What are you currently working on??

Spent a few hours Saturday working in the liberty again, after replacing rear pads and a rotor, one of calipers locked up on my daughter. Thankfully she was only a couple miles from home. Brand new pads got so hot they turned white around the edges and crumbled when removed. Got new caliper on then has to take fronts back apart, seems one caliper slide bolt on each side was froze up not letting them release all the way, all good now.

Also been working in the garden last few days. Lightly tilled it all Saturday for weed control, then spent Monday evening driving posts and getting all the beans strung and cages around tomatoes. Crazy how fast the beans shoot over night, some grow 4 to 6" in a 24 hr period.

20240608_165126.jpg
20240608_170241.jpg
20240611_180130.jpg


I also got a big burn fire going while working on garden, no before, but this pile of brush went from what's left on the left of pic over to the shovel. I kept loading fire for about 3 hrs



20240608_171958.jpg
 
Toomanytoys84 said:
I cut grass with one identical to that except it didn’t have power drive when I was a kid….always started and always ran. I don’t think it ever broke.

I bet it’s still hanging on the wall of the old shed…
Click to expand...
Back in the 70s Homelite made mowers like that in push and self propelled. they also offered them in 2 stroke or 4 stroke. My dad sold Homelite and they were a big seller. Not sure if Textron had partnered with Lawnboy to use their style or how that worked. I had both models for a time to use. The 2 stroke model had the disk style blade with four little triangle blades on it and the 4 stroke had a regular blade appropriate for the size of mower.
Her locally now there is an older lady that has the old style Lawnboy she still uses today.
 
hamman said:
Back in the 70s Homelite made mowers like that in push and self propelled. they also offered them in 2 stroke or 4 stroke. My dad sold Homelite and they were a big seller. Not sure if Textron had partnered with Lawnboy to use their style or how that worked. I had both models for a time to use. The 2 stroke model had the disk style blade with four little triangle blades on it and the 4 stroke had a regular blade appropriate for the size of mower.
Her locally now there is an older lady that has the old style Lawnboy she still uses today.
Click to expand...
Dad still uses a lawnboy to cut with. Its the old Brick or butter cup? Its old, he rebuilt the engine and restored the mower. Looks like brand new.
 
hamman said:
Back in the 70s Homelite made mowers like that in push and self propelled. they also offered them in 2 stroke or 4 stroke. My dad sold Homelite and they were a big seller. Not sure if Textron had partnered with Lawnboy to use their style or how that worked. I had both models for a time to use. The 2 stroke model had the disk style blade with four little triangle blades on it and the 4 stroke had a regular blade appropriate for the size of mower.
Her locally now there is an older lady that has the old style Lawnboy she still uses today.
Click to expand...
We had a push mower back in the early 50s that used the triangle blades the I just flipped to get a sharp cutting sdge.
 
Had to got to Sam's Club and Walmart today. I don't know what the heck is going on in town but the traffic was bad and there were mobs of morons everywhere! Didn't have go in Sam's but did have to go in Walmart. Couldn't wait to get home! Did a couple chores in the house then started an assault on weeds taking over the gravel! Finally had a day with lower wind and no chance of rain! Still have to do out by the road but still used a full jug of Spectracide. Back had enough of that for the day.

DAC
 
I think the following question is on the job application when some applies for an engineering job at Ford....

Do you smoke crack?
If the answer is yes, you are hired.

My wife inherited her dad's 2014 Escape a few months ago. We are headed out of town tomorrow so decided to change oil.
This is what I found, a cover over the complete underside, 10 bolts to remove. Half were missing due to last oil change by the monkeys at Valvoline or so I assume from the Valvoline oil filter. Then the oil runs all over the AC line and some tubes. I already hate working on this thing. I'm glad she doesn't like it and will probably get something else. Ford also has a class action lawsuit against them due to blown head gasket from bad block design on the 1.6l, 2.0l, 2.3l ecoboost engines so I would like to get rid of it before we have issues. So

20240615_122726.jpg
20240615_124814.jpg


I also got rid of the Sears GT/18 hydro I had, traded for some wheel weights and a set of really wide rims with some 26x12 carlise trupowers.
 
I got the tiller mounted on the gt16
(Had to order 5/8" clevis pins from McMaster, nobody in town had any less than 4-1/2" long)
and the v tread tires, and started tilling. I had 3 new belts here the right size to run it, I only had a single pulley here for the tractor portion so I went til I burned up the single belt then it was time to go meet the kid for fathers day/ we went out for BBQ since we love it and the wife doesn't/and she was at work. So made for a good time to go there.
The barn that I store my junk in was on the way to the BBQ place so I grabbed a few tools and we stopped on the way.
This one mounted different so I had the wrong tools.
I had taken the Harley out to the kids house, so we got back from eating and I rode the Harley back to the barn with the right tools in the saddle bags and got the double pulley right off the back of the snowblower tractor. (Tiller was last run off of that machine) Stopped for gas in the bike ( started faltering on way home, had to flip the gas valve to "reserve" to get the rest of the way)
Went back home and got there just in time to go get the wife from work and she wanted cracker barrel when I picked her up, just leaving there now to hopefully finish tilling the front yard before dark. I'm about halfway thru the first pass breaking up the sod. Other than the blown belt it's going good, I didn't have as much trouble with hitting roots with the tiller as I had expected. Ground is like concrete, bone dry.
 
Well I'm dead on this tilling job. Something broke inside the gearcase. I got the double pulley on and both belts ( was a PITA to get them lined up so it didn't throw one of the belts with the a frame to the 3rd mount point right in the way)
It was almost dark but I wanted to try it out and check the setup at least, and it was tilling great. I finished the 1/2 row left when I blew the single belt, and did 3/4 of the next row (I was overlapping about 1/4 of a swipe) and it was going faster than it had been earlier and all of a sudden the tiller quit pulling. No extra noise, anything.
I took the chain cover off and it isn't the 90* gearbox and it isn't the 1st stage chain. It isn't a shear pin on the time shaft. It's something in between.
This is Ariens tiller 831006 and I have read numerous places in these forums that behind the actual tractor mount it's supposed to be the same exact tiller as a Deere 31/33.
I've never been inside one. Supposedly someone like brinly hardy made these for everyone and painted them for whoever's tractor they were originally supposed to go into. It looks like a big job to get the covers off and access what I think is a 2nd stage chain that actually drives the tines. It's probably a shear pin or something somewhere that I don't know about.
It would take me a month to finish it with my mantis tiller but about an hour of I had this one going. I wish I still had my troy bilt horse.
 
dodge trucker said:
Well I'm dead on this tilling job. Something broke inside the gearcase. I got the double pulley on and both belts ( was a PITA to get them lined up so it didn't throw one of the belts with the a frame to the 3rd mount point right in the way)
It was almost dark but I wanted to try it out and check the setup at least, and it was tilling great. I finished the 1/2 row left when I blew the single belt, and did 3/4 of the next row (I was overlapping about 1/4 of a swipe) and it was going faster than it had been earlier and all of a sudden the tiller quit pulling. No extra noise, anything.
I took the chain cover off and it isn't the 90* gearbox and it isn't the 1st stage chain. It isn't a shear pin on the time shaft. It's something in between.
This is Ariens tiller 831006 and I have read numerous places in these forums that behind the actual tractor mount it's supposed to be the same exact tiller as a Deere 31/33.
I've never been inside one. Supposedly someone like brinly hardy made these for everyone and painted them for whoever's tractor they were originally supposed to go into. It looks like a big job to get the covers off and access what I think is a 2nd stage chain that actually drives the tines. It's probably a shear pin or something somewhere that I don't know about.
It would take me a month to finish it with my mantis tiller but about an hour of I had this one going. I wish I still had my troy bilt horse.
Click to expand...
I think Haban made them, and I think there's a Cub Cadet version.
 
