A Change of Plans

 Well... still working on the deck and after giving ity some thought, decided to power wash the railing and lattice. The bad thing is power washing the privacy lattice, it takes forever. You have to basically go over every strip of the lattice to get it clean, or at least as clean as you can. 

We have two power washers, an electric 1750 psi, and a gas 3300 psi. For the lattice we use the 1750 psi washer, so it doesn't blow the lattice apart, plus, when going around the pool your so close to the lattice (about 3-feet) there is to much water from the 3300 psi washier, it harder to control where the water is going plus you get soaked more.

Here'd two pics of the railing before and after power washing.

Still doesn't look to bad after 27 years of hot summer sun and cold freezing winters. I forget the last time we washed this, but it's been years ago.

So, what's the new plan? As you can see in the first picture by the truck going by, this side of the deck faces the road, thus the privacy lattice. The lattice goes all around the deck and the pool. Yesterday we decided to take two sections down where the gate is to get up onto the deck and pool area and thought it looked pretty nice opened up.

After seeing we both liked it opened up (with the lattice removed), we decided to remove the lattice on the back side of the pool and deck. Don't really need it back there anyways being the only thing back there is the bank and the fire pit up on the hill. So today's plan is to remove that lattice which will in turn save us a lot of time, water, gas, and electric!

The big question I have for myself is what am I going to do about the top of the railing after removing the lattice? The railing has no "top" on it, though it does at the gate on each side. Depending on how it looks I might just let it as it is, else I might put deck boards on top, else put treated 2x4's between the railing at the top being the posts are 4x4's the sx4's would fit right between the inside and outside railing boards.

I'll post a few pics later of the deck/pool area with the lattice still up and with it taken off.

EverStart Batteries Any Good?

 I can't complain I put one in the truck about four years ago and it works fine. Now my Jeep battery went dead and guess what? It has an EverStart battery in it. No big deal though being it had a 5-year warranty on it, and it would be 5 years old in June. So, what if it was a few months before the warranty ran out? So, it died, and the warranty is still on the battery. But even if I took it back which I can't because I don't have the receipt nor am I the one that bought it. Even if I did the battery would be prorated so I'd still lose money and would get a new battery for nothing. If it would have lasted till June, I wouldn't have gotten anything at all.

So tomorrow I'll be going to Walmart and buying a new EverStart battery, but I'm only getting one with a three-year warranty.

The battery pictured above will be the one I'm going to buy. The Jeep has been sitting now for over a week waiting for a new battery. I have noticed or at least thought a few times it didn't sound like it was turning over as fast as it should, sounded a little slow. Then a few weeks ago I was using the winch to pull a tree over but when using the winch, I didn't start the Jeep because the winch was only going to be ran for a few seconds at most.

So I pull the winch line out connected it to a rope I had tied to the tree and went to take the slack out which was very little, but doing so the battery died on me, what the hell? I left the Jeep sit for a few minutes then tried starting it, it did turn over enough to start and ended up I didn't need the winch anyways.

After that I drove the Jeep a few times to different store and it started every time, but after it sat out here for about a week when we went to leave, the battery was dead.

The only thing I don't like about the EverStart battery is you can't check the water level in being there is no removeable caps to check the water. When I remove the old battery, I'm going to take a look just to be sure. The was my first thought when the battery died, maybe low on water? Of course I couldn't check it.

The bad thing about that is if your electrical system is over charging and you don't know it, the water in the battery will go down and you will never know it and with the plates in the battery exposed your battery will be ruined.

So, the plan for tomorrow is to go get a new battery and a few other things then when I get back home, I'll put the battery in the Jeep and make sure it starts, then tomorrow take the Jeep for groceries. It's always easier using the Jeep for the grocery run being you can just open the back and load/unload them. With the truck you need to get in the back door to get them out, and of course if you put them in the back of the truck you can end up with groceries all over the bed of the truck.

