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A day of minor frustration, but a reward
MOWER AND MULCHING Problems:
Today was somewhat cold - mid 40s high humidity and 15 - 25 MPH winds. But I had planned on mulching the leaves in my yard. I prefer this to raking or buying a $400-500 bagger attachment. Besides, mulching the leaves has rewarded me with nicer grass than my neighbors during the dryness of August & Sept.
I had a helper come and rake leaves away from the street and drainage areas so that I could mulch them. And he cut/mulched the tight spots with my push mower.
All was going well until the last section of a yard that my small house dog does her business. Leaves about 1 inch thick and I was using my still good running Craftsman LT1000 (purchased in the fall of 2000) and wham. What in the world did I hit. . . . Back at Christmas my grandkids were here and they found my water main “T” wrench (and it was stored/hidden from normal people. One or two grandsons were obviously playing with it. The T wrench was made from 3/4 in steel water pipe 3ft long with a two foot T handle on top. They drug it out and laid it down or dropped it. Leaves covered it. In all probability, the front wheel rolled over an edge and it lifted enough for one of the blades to hit it. Busted the blade spindle from the deck!
As if that wasn’t enough, my helper said he would finish the approximately 600 sq ft section with the push mower. I said OK and went in the house to get a cup of coffee. In a few minutes I heard the mower stop. I looked out the window and he had run over a roll of (about 100 ft) 1/16” steel wire that the grand kids apparently had played with - that I didn’t know about.
BTW - a few of you may remember my grandson post from 2 1/2 years ago - I think for sure that he is the culprit.
I have ordered a new spindle!
BANDSAW fix:
Then there was the good. I went to use my bandsaw a couple of weeks ago and it was making some noise. Opened the top up and the upper tire was coming loose and rubbing. I put in on int 2014 and haven’t used the bandsaw that much. I wondered why it went bad so quick. But I went to Springfield MO last weekend to visit my daughter and went by Grizzly. Bought a new set of tires. Put them on and took the guide rollers off and cleaned them. I had to pull out the blue thread locker to make the screws stay put, as they were entirely too loose and would vibrate out. I did my alignment and it ran true but there was a bit of vibration that bothered me. It was like a wheel not balanced correctly.
Now another part - I am 74 and although I can still lift some heavy things, I am finding that I need some leverage on some things that I did not need 5 years ago. I am aware of that.
Back to the bandsaw - the quick release lever was a little hard to set, but I could set it or release it, just that it was getting harder to do. Suddenly my mind went to the combination of - vibration but everything lines up when stopped, excessive tightness when setting the tension lever. I looked behind the saw and the tension was set for 3/4” saw blade on a 14” BS. WELL NO WONDER!. When did I do that? I have a single 3/4” blade for re-saw but have never used it. (Bought the Grizzly GO555P BS in 2012 I think). I use 3/8”blade 99% of the time. I turned it down to the 3/8” tension and tried it out. The tension lever was much easier to set. The vibration was gone. And no wonder the tires wore out prematurely.
I tried a few saw cuts and it cut a 2X4 like butter in both cross cut and rip. It is good to have something go right!
BACK to the Mower:
I have a new spindle ordered for the 20 year old LT1000, but thinking seriously about a Zero Turn Husqvarna. My 6 year old Husqvarna 21 inch push mower has out performed any push mower I have ever owned. It still cranks on the first pull every time. My LT1000 motor & drive are in great shape, but I need new tires and the deck has maybe one more year left on it. This will be the 4th or 5th spindle I have purchased. First three with because of bearings gone dry; the one today tore away from the deck. The 4th spindle was to replace one that broke after hitting a small chunk of wood. I will need to square up the deck for the two blades to cut evenly. Once the deck starts warping, I think the mower won't last much longer, so I am thinking of a zero turn.
ANYONE with Zero Turn experience? I don’t want to go over $3000.00 because I only have just under 3/4 of an acre with the house in the middle, and I don’t need anything over 48” (I think). I have several bushes and trees with about 5 feet between them.
