Power Port

 A quick Saturday morning project took a little longer than expected due to the cold. I didn't look at the thermometer but it was cold enough for my Sorel Dominators but not cold enough to lace them up. I've had these boots for decades and usually only break em out for cold weather although I've been slipping them on lately for fetching the mail or chasing kids out of the yard.

 In order to get the big ass station wagon in the garage this winter I had to store the HD in the enclosed trailer. Getting into the trailer was no easy matter.

 The lock was froze and it took a bit of finagling to gain access to the riches inside. Because the Harley has a brand new battery in it I wanted to make sure the tender was on so it wouldn't die and freeze over the winter. Even at dealer cost they aren't giving those things away. I didn't want to try to squeeze an extension cord in the door seal because it seems the seal is pretty darn tight, as it should be. I decided it would be a good idea to add a power port.

I didn't put much thought into the plug location except to try to avoid any supports in the trailer wall.

The plug is designed with the cord coming out the back on an angle. I'm sure thats great for a thinner wall but makes a little extra work for a thick wall, or as in this case with two thin walls spaced apart.

  A simple project slowed down a bit by the cold but well worth it as I was getting nervous about the battery charge going down and my new battery freezing. I suppose if I wanted to put a light out there I could work on the bike in the trailer but really what that bike needs is a bath and nothing more.

Later.

General Bullcrap

 Its Saturday night, I've had a few beers and now I'm writing this blog so its a crap shoot on what you're gonna get. What should we talk about? Well its come to my attention that many of you are reading this blog while sitting on the toilet. First, that's a visual I didn't need and second I suppose its fitting that you're reading crap while taking one. This also means you're reading on your phone and I'm pretty sure the mobile version doesn't allow you to see the list of blogs I follow. If this is really the case then get on a computer and follow some of the links. A lot of these bloggers use actual cameras and they know how to take great pics. They also are good writers and have some interesting things to say. Check em out.
 What else do you want to talk about? Did I work on the tool hutch? Yes, but I'm tired of talking about it. I'll show you a pic when its done and in place.
 Hey, I got a piece of "jewelry" from Terry!

 Ya its a trekkie insignia. Science officer Scott reporting for duty. Remove that cap indoors and get a shave! Whatever. BTW, while I am a Star Trek fan, as far as you know this is the only time I'll wear it.

 In work related news, my bench is a mess. If you say that's not news I'd have to agree. I'm gonna try to clean up my act a little bit. It just makes it easier to not overlook a screw if the only ones laying on the bench came out of the current project.

 In other work related news we have finished the "tunnel" F550 project. The truck now has a new aluminum flatbed sitting on the tunnel. The hitch is ready to accept a back blade and next winter the bed comes off and the truck will get a salter.

 In still other work related news, It seems James has become the second operator to bend a back blade wing. (I'm not the other one) When the first one bent I thought there was a one in a million chance of hitting the tip of the blade just right to get it to bend rather than bounce off or break the shear bolt. Now I'm thinking the odds are closer to one in ten. At least nobody will ever hit that post again as James has decided to bring it back to the shop as a trophy. I'm good with that.

 Speaking of trucks, this is my old dodge.

 My wife used to call it barbaric. She drove it to get lunch the other day and has now down graded it to "a hunk of junk". Its gettin kinda crude and we plan to replace it some time next year so I've been giving that a lot of thought. What do I want vs. what do I really need? Well, I need to be able to occasionally tow my 6 x 10 enclosed trailer with one or two bikes in it. I need to get to work sometimes after the county has pulled the plow trucks from the roads. I need to be able to haul some stuff once in a while. I want something with decent power and rust free. Not sure exactly where the budget is gonna be on this one but I got a feeling I'm gonna be right on the edge of rust free unless I buy something with really high mileage. I don't need a diesel or a quad cab long box or a one ton dually or any other small penis compensator. I see a lot of Chevy Silverados out there that seem to be good deals but I'm really more interested in a Suburban or Yukon. I like that they are basically half tons with permanent toppers. If I decide to go smaller then maybe a Jeep Grand Cherokee or even a BMW X5 would make me happy. I've always wanted to own a Cadillac so I'm not ruling out the Escalade or EXT. I guess it just depends on whats out there once I'm ready to buy. Until then I'll just keep borrowing my wifes car on the weeks she is working from home and car pooling with her the rest of the time.

