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NW KS/ SC ID | Hey all,
This is kinda machinery related, but also a personal issue, so I figured this part of the forum would be a good place to put this. Moderators are welcome to move it to a more appropriate place.
We are having an ever increasing problem at our farm, in my personal opinion it can be summed up in one sentence: "I want to maintain and care for everything in a "proper" manner, and Dad is cheap and wont allow it, and defaults to jerry-rigging."
The current arguement today lies with a pickup truck, I am changing the thermostat, which was enough of a fight in itself, as "a stuck open t-stat doesnt need replaced in the first place." the water outlet is aluminum, and is corroded to heck, the "nipple" along the edge is actually corroded away to nothing, plenty of bad pitted areas, etc. so I figured replacing it was the best option.
A new one is 26 bucks from GM, 17 bucks on www.rockauto.com, also genuine GM, but will take the better part of a week to get here.
Due to all the corrosion, the radiator hose is all stretched out, think what "rust jacking" does to a double steel frame, but this is the aluminum version.
New hose, ballpark of 20 bucks.
Nope, we are playing with some auction bargain pipe dope in a can to try to fill the pitted holes and "glue" the hose to the neck.
Is this what most people do, and I am just a "big wasteful spender" as my old man says, or do I have reason to be frustrated with not being allowed to spend any money to fix it properly?
We go through the same arguement with air conditioning on the tractor (you dont need a/c on a tractor that only gets used 1 season out of the year) But if your wimpy butt demands it, we will use R22, R134a, and some propane to charge it, and that hose that looks ready to blow? yeah, lets wrap it in duct tape and hose clamp a chunk of pop can to it at that weak spot.
Changing oil on the tractor (oil looks clean enough, lets run it 1 more year)
re-using used anti-freeze in wet-sleeve engines, and if its lucky enough to get new, it doesnt need SCA's or a filter, or distilled water over well water out of the tap in the house. (there is a filter in the basement, that water is plenty clean for the radiator!)
Its not like we cant afford the parts, he can afford to go to a farm auction and drag home a tractor, combine, and older semi truck (think less than 10 grand for all of that, so older stuff for sure, but still, 10 grand is a good chunk of change), so I cannot see the reasoning behind buying alot of stuff, but not allocating any money to maintain it. It is literally buy, run, break, park it out back, and repeat.
Consequently, this attitude is why I own all of my stuff free and clear and pay for and maintain everything myself, and amazingly, spending a few bucks on maintenance results in a 1993 250,000 miled pickup truck I can trust to take on a cross country road trip, made it to California and back with a load recently.
On the same note, dad currently does not have a pickup that you can honestly trust more than 100 miles from home, many under 1500 dollar POS's. "Can we take your pickup to the auction?" is a constant question.
Its wearing on me, and getting me down, so if anyone has any advice/ experience in a matter such as this, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Edited by GM Guy 3/26/2015 20:55
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Maintenance and upkeep: Am I wrong?
