Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Cabin with a Carport

[Ole Slewfoot]

Shop around online, but as someone who used to part, fix, and sell mowers for profit, it's usually petter to get a parts machine. If the tank split, I'd seriously consider repurposing something else.

The spindles aren't robust enough to justify a bearing upgrade. Repairs to that stuff fall within the range of your fab abilities, and unless you have changed out the drive pulleys, a mower doesn't go fast enough for some trial and error to hurt anything.

Pretty sure I had that same mower with a Yamaha in it.

Decay of the line between the tank and filter is fairly suspect for a no flow situation, esp if the line feels sticky and soft to the touch.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

A roll of yellow Duct tape will get you by on the seat for a couple of years , if you keep it out of the sun.

That just might happen. Besides, I never used yellow

I have replaced the gas tank and seat on mine. If you buy a seat make sure it has the sensor in it. Mine did not and I had to make a plate for it as I remember.

Im glad you mentioned that, thank you. I had that question when I was looking at it wondering abt a replacement. I hate that sensor.

The seat support is cracked too, at each ends of the sliding slot. The bushings are shot and dont slide well. I found a used unit on ebay for $20 I may purchase.

This tank I hope to get away with a cleaning. But dad suspects it has a crack in it near the front, he says he couldn't keep more than 2 gallons in there without smelling a gasoline leak. I'll check for a leak.

Amazon has "cheap" replacement tank kits for $100 less than JD. Is it worth it to cheap out on this item?

Shop around online, but as someone who used to part, fix, and sell mowers for profit, it's usually petter to get a parts machine. If the tank split, I'd seriously consider repurposing something else.

I wondered if a whole machine would be more cost efficient. Seems like it if one new tank is $250! Glad to have your perspective in my thread. Thank you.

The spindles aren't robust enough to justify a bearing upgrade. Repairs to that stuff fall within the range of your fab abilities, and unless you have changed out the drive pulleys, a mower doesn't go fast enough for some trial and error to hurt anything.

Ok, good info. Saves cash to stick with bushings.

Quick question, would terrain be of any influence? My property isn't finished - its got some bermuda in the fenced quarter acre back yard, but the majority is patchy grass, grass clumps, and uneven sandy lumpy ground with a lot of twigs 'n leaves. I was thinking bearings would hold up and roll over bumpy impacts and pressure on the spindle better than the bushing. Am I overthinking?

Pretty sure I had that same mower with a Yamaha in it.

This one has the Kohler CV23S. It runs strong when it runs. Althoygh developed a light surge that I hope is taken care of with a tank and line cleaning. After that, I'll clean the carb.

Decay of the line between the tank and filter is fairly suspect for a no flow situation, esp if the line feels sticky and soft to the touch.

Having a look in the filter, it does look like some debris just made it through the hose. I'll pull the line.

Stock hoses are black, is there any harm to using clear fuel line? I like seeing the fuel (if theres any flow or debris in the line) and I have a huge supply from my motorcycles. Fuel is fresh premium and stabilized for each mow and machines are usually put away on empty. Whatchu think?

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Got a bolt extractor kit and gave it a shot.



But it served to further round out the bolt heads.




I tried heating w a yellow torch and oil - not budging.

I took my 3" cutoff wheel to it to slot the head. I put the 1/4" driver and a flathead on it and it still didn't budge. I didn't mangle the bit either, surprisingly. No pics of that, I was not having it anymore.

My next effort will be to plug weld on some hex nuts so I can use a 10mm impact socket and the 1/2" impact on it. Hopefully that will get them out. And hopefully not break the bolts, or else I be drilling, taping and upsiizing the hardware.

Since I have no power out there I'll carry the fluxcore 110v welder and plug together a few long extensions. Should be enough to glue the pieces together.

All this to simply remove and clean the gas tank.

 

[XJSuperman]

Personally I wouldn't have spent any time or money on that mower, but since thats the route you've taken, I do not see any issues in a cheaper tank and there shouldn't be anything wrong with clear lines. Bummer on the stuck bolts. I would go straight to the welder at this point as well. The heat and a fresh hex head will be of great help. Spray some penetrating oil on it after welding. Good luck!

