What did YOU do today?

[Rick W]

My parents moved to a house they had built in the middle of an oak forest when I was around 10. The soil was very sandy, so the lawnless cleared area was awesome for my brother and I to play with our Tonka trucks; a two-acre sandbox! Apparently the sand was full of poison ivy roots and my Brother and I basically spent our childhood summers constantly on prednisone as we couldn't shake it otherwise. We are both over 6ft. but the rest of my family is a good bit shorter, and Mom always joked that was the reason why. Oddly enough my Mom and Sister aren't allergic and never had issues with it.

Wow. Two 6-foot tall 10 year olds, covered with poison ivy at a house in the forest where nothing will grow on the ground. That’s got Hollywood written all over it.

 

[bilbo]

Wow. Two 6-foot tall 10 year olds, covered with poison ivy at a house in the forest where nothing will grow on the ground. That’s got Hollywood written all over it.

Make no mistake, things definitely grew on the ground. Itchy things.

 

[Rick W]

Make no mistake, things definitely grew on the ground. Itchy things.

You’re making my case for me. Did these itchy things have more than two eyes? Did they crawl on the ground, but stand up when they had to, and were they able to turn their heads completely around?

 

[sgtsandman]

Both my property and my parents was overgrown with poison ivy. For the most part it’s been beat back into the woods, but it’s still an ongoing battle. I try to spray the crap out of what I can as early in the year as possible

I got one of those long torches that run off propane to experiment with this year. The Silver Maple that grows on the property line has all kinds of poison ivy growing on it from the neighbor's side. I don't get poison ivy but the others in the house do. So, instead of cutting it, I'm trying torching the vines and see how that works. It's also starting to creep along the chain link fence. So, I torched the yard along the bottom of the fence to hopefully put a stop to that as well.

 

[pjtoledo]

I've heard that goats eat poison ivy, no ill effects for them.
one of the home improvement shows did that. there are some people that offer the service.

 

[Rick W]

some people that offer the service.

Goats are a great idea, and I’m sure the most efficient. But I would be curious to see how the people do it.

 

[pjtoledo]

Goats are a great idea, and I’m sure the most efficient. But I would be curious to see how the people do it.

the worst part is the exit situation, or so I've heard.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I got one of those long torches that run off propane to experiment with this year. The Silver Maple that grows on the property line has all kinds of poison ivy growing on it from the neighbor's side. I don't get poison ivy but the others in the house do. So, instead of cutting it, I'm trying torching the vines and see how that works. It's also starting to creep along the chain link fence. So, I torched the yard along the bottom of the fence to hopefully put a stop to that as well.

Burning it is no good, it puts the stuff in the air and you can breath it in and get poison ivy reaction in your throat and lungs

 

[Maritime Drag Racing]

I should have stayed home since I got nothing constructive done today. Spliced the new fuel pump wires, zip tied a few more and tightened all the AN fittings from cell to fuel pump outlet. Cut a few 6" chunks of 1/2" plate for my cousin's husband but the chop saw died halfway through the last cut. Spent a half hour or more searching for my wire stripper/crimper pliers with no luck, punctured a finger with the tip of a razor knife and had to wrap it with electrical tape to stop the bleeding, split a thumbnail enough that it needed tape too then I banged my head on the frame rail crawling out from under the Ranger.

 

[ericbphoto]

I should have stayed home since I got nothing constructive done today. Spliced the new fuel pump wires, zip tied a few more and tightened all the AN fittings from cell to fuel pump outlet. Cut a few 6" chunks of 1/2" plate for my cousin's husband but the chop saw died halfway through the last cut. Spent a half hour or more searching for my wire stripper/crimper pliers with no luck, punctured a finger with the tip of a razor knife and had to wrap it with electrical tape to stop the bleeding, split a thumbnail enough that it needed tape too then I banged my head on the frame rail crawling out from under the Ranger.

That was quite a day.

