The splitting maul.

After looking at this forum for a bit i have noticed not too many people have mentioned anything about splitting mauls. Originally designed to chop up big logs into smaller chunks the splitting maul can also be used to break the motors out of household appliances faster than any other device ive used. It takes some skill and a bit of muscle but all you gotta do is place the appliance on a crappy area of ground as it will make a small mess, smack the back where the screws are at with the sledge hammer side, flip it around and smack the motor mounts with the axe side and bam your done. I never really knew you could do this but a yard I went to down in Tx has some scrap built mauls and have been taking apart things like that for years so naturally I decided to give it a try and found it to be quite effective. If any one else uses this method let us know your opinion on it. If you don't do this already give it a try and let us know how it goes.

I have used a splitting maul, different weights of sledge hammers, axes, and hatchets. All worked great if I was young enough and in shape. Now it is a combination of the skidsteer and torch. Torch if I want to sell separately and skidsteer if it goes as unprepared. I mix one or two appliances with farm machinery to get unprepared prices on the load.

I guess im still young enough to not be affected by the impacts of the hammer swing. Im like really dreading getting old though, it really doesnt sound all that fun listening to all the old people complain about all their health problems. And what not. Retirement doesnt sound all that bad but is it really worth it? And side note, apparently now Huske (the Home Depot brand tools) will replace broken huskee tools for free sorta like craftsman does or at least used to. Not sure if its all the tools or just a select few but i had to ask the lady at the counter the other day about it. And kolbalt (lowes) replaced a junk shovel i found in the trash. Not sure if anyone else was aware of this.

Retiring is great but not for wimps. Old age does not care about if you are still working or retired as far as health problems. If you do not take care of your body you will pay a price. Even if you do, you only delay the same result. Thank you for the information about the tools. You might want to research the few companies that produce multiple brands of tools and their replacement policies. You might be surprised at the results.

Just an update on old age and a splitting maul. Three shoulder replacements in a year and a half, the second one was a failure and they had to replace it with a reverse shoulder. They said I could no longer swing a hammer because the replacement would dislocate. My wife bought me an air hammer this Christmas so I could still do her honey dos. She nor the doctor know that an axe and maul were not on the list so both are still being used. Not with the force that use to be behind them, just enough to break things.

Had both knees replaced twenty years ago and was told they should last 15 years if I did not run on them. I gave up long distance running then, but still down hill ski, cross country ski, snow shoe, and hike. They were not on the list. As a college athlete and outdoors enthusiast, a great deal of time is dedicated to fitness including splitting wood as well as daily cardio and strength workouts. That is another benefit of scrapping.

Read a card one time about going to the grave quietly or kicking, screaming, and enjoying the ride. Everything in moderation is the motto. Listen to your body, it will tell you when it has had enough. Rest for a couple of days and get back after it. Newest project - a hydraulic rocking chair from scrap for when I get old.

It's a different situation for me because i don't really have access to healthcare. Can't afford health insurance so if i break something ... i live with it till it heals up on it's own. Pain is a good teacher. lol ... i'm kind of a slow learner sometimes. Tore out my rotator cuff for the second time a few years ago. Learned the hard way that it's not such a good idea for a man of my age to be hossing around a 275 gallon fuel tank on his own anymore.

The name of the game for me these days is use your head and not your back. Plan your work and work your plan. Use power tools whenever and wherever you possibly can. Choose your jobs wisely and always ask yourself if the juice is really worth the squeeze.

I've got a friend of 40 years who is a mechanic. We're about the same age and it's the same situation with him. The body is starting to give out after all those years of wear & tear in the trades. He's making regular trips back and forth to different specialists these days for the different problems that are coming up. I think the main thing is that he's like BAM BAM on the Flintstones. He will grab the BFH and go right to town on something if it's giving him a hard time. That's the way he's always done things. That's just his style.

He's stubborn and pig headed just like i am but he's slowly coming round. He was wailing the snot out of a control arm that wouldn't come out awhile back and making an awful racket out in the shop.I went out to see what was going on. We talked it over for a few minutes and between the two of us ... we figured out that all that was needed was a bit of finesse. I pulled on one end and he tapped on the other. The control are came out without too much trouble. The one on the other side was all but effortless.

I guess it's like a lot of things. There's a hard way and an easy way of doing most jobs.

