Druid's 'Drema's Druidfab Attachments !!

**#691** » 02:11:09, 22-08-2017

Was gonna have a day at it today :smile:

...... 'til the boss was listening to the radio at brekky time ! :sad:

They were banging on about appliances catching fire, in particular freezers !! :uupps:

That was the end of my morning ... drag the damned thing out ... defrost, major hoover out of the back and a thorough check over !!! :sad:

Was gone one, before I put the isolator key in the 'Drema's engine bay and fired her up. :sad:

Me box bases are my datum for level, so started there, plus they're level across their width. Added some 40mm to the drainage run and worked me way across ... :vissla:

slowly ..

'til I'd got to the level this side :grin:

then gave it the roller for half an hour ..... :thumme:

which is about as much as said roller wanted to play today ???
Started sweet as, after I'd bled it all through the other day, when I rolled the shale out and had done exactly the same then .... almost as if it's 'nipping up' but doesn't feel that hot and oil levels fine ..... and fresh. Very odd .... just loses its revs?? Shut it down and it'll run down quite normally, which i wouldn't expect if it was 'nipping up' ??? Anyone got any thoughts?

Anyway .... parked that up and shifted JakieB and the Thwaites out the way, so's I could get at the next stretch .....

edged the drainage and slotted some more 40mm on top again...

then worked me way across to the centre channel .. :smile:

was a tad late to go winding up yon roller and tea time rapidly approaching ... :eat:

time to park her up ....... :vissla:

MOT for the body down The Heath, UHW, in Cardiff, in the morning, so bit knackered for progress tomorrow. :sad:

Be a bit late by the time I get back, probably. :vissla:

My eye says it's a bit low in the centre, but I'll get the edges sorted and then 'praps drop a few bucketfulls in the middle, cover the channel and stick the beam on to get it spread a bit more evenly. :thumme:

Job for Wednesday ! :grin:

Think it's looking alright ATM :vissla:

..... see what Stanley says, when it's had a bit of vibe over it. :thumme:

Wish I still had me laser beacon ... lent it to a mate a fair while back, who cooked it .... :aaargh:

forgot the charger one day and plugged it into his phone charger :sad:

... bye bye beacon :aaargh:

... would make life so much easier !!Might pester him for the promised replacement .... that never showed up !!!!!! :huh:

If anyone's wondering WTF I'm not using me 7ft grading bucket ... in favour of my favorite 3ft Geith ..... it's some bucketful at a stretch and TBH the Geith has a much nicer edge.

**#692** » 01:33:50, 25-08-2017

V8Druid skrev:........

MOT for the body down The Heath, UHW, in Cardiff, in the morning, ........ Be a bit late by the time I get back, probably.
...... Job for Wednesday ! ...........

well the MOT was all good; that's me OK-ed for another 6 months :thummar:

and they've agreed to my idea of changing my regime to weekly :thummar:

.. can but try and see what it does .... be good if it works .. :vissla:

As predicted, 'twere a late return .... too late to do anything, anyways, at half six !! :vissla:

Wednesday morning was time for a fuel fill up first thing and the 'Drema'd done 30.12 hrs since her last fill ...... on 165 litres of cherry .... I made that about 5.47808 ltrs/hr .... which ain't bad !! :cool:

I recovered my beam from where it'd been sat separating the planings and the 40mm .... :smile:

took a bit of latching on to over the top of the heap ... could barely see it ... :uupps:

then got some more of the black stuff spread about after I'd covered the drainage channel over with some terram ... :thumme:

and then got even more laid out ..... :smile:

..... in between keeping a serious eye open for this fella .... :uupps:

he'd been under, on, in, on the cab floor & on me lap on / off all day :eek:

.... appeared on my lap at one point, when I came around cross chassis and covered me in grease, with his tail, which was also covered in grease !! :aaargh:

All stop to get cleaned up, then wash his tail off with 'Fairy liquid', after it'd had a scrape off and good wipe down with some rags !! :grin:

he laid there in the sun, for a good hour, as I worked over him :huh:

.... back and forth fetching bucketfuls and coming around, beside and over him :uupps:

...... he just doesn't care and isn't bothered in the slightest by the movement and noise!! Crazy animal !! :vissla:

got the roller out and proceeded to give it to 'em ...

