Fisherman

It's not in your HP range, but I'll stick with the Honda products. 25HP bought in '96 it's on its second set of plugs, annual oil and fuel filter and lower unit oil, no repairs or adjustments in 13 years. I know they cost a bit more, and ya there's not a dealer on every corner like the black ones, but, then again, if you build them right....

Best wishes for health and have a great day.

Drain the carburaters, all the gas lines under the hood all the way to the quick connect fitting and drain all the gas from the fuel line from the tank to the motors. There's no other way to make sure all the water is out. Take the plugs out and dry them off as they may have gotten wet too.

We'll be waiting for the grief..good luck.

Don't go running to buy that rifled barrel yet, have you looked at the "saddle scope mounts"? I have one on my Browning BPS, a run of mill, a.k.a. cheapy Tasco scope, with a bit of patience and perseverance, 3-4" groups at 80m with just regular remington 2 3/4 slugs.

Who's making the mashed potatoes..looks good..

I must express my heartfelt thanks for the many kind posts to ease the pain. This afternoon with the help of my oldest son, she was laid to a final resting place.

Where's my glasses..look on the end of your nose says the wife

One of those things where you have to take a deep breath, face reality and understand that nature has taken it's course and the life of your 18 1/2 year old house cat is winding down. She was slowly dying from kidney failure and the last two weeks, walking around like a bit of a drunken sailor, sometimes missing the jump onto the sofa or a step on the stairway. By 5pm tonight, she had that look in her eyes..I'm ready to go, please take me to the vet. Called the vet, 6pm appointment, he agreed, no needless suffering. Ten minutes later, 2 needles, one long last look, she faded away. Mostly a house cat, only allowed out on a leash, she never annoyed anyone around the neighbourhood, most didn't even know we had one. Apart from loosing some dear friends, animals can sure wring your heartstrings when it's time to go.

Well in about 25 years of ice fishing, I've never had the stick of a tip up go down the hole, maybe just sheer luck or paying attention. I made my own and the groove that the pivot nail swivels in is about 1/4" deep, almost impossible for it to kick out. The upright post and base are screwed together so there's no chance of that coming apart. I suppose if it was a big pike, they might snap the line, but the rest stays on top of the ice. I set my tip up base close enough to the hole that the line is far enough away from the sides of the hole, even when the holes frost over, a little smack with the ice scoop opens it up and the line is free.

Maybe some folks like to eat fresh fish compared to some of those boot soles that hang around fish section of the store, just 'cause they're on ice doesn't mean they'll taste good. We have fish limits to abide by and as long as the angler is following the rules and is legal, I don't know what some of you are moaning about unless it's a bit of cheeese to accompany the whine.

I bet you believe that if you abuse your tool too often you'll get hairy palms..

Sometimes I wonder when people get caught doing something wrong, they have to wizz and moan about it and hope that the rest provide sympathy for them. Drive within the rules, don't attract attention to yourself and it's unlikely you'll ever meet the bear on unfriendly terms.

Shorten your legs, standing is a prime reason for being tippy, high center of gravity, loose your balance and in you go.

Are the Ariens worth it..well how about 41 years old, 2 mufflers, 1 friction wheel and 3 or 4 drive belts and air for the tires, ya, sounds pretty reliable. 7HP/24"

Charge the battery, add distilled water and then plug it in to one of these until you go to use it next spring. http://batteryminders.com/batterycharger/c...io-p-16134.html

Bennie says the bag you made him for lunch was superb, rolled in flour, fried in butter with steak spice.

Better check the regs then..cause the camo suits do come with CCG and DOT approval.

Whirlybirds, If I knew back then what I know now about whirlybirds, I would have jammed the damm things up the contractors , but, likely he didn't know either cause it appears they are one of those "fad" things. What got me about them, long story long, when there's almost no wind or they get stuck from snowfall, the snow will actually gently sift in and accumulate. How do I know, 5 years ago after the garge was built and not yet insulated, I go out one fine winter day and find about a 2 foot high "snow cone" on the cement floor...WTH, not stuck, just the snow gently sifting in. Then the flashcube goes off and now I know why there's a couple of rusty nailheads showing on the ceiling drywall...yep..right under the bloody whirlybirds. After checking in the attic, 2 nice big 2' diameter depressions in the insulation. I think right about now those whirly birds are on an eliptical orbit...I now have 2 of the Duraflow vents: http://duraflo.com/roofing/roofingvents.htm over the old turbine ducts and one of the the Replacement heads from Maximum Ventilation on the garage: http://ventilation-maximum.com/English/product-model401.html Check with some bona fide roofers, they will also tell you.

Hell, no, Sikorsky chopper, and about 3 feet of ice..

You're most welcome, by the way, 300 sheets of plywood, 400 2x2's and I think I've got the ice hut figgered out...

I tried that once,(also flat iron) seems small ice chunks will stick to the aluminum and until you get going it doesn't slide very well.

Here's a place in Toronto. http://www.johnstonplastics.com/mech_uhmw.htm

I think the solution to your single portable hut could be solved by adding permanent 1' high walls all around and then having the folding portion on top, still leaves enough room to put all your kit inside with the two ends foled down. The only extra weight would be the weight of 3/4 of a sheet of 3/8 or 1/2" ply to make the walls.

Okay, here's the simple formula, not 100% accurate, but close enough that will make you understand the math of recharging with solar. Everyone is trying to charge a 12volt battery, nominal fully charged after a 12-24 hour period of rest with nothing attached to a new battery is 12.6 to 12.65 volts, period. I know, a lot will say mine reads 13.2 or somewhere around there..12.6V to 12.65v is fully charged, read with a good quality voltmeter, digital or analog or with a temperature corrected hydrometer. By the time you drop to around 11.7v to 12.0v you're pretty much discharged. Now for the solar panel formula. A 15 watt solar panel, like the ones at CTC or Wmart will put out about 14-17.5 VOLTS(NOT AMPS) and put out a max of about 1(ONE) amp/hr in the most ideal condtions of full sunlight with the panel perpendicular to the sun and following the sun around during peak hours of about 10am to 4pm, befroe and after those hours, amp output is less, dropping off to less than .5 or 1/2 an amp. So at best you may see about 8-10 amps for the whole sunny day, much less on cloudy days or when your panel is in the shade or not "pointing" at the sun. Formula is Volts divided by Watts = Amps ie, 12V/15W= approx 1 Amp, under ideal conditions. Those 5 watt panels barely put out 0.4Amp or 400mA. Then you must take into account parasitic draws such as radios/CD players(in boats/cars/etc) that use a small amount of power for memory, subtract that from your input. Don't forget that batteries also have a small static discharge rate, more in warmer weather, less in cool weather. So after a day on the water with your electric trolling motor, don't think for minute that a solar panel will recharge it with any efficiency, maybe a 2-3 15 watt high quality panels, but even those take time.