 

[68400BIRD]

I buy most of my parts from greenfarmparts.com My new tank has been holding up great for years now.
The tank is known for leaking at the seams where it is melted together if I remember correctly.
I also bought the bearing kit. Like mentioned above the spindles are not very high quality. But in there defense they wear out because the bushing wear out. I bought new spindles and the bearing kit all at the same time. It does ride smoother and turn a little quicker.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I buy most of my parts from greenfarmparts.com My new tank has been holding up great for years now.
The tank is known for leaking at the seams where it is melted together if I remember correctly.
I also bought the bearing kit. Like mentioned above the spindles are not very high quality. But in there defense they wear out because the bushing wear out. I bought new spindles and the bearing kit all at the same time. It does ride smoother and turn a little quicker.

That's who I have my parts order in the basket with now. I like their site. I put a cart together on Weingartz site but it was a little more expensive, although their parts disgrams are good.

Personally I wouldn't have spent any time or money on that mower, but since thats the route you've taken, I do not see any issues in a cheaper tank and there shouldn't be anything wrong with clear lines. Bummer on the stuck bolts. I would go straight to the welder at this point as well. The heat and a fresh hex head will be of great help. Spray some penetrating oil on it after welding. Good luck!

Thank you, I appreciate it.
I didn't expect Dad to pass it on to me, up until then I was expecting to buy a new mower. I've learned this past year that when I have time to do the chore, I need to hop on the equipment and get the chore done, I really don't have time to be fixing stuff before I can use it. But Dad was trying to be helpful and I am grateful and will be gracious. In his defense, it was running when he gave it to me and I used it once, these issues just caught up with it. Once it is up and running again, I'll have less into it than a new mower and it should be doing the job. As annoyed as I am that a small chingadera is holding up the whole process, I'll get it done

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

That just might happen. Besides, I never used yellow



Im glad you mentioned that, thank you. I had that question when I was looking at it wondering abt a replacement. I hate that sensor.

I usually connect the interlocks if I'm selling the machine, or maybe have a child operator.

The seat support is cracked too, at each ends of the sliding slot. The bushings are shot and dont slide well. I found a used unit on ebay for $20 I may purchase.

My STX38 was the same

This tank I hope to get away with a cleaning. But dad suspects it has a crack in it near the front, he says he couldn't keep more than 2 gallons in there without smelling a gasoline leak. I'll check for a leak.

I think I had 2 with blown seams, can't recall if they were AYP or JD though

Amazon has "cheap" replacement tank kits for $100 less than JD. Is it worth it to cheap out on this item?

If I could find a mini keg for $50...

Quick question, would terrain be of any influence? My property isn't finished - its got some bermuda in the fenced quarter acre back yard, but the majority is patchy grass, grass clumps, and uneven sandy lumpy ground with a lot of twigs 'n leaves. I was thinking bearings would hold up and roll over bumpy impacts and pressure on the spindle better than the bushing. Am I overthinking?

IMO lube is more important. Unless you have a perfect asphalt smooth lawn, lack of suspension means the wheels are not tracking the ground well enough for precision steering to have any relevance. Unless you are going too slow to accomplish anything.

This one has the Kohler CV23S. It runs strong when it runs. Althoygh developed a light surge that I hope is taken care of with a tank and line cleaning. After that, I'll clean the carb.

Briggs Vtwin was the worst, bouncing really interferes with the float so as soon as you got going, you'd almost stall.

Having a look in the filter, it does look like some debris just made it through the hose. I'll pull the line.

Stock hoses are black, is there any harm to using clear fuel line? I like seeing the fuel (if theres any flow or debris in the line) and I have a huge supply from my motorcycles. Fuel is fresh premium and stabilized for each mow and machines are usually put away on empty. Whatchu think?

If it's actual fuel line it's fine, vinyl tube has a shorter lifespan.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

And now to the next step

 

[GirlnAgarage]

The mower is disassembled, tank is out. I filled it with water, sure enough, it's leaking at the front seam. It'llneed replacing. I replaced the fuel line from the tank to filter and installed a new filter since have it apart. Soon as the replacement tank and steering/wheel parts arrive I can get it all back together.

