Several Hours of Faffin

I’ve got a shed load of DIY things to do over the next 20 years and I’ve got a lot of learning to do prior to it.  I’m OK with electrics, but it’s all the other stuff that I need help with.  You know, how to build a wall, installing a log burner, tiling a roof etc.  This weekend I just set my sights on installing a kind of security light attached to a remote movement sensor, simples.  It does require me to concrete in a post, run a considerable amount of cable and attach the sensor to a stone wall but everything is well within my capability.

Prior to starting the work though I was playing with Darwin.  Months ago Mike, our neighbour, found an old plastic tractor in a skip.  He brought it home thinking that Darwin would like it.  It had once been an electric thing but now was not working at all.  As Darwin was showing an interest in it I investigated further and found that there wasn’t any battery although the motor appeared to be all present and correct.  I quickly attached the 18v battery from my cordless drill and tested the accelerator and everything appeared to work.  Some duct tape later Darwin was whizzing round the stone forecourt spraying stones everywhere and going far too fast.

We needed to go to B&Q anyway to pick up some bits and pieces so I also decided to pick up a little cabling kit so we could make the battery fit a little more professional.  When we got back I re-cabled the innards of the machine and found an old rubber mat.  I chopped the mat up into thin strips and attached the strips to the wheels of the tractor, this would make the wheels grip a little better and hopefully allow him to ascend the hill without me having to push.

Several hours later we were ready for the first proper test run of the day.  We donned the helmet and he shot off down the yard to the gate faster than I could run.  The tractor wasn’t designed to go this fast and consequently had no brakes.  I opened the gate and Darwin shot off at full speed, and to the sound of grinding and cracking.  The tractor stopped.  There was a lot of rattling coming from inside the tractor and as I opened the gears I found several hundred little pieces of plastic gear cogs.  We had over-powered the poor thing.

It then began to rain heavily.  So, several hours of faffing, 1 minute of play and no DIY.  There’s always next weekend, or the following 20 years or so.

Improvised Helmet Using the Security Light Thing