Sunday, August 7, 2016

Breaking things, repairing things

Irrigation facet installation
 had a cow knock over and break off one of my faucets.  This is how I typically install them now; I usually use a 4x6 post that ends about 8" below where the faucet head is, and then put a block down about where the ground level is, and tie the two together with plumbers tape (metal strip with holes in it; wrap around and nail).  If I do it right, even if an animal gets right up to the faucet and pushes there's no harm done.

This particular fitting is a frost-proof model, which I don't really need too much in my mild climate, but for the 2 weeks of below-freezing weather we get it's nice to have running water and not have to worry about it.

broken pin
 I was towing the grading implement around, and broke the pin that I was using; the retaining clip on it was at the bottom, the grader was at the top, and it snapped.  What I needed to do was get a pin with a hole closer to stop the implement from riding up, but I couldn't find one the right length, so I used a longer pin but wanted a hole at a particular place.

So out came the cutting torch, and I practiced cutting a hole through the old pin before I did it on the new pin.  You can get a fairly small hole in steel with a cutting torch if you're careful, and a little bit of grinding to remove the slag and I was all set, and back to grading.


1 comment:

EBrown said...

I broke a pin once with a rented post pounder. I wasn't paying close enough attention when I went around a corner with an unfamiliar implement and the radius I turned was too tight. When it snapped it fired a piece of metal clear across the farmyard and into the barn door.