DanD

Technology marches on. Dan.

I stand corrected. Dan.

A telescopic rod, that I can pack in the suitcase, when we go down to St Lucia this January. I accidentally left a printout of the one that crappy has, on the kitchen table; the next morning it was gone??? LOL Dan.

When I had my 16' starcraft it originally had a 40 Suzuki 2 stroke on it. The oil injection went south on it and I didn't want to have too start mixing gas, so I bought a new (2004) 40 Honda 4 stroke. I didn't see any reduction in power, if anything (because of the power trim) I gained a couple mph top end. The hole shot was maybe a little less; because a 4 stroke cannot pick up its rpm as fast as a 2 stroke. The Honda used maybe a 3rd less fuel and no more head shaking, smoke belching 2 stroke noise. Not sure how true this is; but the salesman at Honda told me that the older motor's horsepower were rated at the crankshaft of the engine. New(er) motors the Horsepower is rated at the prop; after the hp loss of going through the gearing. So the engine hp might actually be something like 45? After using the Honda there's no way I would go back to a 2 stroke. Sooner or later we'll likely follow California where 2 strokes are no longer sold new. Dan.

Beef Tongue Read on if I haven't already grossed you out? - One tongue from freshly slaughtered beef. - Wash and if need be scrub with brush. - Place in pot large enough to cover tongue with water. - Season water with bay leaves (2 or 3) and a TB spoon of pepper corns. - Bring to a mild boil - Meat is cooked when the shin has turned a pale white and a knife can be easily inserted. - Remove from pot and allow to cool too the touch; you don't want it cold for the next step. - Peel shin from the tongue to expose the meat. Take your time it can be a bit difficult to remove all the skin without wasting to much of the meat. - Slice meat into 1/4" thick slices - Place meat in a stewing pot, add either home make or canned tomato sauce; spiced too your liking. - Saute onions, garlic and fresh peppers until tender; add to sauce. - Bring everything up to a medium high simmer and allow to cook for approx 2-3 hours. - Serve with any form of pasta and garlic bread. The simmering of the meat and sauce can also be done in a slow cooker and left longer without worry of burning. If you're willing to try it once; it won't be the last time you'd eat it. Dan.

Back in the 70's before there ever was such a thing as an all-season tire; let alone radials (radials were just only beginning to coming out); just about everyone had snow tires. I was an apprentice mechanic then and guess what job I had; go change the tires go change the tires. LOL Then when the radial all-season came out (mid 70's) we were all told, (by the tire manufacturers) there's no need for a snow tire; run these all year round. Now 40 some odd years later we need snow/winter tires again? Yes winter tires do make a difference in traction, there's no doubt about it; but do we really need them here in SW Ontario, I don't know? The one thing that is for sure; it has been a great marketing scheme, by the tire manufacturers too get people on board with buying them. I sold close to $20 grand worth of snows/winter tires in the month of November; so I say yea bring it on. LOL If they do bring in mandatory winter tire; the people who can't or don't want to afford two sets; will buy the cheapest tire that has the snowflake rating and run them all year. After the first season these snows won't be worth crap for the next winter; but they'll be legal. Dan.

Mandating snow tires wont work; not unless the mandate comes with some form of minimum tread depth legislation. Most quality winter tires have a starting tread depth of 12/32; once the tread wears down to anything below 3 or 4/32 they are no better then a summer tire, maybe even worse. Like someone else has already said here a few post back; what would be stopping people from running them year round? I run a garage and when that first snow fall hit us here in November, we were swamped with installing snows. A lot of these tires were likely on there 3rd or 4th season and pretty much worn out; as to be a useful snow tire. Legally people can run the tire until the wear bar indicators begin to touch the road; well actually they can run the tire until it is completely bald? The only time a tire is inspected, is during a safety inspection; after that you can run what you want and believe me there are a lot of banana shin tires on the roads. Dan.

No collectibles; but I do remember my Dad driving us over to a friend's house to watch the moon landing. The friend had a colour TV; we all laughed when we found out it was broadcast-ed in black and white. LOL Dan.

You forgot about Tiny Talent Time on CHCH channel 11 Hamilton. When we were living in Delaware (just outside of London) we'd wait until channel 10 London to go off the air, that's so we could pick up channel 12 Erie. The foggy nights were the best nights to get a clearer picture. Still remember sitting in front of the TV looking at the test pattern, waiting for Global TV's first broadcast. Dan.

Don't worry and put one up; junk mail delivery will last for ever. Dan.

Thanks for the replies. Dan.

I have never been fishing in a pop up before and the cost of the one I'm concidering is making me want to be sure I'm not buying something I'll regret? What's the difference between a wall or hub style hut? I thought the ice pigs and tie downs would stop a wall from poping back in? Thanks for the input so far; please keep it coming. Has anyone used any style of this size of hut and can give me their impression of it. Things like set up and take down; is the extra room worth the effort of setting it up in the wind? Dan.

Has anyone here used one of these larger pop up huts? I'm thinking of getting one; but there are mixed reviews on the thing. It seems like the people writing the reviews either think it's great or it's junk? I know it would be at the least a two person job setting it up, if there's any wind at all; but what about trying to heat the thing? http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/eskimo-9416-fat-fish-ice-shelter-7-person-0775289p.html#.VH2lAdLF-So We usually fish with 4 -6 six family members; I hate being crowded or paying for a rental hut that's stuck out in no fish waters. Dan.