 

[ericbphoto]

Oil change in the Superduty today. Checked fluids, checked brake pads, blew the air filter out with the air gun and rotated the tires. Not feeling g very energetic today. So it all went kind of slow. Spilled a bunch of oil because I forgot which drain pan to use. 15qts is a lot to control when pouring from a flimsy rectangular pan, that was barely big enough, into my storage jug. Used up all my remaining cat litter on the spill.

I'll finish the day going to pick up my wine club order at the winery. Then get a decent dinner somewhere on the way home.

 

[sgtsandman]

Burning it is no good, it puts the stuff in the air and you can breath it in and get poison ivy reaction in your throat and lungs

I'm aware but I've yet to get poison ivy. Getting it in the lungs would have sucked for sure, if it was a problem. In anycase, it isn't s problem for now on my side of the fence. I do have to buy a new fire extinguisher for the garage though. The neighbors left all kinds of leaves and crap against the fence and it caught fire a time or two.

One of the things on the to do list is to install a solid, wood, six foot fence on that side. That should fix some of the issues. The posts and everything is on my side. So, it's my fence to take care of and it is due for a replacement.

 

[Rick W]

I should have stayed home since I got nothing constructive done today. Spliced the new fuel pump wires, zip tied a few more and tightened all the AN fittings from cell to fuel pump outlet. Cut a few 6" chunks of 1/2" plate for my cousin's husband but the chop saw died halfway through the last cut. Spent a half hour or more searching for my wire stripper/crimper pliers with no luck, punctured a finger with the tip of a razor knife and had to wrap it with electrical tape to stop the bleeding, split a thumbnail enough that it needed tape too then I banged my head on the frame rail crawling out from under the Ranger.

Oh my. How brutal!

What were you wearing….

 

[Rick W]

I'm aware but I've yet to get poison ivy. Getting it in the lungs would have sucked for sure, if it was a problem. In anycase, it isn't s problem for now on my side of the fence. I do have to buy a new fire extinguisher for the garage though. The neighbors left all kinds of leaves and crap against the fence and it caught fire a time or two.

One of the things on the to do list is to install a solid, wood, six foot fence on that side. That should fix some of the issues. The posts and everything is on my side. So, it's my fence to take care of and it is due for a replacement.

On the fire extinguisher, I have a half dozen of those $10 1 or 2 gallon bug sprayers from Home Depot. If I’m cutting or welding or whatever that might cause a fire, I fill up a couple of them with just water and have them close by. Just a thought, hope it helps.

 

[racsan]

Put a exhaust fan in the chicken house, still need to wire it in but the hard part is done. Not a cheap fan, 14” , 17x17 opening. 1400 cfm, $179. Not easy climbing up a ladder while holding it to put into the hole. The fan I did have was just a house box fan, going to flip it around & run it at night to draw cool air in. The other day it was 80 in the feed room area, at night when I went to close their outside door to the run several had their wings out from their bodies to try & cool off. The next thing if I need more air will be to make a fence panel where the sliding door is, might make a 2nd door to the run and have it be expanded metal to let air in. The big window on the east side opens but dont want it open at night since it has residential house screen in it, A raccoon could go right through that with ease. 3 schools of thought for the fan electrical connection. 1- timer like I use for the other fan & the outside light, have it come on at dawn, shut off at dusk, other fan I will have running at night but be off during the day. 2-a thermostat control, can set to come on at say 90 & run until cools off below that. its about 30-40 bucks. 3- just run it constantly, my “electrical panel” is a 7-outlet power strip with switches on every outlet. Has a circuit breaker & runs to a heavy extension cord going into the garage to a 15amp outlet with breaker in a regular breaker box. Never have had it trip yet. All im running electrically is a floresent light fixture in both feed room/bird area (switched separately), a bug zapper in bird area, a cord for the heated waterer for winter months and a outside led light over the door to go into feed room, and the fan.
2.65 amp draw on this new fan, not too bad. 4-blade but huge amount of pitch to the blades. curious to see how noisy it will be. Rainy now & will be tomorrow but at least I can be under roof for the finish of this project.