A deer, oh shit.

We have been bothered by a deer eating the garden lately. It has been spotted at the top of the hill last week. Last night Ma turned the outside lights on and saw the deer at the buffet. She scared the deer out of the garden but not off the lawn. It just stood there at the edge of the light looking at her. I got a rocket from the pile and a bottle and a match. I aimed the bottle at the tree tops towards the deer and lit the fuse. With a loud screetch the rocket took off but the trajectory was too low.  It headed in front of the deer who headed for the spring end of the property. As luck would have it the rocket hit the ground just in front of the running deer still spitting sparks. The deer slid to a stop looking at the rocket and for the briefest time the deer was still. Then the rocket exploded in the deers face. Off to the races. The deer headed for the small opening in the wall near the spring but found it covered with mulch. She slid to a stop looking for the door and alsmost ran into a tree. A few stumbles later she bolted over the mulch covered opening and vanished. I fired off another rocket this time aiming the rocket instead of the bottle and it went over the trees and blew up. Hopefully ending the destruction of the plants in the garden. Those rockets are an easy 25 years old and still working. Made in China.

Chipping away.

I got out the chain saw and started cutting/wearing away at the high spots on the stumps.  I couldn't cut through the ridges so I made cuts across them where I could. Then I got the ax and a BFH to use as a big chisel. That worked pretty good. Now I want to get the Troy Built out and till around the stumps to make the transition smoother. By then I'll have a good idea on how much dirt will be needed to finish the job.
  I cleaned up the last stump this morning and dumped the stuff on the wall, If we hadn't toted away many wagon loads there would have been enough to cover the whole wall. Only about 15 feet left as it is.
 When I started the truck to dump the last chips I noticed a dash light that read "lamp out". I had to get the book out and find what that meant. It's a warning that a headlight, tail light or stop light is out. I ch3ecked all the lights and found the left stop light out. Not the ordinary bulb with the lugs and a quarter turn  it has wires sticking out of the end like the tiny dash bulbs. $2.50 at NAPA. Warning light went out.

About two full truck loads total.

I filled the truck to overflowing this afternoon. I emptied it along the wall by the horseshoe pits. I started on the last two and got one cleaned up then I watched the start of the last lap and shut the tv off and started to work on the last one when it started to rain. I'll finish tomorrow. Then it's what to do to smooth them over.

Whooda thunk it?

 We have been planing on having the tree stumps ground down for quite a long time. Having them removed will make mowing a lot easier. About half way through  grinding the two big stumps I was looking at a big pile of chips. I didn't figure on having to get rid of the mess only getting rid of the stumps. The stump guy worked a full 8 hours on the 5 stumps we had removed putting 6 in on the tamaracks alone. I started hauling the stuff away using the wagon but that is lots of work. I took about ten loads away and gave up on that plan. I got the Dodge backed in next to the pile now and I'm shoveling the chips into it. Probably have more than one load. I'll have to check on the re cycle center to see if they take wood.

Finished again.

  I started to add aome wire to the ground wire but found that it was longer than the others and that I had coiled it inside the plastic channel. After pulling the coil out the wire is long enough.

  The spring lowering has been bugging me lately. I had bought some cut off wheels at Wal-Mart but they are for a circular saw not my grinder. The guy that got me the camper offered to burn the shackle perches off at the shop. I got the idea to use the circular saw and my die grinder to do it myself. I had intended to use the recriprocating saw but the other tools would be smoother to operate. I couldn't get the bolt out of the shackle and had to use the die grinder and small cut off wheels to slice through them. I started to use the circular saw on the mounts but the flat base got in the way. The die grinder cut enough of the base off that made it very useful.  The first one took a couple hours to get cut off but the second one took 45 minutes with all the tools at the ready.  The bolts are 9/16 diameter and the mounts are 1/4 inch thick.  The springs are raised 3 inches. I have 3 1/2 inches clearance between the axle and the frame.

"And there ain't no good chain gangs".

I loaded the mowers on the trailer and found that tieing them down isn't easy. I need to get some swivel tie down rings. When I got to Oneco I found one of the straps off and almost dragging the road. A note to self, Don't roll the mower off, Start it and drive it off the engine will brake it's speed and distance traveled and I won't look stupid chasing it. I changed the ball mount when I got home to raise the front of the trailer to keep the jack wheel from hitting humps and lower the back end. And TLAR don't work for setting the length of the wires that plug into the truck. It was very close though. All I have to do is add 3 inches to the ground wire. Some stops at the front of the trailer would be handy too.

Done.

I spent about 4 hours finishing the lights and cutting the plywood for the deck. I used some 1/4-20 bolts to hold the wood on then figured I could use screw bolts as I needed to get more fasteners. NAPA had some and I drilled pilot holes to make it easier.  I started to brush on water seal but got sick of that and got the Wagner spray gun to finish it today. I don't like the number plate bracket, it's plastic. Maybe screw that to the bumper under the night light.

Almost done.

I checked on line for tail light kit prices and then we headed for Wal-Mart. I got a kit, 3 cans of paint and two quick links for the safety chains. I found the plug in the truck has a plug for a 4 wire connector and I didn't have to wire the thing. I hooked up the lights and plugged it into the truck and all the lights worked. Then I snaked the wires through the trailer frame and set the plug length so it will reach the truck with a little slack. I need to finilize the light location and install them and it's done. Except for lowering the tail a bit. I can re drill holes for the spring shackles and lower the whole trailer if need be. Thunderstorms all around right now.

Ready for lights.

I tried breaking off all the heads of the screws that held the camper floor to the frame but most didn't break. I got the die grinder and cut a notch in the screws so they would break. I noticed that some moved when I touched them with the cut off wheel. A close look at the type of recess in the head revealed a 'clutch head recess". I had one of those tools and started to take a screw out. Too much turning for me so I removed the handle from the tool and stuck it into the drill motor. A few minutes later all the screws were out. I oiled everything that moves on the trailer. The front jacking wheel was bent backwards and I removed it and pounded things until the unit was straight again. The trailer hitch worked but something wasn't right. After oiling that I figured that a piece was moving and I figured that if it didn't move things would be better. I hadn't used the wire feed welder in a while so I hooked it up and put two tack welds on the moving piece and now it works very well. Agway didn't have the type of hooks I need for the safety chains. I re-installed the winch cable and need a hook for that too. A quick swipe with the wire brush and a wipe with a gas soaked rag and the frame is ready for about 3 cans of Rustoleum semi gloss black to match the registration. I found the V.I.N. tag and it got removed. The date of manufacture is April 1985.
  We went to the new school in Sterling and put up a flight with the Flite Streak and then I test flew the new plane. It went very well and I let grandson get in two flights with it. The fuel tank had to be mounted sideways and didn't work quite right. I removed it and installed a small metal tank in the standard way for the next outing.