Good resource!

That pizza looks freakin amazing!

That forklift thing had all the makin's of a good tale

Story when the results don't end up in an emergency and involve the VFD...Tale when it pushes ahead and involves some of the earlier elements

Ken, not silicone...check it out that PVC rubber composite does not work with silicone. I have tubes of the stuff you need, but can't recall just now what it is.

Results are spectacular...You bought that roof a few more years!

I'm not doing anything today. It's sunday and I am, indeed, making this a day of rest!

But tomorrow...tomorrow that bumper will either get bolted back on or get sprayed partially with the Raptor.

What say ye (Not that I'll pay attention to any of it, but just for grins...what do ya think?)

I might just scratch up the paint and raptorize the lower panel on the truck while I'm at it

Thought so!

I was looking at the specs on that machine. It has 55,000 lbs of draw-bar force, the rotation torque of the boom is 57,000 lbs. Fifty seven thousand pounds of torque!

Has a 5.9 Cummins, 97 gallons of fuel, 160 gallons of hydraulic oil, moves along at 3.7mph and is just pretty powerful.

Ever seen someone put in a fence row with one?
One guy holds the post...The excavator operator positions the bucket over the post and simply pushes it into the ground the correct depth...Done!

Logging? Cut the log out of the tree you just dropped and just pick it up and carry it off

Digging? This one can scratch a vertical wall 31 feet high or dig a hole 22 feet deep!

Talk about pole barn building? Here's your crane!

Some neat tricks I've seen/heard about:

Find a paper wasps nest. Use excavator to pull branch with nest off of tree. Place branch in back of pickup truck of a friend or someone who is not your friend ;-)

Place really big rocks or stumps on either end of someone's car

Dig all the ground out around someone's car and leave them perched on a pedestal 6 feet high!

Dig a big hole in a farm road just where the trees close in on either side. Do this when the offending person is out in the field working...then leave

If you are the wife of someone who has wronged you (Husband who cheated on her) use excavator to drive over top of his truck

Park anywhere you wish to create a temporary road block...like to block your neighbors driveway...the one who constantly complains over everything you do...that sort of neighbor

I could see them successfully employed in tearing down mosques

And in the same vein, used to clear out waste treatment plant, sediment ponds!

I've heard of them used to fill up a convertible owned by the lawyer who represented the ex in court where someone got burned

If you suspect the haji who lives down the street has a car bomb inside his 1991 BMW745, use the excavator to remove the roof panel to ensure everyone's safety!

They can also be used for general construction and digging of ponds!

Lots of useful and creative possibilities with such a machine

Yea, after that crash that started in 07, we took a beating. I lost around $300K. Was going to pay for the house and be done. Now I still have a mortgage!

But with how things are shaping up, if/when the dollar and the markets collapse, with the open mayhem that will ensue, I'm going to the farm assuming I have it to a habitable state. This place will just attract looters and I don't want to stay up all night every night shooting them, I figure I can get more sleep down in the Kentucky outback.

What that all means is that although I technically have a mortgage, when the banks fail I won't have a mortgage, but there won't be a means to pay anyway

^^^ Parker has that stuff also, their own brand. I used it all over SquareD

Served on a plastic plate, eaten on a glass table

That has cookout written all over it!

That bumper would fit that square Chevy of yours Nate

I'd almost be willing to trade for some of those meals you have posted up!

X2 on the cash thing

Forgot to mention that

In my past while involved with a couple different organizations. When I was "Out there" we had to first sanitize our wallets...get rid of almost everything.

But we kept a C note or two handy and a chunk of gold or silver

Yea, kina like that

Difference being, my dirt is pretty solid! Just not prudy.

And here it is afterward with all the paint sprayed on and with some drying time:

I used my favorite semi gloss black paint with hardener

With that done, I lightly sanded the whole bumper with steel wool to scratch up the surface, then used undercoating on the inside and underside surfaces.

Today I made some small improvements to the bumper then painted it

First I added a couple grounding lugs. I'll run a ground strap from the engine block to the bumper, then have a dedicated ground lug for the winch

Point of order here:

I wouldn't state in public here whether or where you store your firearms...Bad guyz are always listening...

OK, continue mission...

What's up with mandals?

Manley lookin things they are

Why I just heard some ladies comment:

Who's that manly man in those Oakleys and Mandals!