All around though ... guys of our age, who were masters of their trade, traditionally ascended to the role of boss. The job boss ran the job and directed the efforts of his journeymen and apprentices. The younger hands did the bull work and the old fullas did the brain work. It was a sensible arrangement.

It doesn't always work out that way though.

Everybody can afford insurance. That's what Obamacare is. I wish people would research that better. That why it was created.

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Originally Posted by IamTheGreatest

Everybody can afford insurance. That's what Obamacare is. I wish people would research that better. That why it was created.

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Yes, the $1,200 a month is beer money for me, and the $6,000 deductible means I'm only out $20K to get a finger up the azz. The 80/20 insurance we had for $400/mo that covered everything ( except childbirth for me) really was a burden. You can keep the Osamacare insurance. I also have to go bare.

Finger up the azz is preventative. Covered by any insurance.

People need to research. Go to an agent. You've proven a few times in your attempt to save money it's cost you more.

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Originally Posted by IamTheGreatest

Everybody can afford insurance. That's what Obamacare is. I wish people would research that better. That why it was created.

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Ohh wow ... i thought you were kidding. :-o

I've seen low price Obamacare in action. It is out there. You have to contact an agent. Maybe even a few. The website does not work properly.

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Originally Posted by IamTheGreatest

Finger up the azz is preventative. Covered by any insurance.

People need to research. Go to an agent. You've proven a few times in your attempt to save money it's cost you more.

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You're bragging about how much you make investing. You brag about buying a rental trailer. You pay bills before investing. Health Insurance is a bill.

If the Affordable Care Act plans are too expensive (as they often are and were for me for a long time) then you should qualify for Medicaid. It's an imperfect program but it's far better than the vast majority of private insurance programs including the Obamacare ones (that I'm familiar with anyway). Only coverage I ever had as good as Medicaid was back when I had coverage through a union.

I do appreciate the kind words of encouragement guys but i've been self pay for over twenty years now. I manage my own healthcare costs and live within my means. This is what i know how to do. During an off year i might incur two grand in out of pocket expense but it's usually less.

The standard deductible on an Obamacare plan is something like six or seven grand ? That's pretty much money you have to pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in ? If the numbers are right that would be an additional four grand plus about six hundred a month for single coverage. All told .. that comes out to roughly 7,600.00$ per year vs. the two grand i'm paying right now. Self pay is looking like the better deal here.

Now, the next argument would be ... what about a disaster like a heart attack ? That bill would easily be a hundred grand. This is where the rubber meets the road. The insurance is not to protect me from the hospital ... it's to protect the hospital from me if i'm unable to pay. I can't fathom why i should pay six hundred a month to protect the hospital.

One of the last arguments is that you get a free rectal probe. This one amuses me to no end ! It's like hey dude ... i know what you're trying to do here. It's not enough to do me once but you wanna do me twice ?

Gettin' a bit greedy there ain't you old dawg ? ;)

The situations in which health insurance makes sense is when someone has a chronic illness where the medical system is not obligated to treat you. This makes more sense when people are older. They will let you die of cancer, but also let you come in when you are about to die, and revive you, only to see you back in a few days and repeat.
I've found, after having children, that it's useful to have insurance for them. I freely use my ability to bring them in whenever needed, because they deserve the best quality care I can provide. I never have to consider potential costs.

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Originally Posted by IamTheGreatest

Everybody can afford insurance. That's what Obamacare is. I wish people would research that better. That why it was created.

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https://i.postimg.cc/13R02xgy/sheep.jpg

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Originally Posted by IamTheGreatest

Everybody can afford insurance. That's what Obamacare is. I wish people would research that better. That why it was created.

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I thought this was a sarcastic statement or joking. Now it is evident that you are drinking the cool aid. Could you send a case to the Chinese compliments of Obama/Biden?

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Originally Posted by hills

The standard deductible on an Obamacare plan is something like six or seven grand ? That's pretty much money you have to pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in ? If the numbers are right that would be an additional four grand plus about six hundred a month for single coverage. All told .. that comes out to roughly 7,600.00$ per year vs. the two grand i'm paying right now. Self pay is looking like the better deal here.

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Lemme clarify that I'm not defending Obamacare. Didn't support it when it was proposed. Don't support it now. I support a public system like every other even remotely wealthy country and a great many less wealthy countriws have and thrive with (with the partial exception of Japan split cost system). That said, if you qualify for what they call "cost sharing" under Obamacare your total annual deductible and co-pay can be below $1000. System is still not as good as medicaid and medicare but it doesn't have to be as economically bad as their "standard deductible" prices. Requires unnecessary work to get there bc the plan favors insurance agencies over the public but, *if* you qualify, can be affordable by private health care standards.

I'll try giving it another look JJ. My wife and i both work full time at ground level jobs. We do okay, in that we more or less break even every year. There just isn't much room to take on additional expense.

We did have Obamacare for her awhile back. I think what happened was that they initially offered it at too low a price. The system here in Maine started hemorrhaging millions of dollars. The insurance was good for her for the first year. After that first year ... her rates doubled and they dropped critical components of her coverage. We simply couldn't afford to keep it anymore.

It was a bad experience at the outset but perhaps things have changed since then.

Honestly though .... given the overall .... i don't think our current system of healthcare will be able to hold together for very much longer.

im lucky i still got tricare for now. all that insurance nonsense sounds like its more trouble than its worth.

It's actually very easy. No different than if you were at an employer filling out the Ins. paperwork to sign up. IF YOU GO TO AN AGENT. There are people the gov't pays for this. They are hungry. They get paid per signup. They will bend over backwards to find something. They remind me of Dave Ramsey's ELP's.

Hummm ... there are some economic problems to consider. The free market is largely self regulating ( in theory anyway). Problems arise when government enters the free market in an effort to reshape it -or- regulate it in some way. This creates market distortions called " market bubbles ".

One of the more famous bubbles we have all heard about was the housing market bubble burst of 2008. That was brought on by Go-Go economic policy coming from "The Fed" in prior years which overheated the economy.

What most people don't realize is that government interventions in the healthcare market (ie: Obamacare ) have created a healthcare bubble which could burst at any time. These " Healthcare insurance agents " are roughly equivalent to the sub prime mortgage brokers of the early to mid 2000's. They're hungry little devils .... and we will just leave it at that.

Anyhow ... i don't think it's a question of if a bubble exists but rather when the bubble is going to burst and leave the U.S. healthcare system in deep financial distress. In the meantime ... the financial sector (read insurance industry) is likely to grab as much money as it can before Humpty Dumpty falls off the wall.

~ Just a heads up. ~

https://seekingalpha.com/article/598...lthcare-bubble

You keep fighting this and I don't understand why. If it bursts, you'll at least have had insurance while it was there and were able to take advantage of it. They won't take your first born for this.

The gov't is giving the kick backs to agents so it takes the pressure off them. Other wise what incentitve would there be?

You're out nothing to try. So many people keep going on rumors, especially on this site. Yes, there are some stories of people getting screwed. But most of you act like it's everyone, everyday, all the time.

"I haven't gotten my stimulus. I'm getting screwed." If you don't get it now, you'll get it at tax time. Not a big deal.

The only reason I say this is because it really appears you don't understand how it works. The free market was told to come up with plans that work. There are a lot of things they changed over the past few years to make it more ecconomically sensible. Yes, the free market is involved. But they truly do want everyone to have insurance. Insurance was never meant to cover all medical. It was there to lessen the blow of large payouts. Lot of routine things are now covered automatically by insurance.

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Originally Posted by IamTheGreatest

You keep fighting this and I don't understand why. If it bursts, you'll at least have had insurance while it was there and were able to take advantage of it. They won't take your first born for this.

The gov't is giving the kick backs to agents so it takes the pressure off them. Other wise what incentitve would there be?

You're out nothing to try. So many people keep going on rumors, especially on this site. Yes, there are some stories of people getting screwed. But most of you act like it's everyone, everyday, all the time.

"I haven't gotten my stimulus. I'm getting screwed." If you don't get it now, you'll get it at tax time. Not a big deal.

The only reason I say this is because it really appears you don't understand how it works. The free market was told to come up with plans that work. There are a lot of things they changed over the past few years to make it more ecconomically sensible. Yes, the free market is involved. But they truly do want everyone to have insurance. Insurance was never meant to cover all medical. It was there to lessen the blow of large payouts. Lot of routine things are now covered automatically by insurance.