MOWER AND MULCHING Problems:
Today was somewhat cold - mid 40s high humidity and 15 - 25 MPH winds. But I had planned on mulching the leaves in my yard. I prefer this to raking or buying a $400-500 bagger attachment. Besides, mulching the leaves has rewarded me with nicer grass than my neighbors during the dryness of August & Sept.
I had a helper come and rake leaves away from the street and drainage areas so that I could mulch them. And he cut/mulched the tight spots with my push mower.
All was going well until the last section of a yard that my small house dog does her business. Leaves about 1 inch thick and I was using my still good running Craftsman LT1000 (purchased in the fall of 2000) and wham. What in the world did I hit. . . . Back at Christmas my grandkids were here and they found my water main “T” wrench (and it was stored/hidden from normal people. One or two grandsons were obviously playing with it. The T wrench was made from 3/4 in steel water pipe 3ft long with a two foot T handle on top. They drug it out and laid it down or dropped it. Leaves covered it. In all probability, the front wheel rolled over an edge and it lifted enough for one of the blades to hit it. Busted the blade spindle from the deck!
As if that wasn’t enough, my helper said he would finish the approximately 600 sq ft section with the push mower. I said OK and went in the house to get a cup of coffee. In a few minutes I heard the mower stop. I looked out the window and he had run over a roll of (about 100 ft) 1/16” steel wire that the grand kids apparently had played with - that I didn’t know about.
BTW - a few of you may remember my grandson post from 2 1/2 years ago - I think for sure that he is the culprit.
I have ordered a new spindle!
BANDSAW fix:
Then there was the good. I went to use my bandsaw a couple of weeks ago and it was making some noise. Opened the top up and the upper tire was coming loose and rubbing. I put in on int 2014 and haven’t used the bandsaw that much. I wondered why it went bad so quick. But I went to Springfield MO last weekend to visit my daughter and went by Grizzly. Bought a new set of tires. Put them on and took the guide rollers off and cleaned them. I had to pull out the blue thread locker to make the screws stay put, as they were entirely too loose and would vibrate out. I did my alignment and it ran true but there was a bit of vibration that bothered me. It was like a wheel not balanced correctly.
Now another part - I am 74 and although I can still lift some heavy things, I am finding that I need some leverage on some things that I did not need 5 years ago. I am aware of that.
Back to the bandsaw - the quick release lever was a little hard to set, but I could set it or release it, just that it was getting harder to do. Suddenly my mind went to the combination of - vibration but everything lines up when stopped, excessive tightness when setting the tension lever. I looked behind the saw and the tension was set for 3/4” saw blade on a 14” BS. WELL NO WONDER!. When did I do that? I have a single 3/4” blade for re-saw but have never used it. (Bought the Grizzly GO555P BS in 2012 I think). I use 3/8”blade 99% of the time. I turned it down to the 3/8” tension and tried it out. The tension lever was much easier to set. The vibration was gone. And no wonder the tires wore out prematurely.
I tried a few saw cuts and it cut a 2X4 like butter in both cross cut and rip. It is good to have something go right!
BACK to the Mower:
I have a new spindle ordered for the 20 year old LT1000, but thinking seriously about a Zero Turn Husqvarna. My 6 year old Husqvarna 21 inch push mower has out performed any push mower I have ever owned. It still cranks on the first pull every time. My LT1000 motor & drive are in great shape, but I need new tires and the deck has maybe one more year left on it. This will be the 4th or 5th spindle I have purchased. First three with because of bearings gone dry; the one today tore away from the deck. The 4th spindle was to replace one that broke after hitting a small chunk of wood. I will need to square up the deck for the two blades to cut evenly. Once the deck starts warping, I think the mower won't last much longer, so I am thinking of a zero turn.
ANYONE with Zero Turn experience? I don’t want to go over $3000.00 because I only have just under 3/4 of an acre with the house in the middle, and I don’t need anything over 48” (I think). I have several bushes and trees with about 5 feet between them.
