Getting Hitched

It has been previously mentioned [link] that The Fuzz and His Sweetie had bit the bullet and purchased a shiny new automobile.

People familiar with the situation here in the woods will be aware that with no truck, The Fuzz relies on a utility trailer for anything requiring more space than is available in the trunk of a Honda.  And of course there is his little boat and trailer to consider as well.

As one would expect, the new ride did not come equipped for towing anything.

But it is rated for a limited towing capacity, which includes both of these trailers.

The only hitch was…

A hitch!

After a bit of online searching The Fuzz confirmed that a hitch designed for the '16 model, would also fit the brand new '17 model.

So he pulled up J C Whitney one more time.

And in a couple of days, this was waiting on the porch.

As it can be seen, some assembly was required.

Fortunately there were well thought-out instructions included.  And he was able to watch a video online as well.

So let's look at the project*.

The Fuzz started by backing up onto a couple of 4x4s to get a few extra inches of working room.

#1 Lower Exhaust

(This was not too difficult with the helpful hint of lubricating the hangers before trying to pry them loose) 

Now there was room to…

#2 Remove Heat Shields

(In this case, only 1)

Now we can get down to the tricky part…

#3 "Fishwire"…bolts into position…

Here's a look at the situation.

The mounting bolt needs to come out of the "mounting hole".  But the only access to said hole is through the "access hole".

But an ingenious system has been worked out to accomplish this seemingly impossible task.

Here's a look at the included hardware.

It will be noted that in addition to the required bolts, there is a funny-looking wire with a springy-looking end on it.  This is in fact the "Fishwire".

The Fuzz appreciates the great instructions that come with this kit.  So let's have a go at it.

Here's what we're working with.

A) That springy-looking end of the wire must be pushed up into the "mounting hole"…

…Worked through and out of the "access hole".

(Actually this is not as difficult as one might suppose)

B) Next the "spacer" is slipped over the wire, and the bolt threaded into that springy-looking end.

C) Then this whole arrangement is carefully pulled though the frame and the bolt pulled out the "mounting hole".

The "spacer" remains in the frame with the bolt passed through!

#4 Insert U-bolt through "tow hook"

#5 Insert fishwires through holes in hitch…

At this point the hitch is raised into position and the nuts put on the U-bolt (#4) which holds the hitch up enough to guide (with a bit of lifting) the mounting bolts through their holes…

And these nuts are installed, and (#6) everything torqued up to specs.

But now we have…

#7 Trim Heat Shield(s) around hitch

(This one kinda bothered The Fuzz 'cause he only had one shot at it, and remember — this was a brand new car!)

But he did get it fairly close.

Now all that was left was…

#8 Raise Exhaust and reattach…

A look at the finished job…

And with the fancy "Euro Ball" installed.

Next thing will be getting the wiring for the trailer lights installed.

*The Fuzz had done this job before [1 & 2] on the older car.  And the process was essentially the same.  So he did sorta know what was involved before he started.

Little Wheels

Over the years folks tend to inherit stuff, and The Fuzz is no exception.  And one of those things is a cool little old washstand.

And it is a nice piece, and still good and solid.

One nice touch was the casters under it.  In a place like this trailer space is at a premium, and it helps to be able to move things around when needed*.

The antique was equipped with antique casters.  And while they were pretty cool, they didn't roll on the bare wooden floor very well.  This made it a bit difficult to move, and had a tendency to skin up the floor as well.

This kinda bothered The Fuzz's Sweetie and she mentioned this to him.  And in the ensuing discussion it was decided to replace these picturesque, but ineffectual little fellers with something a bit more modern.

The first step was to empty the thing out and lay it on it's side to determine exactly what they were dealing with.

Here is a look at one of these little jewels.

The hard metal wheel couldn't really get a grip and tended to slide on the smooth floor.  And with the weight of the piece on it it had a hard time pivoting as well.

So The Fuzz and His Sweetie made a stop at that well known Home Improvement Store and found the best match they could.

These new guys should work a bit better especially with the ball bearings to pivot on.