This is getting to be an expensive year.
One of those domino effect years where everything around me is falling apart.
The AC is dead in the house, it's 25 yo, and it's gonna have to be replaced with something that I can get freon for in the future, I ain't paying for it to be recharged when it might last the season or might last a week
now this tiller ( something I fortunately haven't had to use much since I had it)
For what a rental would cost I have a line on a TB Horse for a good deal instead. Can use it and resell next week or next month... See many on CL for alot more than asking price on this one. I talked to the seller last night and it sounds like a really good one. Taking a 1/2 day off to go after it today.
And won't have to worry about borrowing anything and potentially having that break and then having to fix or replace that for whoever I would borrow from... I hate borrowing things like that for this reason.
Not sure if I'm gonna put the tractor mount tiller aside for future fix or put it in the scrap pile yet.
Leaning towards scrap pile since I don't do a garden and it's not something I use very often anyway.... I've got way less in it than I've seen them go for anyway. And for something that sits way more than not...... And my list of projects that are more important than fixing something I rarely use is plenty long as it is ...

And as has been typical the last handful of years my wife is gonna be missing at least a month of work again, starting in a month/ for heel spurs surgery, mom is in hospice, what next
We slept in the camper last night in the driveway for the AC, will again for at least the next few nights. I just came in from there and it's 81* in the house and it's only 5:45 in the morning... All the ceiling fans are going for the 2 cats.
Last year we got to go camping once a month during the warm months, a record for us. We've been out once this year and we're talking about a weekend outing just before the wife's foot surgery and the 4 days we have paid for in October already and that's gonna be it for that this season, about 1/2 the number of outings as last year. I ain't going anywhere once the wife is in a boot after her foot gets fixed. She is suggesting it but I can't do that to her ..
 
Last edited:
TAHOE said:
I think the following question is on the job application when some applies for an engineering job at Ford....

Do you smoke crack?
If the answer is yes, you are hired.

My wife inherited her dad's 2014 Escape a few months ago. We are headed out of town tomorrow so decided to change oil.
This is what I found, a cover over the complete underside, 10 bolts to remove. Half were missing due to last oil change by the monkeys at Valvoline or so I assume from the Valvoline oil filter. Then the oil runs all over the AC line and some tubes. I already hate working on this thing. I'm glad she doesn't like it and will probably get something else. Ford also has a class action lawsuit against them due to blown head gasket from bad block design on the 1.6l, 2.0l, 2.3l ecoboost engines so I would like to get rid of it before we have issues. So

View attachment 82536
View attachment 82537


I also got rid of the Sears GT/18 hydro I had, traded for some wheel weights and a set of really wide rims with some 26x12 carlise trupowers.
Click to expand...
The last Ford I owned had the 1.6L. I was only driving it and BOOM, the engine blew. The hood even blew off the vehicle flying down the road and the oil sprayed anywhere it wanted. Mostly on the windshield. Since then, it was my last ever Ford. And yes, it did leave me high and dry to walk 15 miles home. It was our only vehicle at the time.. Found On the Road Dead. Whoever came up with the slogan was spot on.

Get the Escape looking really nice and clean, inside and out, offer it at a slightly lower than fair price to let it go quickly and don't look back.
 
Well I bought a TB Horse 2 days ago to finish my yard leveling project from CL. It started easy and sounded good at the guy's house. He said he had worked on the carb a few times, playing with the float. And he got it from neighbors (2 women) whose dad had bought it new. Supposedly they ran it all the time, and they took it to some small engine shop who did, i dunno what to it, but it sounded good at the seller's house.
I got it home and tried to put it to work.
I got about 10'. It started popping and dying, and down on power.
I pulled the head and seated the valves and dribbled some brake cleaner on the valves and it seeped right thru especially on the exhaust side. So I ordered new valves for it from feebay.
Has a HH60 Tecumseh on it, being the cast iron one I think it's worth fixing. Though I didn't like the sight of all the red RTV that I discovered while taking it apart. And the breather cover, it looks like it sat in a coffee can full of water for months... A rusty mess. So I gotta dig and see if I still have one of those left over from years ago or add it to my shopping list. The cylinder looks great, a lil carbon but no ring ridge, no gouges in the cylinders.
I have the big set of grinding wheels pilots and 45* drill for doing valve seats on car engines I just don't have the valve grinder any more.
But I'm still dead on this project.
I didn't want to rent a tiller because it wasn't much less than what this horse cost me. Both speeds work, forward and reverse work fine so the machine is a good one. And it don't leak.
 
