Cool Cool! We don’t get much thunder and lightning around here. Every couple of years or so we have some thunder; not often. Something about being too close to the coast and the atmosphere not having enough time to pick up/generate enough static electricity or something like that. Bummer! I like storms.
Got up yesterday and took my ‘crowd cylinder’ (from atop the boom on the backhoe) to Pape (pronounced Pa Pay) over in Fife. Asked them if it would be okay for me to watch them replace the seals. Man, am I ever glad I took it over to them to fix!!! I’d have never gotten it done at home. Alone. We had to use a 5-ton crane and a lot of muscle to get the ram out of the cylinder! I got right in there with the young guy that was changing the seals and got just as dirty and tired. Guess I was some help cause they didn’t charge me for the job. Cool! We figured out I have a JD 350-D dozer. The ‘D’s stands for “Dey Don’t Make No More Parts For Dis One!”.
Left Fife at 1400 and zoomed to our property to meet the hydroseeding guy. Almost missed him. Showed him what we need hydroseeded but he thinks the job might be a bit too much for him; so he gave me a card with another company’s information on it. Was raining pretty good out there and we were soaked by the time we walked from the bottom of the hill to the top and back. Nice guy though.
Got up today and went and picked up my radiator. $700! Phew! I spent ALL DAY putting my dozer back together. Went fairly easy but MESSY! Even the front of the dozer went back on without much trouble. Lifting that 100lb cylinder back to the top of the boom was a bitch though! But after that it hooked back in quickly. Bled the air out by flooding one side (completely retracting the ram), hooking up the bottom side and unhooking the top side and filling it from the bottom until hydrolic fluid started coming out of the top. Then rehooked up the top side. Works great and NO leaks!
Radiator went in fairly easily. Ran the dozer for about 15 minutes for it to get warm. Had one small leak where I didn’t tighten down the hose completely but once I tightened it up i had NO leaks! Cool! Managed to tighten up one of the tracks but can’t get grease to go into the other.
Will have to finish this later; SWMBO wants me to reboot the internet server….
I been busy! We are getting really close to getting our building permit issued and I am already busy running around trying to get the dome stuff finalized. Met our Eco-Engineer out at the property and he checked out the site where we want to actually set the house. Called bunches of people about different dome things. Radiator for the dozer won’t be back until next Monday night. Been fixing “small” things on the dozer this week. trying to get the ram out of the cylinder on the boom of the backhoe but it ain’t coming out easy. Had to buy a larger pipe wrench ($60!) just to get the damned thing loose!
Tonight was our regular date night. Went to Godfather’s pizza. The pizza tonight was really good! I like them with everything BUT anchovies and pineapple. Then our usual shopping stop at Albertson’s. Now home and relaxing. ‘Dogfights’ comes on in an hour. Cool!
Cause I really could use one. Closest I can find on is in Witchitaw or Michigan and they want $1300 PLUS shipping for it. Damn! Hope the radiator guy can recore it monday. Gotta be cheaper.
Damn, looks like we’ve had our summer! Yesterday was again the nicest day. Took Kathy to breakfast at the Family Pancake House in Port Orchard. Worked around the house until about 1800. Went out for a light dinner at Wendy’s and some shopping at Walmart & Staples. Spent more than our usual at Safeway on the way home. Spent the rest of the evening watching tv.
Today was a rainy kind of day. Much cooler than yesterday. Just worked around the house and scanned a bunch of things. Mostly DVD covers. Watched (sorta) 9 episodes of the Andy Griffiths Show featuring Barney. War Of The Worlds (both). And that’s about my day….
See what my dozer looks like right now? Had to use that engine lifter thingie to get that heavy assed front end off. Also went to Pape Machinery and spent $165 on gasgets for the ram thingie on the backhoe boom. Damn, I love technical language!