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So, a little dab of silicone, in theory, will keep the guts of the Jackalopee dry, but look at the other end of that cable, where it plugs into the truck outlet. Running the cable under, rather than over, could prevent TWO potential disasters, and look better to boot. And I get it, it's more difficult to run the cable under and secure it. Been there on a 680. But remember, in the end you'll be graded on neatness by the panel of critics.

Progress report?

Nope. He stated that he has it, not that it's stand alone. I believe he has a propane furnace, and perhaps other appliances too.

Oh great teacher, one of your lesser students spotted where you tried to trick us. You intentionally routed the wires going into the Jackalopee so that water will travel down the wires into the box, even though in the past you've stressed that we should not do that. Clever of you to try to trick us......

Naval Jelly is phosphoric acid in a jell form. Same acid as in Coke. You can buy it dry too. Works great to remove rust. Ever heard about dropping a nail in a can of Coke, and the next day it's dissolved?

People walk into my shop and ask why I have what looks like a mini hardware store. It's because I have a fastener supplier near me that can usually sell me a box of 50 units for the same price as going to the hardware store and getting the 5 that I really need. Amazon can't touch their prices, and I'm dealing with local people. Back to the new rv....when we were looking to upgrade our toy hauler, I asked on this forum what to look for. The consensus among the old timers was that even though Newmar and Carriage had both stopped production of fifth wheels, they were the best buy for quality/$$. We got our Newmar in 2015 and have been happy with it. No warranty, but we rarely need to fix anything. It doesn't smell new, but does a the faint odor of bacon.

Sorta....I've tried it, and it helps. Not like new, but much better than they were. But, I'll say, I was trying to revive files that had been wet, and rusted. The vinegar took off most of the rust, so the file seemed better. There are better ways to remove rust.

Yes, we have a loader that could do it, and I could fab up a hitch for the bucket. But, I could borrow our old Mack for an hour and do it easier. It's new home is only two miles from our shop. BUT.....I talked to the grizzled old mechanic ( look who's talk'n ) who's working on our truck this morning, and he's of the opinion that it's not the cam, but the oil pump. Way easier. We might be rolling by late Thursday (Feb 1). Fingers crossed.

So, using a utility tractor to run a pto genny makes even more sense, when you have a truck full of diesel as spare fuel. We have a Honda 3500w and Yamaha 3000w inverter gennies. I can keep us comfortable with those, but it would be with some concessions. Eventually, fuel would be the issue.

I don't want to trade places with you. Hope the new "mechanic" get's you up and running.

Camper is backed in the shop so won't freeze. But now I have no way to move it out, and need to do some oil changes and other maintenance on a few vehicles. Shop is too short to allow that with the camper inside. Fortunately, the CG has no pre-pay for reservations, and is very easy to deal with. I called yesterday and moved our reservation back two weeks, and agreed to let them know as soon as we can, whether or not we'll be good with those dates. And yes, we may stay a few days in some over-flow area with no hook-ups. No big deal. So, we grabbed some clothes out of the camper, brought all the refrigerable and frozen stuff home, and will adjust as needed. I left a few items in the truck that I will need, so will likely run over there tomorrow bring to get some essentials, like glasses and such.

Let me preface this with, this is not a pity party. It's just life. Imagine you've planned a trip, a month at a destination where the people are friendly, the motorcycling is great, and prices are decent. All loaded up, wallet packed, number 1 sweety in the co-pilot seat, headed out the driveway, and the low oil pressure alarm goes off. Dang. That was late Saturday morning. Skipping the details, the truck went to the Kenworth shop yesterday on the hook. After much consulting, testing, holding up gifts to the heavens, etc, it's quite likely that the cam hard surface has flaked off, wiping out the bearings. But, there's a bright side. PACCAR knows of the issue, and did a recall on a range of serial numbered engines. To be safe, the also extended the warranty on others to 7 yr/700k miles. Our truck went into service 82 months ago. So, fingers crossed that it's something simple that we missed, or covered under that warranty. The shop foreman told me that some folks have received new reman engines for this, others just need a new cam. Best case scenario is that we get the truck back late next week. Now, lest you feel inclined to say that's what we get for buying a PACCAR motor, I'll just saw we had our share of dealings and expenses with the last truck with a Cummins. Lost about 6 weeks and $20k on that motor. Never had a minutes trouble out of the old Big Cam 350 nor the Mack E7. Don't make your reservations too solid. Cast them in jello.

