Leaderboard

This last week has been really bad. Pain has been so that one to two hours of sleep has been average going on two weeks. On top of that University screwed up the computer system and the federal scholarship money might be delayed until December. I had to take a leave of absence and go to work (Gasp!) until the money comes in. I have a job I started yesterday remodeling a basement, but today I took a personal day. I try and take at least 2-3 personal days a week, if the week was a wee bit longer I would insist on taking up to 4 personal days. After my 2 cups of coffee and milk and a couple of over easy eggs cooked into 2 slices of Wheat bread I made my way to the driveway full of tractors. I had so many different bits and pieces to do on each machine that the morning fog just allowed me for a few hours buzzing from one tractor to another. I got the battery charger on the Massey Ferguson 1450 and drove it about and left it running to charge the dead battery (lol), The drive about loosened the old girl up nicely and she drove like a S class Mercedes. I found my ferrules and completed my lift cable for the Allis 716H and installed the rear upper and lower lift parts and also got the grader blade installed. I put the battery charger on the Simplicity 7016HK and went to work on the two Bolens 1476, but then I saw the 1256 front tire had again gone flat (only on one side), so I removed the wheel and ran the round rasp through it real good and pushed a nice plug through it and reinstalled, so far the plug has held, back to the Bolens. The 1476 with the deck was acting and sounding funny when I raised and lowered the deck and I noticed that when I really got on the gas both tires would break loose and spin like I was off the ground, I was off the ground. Apparently the lift goes to ground level and below. When I lower the the mower deck to its lowest point it will lift the rear end of the tractor completely off the ground, enough for me to change a tire. I need to watch how far I lower the deck! I need to replace a few hair pins and clevis pins with bolts to prevent some of the lift mechanisms getting hung up by hairpins hitting each other. I also had to take the torch (I just like using the torch, even though I always burn myself) to one side of the mower deck front skid as it had been bent down a wee bit; all done and onto the the Bolens 1476 with the tiller. I made a belt guide the other day and that didn't seem to help at all, then today I noticed there was a belt guide missing on the other side as well. I found a 3/16 piece of round stock and threaded an 1-1/2" on one end and cold bent the belt guide end. Well that help a lot, but the rear tines are still moving with the PTO off. These are belts from a supply house, not factory replacement belts, the size is the same, but factory replacements are a matched set of three and made with a special blend of Kevlar and reinforced cord, but those are 50.00 for three, mine were 18.00 delivered. I still think I may have a adjustment problem with the belt guides, PTO spring, or PTO rod; saving that for a another day. The neighbor came over late in the afternoon and had a load of gravel to spread on his drive that the gravel man had brought. He took the Wheel Horse with the box blade and front blade and was not gone 30 minutes and returned with a big smile and 25.00, I didn't take it. I still need to remove my hydraulic valve from the Massey 1650 and add the extra valve so I can have a hydraulic center link to adjust the box blade or plow. The battery charger did its job (90 minutes on a 50 amp charge) and the Simplicity 7016HK fired right up, and after a 10 minute stretch around the drive and yard, she took her place with the herd. I still have the Massey Ferguson MF-16 in the barn, 5 different tractors in various stages of alteration/repair in the shop and 6 more non runners in the barn. I dissembled the Cub Cadet Q40 snow blower and will offer the parts on eBay. Later in the afternoon I went to town and replaced a GFI outlet on a friends porch and I am ready for a bite to eat here at 8:15. More pictures tomorrow or Saturday after a good scrubbing,

Four more heifers came home from their date with Hornsby McStiffy, MY 48 X was in a particularly good mood and made quite racket for sometime

Lifes too short be be constantly moaned at with regard to such mundane subjects as " But what good is it " or " Why do want another one " . So i have taken steps to reduce the moans from the wife and purchased her her first authentic vintage hand tool . My hopes were high but not for long . The sudden realisation of the fact that i had given her the perfect ( and easily thrown ) means of anger management dawned . "Let sleeping dogs lie" sprang to mind , even iff they snore whilst doing so ..... But it looks nice after a dip in the electrolosis tank , followed by a quick buff up then a coating of Liberon Iron Paste ( Grapite paste ) to bring it back to life .

