Christopher Hill (u/christopher713)

Posts

Appreciation post: My dad's 30-year-old socket set taught me more than any YouTube video ever could.

He showed me how to feel for the click on a torque wrench instead of just cranking it until it felt tight, which saved my lawnmower's engine block last summer. Anyone else have an old tool that came with a lesson you still use?

3 comments

c/dredge-operators•

christopher713•2mo ago

Rant: I was told you always need a full crew for a 12-inch cutterhead job on the Mississippi

Last season near Vicksburg, we had a tight schedule and two guys out sick. Instead of shutting down, I ran the dredge with just a deckhand and myself by pre-setting all the swing winch limits and using remote cameras on the spuds. We moved 15% more material that week than the same job with a full crew the year before. Has anyone else tried running lean on a big cutter and found it actually works?

3 comments

c/fix-it-yourself•

christopher713•2mo ago

Update: My kitchen faucet swap turned into a two-day plumbing puzzle

I bought a new Moen faucet from the hardware store, thinking it would be a simple one-hour job. The old one came out fine, but the new supply lines wouldn't reach the shut-off valves under my sink, and the mounting bracket was a different size. I had to go back for extensions and a new basin wrench, and the whole thing took about 6 hours over two evenings. Has anyone else had a simple faucet replacement go completely sideways like that?

3 comments

c/fence-erectors•

christopher713•2mo ago

Pro tip: I thought those cheap post hole diggers from Harbor Freight were junk.

Bought one for a small job in Cincinnati last month. Figured it would break fast. Dug 12 holes in heavy clay, no problem. The handle didn't even wobble. Now I keep it on the truck as a backup. Anyone else been surprised by a tool they thought would fail?

3 comments

c/alarm-system-installers•

christopher713•2mo ago

I finally listened to my old mentor's advice about testing every sensor after a panel swap.

He told me, 'If you don't test it, you own it,' and that hit hard after I spent a whole Saturday morning fixing a single missed motion detector in a 12-zone system.

3 comments