Last edited:
Today the AC guy came and confirmed my fears. Stick a fork in it. It's done
He hooked up his gauges and there was a little residual pressure left in the lines, it was enough to find the leak without hooking up the bottle.
So I'm waiting for a quote.
It'll be about 10 days before he could put one in for me. He's got 3 others plus he's going away for a week in that time. As long as I have the camper with good AC to sleep in we'll survive.
 
And my tractor mount tiller...
I decided to tear into it and see what was going to take to get it going. Someone said a busted secondary chain, it's sounding like they were right. I am down to heating and beating the right side tine set off the shaft, and I should be able to get that cover off to see. I had never had a tiller like this and never was inside of one so I didn't know what makes them tick. But as dry as the primary chain was (that I didn't know was there) I wouldn't be surprised if the other one wasn't a pile of rusty dust. The upper bearing by the clutch was a rusty mess that I ended up having to torch off. I don't know how long this thing sat before I got it. I've used it twice and loaned it out once since I've had it, from what my son says the guy he loaned it to he doesn't think he ever did use it while he had it.... My kid is over there all the time when he isn't at work.
A chain and a couple of bearings shouldn't be too bad IF that's all it takes to get it usable again.
 
Last time I mowed the left deck spindle would not take any grease. To wet to do much so brought the CC1862 withy the 544" deck up to the chain hoist. Got the spindle out and would only take grease for the top bearing. Area for the bottom holes is wore so the holes are closed off. Replacement is the only answer. That spindle is not in the dealers shop so had to order it. Probably Monday when it gets here. $70+ but Parts Tree has them listed for $79 plus shipping.
 
Went to John's farmhouse to mow this afternoon, this is where I store my junk that I don't have the room for here. Last time out I taught my wife how to use his 72" hustler ztr. First I took the hustler out and did the section we somehow forgot to get last time.
Had to refresh her a bit when she got on it today. I went to pull out his cub 1250 to do the ditches and anything else dead flat that she refuses to go near. Plus a few laps around the house and out buildings and 1 part of his yard that I just don't want to subject that $10k mower to such punishment so I do it with the cubs. Well his one 1200 cub wouldn't start, I think it needs a battery. The other 1200 needs a clutch driveshaft which I've had here since last fall. So the 1250 it was
I last ran this mower about 2 to 2-1/2 weeks ago. In that time the mice decided to build a motel within. I went to flip the hood to fill it with gas and saw the evidence sticking out of the head baffle around the spark plug hole. So I had to pull the baffle and dig out what I could out of the fins with a screwdriver before I could use it.
Then I started it up with the baffle still loose and I felt plenty of airflow thru the fins (and blew out some more insulation out of the the tractor seat via the cooling fins). Once it blew just air I bolted it all back together and went mowing. There was a huge pile of tractor seat foam on top of the deck as well.
 
I didn't actually do the work yet, but maybe tomorrow. Got these 3/4" roller bearing thrust washers in the mail today.
IMG_1480.jpg

Going to try that "poor man's power steering" on the Craftsman GT5000. I have always thought that for having a hand hydro it steered too hard for one hand. I could do it but didn't like it. Loree stole the tractor while I was out of town and mowed the yard. She had a hard time working the hydro lever and steering at the same time. Said her left arm hurt pretty bad the next day!

Then the MF1450 will get a set too if there is room on the spindles. It steers fine until I put the front weights on it. Gets to be quite a chore then. At least it is a foot hydro so both hands are available.

Have a couple extra sets too if needed elsewhere.

DAC
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top