Big old blue dart.

I posted these in the wrong order, oh well. This the the newly named "big old blue dart". Note it is not in the garage anymore.... It got outside on its own power thanks to some help from my dad and an morning of wiring, cleaning, trouble shooting, carpet laying, etc. I took the family on a quick drive around the block and it works. Now for the little stuff to be finished so that I can register the beast.

The inside: the carpet is new, the dash is in, the wires disappeared and the seats are hideous. Off to wal-mart to buy some cheap seat covers.


I took my Dad, my family and some friends on a really long ride to the doll house ruin. It is in its original condition, looks like it was built last year not 700+ years ago.


The sprinklers are in. The fence is up. The Blazer is out of the garage. A few more things to do and I will be getting the Man Cave under construction.

I have been busy and out of town for a while and have put some projects on the back burner. Note the newly tilled side yard... Yesterday we hauled 40lbs of seed home from wal-mart. I have some pipe and plans to get the trench-digger to install a sprinkler system on this side of the house. After observations this year we determined that the north side of this area(the left of the picture) would be a good place for tomato plants. I will be plumbing the water to include a valve to water the plants, a line with a tap attachment, and another valve to water the grass.

I constructed this pad with the left-over cement (fence posts). Wal-mart was clearing out their grills. Our last one died a windy death in Eagle Mountain and was brought here in a state of misery, the kind that normally is resolved with a pistol. This one has a dedicated shelter and a cover to preserve it for a few years. If we have a repeat monster snow year I will have to shift the grill to a better, more wind proof location.

Believe it or not this is progress. Remaining are the stereo and speakers. The gauges, switches, engine-thingy's, and lights have been wired. Luckily most information about wiring old trucks can be found on the internet. The beast will be hooked up to the battery soon and hopefully there will be no unintended fire, sparks, smoke or explosions.

This is a peek into the new wiring nest... All of the old wires were removed, everything is replaced. I don't know what will happen when it is hooked up to a battery, I hope only good things.

Besides work, the yard projects, the garage projects, the blazer project, the garage cleaning project and the hope of a man cave, I am working to get into school this winter to finish a Bachelor's Degree. I left the military with such haste I didn't get all my GI Bill information recorded. Once that is done I will be signing up for classes.

I got a new 5.8 gallon gas tank and front tire for the motorcycle so that now I will be able to travel 200 miles without a fill up.

This year we have been blessed and I fear that the girls are spoiled. I hope that over the next few months I will be working less and spending more time around the house and having fun.

Below is a link to a song on You-tube that a buddy of mine posted on his facebook page.

Shrek Song

Update for "Waylon"

Waylon is coming in up on 40000 miles. My not so trusty steed hasn't let me down, just likes to complain. We took the wagon (camp trailer) on the trail across the state. Had to get the whip out on I-70. Waylon has the ability to pull, just got to rev him out to get over the San Rafael Swell.

When we got home the transmission was acting up. I unplugged the battery for a few minutes and now things are right again.

At 30k miles I re-shoe'd him. The BF Goodrich KM2's did very well. Road manners were decent, tires were quiet and off road was impressive. KM2's weren't available so the new Shoes are Nitto mud tires. They are a 10 ply tire which means higher load rating and ability to run over 70 psi. Waylon's pressure light had been stuck in the on position because the tires weren't rated at a high enough pressure, problem solved with the right tire. Road manners are a little worse than the KM2s (noise and vibration), but they are impressive off road. With 10k miles I haven't noticed any irregular wear. We will see if they make it to 30k. Overall Waylon serves the purpose, just wish there was more room, no speed limiter, and that I could drive with the lights out...

Finally done with the Fence

I showed you what 450 feet of fence looks like on a trailer, this is what it looks like on 2/3 acre. I got tired of dragging this project on and took 4 days off from work to get it done.

As you can see, I started tilling up the lot. When I get another couple of hours the tilling will be done and then we can take a break from the yard project. This fall sometime I need to get a trencher and run the pipe for the irrigation water. We will get some trees from the nursery when they go on sale and try to get the lot looking more like a yard next year.

I was planning on being off for 9 days but got sidetracked by work and ended up in Cedar City for a week. After the holiday weekend I will be out in the garage to finish the Blazer. On the 6th there is a mudbog here in town and I want to enter the blazer. I will probably need to work on it at night to get it finished.

Da Bears

Yes, there are bears in Utah.

This is a pic from Jim's trail camera. Without measuring I would guess that his guy is as tall as me.