Going Broke Real Fast!

 I'm glad I'm not greedy about having money! Money, I feel that I either have it or I don't, most of the time I don't, and when I do have it, it doesn't last very long. I really don't care that much about money, as long as I have enough to pay the bill's and get what I need and maybe have a little extra over now and then is all that really matters.

First off, yesterday I ordered 2 "flat free" tires for the one wagon. It only has one flat but I change the flat tire and put the other one across from it on the front which will give me one extra tire if i get a flot on one of the rear tires. I'll replay them also at some point.

Then I ordered string for the one weed eater, don't know how this string will be, being its 10 spools of string already wound on the spool for $10.99, Lowes wants $10.99 for just one spool. I don't really like ordering of Amazon being a lot of the stuff is pretty much junk, but not all of it. Although the string is the same size that is on the weed eater doesn't mean it won't break a lot.... guess I'll find out.

Then today I went and picked up blades for my Cub Cadet ZT1 mower.

I got these at Tractor Supply. I could have got them online cheaper, but by the time I paid for shipping (if there was any), I'd still be paying about the same price. Taking the old ones off wasn't to bad using in impact wrench. I also used the impact wrench to put the new ones on then torqued them to 80-foot pounds. I calls to torque them from 70–90-foot pounds, so I chose 80. And no, I didn't take the mower deck off, I did it the easy way. Picked up the front of the mower by hand then slid a jack stand under the front to hold it up. I then layed down beside it and removed the old blades and put the new ones on. I did use a piece of wood to jam each blade as I torqued the nut on them.

Yesterday we got the upper deck washed, finished. Plane to start the lower deck either tomorrow or Saturday. Have to do some more running around tomorrow so don't know if I'll get to it or not.

In the picture below you can see the difference between the upper deck and lower deck.

We were undecided about doing the lattice and railing, but I think in the end will end up power washing it also... it's just time consuming though. Here's another picture of the upper deck.

The deck doesn't look too bad for being 25-27 years old if not older. The deck does have some boards that are starting to show there age pretty good. As a matter of fact we went to Lowes today and got two deck boards to replace two that was getting pretty bad on the ends.

The two boards I replaced today 4/25/2024. The boards right beside the pool may look newer, that's because they are. When we replace out old pool (2-3 years ago) which was 26 years old, we had to rip up the boards closest to the pool so the new pool would fit. It was the same size pool but a different manufacture and near the top of the pool, it's kind of like beveled out and wouldn't fit in the opening where the old pool was so we had to rip the deck boards out to make the opening a little bigger than put new boards down. So, that's another job well done.

This last picture is just a shot of the deck from the other side of the pool. I remember when we built this, it took a lot of lumber and a lot of cutting!

Won't be long before we open the pool up for summer! :-)

Started A New Project Today.

 It's like projects never ends. If it's not one thing, it's something else. Today I decided to start power washing the deck... a lot of deck! I was going to use bleach on it before power washing it but my sprayer broke and didn't feel like buying another one being they are not cheap, besides that I don't really know if chlorine is really good for the wood on the deck, so I ended up not using chlorine..

We used to use stuff you put on the deck to help protect it, but I don't have much faith in it either and it's expensive. The stuff you put on it to protect it might help with the ultra-violet rays from the sun, but but I don't think it does much good in the winter when you think about it.

During the winter rain and or snow gets in the cracks in the wood then freezes pushing on the grain of the wood that can cause splits and wear and tear. Yea, you treat your deck, and the water beads up... but it still ends up laying in the cracks or gains of the wood., so it's kind of like why bother?

The deck in the pictures below is around 26 years old and in the summertime with the sun beating on it, you can hardly walk on it at times it can get so hot.

Anyways... here are some pictures of parts of the deck I power washed beside parts that wasn't power washed yet. Still have a lot of deck to go power wash yet.

 

Hopefully I'll have it done by the end of this week. 

Busy Day Today.

