Bighanded

yep my ol red rig hasn't been started in about a decade..tires are flat, likely would have to pull the thing 2,000 times to get it to start. when I was younger it did a good bit of work for me, but like folks are telling you, it'll jump on you and jerk you around if you let it. mine is rotting and taking up space under the carport..a shame, but that was the story of several years of my life after the back blew out on me. this year's minimal garden will be done in raised beds and arbors. my guess is a small engine service shop would charge me more than the old tiller is worth and I'm honest with myself about not making time to swap out the carb and lines and trying to get it going myself...so it is long past due to be a give-away

the PZ was delivered by the good Prime folks promptly , as promised. 15 mins later (yes it too that long cause I wanted to clean the leaves etc out of the frame)...she was back up and running nicely. had some chain saw work to do yesterday, so the Honda saw maybe 15 stop n starts...working perfectly so far. don't know how long the cheapo will last but, cheap n easy enough to replace. thanks again Jeep for confirming that was where I should focus my fix

Debra has always captured a soft spot...certainly didn't stand up well against Carter in those days , in those outfits, but Officer& Gentleman, Legal Eagles, etc...she's a sweetie. Never a box office draw on her own, but if it's a movie with her in it?...sure...I'll press play.

fer sure...the Chinese either have a sense of humor about making stuff that's bass-akwards, or they're just that bad at it. Long days at work and then my 2nd job through Thursday...so hopefully I'll get it on the bike friday evening.

even better solution...a Bunji cord and some duct tape.. I now have a screw driver handle sticking out from under the back of the seat..the bunji acts as a spring, so I just have to reach back and move the screwdriver handle a little bit, it shorts across the solenoid and she starts right up ...I'll return the amazon solenoid cause this is a much better system...I can't imagine why Honda didn't sell the screwdriver upgrade with their bikes.🤪

here it is last evening out by the burn pile where it's been working the past few days. you can see the side cover is off so I could get to the kick

oh...oh !! (grabs his chest) 🤣...ok.. I'll spend the bucks to get a real one..but for now, Amazon will have it at my door by the time i get home so I can get back to playing out back. Actually if it's just a quick ride for fun, I'm fine to kick it over..it's my son-in-law that's been using it to pull trees over to the brush pile..he likes to shut it off every time.. the cheapo may not last another 30 years..but then, I don't know that i will either. I should at least wash my lil blue beasty in honor of it being 30 years old this year.

grabbed a 1PZ off amazon last night...cheapo but figured it was worth a try.

LOL...thanks Jeep..yeah, I went with the "sparkly" approach...and she kicked right over...so looks like my starter n all is in tact... do you have a recommended brand for the solenoid and source.. I used to get my Trail 90 stuff from DrATV

My '93 Fourtrax is needing a bit of love...guessing it might be the starter? old battery was good, but just in case, I loaded a new one in there. I can hear a soft click when I press the start button. Green light is on, all good. I can drop the compression lever and kick it over first try and it runs great. contacts all look clean. recommendations of where to look next please. far as I know, all start electric parts are original.. I've only had the bike for a ahand full of years. thanks guys ET

actually looks like a well designed bike...dated tech, but practical and well built

yep.. I've had help dropping big trees in the past...usually around $800 and if it's hardwoods, then I take the time to cut it up for my own use..but big pine...naw...nobody wants to burn it in their fireplace...so haul it off..and brother, that's the work part of things. I'm reclaiming some young wooded area right now to make more sunlight for my garden and to expand the garden. hardwoods are 20-30ft tall, buit only a few inches around...the pines are 3x the diameter. I've dropped about 60 of the pines..easy enough to cut them..but then I have to cut them in a few sections and use the honda to drag em to the burn pile..it's that bending over stuff that gets old.

yep...lotta work and I'm only up for so much of it at my age. We get trees back in the woods that will fall across my riding trails...big trees. I usually just cut enough of them out to clear the trail and leave the rest laying. we had a 100ft pine right next to the house..was healthy, but really worried me as it would have very little way it could fall in a storm that would not take out the house or the garage etc. two men hugging it couldn't reach around..it was that big. I can usually drop a tree where I want it to fall, but this was too risky..so I bought in a contractor that had the big truck with the extendable cutting arm..goes up, grabs part of the tree, cuts it, brings it down, etc...til there's nothing standing tall. cut n clean up cost me just under $3k...ouch...but it wasn't one of those that I wanted to trust a guy climbiing on a rope kinda thing.

we seldom see more than the mated pair out on our game cams..but we have seen 3 pups playing at one time. Neighbors have seen a dozen in their yard at one time. I have a decent electronic call unit..just a matter of taking the time to sit and wait on them.

nice Fish...I fired up my grill last night and the steaks smelled sooooo good. Blustery weather, but very warm..loving that..grandkids wanted ride time on the trails this past weekend...so the ol blue fourtrax got to spin some. been more of a workhorse lately hauling trailer of brush cutting and dragging trees over to the burn pile...so it was fun to just crank it on the trails for a bit. clear skies tonight means the wife will be on the back deck with her astro-photography gear..and I'll enjoy just sitting out there in a rocker stairing at the night sky..might have to call the coyotes for a bit and see if I can taunt a couple of them within range of my mini 14.

