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Here's an idea that can keep a tool like this going after the battery is gone. This 9.6V Makita was my first battery tool platform back in the late 1980s (I still have a few of them but no longer in daily use). You can gut a battery, and connect a cord to the +/- terminals, notch the bottom of...

I made an adapter for the low-pressure water input for my pressure washer that has a funnel, into which I pour anti-freeze (or "pump saver", or RV antifreeze, or . . . ) - I typically use used coolant that I have drained out of one of my vehicles. At any rate, I fill up the funnel with this...

As long as you can get it to start, no real downside, so long as the pieces inside the engine just sit at the bottom of the crankcase. Virtually every mower engine has some sort of compression release feature designed in - it has been this way since the 1960s.

I have just gone through this - after replacing the starter and battery on my mower with no change, I determined that the compression release feature (a tiny spring-loaded metal cam that holds one of the valves slightly open during cranking) inside the engine had failed. This is what I am...

As others have stated, install a battery tender on your unit and keep it plugged in when not in use. The same thing can happen to cars that get used for short-trip driving, especially in the winter when lights, heaters, wipers, seat heaters, window and mirror defrosters, etc. are in use. A...

Everybody here recommending conventional 30W non-detergent oil must be living in warm climates. My box-store 3.3HP Ingersoll-Rand twin piston pump single stage really struggled to start on that oil when the ambient temperature was below 45 deg. F. I would recommend a synthetic compressor oil...

I live in the Seattle area as well and 40W oil is too thick! Heck, my old box store compressor struggled to start with 30W (non-detergent, non-synthetic) compressor oil in it at a 40 degree F ambient - I let some smoke out of my motor under similar circumstances. This is a case where synthetic...

I built this exact same press in high school welding shop (you don't know how many weeks it took me to drill all of the 1" holes LOL). I agree with other posters that I might pay 100-150 for it - at the end of the day it's still pretty light duty - I had mine twisted all kinds of ways just to...

I would purchase a voltage regulator for the generator head, while you can still get one. Also, make sure to check the valve lash, so a spare valve cover gasket or two. I watch "James Condon" on Youtube - he purchased and refurbishes small generators such as this one and his channel is a gold...

I have been working on lawn mower engines since the 1970s and I have never even come across one of these kits! I've rebuilt a few Tecumsehs (standard engine on the 1960s-70s Toro Whirlwind mowers that I used as a kid) and boy would this have come in handy. Thanks for sharing!

You mentioned that you won't be using the compressor frequently. One issue with poppet-valve compressors is that the valve seats can rust if not used very often. How fast this happens will depend upon the atmospheric conditions. It probably won't be a problem but it is one case where reed...

Internet-search: "Quincy 216 air compressor" and download the brochure from a number of available links. It sounds like you have a Quincy 216 pump - the "-4" is likely the Record Of Change or ROC as it is commonly-known. This is basically the design revision level and can be used to date the...

I used to work for a major aerial lift manufacturer. Most of the accidents referenced above have to do with either driving while elevated and going off a curb (hard to judge the ground elevation changes from way up in the air), or having the heavy self-driving machines (not the lighter towable...

A bit OT: If you don't have a track saw, for a guide I use a piece of low-profile Unistrut clamped on each end - they do make clamp-on saw guides as well. Honestly I rarely set up my table saw any longer (is usually buried under stuff LOL), opting instead to use a couple of saw horses and a...

What type of measuring instrument are you using to check the voltage? It's hard to understand how you could only be seeing 40VAC unless it is a phantom voltage (meaning that if you attempt to load the circuit at that point it would drop to nearly zero).

Old, metal corded power tools are something that I enjoy looking at, but do not wish to ever use again. In one of my past jobs, I had to read state injury/death reports on electric shock (not lethal) and electrocution (lethal) incidents. This was in the 1980s when GFCIs were still not in wide...

My dad owned rental units when I was growing up. It was my job to fix toilets. One renter across the street had the tank flush valve (pre-flapper days) fail every few years and I had to replace it. It was a bachelor living there that didn't like to clean. He used that in-the-tank solid (tidy...

Another vote for the vintage lamps - I am still using several of them both inside my home and out in the shop. I come across them at yard/estate sales and thrift stores typically. You can replace cords, sockets, fluorescent ballast transformers if needed. Oh, if you can find vintage...

I would also check for a loose/slipping belt. Any air leak large enough to hold the pressure down to that level should be easily discoverable. I'm thinking broken reed valve as well.

Another vote here for skipping the oiler. You will lose track of which air hoses are oiled and which aren't. And if you are using a blow gun (which is what I use my compressor for about 85% of the time), you don't want to contaminate things you are trying to clean or blow dry with an oil mist...