but didn't give 'em anywhere near the rolling they needed, :sad:

'fore the old girl was playing me up in the vibe stakes ... on / off / etc. :sad:

tea time put paid to any major investigations, other than to suss the belt had escaped from its pulleys, when it finally stopped playing ball. :huh:

Another shufty after tea and I was well pee-ed off to find the cush drives I replaced circa 3 years ago were not looking the best, :sad:

which meant the machinery bed of the beast was closer to the roller than its original design parameters!! :huh:

Hence the belt being loose, as there is no tensioner on it !!! :aaargh:

Clara day today, so that put paid to stripping yon roller. :vissla:

It had to have it for an hour or two after she'd departed and I just kept refitting the belt a few times and rolling said planings as much as it permitted !! :thumme:

Think they're looking a bit better .... :grin:

If it stays as dry as it has been the last few days, it's gonna be JakieB time down the field soon and I can get on removing the rest of that back end !! :thummar:

More blackstuff to go down there yet, but gonna need to check out some levels again, to give me a more definitive idea of what's required and where .... middle is deffo low .... I can see that without Stanley's able assistance !! :grin:

Clara again tomorrow ..... see If I can't get her to 'drive' a staff for me !! :grin:

Otherwise, as long as it ain't rained tonight .... got some heap spreading to do. :vissla:

**#693** » 17:46:14, 25-08-2017

I wonder, if that cat´s been a machine operator in an other life.... :klia:

....or aspire to become one, with a bit help .... :???:

**#694** » 00:43:37, 26-08-2017

LOL ...... you could well be right .... he's going to have to grow longer legs to reach the pedals though :grin:

"that cat " has had a few close shaves this afternoon/evening :uupps:

.... saw him coming and he just walked straight up to the front wheels heading his way and sat down in front of 'em :eek:

... have had him on my lap, since.... whether he wanted to be or not :vissla:

Parked her about half seven this evening and had to wake the cat up, an hour later, to get him out the seat, .... so I could close the door .....

......and he complained like hell :skratta3:

**#695** » 00:52:26, 26-08-2017

Clara's mum appeared earlier than usual this afternoon, :smile:

so I took my cue and disappeared up the patch for a couple of hours :grin:

Wanted to get that stuff moved off the top at the back and having worked out WTF I was gonna shift it to :thumme:

... bar the steel, I wanted to get it done, as it's nice and dry here ATM :thummar:

.... want to get that back end dug down to finish dig level :vissla:

Steel is going to have to sit there, 'til I can sort the corner out :vissla:

this lot is ready for a trip up the drive now :thummar:

ripped out a bit more of the shale level in the corner .......

and got what i could done, before tea time ..... :vissla:

in readiness for some concerted digging tomorrow :vissla:

..... it had better not rain tonight :sad:

**#696** » 02:23:58, 28-08-2017

"Warmest and driest August Bank Holiday weekend in decade" ... so the TV said this evening !! :grin:

.... unless you live in Texas !! :uupps:

Clara all day yesterday .... dunno which is the worst .. her on my lap or Sparty ... :???:

at least he can only head butt one stick at a time .... Clara has two hands !! :aaargh:

Managed to shift a pile of spoil from the batter base and channel clean up, off the level and up onto the top of the back corner out the way ... :thumme:

ready to depart with the rest of that corner .... :thummar:

After I'd given the shale layer a good ripping with the 4ft toother right into the corner at the far end of the ramp ... creating a fair pile of shale .. :uupps:

and pulled a batter line down through the bank to get an idea of what I needed to work to... :vissla:

interspersed with Clara minding with Pam and entertaining her elderly farmer cuzs, who turned up after lunch and departed about six!! :huh:

Managed to shift 6 loads of shale up onto me neighbour's turning area, after giving them a call, to see if they were up for a 'little something', a lot harder than the current muddy area, to the one side? :vissla:

"Just keep on 'ossing it' in there" was good enough for me :thummar:

... next job'll be get that spread ... after that corner's come out and taken a trip up the field. :grin:

Today has been glorious ..... and bloody Sunday!! :aaargh:

Massacred an acre plus of grass, got it all collected and in the grass boxes. :thumme:

All machines fuel-ed and greased, ready for a busy week, hopefully, if the forecast is to be believed. :thummar:

First job in the a.m. really needs to be some heap spreading in't field, with JakieB, in readiness for some fairly decent soil to cap over it all with. :smile:

Gonna be a few dumper loads there, looking at it tonight. :vissla:

Piccy from the top of said heap/bank, from t'other end .... hopefully the last time I'll be stood on that spot. :thummar:

Home alone tomorrow, so anticipate getting lots done !! :grin:

**#697** » 20:16:45, 31-08-2017

V8Druid skrev:"[b]

Home alone tomorrow, so anticipate getting lots done !!

