What have you done today thread?

[Mussels]

Had one of those clusterfuck days.

I have several trees I've been wanting to clear out as they're shading some solar panels on my shop. I co-own a bucket truck with a friend in DC and they've had it for the last two years (maybe three) and haven't used it once. It's sat in the driveway of a second home they own. Last weekend missus Bwana and I drove to DC to collect it (yeah, I'm not even up to today's clusterfuck and the cluster was fucking a week ago). Anyway, the truck is 18 years old, and was bought used. Shit's gonna happen. DC is about three hours from here. Fortunately the terrain is relatively flat. Not far out of DC the brakes fucked up. I think a line blew off the front right corner. Fuck it, it was Saturday and I needed to get missus Bwana back before dark as her vision isn't so great at night. So I soldiered on with just the back brakes. Drum brakes. On a Chevy c3500 bucket truck. Stopping is something you have to plan ahead for. Strategic driving got me home without incident other than mega-stress sweat. Looking waaaay ahead managed to get me through about 90% of the traffic lights without having to bring the beast to a halt. The good thing about this is that we'd planned on taking the truck to West Virginia a few weeks earlier but COVID fucked up that plan. Getting to West Virginia involves crossing some mountains. That would have been the optimal location for a brake failure.

I got it home and the damn generator wouldn't run for shit even though my friend told me they'd had it running the day before I collected it. Turns out it was just some fueling trouble that I managed to clear after several attempts. So I felled a tree starting up high so it wouldn't damage the shop roof. That was last weekend.

On to today's fun. I'd used the tractor to clear a path to some other trees further in the bit of land near the shop. I needed to reverse the bucket truck in. Fuck! I hit some soft ground and managed to get the fucker stuck. Grabbed the tractor and attempted to pull it free, but the tractor is just a smallish 30hp jobby and couldn't get the traction needed to yank the fucker free. Much shoveling at the wheels and it's pretty well set in place. Hopefully I can commandeer a wrecker from a friend to drag the fucker free. I did manage to do a little limbing of two of the three trees I was going to fell today, but the rest was a wash.

So now I've got three chain saws I've filled with petrol and bar oil. I don't like putting them up wet, so I cleaned them and then proceeded to drain the fluids. In my haste I dumped the fuel out of the first one, right into the bar oil container. At least it was damn near empty. Drained the fuel out of them. I do have a new jug of bar oil that I'd put in the back of the truck before I fucked all that up. That was stuck back in the shop. I grabbed it to see if there was room for the bar oil in the saws. There was a puddle of oil under it. Fark! Somewhere along the way I'd put a puncture in the jug about 4 inches from the top. It's a half gallon container and had dribbled a fair bit. Old bar oil container has been cleaned and is draining now so I can transfer the lot into the damn thing.

I should have just stayed in bed today.

It's ok, you still made me jealous. If we could even afford the space to have that sort of problem we'd need to do a load of paperwork, pay tax and get the truck tested (moot point as the truck would have rusted to pieces) before the breakdowns started. But I suppose you just demonstrated why we have the test here.

[Bwana]

Had one of those clusterfuck days.

It's ok, you still made me jealous. If we could even afford the space to have that sort of problem we'd need to do a load of paperwork, pay tax and get the truck tested (moot point as the truck would have rusted to pieces) before the breakdowns started. But I suppose you just demonstrated why we have the test here.

I doubt the brakes would have been as much trouble if it hadn't been just sitting for 2+ years. Shit corrodes when it doesn't get used.
The truck is still out there, mocking me. I've been thinking (uh oh) about a few things I can do to (make shit worse) attempt to get it out. We're looking at more rain in the next day or two...

[Bwana]

No, Bwana....all that was far more entertaining than
" stayed in bed today"

Nice to know its not just me whose best laid plans gang awa.

I'm glad to brighten a few people's day.

[David]

No, Bwana....all that was far more entertaining than
" stayed in bed today"

Nice to know its not just me whose best laid plans gang awa.

