A lot longer than 1" x 12"s. A quick Duck duck go search for "lifespan of galvanized steel in ground contact" there are better terms but I got a bunch of hits. The general consensus is, hot dipped lasts longer than plated and longevity is dependent on a bunch of variables. PH, moisture content, soil chemistry, etc. etc. and it's all graded by micron loss per year. 

The short answer is, Depends on a long list of variables.

Anyway, a web search listing the product you have or are shopping for should give you plenty of other things to wonder about. 

Frosty The Lucky.

On the road again, can't wait to get on the road again.

The old 1953 Willys M38A1 jeep has been out of action since last winter with no brakes. Since the weather was bad with spring storms it's been sitting and the rear wheel brake cylinders had frozen up due to not being used. The aluminum pistons were electrolysis welded to the cylinder body. Started replacing the cylinders on Tuesday the first and finished today. It's good to have the old gal back on the road.

It's funny back in  the day, I would have them installed & working in about 2 hours not 3 days. Old pictures because I'm old.

I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~

Replaced the Cylinders? 

It's been a L O N G time since I had an engine open but I would've replaced the pistons and rings after honing the cylinders. Unless there was too much of a ridge, then I would've had to send it to the machine shop to be bored. 

Even sleeving an engine is pretty tool and experience intense.

Frosty The Lucky.

These were the rear wheel brake hydraulic cylinders. With the old Jeeps if one cylinder freezes up the other ones won't work due to hydraulic lock.

I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~

You even said brake cylinders in the first place. Boy when I get something wrong I really get it wrong. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

No problem, the last engine I had apart was in 1966, part of a team at USCG Base New London. We were overhauling a GM Gray Marine 6-71 diesel. Now you talk about a chore to put in cylinder sleeves, no wonder it took 4 of us to git-er done.

I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~

The hearing in my left ear was 37% last time I had it checked because I spent so many years on the drill stand of drills powered by GMC, 4-53, 2 stroke diesel engines and worse the intake opening for the turbo charger faced directly at the operator maybe 4' away. I wore Peltor ear muffs with plugs and my ears still rang for a few hours after work. Still ringing in fact.

Two stroke engines are marvels of efficiency and power but you have to get the rpms high enough they're "on the pipe." Meaning the detonation of the previous power stroke is vented to the exhaust before complete and the shock wave is reflected back to the cylinder just in time to pre-compress the fuel air as it drives it into the cylinder. 

The sound of the exhaust pipe alone is like beating on the tail of a really LOUD anvil 25 times per second, per piston. The sound of the turbo's compressor blades was actually audible over the exhaust and it was only the first supercharger. 

Yeah, the turbo was just prestaging for Roots Type supercharger. The upside being you couldn't hear the Roots at all. 

Later we had "improved" 6-71 diesels in our new drill & carrier and drill truck. It (Drill engine) wasn't as injuriously LOUD as the 4-53s but it was still brutal. I cheated and picked up some zinc sheet, 12ga. IIRC and wrapped it around the exhaust to dampen some of the ring when it was on the pipe. I also cemented 1/2" felt on the inside of the firewall and floor of the trucks, under the mats and wall covers. Even then you couldn't feel or hear a rumble strip.

Gimmy 2 stroke engines made/make(?) GOBS of power but I wouldn't have or operate equipment with one ever again. Give me a Cummins any day, they may not be as snappy but they're smooth and just loud enough you can hear what and how the engine's doing as well as the rest of the equipment. 

The state heavy duty shop had changing cylinders in Gimmies down to a science. I stopped in while they were overhauling one of ours and asked the foreman if he minded if I dropped a hand grenade in the crank case. He said, "NO, same as I tell everybody." Seems no operator wanted a rig with a 2 stroke Gimmy.

Boy did you bring back memories and some rather strong feelings, John.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Had to do garden work last night,  picked a quart of autom gold raspberries, a gallon bag full of broccoli, and about a dozen beets,  did some weeding, then went inside and made a gallon batch of raspberry mead.  I had 2 quarts of raspberries that I simmered for about an hour, 3 pounds honey, lipton tea leaves from tea bushes at the Mobile Botanical Garden, and fresh picked basil.   Also tried cooking up beet greens for the first time.  Won't be the last.   Also going to explore how to use brussel sprout leaves.  