Well Monday was glorious here ..... :thumme:

but before I could get any more shifted down the field, I just had to have a few hours on Jake, to square it all up a bit ... :huh:

and make room for some more .... :grin:

got it roughed out, ready for some better stuff to cap it over with... :vissla:

then set to shifting the bank again :thummar:

spot the lunatic cat .... :uupps:

in, out, on, under, as usual :vissla:

.... then he tried a new tack .... :huh:

lie where I want to put the bucket .... :eek:

anyone'd think he had a death wish !!! :sad:

All came out pretty well, but slowly, gently, once I started to get to the finnicky bits ... :vissla:

one chance to get this right ..... wasn't gonna go back in a hurry :vissla:

Eight loads later, to fill some of the hollows .... :thumme:

and it was getting on for tea time .... by the time I'd had that the light was starting to disappear so .... :sad:

........ unusually for me , I left her where she was .... sky didn't have a cloud in it and the forecast was good ..... :grin:

**#698** » 20:36:51, 31-08-2017

Lying bar stewards :sad:

..... by midnight yon forecast said drizzle by 10 a.m. Tuesday :sad:

Managed to get one load out and up the field.... :vissla:

and another in't Thwaites .... :thumme:

'fore it turned seriously shitty wet :sad:

scrambled off the soft, before it got too sticky and abandoned play ..... :huh:

was 'sposed to clear up by 11 :vissla:

..... it did, :thumme:

but then took 'til half five to dry enough to get back on it :sad:

shot that dumper load down the field .... and thought better of a second one, :uupps:

.... twere a tad sticky / slippery still, so turned my attentions to sorting the bank and stockpiling what came off it :vissla:

only trouble with that was :vissla:

... 'twas getting in the way for getting angles to pull the corner :huh:

...... and it was getting dark(er) .... :sad:

bloody nights are drawing in all of a sudden .... :sad:

quarter to eight and I really could not see the edges, :sad:

so called it a night, "discretion being the better part of valour", etc. ..... :vissla:

and I DID NOT wanna f**k it up !! ... as said ... one chance ... only!! :huh:

**#699** » 20:56:00, 31-08-2017

forecast for Tuesday night and yesterday was ........ shit!! :aaargh:

Have to confess .... I didn't hear the bloody deluge in the night :vissla:

...... missus said it was some bit wet ... but didn't look too bad yesterdat morning and it had stopped raining :thumme:

Too soggy to get on though, :sad:

but drying nicely :grin:

so rather than waste the sunshine, I decided to go get the 6 loads of shale I'd dumped on the neighbour's parking/turning area sorted out, :thumme:

whilst I waited for it all to dry :vissla:

.... field looked passable, but me dig area was still looking 'sticky' :sad:

Grabbed me forks and a bucket and headed off up the drive ..... :smile:

got up there, dropped me bucket on the floor and just dropping the forks off, to grab the bucket and thought ... "WTF's that running down the side window? ..... PLANTOHYD!! " :uupps:

.... ALL STOP!! :aaargh:

.... forks on the deck and "WTF'S that coming from??" :sad:

I swear that patch of ground is ****ing cursed for hydraulics :sad:

... 'swhere she developed the load sensing line fault last year :aaargh:

Anyways ..... not as bad as could have been :vissla:

..... small link pipe on the boom lift check valves .. pilot operated and have to say, been meaning to change this bugger for a while .... had to now!! :vissla:

back to the house for some tools and the car, for a dash out to Raglan and me hyd guys, :vissla:

after a quick call to make sure they had the metric ends. :thummar:

Hour later and a shiny new hose installed ..... :grin:

......I could get on with what I'd come to do :smile:

...... after I'd moved a skip ..... :vissla:

which was right smack bang in the way !! :aaargh:

dunno WTF was in the bottom of it, :eek:

but it was heavier than it looked :huh:

.... pushed about easy enough :smile:

.... picking it up was a different story :uupps:

.... but it moved, with care. :thumme:

30+ tons of shale pushed about later ..... :grin:

and the muddy swampy bit was looking a lot tidier :thummar:

Nice load of planings on top of that and it'll look just dandy :grin:

the offending 1/4 hose ..... always seem to go just behind the crimp :sad:

Clara all day today and nothing done :sad:

..... other than amuse the little one. :vissla:

Ground has been drying nicely though and hopefully be able to get that stockpile shifted tomorrow, to finish that batter off :thummar:

and tidy it all up, get the drainage channel cleaned and deepened ready for some 40mm stone and planings :thummar:

**#700** » 21:12:59, 31-08-2017

Keep it up ! :thummar:

I kind of enjoy reading Your "novels" .....from real life.

(The cat´s probably oblivious that there only nine lives i store... :grin:

)

**#701** » 21:15:15, 31-08-2017

Watching this space! :mon:

BZ

**#702** » 22:25:41, 31-08-2017

jörgen.ottosson skrev:Keep it up !
I kind of enjoy reading Your "novels" .....from real life.

(The cat´s probably oblivious that there only nine lives i store... )

Hell Jörgen, that cat's had more than his nine lives already :eek:

.... used up a good few when he was 18 months old and we had to have his rear undercarriage rebuilt :vissla:

.... at a considerable cost, both financially and in time spent on him ... he's a very lucky moggy, in that respect.
The vet that put him back together was a remarkable surgeon and I'd happily have him work on me, if I ever needed it :cool:

Both his hips are screwed and wired in place and his right leg was totally rebuilt .... see him run around and you'd never ever know he'd been hurt ...... Russel Chandler .. a brilliant man in his field

He's now 14 and quietly losing the plot ... going deaf ... and daft!! :grin:

Probably worth a few quid in Titanium scrap :skratta3:

Hopefully the weather is set fair for several days, according to the forecast this evening, so .......... watch this space for teh continuing saga .... LOL :thumme:

**#703** » 22:27:39, 31-08-2017

magirus skrev:Watching this space!
BZ

As i just said to Jörgen, Mags ... the weather is supposed to be good for several days ..... could make a fair dent in things :thumme:

better draw up a chair :grin:

**#704** » 22:40:02, 31-08-2017

V8Druid skrev: better draw up a chair

Already done! :thummar:

sittin´here waitin´ :vissla:

So you´d better crank the ol´Drema up and let her take a bite at the dust :klia:

Hmmm, can that be I sort of came up with a joke there? :lmao:

So, one more then:
I´m diggin´this!!! :lmao2:

**#705** » 23:44:23, 03-09-2017

despite the weather being pretty fair Saturday .... it was a non stater ..... :sad:

little 'un had been here since nine in the morning!! :vissla:

Did get some done Friday afternoon, after she'd gone ...... :grin:

got shot of the stockpile on't floor first... :thumme:

before creating another one finishing off that lil' bugger of a batter corner :vissla:

took a bit of 'pulling' and had to travel as I pulled it to get the bucket rotation at the intersect, as I slewed to follow the dual angles ..... think I did alright with it though :vissla:

Seven weeks watching Alex, in Mavis and Matilda, earlier in the year, had left me with a few tricks and ideas for the fiddly bits. :thummar:

load count Friday night !! :smile:

and the end results ...... from a few different angles ...

I'd wanted to pull the top of the shale layer to level it through yesterday .... :vissla:

'tis a bit up/down here and there .... but as said ... no chance ...... :sad:

Was hopeful that the weather forecasters were wrong about Sunday, but they weren't ..... the majority of the wet stuff has ended up in the drainage channels .... :thummar:

Been pretty bloody wet here today :aaargh:

..... gonna take days to dry again but has given me an insight into what else needs doing to the drains :thumme:

Gonna have to enthuse the BIL about jumping in the basket again with Charlie shortly :smile:

..... that tree is now a bit of a PITA .. :huh: