I'm still waiting on most stuff, but piddling around the shop, I found something to do. I am going to mount the two front hydraulic quick disconnects through the front frame cross member. So I modified the fittings I received to allow me to bulkhead mount them.
Turned off the boss at the back end of each fitting, then milled a flat further up so that a wrench will have some purchase (i.e., mechanical hold). Had to disassemble each fitting to turn the boss off. (Do you know how hard it is to put 8 little balls back in place and hold them while you slide a spring and the disconnect sleeve over them compress the spring, and add the retainer ring?)
Don't have a mill (yet, still shopping) so I use the drill press and a cross travel vise to mill the flats.
I went to my recently acquired extra large tap and die set, to get a 3/4 inch die to put threads on the now cylindrical end of the fitting, only to find that particular die missing. Every size from 1/4-20 to 1-1/4-8 but no 3/4-11.
So now I plan to use a hose clamp behind the frame to hold the fitting in the 3/4 inch hole I will eventually drill. Or I'll need to use the lathe to turn threads on them.
So the pics show the fittings as machining progressed and the drill press set up.
One final pic is of a present our resident Bald Eagle left for us in the yard. We have several pairs nesting along the river within a 1/4 mile of our house and one pair just a 100 yds or so into the woods behind our house. We see them frequently, often flying low over the pool or perched in the trees down by the waterfront.
OK, reminds me of the story of the Eagle and the Osprey. Osprey are also fish hawks, as is the Bald Eagle. The Osprey is migratory, the Eagles here are not. The Osprey build nests on poles with platforms, and on many of the navigational markers placed along rivers and tidal creeks here. We have a pair that return every spring and build a nest on a piling about 50 yards upriver of our dock.
So the story about the Eagle and the Osprey is an old Indian tale. The Osprey builds a sloppy nest but is an excellent fisher. The Eagle builds a huge, complex nest but is as much a scavenger as a fisher, not as talented at the latter task as the Osprey. One day the Osprey asks the Eagle to teach him how to build a better nest. The Eagle obliges on the condition that the Osprey teach him how to be a better fisher. The Osprey agrees, and learns the tricks to build a better nest from the Eagle. He then refuses to teach the Eagle how to fish better. The Eagle, not so pleased, admonished the Osprey and to this day, the Eagle will hang out on a perch, waiting for the Osprey to catch a fish, then the Eagle, a bigger bird, will swoop in and take the fish away from the Osprey.
I have seen this happen. I was down on the dock and see the Osprey hit the water and struggle to gain altitude with a good-sized fish in his talons. Out of nowhere, a Bald Eagle swoops in and knocks the fish out of the Osprey's grip, and then dives and catches it before it hits the water, carrying it away back to his nest in the woods behind the house. All this is virtually directly overhead, just a few dozen yards away from where I was standing on the dock. Quite the show!
Here's a link to a short video of our Bald Eagle, just waiting for the Osprey to catch another fish!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVdOKrfdldo