Baldbloke

To back up your point, a couple of parts bought from a Mercedes dealer last week were marked as being made in China. German prices however[emoji15]

I always ensure I load the sand in the Ifor Williams below the sides so it doesn’t look so heavy[emoji3] Most nerve racking tow job I ever did was driving up from Poole to Elgin in a Defender towing a twin axle Ifor with an E class Mercedes on the back. To get it to tow half decently it needed moved further and further towards the tow hitch. I stopped three times and moved it before I was happy. The first time with the car too far back it got an horrific weave that actually lifted the rear wheels of the Defender off the road on the motorway. I Was convinced a tyre should have burst. Gave my wife, me, and a few following a bit of excitement. Although I believe I was within the permitted gross weight, I had to exceed the trailer nose weight for it to be safer. I got home after dark and the lights, even on dip, were bird spotting. The other excitement on that trip was being followed by a traffic car for 10 miles. He must have got a shout for something more promising as he turned off at a service station. At the time for that warm trip I was also running the truck on 70 % vegetable oil to keep costs down, so the whiff of chip oil would have been noticeable. Maybe it put the cops in mind of a McDonalds. My wife has since said she’d have never lived it down if I had to argue the weight and fuel used being legal[emoji23]

We’ve been renovating for 10 years so far on a three story 7/8 bed Georgian house in NE Scotland. Self learned to plaster. Wife jokes that the first room I did is a now a foot narrower as it took me about 10 coats for a good finish[emoji3] Spent a lot of time on drainage and fixing roof. This year the plan is to do the west and north side harl coating. A vast job. Then reroof the final out building/ Steading. Always something to do and improve. The only problem I find is that it takes over your life[emoji3] There’s plenty of very talented people on here for some advice. Good luck.

Supposedly it is common to find the deceased on the crapper. I will certainly be avoiding codeine/morphine in the future??

Prior to getting a bionic hip joint, I too was on enough codeine that having a shit was a painful grunting experience. You were convinced that you’d split your ring piece every time. You certainly do leave your dignity in a previous life experience, especially when you work in the very hospital you are readmitted to with an obstruction. [emoji15] On a positive note, I’d fully recommend a replacement hip if you’ve struggled with years of pain. Zero pain now and issues with my knees seem to have disappeared. Five weeks on I’m back driving and have even been back dropping a few trees. Crutches launched on week three and no sticks [emoji1303]

A threaded drain plug in a sump doesn’t always allow removal of as much waste oil as you’d think

Try keeping him off the Peroni

Our old retriever. 15 shortly. Still eats,wags tail, and yet to shit in the house. Been a great old girl that’s also given us two litters and for us to keep a daughter

Bloody hell that’s seriously hard on bars. Could it be something to do with the Aspen chain oil?

Thanks for your input Ratman. At least it got me out with more confidence to try again[emoji1303]

It’s not often something goes right or corrects itself,but after yesterday’s f***up and a bad tempered drive up some bumpy backroads it appears to have come good all by itself[emoji1303][emoji1303][emoji1303]. Took the car to the workshop and removed wheel and voila

That’s a rare purchase these days

I have just had a new hip which excuses my constant online presence (if I'm not trying to sort out my wanked out motors)?

I paid £50 odd quid for some heavy duty jump leads a couple of years ago from a tractor dealer, only to see their doubles in Lidl a couple of weeks later for £12.50. Occasionally there are bargains.

Bloody hell mate that was quick! Cheers for the tip. My first and probably last foray into airbags. ? Do you reckon WD40 would suffice? I can now see having looked at my own pictures that my second attempt (topmost picture) doesn't resemble the picture of the airbag before I f+++++ it up (picture of new unfitted bag alongside the old leaking bag).I'll let you know how I get on.

I'm normally pretty careful fitting parts but made a cock up fitting a replacement air spring on my old Mercedes estate car. Old ones came out no bother and new ones went in ok, I thought. On starting her up to activate the compressor it became apparent that the top of one of the air springs had dropped slightly and misaligned in its recess and come away from the locating peg. The things up to pressure now and pushing against the neighbouring shocker. Nothing for it but to remove it and realign it I thought. Trouble is the one way valve lives under the topmost part of the air spring and has the weight of the car on it. Because of the pressure it wasn't possible to nudge it over to be properly repositioned. Off with the bottom wishbone and lower mount for the air spring. The thing is now twice the length and resembles a horses todger. Partially off with the removable top to ease up the one way valve in order to release the pressure and then removed it. Now my question is how the f+++ do you roll back the rubber foreskin to ensure it deploys as it should when its repressurized? I've twice gone through the rigmarole of undoing everything and the last time thought I'd cracked it only for the final pressure to bulge a part of it out to one side. Although I'd managed to roll the lower part of its rubber over the lower mounting to resemble what it looked like out of the box I'd obviously not managed to actually emulate how it came from the factory. Anyone got experience of these things and got an answer for me?

Get a 2+ gallon one so it’s handy for bigger engines[emoji1303]

On a smaller 12.5 hp Briggs

Isn’t that what is being shown in your picture? I siphon oil out of all my vehicles/mowers/digger if at all possible. A Porsche is the only one that doesn’t work. This from the dipstick tube. It generally takes out more waste oil than removing the sump plug. This because the siphon tube hits the bottom of the oil pan. The sump plug because of the threads usually leaves up to 1/3” of dirty oil in the sump to contaminate the new oil.[emoji1304]

Profile says North Dorset

Planted some Blackthorn about 10 years ago for the sloes. Until last year, when we had a great crop, the bushes flowered before the frosts ended. As a result we have had one years crop out of five actual flowering’s. For the first five years the bushes didn’t flower as I presume they needed to mature a bit. So up here in Grampian it appears that the weather often fools some early shrubs into flowering prematurely. One wonders if this is because the stock is sourced from more southerly climes. Edit: Our Blackthorn is a couple of weeks away from flowering this year

They certainly earn their money and take a lot of shit from us muppets ?

Just before they had me in to do the hip they prepped me in a side room. I was basically bollock naked after a spinal and lying down getting the happy juice in through a cannula in the back of a hand. Three nurses heave-hoed me onto my side in readiness for the surgeon to do his bit. It was a very small space prior to being moved into the chop shop and my spare hand was around the arse of one of the nurses who herself was trapped between the trolley and the desk at the side. The anesthetist kept on asking how I was doing so he could regulate the happy juice into my veins. From my waist down I was completely numb following the spinal. I tapped the nurses arse and said that while I appreciated the free feel, I was unable to take it any further due to the spinal. Everyone including the nurse and surgeon just about wet themselves.

Got delayed until the following Monday, and out from hospital on the third day. Apart from the wound being tender the pain from within the hip is gone? Now I'll just have to moan about my knees.