I started working on a new tool for the homestead,what do you think?
I found a John Deere Gator with a dump bed, used but in good shape.
Even though it is running, I am rebuilding the carburetor, new shocks, a cab, and I will add a power kit to the dump bed.
Here it is with the dump bed raised.
It has a Kawasaki engine that sounds pretty good. The starter is new, but I intend to paint the exhaust with black high temp barbecue paint, to stop corrosion.
When I'm done I'll use this Gator as a small dump truck to move the dirt that I'm going to dig out, when I make the walipini greenhouse.
With a small backhoe I already bought I should be able to dig the entire Greenhouse structure out without ever touching the dirt.
I think this will be a good combination, and should save me a lot of time; when I begin the actual build on the homestead. It should save my back too, because I need to move several thousand cubic feet of dirt for the walipini greenhouse.
This looks like a good little project and will certainly take some of the effort out of moving stuff around. I'm afraid I'd hoon around in it dirt-track racing style if I was there, although i don't suppose it would reach the speeds I would like it to...And that you'd get annoyed with me so I'd probably just ride in the shotgun seat and let you do the driving.
It will save me a lot of hard work. I also plan to run the trails along the lakeshore, and use it to move my canoe to the lake. So It's half work, and half play; should be a lot of fun....
You're Always welcome to ride shotgun with me...I'll even let you pick out the shotgun!
:)>The black powder one please. Lol
I'll have it ready!
Double barrel...good choice. I have a NASTY load for that one! a ring of six smaller buckshot, with a 5/8 inch single ball, and six more on top. It Makes a Nasty hole.....
:)>That'll make a statement when I fire it at an appropriate target. 🙂
You should have a verbal statement to match....
BTW you have to wait a few seconds until the smoke dissipates, before you can see the target, LOL!
:)>Lol, well that's a good thing, because if I miss they won't be able to see me to return fire. By then, I'm reloaded and ready to go again.
Double barrel solves that, LOL!
They used to load one with buckshot for close, and one with a ball shot for longer ranges. They called it Buck and Ball, and it made a double barrel a feared toy back then! This one loads a 5/8 inch (15+mm) ball, and weighs 350 grains...That is going to HURT, LOL!
I like to dump 100 grains of powder behind it, that way, the target gets burned a little too....
:)>Going to hurt you reckon? I think hurt would be the least of their concerns if shot with that thing. 😀
Powder burns...I like where you're heads at...Can't ever be too sure a threat is truly eliminated.
It is a FUN toy, not as functional as some of the others, BUT it is fun! It did a respectable job of the skeet range too, the barrels are true. Several guys with $5000 shotguns asked to shoot it....
When I was patterning it at 25 yards, the target had a significant number of burned holes through (and buried in the backer board.
Do you have 1000 yard solutions for a 20 Ga in your computer? Almost 3 AM here, I'm giving it up, LOL!
:)>Yeah, I bet you'd get some attention firing that beast at the range for sure. Remind me never to get shot with it.
I don't have any for 20Ga, sorry.
They were amazed that it did so well! One guy wantdd to buy it....
Are you that bad a shot? You're riding shotgun, remember.
Slim pickings on that ballistic computer...no shotguns? I don't know, LOL!
:)>I can shoot, have no fear.
Never doubted that, i was just saying that if you have the shotgun; you shouldn't have to worry abouf being shot by it....
:)>I'm better with a rifle and handgun to be honest..I did some sporting clays a while back, I did a post on it. Was a lot of fun, more exciting than simple trap shooting. My shotgun is a pretty cheap thing I use as a back up when I go pig shooting. It cost me $950 back about 20 years ago and is made by Fausti. Cheap, but does the job.
I don't spend much on shotguns, not my favorite firearm, but I am modifying a three round tube feed into a 10 round magazine, machined from a solid aluminum block. The spring is a problem, because the ammunition is Heavy; and the lift distance is long!
This 20 gauge I found at a swap meet for $50. No one knew how to use it...the guy on the skeet range offered me $1000 for it!
