Leaderboard

A while back I ordered a set of snap ring pliers from McMaster Carr. The snap ring pliers didn't show up. I got an e-mail from McMaster Carr, apologizing for the delay, and offering to send this set as a replacement, for the same cost. Would I trade a $110 set for a $225 set? Oh I think so. Got them today. Pretty happy with that deal me thinks. While on the subject of ordering things, I ordered a gear shift knob from Steiner Tractor Parts. It came yesterday. Not only did I get the knob, but I got a catalog also, and on top of that, I got some candy. I'm making out like a bandit this week.

Most of us grew up watching the Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons before they were reruns. Sometimes I think McMaster bought out ACME where the Coyote got all his stuff .... Bill

Then, I began adding some items that mean something. A couple of his tools, and one of the shell casings from his 21 gun salute. I have a few more things to do before another 3.5 gallons of clear epoxy is in order.

Ahh!, McMaster..... they're a bit pricy but.... wow, they have got ---- bout everything, and of the hundreds of items I've ordered over the years from everyplace, they are the FASTEST, often one day. Then there is the service, which as you found, is great. All in all, goes a long way to make up for the difference of cost.

So, I built this table about 12 years ago out of my Grandfather’s work bench. It’s never been completed and needs a little help. What better time than now? @formariz Cas, you have been a huge inspiration through your posts and private messages. Even just being able to talk things through with you, it has a way of building confidence and care. I know this is not your caliber of tools, likely methods, or the like, but I appreciate your input. I’m looking forward to seeing this thing finished, and to have the air compressor out of the dining room

Every 300 series ive owned or seen lacked a throttle knob, i don't even know what a stock factory one looks like. Just always ignored it... No more...i got a knob like on my exmark Zero Turns, popped on snug and secure..way easier on the fingers

HYDRO LIFT

I don’t understand dishes for chocolate… why would you let chocolate sit in a dish??? Eat it!

Yeah, I don't think any plow machine would have pushed it's way out of that blizzard. It took some work with the tall chute. That was one of the last big snows we had. Due to only getting wet small snow fall in recent years, I replaced the blower on the 520 with a 54" blade. The 520 has the heated cab and 2 link Vee Bar chains front and rear. I use it to plow the stone roads and to clear trails to deer stands. I use the 312H with rubber chains and 48" blade on the 5 paved driveways I clear. The 312 can plow his way out of that uphill driveway.

Installed an 8 speed in my 606

I have been waiting but no one is really getting the answer. The meaning of it goes much deeper than just a box of chocolates. In Iranian culture placing the chocolates in that purposely dedicated container for it is in remembrance and honor of the loved ones that have passed. This is usually done on Thursdays and it is called shah-e-jomeh. If one takes a chocolate then one says a prayer for the deceased. Those are prized objects some of them extremely fancy and decorated. The meaning however is the same and unaffected by the container. It is an honor to receive one as a gift from someone of that culture. It means that they think highly of the recipient and it’s not just an ordinary gift. The handle on that one is actually a dove keeping within the meaning of it.

So, my take away is that one could keep fake chocolate teeth in that thing for cursed guests?

My two SILs.. both trusted me today with their little humans… at the same time! Every kid I’ve watched has survived so far, me too!

I think it's to soak your dentures in overnight....

That's what I was thinkin!! That's like when you go get a bag of candy and it says "Family Size". Oh, I don't think so bucko.

I would suggest getting the ornaments down into the wood a little further. That's going to take alot of 50/50 to cover that deep and not sure on how it does in that thickness. A vanity top I build for some friends and covered in 50/50.

My driveway is pretty much a straight uphill fight. Usually I just do one pass up the hill and the rest of them I’ll come from the road down. No sense beating on the tractors. And I have that upstate NY weather as well. If I ain’t careful I’ll have over a foot of snow before I even realize it.

Nice! Just fyi-wheelhorsepartsandmore has replacement knobs now… https://wheelhorsepartsandmore.com/product-category/knobs-grips-more-formerly-glen-petitts/

Powerball is over $600M - drawing is tomorrow night - make it a 3fer ??

