New World Datsuns...

I went shopping today even though I didn't really have to, I tried to get everything I wanted but Winco didn't have bulk almond clusters, I did get lots of Swiss Cheese, and they were down to the last two packages of TP, I spent $85.00 there today but I brought this shopping trip up for only two reasons, first I didn't see one person cough the whole time I was in Winco and there was a guy wearing a paint mask like I have in there(posted photo of it), I didn't wear mine because they were not limiting how many people entered as it was not really that full, and there were a lot of registers open so there were no lines at the registers, the other reason was when I was at Chuck's when I got to the register I was stunned, I was taking my wallet out to pay and the cashier told me the manager or maybe she said owner had just came by and my purchase was free, it was only just short of $13.00 but it was free, the guy ahead of me had a full cart, but I don't know if he got his free(I don't think so), I thanked her and left.
I have people waving at me just about every time I drive my 521 kingcab anywhere anymore, maybe I was not paying attention in the past.

In spite of what you hear on the news, it was a good day.

I decided I wanted to be able to move the SD22 engine around easily and be able to store it out of the way, so I made this to replace the engine stand.







The 2 small wheels do not rest on the ground at the same time, this allows me to tilt the engine slightly and spin it like a top to turn it any direction I want, but it cannot fall on its face because of the smaller wheel on the front, I tried to make it low enough to get it under the shelves I have, but the turbo was too high so I had to remove it to get it where I wanted it.





Everything I have been doing lately is to make things easy to deal with or to clean an area and use materials that have been sitting around sometimes for years, it is the reason the tractor got my extra pressure washing engine as that had sat for over 2 years, Things are getting more organized/cleaner around here every few days.

I've been using old shopping carts for storing my V-8 engines. Just the lower section. I'll try and get some pic's later today.

Shopping carts, I never thought of that, I see abandoned ones on our street every once in a while, but they are actually Safeway carts that likely some homeless person pushed this far, the last one was out there for a couple weeks before it disappeared.
I actually have run out of old wore out pressure washing concrete cleaner wheels now, but I have this old lawn mower(roller) without an engine that I looked at yesterday but I decided the wheels were to big for what I was making, my plan all along was low and have only 3 wheels on the ground at a time to be able to turn it easy by just tilting it onto the 2 side wheels and spin it, the cradle for the engine was already made but needed modified to fit this engine, I do need one more for the engine sitting on the concrete next to this engine.

I went to the eye doctor today and had some metal removed from my eye, the last time was in 2013, it happened about 4 days ago.

I made this yesterday, it's not the best but it will work right now and I had the lawn mower to cut up.












The wheels on it are fine, but the bolts holding them on are kinda weenie, I might make a better setup.

Welp, I made a better engine stand, I like this one a lot.




Here it is with the engine mounted on it, the little frame supports the oil pan all the way around, it is very easy to move around, the oil pan clears the floor by less than a half inch, I might have to put some spacers between the castor and the frame, it needs an oil pan to work as that is what centers it.

Awesome. I've been attempting to put everything on wheels myself or mobile to say the least.

I really liked that one I made yesterday so I made another one for the LZ20 I made a few years ago, and I made another one for the one I made last week that had the 4 wheels that could spin in one spot when tilted properly, the last cart used the wore out concrete cleaner wheels and I made a castor wheel setup out of a old floor jack metal wheel that the floor jack died(saved parts) and a pressure washing castor assembly that the wheel had wore out, it works great.


This is meaningful engine storage, 3 engines one of which was outside under my patio, I opened up a large amount of space.


I have enough material to make another castor wheel setup and a frame for one more diesel engine and a place in the garage to store it, I do not have the wheels for the back though, but I have another lawn mower that I could tear apart for the wheels, it runs at a really high RPM, I suspect the governor is rusted solid and don't work right anymore, but it does run.

I burnt my hand yesterday, it was seeping clear fluid all day yesterday and this morning also, then about 4pm I looked down at it and the skin was peeling off, so i removed the skin, took this photo, then put a glove on to keep it from getting dirty, I should have wearing gloves all along but I rarely wear gloves.


This is how I make my axles, 2 nuts with one having all the threads drilled out, then I weld the nuts to my axle base, when it is all done I put the wheel on the bolt and put the bolt in and tighten it up till it gets tight, then I back it off until the wheel is free to turn.

I started every lawn mower engine(2 reel type, 2 push type, and the tractor), every rototiller engine(3), the small edger, and the small pressure washer, that is 10 engines, all but the pressure washer were ran until completely warmed up, I didn't want to connect water to the PW pump so it would not get ruined so just started it, I cleaned up the temp garage and put all of them in it.


I roto-tilled the garden, if it gets over 70 degrees this week I will likely start looking for my garden plants, the nursery I normally go to was closed when I rode my bike down there a few weeks ago, but I will go to them first, my strawberry starts are growing, I have 5 rows which 2 are older rows.


I made 4 tomato containers that I will fill up with dirt made for raised gardens(already bought the soil), once I plant them if it looks like it going to get cold I will cover them with clear plastic and put something inside to keep them warm like a light bulb, I have seen these plastic things that hold water that completely surround plants to keep them warm also but I don't know what they are called(to search them) or where to buy them.

Photo of the four raised tomato containers, I am doing this so I can just water the tomatoes and not the weeds, the 3 new rows of strawberries are sunken into the ground so the water stays there like I did last year on some of the rows which worked out well.

Wow, looks great! You're way ahead of me. I tried to go to Home Depot 2 weeks ago and they had people lined up half way around the building. I may not get raised beds this year. Planning to set up my garden this weekend. I'll be watching yours for inspiration.

If I can keep the water where I want it I will not have to rototill as much, I was considering putting a water line above the garden about 7 feet high right down the center from the cement blocks all the way to this end where the photo of the garden was taken and have timers for watering each row, that way I can rototill without having to remove hoses like I did last year, maybe it would be a permanent fixture, I don't know yet.
If I use what I have I will not have to buy anything, I do have a lot of PVC fittings though, would only need to buy new PCV pipe.

Didn't you have some of it on a timer?

My tomatoes were on automatic watering along with the blue berries, raspberries and one other row that I don't remember anymore, the over flow of the tomato water went to lettuce, so actually 5 things were taken care of automatically, the rest of the plant rows were on timers that I had to turn on by hand for however many minutes I decided they needed(straw berries mostly), last year the strawberries were more or less hills that the water ran off to between the rows where weeds grew, I tried to build up dirt on the sides to hold the water but it didn't really work all that well, I am still trying to figure out how to fix that issue, maybe 2X6 boards on both sides of the rows, them rows will likely be tilled under next year or the year after that.
Since I planted the new rows of strawberries last year(fall) they should have fruit, maybe not like the second year of a new row, but fruit I can eat, normally one has to wait two years for edible fruit, but most plant new rows in the early spring.
I suspect I will work less this year, like every year that has went by since my heart attack I have worked less and less, so I will be home more and likely pay more attention to the garden, I want to by less from the stores as the stuff they sell these days is crap, if I can get rid of more stuff I might try to put the back yard back to one large garden like it used to be, then I can plant even more stuff again, I used to have so many strawberries I could not eat them all, and I can eat a lot of strawberries if they are fresh out of my garden, I can eat a lot of Sungold tomatoes also, I will likely have 2 Sungold tomato plants, one Earlygirl and Beefsteak for Sandwiches.
What do you guys grow in your gardens, if it is tasty I might try growing it, I don't think I am going to grow cucumbers, peas, or beans this year, they really don't pay for themselves, I am up in the air about broccoli also, I get one good crown per plant and then they go to shit, and mine don't taste any better than the ones I can buy at the store, I do like fresh lettuce though.

I'll probably have tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, squash, and maybe some carrots. Possibly watermelon. I've got two pretty lazy apple trees and a little Asian pear that tries but they're pretty close to my big weeping willow so they don't get sun like they need. I'd like to add a cherry tree and maybe a peach or nectarine. My wife wants a plum or prune tree but they're messy.

Ni10 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:41 am I've been using old shopping carts for storing my V-8 engines. Just the lower section. I'll try and get some pic's later today.

finally made it to the old place. As you can see, I've used chunks of wood to hold the engine in place. Really need to make metal props but been way to busy. Some day, lol

Since the topic of garden has come up. I've got rich clay soil and the ground is a virgin for a garden, what would you guys suggest to help loosing the soil up. Sand ? compost from the recycler's ? Saw dust ?

I'm definitely no expert on the subject, but I'm going to ask my dad's neighbor if I can get some goat manure from his giant pile. I'm using it for the fertilizer properties but I would think it'd work good mixed in with clay. Soil here is pretty fine and easy to work.

Ni10 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:35 am Since the topic of garden has come up. I've got rich clay soil and the ground is a virgin for a garden, what would you guys suggest to help loosing the soil up. Sand ? compost from the recycler's ? Saw dust ?

Do you mean rototilling it the first time or are you talking about something else?