That sounds good Chad, I wish I had room and the inclination to lay and maintain a kitchen garden. Every time I hear or think about one I remember visiting the folks place in Okanogan Wa. and Dad showing off his garden. He had to be really careful what he grew, their property was bounded on 2 sided by apple orchards which had the legal right to defoliate any banned plants. It was a contractual requirement to lease or buy in the area. 

Anyway I'd asked Dad what he used for insecticide. Turned out nobody within a mile or so used any, the apple farmers sprayed everything with really REALLY save insecticides so nobody close would use something that might contaminate the orchards. 

Anyway, we were slowly walking the garden while he bragged what and how he grew stuff I didn't recognize. By name and no, not just cucumbers, but type, brand and specific details. Dad was like that so I was walking along behind him admiring everything he pointed at at the expected pause. He never noticed I was sampling everything while we walked and showed off. We were near the end of a row of beautiful green beans of specific type, brand, etc. when Dad turned around and announced that we could have these with dinner! Looked up and saw my cheeks were pooched out while I was chewing green beans and feeding more into my mouth from a handful. Kind of like eating a carrot. The carrots were good too and he even didn't notice the sound of the hose when I washed them off. Small, sweet and flavorful.

I'd been following along grazing as I went and he talked.  Knowing Dad and me, Mother had been watching from the kitchen window and laughed out loud at Dad's expression and attempts to say something. My reply was your basic, "mnff, llshss," though not that clear.

Kodak moment, thanks for bringing it to mine. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

I have a good broccoli recipe, heat up a skillet till good and hot, and just fry with butter. The butter is the most important part, it lets the broccoli slide right out into the trash can.  I am not a fan of broccoli.  

Gold raspberries for mead? Sounds interesting. I have a blueberry, pomegranate, red raspberry that has been under airlock for about 3 months right now. Along with a black cherry apple.  

I watch a youtube channel called "city steading brews" and they make a lot of different interesting meads, cider, and wines. 

I am kind of new to mead, wine i learned to make as a kid, my first one is a year old this month and i have one pint left that i will enjoy Friday after next on my birthday. It is a traditional just honey, water, raisins, and a bit of orange zest. 

Brocolli. Cut in piece and in the oven. 180c for 40 min and enjoy!

Sprouts i like in the autumn. I love a good "hutsepot" with them. 

I LOVE broccoli almost any way it's prepared, a favorite of mine is raw with a salad dressing dip. And NO, NEVER ranch, the stuff on the store shelves is just salt and chemically altered maybe milk that's never seen a churn. I've had real ranch dressing and it's totally different. 

Cauliflower is another favorite, I trim the stem flat to the head, rinse it out good, dust it with a spice blend, taco or cajun are our favorites and lay pats of butter everywhere they'll stay. Cover it in a pyrex bowl and microwave till a chopstick slides easily into the stalk. 

I half brussels sprouts lengthways, apply garlic butter and a BIT of salt and sauté them in a HOT pan, when I can smell the sprouts browning I shut the burner off or to lowest depending on how thick they sprouts are, ad about 1/3c of 50 : 50 white & water, cover the pan and let it steam  until a paring knife slips into one of the larger sprouts. If you scratch up your nonstick pan doing that, take a home ec class and learn the basics.

Frosty The Lucky.

I also cook brussel sprouts and cauliflower in butter. It is a running joke with people i know that if i say cook it in butter it means i will not eat it. Another is asparagus. Dont get me wrong i love vegies, russet potatoes, red potatoes, yukon gold potatoes, sweet potatoes... 

Frosty, i think you may have forgotten a word. 1/3c of 50:50 white & water,  would that be white wine, white vinegar, white wine vinegar, white paint? 

