How'd it go today?

Got up and did laundry. It was mostly cloudy with a bit of sun. 60% chance of rain. That means there's a 40% chance it won't rain. I think "those odds could be worse", and hang my laundry outside. 15 minutes later it rains it's ass off for the next 1.5hr. Not sure when I'm gonna be able to get my laundry in :^/
 
Sounds about right...

Got started with some fence repairs this morning and the boss came out to make sure things didn't go too quickly :lol:, he was in a talking mood; and by the time he got done talking the range was filling up with customers and I had to get out of the way...try again tomorrow I guess...
 

I love it that the Milano still exists.
The evening I spent there with with you and Terri after an epic drive along the coast is a loved memory.

That was when I met Steve Van Horn.
How is he doing?
 
I would have thought first thing would be packed then nothing later in the day.

It was around 32 degrees this morning when I started a little before sunrise. They don't allow any play until the frost melts. Once it warms up it's pretty constant until dark though.

It's just a small place. Only about 1 to 3k balls a day being driven right now in the cold weather...that'll hit about 5-6k later in season.
 
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Just checked my clothes. Still pretty damp. After the rain, the sun came out for a bit, and I thought "Sweet!". Then it rained again. Sun came out again, and I figured I'd be good for the rest of the day. Then the wind and sideways rain started... Looks to be clear for awhile now, but the sun's going to bed. I'll leave them up for awhile longer, and bring them in as-is. If I get greedy, and wait til tomorrow, it'll certainly rain again.
 
Lining up some of my treework for the year today. Got a big... Sean says it's a spruce. I thought it was a fir, but looking at pics online, I think it's a Norway spruce(need to find my tree books) at work to remove this fall. A blue spruce at work that needs to come down, and looking at my locusts by my drive again.

One has a dying top, and I'd like to take it off, but leave the tree for the time being. Not sure how to get up there. I'm a little leery of spiking it. I pulled off a bunch of bark on the one I removed last year, and there's not many(any?) good places to set a line. Dumb question... Is pulling the bark off bad? :^D Seriously. Is it doing anything beneficial sitting there loose? Is it a problem if it pulls off on a tree that isn't gonna be there for too many more years?

The other locust I'm still running through my head. Monitoring the mushrooms, and trying to get a feel for the overall health. None of these trees here or at work I particularly want to remove. This hobby is a double edged sword. It's fun climbing and cutting trees, but I like trees as they are for the most part. All the trees I'm looking at aren't in great shape, but they're good enough to look nice(ish), and the ones at my house shield me from the bad ol' sun. They also make me feel secure having a clutter of trees around me. *But*, they aren't doing great, and if I wait too long, they'll be out of my skill/equipment set to remove. Decisions, decisions...

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Oh, and I got my CAT choker and muffs today. It was a pita removing the old muffs. They really locked in place tight. They had two tabs in two locations that had to be manipulated. Seems they could make that a bit easier :^/
 
The choker cable. They call the the one with a loop on the end a CAT choker cause it's typically used with a CAT winch. The one with two nub ends they simply call a choker.
 
There's a few kinds for sure, and their terminology and use varies by region. The Cat skidding chokers have an eye for capturing on a finger a hook on the end of the Cat winch line. The double nubin choker, no eye, connects to the winch line with a string of bells on it. The Helicopter chokers are lighter and have a special size connector all their own. Those are all I've seen used where I live, but there are more kinds.
 
Got a call this morning to come take care of a broken elm limb that was hanging with one branch on the service line going to the house. Took about an hour and a half to get it down with the Gehl and jib, then load it all up in six grabs with the grapple. In the process, scored four Bennies and permission to fish the guy’s lake...he showed me pics of three bass caught out of it in recent weeks...all over five pounds, one around eight...
 
I broke the male coupler for the attachments on my mini.
$700 +, shipped from Rayco in OH.




It's cast... my friend had difficulty as a result.
He said he was taught by some millwright that if you weld cast iron it will crack. Some weld steel has impregnated the cast iron, and you can grind and weld to the weld, sometimes with success.

Thoughts?

The other side is ground down. This side he built up a bit and left it as it was. 16206947550866323193672828096775.jpg

Test run tomorrow!
 
Not a bad day. Boss said it’s all climbing. I sent the boys back for plywood and diff everything at a relaxed pace with the bucket. Crew that started the job is getting an ass chewing from me tomorrow. Bunch of c rate guys that think they’re A. We set up a rating system at work. Not one is over a B. They’re all mad at me. I’m the only one listed as an A man and I hold that rating on everything in the company. Not my choice. The bosses did this. Tomorrow’s crew leader meeting will be interesting. I’m just gonna let them know that anyone of them can have my job. Just prove you are worthy. I could walk in with mjolnir just to prove my point😎
 
Rich, are you saying your bosses put out a public report card for all their employees? Lol wow



I broke the male coupler for the attachments on my mini.
$700 +, shipped from Rayco in OH.




It's cast... my friend had difficulty as a result.
He said he was taught by some millwright that if you weld cast iron it will crack. Some weld steel has impregnated the cast iron, and you can grind and weld to the weld, sometimes with success.

Thoughts?

The other side is ground down. This side he built up a bit and left it as it was.View attachment 110920

Test run tomorrow!

When it breaks, find another guy who can stick weld with the proper electrodes, nickel ones called ni rods. They even sell them at tsc. You might get lucky with that repair, but mig welding has no place repairing cast, especially with steel wire. You can either do a bunch of preheat and postheat (not on the machine), or do it cold and peen it to relieve stresses with a backstep progression, roughly 1 inch at a time, letting it cool to the touch each time while tapping it with a hammer or needle scaler.
 
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