I keep telling my wife that we should decorate the neighbor's house across the street from us. That way we can sit in our front room and see our work; plus it would be the neighbor's hydro running all the lights. Dan.

No I found the sled up in Clinton; that's about an hour North of me. Thanks for the advice; this is the first sled I've owned in 30 plus years. My last one was an early 70's Chaparral 440 SS; back then it was ride for an hour and then fix for two. LOL Went tail riding the second last time I rode it; forgot I had a hot set of plugs in it on the last ride I took. Melted a hole through the one piston and that was the end for me and sleds; until now. LOL Dan.

It's another way of getting a bite out of our wallets. A few years back they changed the designation of my mechanic's license from "A" which covered automotive and truck and I had my red seal making my licence inter-provincial. When they split the automotive and truck into S for automotive service tech and T for truck & coach; they grandfathered my truck license but pulled the inter-provincial seal? I tried fighting it; but they said if I wanted my inter-provincial truck back I would have to rewrite the exam; which comes with a price tag (can't remember how much); which wasn't cheap let alone the refresher coarse's I would need to take. Because I don't work in a "truck" shop doesn't mean I don't work on trucks; but now (not that I'd have a mind to at my age) I can't legally work on trucks out of Ontario; total Bull! I worked had to get my "A" licence and Ministry pulled part of it way from me????? Dan.

We watch a lot of Netflix as well; brought the laptop with us on a trip down into the States. Logged onto Netflix and was very surprised at how much more choice in movies there was; compared to here at home. Did some checking around and found a site called "unblock-Us"; there's a free one week trial offer on their site. http://www.unblock-us.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google_NX_Search_Beta_CAN&utm_content=no1&utm_term=unblock%20netflix&gclid=CjwKEAiA1-CjBRDOhIr_-vPDvQYSJAB48SmEqrs-SMHyduBS9HHReDT1gq_5H-ViJDBhX299tEmb3RoC1DPw_wcB I guess that through them they change up your IP address to make Netflix think that you're in the States and they stream the US version to you. There's probably a way to do this on your own; but it's only a couple bucks a month? Dan.

Then the tire may not be of the proper load range for the weight its asked to carry. With the max pressure of 55psi the tire is likely a C or D range which are 6 and 8 ply tires; I would switch up to an E range rated tire that are a 10 ply which has an 80psi max psi. Most trailer manufacturers will install the most economical tire they can that still falls legally into that weight class of trailer. Dan.

Hey I just bought this exact same machine yesterday. It has 9,400 Klm showing on the clock; what maintenance do you suggest? Compression is approx 135psi in both cylinders. Seems to run good, as far as I can tell here in the shop; there's no snow anywhere close by too put it under load. Dan.

Here’s a basic schematic of how to connect a voltmeter to perform a voltage drop test across a starting circuit. To test (for example) the positive side, you would connect the positive meter lead too the battery positive terminal. The negative lead of the meter too the main cable connection of the starter solenoid (the solenoid on the starter motor). Now crank or attempt to crank the engine; while doing so note the meter reading. There should not be any more then ¼ (.25) of a volt reading on a good circuit. Anything above a ¼ volt, then there is high resistance somewhere in the circuit. If the terminals are clean and tight the problem is the cable itself. What you are reading is the amount of voltage that is lost or used up as it passes through the terminals and the cable. Voltage drop testing is much more accurate then an ohmmeter test; because you’re testing a live circuit. An ohmmeter test can make a cable with better then 90% of the cable rotted away still look ok; because it’s testing a dead circuit with no load on it. Dan. Forgot to add. If the cables pass the voltage drop tests; the issue is more then likely the starter motor.

The extra amperage supplied by the booster vehicle; MAY be enough to overcome whatever the issue is? Dan.

I've seen this before that the starter could have some old dried out grease that has accumulated inside the starter housing. When it gets cold this grease is more like glue and the starter cannot push through this grease and crank the engine. But you have to confirm whether the electrical portion of the starting circuit is up to snuff before changing out any more parts. Doing a few simple voltage drop test across the different portions of the circuit will tell you pretty quick if there are cable and or connection problems. Dan.

Two batteries and it does the same thing; not likely a battery issue. Things that it could be - Parasitic draw draining the battery - Corroded/dirty connections between battery positive and starter motor or battery negative and engine block - Bad battery cables not allowing sufficient current flow from the battery - Starter motor itself Take the truck in and have it tested; guessing has probably already cost you a battery for no reason. Dan.

Only reason I asked is that I had an issue with my simpatico and had to call for help. The person that I was connected to couldn't speak enough clear english; that he likely would have a hard time ordering a hamburger at Micky D's. I asked to speak to someone who was in Canada; his response was he represented the Canadian help line for simpatico. I told him I didn't care what he did I want to speak to a Canadian; which I was transferred too. A buddy that works at Bell told me to do this if I ever had an issue with the help line and it worked. EH Dan.

Did you call the tech line for help or was this one of those telemarketers? Dan.