulls out when the plastic cap on the vent went flying ,followed by a steam of hydraulic oil . Got off and checked hoses , nope all ok . pulled the slew lever and a fountain of oil came out the vent hole .
Load it all up and back 500 Ks to civilisation .

Aye, 'twere my thoughts too Ian ..... not as bad as yours by the sound of it .... might just be a bit by-passing, as she not been used in a while ....
really need to drop out what is in there and refill it with the 'prescribed amount of hypoid' .... whatever that may be and 'dip it'. Then see what it's like after a bit of use.

I certainly don't want any more hydraulic fountains this year ... the 'Drema's burst was bad enough!!

[v8druid]

no further ahead with this one .... between; lack of time and dryness / dry and free time coinciding

Clara was two yesterday ... where's that gone eh ???

got this together for her yesterday .... 'praps our beds'll have an easier time of it now ... she does like to bounce





have to say ... reasonably impressed with the product .. well made and thought out for assembly, though the supplied 'tooling' leaves a lot to be desired ... wrist slittingly bad, in fact ... thank God for me tool box in the back of the car.


I would like to meet the ****ing genius who decided that lacing the safety net to the bed springing was the best method of attaching the bar steward though!!


Took me longer to do that than put the whole damned thing together!!!!



It certainly got ' the seal of approval ' when the little un returned home mid afternoon .... and apparently extracting Clara from it, way after it got dark was quite a task!!








Thought this bugger was coming in for a landing yesterday ... " WTF is that ", thought I, as I ducked, thinking the sky was falling in, just after I'd got started .... any lower and he'd've been hedge cutting !!!







.... he was on his way back up again, by the time I'd got the phone out ... obviously looking for an issue, following cables at zero feet !!!!!
We get them up with us pretty regularly and pretty low, but you'd have sworn this bloke was coming in to set it down ... in fact I was sure he was !!
Flying that low you do not hear 'em coming 'til they're on top of you

Today started with an early morning balloon inflating session, with me helium bottle, to get them down the village to Clara's, ready for the arrival of her little mates, for a Saturday morning birthday party .... I escaped that one
Followed by the adult's version after lunch and some munchies

Pam's son, wife and new baby Shem arrived late last night for the event too and Clara got to meet her new cousin this morning

Wasn't too bad, by all accounts and she did manage to 'involve' him in playing with her 'new' toys ...... 'least her dad did



I think she preferred lavishing her attention on her cakes






whilst granny on the other hand didn't mind which one she had to lavish attention on ... both was even better



think the day has been a bit of a success all round

[v8druid]

forgot this one .....
tripped over this jewel of information recently, which I thought some folk might appreciate

ALL the dimensions required for making your own symmetrical (S) type pick up cheeks ... not just pin centres/widths, etc., but the shapes and clearances required too

been looking for this info for aaaages .....

thought it very worth sharing, amongst friends, as some folk seem to getting charged some serious bucks, for what is, after all, a couple of profiles with some pins welded between them

As for plate thicknesses ... use your discretion/subject to application

been looking for the clearance under the pins and the centre void for bloody ages .... I've got some to do for Alex shortly and I've got a brand new Engcon S50 hitch sat myself that might get used for summat at some point

sketch for the profilers ..... L & F dim.s differ, depending on whether they're on a bolt on base plate, or just straight weld ons !! (Need to clear the bolt heads with the QH hook/pins)



you'd be amazed just how much finding that lil' bit of info took ..... no one seems to want to share it

the L & H dimensions are critical for the clearance on the Aux QCs on a tilty .... not enough and they'll foul

this is deffo enough info to get them knocked up locally and avoid getting hammered on costs from 'a supplier', who loves to charge a premium for what is, as said, essentially a couple of profiles held in place by a couple of EN8 or EN10 BDMS pins .....
" but they're S type pick ups sir .. very expensive items " yeh right!!


symetrical Quick-Couplers-for-Excavators.pdf

[Muz]

Granny ... the cat with the cream there .. lovely pics with the family .. my two young uns just flown the coop .... miss em already mind you .. were are couple of shits at times as teen agers

[v8druid]

Granny ... the cat with the cream there .. lovely pics with the family .. my two young uns just flown the coop .... miss em already mind you .. were are couple of shits at times as teen agers

LOL Muz ..... TBF Pam's kids were pretty good as teenagers .... I was around to see both of them grow through their teens and gotta say .... they were alright.

It's nice to have Josh and his family home for a few days and we do miss them when they're not .... but hell it's peaceful when they depart after a hectic weekend .............. and we can always hide from Vicki who's only 2 miles away

Here's a real cuteness factor pic for you tonight ......



