Daves’ Gadgets

[Alan Dinan]

Beautiful scenery, Mike!!

[just Dave]

15 hours ago, mike newman said:

Hello@just Dave  !!!!

...just come down from my Summer job at the Rainbow Station.....get some meat and fuel etc ...Our ability to keep things like meat and vegetables, frozen, is very limited...so I come out to civilisation  every fortnight or so ....My eldest Daughter, Helen , helps me run a toll  gate, where we painlessly extract $60.00  for a vehicle and $30.00  for a motor bike, so the peasants can run thru 60  odd miles of rough road, mountains , rivers etc  heading eventually to pick up a main arterial road to points South...this in our South Island. ..

We have a multitude of different nationalities coming thru this 'private'' route..and a lot on cycles , ...folk from all over the Globe, on holiday in New Zealand    It used to be fun, but after a few years, I find  its now not quite as interesting , thus I am going to sneak home and remove the cylinder head off two tractors...an "H"  and a "M',,,and give them a valve grind to pas the time away, whilst Daughter handles the travelers..

It is a very pleasant environment to pass the time away....a very modest reward, though, and I just think of all the jobs I could be doing at home...home being about 80 minutes away...Radio Telephone  to Station Staff..., via solar panel power We have allready  this season had to call in the Rescue Helicopter..(this with the ubiquitous Personal Locator   Beckon  )....for the equally ubiquitous  Motor Cyclist with the leg broken....Happens every season.....

Enclose photo of old Accommodation House...built in 1896,,,there was one located at every twenty mile intervals, between Nelson   (at the 'top' of the South Island )...and Christchurch...in the middle of the Island on the eastern side..this for droving cattle down ..back in those halcyon   days of yore....!!  Very few still exist, but this one pictured is still in reasonable shape.  This is where we stay, untill end of April..by then the snow will have clogged the  main pass in the Mountains...for the winter

All the best Dave to you and yours 

Mike

Good to hear from you Mike. Man you have a lot of jobs in addition to taking care of your place. The pictures are all worthy of a travel brochure for a high dollar vacation cottage. So I can see why you let them pay you to stay there. The house looks quite good for its age. The maintenance must be well kept up on. 
The toll gate job sounds a bit dangerous, collecting cash. You would think that position would be able to wear a six gun. Some of our small cafes and shops have gone cashless due to all the crime, sad.  
The tractor project sounds like a great escape. I talk to my machines and I never get back talk, must of raised them well.

Take good care of yourself and Have a great year,

Dave

[just Dave]

This is a rubber plow I made for my nicer concrete areas so they don’t get scratched and gouged by a metal blade . The belting rubber is an about 100# and screwed to light garden tractor type rig. I have a 5K swivel winch on the front, mainly for fire wood wrangling, it doubles as a lift . The big three jaw chuck hanging under the front is a counter weight that also couples the plow. We have subzero coming for a few days so I better clean up the couple inches we just got, before it all turns to ice. There is a steel blade on back for any trouble spots. I left most of the tractor out of the picture so as not to offend.

[hardtail]

We should order 5 our snow grounds crew destroys blades almost daily, I would have thought all would be missing their fillings by now, our mechanic is 74 and he has a hard time keeping up to their destruction and his sanity most days

[just Dave]

10 hours ago, hardtail said:

We should order 5 our snow grounds crew destroys blades almost daily, I would have thought all would be missing their fillings by now, our mechanic is 74 and he has a hard time keeping up to their destruction and his sanity most days

I think some guys think their in a bull dozer when they first get in a plow truck.

[Rawleigh99]

HT, do they even have any teeth left!  LOL

[hardtail]

Well one is constantly flapping his gums...lol

[just Dave]

I have a storm drain down by my driveway with banks up around that part. It needed to have a few scoops taken out and there is nowhere to put the dirt. I decided to bring a small trailer in tow with the excavator.

It worked out as panned, I drove the trailer backwards back up the hill to good stock pile.

[just Dave]

We had a nice stiff breeze yesterday so I took the old Drott for a drive. It smokes a bit and I live in a valley full of good neighbors. I was able to break up a bit with the loader , a rock ridge that crossed my goal.

The loader packed down the road a good bit better than the excavator. It’s a pretty steep grade , and I’m always a little nervous about breaking one of those little shell gear couplers off the ring gear. I bought one a couple years ago 1 of 1 available.  The steel track on rock is like ice , so it’s hard to hook up to tight and over do it.  I should have made a quick coupler for the Ex when I was building the thumb. That would give me a good up pry but then I wouldn’t get the all arm workout  like the Drott provides.

I have a couple spots in mind for the pieces I’m getting out. Another day.

[just Dave]

A little back ground. The old dig cliff you see in background of the third picture was done about 25 years ago during a new house excavation I did. Most of that was scratched out with a 955  I rented for the job.  The had a 977 also I used in the foundation dig but it was so heavy you couldn’t drive it within 30 feet of the hole or it would swell earth into the hole. I had the 150 back then but it was a bit to weak back then. I have done much restoration mechanicly since then. This is the first heavy work I’ve done with the 150 since putting clutches in and fixing the idler bearing failure. 
I have a question for you tractor guys. What do think is a reasonable top RPM for the 301 engine that was put in it by a previous owner. I don’t know if it is from a combine or what. All I know is it was owned by an excavation company at the time of change out. Five notches on the lever gives me about 1350. That’s where I run until I get a bite started then click it up one more notch quick before it can bog. I have not tried to raise the throttle above 6 notches, but that is only about 1/2 way up. I’m running Rotella. I burn about 1 qt per hr. I’ve also wondered if straight 30 wt might burn less ? 

