Jump to content

Disco Fever


mat_the_cat

Recommended Posts

I took the day off work today, as it was a real scorcher of a day so good to collect some nice dry firewood. I'd not been up this particular track for  year or so, and was in danger of becoming overgrown:

 

 

Quite an enjoyable way to spend an hour or so, away from it all in the sunshine :-) 

 

post-5223-0-48049900-1495831504_thumb.jpg

 

Turning round again was a bit tight though!

post-5223-0-42867600-1495831382_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pretty well really - there's still no sign of any rust coming through, even though it has started to flake away from some areas where it's on top of existing paint (it's designed to only go over metal, not paint)

 

post-5223-0-96836100-1495911747_thumb.jpg

 

I may scratch one of the areas down to bare metal to see if that allows any rusting to take place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Another nice day here after a couple of weeks of rain, so out collecting again!

 

post-5223-0-89276600-1502660930_thumb.jpg

 

post-5223-0-25878000-1502661012_thumb.jpg

 

This is all still wood left lying around since the last logging was carried out around 5 years ago. It's very well seasoned now, but don't think it'll last more than another couple of years before starting to rot so needs collecting now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Pretty well really - there's still no sign of any rust coming through, even though it has started to flake away from some areas where it's on top of existing paint (it's designed to only go over metal, not paint)

 

attachicon.gif20170527_172346.jpg

 

I may scratch one of the areas down to bare metal to see if that allows any rusting to take place.

 

The top scratch is my first attempt, but I didn't manage to get through to the steel underneath. So the shiny metal you can see is the zinc particles, which appears visibly as a solid layer.

 

post-5223-0-19607000-1503513155_thumb.jpg

 

Scratch harder, and you get through to the rust underneath. Note that it has not 'cured' the rust (not that it is designed to) but seems to have halted any worsening. I would *expect* the sacrificial effect of the zinc to stop the rust in the scratch from worsening under the coating, but let's give it a year or so...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part of it is ours, but we don't have that much. The rest is ex Forestry Commission, which was sold off in the 60s and is now privately managed. At the time the house was sold separately, and the land which came with it seemingly determined by drawing a rough circle around it on the map - so we're not *entirely* sure where the boundaries are! We've owned it around 10 years now, and have marked out and fenced maybe 50% so far. I think legally after a certain period of time, the land becomes yours after you've 'claimed' it, even if not originally so.

 

The wood we are collecting is a mixture of our trees which we've felled, and those left lying on the ground the last time they harvested timber. There's so much wastage that it will rot down before we can collect it all :-( I have a week off coming up where I plan to hire a hydraulic splitter and bring in a good haul though :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part of it is ours, but we don't have that much. The rest is ex Forestry Commission, which was sold off in the 60s and is now privately managed. At the time the house was sold separately, and the land which came with it seemingly determined by drawing a rough circle around it on the map - so we're not *entirely* sure where the boundaries are! We've owned it around 10 years now, and have marked out and fenced maybe 50% so far. I think legally after a certain period of time, the land becomes yours after you've 'claimed' it, even if not originally so.

 

Adverse posession

Google it - there is LOTS of stuff on it

Then perhaps look at your boundaries and sort out a proper boundary with the land registry using your land and whatever you have adversely possessed over the last 12 years.

 

Get it done before even thinking about selling

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't *think* we've taken more than is rightfully ours - just that where the boundary was drawn on the map, the thickness of the pen line corresponds to maybe 10 feet on the ground! So we superimposed this over a Google Earth shot, and marked out roughly where we think it is, so I think we stand as good a chance as anyone of being correct.

 

Good point about sorting it out before selling - the next owners may be less relaxed about such things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I keep the battery on this topped up with a solar panel, but it was fairly elderly and undersized, so no surprise that it failed a few weeks ago. The puzzling thing was that it wouldn't even start with a jump pack - a quick check showed no voltage present at the coil.

 

A quick bypass wire straight from the battery, but still no spark, and a check of the other coil terminal showed no trigger either :-( I've bought a new battery to make fault-finding whilst cranking easier, but as yet haven't been able to spend time on it. Fortunately I collected all the wood we will need during the warm weather earlier this year, so not a top priority.

 

Have a photo anyway!

 

post-5223-0-29366700-1536267233_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Update to this - with the new battery on all seemed absolutely fine! So I can only think that there was a fault with my meter (I really need to buy a new one - my main one has failed, and I'm relying on one I need to squeeze to register any reading!) or possibly the tool who was using it...

 

I've even re-piped the rear brakes, seeing as the pipe had rusted through and I'd been having to rely on the transmission brake :oops: Still a very long way from any chance of an MOT though!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I've been out in this again during the week, and to my surprise (most of) the HRW still works!

 

post-5223-0-19864300-1543703281_thumb.jpg

 

This weekend we went out into the forest to collect a Christmas tree - managed to find a decent one, if a little on the large side.

 

post-5223-0-58970500-1543703326_thumb.jpg

 

I've been getting sick of the green slime coating this, every time I get into it in the rain it gets all over me.

 

post-5223-0-67025200-1543703387_thumb.jpg

 

So for the first time in 8 years I gave it a wash!

 

post-5223-0-51467100-1543703421_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...
  • 2 months later...

We've been using this to shunt the Airstream around, so no rest for the winter. Until...

A couple of weeks ago the engine just cut out. It would restart, just, but only run for a few seconds before dying again. I managed to lurch it out of the way by starting it at full throttle, and before it cut out shifting it into Drive.

Diagnosis was a failed vaporizer, which seemed to be dumping huge quantities of LPG into the inlet manifold. This was a brand I'd never heard of (Groot) and I couldn't find a rebuild kit anywhere.

20191217_224242.thumb.jpg.4307e892090864ab9f905fd3ce2d3d98.jpg

Fortunately, a new one was under £50 delivered, and of an improved design too, having two-stage regulation for more consistent pressure control. Half an hour's work saw it in place and plumbed in:

20191218_185625.thumb.jpg.2aa1073b4aa55eb7988dbb78a643a582.jpg

Getting it to fire took quite a bit of cranking, but once running quickly settled down to a fairly smooth idle. I still need to adjust the high speed running, but happy with the result!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...