The birthday girl and her new little 7 week old cuz ... Getting to know each other
Fair play to Clara she was very good with young Shem

[v8druid]

OMG !!

didn't realise it was so long since I've been in here
I got some serious catching up to do ........ everywhere
could be some sort of mission

[v8druid]

here's a starter for ten for you .... got so much I am gonna have to put a date/time stamp on some of this

next best date after the last entry prebious is the 23rd Nov., '17 ....

wild windy night .... south westerly hooly ........ mower tyres had to have it





me burning drum was glowing cherry red


apologies for the image quality ... best me phone could manage in the pitch black

found these on ebay that night to


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24v-Diese...cAAOSw2hNZp~sc





for 45 quid one had to be had ... then realised I'd misread the description and was collection only ... Bugger.


Quick booking with UPS and a tenner later, all was resolved. Booked a collection for the following Wednesday, informed the sellers and sent them the shipping label PDF.
delivery Thursday as planned, 'cos I wasn't gonna be here on that Wednesday.. great!!


Email on the Tuesday evening, to say, it'd been collected and be here in the morning ... FFS !!


Failed miserably to resolve it with the muppet on their chat line, Tuesday evening, so thought..
**** 'em, they'll have to come back Thursday!!
Just leaving, on the Wed.s morning, for the day's 'pleasures' ...
dentist, some new tyres for the car, deliver some stuff for Pam and MOT said Golf, when damn me UPS roll down the drive with this .....





not a mark on the packaging and a day early (even if it did cause more hassle than I really needed) ... they were very lucky it was packed ready to ship though, on the Tuesday.


Having had it all out , I appeared to be missing a pick up/suction hose ..
fittings were there, just no hose, but TBH, for the bucks I was well happy with having to go pick up a meter of 25mm hose ...
can't believe I hadn't got anything suitable


this'll save me having to hoik me drums up on the box roof for re-fueling everything and be a lot quicker operation, hopefully


T'was an early merry Crimbo to me ... LOL

they were also doing a drum mounted unit too, which looked an equally good bargain





and does 70ltr/min

[Stock]

Loooks like good value there Druid.......................You should get better pictures of the precious at work...........................

[Muz]

Well Druid .. I was missing your fantastic updates here ... saw you sowing some seed on that evil Facebook 'old girls' thread .. I thought this gentleman, is a family man .. how could he have left us ? and we felt abandoned .. undernourished .. bereft good to see you back

[v8druid]

Loooks like good value there Druid.......................You should get better pictures of the precious at work...........................

Aye my thoughts exactly Boyo kin cheap works well to ... used it the other day -- well speedy
................ blame the fone for the pix not the greatest at low light shots

[v8druid]

Well Druid .. I was missing your fantastic updates here ... saw you sowing some seed on that evil Facebook 'old girls' thread .. I thought this gentleman, is a family man .. how could he have left us ? and we felt abandoned .. undernourished .. bereft good to see you back

Aye .. I soz Muz ..... very remiss of me ..... can't for the life of me think of a plausible excuse though other than ... not enough hours of an evening, to keep up

promise to get it updated ....... but you may live to regret that ...... i gotsalorra catching up to do

[v8druid]

so .... skip to the 25th Nov .......

had an interesting afternoon ..... examining / drooling over Alex's new mount

All I can say is


Oh YEH !!

it had arrived

it's different alright ..... it was SOME tool ...
multiple modes of operation with further choices in each mode!!

Like a Menzi, it'd take some learning to get the best out of it.
Alex is already familiar with 'em, having used one for years, but he's got yet more toys on this un

Few niggley bits to iron out, which were in process then ... I was looking forward to having a crack at it though.
Needed a masters touch, for what we were about , in a confined spot so left the man pilot it .

I know you're all going to be impressed with it though .... what a buy


lesson for a Saturday morning .......


Don't assume 'cos Clara and granny are playing quietly with the playdough, while you have your toast, that they're not up to mischief !!





Cheeky mares


TBF, it's actually very clever .... I certainly couldn't do that sort of thing ... wouldn't know where to start

Fair play Pam is very artistic .....
as said ....
where the hell would you start, doing something like that

[v8druid]

it was now the 29th and .......

Scored a piece of pick up tube, earlier in that week, for that fuel pump .... me local guys had the tail off a roll about 10 ft long ... ideal and even more so, as it came gratis


installed a few fittings in the inlet that afternoon and lopped off a piece to get me to the bottom of a barrel ...





might bring it in the house and pop it on a rad, then stick a length of bar down it to keep it straight whilst it cools and hopefully adopts a slightly 'straighter attitude'





.... but did set it on the fitting, to sit against the side of a drum, which'd help it 'find bottom'.


anything'll be easier than hoiking yon drum onto a stand then lifting it on't box roof .... it works well but is just such a faff, up and down and time consuming!!




hop forward again to the 1st December
"Better late than never" .....as they say





should have been here the previous Monday .... and having 'talked him in', 'twas nice to finally see this .....





a 'few' bits an' bobs, to be knocked together,





for a certain someone ........ an' his new toy !!





could not believe how much bother was had, trying to get someone to profile these locally!!
Had to farm it out, ' oop cooontreee ', eventually, to get a turnaround this side of Christmas !!!!!!!

would've been even better, if it hadn't been for the 'snobbers' !!





spec.ed at a min. 50.1mm / pin clearance fit, I was a tad pissed to find
(a) the above
and
(b) elliptical cuts in some of 'em ..... !!!





