United3dArtists Archive

well... be glad you are not in Europe. In USA (maybe Canada too) you have low taxes in fact. Trust me. But useally ours are profit related mostly.

You should aim for a Hilux, not the 300 :) Maybe you wouldnt have that much trouble with the truck that you often write about.

I hope to produce more CO2 as my car is getting younger at my friends garage (new interior).

Hey Finis... Congrats Bud! Very cool you liked the idea. Great luck with it!

Steinie, I was recently at a festival in upstate NY and I saw a map of the proposed fracking sites. They are ALL Over NY, and people have no idea how close to NYC. AIn't no joke. Your state too I would think. They do know that the Hudson river is a fault line? ?
As for my next car ( CG ) it will be electric. The batteries line the bottom. Perfect weight distribution.
Logical. I wonder why nobody thought of it?

One customer gone (sold house). Two new ones with one in the golf course area. That is all I can handle but I might take one more because her location means I could park in the alley and do three neighbors.

Blower needs repair. Mechanics can't even look at the mowers until Monday. The remaining mower had trouble today. It needs a screw that holds the air filter on and I haven't found one. Yesterday a clean up was tougher than expected so today I had seven yards to do (five would be possible, maybe six when not 101F, 38.3C). One done. I'll improvise something if I don't find that screw tomorrow. I'll have to work Saturday maybe Sunday too.

Not as high tax isn't the same thing as low. Our tax system is especially destructive to prosperity and freedom. We have the highest corporate tax rate (should be zero, only individuals should pay tax). Success is punished by a heavy progressive income tax (plank 2 of the communist manifesto) such that the top 10% of earners pay 68% of the income tax collected. Our economic freedom ( . . ) is number 12 but every country should be more than 76% economically free.

Car? Oh yeah, there is a car in that ad. I meant "reach out and take it". Car, hmm, I'll take one of these decked out with 4x4, all terrain tires, 440 HP diesel, crew cab, and goodies to just under $60K.

Thanks for the magazine name Dragneye. Probably after mowing season before I can work on that. V3rd3 and others had good suggestions too.

Wait, so.. if you are more "successful" as a coorporation/team of people or individual, you have to pay more tax?

@Draise: Some taxes are progressive (rate, percent, increases with income income etc.) and others are not.

The federal * income tax is progressive, higher earners owe a higher percentage. See this for tax rates. The lowest tax bracket (like me) owes 10% and the highest (over $406K/yr, a US "one percenter" = about $350K/yr) owes 39%. Many states and some cities have income tax too.

There are many ways to pay less income tax so most people, at all income levels, pay less than the base rate for their income and there are ways to reduce or avoid many taxes. For example, richer people set up a "blind trust" to avoid the estate tax. (I don't know what that is but I know they do it.) The lower half or so don't pay any income tax at all and many receive money (welfare, food stamps, tax "refunds", ...) from the government (my tax money). Remember, that is the lower "earners" who work. Many millions live on government handouts and don't work. I live in poor town: most of them can work but won't because they can get the handouts.

Wealthier people also encounter taxes that others don't. For example, estate tax (C. manifesto plank 3: abolish rights of inheritance). When you die and leave your stuff to your descendents there will be a tax up to 40% if your estate if it is over about 5 million dollars. Some states have inheritance tax on the heirs. So you could inherit a large amount, pay the federal estate tax, pay your state inheritance tax, and maybe pay progressive income tax on it (not sure if it counts as income, I think it does).

Other taxes are the same for all payers. Businesses in my state have to pay gross receipts tax of 7.8%. That's on the entire income before expenses or anything. Of course I add that to the customer's bills. It isn't progressive. Gross a billion or a dollar it is still 7.8%. We call that "flat tax".

I'm not sure if the corporate tax is flat, always 39%, or progressive where that is the top rate.

* US people usually say "federal" instead of "national"

I have a cold. Options for today were sleep all day, stay home and make CG pictures, practice "fighting under duress". I chose fighting under duress. I have prepared and mailed the bills to customers and now I will mow today's yards.

Edit: Later. 3 of 4 yards done. One customer wanted to wait for my main mower to be repaired but I couldn't have done the yard anyway. Too weak. My head hurts, my butt hurts, my legs hurt. For a while my teeth hurt but not as bad as last night. Came home for aspirin and cold medicine once. 100 degrees F. That was an interesting test but I think I'll postpone work if I'm pretty sick tomorrow.

I mail a lot of bills to customers each month. So I buy a couple of books of stamps. Given how things are here in West Korea I thought of some movie (the Tin Drum?) were people were sending anti-nazi fliers or such and the post office people were suspicious of them buying so many stamps.

My tools are at the mechanic's shop a lot lately. All my mowers were in the shop at the same time except one small one. Now the main one just had the self propelled thing fixed and is back in the shop for not starting.

Finis wrote:My tools are at the mechanic's shop a lot lately. All my mowers were in the shop at the same time except one small one. Now the main one just had the self propelled thing fixed and is back in the shop for not starting.

If you use tools professionally that happens from time to time....I have the same problem occasionally.......with my cameras....rubber fittings coming loose or rubber rings getting bigger over the time....... nothing unusual..as long as you keep all the repaircosts in your
calculations... well..I guess its not so bad then...always good to have spare equipment....so that you can still work...

@Rayman, yep. It happens. I expect to have tools break but not all at once. Spare equipment is good! I have a few mowers and two line trimmers now so mechanical problems seldom cost work time. I can also use them for specialized tasks but mostly I keep the extras stored as backups. A blower that went to the shop was too expensive to repair so now I have no spare ... except a broom.

The plants and grass are acting like Fall will arrive a little early. The Bermuda grass has already slowed growth and there are some yellow leaves on the trees.

Having difficulty concentrating on work. Do CG, see a movie, clean the bathroom, fix my website ... my mind and motivation wander to anything but work. I can't even decide to put this pile of paychecks in Quickbooks and deposit them. Too unfocused to get paid. I'm ready for the off season and a break.

A few jobs delayed from the week that may not even need to be done is all for today. Then catch up on bookkeeping. Then I'll have some free time. It is raining now so the yard work, if any, has to wait. Legitimate excuses magnify the focus and motivation problem.

I'm tired of this business. Mostly that there's no money in it but also it's an activity with little thought or creativity and little time or energy outside of work for that. Hopefully, after some vacation, I can get something else going that can at least be a stepping stone to a business that's better for me.

I have a bunch of food from customer's yards. A lot of pecans which are $9 per pound in stores, enough apples for several pies, peaches for a pie or two, a squash, two pomegranates and many vine ripened tomatoes. Didn't get any figs this time.

The off season is here. Including the backlog from a rainy day I had seven yards to do. None needed anything.

I thought Autumn might be early this year but it stayed warm for a while and rained so the mowing season has been longer than I expected though with many skips with no mowing needed.

I hadn't paid the state gross receipts tax for Jan. to Mar. this year until now. I had more gross income than the first quarter last year but expenses excluding the unpaid tax were unusually high too. For that 3 months I made $184 profit. Gross receipts tax is tax on the income before expenses. So I owed $120 tax not counting small late fees. While that was a rare and temporary episode of really low profit, kicking me while I'm down does not make me appreciate the government.

its good you have the food from customers gardens... its really not easy to make your own business.

Bitkar: yep.

Rather than end early as I had thought the mowing season continued into November. Warmer than usual plus some rain and flowers are still blooming and fescue grass still growing and weeds too. A freezing night or two and the leaves are starting to turn color so I think the season is done now.

I was chopping the roots of stump with an axe when my customer offered to pull it out with his truck. That just spun the tires until he thought to engage the four wheel drive. Good thing. It turned out that there were more roots and deeper than I thought.

I'm eager to finish the odds and ends so I'll have time to learn Blender and work on starting other businesses.

Very cool to read abt the food sharing. There's nothing more refreshing than biting into true freshness.

Question: Isn't Fescue grass thin and not suited for dry climates? (creates a beautiful mat on the ground to lie on). If I have the right grass, how do they keep it from being over-run by the hardier grasses?

@Dragneye, Sun and heat loving drought tolerant Bermuda is king here and most yards are all Bermuda. Fescue likes water and is cold tolerant but it will go dormant in the cold months. Fine fescue has thin blades. I think tall fescue is what grows here. Fescue getting overrun by Bermuda isn't a problem in my town since the intent is to mix them with each dominating in its favored conditions. Fescue in the shade and Bermuda in the sun. There are a few Saint Agustine yards too. I have read that there are "selective" herbicides to keep Bermuda out of other grasses.

Got ya. Interesting notes.
I remember in Florida stepping on grass that was so hard it could cut your feet I thought. Would hate to have that here. - Had Fescue in the yard but died off either from the shade, or being over-run by a hardier thicker grass (the type has maybe 'Kentucky' in the name?) which is prevalent here. So I thought.
Like I said. When I had a nice large area, it was a pleasure to lay down under the tree.
But can't get over the variety of food you mentioned that grows in the area. - Gonna have to feel that area one day.

Yeah Dragneye, people grow lots things in their yards here. One has a walnut tree. Not much farming in a desert. There is a big pecan farm and others along the Rio Grande. I saw some cotton over there. There are small pecan and pistachio farms and a vineyard or two watered from wells near my town.

bitkar wrote:its really not easy to make your own business.

Yep.

I got a battery charger for the truck. Between not driving much after mowing season and dew and maybe trouble with a switch the charge is often low. I've drained the battery some mornings trying to start it. When there's dew I think it condenses in some electrical thing on the truck too. For more than 350,000 miles (‪563,000 Km) the truck is doing well.

When I get this pile of paperwork done I'll start on my other business projects and have time for creative stuff too.

Finis wrote:Yeah Dragneye, people grow lots things in their yards here. One has a walnut tree. Not much farming in a desert. There is a big pecan farm and others along the Rio Grande. I saw some cotton over there. There are small pecan and pistachio farms and a vineyard or two watered from wells near my town.

bitkar wrote:its really not easy to make your own business.

Yep.

I got a battery charger for the truck. Between not driving much after mowing season and dew and maybe trouble with a switch the charge is often low. I've drained the battery some mornings trying to start it. When there's dew I think it condenses in some electrical thing on the truck too. For more than 350,000 miles (‪563,000 Km) the truck is doing well.

When I get this pile of paperwork done I'll start on my other business projects and have time for creative stuff too.

Hi Finis ! I had a main Switch installed into my car..... that helps a lot if you are not driving with it over the low season......It disconnects the battery from the
rest of the car....or truck.......! Another alternative is to disconnect the battery as such for the time you dont use the truck.... !

I had Augustine grass when I lived in San Antonio. Thick blades and quick growing grass - took me about 30 changes of the lawnmower bag to mow it though. Fire ants got in it and made life challenging there for awhile. I had pus swollen bites all over me after I mowed. Those were the days.

Car batteries - used a quick disconnect on it and had a handle on the battery when I lived up North. Kept it toasty warm inside and was a cinch to put in with a custom plexiglass box I made for it as a battery holder. Plexiglass turned ugly though, looked like something drug out of the bottom of the ocean after about a year.

Good ideas to deal with cold vs. battery but I haven't had this problem in past winters. Despite my constant whining about cold it is never "up North" or Austria cold here. (today Dec 6 is about average high/low 58F/29F). I think it is the worn switch for the lights shorting something that drains the battery and water condensation or dew, rare here, that makes it hard to start even with a charged battery. A switch is not expensive so I'll replace it soon.

This (link) is funny auto-generated new age meaningless-isms but some some really are pretty good like "Although you may not realize it, you are heroic." Meaningless or accidentally meaningful these sayings would be good for Zazzle shirts/merch. Have to read the site's rules about using it.

Finis wrote:Good ideas to deal with cold vs. battery but I haven't had this problem in past winters. Despite my constant whining about cold it is never "up North" or Austria cold here. (today Dec 6 is about average high/low 58F/29F). I think it is the worn switch for the lights shorting something that drains the battery and water condensation or dew, rare here, that makes it hard to start even with a charged battery. A switch is not expensive so I'll replace it soon.

This (link) is funny auto-generated new age meaningless-isms but some some really are pretty good like "Although you may not realize it, you are heroic." Meaningless or accidentally meaningful these sayings would be good for Zazzle shirts/merch. Have to read the site's rules about using it.

Putting a main Switch inside wasnt in my case against the cold ... I also have a drain or something that kills ,my battery....I invested a few $ into that switch
and it relieved me from a large repair bill to find the drain in the electronics.... I use the switch all year over ! Positive side effect is that only I know where the switch is and even better then a sharp alarm against burglers who want to steal the car !;)

I've been disconnecting one battery terminal and the battery drain stopped. I'll replace that switch soon.

I'm catching up on bookkeeping I haven't done in months. An endeavor of this magnitude requires epic musical accompaniment https://youtu.be/GD3VsesSBsw?t=2m26s ... now I'm distracted, chick next to the conductor is turnin' me on ... concentrate, bookkeeping... what did they say? "Don't talk to the loogie league?" "No para-goose. Don't loose my moose?" ... focus, bookkeeping.

I've almost caught up on bookkeeping. I gave the state about $1000 in tax today. Last year I did the GR tax so it is a line on the bills. Customers agree to a higher price if I say "plus tax" than if I say "tax included". Panic! Catching up on the books I thought I was doing tax wrong. After epic pondering (que Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi*, previous post) I found that it is done right. I'm going to ask my bank to recommend a bookkeeper.

I installed a new lights and turn signal switch in the truck and a passenger side mirror is on the way. I've had more work to do this winter than usual.

*The lyrics mean, in essence, "Fate will stuff you up its butt and it will be awful". Just when I think I've got some money left ...

20years ago we had Bob Hope...Steve Jobs..and Johny Cash!
Now we have no hope ..no jobs ..no cash:)!

rayman: lool :)

finis, good to hear you had more job. Its getting better, or it can get better.

@Rayman - Ha ha, maybe a little hope.
@Bitkar - Not much fight or ambition lately. It only gets better if I make it better. Sounds good but lately the words just don't become action.

I put a passenger side mirror on my truck. That will help turning right when I have a load of branches or something. No one can recommend a bookkeeper. Don't want to consider one without a recommendation. I can't afford one anyway.

It's fed. tax time. I think I have to pay the fine for not having osamacare. Maybe I can still get the exception for poverty.

I'm having trouble fixing my hiking and CG blog which I plan to use to promote my Zazzle merchandise ... if I make some more. I made a sql file to restore the DB and ftp'ed the content, images and videos, to back it up before rearranging my domains. Wrong way to do it but I didn't learn that until too late. I can change the sql for its new location but the wordpress stuff is baffling. Think I've figured it out now. It took 1.5 hours to upload the content then I accidentally deleted it from the host. Redo. Broke my lawn care site too while fooling with the blog. When I get this right the blog will be at splododyne.com with subdomains for lawn care and Southwest Panorama. That's another try at an online magazine business.

The lawn season is starting. Weeds everywhere.

My CG and hiking blog is working now at http://www.splododyne.com. Now to polish details, make more Zazzle merchandise, clean up my Zazzle store, and open it up to searches. Hopefully that will attract visitors who will buy my Zazzle stuff. I'd get affiliate link pay even if visitors go there and buy other people's stuff. Needs more security and anti spam to get ready for commenters. I think google, they're evil, can be blocked in .htaccess. Unfortunately, the wordpress theme I'm using has google, they're evil, fonts etc. I'm looking at how to disable that. There are few wordpress plugins to remove/disable/block/hide it and few themes that don't use or invite it.

If any of you are great with PHP, HTML, CSS, SQL, and will learn wordpress innards a plugin with plenty of potential users is needed. Zazzle designers need a good tool to promote their merchandise on their wordpress websites. I'm using zStore Manager Basic on my Shop page but it is seldom updated and all others are abandoned. One that is well built, kept updated, has desired features, requires little technical knowledge to use, and is not likely to be abandoned would be welcomed by thousands, maybe 10's of thousands, of Zazzlers. Zazzle has a API for the tech savvy and some tools that aren't so great. Making money from your plugin ... that's a problem. While their head guy gets richer wordpress makes it difficult for you to earn money from your plugins or themes.

I'd appreciate it if y'all would check Splododyne's front page on various devices like smart phones and tablets. See if anything misbehaves. Of course suggestions or problem reports on other parts welcome too. Of particular interest:
- the logo over the header image (centered, size ok ...)
- position of the menu bar (should overlap the bottom of header image)
- does the image slider work?

Who is an .htaccess expert?

Will this block google and yandex?

BrowserMatchNoCase Googlebot bad_bot
BrowserMatchNoCase Yandex bad_bot
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from env=bad_bot

Are regular expressions allowed? Would this block any visitor with these strings anywhere?

BrowserMatchNoCase ".*Google.*" bad_bot
BrowserMatchNoCase ".*Yandex.*" bad_bot
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from env=bad_bot

Chaos. Work stuff is settling into a routine now but the season started with ever changing things to juggle. I haven't been doing CG to stay focused on the real world stuff and I'll use any CG time for getting started in Blender. The warm winter started the weeds early. Other than a cold snap (freezing last night and snow on Sierra Blanca!) should warm up and start the grass.

I got another Echo line trimmer. An SRM 230 like this. I traded a customer work for it and got a significant discount. It is almost new and still shiny and clean.

Not much to mow yet. Weeds, spreading fertilizer, preparing gardens and pots, and getting my papers in order to do my taxes is keeping me busy. [insert pages of tax whining here] I've learned my lesson about letting the paperwork/records/bookkeeping pile up and I'll keep everything up to date now. I'll build a tool rack for my truck soon. My occasional unofficial helper has been promoted from "worst of the air benders" to second worst (not good with a blower) and from "mow dude" to "mow guy" and inducted into the "order of the weed whackers".

I think I have the same Echo trimmer, it is a good one! After owning countless junk trimmers where the idle goes crazy, hard starting, no power, this trimmer will last you a long time and runs great!

Iv'e learned from a friend that the easy way to start trimmers and (old) mowers is to have a can of starter fluid. A couple of spray shots into air cleaner and it will start first on first pull.

Problem is.. I dont like to use gas driven trimmers and
the electric ones need cables and most of them dont have enough power!
Conclusion... Im using existing parts and am printing my own with 3d...sort if the Tesla for lawn mowing.....!!!!! Did I say I love 3d printing! Soooo usefull!

My truck is going to mechanics today for running hot. Missing work makes a bunch of catch up to do later. So I got a uhaul for $19 a day. I might spend the rest of the day at the MVD though. Seems my driver's license expired two years ago.

EDIT: 4-26-16 That was a self made near disaster. The truck problem was something I had suspected it might be and I could have fixed myself for 1/10th the cost. This has been a wild spending spree which was largely avoidable. Part of that was a considerable and unexpected increase in mechanic's labor charge but most was me making bad decisions. It is good to learn from failure as well as success so what's to learn? Mostly that I make bad decisions when it was easy to make the right one.

Raining! Wind too. My windshield wipers don't work and I need to get pipes to fix a leak.

Good:

Two customers left but were quickly replaced with new ones. Jackpot! One of the new customers is assistant manager at Lowes! The other is a neighbor of another customer so that's more earning with less driving.

I found my lost keys. I thought I'd lost them while out working but they were in my yard. I looked at the ground and there they were!

I discovered that the plastic filters/screens in sprinkler spray heads fit on the intake tubes for herbicide sprayers. Less clogging now.

Not so Good:

El Nino gave us a mild winter and I hoped for a scorcher spring and summer but it is cooler than usual. Bermuda grass, which is almost all the lawn grass here, likes heat and has been slow waking up from dormancy and growing. Fescue and weeds have provided work but I'm missing income that would be there in a normal or hot year. Recent rain should help.

The new line trimmer, SRM 230, has been soaking the air filter with gas and stops running. Probably some combination of ethanol in the gas (previous owner stored it with gas in it), the heat, and the dryness made the rubber things in the carburetor crispy. I'll get a carb kit and install it. Otherwise it has awesome power and I like the speed feed head. It is easy to load with line and seldom binds up.

Keep in mind Finis the minute that line trimmer no longer works in the future! Dont throw it away...what I do is adapt an electic motor with a set of lithium reloadable bateries....that makes the trimmer a lot less heavy and a much greater pleasure to work with..because you dont have the heat and the fumes....I make the parts for the conversion in a 3d printer..You can have the parts printed for you...

Coal, nuclear , or hydroelectric, uh I mean electric, powered tools are mostly not good for work. Electric is good for occasional home use. I recommend electric to people who ask what lawn tools to use for do-it-yourself. Light, cheap, quiet, no starting trouble, almost no maintenance. An electric trimmer's high speed thin line cuts a precise surface in grass. Nice clean edges. Use a cheap gas mower for do-it-yourself.

Battery powered and corded electric tools are available at stores. You don't need to make your own but if you like to tinker, customize, modify, or build things 3D printing sounds great!

For work electric tools lack power for tough jobs. Power cords limit portability and maneuverability, are troublesome, and a plug might not be available. It would take a bunch of charged batteries, recharged every night, to keep up with work and they are usually less powerful than corded ones.

Speaking of throwing away tools. I have a junkyard of old stuff to throw away. I'll scavenge parts like cables, wheels, and blades that can be reused first. Some is no longer economical to fix or use for work but a homeowner might want it. I could sell those in a garage sale.