Until then, I'll swap in a new belt and swap the mulching blades.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Find or make a way to lube the deck spindles, they have a hard life. I think might already have a zerk?

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Find or make a way to lube the deck spindles, they have a hard life. I think might already have a zerk?

I'll have a look at it and see what I can do to get the greased. Thanks!

 

[68400BIRD]

I do not think there are any grease zerks. Mine were all sealed bearings. I bought a kit and changed them all out at once. They lasted about fifteen years mowing two lawns.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Been working on the mower and finally have it up and running. I installed a new steering kit, fuel tank, fuel lines, front wheel spindle kit and wheel bearing kit. That took care of some things as it starts and drives around but still a few issues to put away.

The front wheels:
Glad to put the bearing kit on, it was a simple upgrade. The bushings I pulled off were shot, with the mower up in the air the wheels wobbled like crazy. The spindles were in decent shape but I replaced them anyway in an attempt to solve the toe out situation. With the new sector and pinion gear I centered the steering wheel but the wheels are not straight and the steering wheel isn't centered. The right wheel is still toed out and that drag link is all the way in, no adjustment left. The left wheel has slight toe in, and it has some adjustment left on the drag link. Short of replacing the left drag link and adjusting the right, I'm not sure where to go to fix that for good.

The steering:
Replaced the sector gear, that was a pain, even with the deck off. I dropped the center support to get at the lock nuts differently. One was rounded so it helped to get vice grips on it to remove. The new pinion gear went on with a little hassle. The tolerances were really tight and took some 400 grit paper to clean up the steering shaft. It tapped right on. I had to paint the new sector gear, it came in the raw. Also, after only a few rounds around the yard, I'm not real happy about the contact pattern of the sector gear teeth on the pinion gear. But there's no adjusting it because that's just the way JD made them. If the sector gear was angled more it would improve the contact patch of the teeth and probably wear much better. IDK why they machine it at the angle they do.

The fuel tank:
Works like its suppose to, holds fuel, doesn't leak. Although it's got the fuel flowing again, the engine is surging at high rpm. And if the throttle is brought down quickly, it'll stall out. I believe I have some carburetor cleaning to do. I did swap in a new fuel pump, I had it and it was a 2min process. Putting the console all back together with new hardware was nice. Guess if I have to get in there again it should be easier.

The deck:
I swapped out the regular blades for mulching blades. That was quick and uneventful. I went to swap the belt but discovered the belt that I had was not the correct one. Tomorrow I go look for the right belt. This mower had 2 different belts based on the serial number range. Glad I looked things up. Oh, there were no grease zerks on the spindles. The pulleys all ran smoothly so I let them be.


No pics, too lazy to upload them. Nothing spectacular that isn't already out there on youtube.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Welp grass is mowed. I put a new belt this morning and got it back in service.





After this yard I hit a little of the property, cutting in our trails and mowing the creek bed. I didn't get a full cut in, still waiting on the Bluebonnet pods to mature and dry up.

I added some B12 chem tool to the fuel. While the engine runs strong, it maintains the same symptoms. There's some hard particles in there I need to clear out mechanically.

 

[68400BIRD]

You can take the nut off on the bottom of the steering shaft and pull it up as I recall and then drop it back down so the wheel is back to center. I replaced the same gears on my mower. I have a Scotts but is basically the same thing.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

You can take the nut off on the bottom of the steering shaft and pull it up as I recall and then drop it back down so the wheel is back to center. I replaced the same gears on my mower. I have a Scotts but is basically the same thing.

I thought about doing that.
And I'm chewing on if all parts are good/new (spindle, bearings) and adjusted to the max (drag links), why are the wheels still so far out of alignment? After some research, consensus says the front axle is likely bent. The fix is to replace it. Wish I knew for sure when I had it all apart, I just couldn't tell

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Measure rim to tie rod end on both sides,might be a steering arm defect.
Check both tie rods are the same length.(ignoring adjustment)
Is not hesitate to.straighten either of those or the axle.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I'm sure the axle is broken now.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

The busted axle.
For some reason I can't get the busted off axle pic to upload. But you can see the other half still attached.
Anyone know of an aftermarket upgrade to this or am I left to buy the same **** design cast replacement part?






