Summer Projects

Events at Da Urchin’s place have occupied a fair number of my days off but that doesn’t mean I haven’t gotten any of my own projects done.

I bought this Class IV hitch and a wiring harness for my mule last January. I cleaned the road dirt off the van’s frame, held the hitch in place with a 2x6 laid across 2 pails and bolted everything together. The wiring harness didn’t come with any instructions but a YouTube video posted by a RV dealer fixed that. Now I can actually use the motorcycle and utility trailers I own.

Both of my Lodge Dutch ovens got rusty in storage.  I soaked them in white vinegar which removed the rust, washed them in hot water, dried them in the oven and then re-seasoned them both before painting the exteriors with Hi-Temp BBQ paint.

I got this trailer from Gypsy Jane who got it from Blacksmith Joe who built it. 

The top and one side of the plywood were showing their age.  I could rip pieces of rotten plywood off with my bare hands.  The box has been taken apart and removed from the trailer - a task with involved removing a jillion screws, several large bolts and the brackets the 2x4 supports rest in.

The flooring is still sound, so now I have a useable flatbed trailer.  I plan on mounting a standard A-frame ball mount, replacing the side mount tongue wheel with an in-tongue model, painting the frame and installing stake bed sides.  So I’m about half way there.

I’ve also gotten several more boxes of stuff sorted through, taken 2 boxes of clothes to Goodwill, trimmed various bushes in my yard and finished sewing snaps on my canvas tent door flaps so I can keep the sod flaps up out of the way as needed. 

And since all work and no play make for a very dull day I’ve also hunted out some good fishing places near my place.  No I won’t tell you exactly where they are, they’re My Fishing Holes if you get my drift.  But they hold decent sunfish and are quiet places to sit, fish and watch the world go by.  Which is what I’m about to do right now.