Water Butts

After a mere 2 years of the water butts sitting on pallets and grass, being filled manually, they have finally found a new home, on the utility side of the house.  This is the area where little grows as it is a bit boggy.

Couldn't help myself and I've kept  a pallet for all the other junk...

Drains

Not a subject close to my heart, but our drains seem to be playing up.  One loo isn't clearing sometimes.  I pulled the loo out and it was not blocked.  So I finally dug up the line that runs the length of one side of the house.  A 600mm section was removed (500, the enlarged to 600 to allow for 2 slip couplings) and 2 Y pieces & inspection covers installed (siliconed) to allow rodding in either direction; not that I can rod far, as the rods get stuck on the corners if pushed around.  I found out the hard way and had to dig up another section by the front door, drill a 25mm hole, dislodge the rod connector and pull the rods out.  A solvent glue patch was put back over.

Finishing bedroom 1

Moved some of the furniture around and got half the skirting in place.  2 coats of Danish oil

Community Service

The village has had the go-ahead to get the church bell fixed.  One of them had a dodgy fixing, and it needed electrifying so it can be more easily rung during Mass.

So Friday consisted of spraying the walls of the bell tower white.  I'm glad to say I was working that day.  I helped out today, cleaning and painting the woodwork, then polishing the bells which had suffered with bird poo for many years.  One bell is dated 1803, the other 1846.

The service to thank everyone is 15th June. We'll probably need a camera to see the hard work, as there is only a fairly rudimentary ladder up to the bells.

Edit.  As is normal for France, the guy who is repairing the bell can't make it until the 26th June, so everything has to move...

28/7/14.  Bells now ring on the hour, but as for the ceremony..

Pocket screws. MS170 chainsaw service.

The chainsaw is almost 4 years old (bought 27/10/10) , and has had a good external clean every year.
The saw had been losing power during cuts, and was cutting banana shapes.
The guide bar was bent about 1mm and the groove allowed the chain to wobble such that a straight edge easily pushed the chain over when contacting the bar and link.
The saw was stripped all the way down, engine out.  Dusted/scraped, then cleaned in petrol.
Didn't remove the oil pump, but it checked out fine - all passages well clear.  Carb was blasted with cleaner and left over night.  Turns out the torque wrench only works for clockwise threads, so the clutch is 'tight'.  Used a 6mm rope to lock the cylinder.
Air filter changed in Jan, so this was brushed and put back.  Fuel filter changed last year.  Tank was clean.  Spark plug changed.
Counldnt get the exhaust off as T27 bolts were very tight - need a allen type L shape.
Had a random plastic washer, which turned out to be a spacer on the brake handle.
Started first time and ran fine.  New bar and sharp chain; this chain had been cutting banana shapes, so we'll see.  Must take off the chain cover and clean out after every use.

Fuel cap leaked on filling, so swapped for the spare.  Given the tank had been removed and stored with the lid on, it's hard to know what's happened.  Will leave it over night and swap back to the old one.  Put the old one back and no leaks after 24 hours.  Very odd.
Stihl 017/018 manual used and seems identical.   Manual recommends white spirit for cleaning, which is the same as turps.  Took about 8 hours in all.
clutch LEFT HAND THREAD 37lbft
flywheel 20lbft
engine mounting bolts 7lbft
plug gap 0.5mm
magneto gap 0.25mm
Zama carb 222 1Q S57B 018A

cleaned out the pipes

Removed main loo and cleaned out the local pipework.  Little bit of build up.

Snow tyres

Well, the ski resort doesn't shut for another week, and there is plenty of snow.  However, it just isn't cold enough and the snow is proper slush by lunchtime.  So the snow tyres are off.
Took a while as they were rusted onto the stub axles.  WD40 and a lot of kicking shifted them.  The NS was worst.