But a close match is not an exact match.  And the stems on these things, while no longer, are a little bigger around.

The first thing (after actually obtaining them) was to determine the size of drill bit needed to make the necessary alterations to the legs.

That being done, the Fuzz got out his tools and went to work.

The drill to enlarge the holes, A rule to check the depth, and that little sucky thing to blow out any sawdust.

(Or maybe that should be "Drilldust")

Holes were drilled, being careful to keep everything nice and straight…

And the new casters installed.

And here's a look at the finished project.

*Another example of this is the "Car Seat" (actually from a Ford truck) which used to grace the front porch at the Old Place.

The casters under it allow it to easily be used for enjoying the view from the windows, or the "TV" on Movie Nights!

In fact it can be moved to any convenient location when needed.

Leg Vise (of sorts)

While The Fuzz makes no claims as to his joinery, he does find himself involved in various projects at times.  And many of these involve wood working.  He has learned through experience that having the piece in question firmly secured goes a long way toward making the job more successful and enjoyable.

And so the other day he decided to add a leg vise to his workbench.

In researching this project, he discovered that one aspect of a real leg vise is a way to keep the jaws alined vertically parallel to each other.

It seems that there are a number of ways to achieve this.

Here we see a couple of ways this can be done.

On the left there are a multitude of holes with a pin to adjust for the thickness of the work piece.

On the right we see a set of 2 screws linked by a chain and sprocket system to keep thing lined up.

But in his research, The Fuzz had happened upon a post where a guy had used an alternate, much less complex method to achieve this.
It seems that in his research this guy misread another post, and developed an alternative system of his own.
(The fact that he had been drinking a bit of beer could have contributed to this!)
Anyway, rather than using a complicated arrangement, he simply used a spacer at the foot (3), corresponding to the size of the work piece.  He further refined this by utilizing a tapered spacer - thus making the whole thing adjustable as well!
Great idea, and definitely compatible with The Fuzz's style.

Naturally, The Fuzz had his own way of doing things.
Because of the offset of the leg (1)...

He thought it best to mount the "jaw" at a corresponding angle.

This block (2) is only temporary for test purposes and will be replaced with some tapered pieces later.
He hit the Home Improvement Store for some threaded rod, nuts and a couple of pieces of pipe.

Holes were then drilled through the "vise" and a corresponding spot on the leg of the workbench - being careful to keep everything lined up and level. 

The pipes were threaded into these holes...

And a nut welded to the one in the leg.

The Fuzz had driven a piece of a hex shaped socket* on the other end of the threaded rod foolishly thinking it would hold...

Of course it didn't once it was screwed down and pressure applied.

So he ended up welding that one as well.

He finished up by carving out a hardwood handle to fit over the hex shaped end.

If this thing seems to be just a little bit tilted, that's because it is.

But this was intentional in order to allow for a slightly wider jaw.  This slight angle shouldn't have any affect on the griping power of the thing.

*This was like one of those old sparkplug wrenches...

Kinda  like this one.

 

Pumps Pipes and All That Kind of Stuff 2

To continue this story:

When we left Our Fuzz he was a bit frustrated with how this job was going.  It had been a long time in the works and was still not working out.

The problem didn't seem to be in the brand new pump.  But why wouldn't it prime and pump?

The problem had to be in the well.  Perhaps the foot valve was messed up somehow.

This would mean pulling the pipe out of the well.  And this was easier said than done.

Some years ago The Fuzz had ran a new pipe from the pump under the house to the well, and of course buried it.  It should not have to be completely dug up for this.  But it was glued together and out of reach in the well.

So The Fuzz dug beside the well and exposed the pipe.

Since it was all PCV pipe glued together he cut the pipe as close as he could to the well.

Then he used a rod with a hook bent on it to loop a rope around the pipe, and then hooked it with the rod.  Everything went okay until he tried to pull the now disconnected pipe up and out of the well.  The "L" shaped piece at the top was too long to fit up through the casing.

(The Fuzz had actually been hanging inside the well when he put it together originally- which he had no desire to repeat.)