Oh, I did end up installing some thrust bearings between the wheel spindle and axle. It was a rather small modification but the steering was more friendly over the terrain. I wonder if long term the addition of the bearing will keep the axle a little longer from stress fracturing and breaking.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Enough of all that fixing the ol' JD... welcome, Scooter.


He's a 2023 Cub Cadet XT2 GX54D. A 25hp Kohler, 54" fabbed deck, differential lock, arm rests, cup holder, cruise control. I ordered him from out of state, around here the Cub Cadet dealers only carried the zero turn or the lower end riding mower models that did not have the features I needed. The crated mower was pretty much ready to go, the dealer did pretty much all the setup. I attached the battery cables, checked the oil and added fuel. It started right up and took it for a spin. It has a lot of power, rides smooth (but harsh, too high tire psi), and it turns so easily. I'm surprised how easy for as big a mower it it is. It's fast too, I hit the gas and it scoots off like a go cart. Soze-wise it dwarfs the JD L130. No side by side photos yet, the JD is broke yet again and banished to the shed But I do want to compare them. Maybe the JD will become a cart-puller, or I'll part it out on ebay. Dad gave me his blessing to do with it what I wish after the latest failure. But no time for sob stories, moving on.





I did a little cleaning and organizing work in the carport yesterday. I'm preparing to begin building the workbenches in the work room. My brother-in-law gave me a bunch of various lumber and it includes what I can use for the workbenches. So that is helpful. I'll need the carport to be a staging are for some items to make room for the bench building. I gained a few more feet of room so the Kioti can park further up and I stashed Scooter here for the short meantime. He'll actually park with the log splitter at the shed where the JD is currently sitting.





Currently I'm working on floor plans for the work room. I've got the space measured out and I'm drawing up a couple configurations to see what I think. I need to review back to my previous garages to see what height I like. The last garage workbench was pretty spot on height wise. I hope I wrote it down lol.

This is not to scale as I'm not a mathmagician. But it'll do for the purposes of layout. I've got all my machines and larger tools all measured out on another sheet. I'm also finally planning to have my sliding miter saw on the bench where it'll actually do it's work. It's never had that. Usually I dragged it out and stored it back up. It's a start.

 

[68400BIRD]

Nice upgrade. Are you still going to fix the JD for a back up or maybe sell??

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Nice upgrade. Are you still going to fix the JD for a back up or maybe sell??

Thank you. I'm on the fence but at this point I plan to replace the parking brake switch and unmess up the wiring so it can run as a general wagon puller. I'm one bad day away from leaving on the train tracks

 

[ybnormal]

I foresee a new project in your future involving the JD. you've already got the look on the front axle, now work on the back

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I foresee a new project in your future involving the JD. you've already got the look on the front axle, now work on the back

That's not too far off from ideas that danced in my mind lol After this last time down I immediately came in and youtubed 'turn a lawn mower into a go cart'.

The motor on it is a Kohler 23hp engine and it runs well. I'd like to keep it. It seems its the mower parts that are coming to the end of its life. I need to do some research before I do but I'll likely strip it down and either sell or metal recycle parts I remove.

I won't get much to sell it as a parts tractor. And I don't have the time or patience to part it out and package and ship pieces.

The 48" deck still works but is getting rusted through in some spots. I might have stripped the threads on the bolts that attach the mower blades to the spindle block, they were pretty corroded and I couldn't get them to torque down.

I have a used pto clutch I need to test again and a branch new pto clutch I'd like to remove. Before I do I need to see if the drive pulley will stay in place on it's own or if it requires the pto clutch to stay aligned.

I'd also like to de-safety switch everything, which will simplify the starting and run issues I'm tracking now. Only since I'm not putting the deck back on to use it as a mower. Pretty much I plan to strip it of wiring except what's needed to start it.

We'll see.

 

[jarhead]

i have the same mower except with a Kawasaki engine. We also have a UTV, it's a Polaris Ranger 1000, have had it 3 years. It has paid for itself in fencing, hauling, etc. It even gets to go on fun days as well.