If the trend from last year continues into this year, I expect to have alot of bear complaints/sightings. My favorite phone complaints are of the "I saw a bear in the woods" variety. My response "did it chase you? eat your picnic? eat your dog? stick it's tounge out at you? etc.." Which is usually followed by "no, he just ran away" after which I congratulate them for seeing a bear in the woods and surviving.

The bears in this area are pursued/hunted by hounds for two months in the spring, pursued by hounds 2 months in the summer, and hunted on a limited basis in the fall. Whenever they see a person the PTSD kicks in and they usually run away. If your camp is filthy with food and trash everywhere, they will come by for a snack, there is no maybe because of the bear density. They will come by if they smell food. I have heard estimates on the La Sal's of between 150 and 300 bears. On the Blues I would estimate that the numbers are similar.

Some un-official advice:

Keep your camp clean.

Don't leave garbage around your camp.

Don't feed/lure the bears in.

Don't sleep with your food/ put food in bear proof containers (like your car).

Don't play tag with the sleeping bears, they don't like it.

Don't think that your .22 cal. 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 APC pistol is going to stop the bear from eating you. All you are going to do is provide the bear with a full stomach before he dies.

2011 Ford F250 vs 2006 Dodge 2500

I figured that I should start writing reviews about some of the equipment that I use. Last fall I got a new truck (the Blue Oval "Waylon") and I think that I have spent enough time and miles to compare the two. I have blocked out the emblems and other identifying features to ensure that it is clear that my opinion is not official and does not represent my employer's.


First the Billy Goat ("willie"): 345hp Hemi V-8, 4 speed automatic transmission, 4wd, quad cab 3/4 ton. When I got "willie" in 2009 he had 40000 miles.

For the most part he ran well. I had 33" tall firestone mud terrain tires and overall I was satisfied with the truck. The tie rod did come apart while I was driving and nearly caused me to lose control.

One of the biggest dowsides was that the bed was not long enough to carry a 2008 Honda Rancher ATV. Initially the bed was about 2" too short. After some hard use the headboard bent and the 4 wheeler fit. I did knock out a couple of rear windows because the front of the ATV was too close to the window.

Willie had a ton of torque. It seemed that he was quicker than the other 2500 trucks and his top speed was governed at 117mph, he was capable of this speed even with the wheeler riding in back.

There was enough space in the back seat to carry all of my equipment efficiently. Willie offroaded well and with the right tires would go most anywhere, but the limited slip rearend didn't offer enough traction at times and speed was necessary to get through some tough spots.

Willie had over 100k miles when I turned him in and was definately showing his age.
P.S. be carefule when you buy surplus trucks, they might have been driven by me!

"Waylon" is a 2011 Blue Oval F-250 extended cab, 4wd, 390+ hp V-8, 6 speed automatic 3/4 ton . Initially Wayon had some problems that included the transmission, and the traction control system, the computer and the battery. After a few trips to the dealer and 25k miles, the problems seem to be worked out.

I immediately set out and replaced the 31" street tires with some 33" BF Goodrich KM2 mud tires. The suspension components are built very well. Even with some of the places that I go I don't expect any premature failures.

The ATV fits well in the bed with a couple of inches to spare. My dad had some metal left over and he constructed a headache rack that protects the rear window from incidental ATV contact. The rack works very well.

Waylon has a lot of horsepower, but not as much low end torque. Off the line he just doesn't have the pep. The other downside is that his governer kicks in at 97mph. Acceleration is very brisk from 40 through 97 but it hits the governor and loses its hp advantage.

There is no room in the back seat. I have some new equipment and along with the cage there is no possibility of having any passengers besides the front passenger seat and the special seat. Consequently the special seat is reserved for my favoritest friends. Waylon does have an electric locker. The advantage off-road is amazing and I have yet been denied on any road/trail.

I can't get the dealer to eliminate the governor, turn off the running lights or reset the tire pressure sensor from 80psi to 40psi. If I could get these things fixed my only complaint would be the lack of interior space.

We had a tractor come by last Saturday. With all of the excitement of a small town, we had spectators, lots of em', then for the whole week we had gawkers, lots of em'. Today we went out and got rid of some of the rocks. Some neighbors and friends that came over for popcicles were put to work.

These are the rocks that were removed and piled. It is hard to get an idea on how many rocks this is by the pictures, but it was two longbed pickup trailers full. There are still more but the future garden area was hit pretty hard and after adding topsoil the garden should be ready.

We ordered two 18 wheelers of dirt, arranged for a local tractor operator to come by and smooth it out, and arranged for someone to come and drill holes with his auger to place the posts. Hopefully all this will be done this week and by next weekend I can have the posts in place and ready for the final installation. We will see.