Front end loader

The photos of the front end loader were taken today. It has just come back in my hands after fifteen years away. It was built in my shop by my son who was fourteen at the time. It is capable of lifting over a 1/4 of a ton on it forks. 

It has two Toyota diffs in it, one is turned upside down and are coupled together making it four wheel drive, it is articulated and the gearbox is from a Toyota Dyna truck. The axils have been shortened about six inches on both sides if the center. This is done with an angle grinder cutting threw the housing and the axils and then re welding the pieces back together. The hydrolics came from the scrap yards, This is hard to do these days as they wont sell to the public for fear of insurance claims, crazy isn't it.

The machine weighs about three quarters of a ton. It evolved to where it is as the original hydrolic pump was a piston pump and has the movements of start and stop as the pump delivered its load to the cylinders. Finally a vane pump was found and installed with smooth operation as a result. He went on to make a hydrolic car for the Shell mileage marathon and a hydrolic train as seen in a previous post.

He is now a electrical engineer and was considered a no hopper at school. He built a truck and took it to the school fete and made  the school hundreds of dollars for the school by giving rides and was never given any credit or thanks, If he played football by there rules they would have given him everything, he was good at football but hurt too many of the players and wasn't allowed to play. I wont tell anymore as he gets embarrassed by me telling his stories. Nuff said. The photos speak for them selves.

drug sub

For all those of you who have been waiting to see the sub in the water you will have to wait a little longer. Is it going to float or turn turtle? I am thinking the same and am a bit apprehensive myself, Will I come out smelling roses or will I have egg on my face? The suspense is getting to me as well.
The big question is who is running the betting as I would like to have a bet myself say 50 cents each way.
Cheers Stewart

Want to buy a boat

From my experience the most fun was had with the smaller boats. Now with that said what to look for?
 The deeper the boat the safer the boat! I would rather 12" of free-board than 6" less chance to take water over the sides. Decking amounts to more free-board.  Engine size, The bigger the engine the more it costs to run. With that said you need to match the power correctly with the size of the boat. I had a sixteen footer with a 25 hp engine and updated to a forty and the fuel consumption went down. Shallow lakes can get large swells so I would recommenced to have a high front to keep out the water. I had the bow raised on my boat to five feet and on the lake I used it I took green waves over the front. The wider the boat the more stable, again if bilge keels are attached then the stability is increased. Drop center boards increase stability. If you go slower you see more and on the water time doesn't count as you have all day to get there. Most people these days have the hurry worry disease and its fatal. No hurry no worry. Now if it takes more than a day to get there then you need a boat that you can sleep on. Then there is the weather rain or just the heat of the sun or the wind so some sort of cover is needed.
With this boat you will also need to get back in the boat if you fall out. Must have a ladder available at all times. Then if the motor breaks down some sort of auxiliary power is needed so a small sail or a kite is more efficient than oars. Water is collected from the roof, if you have one. Its all about self sufficiency as you just don't get out and walk home when things go wrong.
The must haves are emergency radio beacons on the person as well as buoyancy vests as you don't know when you might end up in the drink.
If you are out at night navigation lights are essential and red interior light to keep night vision.
I will add to this post as things come to mind, The boat described above is my drug sub but you might like other features so give it a go. My little 8 foot tug boat could take waves over the deck and hit the wheel house and remain dry inside where a open boat would have sunk. The best boats are not necessarily the spruced up expensive boats.
In Sydney Australia they made a little motor called the Chapman pup and was 2.5hp. I was looking for parts for one of these and met the maker of this motor who took it on a voyage up the east coast of Australia and it took several months to see if it would last and it performed exceptionally and this was in a sixteen foot open boat. I can't think of the blokes name but he was in his seventy's when he told me of the story, I must admit I was Humbled in the presence of this man.

rex roberts

I received this comment and decided it needed a posting all of its own. This is the first photos that I have seen of his works,I think this is an earlier one of his works as the windows are not sloping.I thank Scott pond studios for taking the time to send this. Cheers Stewart


Scott Pond Studios has left a new comment on your post "Just read this fantastic book":


Rex Roberts was a man ahead of his time. He believed in building houses that were practical and served the needs of their owners. We have a Roberts' designed house for sale in Troy, New Hampshire. If anyone wants to check out the photos, you will see how how Roberts put his ideas into action.


http://newhampshireruralhouseforsale.blogspot.com/

Neverwas trike.... This is weird like Neverwas Haul

More work is happening with the wheels being put on. The frame is welded and the steering heads are in place. The rear wheels steer and have suspension so this will give it a firmer hold of the road. It is at this stage questions are will it be stable at speed. The rider sits where the piece of wood is. The big black tube is from a bed head The pink bike is upside down and the two front ends are from a BMX bike front end with suspension. I tack welded the thing together and the local muffler place welded it with mig welder for strength. The trailer behind is for the drug sub. The trike will not be shown as it was too dangerous.

news flash

New information has come to light as to how Humphrey lost his leg. He was seen out at the dog on the tucker-box late one night and was teasing the dog with a stick. The dog being made of bronze was hard to stir and when he did he tore off  Humfrey's leg. Humfrey thought he would be in trouble so he made up the story of the mice. I am not shore what the white stuff on the dogs face is, he is either crying for what he did or it is Humfrey's stuffing. He is sitting there as if to say it wasn't me ....So children don't tease dogs with a stick cause they might bite.