 Seem's like there is always something that needs done. First, we put as some mulch and a tree ring around a post that has a bell on it. I then mowed the grass while the wife put down the mulch. Next, we decided to chip the branches that we cut a good while ago and have been laying out in the yard. It's been too wet to drive though the yard so today we decided it was dry enough.

So, this involved moving the truck, moving the trailer, backing the mower up and connecting the woodchipper to it to pull it around where we wanted it, then moved the truck in front of the chipper to catch the chips.

Here's a picture of some of the branched we had to chip. You can't see it here but there is another big pile of branches beside the shed.

Branches the need to be ran through the woodchipper.  

This is what we had left to chip. Ended up with a full load of wood chips which we used to fill potholes in the lane. 

Here's a short video of chipping the branches. Was hoping to catch some of the bigger stuff running through the chipper but the camera didn't capture it being it only records when it catches movement and we were probably at the limit of the cameras range to trigger it.

If you're wondering where the new mower is, the Cub Cadet ZT1, it's in the shed being I didn't get new blades for it yet, after I messed them up pulling into the shed with the deck down and the mower running.... Expensive mistake! Should have this at the end of this coming week though! :-)

Guess now I go up to the fire pit, drink a few beers and watch for meteors being the Lyrid Meteor shower peaks this evening.

Electrifying a Solar Light (Updated)

 How many of you have a solar light like the one shown below?

We bought ours's years ago, same color as the above but it didn't work anymore. The solar panel was "cooked" and the light had a lot of Alge/moss on it. They are cool looking lights, but the biggest complaint is the light is really dim. It's pretty much worthless as a light other than for decoration.

So, the plan was to clean it up, paint it black, and to electrify it. My first plan was to use a small 15-volt bulb and a small transformer like you use to power a lot of things these days. The problem was, the bulb holder's I had neither of them didn't work, which I still don't understand why they didn't. The spring-loaded center post wouldn't get no electric through it. Anyways... in the end I went from 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC.

In the end everything came out pretty good. At first, I used a 7-watt bulb but ended up putting a small 40-watt bulb in it until I see how it looks. I didn't see it yet when it was dark out, so I might be going back to the 7-watt bulb or something in between.

I also have it plugged into a timer so it will come on around dark and stay on till around 12-midnight.

Here's a picture of it mounted on the outhouse where it's always been.

See it on the top left had side? 

I'll update this post later this evening with a picture of it with the light "on"

Here are two pictures of the light at night. It'd kind of hard to see and kind of looks like two being there is a shadow from a pole light off to the left of the outhouse. You can see it shines a nice lighted area under the light itself.

The Steppingstones... Star & Moon & Stars.

 Ok, its nothing great, but it's better than just plain old looking cement squares.

The tub with the pump in it isn't done just yet. Still have to fill the tub up with dirt and plant flowers in it. I don't know why but there always seem like there is to much to do and not enough time.

I didn't Think the New Cub Cadet ZT1 Cut Grass as Good as the Old Mower. Think I Found Out Why.

 I think I found out why? The fist time I cut the grass with the new Cub Cadet ZT1 54" mower, I didn't think it cut the grass that good, that was last fall. This year using it for the first time, again I was thinking it didn't cut as good as the old mower. I really didn't give it much though until the wife said she didn't think it cut as good either. Oh, maybe I should look into it?

So, I went out to the shed and set the mower height to where I always cut the grass on number 3, then measured from the floor up to the bottom of the mower deck, it read 1.75 inches... humm.

I then set the new mower deck on three which should be 3-inches and measured from the floor to the bottom of the deck on the new mower, it was 3-inches. So the next time I mow the gras I'll have to set it at 1.75- inch and see how it cuts. I also had to adjust the one side of the deck being it was about 1/4" higher than the other side.

I never measured the height of the deck before on the old mower, I just figured it being on "3" that the deck was 3-inches high.  