Later.

Workshop Wednesday-New Trailer

  For a while now we have known we were quickly outgrowing our pesticide applications trailer at work.  Our old trailer measured 26 feet and all our crap didn't fit in it. We also had a problem with the axles not being up to the task of hauling the weight of all that junk we were stuffing in it. So a few weeks back the boss ordered a new trailer. This would be 32 feet long and have a side door wide enough to allow for loading a pallet of fertilizer. I think the size will be ok for us from the point of view that we can get all our equipment in it. From a towing and parking standpoint, it's big. I know that scares a lot of contractors but we're in a pretty much rural setting and can get away with it. The other thing is we don't have to park in front of your house and drag a house hundreds of feet. I built our tractors with 300 feet of hose and a tank. I can park the tractor anywhere and drag hose from there if needed.
 The first step in making this trailer functional is to build a set of shelves so we can get our chemicals off the floor. Tripping over jugs and boxes has been a real pain in the ass.

 I came up with a rough plan for a shelf and gave the boss a material list. I don't know who our steel supplier is but the next day I had ten 20 foot lengths of angle iron.

 My plan was to build eight individual uprights with a shelf bracket and then screw those to the trailers steel wall studs. I would then weld a face, back and sides along with adding an expanded metal shelf bottom.

 So here is about an 18 foot shelf. Below the shelf will be fuel cans, spill kits, rakes/shovels, gas blower, chest spreader, etc. Except for personal protective equipment, first aid and eye wash kits, everything I hang on the trailer wall will be this wall. The other side will be left clear so we can walk front to rear unobstructed.

 All that was left was to make some sort of "retainer" to keep jugs and boxes from falling off the shelf. A big lip on the front of the shelf wouldn't do as I have no interest in tipping a jug of chemicals forward over my head.

 The answer was a simple U shaped loop that is hinged on each end. The loop only drops as low as seen in the pic and the hinges have enough drag to hold the loop in the raised position for loading the shelf.
 With the side wall shelf complete I was now ready to build a shelf in the front to store some grass seed, mulch and a few random bags of fert. I used the same basic design as the side walls only deeper and following the contour of the V shaped front.

 Yesterday we went out for the day to spray and fertilize lawns. We had a pallet of fert loaded in the front and were still able to get both tractors and the stand-on unit in the trailer.

 This setup worked out really nice. Each of those three units were used at the ten different stops we made. Loading and unloading was a breeze and nobody tripped over anything. It's nice having a home for everything. I'm sure this makes us more efficient and I think it made the day go faster.

Later.

Workshop Wednesday-Stand On Sprayer

 Due to the high demand (one person) for another "Workshop Wednesday" post, I offer you an update on the stand on sprayer project  that I last reported on in March. I finished the plumbing to include a foam marker system, flow meters and a quick disconnect for removing the hood to allow for spreading fertilizer.
 If a guy is building something for personal use, that's one thing. If you are gonna build something and then charge people for the work it does, it better work right. I had to calibrate the sprayer first which meant measuring out an area and spraying water. This gave me gallons per thousand square feet and allowed for figuring how much chemical to add per tank. The first job for the new sprayer was a remote industrial location. Afterwards we parked the sprayer for a week and watched the area to see if there were any problems. This was done just in case I screwed up on my calculations or if there was some type of weird overlap problem. As it turns out the sprayer did just fine and we brought it into the fleet for daily use. "Bringing it into the fleet" is easier said than done.