But he persisted hoping that 1¼ inch pipe would bend just enough so he could pull it up.

Then it snapped off. 

Fortunately he was pulling on the side piece, and the rope was still tied to the long piece so he lost neither one.

At this point he and His Sweetie lowered a weight down there to check the depth and find out how long to cut the new pipe.  And it was found that there was quite a bit of silt/sediment in the bottom.  So much that the old foot valve had been covered with it.

So at least they had found that problem.

Since the new pipe would have to have a little shorter side piece (to fit through the casing) this metal pipe it passes through would have to be shortened- or replaced.

The Fuzz was able to find a shorter one in his scrap pile.

With His Sweetie's help they managed to lower the new pipe into the well and get it through the hole on the side.  It was connected, and now it was time to try the pump again.

And this time it worked...

Briefly!

Everything was going fine with pressure building up and all, but then suddenly all was lost.

On investigation, The Fuzz found that the fitting he had used to connect the 2 pieces of pipe in the hole had given way and the hole was full of water!

He had had some question about that thing but figured it was worth a try.  But apparently that was all it was worth.

So he bailed out the hole and went back to the Home Improvement Store (again) for some couplings to just glue it all together again.  Sometimes it's best to just keep things simple.

And so he had this.

 And this.

Another job well done.

 

Ice Is Not Nice

The Fuzz has been spending a few days over at the Old Place.
He had finally gotten around to one of those projects that had been on hold for a while.
There'll be more on this in the future.
But for now, here's a teaser.   ☛

He had been living "Old School" for this time.  It may be recalled that using the "facilities" back there, involves a walk "down the hill".  This can be an adventure in itself this time of year- like on a 9℉ morning!

So after a few days of this, Our Spoiled Fuzz was glad to get back to The Woods, and all those luxuries.

Of course these particular facilities at the trailer are located as far as possible from the wood heater.

While The Fuzz was toughing it out at the Old Place, His Sweetie was holding it down back in The Woods.  She has a definite preference for the other bathroom, the one closer to the heater.  So the back potty hadn't had much use.
This means that it hadn't been flushed, which also means that the water had not been run for a while.

When The Fuzz got home he eventually felt the call of nature.  He did notice a skim of ice there in the bowl, but thought little of it, since there is no effort made to heat that room.  But when he flushed, he discovered that the tank would not refill.
Well, after a good bit of work with a hair drier, and His Sweetie pouring warm water into the tank, the pipe finally thawed out.
But it was obvious that the problem was under the floor.
The only thing for it was to crawl up under the trailer and investigate the situation.

And here's what he found.

For some reason, the insulation had been pulled back, exposing the pipe.  Perhaps it had been a previous repair?
But, with the weather into single digits, this would have to be addressed.
Since they were going into town that afternoon, they made a stop at the Home Improvement Store on the way home.

There, The Fuzz grabbed a small packet of insulation to make the repairs.
The actual repair was "a piece of cake", as they say.  He just crawled in there and stuffed a bit of the insulation up around the exposed plumbing...

... and ...

... sealed it all back up with his trusty Gorilla Tape!

So now, as long as the thing does get the occasional flush, there should be no more problems.

Bike Stuff, Cheap Fix!

Just because The Fuzz hasn't been posting much does not mean he has been asleep the whole time.

In anticipation of some possible road trips, he has been addressing some  motorcycle issues.  One was the speedometer that was hanging on by a thread ever since that man pulled out in front of him that fateful summer.  It turned out that taking it apart and bending a few things around got that straightened out- more or less.

But that still left this seat, which had gotten progressively worse.
Back when The Fuzz was still a productive member of society, he would have to park the bike out in the weather while at the job.  Now it was finally time to do something about it.  And since this bike has been officially totaled, there was little incentive to sink much into it.  Of course a nice leather seat would be nice, but let's be realistic about things.

So Our Resourceful Fuzz made a quick trip to that Home Improvement Store for some black Gorilla Tape*.

And here we have it! 

*There is a precedent for this sort of thing.

(While you're there, check out this Booze Bike!)