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

I doubt if 30W would burn less, likely more. 2,000-2,200 rpm’s should be no problem at all. 

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

When I run mine the throttle is at the top. Put the hearing protection on and let her run. I don’t know, but I would guess it runs 2,400 no load. 

[just Dave]

I had to cut several trees in the way. I was pulling them down with the excavator, but the up and down the hill rigging is hard work.

I am pretty much a one man show with the wife serving as lookout. I had planed a winch rig for my bucket iI could use as a yarder pole, and this seemed like the perfect time to put it together.

I welded a couple lifting eyes, made out of 1/2” mild steel, to a prefab winch channel I had around. I bought the HF 12K w/ wireless remote, mainly for decent line speed.

I put he boom up in the middle and was able to pull wood out and limb it as I sucked it out of the pile of trees. I like that I can yard trees for a few hours without burning diesel and quietly in general .  The road run right behind my wood processing deck, so I will make a big rock bed between the two to stack this batch of logs.

I can grab them with the thumb from here and stack them on the left, after some rock work.

The deer are like ing the ledge up there. That’s two, not one long one.

 

[just Dave]

On 4/4/2025 at 4:17 PM, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

When I run mine the throttle is at the top. Put the hearing protection on and let her run. I don’t know, but I would guess it runs 2,400 no load. 

After I finish up the tree cleaning, I will wind up the Drott and head back up. I have good power but more is always nice. Thanks

[just Dave]

I’ve been climbing through a lot of branches, rocks and vines. I Made an aluminum knock for this little battery saw. This gives me a couple of good spots, one on top and bottom to limb the brush off .

This little saw pumps way too much oil, but it is torque y and light , good for this task. I can still cut 5”  if a gasser is not close by. I noticed it helps keep that chain off the rocks too. 

[mike newman]

Well Dave...I think its about time you shifted to a bigger , rough, rural property....where you can exercise  all that equipment... Your talents at that point will keep you occupied for another decade or three......

Good pics  !!...Great self -loading dumper

..one thing..if you run that track loader at 2000 rpm, you better build track /stone guards for it...... Running that engine at one third throttle.....or thereabouts, will allow you to ''feel''  when the sprocket  starts to climb onto the rail.....and that will happen in those rocks  !!

At near full throttle....you won't have that luxury....

Go well Dave

Mike

[hardtail]

That rock might keep him busy for a few years, my buddies property in US, the top layer deteriorates as it's exposed to weathering then your back into hard rock and slow progress

[just Dave]

@mike newman

At the pace I move, I don’t think I could ever run out of projects here. I can’t believe how quickly seasons come and go these days.  I appreciate the pointer’s, there is no substitute for years on the levers.  
The leaves all popped out a couple weeks ago and the city disappears , even the  train sounds disappeared this year, the economy is in the pooper up here, so the shipping is way down . It’s funny how you can feel the pulse of things just by listening . 
Seems like there was an M you were planning some work on if they ever let you off work. I hope all that is going well .  I remember you also mentioned your daughter was getting a place down by your home place, truly a blessing to have family close. Take good care of you and yours’ .       
Dave :)&:) ,

 @hardtailyou might be right, I’ve seem some big machines with breakers spend months on road cuts in these hills. 

 

 

[just Dave]

A neighbor had a big red oak blow over , so I had a chance to try a little log loader for big rounds. This was the leftovers from a manure fork off an old tumble bug loader. I had used the center section for little Cary deck on a compact tractor and these two ends were left over. The winch was up there full time already for my wood gathering. 1500# ers easy.

[just Dave]

I built a cable keeper for my truck winch .First I bent a piece of SS to catch the braces.

I used a piece of GSM plastic, a scrap from crane mfg., a couple springs from my spring salvage bin, a bit of angle iron and two toilet seat bolts that outlived the seat. Waist not you know.

The springs were screwed down tight and secured by a wire between them.

Ive had it out a few times now, works quite well.

The tensioners we built years ago for crane winches were a roller type with clockish type springs, I think I like this better after a few runs.  
I expect with the help of these mechanical advantages, I will be able to keep working my plot and warming by our wood stove for many years.

[just Dave]

Two pictures that didn’t print?

[Rawleigh99]

You are full of good ideas Dave!!

[just Dave]

I put a set of front ties on my “Kub” the other day. They are starting to come apart. They looked bad for years, but kept doing the job. 
I picked up a good trick in the process. I always use clamps to help out the mounting but this time I tried a couple beam clamps, and found them to work the best yet. The rims had a ton of rust inside, so I I some power scraping with a long chisel. I cut out some rubber washers fr the stem hole.

That 3 foot chisel will find its way to your chin if you aren’t very aware!

A heavy coat of rustolium 

I put the beam clamps on to hook the first side over, apparently I didn’t get a good picture of that, but it worked much better than other type clamps I’ve used before.

I’ll get a better picture when I do the rears, won’t be too long.

[just Dave]

I did a little ladder modification that is working great for me. I have an extension ladder with Werner feet levelers, and they are great but they are heavy and a couple hundred bucks. I needed a light affordable fix. I like a 14’ single ladder for most of my timber and building maintenance. I’m in hill country so levelers are a must. I found these on the net for around $25. I added a couple pieces of aluminum angle and a 2x4 spreader at the bottom to give me a wide stance.

looking now at the pictures, I think I will trim those corners off flush with the leg brackets. 

[Rawleigh99]

Dave come over those levelers used or did you find some great deal on that you can share?