I picked this bandsaw up yesterday for a rather cheap price, it works but needs a new blade.. You may also notice the legs are somewhat bent, twisted kicked about a bit.. Sooooo... Out came the grinder, "off with her legs".. Not wanting to have a bench top bandsaw I thought I should give it some legs back made from only the finest scrap steel I could find Back on the ground with the cutty bit bolted back on and a couple of wheels from a WH cutting deck to make moving it around easier.. Once I've rewired it and a new blade is fitted I can make a start building something with this lot... 64ft of pipe that came my way for free

Many years ago i statred off using Mounfields , but even though they use a B&S engine the Mounfields seemed to be plagued with broken rods through the case ? So i moved to Hayters .Using the same B&S engines but no problems ? All i could ever think of was blade timing being different . I am in no way a collector as i buy what i will use , but do like a nice old Suffolk engine for some reason . I think the oldest garden related machine i own and use is the Huffy lawn edger new oil once a year and it just keeps on going .It has an old B&S horizontal crank engine with the pull out tube choke on the carb .Looks the same engine as whats on my Templar rotovator just seems to look a lot older . I think the newely aquired Wolseley 500 with it's vertical pull start maybe older ? .At least engine wise . I do own an odd ball piece of machinery though it is more farm related , A Villiers engined winch on a sled / base plate around 30" long , i got it off a boat at Selby nr York .The guy said it had been a post rammer and he got it to fit as a heavy duty winch , it has a foot pedal that when pressed engages a rubber idler wheel between engine and cable drum .When you take your foot off , the drum lets go and i supose the hammer fell and did it's job on the post .Though i am not certain as modern sewer winches fitted to cable trailers bear a resemblence . So it may have started off on a cable trailer and ended up ramming in fence posts before it ended up on a 60' converted barge , then into my garage .... I just love to hear the sound of older engines ........

No problem Ian , it was nice to see some one else had one as well . Though i do not know if yours has been retrofitted with the die carrier or if it was a factory upgrade to make usage easier maybe ! .

Best thing you could have done - remove the legs , the one i had , if picked up by the front handle to roll it around used to have a mind of it's own .Either trying to flop to one side or more often than not it would try to up end itself , I had to roll it with the stand feet almost toughing the ground . It cut ok though , Looking at how you have fabricated your new stand , You could easily add a tube under the saws bed with a bolt welded to it loose fixed through the bed .This would enable say a 6 foot length of tube with "A" frame style supports at their extrematies to be inserted at each side of the saw as work supports .The addition of a couple of 6" lengths of tube over the support tubes with simple "T" section support plates welded to them would make a propper job of it .The sliding tube supports could have simple holes and locking pins to enable for quick length changes .And of course due to the bolt through the saw bed , mitre cuts would be easier on long lengths as the swiveling allowed by the bolt enables the support to be turned to the deired angle and still create a solid structure .

Handy thing to have.

The current model has the full stereophonic subwoofer augmented surround sound with corner tweeters . I had the acoustic deadening retro fitted to myself OUCH , her hearings still set to max as she's just come in to see what i was laughing at and prodded me in the ribs after reading the posts .

Sounds a bit like my wife , but when i place a sheet of plywood on the kitchen table she takes notice as she knows somethings entering her domain that should'nt be there . This is more of a long dark winters night problem as i rationalise that why heat a workshop when we are already heating the house ! . But the usual " Why " crops up when i say i am off to pick something new up . Usually followed by the " I thought you were taking me out shopping " as though i had taken notice of her asking me to do so 3 day's previously ? .Usually asked whilst i am taking something apart and methodically remembering where every nut and bolt came from ..... But this winter i shall remember to sit with my back to a wall - so i can see the iron coming . Either that or fit a radiator to the Wolseley Wd header tank to heat the workshop for free whilst running a little genny off the pulley for light , now theres and idea in the making .