Enjoying your journey, thanks for sharing.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

i have the same mower except with a Kawasaki engine. We also have a UTV, it's a Polaris Ranger 1000, have had it 3 years. It has paid for itself in fencing, hauling, etc. It even gets to go on fun days as well.

Enjoying your journey, thanks for sharing.

I saw the earlier models had the Kawasaki engine. I hear they were good but I never had any experience with them. On your mower, did you do any adjusting to the seat safety switch? Mine is really sensitive. And the utv is a big work saver, mainly because of the distance between say the shed or garage and the work site out on the property. It can be a ways to lug tools and materials. I hear you on fun, there's a stretch we can see what top speed is
Thanks for the well wishes.

 

[jarhead]

Hadn't really noticed the seat sensitivity. Although i am a pretty big guy, I am sure the seat is bottomed out, lol

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Hadn't really noticed the seat sensitivity. Although i am a pretty big guy, I am sure the seat is bottomed out, lol

Ahh lol I'll youtube some ideas. When I mowed today the mower cut out when I pushed up just to adjust in the seat.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Started early to beat the heat...

I mowed some sections today with the new mower, Scooter. The first impressions are positive and I logged 3hrs on the meter.

First, the power of this machine is noticeable, and it is coupled with a responsive transmission. Going from forward to reverse will yank you around. It was strong up hills and very controlled on declines

Second, the steering is absolutely beautiful. It is effortless to turn, it tracks straight and doesn't yank the wheel out of your hand.
It is a noticeable improvement over the JD L130. The turning radius is impressive. I easily worked around tree trunks and tidied edges. The steering wheel is comfortable, it feels larger than the JD. I'll need to measure.

Third the differential lock is a back saver. At one point I buried the front end in some soft sand as I was reversing away from a tree and I couldn't get out. I stepped on the diff lock, gave it gas and out it came.

Fourth the seat and arms rests are comfortable. The arm rests are high enough that I wasn't slouching to use them. My back didn't hurt after I finished like on the L130.

I did have one oopsie. I ran over a gangly tree branch that I thought it would destroy, but the branch twisted, wedged up and leveraged the deck belt from PTO clutch pulley I drove the mower up to the carport. and read the manual. I un-tensioned the pulley and got the belt back on and away I went. In the end the 3gal of fuel capacity was enough to mow 4 or the 5 sections that are taken care of with the lawn mower. And I'm going to consider purchasing some sand blades. These stock blades did ok but gosh almighty the dust they brought up was heavy. Now, with the JD the job was still dusty so I'm not certain how much the dust can be reduced. I have sand and hot dry conditions, it'll be dusty.

After the work was done I hosed off the mower and let it airdry.





While the mower dried I cut up the crate Scooter came in and loaded it into the utv to take it the current burn pit I have dug. Reason I'm not burning it at the house fire pit is there are some staples and metal ties in there. I don't want them falling into the dirt and being a flat tire hazard for the truck parking and moving about up here.




Unloading at the current fire pit. I'm really liking digging out a pit to burn. I used this method on the big oak that was cleaned up last year. Once everything is burned, it's easy to water it down and cover up. It doesn't leave a mess that takes time to degrade. Upside is the surface vegetation grows quickly to fill in the void and the organic material is beneficial to the soil too. A big plus, reduces the fire hazard when the pit it going and embers are harder to get blown out.





A few days ago I finished putting up the remaining foam board that was peeled off the wall. There wasn't enough to finish the last 2 bays but I'm not going to worry about it. I only put up the foam board because I didn't want to be wasteful. With the carport bay cleaned up and the foam board out of the way, I can now start building the workbenches. Once the plan is set, I'll move the motorcycles out while the benches go up. Then the side workbench area will be torn out. I'll put the motorcycles back in that section and up on their stands. That will eliminate 2 larger floor tools and gain some floor space to have them upright.




Well, that's all for now. Have a good one.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Doing some firewood. Look at that squat. Still happy I bought a diesel.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Just found this thread. Great progress on your property and nice equipment too.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Spent time putting up some cheap LEDs. I have existing 8' florescents and while they work, they're old and wornout.

Since the bldg is metal I searched ideas to hang lights. Someone on their bldg used magnets to hang theirs. I figured with as light as mine are, I could too.

I used some 60lb magnet hooks. Overkill for these, but interestingly, the thickness of the metal makes a difference how strong the magnet is. If I pulled the magnet off the 29ga roof, it came off with not out if hand force. If i stuck it on a structural piece of metal, I had to use a screwdriver toget a grip through the loop and tank hard to remove it. Glad I didn't get the 100lbers.

I have the lights hooked up with just an extension cord dangling from the ceiling. I got 6 lights daisy chained and ran out of magnets. I'm reordering magnets and will put the other 4 up later. Eventually I'll redo the electrical and run an outlet for the lights.

The magnet idea was great as it was easy to slap the lights up. It took longer to shorten the hanging chain and attach them to the magnet than to get a light up and arranged where I liked it. Very easy to put lights where I wanted and I could adjust them once they were up if I didn't like where I initially put them. Way easier than drilling holes and hoping I liked the result.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Limb broke off in a passing storm. Let's see if the Milwalkee 6" hatchet will get it all done...




The answer is yes, yes it did. The largest cut was 9". Of course I moved side to side as I worked my way through, then flipped it .over and finished the cut. I used both fully charged batteries and < 3 tanks of oil. It's hot outside, I think that kills the efficiency of the batteries.






I'm posting this because I've been a fan of this saw since I purchased it last year. It has been one of the handiest tools I've purchased to maintain the property. I also purchased it because I have one hand. It's dangerous, difficult and fatiguing to handle larger chainsaws (though I do use the Stihl 120c when the tree calls for it. The MS261 gets called in for big jobs). I see the threads that pop up now and again about the 6" hatchet and there are some naysayers. IDK if it's ego or what, but they are missing out on a great tool. The power this little guy has is impressive and it gets a lot of work done. I'm using it on oak and mesquite which are hardwoods. I maintain the chain, keep oil in the tank, keep batteries charged and it flat out works.

Milwalkee has the M18 8" hatchet out and I'm still trying to get my hands on that. Maybe this fall, or for my birthday I can finally buy it. If it's anything like the 6", I'm gonna love it.

 

[Bob Heine]

Monica, I'm with you on the M12 Fuel tools and that 6" Hatchet is on my wish list. They are light weight enough that I can use them all day without being crippled the next day. I only have two M18 tools (Edger and Leaf Blower) and they are significantly heavier. The edger is an attachment for the M18 Fuel QUIK-LOK™ power head and they sell additional attachments like a string trimmer, hedge trimmer and 10" pole saw. The pole saw attachment weighs only 4.2 lbs and can be used with an additional 3-foot extension. A shoulder strap comes with the fancy kits but also available separately. With the strap I can handle the edge trimmer just fine. This guy, using the pole saw with the strap, looks like he's guiding the saw a bit with his left hand. Pretty sure you could keep one of those rather than being on a ladder, not holding on and swinging an M18 8-inch Hatchet chainsaw.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Bob, you gotta get the 6" hatchet. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. I think you will love it. I was out again today and 7 more standing dead trees were felled. I bucked up several of the 9"ers with the hatchet after I ran out the battery on the stihl m120. I'm not hrting after working, except I smashed the tar out of my thumb when I had a tree drop, rotate o the fence and pop my hand before I could get out of the way. It was one of those pains where it makes you feel nauseous for a few minutes I called it a day after that and iced my hand. I was a few cuts done from complete. But I do know one thing as dense as the trunk was when it cracked my thumb, it's good wood lol.

You said something in your post that hadn't dawned on me but was like the clouds parted and the sun shined through when I read it- a shoulder strap for the pole saw. Duh! Why not? I use a strap for the weedeater, exactly like they show in your photo. I have the Dewalt 20v pole saw and when I use it, usually I'm fighting it to let it gently hit the ground after a high up cut. It's hard man holding up a 15' pole lol I'll try to give the shoulder strap a go on the pole saw. That might solve the issue of getting the saw down without dropping it in the dirt. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob, you gotta get the 6" hatchet. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. I think you will love it. I was out again today and 7 more standing dead trees were felled. I bucked up several of the 9"ers with the hatchet after I ran out the battery on the stihl m120. I'm not hrting after working, except I smashed the tar out of my thumb when I had a tree drop, rotate o the fence and pop my hand before I could get out of the way. It was one of those pains where it makes you feel nauseous for a few minutes I called it a day after that and iced my hand. I was a few cuts done from complete. But I do know one thing as dense as the trunk was when it cracked my thumb, it's good wood lol.

You said something in your post that hadn't dawned on me but was like the clouds parted and the sun shined through when I read it- a shoulder strap for the pole saw. Duh! Why not? I use a strap for the weedeater, exactly like they show in your photo. I have the Dewalt 20v pole saw and when I use it, usually I'm fighting it to let it gently hit the ground after a high up cut. It's hard man holding up a 15' pole lol I'll try to give the shoulder strap a go on the pole saw. That might solve the issue of getting the saw down without dropping it in the dirt. Thanks for the idea.

Monica, I heard you before you posted. About ten minutes ago I found what I was looking for on eBay. It's worth every penny of the $249 list and $199 store price but this one leaves a little in my Milwaukee account for my next fix.

I noticed the Stihl MSA 120 weighs 8.2 lbs. (including battery) and has a chain brake. The Milwaukee M18 12" weighs the same but it's not clear if that's with or without a battery (and it doesn't mention a chain brake).

Damn, I know that feeling. The power unleashed by a falling tree is crazy. When I go too deep and the chainsaw binds up, I walk away. When I hear the tree crack, I run away. Pretty sure some of the arthritis in my hand is from not running fast enough. When the crew took down the big Ficus in our yard, I twitched a little at the sound of every one of those chunks hitting the ground.

I have four manual and two power pole saws and I'm always worried I'll drop them and bend or break the pole. The Poulan Pro 2-stroke came with a strap, which gave me the idea. The strap has a very confusing sign attached to it. I understand it's a dangerous tool but I don't understand how you operate it from 50 feet away. Only time it got used was when Wilma damaged a lot of trees in the yard AND the power was out weeks. Same year I got the Poulan, FEMA gifted me a generator so it may never get used again.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Got around to working on a workbench. Long overdue. I made it 9.5' long and the top will be 24" wide. It's slow goings, super hot outside so my body temp gets too high by 3 or 4oclock so I gotta go in.

The frame is dead level, side to side, front to back. But look how crooked it looks because the building is so out of square. The window frame exacerbates it. I couldn't get around it. Oh well.

More soon when I have time.

 

[captain14]

Your garage just has character. It just shown up earlier than some of the 100 year old houses and garages.

You will enjoy the workbench when it’s done. What’s the view outside that window?

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Nothing like vacations to catch up on stuff.

Scooter got his 5.8hr oil change and the JD finally got the surgery....all safeties bypassed and a new key switch. The mower won't ever see a deck/mowing job again. It is going to be a cart/log splitter puller. I am aware the transmission is the weak leak on this thing so I'll see how long it works puling the weight. But it's much easier to get it moved and hooked up than the UTV. The 23hp Kohler on this is running sweet ever since I did the carb rebuild kit. She starts lovely and just hums.




Just eye-balling the height of the log splitter hitch. I'm going to add a ball hitch mount to thins thing.




Oh, yesterday took down a dead standing oak. Had been wanting to get this big guy taken down for a while. The MS261 **** the bed during this work so that's at the shop getting repaired to the tune of another nice saw. I'm disappointed in Stihl. I'll be looking for another brand 18" saw, as well as repairing the Stihl to keep as a backup. But I've lost faith in them. So much for nice things. No wonder people buy cheap tools to discard when they break.





Glad I got these tasks done. Still need to buck up the tree then get to work in the carport again to finish the workbench so I can clean up the floor space in there. It's been a mess working on several projects. They encroached on the workout area.

Oh we got rain yesterday, about half inch. It was really nice and I'm thankful for it. Sure would love some more as this summer has been brutal with the heat. Alright yalll take care.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I had a chance to work on the workbench. Got it usuable. Still think it is crazy how out of level it is.

Still have to attach the vice. I'm probably going to install pegboard too. It is handy to hold odd tools like my squares, clamps and big awkward things that dont fit in drswers.