3 hours ago, Frosty said:

I LOVE broccoli almost any way it's prepared

Ever tried cooking the stalk and then sautéing it with salty butter? 

Back when I was a kid, my mom used to make these every week - it was super cheap and easy to make.

• Take the stalk and chop off the out-most parts of it so you're left only with the tender inner part.
• Pressure cook it for some 10 mins, which should make it really soft.
• Chop it down to smaller pieces and sauté it in salty butter

Delicious

I'll give it a try, thanks!

Ever roast Broccoli at a camp fire? I skewer it  up the stalk, salt and butter it and lean it near enough to the fire to cook slowly.

Frosty The Lucky.

On 7/10/2025 at 9:47 AM, Chad J. said:

Had to do garden work last night,

Here I am complaining about my 2 tomato plants taking up too much of my time. Definitely not a dedicated gardener am I.

I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~

There is no better area where a person can demonstrate the Dunning-Kruger Effect than felling trees.  I have cut down a few trees in my life, and I admit that one did fall a little right of target and landed on my privacy fence.  It was a small tree, hence my lack of care.  It only broke a couple of pickets.

But today, everything went perfectly this morning.  I downed these sabal palms because they are incredibly messy and are getting too tall to keep up.  Gutters are always full of palm trash.  Ain't nobody got time for that!

Should make some swamp cabbage.

Do i even want to know what swamp cabbage is? 

I used to take those pieces of "bark" that stick off the sides of palm trees and paint stuff on them like little flowers and such. They would sell quite well here in the north. 

I lived down near Miami for a couple years. Living that close to Miami i thought for a long time that i hated Florida. Turns out it was just i hate cities. 

1 hour ago, Florida Man Metals said:

Should make some swamp cabbage.

If I knew how to get to it AND had the energy to actually do it, I would just to see if it really tastes like cabbage.

59 minutes ago, BillyBones said:

I lived down near Miami for a couple years.

We lived in Coral Springs, north of Fort Lauderdale for a few months.  Hated it!  Couldn't wait to move back to East L.A. aka East Lower Alabama, aka the Florida panhandle.  Completely different worlds.

You already have it. It is the heart of those palm trees you just cut down. You cut the top of the palm tree off like a foot or two below crown and split it in half. Another name for the Sabal palm is Cabbage palm.

When you split it don't cut thru the middle. You are after the tender heart in the middle. That's the edible part.

21 hours ago, Florida Man Metals said:

You already have it. It is the heart of those palm trees you just cut down. You cut the top of the palm tree off like a foot or two below crown and split it in half. Another name for the Sabal palm is Cabbage palm.

When you split it don't cut thru the middle. You are after the tender heart in the middle. That's the edible part.

Oh, I know they are cabbage/sabal palms, just not how to butcher them.  Too late, though.  I had to get them off the lawn ASAP, plus I have a head of cabbage in the fridge.   They're loaded up and ready for the dump.

I'm saving three 4' sections so I can try my hand at Tiki carving.  I'm so glad to be rid of these two palms.

I lived in Sunrise and Coconut Creek. 

Wife and I are out of town this weekend for Barn Hunt with our dog. Millie needed to decompress after the event, wife apparently did as well since she conked out as soon as we got back to the hotel. I had a migraine. Couldn't play on my phone or watch TV so I started stabbing wool instead, lol

I started on this during our recent vacation and continued on it during the 100+ temp days when I didn't want to forge. Finished it today. 

 

Talk about coincidences. . . Lets shall we? Deb's spending till next Tuesday at a Barn Hunt trial in Anchorage. She and friends circle their RVs at these things and have happy gatherings. Rhonda never has to decompress, she goes full bore till she falls asleep but she's only 7 and that's just getting going for Dachshunds.

Baxter's been hanging with me, he guards the car when I'm in the store or like just now eating dinner. Saved him a little meat and cheese from my salad  for a taste. He's spoiled enough without convincing him it's worth the effort to beg. 

I LOVE your penguin, it looks much happier than the pattern illustration. Going to "stab" a herring for his/er dining pleasure? Have you named it?

Frosty The Lucky.