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It has become obvious why you haven't discovered the thanks button, you think your above us. Your coming across as a government employee working for healthcare.

When you American healthcare system comes inline with our Canadian healthcare you'll have something to crow about.

When your education system come in line with ours, let me know.

I refuse to use the thanks button. I don't thumbs up things. That stuff gets handed out like participation trophies.

Let us know when you plan on having your heart attack. You have to what, schedule medical operations 3 years out?

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Originally Posted by Patriot76

I have used a splitting maul, different weights of sledge hammers, axes, and hatchets. All worked great if I was young enough and in shape. Now it is a combination of the skidsteer and torch. Torch if I want to sell separately and skidsteer if it goes as unprepared. I mix one or two appliances with farm machinery to get unprepared prices on the load.

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Apparently I was young and in shape until this morning when a relatively innocuous barrel I was tipping from the truck into a bin tweaked the peace of mind out of my back lol. Currently considering using a skidsteer and torch on my lower back

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Originally Posted by IamTheGreatest

When your education system come in line with ours, let me know.

I refuse to use the thanks button. I don't thumbs up things. That stuff gets handed out like participation trophies.

Let us know when you plan on having your heart attack. You have to what, schedule medical operations 3 years out?

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You're not able to give a thumbs up, because your thumb is stuck up yer arse.

Thats right folks. 70 years of experience there, and it comes down to calling people poopy heads.

hehehe! He said poopy heads!

Life is about distraction and entertainment.

B( . )( . )BIES

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Originally Posted by IamTheGreatest

You keep fighting this and I don't understand why.

The only reason I say this is because it really appears you don't understand how it works.

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I don't doubt for a minute that there are some sincerely good intentions here.

It would be uncommonly difficult to go into this in depth. I'm hard put to give you a clear and concise answer as it has more to do with the sum of everything i've learned in life so far.

I'll try it this way : You might think of me as being an outlier. I try to avoid the healthcare system as much as possible.

The healthcare folks are kinda like my crazy neighbors down the road. I prefer to mind my own business and keep to myself so that i don't get caught up in the pitfalls of their life choices. It's like ... okay ... you live your life and i will live mine. Live and let live. Peace !

They don't like that. They don't believe in live and let live. They came up to my door with friendly invites to go party with them because they were running out of money for drugs and alcohol. A week or so later they came to my door demanding extortion money because they were getting desperate. Pay up .... or else !

It's like the drowning man. He will pull you under with him in an effort to save himself. It's instinctive. It's my job to protect my own best interest and not allow him to do that.

It probably doesn't make sense does it ?

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Originally Posted by ChildhoodDream

Life is about distraction and entertainment.

B( . )( . )BIES

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Ahh .... the beauty and wonders of the female anatomy. Girls rule and the boys drool. :lol:

From a splitting maul, to thumbs up, to milk jugs. What a train wreck.

Not everyone can work for 15 years and live off a gov't pension.

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Originally Posted by IamTheGreatest

Not everyone can work for 15 years and live off a gov't pension.

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https://i.postimg.cc/FR2Kv10X/Screen...on-Twitter.png

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Originally Posted by IamTheGreatest

Not everyone can work for 15 years and live off a gov't pension.

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Since this quote was right after my post, it is assumed it was sent in my direction. FYI 30 years in public education was supplemented with work as a finish carpenter, mill wright, welder, quote specialist, consultant, wrangler, hunting guide, fishing guide, and outdoor survival guide. Education as a profession does not feed a family unless it can be supplemented. There is no government assistance much less pension to survive on.

Obamacare has created more problems than it solved in this part of the US. Please enlighten us on how you found the answer that so many crave. As a greenhorn, a simple explanation would be appreciated.

I think pensions are a thing of the past....actually bankrupted some companies

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Originally Posted by Patriot76

Obamacare has created more problems than it solved in this part of the US.

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Similar situation here as well. One corporation has assimilated every healthcare outlet within a hundred miles. It created a monopoly and healthcare costs have skyrocketed.

Bad things happen when government gets into cahoots with private industry.

Conservative economists have been warning us against this for close to a hundred years now. It's one of the patterns they observed in the early 1900's as governments in Europe started shifting left into Socialist and Communist economic systems. It's not an overnight thing. It's an inchy process. An inch here ... an inch there ... and all the little changes add up to big changes in time.