Hi Finis !
Thanks for the reply !
I will try to be as precise as possible for you to understand ! I DONT
want to come through as a smart ass but I want you to understand my findings..... !!!
You are a professional in gardening and I respect that ! Its not so different to my profession...what tools concern
and I´m doing quite a bit of gardening every year to understand every single sentence you wrote in the last post !
I´m going to be political here a little bit .....so sorry in advance !
MOST and I repeat MOST consumer goods out there that you buy today are pure JUNK ! repeat JUNK ! period !
Why ! Well lets go back into history.. a little bit ! Back to a guy named Edison.... !
Well over a hundred years ago they started with electricity..... and the lightbulb was born !
That new invention was awsome... just had ONE big backdraw... the bulbs were built so well that nobody needed a replacement.. for a long time !
So the guys who produced the parts came together to find a way.. to limit the lifetime in order to
keep the producers in business !So guess why you need to screw in a lightbulb every second day.......well maybe not you I had to.....
with the nice sideffect that I had to stumble through the pitch black corridor with a ladder that I couldnt find immediatly
to switch on the fuse again !
What companies are doing today is... they are shitting us !
I just have a problem with one of those shitty ---sorry for being rude.. little line trimmers.
Its one that my girlfriend bought without asking me.. before I was together with her.
Its a well known consumer brand I wont spell the name here.. but its a company that also makes plasic fittings for hoses....
That plastic piece of s....... well you cant disassemble it because the screws are iron .... not nonrust steel !!!!!.. you need to
make holes with the drill to get the little screws out.....!yes its my girlfriends fault ..why does she keep it in the cellar !
OK ! All screws are out... now comes the next part where the producer saved a few cents..... the switch is corroded....why because they
used a contact that corrodes.... would they have gold plated it for 5 cents.. it would have never stopped the line trimmer from working....!
Not to mention that the rest was corroded too....because they used iron... not good quality steel for the ball bearings... !
Goes on and on and on ! Minimum 5 faults on a product that is only made of 6 big parts plus a plug ..... !
80 percent of what we pay for the products doesnt even go into the product itself but into advertisement and shareholder value......
and chinese workers.... no not U.S: workers or European workers.... because products are no longer made for people to have work.. but
simply for GREED !
Now that I have vented.......here comes an experience from some time ago ! I also thought just like you.. electical goods dont have the punch
to do the work !Well how wrong was I ! A friend of mine who works in the solar business... as a car had Lambo which he sold
to replace it with a Tesla S highest performance version 700 bhp !He took me for a spin with that thing and I am NOT exaggerating....almostr broke
my neck when it speeded up.....! Electrical motors have full tourque from groud up to the max rev. while gas driven only reach the tourque
at full rev.!!!
Well here is the catch ! You need the batteries to power them that let you replace the gas driven counterparts......!
The companies that build electical goods use bad....underpowered motors......and fit them without enough ventilation for a.) the motor and b.) the battery
in sh....ty little plastic housings for a few cents... and guess what.... in most cases that busts the capacitor or even weorse melts down the
whole thing..... because that damn thing overheats! In the end its your fault because you havent read the small-print which says ..."for non continuous use only"
Yes the batteries are good enough for a shaver not for a lawn trimmer !:P
Same thing with pro goods today... they aint what they used to be !!
Well here comnes the part with 3d printer !!!
I bought one a few months ago because I´msick of spending and spending on goods the blow up just after you take them out of the sales boxes...
Not only to produce things but mostly to repair things.. !
When things no longer work its in many cases just a little nothing that is broken... but they know that a repair hour plus taxes plus plus plus..
well its 100$ minimum .... ah come on not woth it to have it repaired .. get a new one... same junk !!!!!
Because nobody lets the goods back in the shop.. nobody has and carries spare parts..... and so after 3 years... your not going to be lucky to find a replacement part....!... throw it away or just use remaining cord and plug to hang yourself ! End of custom service !!!!
Well not quite !!! here comes the 3d printer... if you can find a part that is almost like the other one you need.. well for a few cents you can
make a housing or replacment part !
If you dont have a printer... use services....takes longer .. but works well too !
Now back to the line trimmer.. post !
If you take the remainings of an old line trimmer..... replce the ball bearings with better ones.. take off the broken gas motor and replace the flange where the gas motor was attached to line trimmer with a carbon plastic printed compound material for 47 $ a spool... that enough for 100 broken line trimmers..
and build it together with a high eff. electric 24v motor... the ones they use in the lawn mowers NOT TRIMMERS... but from non garden supply because you pay loads for nothing..and pack a few lithium
cells amounting approx 24v and TAKE CARE OF "GOOD" VENTILATION..... then you up to something !!!!!
Possible ??? Yes... they and I mean WALLSTREET !! dont want you to a.) replace a gas engine by an electic engine-a no go-the petrol companies dont like that !
an b.) if they can keep you in the viciuos circle of sh...ty goods the can transfer your hard owned money ..... RIGHT!!! into greed !

There is a professional name for what I wrote here... its called planned obsolescence !
Wiki here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence"


http://economicstudents.com/2012/09/pla ... onspiracy/"


They do even worse.. they do the same thing with food.. and THAT is killing us people.....but who cares...!

I like things that bring individuals power over their own lives and help us do things our own way. 3D printing is good for that. With 3D printing people can escape some stuff like you mention or build things better or customize things to their own needs or wishes.

Other things are helping people do things their own way too. Design your own items on Zazzle or Cafe Press. Some artists/entertainers are going directly to their fans on Youtube etc. and cutting out the record labels (don't like google, owns Youtube, but I have to give credit for that good thing), selling their music on itunes, having CD's made and selling through their websites or ecommerce sites. A lot of things like that are happening.

The long term weather forecasts predict cooler than usual temps into June. Guess I won't need Brawndo.

I'm almost sure that my rototiller has been stolen. It is not in the yard where I keep it. It is not in the storage sheds. My customers at the last place I used it said it is not there. I'll search for it the next time I do their yard.

My previous neighbor got it at a garage sale and fixed it. When he left he gave it to me so it didn't cost me anything. I can't replace it but I have a yard to till and seed and could earn money in other yards with it.

Edit 6-1-16: The tiller is indeed missing. I reported it to the police.

Tired. I'm having trouble keeping up with it all and still make little money. Monsoon season so it rains me out of work time while growing more work to do. I haven't sent the bills to customers, or paid the bills, or paid some state tax, or kept up with paperwork. Too tired and lacking in self discipline, decisiveness, persistence, drive, motivation ... I'd do better if had some of that. Hard to be motivated when I make half of what you pay on your house mortgage.

No time to put a carb kit in the big weed eater I got from a customer. One mower (Tecumseh engine!) had damage to the cylinder sleeve and was pronounced dead. Then the mechanics scavenged a sleeve from another mower and fixed it. Runs great. Now the wheels came apart.

The truck is acting up. Doesn't get worse so I'll try to wait until after mowing season to take it to mechanics.

Sewer. Yeah. I dug to the pipe where the hose, without the pressure bladder on it, wouldn't go through. Roots got in. Fortunately the pipes are only two feet or so deep around here. I'll plan on replacing much of it next spring. Frequent pressure blasting should be ok until then.