Back in the day, we had a power hacksaw in the shop. Like a chop saw, but with a big reciprocating blade, oiler dripping on it. Those blades lasted forever, even though they were dragged back every cycle with the full weight of that support arm. Oil made the difference. Also, if you look up filing machines, there's a lot of different variations, some quite large. None reduce pressure on the return stroke.

While tax avoidance is a concern, it's none of my business, nor my job, to assure a vendor is honest. That goes for reporting tips as well. My job is to be fair, and pay less if I can do so without cheating anyone. to that end, having some ready cash has served me well. Just this morning, I had a local mechanic help me with a truck issue. When I asked him what I owed him, he said "How about $100?" I told him he was too cheap, and handed him a $100 bill. It's on him to report it, or not. But I guarantee you, if I need his help again, he'll be there for me.

Yep. Take the sidewall pressure and the door jamb sticker both as guidelines, but not an absolute. In the case of my f-150, I need to run 48 psi for the load per tire as shown on a scale and the tire manufacturers chart. Door sticker calls for 36 psi. That may work for an empty truck, but I have a bed mat, optional big fuel tank, cross box, and several hundred pounds of tools and "stuff". Next "myth".... never drag a file or hacksaw backwards across the work material?

That's a good plan, but don't be stuck on a Volvo just because others say it's the best. There a lot of others here who have other brands, and they all have their strong, and weak points. Having owned a Volvo and now a Kenworth, I can say that I can appreciate both. You may be surprised at how few you NEED v want. Good luck, and post pics as you go along.

So, why run a genny for hours on end, but not the tractor? It's probably far more cost effective to use up the tractor than to have another engine just waiting.

Keep in mind, depending on the size of your power plant and how the pto is configured, it's likely that you can run a pretty big genny at roughly half rated engine speed. But, tractors are built to run at full rpm for days on end. You'd likely be using less than half the rated power, so fuel consumption would be quite low. Looking at the pics Jon posted, it wouldn't surprise me if he is running a 540/1000 rpm adaptor which would put his engine rpm around 1.300-1,400 ish. Some tractors even have two pto shafts, for different speeds, my New Holland being one.

Carl, from what I'm seeing, Northern Tool has a 12k watt pto unit that would get you through a disaster for under $2k. Plus, no extra motor to worry about like a stand alone genny. Why mess around with something that has a separate motor, requiring oil changes, or using up your propane that you might need for heat?

See first post on page two. Sick minds think alike. 😁

Forget spending mountains of money, and buy a pto genny for the back of your Kubota. Have an electrician fix you up with a drop cord and transfer switch. Way cheaper than the other suggestions, though not as fancy.

Perhaps not a trend, but we never saw a sign declaring a discount for cash until the past couple years. Now it's common. I guess it depends on your definition of "trend". As to the "cash back" of cards, I'm tired of businesses playing games, like fuel points, cash back, etc. Just tell me a price and I choose whether to pay, or not. I avoid groceries using the fuel point carrot, and don't fuel at their pumps. Call me old fashioned, but I've done fine so far.

Ummmm, not always. A few months ago we were showing my sister a feature on a car, and when we opened it, there laid a wad-o-cash. Not a huge amount, but enough to make you cringe at the thought of losing it. We normally return home with most of our "war chest", but it's like having an emergency fund for unscheduled repairs on the road.

And the person who bought our Volvo brought $29k in cash. That was 2 years ago, and we still have a lot of that on hand. Yes, we have a safe, same as most other 5ers. I've yet to put anything valuable in it. We hide small amounts in many places.

Yep. And when we returned home, most of it went back into the coffee cans in the back yard.....not. When interest rates are low, it costs nothing to have cash on hand. Plus there's the convenience factor of being able to pay for a repair when you're 100 miles from nowhere. We broke down 60 miles north of Destruction Bay, Yukon. No cell signal, or atm, for a long way. But the mechanic accepted Franklins.