Yeah that's gotta be it. Multi-mouth removable teefs soakerizer.

My wife would keep air in it. It would go into the china cabinet, only coming out twice a year for cleaning.

Clearly your SILs are not thinking straight. Glad to hear the odds are with you so far!

Or just go Popeye…

@Ed Kennell mine are 75 so I can relate , thats a big part of making anything I do as easy as possible, time went so fast , its like asking how did that happen . realizing you are not on a clock , lets you do it at your convenience. really enjoyable while doing it , pete

Thank you for the kind words. Always glad to help specially on such a meaningful project for you. Remember , it is not the type of tools, the methods one uses, not even the quest for "perfection" in the end result that matters.It is what is in one's heart when a project such as that one is attempted that is important.Every step brings back more memories and keeps them alive for your children and future grandchildren. It is a most honorable tribute to the ones that came before you, and I know that your grandfather would very much appreciate it. It is what we leave of ourselves in the ones we love that really matter in the end. The table is not just an object but evidence that he did leave a lot of value which is clearly reflected through your actions in life. A suggestion if I may. Undoubtedly the table will be treasured by your daughters and even their children in the future. Route a shallow recess in the underside of table and make a hinged "lid" for it. Print all the progress photos associated with the build of table including a copy of the video, and place them in that recess as a time capsule about the table's origin for future generations. As your grandchildren will sit at it and ask questions ," the photos will be worth a thousand words". I believe that part of Kevin's intent may be to make it look like those items were just left on table as if just used. Sinking the rounded items such as screw drivers handle and shells past the widest part will leave big gaps around them detracting from that purpose. Minimal pours each time will allow epoxy to flow away as much as possible from inside corners maintaining the items' "projection" clearly defined rather than having a "ramp" there.

Ok, it’s simply a chocolate dish A fine one at that! Mrs. P figured it out through the creator’s Instagram page

Haha, a bit like this this

My front drive is all steep downhill and when I was still using steel chains, I would make the first push down thru the grass because I could never get back up on the hard driveway. The steel chains just spun on the blacktop. With the rubber chains, now I can plow down with a full 54" wide blade width and 1/2 a blade width back up. No need to dead head up thru the grass.

I added a second setscrew on the C81 hubs, 90 degrees to the original - had the hub walk inward prior to towards the Unidrive. Reassembled by tightening the original one over the woodruff key and used a 3/8 tap drill (5/16") in the other hole to dimple the shaft to just make a conical surface below the 1-1/8" axle diameter - the screw will raise a burr when tightened, but not raised to interfere with hub removal. Blow out the chips, insert the screw and tighten to recommended torque. No loosing issues.

Very proud of this. The high low shifter slot works perfect!

Remember to lube those cabinet hinges too Jimbo. Make it easier to access the appropriate chemical.

Why is I think of him every time I whip out a can of WD-40 ???? Ye be proud me Pete I got a cabinet of every know lubricant known to man.... now if I would remember to use them!

Recent picture. Bulletproof machine.

Me, no choice on my one driveway.

I’m actually liking my 6.5 hp predator swap as much as my 10 hp Kohler for snow plow duty … both do a great job with Michigan snow slime slush sleet etc… Plenty if umph to get the job done…

8 HP ~old school~ engines are more than enough to push snow and pull heavy stuff. As long as you have enough TRACTION you're good to go.

Finally received some snow ,seems like lots of other folks did too as well.Yesterday it was 62 ,today it’s Heavy wet snow. Got to try out my (new to me B-80) A great deal on this one.Changed the Diff oil,tune up and carb cleaned.Adjusted the clutch, break and plow. Couldn't believe the great job it did.I’ve heard people talk about the 181s,it pushed the snow no problem,didn’t even bog down on the heavy stuff.

I did these with Dupli-Color bed liner in the blue can, not the black can. Spokes on both are gloss black. It has been very durable and I like the feel.