The truck is running better with new spark plugs, wires, vacuum tube.

Autumn has been warm so the money making season is only ending now. Looks like a mild winter but not like the year with no winter in the 90's.

So I got a letter from code enforcement (weeds, junk in your yard, etc.) in my p.o. box used only for business. Did they spot me as they guy putting unbagged stuff in the dumpsters? Naw. They wanted bids to clean up an abandoned place. Six trees to be removed, huge weeds, trash, junk. I looked at the property. Too big for me but I would bid $800 to $1400 which is cheap just for the trees. The city provided a formula which indicated a few hundred as appropriate. Hmm. They sent an army of city employees and equipment to a similar yard down the street from me.

I've had more odd jobs than usual this winter/off season. If a customer accepts my bid I'll remove a patio and concrete walkway and put in xeriscaping gravel. I'm acting like a boss and planning for temporary employees to help. My unofficial helper may be available for labor and another guy has a big truck for hauling and might do labor. I'm talking about breaking up concrete with a sledge hammer, hossing the chunks into a truck, unload that at the dump, then spread three tons of gravel. You can see why I'd like some help but these guys aren't in great physical condition and I don't want anyone having a heart problem or an injury.

I found a vacuum tube in the truck which causes the problem. I'll replace it and others in that area. For now keeping it connected prevents the problem.

Update Jan. 16: Almost rained out but the concrete and gravel job is nearly done. A little more tomorrow.

The new vacuum hoses didn't fix my truck's jerky problem. I replaced the distributor cap and rotor. The twenty-seven year old original had little left of some contacts inside so I was surprised it ran at all. "Runs like a sewing machine" now.

I got a new customer. I looked at the yard and gave a price. She insisted on paying me $18 more per mow based on the estimates other companies gave her. I think I'll raise prices this year.

So I'm working in a yard. My customer backed into my truck. It is made of rust, dents, and scratches so don't worry. She says it is worse. Yep, the door is dented in enough to keep the window from rolling down and the door from opening. They would pay to fix it and I say I'll get a couple of estimates. Soon a friend of theirs appears with a body shop suction cup device. He pulls the dent out and everything is fine. There was no trouble but they insisted I take an extra check for the trouble.

Looks like I have an allergy. Never had them before but the last couple of years I've had mild sniffles in Spring. This Spring brought lots of runny eyes and nose but I don't have a cold. I got some non-drowsy allergy medicine to try. It stops later so I suspect the mustard weed (aka London rocket) which doesn't grow much when it is hot.

I think my occasional unofficial helper is not in physical condition to do labor now. Other-than-physical issues also interfere with him being effective.

An affordable mower with a Honda engine has appeared at a store. If I wear out a mower that will probably be my new one. Now days you want Honda engines and Echo or Shindaiwa trimers etc. if you can possibly afford them. I also need an "alley whacker" cheap used mower to chop weeds in rough yards and alleys.

The big trimmer I got from a customer for half price is in the shop again. It has had enough maintenance to equal full price now.

I'm tired of this job. Mostly making no money and dealing with people. That is giving me motivation to run this business efficiently so I have free time to try my other schemes and to really try them instead of perpetually thinking about it.

Finis,
I agree about the Honda mower.
I got a Honda HR 194 self propelled mower as a wedding gift from my Dad 30 years ago (this April 5th), it still runs like brand new! I even bought another Honda 5 years ago (with the new NeXite base) thinking the first one would die....it hasn't.
After many trimmers that were junk (5 or 6 different ones) I finally gave in last year and bought an Echo. Worth every penny!

Well, you could always take up the guitar:



Cross-post to Song Of The Day

< Throws lawn rake down. >
Ok Finis, I've had enough.
I'll need you to get over here and finish this yard cleanup pronto.
There's beer.

Just got a lawn cutting deal locally with a lawn guy. Forty dollars every two weeks for mow/mulching, weed eating and edging?

is that a good deal Finis?

@Spacekdet: (puts guitar and beginner's book down) Ok, per online maps I'll be there in 26 hours and 34 minutes. Keep that beer cold.

@James: That's probably a fair price for a typical in town yard. My yards go from $27.50 to $45 each time I do it. Typical is biweekly $33 each time. Different economy in different places. I'm in New Mexico -- one of the poorest states. Labor is cheap here. "Mulch" means he leaves the cut grass on the yard? Mostly bag the grass here in the desert. Factors I look at for pricing are size of yard, obstacles and difficulties, quality requirements. Typical service is "edge mow blow cut alley" = mowing, edging (usually with weed eater), weed eat or mow alley, blow walks and drive. I'll occasionally also clean up gardens, trim hedge or bushes, fix sprinklers, apply fertilizer, spray weeds, etc. Customer pays extra for materials like fertilizer.

yep, Honda rocks! buy it and you will save on maintanence, repairs and time to repair it or lost money due to be unable to do your job. Even when it will be more expensive, its still cheaper than cheap which will be broken all the time.

@Bitkar: Yep. Nothing is more expensive than cheap stuff. Good stuff is cheaper in the long term.

Well, the big echo 230 weedeater seems unfixable. The mechanics put the carb kit in, no luck, tried more than one new carburetor, no luck. They said they have trouble with all the Echos brought in and stopped using them for their tool rental business several years ago. Same for the sibling brand Shindaiwa. They still have and rent some Shindaiwa's that are nearly 20 years old but not the newer ones. The problem seems to be that the tools are built to run at low elevation and the new carbs can't be adjusted to run up here (4500 feet). So maybe these are good brands if you are below 1000 feet. They said Husqvarna is OK and at least has adjustable carbs.

On the other hand Home Depot sells Echo here. Surely they wouldn't if they constantly had returns and complaints. Also my Echo 210 runs fine here and has had no carb adjustments (screw hole plugged so you can't). So since I have considerable dollars and barter invested in this tool I'll take it to Rocky Mountain. If they can't fix it then it can't be fixed but they are expensive mechanics. Maybe I'll consider Stihl again.

