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2022...
- Thread starter Moneybox
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Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
I arrived home by 9:30am this morning to help Mrs M with another little job for the CRC. This will go into a new cabinet she's setting up for a gold display. I hope they don't expect me to supply the gold as well 
I sat and watched the Eagles vs Sydney AFL game for a bit but gave up and decided to put that blob of lead into the Cupel.
The result was almost identical to yesterday.
It was a good two days and it looks better once it's turned into a button.
I sat and watched the Eagles vs Sydney AFL game for a bit but gave up and decided to put that blob of lead into the Cupel.
The result was almost identical to yesterday.
It was a good two days and it looks better once it's turned into a button.
Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
I'm supposed to be outside packing the bus and trailer in preparation for our annual jaunt north. I said to Mrs M "I just need to find the motivation".
Her answer was "Hang on a sec" with that she grabbed the MacBook and said "You can find anything on Google"
Her answer was "Hang on a sec" with that she grabbed the MacBook and said "You can find anything on Google"
Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
Well I must have had a subconscious foreboding that was holding me back. I walked out to the bus and fired it up and as I took off to run it around the back the fanbelt squealed. There had to be a reason because fanbelts shouldn't ever squeal.
When I lifted the engine cover the cause was clear, one belt, the AC one was gone. All that remained was a few strands of kevlar or similar lying on the protection plates underneath.
Finding a belt in Cue is impossible and being Sunday I couldn't order an overnight delivery. Fortunately my work truck is the same model so I just had to steal one off that.
While I had the cab tilted on the truck I decided to fit a new starter clutch that's been threatening to let me down for months. I'd already bought the part but sometimes it takes a bit to get me started on a new job so it's been sitting on the shelf in the shed.
I thought fitting the belt would be difficult because the bus no longer has a tilt cab but I wasn't counting on finding a seized idler bearing. That was the reason why the belt had failed and it most likely happened quite a while back because I think I remember smelling that burning rubber smell
At least the part was a common bearing size that I already keep for "just in case". The old bearing easily pressed out in the vice and the new one was in place in minutes. The whole job didn't take long but some days I find it a bit hard to get started.
When I lifted the engine cover the cause was clear, one belt, the AC one was gone. All that remained was a few strands of kevlar or similar lying on the protection plates underneath.
Finding a belt in Cue is impossible and being Sunday I couldn't order an overnight delivery. Fortunately my work truck is the same model so I just had to steal one off that.
While I had the cab tilted on the truck I decided to fit a new starter clutch that's been threatening to let me down for months. I'd already bought the part but sometimes it takes a bit to get me started on a new job so it's been sitting on the shelf in the shed.
I thought fitting the belt would be difficult because the bus no longer has a tilt cab but I wasn't counting on finding a seized idler bearing. That was the reason why the belt had failed and it most likely happened quite a while back because I think I remember smelling that burning rubber smell
At least the part was a common bearing size that I already keep for "just in case". The old bearing easily pressed out in the vice and the new one was in place in minutes. The whole job didn't take long but some days I find it a bit hard to get started.
You're a very knowledgeable man MB. Great clear pics. Was your wife playing on the Mac all this time.Well I must have had a subconscious foreboding that was holding me back. I walked out to the bus and fired it up and as I took off to run it around the back the fanbelt squealed. There had to be a reason because fanbelts shouldn't ever squeal.
When I lifted the engine cover the cause was clear, one belt, the AC one was gone. All that remained was a few strands of kevlar or similar lying on the protection plates underneath.
Finding a belt in Cue is impossible and being Sunday I couldn't order an overnight delivery. Fortunately my work truck is the same model so I just had to steal one off that.
View attachment 1126
While I had the cab tilted on the truck I decided to fit a new starter clutch that's been threatening to let me down for months. I'd already bought the part but sometimes it takes a bit to get me started on a new job so it's been sitting on the shelf in the shed.