On the Kobelco, I am talking with a very knowledgeable man. Sold and serviced Kobelco, cat and case amongst other over the years. He explained why Kobelco didn't have parts for awhile...It was because Case had just bought them and there was an issue with that, then Kobelco had to move to Texas and start up new and come up with all the parts again.

Now they are up to speed. But for me, that machine was built in the USA and that is important to me. The Case and the Cat I have been looking at are built overseas. Maybe a small point.
And with this machine, it has been 25 miles from the selling dealership it's whole life. THe guys only about 3-4 who ran it are right here, and I talked to one. He said it is older but a hard working machine. He purchased a new slightly larger machine and he told me he already misses the 200 because of that hydraulic thumb. When I asked him how he felt about putting it to work on a farm, without skipping a beat he said it would last forever.

Larry, who fixed Big Red feels the same way, good machine, will outlast me!

The inside of that transmission sure looks clean for being 40 years old!

Glocks...It's hard to own just one!

I'm a lightweight with just 4
9mm .45  .45  .40

Caleb, or Chung, or both together?

I like a lot of what I am seeing and any comments I would make t improve would be of a "Picky" nature as you have thought through this.

I like that you have taken the time to research the topic, consider what you will do, and actually taken action.

To that I'd ask, and answer to yourself, not publically, but have/are you training with the stuff you have there. Sounds like you have.

I am not seeing a weapon, long gun or pistol. If you are in a lawless situation you will need one.

I like a lot of equipment I see there, Was there a quality compass in there somewhere?

The med kit was not exposed so I'm not sure what you have, but in addition to the normal stuff would you have a quick-clot type product?? Israeli battle bandage?? Suture kit + steri strips? Lots of bandage and cotton wadding in case things went really badly. Remember to stuff the holes and figure it out later!

I carry a BOB and a medical kit, an Army medic field pack in my truck. My thinking is I'll have to treat others, so with that in mind, you travelling alone, with a wife?? Kids? And if so do they carry also or are you kitted for them as well?

I'd throw some cammo make-up stuff in there if you need to get dark, or hide out in a dark place. Baby wipes?? toilet paper? Hat? keep you dry stuff? Extra socks?

As for the tuple-ware concept. Might work for you but I'm personally not so keen on it. Mostly training there, but without a vehicle it will be hard to carry.

Way back when I was in a certain Army unit, we were on call for worldwide deployment with just a phone call. And we did!
Because of that we had to maintain an "A" bag, a "B" bag and a "C" as well.

If you were on the list to go by the time you reported to the hangar and before the aircraft were all tied down inside a C-5 your A-bag was already loaded.

That included the things you need to spend a couple nights on a cot and roll into a combat situation for a 24-36 hour timeframe...something like a raid or a snatch and grab.

The B-bag contained things you needed if you would be staying for a couple weeks. I carried both the A and B over to desert storm and a couple other places.

The C bag contained stuff to make you comfortable. I put a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt and colored T-shirts in there along with better running shoes and maybe some music. If the C-bag was loaded, well, I'll see ya again some day.

Those bags were Air Force standard bags, big ones with handles. Much later in my wild and crazy career, BlackWater used the same concept for the most part. Except the bags were now black and of civy design.

So I'd give some thought to a bag vs a box or put the box in a bag

I'm sure the guys here will have a million other things to help with, many of them have deployed much like I just described, and frankly, with a lot of them being grunts, they'll know more than a cushy aviator anyway!

Have fun!

But, it did a pretty good job of covering everything!

This paint is not the cheap stuff. You mix the primer with an activator just before spraying, then get right to it

So does the 28k include your mech guy bringing everything up to specs or is that going to be extra on top of the 28k?

That is their asking price nothing more
I would need the bucket bushings installed and new pins if necessary, A loose hydraulic line secured, have the whole thing pressure washed and steamed inside and out, engine oil and drive fluids changed, new hydraulic filters, and a new seat installed and finally recharge the AC.

I'll go talk to them Monday about all of that

That bucket has a hydraulic coupler so if I ever score a larger material bucket, it will pop on and off ricky-tick

That's a big powerful thumb as well!

Check out this undercarriage. The grouser height is almost the same as a new track. And the sprockets are the same, almost new. Further, notice the idler wheel is barely pumped out at all. THis undercarriage will easily last me my life!