:)>50 bucks exchanged for 1000 seems like a pretty good return. It sounds like you didn't sell it though. That magazine project would be a good post for The Pew community as it starts to come together.
I NEVER sell firearms! I have a 22 Remmington Field master pump that I bought 50 years ago. I use it to train kids now!
Besides, this old stove pipe takes Careful Handling; and special knowledge to use safely! I have enjoyed black powder for decades, and find that the muzzle loaders cause me to hold target better, because the charge ignition takes time.
This helps with modern firearms too....
:)>I've sold some, but generally only to buy more, or to realign what I have, to balance it out and make it more suited to my needs. I sometimes see something I need to have (want to have) and for financial reasons tend to drop something else away to get it. I don't have mountains of money so have no choice. I just had to buy a new safe a few months ago, so have a few on the go, mostly filled with guns.
They call that horse trading here.
I like to repair and rebuild damaged firearms. Making replacement parts is the best way to understand the mechanism.
I bought a percussion derringer (45) that was being sold as a child's toy! THEY didn't know it was real, or that it just needs a lock spring...Nice 'kids' toy!
I have a nice safe, no guns in it, but it is a nice safe, LOL!
:)>Lol...Here Johnny, play with this toy. Did you get the Derringer working?
Guns in safes is a thing here. But there's other things in mine too.
I haven't had time...but a 45 derringer looks fun enough I will have to do it, LOL!
My safe is empty, but I will use it after I repaint it. It is a century old with brass fittings, I will paint it black with red pinstripes.
:)>Oh wow, old safe! Mine are new, were when I bought them. I have to have the highest level of safes as I have handguns but I'm not fussed, I'd rather that anyway.
Mine is an old Remmington-Rand safe from the 1920s. Someone took an axe to the front, but did Zero real damage, I will just fill it before I paint, and it will go away. It is about 30 by 30 by 65 inches and weighs about 1400 pounds. I may pay to have it moved this time, it was hard the last time I moved it by myself, LOL!
:)>Unless you're Superman paying to move it is a very good idea! Lol. Sounds like a pretty nice safe though. They made them well back then.
Well, I moved it the first time, but I try not to use my cape too often, LOL!
It is an Impressive piece of Iron, but a little heavy too....
:)>I just moved a small handgun safe in a few months ago. It weighs almost 300kg and is only 900mm high, so a lot of lowdown weight. It wasn't the easiest thing to move. Smashed the wheel on my moving trolly. Another job to get to later. (The wheel).
Wimp wheel! My safe has wheels built in, makes it heavy but mobile.
♡♡♡♡Lol, yeah I know right? It just capitulated after only a few seconds. Bloody wheel. No staying power. 😂
Or you are just stronger than you thought, LOL! Stop smashing your tools....
:)>Hercules!
Or Tiny Tim...LOL!
If they were easy to move they would be useless, they could just steal them, and open them with power tools in safety. They should have a homer capsule too!
>:(I'd like to incorporate a huge war-hammer system to mine...Anyone but me touches it they get boinked on the head with it, Thor style. Lol.
I enjoy electricity, so I would use a fence charger; maybe activated by a touch switch, to add elegance, LOL Not quite as nice as Thor's hammer, but you can get almost the same result, especially if the 'fence charger' is a tazer....
Are tazers and archery okay there?
:)>Archery yes, tasers no. We cannot have those. Some have them though...
Tazers here can be mailed here. The tazer is what I will use to test fire the black powder unit we talked about.
I use a crossbow to hunt, and I am looking at the air powered arrow projector, might be fun. Archery is significant, and would allow you to harvest some guns if they bother you....
I also carry Mace when I do security at church!
:)>It is worth saving your back by any means, you can get new machines anytime
True, I need to protect my back, so I can get everything else done! This will have a big role in speeding things up, and getting us out to the Homestead.
:)>Awesome!
Probably will be worth 4 months time saved.
:)>Totally
And one back saved too, LOL!
:)>The most important part of the whole thing I would say
I have had three back surgeries, so I am cautious about moving thousands of cubic feet of dirt. This way, the machines do the work, not my back....