 Anytime we've added new equipment to the truck or trailer there has been a learning curve to get everything to fit. The hooded sprayer was no exception but the extra hassle is well worth it. The unit doesn't do the job any faster than an open boom but it does keep drift to a minimum and eliminates the potential for random over spray on desirable plants. With its foam marker system it also takes the guess work out of overlapping rows. It's also nice to just follow the foam and not have to think about where your last pass was.
 I have no experience with other brands of stand on sprayers and I'm not aware of any that are hooded so I can't compare it to other sprayers. The machine does handle a little stiff with the extra weight out front. I expected that and it's actually not as bad as I thought it might be. From the beginning I've had a plan to make it easier for me to handle and that was to make James run it. So far that plan is working out great!

Later.

33 or Higher

 The forecast for today is wet. I know this time they got it right because the rain is pounding on the roof so loud that I had to look outside and see if it was hail. I knew this weather was on the way so I've been riding to work as much as possible. You know, just to get in as much seat time as I can before the snow flies. My basic rule for how cold before I won't ride is 32 degrees so you can imagine my excitement when I discovered the temp was a balmy 33 yesterday as I left for work. I didn't see any other bikes on the road and haven't seen any on my morning commute for a few weeks now. For the most part I can stay warm but my knees and thighs are exposed to the wind and get pretty cold.

Another craptacular photo brought to you by the GreasyShopRag. This one is
actually a frame from a GoPro video. The dash says 33 degrees.

 The bike has got a pretty thick coat of dirt and grime on it. My plan for last weekend was to wash it but as is usually the case when the sun is shining, I rode it. My wife and I went out for brunch and then to the hardware store. The wife agreed to carry some five foot plumbing parts on the way back. Such a trooper.
 The plumbing parts are for our bathroom remodel project. It's coming along slowly because I only work on it for an hour each night after work. No problem because if we get done before Thanksgiving then I've met my goal. While doing this project I've discovered my woodworking tools are just adequate. The table saw I'm using is the same one my grandfather used on his house. Kinda nostalgic but I wish gramps would have invested in a better saw. My sabre saw starts smoking after cutting more than a few inches and all the big batteries for my Milwaukee power tools are shot. As much as I like new tools I don't think I'll replace any wood working stuff unless I absolutely have to. I'd use them for this project and then they would (hopefully) sit for years unused. Then again there has been talk about other projects around here. We'll see.
 I've been waiting for a break in the rain but it's coming down as hard as ever. I want to unhook the trailer from my truck but I may just pull it today so I don't get soaked disconnecting it.

Later.

Cleaning Party-BYOB

 Bring Your Own Broom is how the invites would have read if I would have been smart enough to put up some beer in exchange for help cleaning my shop.

 With winters bitter grasp just weeks away I figured it was time to get things organized in the disaster area I call my garage. I made space for my wifes chariot but the other side that should be open for my truck is still littered with motorcycles and related parts. Every time I'd buy a new "something shiny" for the Ultra Limited I would put the stock piece in the box and toss it to the side. Now it's time to gather that stuff up and find a home for it. The Ultra needs a home too and the way I see it there are three choices...
  1. Pay for storage at the Harley dealer. If I were the kind of guy that was gonna have a shop do some work on it over the winter then that would be a good option. I'm not that kind of guy so nix that idea.
  2. Find a different home for some wood working tools in the garage. A big old table saw my grandpa used when he built his house is taking up valuable real estate and doesn't get used much. Relocating that and a few other pieces would make enough room for the bike.
  3. Store it in the enclosed trailer. Only downside to this is if I want to use the trailer then I have to unload a heavy bike in potentially slippery conditions. I smell mini disaster.

