i certainly was that. over did it big time yesterday. but am feeling better tonight. course the way this crap works i may be down tomorrow or the next day too. ah well. the worst of it is over…

did get out and look at things today. as near as i can tell the dozer is dead for the time being. gonna have to do something about the final drive gear on the left side. left sitting in the seat that is. the options are another gear or weld this one. since i have the welder and lots of rods i am gonna weld away and see how it goes. figure I can weld short sections of rebar to each tooth point and fill in the sides with weld. grind down smooth and hope for the best. certainly better than what i have now…

but to move the trailers… got to looking at the situation today. need to either block the back of the truck up or add wheels at the hitch. so am gonna take one of the trailer axles and cut if off around 4 feet and weld the end back in the tube. then weld a receiver to the center of the top. bolt ball mount on to receiver and add tires. place in hitch on bertha and hope for the best. figure on making it about 4 inches off the ground when unloaded. will make steering a bit different but should make moving these things a bit easier. at least that is the plan right now. only got to move two of them and only a short way on the heaviest one. may just block the frame. would be easier for sure.

another thing is the rear tires on bertha suck. mud and them just don't work. get stuck too easy. so thinking about putting some angle iron attached to 2 pieces of chain around them. 3 to 5 pieces of angle just wider than the 2 tires. chain welded to the inside of the angles on the ends and maybe the middle and once around the tires connected. how i haven't figured out. only need to use these right now but if it works would rather have built them right. guess i will start with 2 chains or cables on each side and see how that works. or slings off. or trashes my tires. may try rebar instead. need to look and see it any old tire chains are in the barn. can always extend them if there are any there. or take a few pieces of chain and some nylon strapping and make some tie on chains for it. that should be doable with little investment. course it will ruin some chain but what the hell. another possibility is to use strips of tires instead of the chain. then cut holes in the ends and use the strapping to hold them on. that may be the best poor mans tire chain yet. will have to try it. may tear off quickly but only need them in a few places. don't know if the rubber will bite the dirt / mud enough to get me out but with them going across both tires and bridging the gap between them it should make a difference in the grip. guess i will cut strips of tread about 3 inches wide and long enough to go across both tires and come down the sidewalls almost to the rim. make maybe 5 of them for each side. tie them to the strapping at equal distances apart and just use a loop on one end and a straight end on the other. pull fairly tight on the inside and then get on it on the outside and pull tight. might just work. will see…

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