I own a few electric welders , Migs with and without gas , an Oxford oil filled monster and several stick welders .Last year i purchased a Chinese electronic inverter Tig / Stick welder . A 200 amp model of the all electronic variety ( no heavy coils inside ) . So i decided to give ally welding a go , something i had always avoided like the plague . And to my suprise found it to be easy ! . As the rod arks up i have to simply lay the rod down the break , none of this weaving side to side or making an " e " movement as with the steel rods . A 12" rod is gone in 5 or 6 seconds it's that fast a process . The welder set at 160 amps with a negative torch polarity works really well on water pump casings of around 1/4" wall thickness . After a few water pump housing repares for people i dared try it on a 1974 Yamaha TY80 side casing of only 2.5mm thickness at 120 amps. Plus a plate had to be welded in along the top of the casing where the chain had broke the whole thing away . The inside aint pretty as i added extra blobs to stop vibration cracking and just left them , but the amount of ally laid down allows for a good reshaping back to origonal profile on the outside . The main break was right along the curve where the casing drops to the chain guard , heavily splitered and bashed . But it looks good now . I hold my hands upto not getting on with Tig welding at all , but this new welder has enabled me to ally weld at last . Fast and easy , just remember to clean the break up good and give it a wire brushing with a stainless brush to remove all the grime then blast it clean with carb cleaner to make sure it's clean .

I got them off the well known auction site , they were a tad expensive at £15 for 10 3.5mm rods , but the price of a new casing soon offsets the cost of the rods . And i have managed to repare 3 water pumps , the TY and used my last rod last weekend welding an Ally foot bar back on a pushchair . All in all they have opend up a whole new area of welding for me . Of note is tthat i did not preheat the casings as the process is that fast the heat stays localised . And when you do a blob of weld , i scrape the rods tip on a house brick to remove the flux bulid up .( a little white clump falls right off the tip ) allowing you to strike an ark without scraping along the jobs break line as i found this left spatter and black holes in the ally casings . Goto the auction site and search for " Aluminium welding rods " and scroll through all the Tig rods finding all the suppliers of the flux coated stick rods to find the size / quantity you require . And remember that all you may know about using steel rods goes out the window with Aluminium , as they burn so fast all you need to do is drop your hand towards the job as the rod shortens , simply laying the run of weld along the break line . edit - Forgot i had none left so have just purchased a 12 pack of Harris 26 rods for £19 , so the price has gone up a little but you now get an extra 2 rods .

Thanks for that Stormin ,I will have a look in different mags . I was thinking of crew cab van with an extra 2 seats in the back ( 7 of us ) to leave a little room for the engine on a little trolley .And be able to tow the trailer tent .But then i thought of a showmans vehicle and how as such 2 trailers can be towed ( living caravan and ride / exhibit ) .Just an idea that i though would save me getting another vehicle just for going to shows with . I already have a 1994 VW LT35 pickup 12' x 7' back with a Lucas 150kg swing lift fitted , and did contemplate a dismountable living box for the back , but the lack of seats prevents this idea .But iff i end up with a crew cab / mini bus the swing lift is going in the back to save pushing the engine up and down ramps .

Here's a couple of photo's of the triple head dies for cutting / rolling the threads on the spokes , just so you know what they look like . Note the split collet so different diameter spokes can be threaded , and the angled lead in on the dies . Where the one in the articles lead images seems to be for a single size interchangable die ! .

Realise this is an older post but as a new member i have just found it - I got my 230v version back in 1988 second hand and still have it today .They cut anything and the length of the bar ( 3 foot ) gets the job done fast .The little motor is indeed a wonder as it cuts through privet and beach hedges without flinching .