Out with the die grinder and a TC burr .... some time later ...





..... I was getting there,


but with several more to do.


however ...............







You can't keep a good fabby down though .....




...... and soon had 'em all set out and set up ......





ready for some stitching together, with the ol' hot stick ...








TBF .... aside from the hole issue, the profiles were damned good and cock on dimensionaly .... even with the die grinder time!
I could not have broached the 16 holes anywhere near as quickly

started at about half twelve and by the time the lights went out, I had all four marked out, set up, stitched and ready to be welded up ... so about 4hrs roughly





flood light on for the last tidy up










I'd be well happy to get 'em welded up at the same rate !!!!


but it wasn't gonna be that day .......





gets dark real quick when that big yeller thing goes down behind them thar hills !!


three bolt on pick ups (hence the heavier duty base plates) and a weld on (which needed a base) .... got some hole centres to set out next and some perforation treatment !!

[v8druid]

the dates tend to hop forward in 'lumps' due to the usual British weather .... total shite ... if it wasn't pissing down it was blowing a hooley

Sunday the 4th was one such example and Dozing that morning, considering a bit of a lazy start to the day when I hear a vehicle on the drive .... look at the clock ... 7:55 ... WTF is that ???

Head out the Velux ... only bloody Yodel !!!





Bought this weeks ago and it'd been winging it's way across the pond, from the States .... seen better packaging ... a lot better !!!





Considering how far this had traveled, I was amazed it made it unscathed and still in its box .... although it had obviously been trying to escape





now I know I have a spare for the VA-r ... a brand new one, but this was the first one of these I'd ever seen on Fleabay and's circa 1800 quid new ... which this is .... weren't as cheap as t'others, but at 10% of new it had to be had ..... I have an idea for an upgrade





six galleries and a case drain .....





a bit taller than the 4 gallery Roemheld in there ... but I have the space and equally importantly ... it's the same body diameter, so will fit a treat.


Fed the cats, made a cuppa and retreated back upstairs .... damn me there's another vehicle on the drive !!!


Alex and his tranny guy, come to suss getting in here and where we are for later in the week !!!!!


So much for a 'later' kick off to the day .......... 'twas up and at it !!!!

[v8druid]

I'd spent a few hours the previous day hauling Alex's Kins log grab out, whipping the rotater off it .....





and sussing the mount centres !!





of which there was a profusion !!!!!!





got it sussed, set out and drilled





went for the 6 on a 173 PCD (I ask you ... WTF did they dream that one up from??) and on for a fit.....




sweet as ..... once I'd had a tap down through 'em to clean years of crap out the tapped holes





and enough room with the right length bolts to get a lock nut under the tapped mount plate





Now I had hoped to have been able to MIG this lot up ..... finally got around to ordering one of those 250A single phase sets that I've been promising meself ..... but it hadn't turned up yet ..... and these mounts need to be 'battle ready' for the next week ......so ......out with the trusty Caddy ......





and lay a few sticks down .....




ain't coming apart !!


dropped it on and nipped it down well enough for handling with some 8.8s .... 10.9s to be sourced to replace 'em .. soon as





then turned my attentions to the next on the agenda .... suss the PCD for the second HPX, which also needs an S50 ....


rotater off ....





to reveal the usual push fit connectors, that t'other one had





expecting to find a similar set up ....... noooo ... too easy, that'd be ... same centres, bigger ports!!!


My solution to plugging these on t'other had been pretty simple and almost off the shelf with some 12mm bolts cut down to just a head and short shank, with the heads suitably fettled to fit the appropriate gap, to keep 'em in ... had worked very well.
Not so this time ..... 15mm ports !!!!! 7mm gap Argh!!

so .... Monday's mission for Alex (whether he chooses to accept it . . . or not),
https://youtu.be/XAYhNHhxN0A
is to either:-
[a] find me a pair of M15 shanked, hex head bolts !! (I've never seen any)
or
[b] find me someone with a lathe to knock out a pair of top hat plugs





or
[c] find me a piece of 15mm BDMS so's I can get creative on the bench, before I can fit the HPX with its nice new S50 cheek set.


Oh and guess what the PCD was ...... ?????? you've got it !! .... plus the usual 140 x 140 rotater feet ctrs. on a 98.5 PCD!!





got the next S50 set out and ready to perforate and get melted together ...





it's as tight a fit in here as it's going to get ..... and still function !!!





Just had to get those ports plugged .... and before you ask .... no they're not threaded ... O ring push fit seal ... hence the top hat button requirement to sit under the S50 to seal them.


Luckily this slightly newer model has built in/OE side ports, to make the connections conventionally, so I don't have to get creative with this one, like the last one.


Pound to a pinch of pig sh1t said they'd be bloody metric though !!