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What's your hoe doing?

Swetz

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Messages
1,562
Location
NJ/PA
Occupation
Retired :-)
A hole 15' deep?? wow, I went down 2 to 4 and hit shelf! I guess thats to be expected on a ridge......
Anyway.... glad to see your hand has improved enough to work,,, and the weather has allowed that pad to grow.... next year a shop??
Yes, 15', no more, because my excavator wont go any more. LOL. We have a lot of dirt here. I have never hit bottom anywhere I have dug on this property. That said, there is a rock quarry about a mile away. The above stated, there are several boulders in my excavation that are so big, the excavator is not able to bring them out. I just move them out of the way and continue on.

Yes, the hand is slowly improving. The broken bone seems fine. It is the inability to bend my fingers that drives me crazy. I went to physical therapy, and continue to do the exercises, but still not 100%. They told me this was normal when a hand is immobile for some time, then go on to basically say it takes longer for people of your age :D. Ill take it, LOL!


Took a ride down to the pad yesterday. Even with all the rain we have been having, it looks real good. The hole that the dirt came from is full to the top with water and overflowing. Gonna be pumping in the spring!

1735827506322.jpeg

Fingers are crossed for a shop this year 2025, barring I do something stupid and mess myself up again.


Happy New Year, everyone!


Edit:
Check out the white birch trees in the background. We have had so much heavy snow and wind that I have acres of bent over trees. Some have snapped in two as well. Crazy!
 
Last edited:

T-town

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2014
Messages
387
Location
NE PA
Occupation
retired !
Those birch are the 2nd cousins to the 'black birch' popping up in the woods my way.... they all seem to sprout once a bit of sun hits the floor.
Ice storms/heavy snow will bend 'em over and bust 'em all the time. They die/rot and feed the 'new' batch. They seem to root propagate.... and will fill up an opening real quick. The white birch will cover culm/waste banks when other trees won't.

Nice pond ;) Swetz..... i'll bring a fishing pole.

Happy new year to all..... and have a safe/healthy 2025
 

aighead

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
2,885
Location
Dayton, OH
615a, we got some snow, maybe 8 inches, it's pretty chilly, plugged block hearer in for maybe half an hour, she fired right up. Letting her warm a bit to plow my way to the main road to see if it's worth trying to go to work. I don't think anyone else is there. Happy first good snow of the year day!

20250106_061248.jpg
 

aighead

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
2,885
Location
Dayton, OH
Spoke too soon, now it's stuck in my driveway. Cranks good, no firey. Fuel doesn't appear gelled. It was running fine then it started bogging down for a minute then died. Starting back up it fired for a second then died again. It's probably 25 degrees out.
 

DMiller

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
17,935
Location
Hermann, Missouri
Occupation
Cheap "old" Geezer
Nice! Perhaps Gelled?

Soon as sun is up will clear off some of the drive here, have not measured but can expect 4 or more inches to shove off the sides. Been NO Movement on our County Road last night thru this morning, no state trucks either so wife and I are situated for the time being. Already added PS to that tank.
 

NH575E

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2015
Messages
1,375
Location
North, FL
Occupation
Retired Machinist
Spoke too soon, now it's stuck in my driveway. Cranks good, no firey. Fuel doesn't appear gelled. It was running fine then it started bogging down for a minute then died. Starting back up it fired for a second then died again. It's probably 25 degrees out.
Sounds like a fuel restriction. Pull the banjo bolt at the sediment bowl if it has one and look in the fitting for crud.
 

HarleyHappy

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2020
Messages
942
Location
So NH
Occupation
Welder/Mechanic
Definitely sounds like fuel.
You could put in some Power Service 911 but it usually doesn’t work that well.
Where your hoe hasn’t been run in so long, I question what kind of fuel you have in there, winter/summer fuel.
Might have to wait for it to warm up a little and make sure you add the white bottle stuff after you get it running.
When I have had fuel problems in the past, it is a real pain to get it done in a snowstorm.
Change fuel filters, fill half full with PS 911 and bring a jump pack.
Its easier to put a tarp over it and get a propane salamander under it or a turkey fryer, if you have the room and warm the girl up.
 

HarleyHappy

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2020
Messages
942
Location
So NH
Occupation
Welder/Mechanic
Definitely do the block heater and whatever you can do to get the whole engine warm.
If you haven’t been putting the white Power Service in, you should now.
I put a few cap fulls in every 5 gallon jug.
 

Willie B

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
4,325
Location
Mount Tabor VT
Occupation
Electrician
Power Service 911 is a product to de gel if gel has already formed. I've read some comments that 911 is not healthy for your engine.
There are several brands of gel preventer, I use Howes. It prevents formation of ice crystals, prevents gelling.

In extreme cases gelling becomes tiny waxy gobs that don't dissolve even when warm. I'm not sure whether PS911 would help. Often, your fuel filter is plugged with a combination of ice crystals, & gel. Replacing fuel filter can get you going again.

I add kerosene to diesel fuel to prevent gelling.
 

aighead

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
2,885
Location
Dayton, OH
Yeah, I've been putting both normal pump diesel (bought semi-recently) and Howes in for a few months now. Nothing in the tank looked gelled but who knows what the filter looks like.

Are there issues with leaving the block heater plugged in all day? Or for hours?
 

colson04

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2016
Messages
2,597
Location
Delton, Michigan
Yeah, I've been putting both normal pump diesel (bought semi-recently) and Howes in for a few months now. Nothing in the tank looked gelled but who knows what the filter looks like.

Are there issues with leaving the block heater plugged in all day? Or for hours?
Leaving the block heater plugged in won't hurt anything on the engine. Just the electricity to run it. We have 2 tractors and a loader that stay plugged in for 8 hours or so every day. We have a guy that comes in at midnight to feed cattle and that equipment has to start for him, and no one is available to plug them in an hour or two before they need to start. So, they get plugged in around 4 or 5pm when we head home so we know they'll be ready for the night guy.
 

materthegreater

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
Messages
1,116
Location
VT
Yeah, I've been putting both normal pump diesel (bought semi-recently) and Howes in for a few months now. Nothing in the tank looked gelled but who knows what the filter looks like.

Are there issues with leaving the block heater plugged in all day? Or for hours?
Gelling always happens in the filter first, where the fuel needs to be spread thin to go through the tiny openings in the filter element. And my experience is that it will gel easier in a filter on a suction line than a filter on a pressure line. Not sure why.

Try pouring some fuel that seems like a normal liquid through a piece of cheesecloth when it's cold. It will quickly plug up the cheesecloth with wax even though it pours fine.
 
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