Flower Boxes...... Done!

 Finally got the flower boxes done, finished staining the last one last evening.

Now onto the next project... which is painting a moon and stars on a steppingstone, and just a star on another.

Did I mention the BIG mistake I made with my new Cub Cadet ZT1 mower? I mowed the grass with it twice now, once at the end of last summer, and once so for this year. After mowing the grass I have to go up these two ramps to get the mower in the shed along with my other mower.

So I made my last cut and went to put the mower in the shed and not giving it any thought, drove up the ramps with the mower deck down and the mower running. Well, I heard this awful noise and the mower stop like real quick after the blades hit the top of the ramps.

Two days ago, I removed the blades which wasn't too bad. I picked up the front of the mower (by hand) and slid a jack stand under the front of the frame to hold it up which gave me enough room to reach under it with an impact wrench and removed the three blades.

One blade could maybe be reused, the second blade has just very, very little bend on it, almost unnoticeable that could maybe be reused but I won't use it or the first blade because they could cause a vibration. The third blade is completely shot being bent in the middle by about 1.25" compared to the other two blades. So it's going to cost me about $80-$90 to replace all three blades.

As many times as I pulled my old mower into the shed, I never did that trick before... and I bet I won't do it again!

Also, I have to get a new wheel for the one wagon being one wheel went flat. After looking it over the tire is pretty weathered and cracked on its side so I take it that's probably where it's leaking. A new tire and wheel cost like $22.00 but it's a pretty cheap tire with only a 2-ply tire on the wheel (probably what's on the wagon anyways).

Still have to get the Jeep to a garage to get fixed. Ned to get the two bolts that hold the exhaust pipe to the manifold. I'd do it myself, but I don't feel like messing with old rusty bolts. 

The Ninja Countertop Oven Went Back.

 Remember the Ninja countertop oven we bought a few weeks ago? Well, it went back.

https://braindrain9.blogspot.com/2024/03/ninja.html

The problem was, first I thought it wasn't large enough, second it was too hard to cook food in it correctly. You could set everything the same when cooking something and one time it might come out right, next time undercooked, next time burnt. I really got tired of having to watch the food cook to try and make sure it wasn't undercooked or burnt.

When we first bought the Ninja, I was concerned about how close the rack was to the elements, being that close you would think things would burn. So anyways, it went back, and we bought a Oster double door oven shown below.

So far this oven seems to be working pretty well but it has its quirks. I don't care for the knobs unlike digital, you can't be precise with everything when setting the temp or time. Another thing is the notch on the knobs to see what temp or time it's set too. Being the knobs are all chrome, it's hard to see the notch, so if we keep this one, I'll put a dab of red paint down it the notch so you can see it better. The only other thing is the timer dial, first if you cook something for under 20 minutes, you have to turn the time past 20 minutes then back to the time you want to set it. Turning the knob back it feels like you are going to break it being you have to turn it so hard to get it to turn backwards.

But so far everything we cooked in it came out ok, not undercooked or BURNT like the Ninja.

Flower Boxes

 Bought flower boxes about three years ago... needless to say, they didn't last very long! Only three years? Ok, so they were out in the weather all year long, but still three years is a short time for what I paid for them, so I decided to make my own as shown in the picture below.

I had to end up making three of them, the one in the picture above is the biggest at 40" Long, 12 Deep, and 12" High. The other two are smaller at 28" Long, 12" Deep, and 12" High. These boxes were made out of 1x4x8 foot treated lumber then stained. Hopefully they will last longer than the ones I bought which the wood on them wasn't very thick, plus while I was at the store where I bought the old flower boxes, it say's made out of "barn wood". No wonder they didn't last very long. The thickness of them were only about 1/4".

Why does USPS Have to Lie?

 Have you ever went to track a package from USPS and after entering the tracking number you read this at the top of the screen: "ALERT: SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS ACROSS THE U.S. MAY DELAY FINAL DELIVERY OF YOUR MAIL AND PACKAGES." Well, don't believe it.

I order stuff on a regular basis from a place in another state and it takes normally two days to get here. 

The one time my order was only 60 miles away from me and it took three days to go 60 miles! What the hell? I got the message about bad weather, problem is, there was no bad weather in the whole state!

As of now I'm waiting for a package I ordered on 2/29/2024 and it's now 4/5/2024, that's what seven days and still no sign of my package! 

Yesterday I stopped at our local post office to see where it is being entering the tracking number the same page above keeps coming up, no updates. So the guy at the post office looks into things and tells me my package is in Vermont. That means my package went through my state and is a long, long ways from where it should have gone!

So it comes down to the question, why can't USPS just admit they made a mistake and post or email me to let me know what happened rather than just blaming it on the weather? At least I would know what's going on instead of not having a clue where my package is at.

FedEx have done the same thing. The one time they pulled into the end of my lane, sat there a bit, then turned around and left! They came back the next day and the drive said someone forgot to put my package on the truck.

Another tid-bit of info. Did you know if you put mail in your mailbox to be sent and you put the flag up, the mailman doesn't have to pick your outgoing mail if you're not receiving mail! Nope, if no incoming mail is going in your mailbox, they don't have to pick up your outgoing mail! Even worse, this happened to me before and is how I found out about it. Problem is, there are three other mailboxes right beside mine! You mean three other people didn't get mail that day either?

The New Chainsaw

 Well, I looked and looked for a replacement part for my Worx 10" chainsaw but no luck. I did see a guy on Ebay had used parts but wanted $40.00 for all the parts he had. I offered $10.00 for only the one part I needed, then later offered him $20.00 for everything. Didn't work out. It's like way would I pay $40.00 for a few used parts when I could buy the same saw new for less the $100? Anyways, I'll keep looking.

The new saw I ended up getting was the Oregon CS1500 which is an 18" chainsaw with a 15 amp motor.

Oregon CS1500  

This saw got some good reviews as well as some bad reviews. When it comes to reviews, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to a lot of them, why? Well, go to YouTube and type in for review of just about any type of power tool and watch how the people use therm. Sorry, but most of the people I see don't know how to correctly use them. The one I though was kind of funny was a guy cutting down a tree then cutting it up used the chainsaw like he was using a knife! He would start his cut then move the chainsaw back and forth just like you would cut something with a knife.

Then you get people giving things a low rating because... I didn't know it was electric... etc., etc., really dumb shit. Sorry, but most people are idiots and shouldn't even be allowed to own power tools. Anyways... I didn't get to use the new chainsaw yet, probably not until about the end of the week because of rain. I do have the chainsaw already to go, put oil in it, primed it, and adjusted the chain.

The chainsaw does take a "weird" chain because of the self-sharpening, but if I decide I don't like it, you can always remove the sharpening stone and go to a regular chain.

Besides the chainsaw, I also ordered a Scotts pole saw. I used my Worx WG309 which is also a pole saw, but... I have to admit, holding a 10-11 pound saw at the end of a long pole isn't no easy task! The Scotts pole saw weighs about 3-4 pounds lighter. Although the Scotts pole saw is lighter, it still has a 10" bar and an 8 amp. motor, same bar length and amperage as the Worx chainsaw.

Scotts Pole Saw  

Another thing about the "new" chainsaw, I seen a number of people saying that the motor burned up! I take it these are the idiots that I've been talking about. It tell's you right in the directions to use a 20 amp maximum breaker when plugging the chainsaw in and to use a min. wire size of 14 AWG up to 50 feet and a min. of 12 AWG wire size up to 100 feet. I wouldn't be afraid to bet half of these people used a cheap 50 or 100 foot card which couldn't carry the load and the saw got hot from the voltage drop and burned up.

Anyways... I'll let you know how things work out when I get a chance to use them.