View attachment 1127
I thought fitting the belt would be difficult because the bus no longer has a tilt cab but I wasn't counting on finding a seized idler bearing. That was the reason why the belt had failed and it most likely happened quite a while back because I think I remember smelling that burning rubber smell
View attachment 1128
At least the part was a common bearing size that I already keep for "just in case". The old bearing easily pressed out in the vice and the new one was in place in minutes. The whole job didn't take long but some days I find it a bit hard to get started.
Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
Mrs M is packing the food and loading the prospecting gear. We have a checklist. It gets updated from time to time and may be a bit out of date but its a good guide. I'll get a her to send me a copy and I'll post it in case others might like to use it too.
Just wondering why ya heading off when you have your lease to work now without the heat and the rain? Cheers Mackka
That will be a good idea MB. Maybe something to make sticky.
Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
Mackka, everybody needs a holiday
Every day around here is a Sunday so we're going away to have some time off. We still enjoy metal detecting and there's very little detectable gold on any of our leases.
I got this one last week on one of our leases that we haven't detected before.
It's the biggest piece I found on our ground and there might be more but its good to just get away and have a break from normal life regardless of what that is.
Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
Jaros, I've posted it as a PDF but it might be better if I just take some snap shots and post the .jpg
Yeah, good idea.
Travel safely you two and hope your find heaps. MackkaMackka, everybody needs a holiday
View attachment 1140
I got this one last week on one of our leases that we haven't detected before.
View attachment 1141
It's the biggest piece I found on our ground and there might be more but its good to just get away and have a break from normal life regardless of what that is.
Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
Well we're still here. We will get away but I guess we're already on holiday so we're just taking it quietly. We haven't done much since returning from the NT last year so we had to unpack some of the boat/fishing type stuff. Then there have been a few surprises.
I installed new batteries into the quads before that trip and even though we've had the quads out a few times when I tried to start Mrs M's little TRX90 the battery was dead flat and won't take a charge. One cell is badly swollen so it had to come out and I refitted the battery I removed last year. It's ok and certainly suitable for this trip.
When I was cleaning a bit of unnecessary clutter from the detector cupboard the GPX6000 wireless headphones turned up. I thought I'd left them on the creek bed in Halls Creek. When I looked a little deeper the missing Garmin Oregon 550 showed itself too.
Then I went to load Mrs M's quad into the trailer tonight in the dark and noticed that her headlight was held in place with a occy strap because the bracket was broken. Another little job for tomorrow morning
I hope nobody notices we're still about because so many have dropped in in the last few days I can't get anything done.
I installed new batteries into the quads before that trip and even though we've had the quads out a few times when I tried to start Mrs M's little TRX90 the battery was dead flat and won't take a charge. One cell is badly swollen so it had to come out and I refitted the battery I removed last year. It's ok and certainly suitable for this trip.
When I was cleaning a bit of unnecessary clutter from the detector cupboard the GPX6000 wireless headphones turned up. I thought I'd left them on the creek bed in Halls Creek. When I looked a little deeper the missing Garmin Oregon 550 showed itself too.
Then I went to load Mrs M's quad into the trailer tonight in the dark and noticed that her headlight was held in place with a occy strap because the bracket was broken. Another little job for tomorrow morning
I hope nobody notices we're still about because so many have dropped in in the last few days I can't get anything done.
Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
We took a month off and headed north. Mrs M had to be back to start work on the 1st of June so we had planned on having five weeks but the weather front moved in half way through our fourth week and being nearly 20km from the nearest road it meant that as soon as we got a dry spell it was time to head for home.
We had two days and nights of steady rain before voting day when we'd planned to come out to vote, do a little shopping and fill with water. Well we had enough water so the rest didn't matter. We may have made it out but it wasn't worth the potential damage to the roads. The grass is already shoulder high in places so it'll be impossible to detect most of the area with a bit more growth.
Even Taz and Sammy found the conditions difficult. They were resting up here in a kangaroo shelter.
Whenever we found a bit of clear ground we worked it hard. This little hole gave up about twenty pieces and may have had more if we'd kept digging but we'd had enough by then.
Generally, it was a good trip and in four weeks we only saw another couple who passed by once. It's good when you can relax knowing nobody is in the area. We didn't get a lot of gold but it came in steadily. I'll upload a few photos when we get the time.
Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
We took on a new area this year. We'd never been into this region and was blown away by the amount of tall tough Spinifex grass we had to contend with. We're used to getting hung up in the high grass when on the Honda TRX90 quad but this time I couldn't get over the grass on the Honda TRX250 and it had twice the ground clearance, more weight and a lot more power.
Spinifex is highly flammable so we had to be very careful with the campfire. Burning the grass is classified as arson so must be avoided at all cost. Fortunately there was quite a bit of small gold that suited the SDC2300 and GPX6000 and we got more than one nugget in a hold time and time again.
Spinifex is highly flammable so we had to be very careful with the campfire. Burning the grass is classified as arson so must be avoided at all cost. Fortunately there was quite a bit of small gold that suited the SDC2300 and GPX6000 and we got more than one nugget in a hold time and time again.
Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
It might see like we've been a bit slow lately but it's just the opposite, we've been flat out. After our four weeks away in the north Mrs M had to return to work. Yes we're supposed to be retired but she loves her work setting up the Cue Heritage Discovery Centre. She gets to arrange and setup the old bottles, mining gear, all sorts of historic stuff and a fair bit of rusty gold.
We travelled through quite a bit of rain on the way home so I was expecting everything to be wet when we got here.
Cue was dry and dusty when we arrived but I'd already decided to head back out on my own.
From the Google Earth view the best way in seemed to be along an old fence line. Well it looked ok from the satellite
I was travelling in the bus but decided to camp early and travel the rest of the way on the quad.
I past some really interesting rock formations on the way so the trip took a bit longer than planned.
The map indicated a dryblowing area but this was different to anything I'd seen before. It looks like they continually moved the dryblower leaving lots of little piles behind. Not that it mattered, what I was after was the few nuggets they left behind.
That first afternoon I got my first 2.5g so that took the pressure off. I didn't want to go off on my own and not return with a bit of gold.
There were so interesting old gold mines as well. If Mrs M had been with me I'd have dropped the rope ladder down and gone in for a look but I didn't want to do it on my own.
I had five days out. I would have enjoyed it more if Mrs M had been there but it was a good trip so I'm planning to do it again soon.
Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
As part of our plan for me to spend more time out, while Mrs M is busy at work, I've bought a little 2WD van. The bus is much more comfortable and capable in the bush but it's much too expensive for a one person camper.
This little van will consume less than half the fuel because it's smaller, lighter and I won't be towing a trailer. We bought one of these little vans about 10 years ago off a German backpacker who was heading home. We really enjoyed it so I was very fortunate to find this one on Gumtree the first time I looked.
The challenge now is to put all those necessary odds and ends in as well as my Honda 250cc quad. The last van was prior to our first attempt to find gold and we really only bought it for a one way trip back from Queensland that took about six weeks.
When I decide to buy something I want it NOW. So when it came time to head down to Perth to look over a couple of vans it clashed with Mrs M's work schedule. That meant a bus trip and then a taxi from there and in the likely event that I'd be shopping around it just wasn't practical. Option 2 was to take Mrs M's car which I did but that meant leaving one in Perth.
Being the end of the financial year I took the opportunity to grab a new pair of boots before heading home in the new van. I saved nearly $100 by being there at the right time.
The first thing I noticed with this van was the extra power. It's a 2.9L naturally aspirated diesel. It's nice to have that bit extra grunt but I found it difficult to keep to the speed limit. This brand new Command AP300 cruise control kit has been sitting in the shed for more than ten years so it had to be the first thing fitted.
While I was trying to get my head around how to install the cruise Mrs M was having a crack at laying new tint onto the LH window. She started out cutting insulation for the inside of each of the exposed body panels. I'm sure it's because she doesn't want me rushing home too soon just because I'm cold
This little van will consume less than half the fuel because it's smaller, lighter and I won't be towing a trailer. We bought one of these little vans about 10 years ago off a German backpacker who was heading home. We really enjoyed it so I was very fortunate to find this one on Gumtree the first time I looked.
The challenge now is to put all those necessary odds and ends in as well as my Honda 250cc quad. The last van was prior to our first attempt to find gold and we really only bought it for a one way trip back from Queensland that took about six weeks.