I'm glad to brighten a few people's day.

Consider my day much brightened.....

[ZRX61]

Been to the Honda dealer...
Just needed the O ring that shits the bed on Accord PS pumps.
$2.04. Sorted.


However, the guy ahead of me in line wanted 4 spark plugs for his car.
It's a *what he said* (didn't catch what it was)

VIN #?
Car owner: Is that necessary to buy plugs?
Is it a four door?
Car owner: Seriously?
Part guy goes in back, comes back with four white boxes with two red stripes on them.
That will be $135.64 please...
Me & the car owner simultaneously: "For four fucking plugs??"


He left to head over to Autozone. What the hell kind of Honda uses plugs that cost damn near $34 each???.. & how the fuck are they worth that much?


Feeling pretty damn good about my $2.04 bill right now.. especially as it's a simple 10 minute job that Honda want about $100 to accomplish.

[Bwana]

Been to the Honda dealer...
Just needed the O ring that shits the bed on Accord PS pumps.
$2.04. Sorted.


However, the guy ahead of me in line wanted 4 spark plugs for his car.
It's a *what he said* (didn't catch what it was)

VIN #?
Car owner: Is that necessary to buy plugs?
Is it a four door?
Car owner: Seriously?
Part guy goes in back, comes back with four white boxes with two red stripes on them.
That will be $135.64 please...
Me & the car owner simultaneously: "For four fucking plugs??"


He left to head over to Autozone. What the hell kind of Honda uses plugs that cost damn near $34 each???.. & how the fuck are they worth that much?


Feeling pretty damn good about my $2.04 bill right now.. especially as it's a simple 10 minute job that Honda want about $100 to accomplish.

Possibly iridium plugs plus dealership anal raping. They shouldn't be more than $15 each.

[Bwana]

No, Bwana....all that was far more entertaining than
" stayed in bed today"

Nice to know its not just me whose best laid plans gang awa.

I'm glad to brighten a few people's day.

Consider my day much brightened.....

Today was a little less special. I found out my 12 ton hydraulic jack is no longer up to the task of lifting heavy as fuck heavy shit. I did manage to lift it enough to get the front axle off the planet so I could scrape a bit of dirt out from under it. Shoved some dirt into the hole the front tyre created and a bit of lumber for good measure. The rear wheels would barely budge but I managed to shove a bit of lumber under them. The truck is only buried on the left side front and rear. I'm not entirely certain why the front wheel dug in as it's a rear wheel drive truck with dually rear axle.
Missus Bwana at the wheel of the bucket truck I managed to budge it mere fractions of an inch with the tractor as it just spun it's wheels for the most part. And lifted the rear up a few feet. So I grabbed the F250 and put it in 4WD low range. I managed to bust a snatch rope but did move he bucket truck about a foot. Unfortunately that ground was lost as missus Bwana didn't stand on the brake after the rope broke.

Off to Central Tractor I went. New snatch rope and a high lift jack purchased. I'll see if I can break both of them tomorrow trying to get the fucker up high enough to fill the hole and shove more lumber in. I'll probably end up spending enough to pay a recovery vehicle to come out. I do think I may be able to access one from missus Bwana's place of work. I'm not certain they have one but there is a good possibility. I'd like to have it out sooner though as they're calling for more rain early in the week.

[636mick]

We need photos Bwana, you know the rules!
Hope it all starts going to plan mate, sounds like it’s all good fun.
Mick

[ZRX61]

Possibly iridium plugs plus dealership anal raping. They shouldn't be more than $15 each.

I just paid $28 for four for my ZRX.

Don't recall posting "for four for" befive

[Bwana]

We need photos Bwana, you know the rules!
Hope it all starts going to plan mate, sounds like it’s all good fun.
Mick

Yeah, I need to get some for the friends that co-own it.

[Bwana]

Possibly iridium plugs plus dealership anal raping. They shouldn't be more than $15 each.