the year was 1968 or 1969. I was 12yrs old. Cherry Hill, NJ. The circus had come to town and the 40acres across the street was the staging area. Neighbor literally walked his wheel barrel across the street and they were happy for him to take all the elephant dung he wanted....really good tomatoes that year (grin)

yep...will do what I can do...and we'll see what comes of it.... as for scattering seeds...had to chuckle...few years back the boys were out back blowing up a couple leftover watermellons with their shotgun. wasn't long after that..we had watermellon plants growing all over the place and got several late season melons out of the deal

several years ago...had a great garden..then back injury/surgery...wow the recovery time on that. plus work...just took the wind out of my sails. So the garden became neglected for several years... working to reclaim it from all the overgrowth now. will strip the entire area (about 1/5th acre in the fenced in section to protect from deer/rabbits). but not likely going to plant it all this year. We focus on squash, tomatoes, green beans on the 2 arbors in there really do well. some water melons for treat, and some okra that's likely about it this year.

since I don't use a bike for any sort of work (ie to make money with it), there's no way I can justify the price of new gear. I don't ask a lot from my rigs...no real hills to climb, no deep water/mud to traverse and I'm not running 100s of miles on adventures. the occasional touring around the trails on my property, the grandkids, and some help with yard work when i need a little extra pull on some trees or landscape trailer. my old bike will likely last longer than I will.

we've been getting the rain all day...we went from a 2 year severe drought (pond was off bank over 8 ft) to flooding rains today that have the woods underwater, the front and side yards looked like a creek themselves and the pond is breaching on the far back...can't get out the outflow fast enough. I'm grateful for the restoration to our water table...will be important come spring planting. but man are we soggy now.

ok...you win (Grin)

absolute heroes

hey guys ! checking in on the other side of the holiday weekend.. Back in the office today. For us Carolina folks, the 10 degrees was a bit unusual. Kept the water running to avoid pipe breaks and we made it through. Others we know weren't so fortunate. I drain my camper water system, but also put a small heater in there to help. the boat (I/O) has a bilge heater unit and of course the pump well house has a heater in there and it is well insulated. we were without power for a couple hours Friday morning from that storm blowing through...tree down further down the rode took the line out...Fantastic power crew had it cleared in about 2.5 hrs. With all the damage, I wasn't sure how fast they would get to it, so I already had the Big Buddy propane units up and running in the kitchen, where we like to sit and have our morning coffee...pulled the small honda eu2000 for no other reason than to be able to run my percolator (LOL) but this was about the time when I usually give them a test run (every 6-8 weeks) anyway.. The Charlotte area north of us...folks were screaming mad cause Duke did not announce that they had to do rolling blackouts to preserve their grid. While it was intended to be 30 mins down, it cause more damage and some folks went for 36 hrs..starting Christmas eve morning.... totally blew up their Christmas plans and its the big local news story now. So I count us blessed that we had heat, power, water , comfort throughout our weekend. and yes, high 60s rolling in over the next few days....welcome to the South ! Freezing one day, boating on the lake by the weekend

IT guy..been doing something computer programming since 1977. Worked my way up through management through the years to a global director with 14 operations across 9 countries at one point..lotta travel..not so glamorous. But a privilege to meet folks from all over. also always been a musician on the side. Clubs, wedding bands, etc since I was 15. Was fortunate to get a few national act sideman gigs over the years. That translated into an unexpected business that some national level production folks asked me to consider. the next 2 decades I owned/operated a pro concert "backline" biz... in the music concert biz, the drums, keyboards, guitar amps etc are called "backline" so touring acts that aren't bringing their own gear rent from us. Had a warehouse full of all the gear..heaven for a gear head like me. long hours, hard work , and crew of rough necks that take a bit of fatherly love to keep them straight. But very rewarding and got to work with pretty much every act I grew up listening to. 4 years ago, a larger national company called and 8 months later they handed me a check for my biz and backed the truck up to my warehouse. I am blessed that a year after that, Covid hit and the world shut down. Talk about timing! So there I was, age 60, and "semi-retired" with just my day job in IT to keep me busy 5 days a week. So when my church called and asked me to step into the role as their worship band director and audio lead....well...the wife knew, sooner or later, I'd find something else to fill this work-a-holic lifestyle. So, while I no longer play guitar on national stages, or club gigs, I am on deck weekly getting at least that much play time in and that pays nice extra money as well. I still get to play and I get to enjoy hands on the mix consoles etc. I don't know how long either of these jobs will last.. I just turned 66 and I'd like to continue to work for another 2-3 years at my day job..it's good money and certainly not physically challenging. The church gig... I woulda thought I was already too old to be that guy, but our demographic still includes plenty my age, and while they see me as an "old rocker" the kids enjoy our music platform too. In fact, my son is our primary drummer, so good to be playing with him as well. He did a lot of stages with me through the years. so, if they want me, I'll continue there for a couple more years. but at some point, I guess i need to start acting my age (grin) When I sold the pro backline concert biz, I did keep the private events segment...so, think wedding or corporate event that needs to bring in a semi-pro live band. I can provide sound gear to cover a 500 seat ballroom at hotels, and we do a fair amount of wedding events...from small outdoor ceremony mics, keyboards, etc to full out bands so I still have that rig (48 channel digital), cargo van and trailer to haul it all..and I still have drum kit, bass/guitar amps, several keyboards , just not the huge inventory of every toy that the pros demand. As the covid market comes back to life, I'll likely sell that rig and call it a day. What used to be $30-$50k there has been more like $15k this past two years. And with the church paying me what I used to gross with the PA rig..yeah..easier on the body to just walk into church, plug in , turn their rigs on and go for a couple hours. I'm ok that it's about retirement time..it's been a heckuva ride. Good memories, broken/worn out body, but glad I ran that hard.

this time of year, dry branches are littering the ground and my trails..which means they are kicking up into the ATV. so our ever faithful solution of zip ties to reattach the underbody splash guards caught me short a couple this week.. I know better. off to the hardware store !