Tag Archives: Sawzall

2015/05/22 (F) Stuck Nut

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Our day started, as it usually does, with coffee and breakfast.  When we finally got to work on our tasks for the day we started by putting various things in the house back where they belonged, many of them having been piled on beds or put in uncarpeted areas while Jack cleaned the carpets on Wednesday.  Linda settled in at her desk to deal with paperwork while I got out our Honda self-propelled lawn mower and finished cutting the grass around the house.  She then turned her attention to straightening up the house and cleaning the kitchen in anticipation of tomorrow’s dinner guests.

I puttered in the bus for a bit trying to figure out how the cabinet above the refrigerator was constructed and might, therefore, be deconstructed but did not solve that puzzle and turned my attention to our Cub Cadet 1000 Series (LT1040) lawn tractor.  The mower deck is badly out of adjustment, sitting very low on the right side even with the height adjustment lever in the highest position.  I wanted to remove it rather than try to adjust it so I could use the tractor to more easily tow the new utility cart around the yard.

I already had the PDF version of the manual on my iPad and studied the directions for removing the mower deck.  It appeared to be an easy procedure that could be done by one person but I had Linda help me.  Once it was out from under the tractor we cleaned it off as best we could.  It had what looked like many years of grass clippings packed into every nook and cranny.  One of the idler pulleys was broken, a wheel was loose and its bracket slightly bent, and the drive belt was in very bad shape.  If we ever want to use it again those things will have to be replaced and repaired.  The suspension mechanism on the tractor will also have to be adjusted.

The tractor is leaking something, either oil or hydraulic fluid, so now that the mower deck is out of the way I will try to identify the location of the leak.  The tractor came with the house when we bought it so it was “free” (in a sense).  It was not in the best of shape, so there is a limit to how much time, effort, and money we will put in to fixing it.  Besides, for now Keith mows the grass and we have the self-propelled Honda walk-behind mower for trimming up the yard, if needed, between major cuttings.

My next task was to get the trailer ball off of the back of the lawn tractor.  The ball had a 2-1/8″ hex base flange and the nut was 1-1/8″.  I did not have a 1-1/8″ socket or a 2-1/8″ open end wrench, so I went to Lowe’s in search of said items.  I found a deep 1-1/8″ impact socket with a 1/2″ drive but they did not have open end wrenches the size I needed so I bought a very large slip wrench.

The nut was initially coming off easily but then bound up.  Even with Linda’s help we could not turn it.  We own a torque wrench that is over 3′ long and will work up to ~800 lb-ft of torque, but it has a 3/4″ drive.  So we went back to Lowe’s to get a 1-1/8″, 3/4″ drive socket.  Fortunately they had one.  While we were there we also bought a 6 gallon pancake style Porter Cable air compressor and a new American Standard toilet seat for the upstairs hall bathroom.  The air compressor is smaller than the 15 gal Dewalt and may fit in the passenger side engine bay.  It has regulated output pressure to 150 PSI so it should be sufficient for inflating the front bus tires.  The toilet seat was the right shape but the wrong color, so it will get returned.

The torque wrench gave us enough leverage to move the nut a bit more but then it bound up again.  I suspect the threads are mangled.  We sprayed some WD-40 on it but it did not help.  I called Butch to see what suggestions he might have.  Heating it might help but I do not have anything that would get it hot enough fast enough.  Plus, the ball/nut are just below and behind the plastic gas tank; not a good place for intense heat.  Butch has an induction heater that would be ideal for this situation, but it is five hours away in north central Indiana.  I asked about a nut splitter but Butch said he has not had much luck with those.  He suggested a large pipe wrench.  They are self-tightening (when used correctly) and could grip the ball directly if needed.  I do not plan to reuse the ball so I do not care if it gets mangled, I just want it off the tractor.  If all else fails Butch said I can cut off the bolt with my Sawzall reciprocating saw.

I had planned to work on computer-based tasks today but was not in the humor by the time I was done working on physical tasks.  Linda made fajitas with sautéed onions and bell peppers, vegan gyro “meat”, and vegan sour cream.  Yum; that’s a keeper.

2014/0729 (T) Utility Closet

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It was in the mid-40’s when we got up this morning so Linda made oatmeal with walnuts, dates, raisins, cinnamon, and a little brown sugar.  It was a hardy and satisfying breakfast on a chilly morning.  I checked in with some of the blogs I follow using Feedly on my iPad and then, as we were getting ready to work, Steve showed up with four workers (Kyle, Tommy, Spencer, and Mark).  Steve did not stay and work today but Mark operated the excavator and the guys got a lot done.  By the end of the day we were finally able to see how it was all going to come together.

Our focus today was the utility closet in the garage.  Much of what we did required two people, and we made a long day of it.  We finished framing the west wall, stood it up, got it into position, plumbed it, and secured it.  We then framed the south wall with the rough opening for the door.

The installation of the door was challenging.  All the framing was plumb in two directions but our first attempt at installing it resulted in the bottom latch side not closing by almost an inch when the top latch side was seated correctly.  Everything was plumb on both jambs, the door was level and plumb, but something was obviously wrong.

As we started to break for lunch I got a call from Darryll.  He was wondering if we could run the 2” iron gas pipe through the attic from the east end of house to the west side of the garage.  I told him I would check the access and call him back.  While he was on the phone I got clarification on the size and location of the HVAC unit and the ducts for the conditioned air supply and return.  As a result I will have to move a duplex outlet I installed the other day, run a new/longer wire up the sub-panel, put insulation into the lower half of the wall cavities, and install/finish a piece of drywall.

We spent the afternoon trying to figure out what was wrong with the door installation and fix it.  Everything was plumb and we thought everything was square.  It turned out that the two ends of the wall were out of alignment which was forcing the bottom of the door out.  (The inside angle between the west wall and the south wall was less than 90 degrees.)  Once we realized what was wrong we were able to fix it.

We had a green salad and Amy’s roasted vegetable pizza for supper at 6:30 PM.  After relaxing for a while on the deck with a glass of Leelanau Cellars Summer Sunset wine I secured the plywood platform to the base with screws and then caulked the two edges where it met the back and right side walls.

We drove to Lowe’s at 8 PM to get a box of steel cut masonry nails.  I need two or three to secure the free end of the bottom plate of the west wall.  While we were there I got a set of new blades for the Milwaukee Sawzall reciprocating saw but forgot to buy more shims.  We always like to leave a reason for a return trip to the home supply stores.

 

2013_07_18 (Thu) Progress And Some Evening Fun

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We found out in conversation last night that, at age 61, I appear to be the youngest person on our HFH RV CAV / SKP BOF team, and Linda is probably the youngest woman.  Two of the men are close to being tied for “most senior” at age 77.  Regardless of age I have been impressed with our productivity, but more so given this new information.  The experience that comes with age often matches or exceeds youthful energy and brute strength.  Our team has been safety conscious to a person.  Each of us is aware of our own limitations and limits, and has kept a watchful eye on each other.  There hasn’t been any misplaced youthful competition, just patient, persistent, focused effort, guided by the advantage of being able to think ahead many steps in the project because of the ability to look back and remember.

We convened at 7:30 AM.  After circle one of our first tasks was to remove, rearrange, and reset six roof trusses.  Brian pulled the nails on the hurricane clips.  Kent and I then went up in the trusses to remove the bracing, which I cut out with a Sawzall one truss at a time.  In the process I dropped a short piece of 2×4 bracing on my head and decided to start wearing my hard hat.  We were joined by Lynn, Linda, Linda (we have two), and Jack so we could hand each truss down, move it over, and put it back up. Once the six trusses were reset, Kent and I aligned and secured the peaks (again) and re-installed the metal braces.

While the truss work was going on, a crew, worked on cutting off the east and west wall truss tails plumb as preparation for the eventual installation of the soffit and fascia.  Another crew started installing the 4’x8′ finish siding.  After helping with the trusses, a third crew started sheeting the roof with 4’x8′ 5/8ths OSB and the two Lindas built and installed closet walls.  The more they worked together the more fun they seemed to have, and could be heard laughing all over the build site.

We went to lunch at 11:30 AM, and ended up having an extended lunch break as we waited for a mystery guest to arrive.  It turned out to be the Sheridan mayor, Dave Kinskey, who was joined by a Deacon and one of the priests of the local Catholic Church that is sponsoring this build.  They expressed their gratitude for our work and the mayor explained the unique housing challenges in Sheridan.  Housing here is unusually expensive yet 50% of the wage earners make $20,000 a year or less.  Dave also invited us to come downtown for the 3rd Thursday street gathering and offered to get us coupons for free beer from the local Black Tooth Brewing Company (a microbrewery) and ice cream from Dairy Queen.

By the time we got back to the job site the temperature and sun were too much for most of us and we packed up for the day.  Mayor Dave stopped by Peter D’s and dropped off the coupons, which Linda and I delivered to our fellow team members.  We traded away our DQ coupons and ended up with four free beer cards.

Sheridan WY 3rd Thursday event.

Sheridan WY 3rd Thursday event.

Today was the 3rd Thursday of the month, and that meant five blocks of Main Street were closed from 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM for the street event that ran from 5 to 9.  We got down there a little after 5, parked a few blocks away and walked up to the event area.  Black Tooth Brewing Company had a tent so we used two of our cards.  Linda had their Saddle Bronc Brown (an English brown style) and I had a Wagon Box Wheat. Linda likes beer, me not so much, especially if it has a lot of hops, but I liked the wheat beer; it was cold, light, refreshing, and free.  BTW: Did you notice that we were walking around Main Street with beers in our hands?  That doesn’t happen “back home.”

We walked the event and stopped on our way into the farmers market spur to listen to the band.  The music was nice, and there were chairs for those who wanted to sit and listen.  We also stopped and chatted with a wilderness preservation group and a couple from the local Democratic party.  Yes, they have a few Democrats here.  This was the first night for the farmers market, but it was mostly crafts with some bakery and other food products.  As we saw in Gillette, farmers markets don’t open around her until later in July, and local produce comes later than that.

We found our way to the actual Black Tooth Brewing Company building and used our remaining cards for a second round.  This time I had their Bombshell Blonde, seasonal golden ale.  Mmmm, another good one.  Linda had another dark brew, also a seasonal item, but we can’t recall the name and it is not on their website.  This time we received the full pint specified on our cards.  Linda was pretty sure this was the first time in 45 years she saw me fully consume two beers relatively close together.

We were done with the 3rd Thursday event by 7:00 PM, so we drove to Sheridan College south of town to watch Brian’s community men’s’ league softball team.  We were joined there by Jan and Kent.  Jan and Linda rooted for Brian with great enthusiasm.

 

2013_07_17 (Wed) Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

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Mornings are lovely here this time of year with 5:00 AM temperatures typically in the mid-to-upper 50’s and clear-to-partly cloudy skies.  And so it was again today.  I know, because I was up at 5:00 AM working on our blog and watching the sun rise.

Linda L. holding the tape at the truss peak.

Linda L. holding the tape at the truss peak.

We gathered at the Works site at 7:30 AM, had our circle, and went to work.  Kent and I were joined by Lynn and Linda (the other one) and worked to correct the spacing of the roof truss peaks.  The spacing between the peaks had gradually increased from rear to front so that the ones by the front wall were leaning 3″ towards the front of the house.

 

Bruce and Lynn adjusting the truss peaks spacing.

Bruce and Lynn adjusting the truss peaks spacing.

Linda held the free end of the tape measure on a common reference point while Lynn and I worked our way along the trusses on either side of the ridge, alternately measuring, aligning, and then nailing 16 foot 2x4s to the center upright of each truss to hold the peak in place.  Kent worked from below passing tools up/down and using a board as a push stick and/or lever to help push the trusses into position and hold them while we nailed.  It was slow, careful work, but we got it done before lunch.

Linda L., Lynn, and Bruce, adjusting the truss peaks

Linda L., Lynn, and Bruce, adjusting the truss peaks

Angel and her two children.

Angel and her two children.

This house is being built for Angel and her two children.  As part of her “sweat equity” in the house, Angel organized the preparation of our lunches and got the food to the church kitchen and arranged on the buffet table.

 

 

 

Ron nailing hurricane clips.

Ron nailing hurricane clips.

Ron nailed hurricane clips all day and most of the rest of the team painted siding panels.  The Lindas installed another closet header and the worked with Lynn and Jack to cut and install extensions for the north trusses.

 

 

 

Front porch posts and beams (not)

Front porch posts and beams (not)

Kent and I were originally going to start sheeting the roof, but that had to wait for the truss extensions to be installed.  We switched off and worked on installing the front porch posts and side beams.  These are massive rough milled western Douglas fir (8×8 posts and 4×10 beams) pinned at the top by rebar inserted into drilled holes.  We cut the posts to length and notched the top surface of the house end of the beams using a circular saw and a Sawzall, and cut the rebar with a hack saw.  We cut and installed jack studs to hold the house ends of the beams.  When we finally lifted the west beam into place we discovered it was about a foot short.  Sigh.

A flurry of activity followed for the next hour as Brian figured out that the porch portion of the concrete slab was a foot longer than it was supposed to be, which placed the base pads for the posts a foot farther from the house than they should be.  Kent and I offered some suggestions for how to fix the problem beyond the obvious one of getting two new beams, but even that fix had the downside of a 3-week delay and another $300 in expense.  Brian conferred with Matt and Sandy (the architect), both of whom came to the site. In the end they decided to go with a solution Kent and I had suggested of constructing beams out of 2×10’s sandwiched together.  They decided to use 2×12’s and have us cut them down, but that would have to wait for Brian to get material on site tomorrow morning.

Linda F., Jack, and Lynn, extending and plumbing the north truss tails.

Linda F., Jack, and Lynn, extending and plumbing the north truss tails.

We had agreed several days ago to have a pot luck social this evening at 5:30 PM, with happy hour starting at 5:00 PM instead of our usual 4:30 PM.  Brian came, as did the folks from Castle Rock CO.  It was a warm evening (in more ways than one), and there were several dishes that Linda and I could eat.  Linda made the garbanzo bean salad, which tastes remarkably like egg salad, and is a favorite dish of mine.