12.7.2022

 Mom and I headed out to do some grocery errands this morning - Jim was busy working on the steel for the package drop box door...

He's having to drill and tap lots of holes for hinges and attaching...

Starting to clamp together for welding...

Jim also cleaned up the pedals for the Bobcat...

First coat of paint...

A shout out to Jim's family - all of the siblings were able to gather in Ohio to celebrate Jo's birthday.  Maybe we could photoshop Jim in the picture - ha!

High 51/Low 37 - light rain on/off

12.6.2022

Jim is the best husband ever - he spent time this morning meticulously changing the tiny felt strips on the bottom of my vacuum head...

Jim had to use his grinder to clean up the connection plate on the casters.  Then he welded them on the other car dolly - this one is all done and ready for the painting process.  One more to go!

He also spent time getting a quote from the siding place (they never got back to him last week so he had to contact them again).  After he went through it and made some changes, he got the siding ordered for the drop box.  He started working on cutting the steel for the door...

High 42/Low 39 - light rain on/off

12.5.2022

Jim finished installing his radio today, getting it hooked up with his phone so he has access to maps and his music.  He's all set now!

Kyle had made a prototype car dolly a few years ago - it was probably a bit more heavy duty than required but the casters were excellent so the plan was to use the casters on the new car dollies...

Kyle's a very good welder - Jim had to use his grinder to grind the wheels off.  He has four off and four more to go...

Someone is supposed to come from about an hour away this week to hopefully pick up our wood.  We wanted to finish cutting the trees that were down so we headed down in the Bobcat to work on that...

First load ready to be transported over to our pile...

Next tree cut up...

And loaded in the Bobcat...

High 36/Low 24

12.4.2022

Jim spent the morning cleaning up the auto bay after all the Bobcat work - putting all those tools away, cleaning the floor, etc.  Then he started installing his new radio in the 4Runner, which meant totally tearing apart the dash and console... 

Radio is in!  He may switch the position yet but he's not sure; he had to make sure it didn't interfere with the shifter.

Trying it out a little...

Starting to put things back together...

Jim also turned on our split AC units in a heating mode just to run the compressor and see how that worked.  Sure is a nice backup in case we would ever need it.

High 35/Low 21

12.3.2022

After doing all the preventative maintenance on the Bobcat, Jim wanted to give it a good cleaning before he put the door on it and got it ready for winter work.  So he started cleaning out the inside where it gets so messy.  This is with the foot pedals out - you can see how dirty it gets!

But then Jim discovered that there were access panels buried underneath the dirt above the foot pedals - so in the future he will be able to take those panels out and spray out the bottom with a hose and have the water drain out - great find!

It's looking so pretty!  Jim kept the foot pedals out - he wants to clean them a bit more and possibly paint them.

Greasing the joints...

The Bobcat is now officially out of the auto bay and my car is tucked back inside!

Two car dollies all done - they look too pretty to use!

It was a rainy day and very windy as I write this.  But I looked out the kitchen window mid-afternoon and there were about 35 turkeys all over the place!

High 46/Low 29

12.2.2022

Jim got the first coat of paint on the top of the car dollies today - he actually went back and put another coat on later in the day... 

Then it was back to Bobcat work - after all that time of getting the bushings out, time to put the new ones in!  Jim kept the metal bushings in the freezer overnight so that they would slightly shrink and make installing them easier.  Thankfully, he has the special tool to help press in the bushing - it worked great!  This side is all done, complete with new seal...

Bushing installed in the other side too...

Using the tool to install the seal as well...

Then hammering it into place...

Perfection!

Cleaning up the joints before reinstalling...

The Bob-tach is in place!

Everything is put back together - what an immense relief!  Jim definitely persevered through this project and we're so happy he was able to do it himself without having to go to Bobcat for any of the work.

High 37/Low 28 - outdoor sensor's battery is dead so back to forecast weather!

12.1.2022

 How is it December already?  Whew!  We did have a few snow flurries in the air today.  I had a doctor appointment so headed to Saratoga and then did a Home Depot pickup and a couple errands.

Jim drilled the holes in the car dollies for his hook to help move the car around eventually...

Jim welded the wheels on another dolly.  I picked up more red paint at Home Depot so Jim got ready to put a coat of paint on the underside of the two completed dollies.  That means lots of taping of the wheels!

Once everything was taped, Jim cleaned the steel with lacquer thinner...

Then started to paint them apple red...

Bottom sides painted and drying...

Jim has a plan to use a special tool set he bought for the 4Runner brake job to help press in the new bushings on the Bobcat - he did a little grinding so that it would fit inside the bushing perfectly...

The new parts came in today - here's an old and new assembly side by side so you can see the wear on the old one!

Jim's new tool came in today that is specifically made for inserting and removing snap rings inside another part - he'll need this as well.  He has a few of these but not the precise one he needed.

Doing some clean up work where the new pins will go...

High 34/Low 23