Saturday, September 17, 2016

Misc. Fall Tasks

Not very much exciting going on this past week. After my knee started feeling better, I started working it a bit harder. I used to get a lot of miles in every day walking but lately, even 4-5 miles is unusual. I may start riding the bicycle some even if I have to haul it somewhere to start riding.

I did get some work done on the truck this week. Changed the engine oil. The oil, air and fuel filters are well under the change interval. I installed this trailer connector inside the bed using a premade harness that splices into the existing trailer connector wiring. I still need to make a wooden frame to hold about ten bags of gravel at the rear of the bed. This would be 600 pounds, the recommended counterweight to offset the weight of the plow hanging off of the front.

I also installed a shoe kit on the snow plow which helps to keep the edges of the plow from digging into the ground. The pile of washers allow you to adjust the height. This also seemed to be an opportune time to move the snowplow out of the garage.

September 15th is the first day when you are allowed to run with studded tires. Since I had never swapped tires on the BMW, this was an opportunity to take it out on the road. After sitting since the end of March, I just charged up the battery and the engine fired up on the first compression. I only drove it around 20 miles or so. The riding experience is so different from the Ural. A lot of clutch slipping is needed to get moving, the throttle requires a lot more effort, shifting is so light and easy, and before I knew it I was past the speed limit. The first curve reminded me how heavy the steering is.

The other Fall task was clearing up some of the fallen leaves. Bridget had me pick up a leaf blower and I must admit that it did speed up the chore. Especially where the leaves were mixed with gravel. The electric leaf blower also had a vacuum/mulch feature that worked really well. What would've been about four large bags of leaves fit into one.

9 comments:

  1. I've tried the mulching leaf blower thing...works OK for tight spaces but in the end, always end up "moving" the leaves up, and then dumping the mulched up stuff out.

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    1. This one vacuums the leaves, shreds and dumps the shredded leaves into a cloth bag. The bottom unzips to dump it into a trash bag about 1/10th the size. It makes for a heavy bag of leaves...

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    2. I must admit that it worked pretty well. Probably even better if the leaves were dry.

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  2. Tis the time of year for fall clean up. It is raining today and I am happy to finally have some moisture in the ground. I don't mind sitting in the house puttering at all.

    Using a leaf blower is a smart move, work smarter, not harder.

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    1. Its raining again here as well but it's still above freezing. But you can feel winter coming.

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  3. It's getting to that time here as well. Oil changes to small snowblower and generator up next, then getting tractor set up for snow blowing. But still a few golfing days left. ☺

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    1. I don't think our snow blower got much use last year but if should address that as well. Thanks for the reminder.

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  4. You lot are a sad bunch, all except Richard since he gets a pass for living north of the Great White North and actually needing a truck and a plow.

    I plan to revel in my new-found condo glory. Car deep and far underground; underground access to our 84 degree 365 day pool and spa; indoor parking at our local grocery store; and a selection of stationary bikes, treadmills and other instruments of urban torture to keep us fit until it's safe to come out of hibernation.

    As soon as the snow flies, I'll see you all in March... maybe April.

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    1. The only problem is the location. Too much civilization (i.e. people) around.

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