:)>Wow the 3rd time is a charm? Glad you managed to be alright, it must not be easy to deal with back surgery
Avoided a wheelchair after a car wreak or two. Lower fusion, Upper fusion, lower disk surgery. It's the mileage, LOL! But overall, using herbals I am pretty functional; Moved a 50 Kg AC Unit up into place today, so I'll make it okay....
I Healed through it with Comfrey and Tumeric (not approved 'medicine'); and improve every day!
:)>Really awesome you powered through this! Iron man lol
GOD made amazing medicines, then hid them as weeds, LOL! We perish for lack of knowledge....
:)>Learning is always possible for those who keep an open mind
I have been actively studying herbs for decades, and I learn new stuff every day. ONE of these day I will be functional at herbs, now I do what I can!
BUT I take zero scripts for any condition.
:)>Really? No medicine? Awesome, I congratulate you!
Doing better on herbals!
At 28, they wanted to put me on acid reducers...Permenently. Now we see that acid reducers cause cancer and osteoporosi! I used garlic oil I and that controlled it without their poison.
♡♡♡♡Great! Natural remedies are the best!
I am using them across the board! Making a lot of it myself now too. Soon I will be growing it all on the homestead! Then I can stop worrying about the SHTF cliff.
Natural is Truly best!
:)>👍
Homestead grown herbals are obviously the very Best result! When I get the pharma garden done, the state of our medicine will become much less important....
Your emoji didn't come through?
:)>A pharma garden. That sounds so cool
The flower herbals will go out front, for decoration. Fever Few looks like white Bachelor Buttons, and I will plant an entire fence row with it. But I will grow everything we need!
:)>Awesome👍
Chamomile is also quite attractive as a decorative flower, and the passion fruit flower is amazing, Comfrey is a beautiful flower cluster, and is a perennial too.
Be Blessed.
:)>Nice having the right tools for the job mate.
This is a minimum for what I have to do, but it is enough; I'll get the holes dug....
:)>Positive completion of your work!
Trying to get it done, LOL! All I lack is finishing up....
:)>Patience, patience and good results at work! :-)))
Sometimes it seems like I spend my entire day repairing things! Just fixed a fuel pump on the pickup we have been fixing! One less thing to do now, LOL!
Travel trailer move is next....
:)>You are probably a specialist in finding a job for yourself! :-)))
That is, you can’t sit still! :-)))
If I stop, nothing gets done, and That is Not acceptable. So sometimes I push a little, LOL!
:)>Push, push!
I wish you more strength! :-)))
Well the bed is back on the pickup we are repairing for the single Mom. Next step is a new ignition, plugs here, wires coming. Trying to make sure she doesn't have trouble!
Tongue lock coming for the travel trailer. It would be bad to tow it to the Homestead, only to have it stolen (Not Likely) when I leave it there, LOL!
I have to get out there before I plant much, the deer eat it otherwise.
:)>Now you're just tryin to make me jealous! What do you mean by "power kit" for the bed?
You know they don't allow machines in Texas, has to be a horse, LOL!
The power kit will dump the bed at the touch of a button. Tilt beds allow the driver to manually tilt the bed. I have to dump several hundred loads...NOT by hand!
I hope to add a PTO pump too, maybe to run a large generator in a pinch. It should spin a 20 KW generator, and I think I found one that needs work.
:)>Oh that sounds cool! Is the power kit an add on that you buy like an accessory from the dealer? I would want one of those too.
Yes, they sell it as an upgrade. I will look at it, I may build my own if they are greedy, LOL!
It will make it more useful for sure. I will be adding a winch too, on the front. Likely a cab when that is done.
Oh a wench would be great. If it ever goes missing don't worry about it, I got it. lol.
No problem, I shoot trespassers...might be worth it, LOL!
:)>What if I case your place and wait until you leave?
My dog bites...and Debbie is a great shot, so come on by! Be sure to tell her you are a Texican too, ROFLOL!
:)>Dang. You guys sure make it hard for someone just wanting to get a nice piece of equipment. lol.
Just trying to help you with your actfit numbers. They always go way up when someone is shooting at you, LOL!
We are just trying to help you out.
:)>