I just paid $28 for four for my ZRX.

Don't recall posting "for four for" befive

Inflationary language, eh?

[Yorick]

I've had the mighty Husky for 18 months and it's never rained in all that time. But this last week we've had a few big storms. So today headed off to find some mud

It's a sort of sandy coloured mud/clay and sticky as fuck. I just put on 2 new tyres this week so I was laughing The huge torque and big back tyre just powered the fucker right through
The bikes was so caked in the orange shit, it looked like the other KTMs

Then an amazing 3 hours finding new paths up and down new volcanoes


Took it straight to the jet wash as didn't want all that shite in my driveway

[Yorick]

I've had the mighty Husky for 18 months and it's never rained in all that time. But this last week we've had a few big storms. So today headed off to find some mud

It's a sort of sandy coloured mud/clay and sticky as fuck. I just put on 2 new tyres this week so I was laughing The huge torque and big back tyre just powered the fucker right through
The bikes was so caked in the orange shit, it looked like the other KTMs

Then an amazing 3 hours finding new paths up and down new volcanoes


Took it straight to the jet wash as didn't want all that shite in my driveway

And had fish butties here watching the kids surfing

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[weeksy]

Where's the freezing fog?

[Yorick]

Where's the freezing fog?

About 2,000 miles north

[Mussels]

He left to head over to Autozone. What the hell kind of Honda uses plugs that cost damn near $34 each???.. & how the fuck are they worth that much?

OEM plugs for my Jeep were £50 each, apparently it was something to do with California regs and they were only ever used in that one model.

[asmethurst99]

Helped a friend dismantle the fork leg of one side of a xf 650 - the other end cap won't undo
Slimy greasy not quite dry roads so came home

[Bwana]

We need photos Bwana, you know the rules!
Hope it all starts going to plan mate, sounds like it’s all good fun.
Mick

This is before I started fucking with it today.

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New jack in place, front left wheel was deep enough the truck was resting on the axle. The front right wheel is on better ground. Both rear wheels are dug in. I managed to get the truck up high enough I could push dirt back under the tyre and pack it in.

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Unfortunately when I attempted to lower the truck part of the mechanism bent. That rendered the jack non-functional as in it wouldn't lower the truck. I could go up, but not down. Fuckity fuckstix, now WTF, can't move forward, can't move backward, can't lower the fucking jack. It took me a few minutes to spot the fault. There's a metal bit with ramps on it that moves the pins in and out as you lower the handle. The bottom portion bowed out enough that it wouldn't work. I managed to unload that pin while missus Bwana pried it back with a big flat blade screw driver. After we got it about three clicks down , I foolishly let go of the handle and it flipped up slinging the cheater pipe I had stuck on it way up in the air. And toward the truck. Fortunately it launched it far enough it bounced off the top of the cab instead of smashing the windscreen (ZRX is gonna start calling me Carl if I keep this shit up). 8000lb jack and it couldn't lift the front corner of a truck with a gross weight of 13000 lbs. That's the maximum weight with passengers and payload, not the curb weight. That model truck shows a curb weight of just under 7000 lbs. That doesn't include the bucket though. Yes, the upright member is starting to bow under the load. Made in China.

I returned the jack and got a new 20 ton bottle jack. I couldn't get the fucker under the truck to lift it by the axle to get the rear wheel up high enough to build up the ground and shove lumber in place. So I put it under the rear bumper and managed to unload the suspension. Still no joy lifting the axle with a floor jack to back fill etc.

I've got a friend coming over Monday morning with an excavator. Hopefully we won't pull the front off the fucking truck getting it out. If they can get the excavator behind it perhaps we can lift the fucker and fill the holes so it won't be "chocked" in place.

[Yambo]

You need a winch Bwana. I've done a fair bit of off road recovery and using a jack is feckin' 'ard work guv!

[David]

If your friend with the excavator gets to you, just bury the damn thing.