A very brief summary of last weekends activities


Jess primed and painted the three large gate frames I had welded a few months back. 

By mid afternoon, she was finished and had even managed to prime and paint both of the extended t-post pounders I had fabricated (leaning on the pine trees in the background).

I was finally able to repair the stump lever and demonstrate it.  In a previous tangle with an oversized stump, Jess had mistaken my hand signal for "STOP" with my hand signal for "GIVE IT MORE GAS"  While she was operating the truck.  In retrospect it is true that: 1) we hadn't developed an agreed upon set of hand signals, and 2) my signal for "stop" and my signal for "go" looked nearly identical from the driver's seat of the truck.  

This was a small stump, which I could have just pulled with a chain, but you get the idea.  You can see in the background the fence area I've been clearing. Notice that the cross-bar on this lever (the place where the chain connecting the lever to the stump is attached) is located fairly close to the top of the lever.  This allows me to exert force over a larger distance at the loss of mechanical advantage.  However, this is not of too much concern since I know that the truck can already exert more force than the steel tubes can withstand.  If, however, I were to construct a new lever from stronger materials, it would be preferable to place the cross bar closer to the fulcrum of the lever. 

Using the lever I don't even need to give the truck any extra gas. 

And it's out. 

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