Thursday, May 15, 2014

Not Making Much Progress the Last Few Days





I had several things on my list to get done today and so far only one seems to have been accomplished.

The rain gutter project is just not working well at all. The problem is that stupid POS funnel they sell to go with the plastic pipe. Instead of having the pipe go over the funnel they have it designed to fit up into it and that allows a large amount of the run off water to just flow down the outside of the plastic pipe.

Kinda defeats the entire purpose don't ya think?

I tried splitting the funnel section and putting the pipe over it but I could never get it to fit. I did however add in another bracket in the hopes I could tighten it down enough to keep the water from running out along the sides. I slowed it down considerably but not enough for my liking. My next step is going to be to find a PVC fitting that reduces from about six inches to four inches and try using that instead of the plastic funnel that goes with the pipe. Maybe with a PVC pipe inserted into the plastic pipe several inches that will stop the splashing and over flow problem.

As it sits now it still directs a large part of the barn runoff out away but there is enough running around the sides to still cause a small lake to form making it a gushy swamp back there this time of year.

Once I get a decent seal that stops the leaking around the edges I can then look into how I am going to bury the plastic pipe in such a way that it won't get crushed when tractors and such are driven over it.

Although it was cool today it really looked like the temps would climb high enough for me to get the new swarm I captured moved into a hive, get some sugar syrup on them and perhaps start mowing a bit after splitting a load of firewood and cutting up a telephone pole the power company left me last week.

I started with the firewood because I really need to get the huge trunk sections split and stacked out of the way.  had my son help me since my back is still not at 100% and we went to work on some trunk sections that were too heavy for the both of us to lift together until we split em once into more manageable sections. We got the first truck load split (and it only took about four trunk sections for a full load if that tells ya how big they were) when we shut the splitter off we heard thunder and had just enough time to get the splitter back into the barn before the rain and pea sized hail came down in buckets.

The temps dropped once again from almost 60 down to the lower 50's and everything is soaked now. Of course the wind came again and is now howling as usual.

The only project I can get back to work on now is getting that telephone pole cut up into sections I can use for gate posts later this Summer. The garden is once again a mud pit, these low temps are not doing any of the plants any good but of course doesn't seem to have any ill effects on the weeds that are laughing at me secure in their mud flat of protection. The wind is tearing my seedlings apart and the grass won't stop growing.

On the plus side I am pretty sure we are out of drought conditions now. The map still shows us as abnormally dry but it was compiled on the 13th and released today stating we needed another 1.74 inches of rain to move out of that condition. I know for a fact we have gotten over three inches of rain just yesterday and this morning.

I sure hope that poor swarm has enough honey to survive this cold snap. Looks like it will be tomorrow before I can hope to get to them and get em fed.

I told ya I would be B$tching about the rain before this Spring was over.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!




7 comments:

  1. Just remember what John Lennon wrote: "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans."

    Trade you our weather (sunny, 70°) for yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RP - Wish I could. I am sick of this cold wet weather now. The heat was bad too though lol.

      Delete
  2. Rained on me today so not much done other than a trip to town. Looks like they would make some coupler to join two sections of that pipe together that might work as they have a rubber one to connect PVC to a size larger. You might have to do something wrong to make it work right.

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    Replies
    1. Sf - Wellt he problem is I need something to cover the downspout on the gutter which is 6 inch pipe. Like I said I need something that will go over the 6 inch pipe but fit inside the 4 inch one I guess.

      Grrrr.

      Delete
  3. I think you got a cap rather than a downspout coupler. That think you have at the top of your corrugated pipe should be at the bottom, if you were pouring into, say, a larger pipe.

    You might want to look for something along the lines of:

    http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/096942/096942756341lg.jpg


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KH - I need something that will fit over the 6 inch downspout from the gutters. This may possibly be a increase piece but from the other side the 6 inch pipe coming in would fit inside it from that direction as well causing a leak if it was going the other way.

      The part you link would not fit over the gutter down spout but you are right it needs to fit inside the four inch pipe to work properly.

      Delete
  4. Pack it with a tube of silicon caulk?

    ReplyDelete

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