You win some and you lose some. Repairing the Echo 230 would cost $200. It wasn't the carburetor. Rocky Mountain put a new carb on it and they tuned it in different ways before discovering the piston is scored. That means these carbs can be tuned. They will remove the new parts so I won't be charged for them but there will be their considerable labor fees. So new ones probably work fine here. Since I only have one trimmer getting another is appealing but the monetary losses on this one make that difficult.

Poo. Where is the poo? I keep smelling it so the dog poo must be on me. Boots? Naw, not on there. Goes home ... what's this on my chin? Poo? No, that's blood. Smell's gone. No problem.

Every day is a picnic!
I've picked up a mysterious case of Stankpaw like that before.
Don't know what it was, but I stuck my hand in... something that smelt like hot roadkill dripping out of the ass end of a worm farm that is also on fire. Wouldn't wash off all day until I got home and hit it with rubbing alcohol and bleach. Quite ruined the enjoyment of my noonday sandwich.

"Stankpaw" ha ha ha. Alcohol and bleach: you might be a lawn guy if you think Ajax is for washing your hands.

I will now be paid from a trust fund for one of my customers. The fund manager wants my tax ID number. Fine I gave her my state tax ID number and city business license number. No she wants my federal tax ID for 1099 forms. Great, 1099's, more bookkeeping and tax form complexity. Although the state assigns one the feds don't give my business an ID number because I am self employed. My business is not an entity like a corporation. I file my personal tax forms noting wages of zero (I like that. It is like saying "captain of my own ship"), add a couple of forms for self employment and note my income from that (profit) on another line. This means that the federal tax ID is my social security number. I see why she needs it but I don't appreciate having to give my SSN to people who aren't feds. (I don't appreciate the existence of the social security program but that's another gripe.)

All kneel before my genius and wisdom! No detail escapes my flawless mind. Behold this story of such. I put some oil in my truck. Drive to the post office, store, customer's house. What's that funny smell? Must be this oil all over the front of my truck and all over the engine compartment. Yeah, probably should have put the oil cap back. Walked home since it probably fell off as I drove out of the yard ... there it is. The temp. gauge never went up but the engine must have been very hot. Back to work.

At least it wasn't the drain plug!

that can happen.... lately, i got my oil changed and at home (just few km far) i checked the servicemans work and saw the oil cap from an engine stuck (luckily didnt fell off before i was going to a vacation) in the engine compartment.

@Steinie Yep, could have been worse.

@Bitkar Servicemen who know more than I do are getting rare and expensive. And it is not like I'm an expert at anything either.

The oil all over the engine compartment makes it look pretty and new! I once left the gas cap on the roof of a car and drove about ten miles where I discovered the cap still on the roof!

sad true.. at least in CZ or europe its not easy to find a good car mechanic, that is really somebody to fix things not just randomly change parts. I have one and i drive 1,5h to him. Still the best solution, nobody better in the capital of CZ with more than 1.2 mil ppl.

"randomly change parts" I just got that kind of suggestion from a mechanic. He noted many things that do need to be fixed (of course 430,000 miles/692,000km) but could not find the specific cause of a strange noise. Said shock absorbers likely the problem. Not unreasonable but I easily tested that by pushing on corners to bounce the truck ... no noise.

Washing my work clothes. It is a simple process. First I take them into the yard and spray the dirt off with the hose. This time included a dunk in water with disinfectant since I hauled some dirty carpets. Sling them around to get some of the dirty water out. Then the clothes are clean enough to go in the washing machine.

Hoping to find my machete. It is a US Navy issue one my neighbor gave me. I like it because it is a Navy item, kind of an antique, and it is heavy for chopping. Searched the last place I used it. Not there. Hopefully it is around somewhere.

Edit: I thinik I know where the machete is. I probably left it at a house where the customer moved away recently. Movers packed her stuff and wouldn't know it wasn't hers. I'll call her.

Day-Glo spray paint is useful for marking tools.
Makes losing your machete a little bit harder, and spotting it once you do a little easier.

Finis wrote: 21 Jul 2017, 23:58 430,000 miles/692,000km

thats really not bad number :)
Well, weird noises are usually not easy to track down tho. Usually its good to let it for a while when you have your car checked for the most important parts - that nothing will fall of a car during the drive etc. :) the noise either amplifies over time (and will be easier to track) or will be gone. I would let it be if you dont have a mood and money to change half of the car.

Spray paint a Navy machete? Not gonna happen.

I removed a loose mud flap and tightened a loose shield in the wheel well but that wasn't it. The sound got worse like you predicted Bitkar. It think it is related to suspension or steering. It is almost constant now so I think mechanics can find it. I'll take it to a shop with a good reputation tomorrow. Probably I'll rent a small U-Haul and keep working. That will take most of my profit but I don't want to get behind in work or skip any yards.

Edit: Right rear wheel makes sounds when turned. Probably brakes. Mechanic tomorrow 7-25.

good... brakes should be easy and cheap to repair. Calipers should be inspected and cleaned regularly, once a year. Or once per two years at least.

The truck goes in Monday to get the brakes fixed. I plan to do Monday's work on Sunday but ... monsoon season. July and August are when half of our rain happens here. Raining now and the ground is too soaked to work today if it stops. It makes it hard to keep up with work. Doing paperwork today.

Won't be calipers if the sound is coming from the right rear since this old truck has shoes. My guess because of the age of the vehicle would be a bad wheel bearing. (unless it is a scraping sound then I would guess brake shoes). A sound heard while hitting bumps would be suspension part. A sound from the rear when not driving, a dead cat....

@Steinie Could be a hundred things on the old truck. Plenty of sounds but this is the scary one now. Mechanics looked at the brakes already and temporarily silenced the noise. They ordered parts arriving Monday. Doing a minimal fix to cut expenses a more extensive overhaul will be needed sometime. Don't know how to afford that. Wheel bearings need fixing too. Left front wheel won't spin when turned. Right not much spin. When new they were like perpetual motion machines.

New super interesting event : I'm mowing a lawn and a guy comes to the gate. Says he ran off some kids who were trying to take stuff from my truck. Said they had my line trimmer. Nothing missing. My customer guarded my stuff while I finished. That's a decent neighborhood but with more pedestrian traffic. Primarily youths so more crime.* It is possible that they were curious and not intent on theft.

*Law enforcement saying: The best crime fighting tool is a thirtieth birthday. My guess: your prefrontal cortex becomes effective in mid to late twenties and synaptic pruning continues to around thirty.

Edit: Rattle plus more sounds and worse came back. Left truck with mechanic. Looking for rental truck.

Edit: 7-29-17 The saga continues. One company has no appropriate rentals now. I reserved a rental truck online elsewhere. Go there to get it and it's not there. They will upgrade me at no extra charge. Except that the only remaining truck is already reserved. Tired of that. I'll just catch up as much as I can next week. Skip some ok yards. That won't lose more money than renting a truck would.

Raining. Paperwork. House cleaning. I added a gallery section to the business website. https://www.jackrabbitlawncare.com/index.php/gallery/ More photos over the next week or two.

The truck brakes are fixed. I've been doing extra work for days to catch up. Tired. I learned to never get behind by 3 or 4 days. Rent a larger truck if that's what it takes. I'm looking for an affordable small trailer. Better for transporting and organizing tools and I can borrow a car with a towing hitch if the truck is in the shop.

Not this business but a potential business/money maker ... I have an idea for a CG animated humorous series. Better than my usual mediocre ideas it could really be something people would enjoy and want to watch so there could be money to earn.

Good thing: A newer business model that works for small films and indie series is available. Put it on Vimeo etc., publicize on social media, get income more or less directly from fans. Pay-to-view, advertisements, subscriptions, merchandise, Patreon, Kickstarter, etc.

Problem (for me): Those sites/resources (Vimeo, Youtube, Twitter, Fakebook, ...) are controlled by the forces of evil and there are few or no alternatives. I'm not saying these places aren't good for the "advertised purpose" like showing your videos, money transactions, etc. It's that they are run by people with agendas or practices that I don't like. So the business model is appealing but I don't like who runs those companies so I don't want them to get a portion of the income or other support from my actions.

So far alternatives have the same problems or too small/limited to be effective. Vidme seemed like a viable place similar to Youtube but now they are behaving badly and seem to be run by capricious inept kids. Vimeo, made in NY, just look at the stuff the staff picks. Google scripts must be allowed to upload and videos might be stored on google resources. Patreon, bad. Hatreon is going nowhere with that name (American pronunciation hate-reon) and the usual business info. is missing from their site. I think on Gab and Minds only members can see the content.

So if you all discover new places useful for the business model noted above let me know. I think viable alternatives are going to appear.

Well. I reeeeeally don't like goolag, screwgle, whatever that evil company is called and the others so far aren't much better. But if I'm going to try the idea I had as a money maker then it has to be done "for the win". That means making a deal with the devil and using the sites/services/companies that work well for the business model. Since it requires a team to do something on that scale using the most effective means to gain a reward for their efforts is a duty. That is mostly likely Vimeo and Patreon. If or when suitable competitors arise I would move the project to them.

Most likely it will be a flop due to lack of interest and become a just-for-fun project that everyone can help with. That will flop too since there is no one here who is still doing CG. Hopefully I'll have fun trying and learn much.

I will be doing some yard clean up and odd jobs for a guy who fixes up and rents houses. I might get construction or remodeling work with him in the off season when I have little yard work to do.

Helped with some roofing. Didn't I make some business rules like "never paint anything" and "never do roofing"? Now I smell like flaming roofing tar.

man, you should expand your business... We have a popular service here called "an hour husband" (it sounds dirty tho :D ) its for ppl who needs to get a new shelf on the wall or repair a chair or whatever what house needs. Do you have it in your state?
Its for wifes with husbands that dont even have tools (ITs, managers etc.) or single ladies who cannot do it themselves.

The US term for that is "handyman". I used to do handyman things in addition to lawn care but I found it unprofitable. Those who do that as their main job can make profit but as an extra to lawn care it didn't work for me. I have plans for other businesses or income that I'm working toward. So I am expanding as you advise just not within the lawn business.

I've done three yards and one small roofing job for the house remodeling guy. Another house will be ready for clean up soon and he needs some construction help soon. That will be a good deal this winter when I have little work. He lives in a remote place in the mountains and hunts a lot. He gave me some venison (deer meat) and chorizo made with venison.

Busy lawn season. I'm trying to keep up with it all but I seldom have a day off other than from exhaustion. I'm getting bored with no time to think, be creative, work on interesting projects, or anything but mow.

No time to fix my gas pipes so I have heat this winter and can cook other than microwave. It is hot enough now that the tap water is warm to ok for showers but the time of unbearable cold water is returning soon. Solar camp shower to the rescue but I have to get to work on those pipes and related matters to meet building codes.

I like to be nice to my customers but sometimes ... Customer didn't pay me for a long time and put a lock on the gate. I'm supposed to get a key ... didn't happen. In two weeks I'll drop you and give your time slot to someone else. Presto, a key and a check appear. Another has three unpaid bills. Work suspended until pay. Pay received.

All working mowers and my truck getting repaired at the same time. Customer gave me her old mower and I rented a truck. All fixed now.

A friend got a promotion at work. I want a promotion so I changed my job title to Adored Cosmic Emperor. I am employee of the month too.