After an intro to round hoods via the Lawn Ranger, I've been kinda sorta on the lookout for one of the taller models. Three weeks ago, on a quiet Friday night, a tired non-running 854 snuck out of Pennsylvania across the Delaware River into New Jersey, continued on over the Hudson River into New York, and ended its trip in my garage (displacing my car)! Since my spouse's response to my plan to convert a storage area in the garage into a heated work area to work on tractors was met with "Don't you already have a nice shop in the basement?", I needed a new plan. First, I realized that the 854 is only 31" wide (vs. 42" for the 520). Then last week I asked for and got a lot of good advice on trailer-mounting a winch so I went ahead and built a quick and dirty trial version. Lastly, I added ramps to my exterior basement stairs. Today, it came together. My son and I chained the trailer to the Lawn Ranger (as a counterweight!), hoisted the 854 up onto the trailer, backed the trailer up to the stairwell, and then winched the 854 down the ramp and through the 32.5" wide basement door. We were both surprised at how smoothly it went. I won't get to work on this machine for a couple of months as I've got several other projects in the works, but when I do I'll post progress to this topic. So, on to the pictures! Here's the 854. PO says it was running as a plow tractor in 2020 until its lift cable broke trying to lift a stuck plow, sidelining it. Seems the backup tractor became primary and this one got parked at the back of the shed. I'm fairly sure it had an HY unit (cleaner paint area on the hoodstand) and probably ag tires that got swapped off for its original tires before it was put up for sale (these tires are practically new and the lug bolts have recent marks on them while the fronts are on their last legs). Its ignition switch, voltage regulator, and some other bits are probably on other tractors as well so I'll be doing some shopping once I get a full survey done. And here's the "deep dive". (I took off the hood for the transit to avoid risking it being damaged--the air cleaner is MIA at the moment.)

Grinding valve stems is a slow tedious job. Not one of my favorites, when rebuilding an engine, I always worried about having the end of the stem square to the valve. While this set up I'm sure is not 100% accurate, it has to be better than holding your valve stem to the side of your bench grinder, and hoping for the best. Once I am in spec, I change out the grinding wheel for a sanding disc, to polish the end a bit more.There is a small brass plug between the valve stem and the thumb screw. Prevents damage to the stem. I can set my dial indicator up to see just how much I have taken off. It isn't a job you want to do twice. Besides, who has an extra valve laying around? Oh yeah, I do.

Wasn't there some sort of project out in your shop? Stretched chassis, some sort of moveable load carrying device? Start them young, ya know....

Why aren’t they helping you in the shop??? or at least getting some seat time???

Thanks to everyone’s advice it’s all fixed. Just waiting on the new connectors for the clutch. Ended up going to my local WH dealer and picking up a new belt. Thought it was interesting the belt actually had Wheel Horse on it. Wondering how old the belt is. Now I need to drop the snow plow bracket and put it on correctly so it moves the leaver back away from the clutch.

egg egg egg ...

You could share with others...

Got bed liner laid down. It's not perfect but hey if it's too perfect I won't want to use it lol

I can attest to that! Both eyes closed but the jaw keeps a yappin!

8 speed swap is done!

Howdy all and Happy New year , Well I was able to make some progress on my pull gravel grader today and was able to make a test run ,I was not going to test it because I had very low temps overnight, and today it did not get above 24 degrees things were pretty frozen but i figured if it works in these temps Its a winner . My bad I did not make a start to finish Video because I so involved with doing this test section of road that has not had anything done in at least 12 years and I will say I am very happy with the results , I do have to make one adjustment on the lift height , I will need to move and re weld the lift arm in a better position to give me more versatility on my cutting depth and also do all the final mounting points for the hoses and quick connections and order the four ripper teeth , other then that this homemade grader has exceeded my expectations ,And so did the C120 it did not even flinch pulled like a champ the video I took really does not show much , It was shot on my last few passes ,but if you look up the road at my turn around point you can see what the road started like , well scratch the video tryed to upload it something about MB limit and I do not know anything about all that stuff. but here are a few pictures