When I decide to buy something I want it NOW. So when it came time to head down to Perth to look over a couple of vans it clashed with Mrs M's work schedule. That meant a bus trip and then a taxi from there and in the likely event that I'd be shopping around it just wasn't practical. Option 2 was to take Mrs M's car which I did but that meant leaving one in Perth.
Being the end of the financial year I took the opportunity to grab a new pair of boots before heading home in the new van. I saved nearly $100 by being there at the right time.
The first thing I noticed with this van was the extra power. It's a 2.9L naturally aspirated diesel. It's nice to have that bit extra grunt but I found it difficult to keep to the speed limit. This brand new Command AP300 cruise control kit has been sitting in the shed for more than ten years so it had to be the first thing fitted.
While I was trying to get my head around how to install the cruise Mrs M was having a crack at laying new tint onto the LH window. She started out cutting insulation for the inside of each of the exposed body panels. I'm sure it's because she doesn't want me rushing home too soon just because I'm cold
Moneybox
Philip & Sandra Box
We had to rush back down to Perth to get Mrs M's car. Well I felt I had to rush because I'm just getting into this camper conversion. Anyway it gave me a chance to test the new cruise control. For you guys living in the eastern states it's perhaps not as important but here in the west we have a lot of long stretches of almost level ground with not a lot of traffic but the speed limits still apply. At times I've left Perth and once in fifth gear I've not had to change gears until arriving at my destination hundreds of kilometres away.
I managed to get the fridge in too. This is the 130L Vitrifrigo fridge freezer from our old Mazda bus. It has an external cooling unit so it's just a square box inside. It's been wrapped in gladwrap for about eight years and I was pleasantly surprised to find it fresh and clean inside.
The Projector DC to DC charger is one I bought for the new bus but it never worked. It was advertised as 9v-32v but that's only the input. It can't output the 24v needed for the Isuzu bus so it ended up amongst the useless junk on the shelf in the shed. I've had it for years but it's basically new so it was good to find a home for it. It takes solar input as well so I've bolted an ex-mining company 110W GE panel to the roof.
I bought one of those new Aussie coffees from Maccas, the one with wattle added. Unfortunately the coffee cup holders in the Merc are made for something a lot smaller than a Maccas coffee cup so I ended up with a bit of a mess. Luckily the coffee stayed in the little cavities and never made it to the carpet but it did cost me half a roll of toilet paper to sort it out and we know how hard it is to get that stuff.
I had to see an eye specialist while I was there but only stayed one night in Perth. Mrs M stayed on to spend a few days with her mother. I called her a couple of days back to ask when she'd be home. I told her all the dishes were dirty, she replied with something indicating that I should know how to fix it.
Anyway she turned up yesterday so that's one problem out of the way
.
I managed to get the fridge in too. This is the 130L Vitrifrigo fridge freezer from our old Mazda bus. It has an external cooling unit so it's just a square box inside. It's been wrapped in gladwrap for about eight years and I was pleasantly surprised to find it fresh and clean inside.
The Projector DC to DC charger is one I bought for the new bus but it never worked. It was advertised as 9v-32v but that's only the input. It can't output the 24v needed for the Isuzu bus so it ended up amongst the useless junk on the shelf in the shed. I've had it for years but it's basically new so it was good to find a home for it. It takes solar input as well so I've bolted an ex-mining company 110W GE panel to the roof.
I bought one of those new Aussie coffees from Maccas, the one with wattle added. Unfortunately the coffee cup holders in the Merc are made for something a lot smaller than a Maccas coffee cup so I ended up with a bit of a mess. Luckily the coffee stayed in the little cavities and never made it to the carpet but it did cost me half a roll of toilet paper to sort it out and we know how hard it is to get that stuff.
I had to see an eye specialist while I was there but only stayed one night in Perth. Mrs M stayed on to spend a few days with her mother. I called her a couple of days back to ask when she'd be home. I told her all the dishes were dirty, she replied with something indicating that I should know how to fix it
.Anyway she turned up yesterday so that's one problem out of the way
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