Took the first step towards building my shop

[Frank S]

I don't think that fuel in Amarillo was 100% winter blend.

Oh its winter blend alright just that it is winter blend for the Armadillo area may be good enough to get you over Veil if you don't stop and are not driving through the slushy stuff.
Stopped in Green River one time back in the 90's, in the wife's little Ford Ranger to gas up just as they were putting the stickers on their pumps stating their fuel had winterizing agents in it. I'm thinking OK diesel sure but gasoline? went in to the fuel desk to ask what's up. Oh its a new mandate by the state to winterize all fuels.
So what does that do to the newer vehicles with electronic fuel injection systems?
Well it shouldn't hurt them the state says it is safe.
OH sure and Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, do you have the MSDS on the stuff in your pumps if so where is it posted for all to read?
No I've never seen it.
Then contact your fuel supplier and have them fax it over to you I want a copy and am not leaving until I read it for myself.
45 minutes later I finally get a call back to the fuel desk and am handed 20 pages of fax to read 15 pages of WARNINGS for various vehicle models DO NOT EXCEED bla, bla, bla percentage or risk damage. The wife's Ranger was not on the list.
I asked the manager don't you think that you might want to post a warning on your pumps telling customers there cold be a potential risk factor when using your fuel unless certain precautionary measures are not taken?
After reading the MSDS he called their supplier and had them come out to test the blend. When we stopped by there on our way back form Seattle the manager spied me coming into the store ran over and said you can never know how much money you might have saved this fuel center the supplier had just dumped the additive in the tanks and hadn't bothered to run a blender down in them some of the tanks tested 60% above the maximum allowed. we got our tank filled for free our breakfast and a host of travel goodies that I would have never spent the amount of money they would have cost to by, as a thank you.

[Crusty]

I was thinking that maybe their latest fuel delivery was winter blend but there was still a significant amount of summer blend in their tanks when they were topped off. I fueled at a Pilot and I suspect that their deliveries are on a regular schedule whether they need refilling or not. But yeah - Amarillo cold and Great Falls cold are two quite different conditions.

Funny you mentioned Vail. I once camped out 2 days at the top of Vail Pass because it was too icy to come down the backside.

[Frank S]

Wind has been howling at times today not all that cold but if you are in the wind a good pair of Carhart's are in order. way too much wind to be 25 feet off the ground trying to weld though

[Crusty]

I'm just hanging out today too. I finished my last project and haven't decided what to start on next. It's almost cold here and overcast like it's going to rain but it still hasn't.

FWIW - I bought a Lincoln welding shirt/jacket that's made of heavy khaki and I like it a lot. It's comfortable to wear while I'm working in a variety of weather and the snaps on it make it easy on/off, plus there's snaps on the sleeves so I can close them up and not get them caught in the lathe or mill. The only pocket is on the inside so it doesn't get snagged on stuff - in fact I've yet to snag it anywhere on anything plus I haven't burnt a hole in yet. It's as good as Carhartt.

[Frank S]

Yeppers nothing like snaps.
it didn't quite get down to freezing here this morning kind of a change from the previous couple mornings whre I saw 18 on the digital even though the weather guessers say things like 25 or 28 I go by how thick the ice forms on the pet bowls when it is thick enough thatI have to use a hammer to break it then I know it was colder than any 25° for 2 or 3 hours. Yesterday and the day before even though it froze hard enough to freeze the hose bib on the pump house even though covered with the useless foam cover it tells me it was on the chilly side becaue the inside of the pump house has a thermostat that switches on the heaters when below 45 so the freeze has to happen between the insulated wall and the valve on the bib. My solution for this is I bought a 8" frost free hose bib so no water will be inside the pipe outside of the wall just haven't gotten it installed yet Probably should ahve done that today LOL

[Crusty]

You were just waiting for the right motivation (like a busted hose bib) to install that freeze resistant one.

[Frank S]

You were just waiting for the right motivation (like a busted hose bib) to install that freeze resistant one.

Yep no since replacing it as long as it works but on the same token I really don't need to pump 600 gallons of water on to the ground even though this sand could use the moisture

[Frank S]

For the last couple of days it had been windy so nothing much done to the building I did manage to get 2 more purlin welded in place but I have a truck and trailer in for servicing and to do some other repairs. The sort of thing that gets in the way of progress but at the same time helps to pay for future materials to be used on the building plus he came hauling a Dodge pickup he had only recently had a transmission replaced in but the shop where it was done had not bothered to pull the torque converter off and place it on the front of the transmission before mounting the transmission. When trying to stab an automatic in this fashion you may think you are saving yourself some time but the couple minutes to pull the converter and guide it onto the input shaft and insure that everything aligns up correctly almost always results in damaging the pump seal or cracks the housing. the ruck runs and moves just fine but it pours ATF out of the front seal.
They shop had kept his truck for months and months continuing to shove it aside until finally he had, had enough of their excuses, loaded it up and brought it to me.
If I had a lift or a pit this would only be an hour's job
Some reasons why I need to get finished with the shop

some of these are for restore and some to repair for sale

This hanger queen needs to go I need to get it sand blasted painted and put back together
He and I have a lot of money tied up in it and still need to dump a few thou more so we can either put it to work or rent it out

[metric_taper]

This hanger queen needs to go I need to get it sand blasted painted and put back together
He and I have a lot of money tied up in it and still need to dump a few thou more so we can either put it to work or rent it out

I'm confused, on this 3rd photo, that old trailer with the sideways casters, is that the "hanger queen", or did you mean something else.

At least your not looking at white cold stuff everywhere.

[Frank S]

I'm confused, on this 3rd photo, that old trailer with the sideways casters, is that the "hanger queen", or did you mean something else.

At least your not looking at white cold stuff everywhere.

Yep it has been sitting there going on 8 months now I have about $3,500.00 worth of air springs air lines air valves brakes bearings seals slack adjusters and misc. parts for it waiting on more parts, sand blasting painting and rebuilding the hyd cylinders but I may have to had the cylinder shafts ground and re chromed
I have trailer sitting on a pair of tandems pulled from a couple dry vans that way instead of having to drag the tri axle group out from under it I simply rolled it to the side
I now officially have half of the purlin installed so I can begin sheeting the roof on half of the building then I will roll the Kaylin Siebert trailer up next to the container out of my way so I can continue with the other half of the roof.