 I'm leaning toward option 2 because we still haven't talked about the Sportster. That needs a home and would be a lot easier to roll in and out of the trailer plus I want to work on it this winter. There's plenty of room in the trailer to work around the bike and pull pieces off as needed for repair.
 Then there is the BSA. I painted the frame and that was taking up space on the garage floor. Of course a bare frame means a hundred other pieces that were once bolted to that frame also need a home. I couldn't move it into the heated shop yet because that still looks like a bomb went off after completing the Rat Turd fuel tank project. At least the rat has a warm home for the winter in our living room.

 Scrub, scrub. I'll scrub this shop floor once a year whether it needs it or not. No it isn't sparkly clean but it does smell a lot better in here.
 The other day my wife walked through here, looked at my desk, then looked at me and said "You and I really are two different people when it comes to cleaning." How can I argue with that statement when a stack of paperwork is winning the battle for space on the desk and pushing my laptop, well...almost into my lap. Imagine that. I removed a garbage can full of junk off this desk. In that heap I found a gift card for $75(turns out it was used up), two laptops(plus this one I'm typing on), some old unchecked lottery tickets(I won a buck!), the remote for my shop stereo, a pair of socks(possibly part of the reason for the bad smell in here), and a lot of paperwork that needed filing(mostly file 13). I found some other trinkets that I'd never miss if thrown out but seem too good to do so. If they are still here next fall then I will execute the "not used for one year" rule and they will go in the trash.

 Now the cleaning is mostly done. The BSA made it into the shop rather than the sportster. I guess seeing it there every day might inspire me to come up with a plan for how it will look when it's finished. Besides, the temps are still above freezing and more importantly, they haven't had to use any salt on the roads yet. That salt will mark the end of my riding season.

A Day In The Life

  It's Tuesday night and I just plopped my ass down in my lazy boy and cracked a beer. My wife says "How was your ride, Dear?"
 Well before I get into my ride I'm gonna talk about my day. I've had to split my time at work between lawn applications and repairing equipment. I like the variety but I don't like that I'm a little behind in both areas. Today James would be helping me for the first time in a long time and I was looking forward to getting a lot done...and we did.

 These two hooded sprayers make short work of large properties. It's nice working for a guy that understands the importance of good equipment.

 The trucks aren't fancy but they also get the job done.

 After work I met my wife in Oshkosh with my personal truck and enclosed trailer. Inside the trailer was the new Ultra. It needed to go to the shop for service and a recall on the clutch. I couldn't get a loaner and because of my other plans I would be dropping the bike off after hours. Other plans? My youngest daughter had major problems that had to be tended to. That's right, her cell phone was broken. Oh, she also needed a ride to the store to buy more blue hair dye. Sigh.
 I wasn't looking forward to dealing with the reps at the phone store. It usually never turns out well and always costs me an ass load of money. I was prepared for this so when I found out the phone was still under warranty I was thrilled! Turns out that for $38 Apple was gonna send her a new phone overnight and all we had to do was send the old one back. Nice. Even nicer was when there was some confusion about how they were gonna take our credit card info. The confusion was on their end and finally the Apple rep said screw it, no charge. Even the rep at the store was amazed and claimed he had never seen them do that. We left feeling happy and hungry. Olive Garden provided some tasty eats and afterwards my wife returned our daughter to college and I headed north to the Harley dealer.

 My 2000 Dodge Ram isn't the best towing vehicle out there because of the tall gearing and mud terrain tires but it handled the chore. At the dealer I unloaded the bike in the dark then got back on the interstate for the 65 mile ride home. It was a pretty warm night. I had my window down with my elbow hanging out and two fingers on the wheel. The truck handles much better now with the new ball joints I installed a few weeks back. No more do I see the trailer wagging it's tail in the rear view mirror due to my having to constantly correct the darting back and forth of a worn out old truck. My right arm rests on the sub woofer enclosure that now resides where the center console used to be. The stereo has two amps and the smaller one is 1200 watts that just powers this sub. I have the music loud enough that I can feel it. In fact the outside rear view mirrors can feel it too as they just reflect fuzzy flashes of light when the bass hits. Hey, gotta have my jams.
 I switch my headlights to hi beam despite the oncoming traffic. Nobody cares as the lights are aimed so damn low that my hi beams are still worse than most peoples lows. No problem, there is half a moon glowing down and I know this route pretty much by feel. I like city lights and I like driving at night.
 So Honey, that's how my ride was. If the dealer finishes the bike on time I'll get to do it again tomorrow.

Story Board

Here is my sporty. A fun machine by any standard. This is where it died.

This is the trailer I used to get it home. The efforts I made installing all that E-track really paid off. It was a breeze loading and hauling the bike home.

Here is a rats nest of wires. In this mess is the reason for the failure. I suspect a 26 year old circuit breaker is the culprit.

Oops! Even Busch Light deserves to be treated better than this. No problem. There's a lot more where that one came from!

 The bike isn't fixed yet. I had to pick up some breakers the next day and then I got side tracked...like buying a new bike.
 Lets see. The Rat Turd needs a fuel tank. The sporty needs this repair. And now my daughter wants to learn to ride. She thinks she's getting the sporty but what she really needs is something lighter to learn on. I've replied to a few craigslist ads but haven't found the right bike for her yet. Let me know if you hear of a cheap 250-400cc starter bike in central Wisconsin.






Trailer Update

  I told you about my new 6 x 10 enclosed trailer purchase a while back. Hey I know it's just a trailer but it's my trailer. Something I should have bought decades ago but was too cheap to pull the trigger.

 When I bought it I knew I was going to need some places inside to tie things down. A few recessed floor hooks would have been ok I guess. The problem with that is there is never just the right spot for a strap. It's always a compromise. Plus the fact that I want to tie two bikes down side by side means I'll need more hook points.

 What I decided to do was purchase fifty feet of E-track. With the help of over 400 wood screws I secured the E-track pieces to the outer edges of the floor and also a few pieces across the middle. On the left wall you see another piece of track just above the four foot mark. This will allow me to secure a piece of plywood or whatever on edge if I already have something else in the trailer. Now I should have just the right tie down location for whatever I want to haul. I still might do something for storing straps and E-track clips but I really haven't given that much thought.
 Another reason I went with E-track was because as I mentioned I might want to haul two bikes or just one big bike down the middle. I found these wheel chocks online. They just clip into the track and I can put them anywhere I want.

 In theory it all seems so wonderful. I think this will be more than strong enough but the only way to know for sure is to strap the rat bike in and go for a ride down a bumpy road. Not today. The sun is shining and the road is calling.

End.

Toy Hauler

 For years I've had a desire to replace my crappy old open trailer with something decent. Well a couple weeks ago I got a lead on a trailer at a dealer about an hour north of here. I drove up there and checked out what he had to offer.
 I was impressed with the quality of the trailers he had. I really wasn't looking for a full featured everyday use trailer but I was willing to spend the money on one if I could get a deal. Well after checking out what he had to offer I was ready to buy. I had a fist full of cash and was looking to haggle on price. He wasn't. Apparently he didn't need to sell a trailer that day because he wouldn't budge a nickel. All I wanted was for him to give me a deal on a spare tire or something. Anything. Nope. Well, screw it. I left his business and will never bother going back there.
 On the way home I passed M. Schettl Sales. You may remember me talking about them. They sell enclosed trailers so I swung in there to take a look. The salesman was cool. We talked bikes for a while before we ever discussed trailers. I apologize for forgetting his name.
 I told him what I wanted, how much I was willing to spend for it, and he made it happen. I got a good deal on a new trailer and left there happy. You should shop there too.

 It's a 6 x 10 plus 2 feet in the nose. It has a fold down rear ramp, LED lighting and a dome light inside. Just a basic trailer but that's all I need. I ordered some E-track so I have some place for tie downs. When I do that install I'll post again.

End.