Don Campbell's Workshop

[thundermug]

Absolutely amazing. Your work will be in museums one day, if not already. Seriously, great work.

 

[Don Campbell]

Thanks ,
Todays progress pics show my progress already on the newest jd 110 round fender project. I have most of the parts sanded and painted . Now I am cleaning up the frame and hope to get it painted this weekend.
Also here is my new manual tire changer for my little workshop.

 

[aubrey601]

Edit

 

[Don Campbell]

Yippee !!
I was so excited today knowing the Bolens 944 articulating front mount mower was to be delivered. It looks pretty rough but runs great !!
One week from today it will look a little different
I got a few ideas to tweak it.
I bought it from the original owner . I will make a front snowblade for it for sure. It won't ever mow grass again. The mower deck is actually good looking straight sheet metal. The deck might sell on Craigslist.

 

[GT14HORSE]

Don
First off i'm amazed at your work, but how do you sand and prep so fast?

 

[Don Campbell]

Thanks ,
I am just so excited for each new project I get right to it and can't stop. It is just so relaxing and enjoyable to me puttering in the shop. Today I am cleaning the shop and preparing for the arrival of the new Handy 1000 air lift table. That is going to be a great thing to have in my little workshop.

 

[Don Campbell]

I pulled the Bolens 943 in the shop today and got it partially tore apart to get some PB Blaster on all the bolts. All the cables work good except one so not bad. I removed the mower deck and tomorrow will try to remove the wheels from the rusty axles. Might have to split the rims to make adaptors for the larger tires. Another Fun Project

 

[Ben Secor]

Great Post Don. I especially like the tool box attached to the drill press. Great idea, and I am going to use it. Keep the posts coming.
Ben.

 

[Don Campbell]

Ben,
I also have the drill press on wheels to move it around and that is very handy.
Todays progress on the articulating machine I got the engine cleaned up and painted and the frame is now starting to look better. I pulled off the front wheels and will try to get the rear ones off that are rust welded on . I have been soaking it with pb blaster and hope my air chisel againt a piece of wood will break it free. I plan on installing larger tires on all fours for more ground clearance for snow plowing. I also have a Harley Chrome exhaust pipe that I will install vertically for a exhaust stack. Just another crazy fun project to keep this old man out of trouble

 

[Don Campbell]

Todays progress in the shop I got the #3 round fender tractor sanded and painted. Slowly taking shape. I also got the rear hood of the Bolens 943 sanded and painted and started cutting off rusted metal off the rear frame for new metal to be cut, bent and welded on .
Both projects are slowly taking shape.

 

[Don Campbell]

Yesterdays shop project I removed the Peerless Transaxle to see why it would not shift.
It was completely filled with water and rust . 5 years of sitting in that guys yard did a number on it. I actually got it almost working . Today I will work on it more . I did have to cut the wheels off , even with heat and air chisel , beating it and soaking it for two days no luck. I will build wheel adaptors and axle extensions to weld back on. This is my very first transaxle attempt .
So far I feel good about it

 

[Don Campbell]

The transaxle is now clean , I have a broken shifting fork and i will reweld it . Next I will weld new axle extensions on that I had to cut off because they were rust welded on. I will also build new wheel adaptors for the larger 4 bolt rims with the larger 20 inch tires. My mini tire changer arrived yesterday so I have to get the stand built for that too. The #3 jd 110 is now painted and back together so i will post a couple pics of that later this afternoon. My round fender trailer project is on hold . My new Handy 1000 lb air lift table still has not arrived but I am very excited to get it. My mini workshop really puts out a lot of projects for it's limited size.
This is my first time tearing apart a transaxle. If I fail at repairing it , it was still a great learning experience to see how they work.

 

[Don Campbell]

Another project pulled out of the shop , let it set a couple weeks now before fine sanding and buffing it out.
One day next week I'll pull all three 110's out for the first pic of them side by side. This one will get the snowblower mounted on it ,
THINK SNOW

 

[Don Campbell]

My next project progress, I got the transaxle back in the frame and I am deciding what tire combination to put on it for snowplowing. Considering it was bound for the junkyard I am very happy how it is looking. Still needs to be rewired, carb issues, so I am getting there.

 

[porschedude996TT]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

...The excitement was soon over as a few people complained to me I won...

Shame on them! So what if it was your first year. You are the one with the huge amount of talent.

So if Michael Angelo and been in hiding from the world and came out suddenly, would his contemporaries discounted his talent. Would the world put him in the ice box until he paid his time? Heck No, he had talent. He is what he is and you are what you are.

So when Tiger Woods hit when he did and did so well, should his wins not counted because he was a newbee? Heck No...

Those that complained may have some talent, but the reason they complain is because you are so good and that they think that they should rated higher because they have entered in previous events. Well isn't the award for the singular event happening that year? There is no accumulative factor in the award.

Go for it Don, you have a huge amount of talent.

 

[Don Campbell]

Thanks ,
that is very kind to say .

 

[Don Campbell]

With the larger wheels now in place it is time to re-design the front end . I raised the fenders about 8 inches and am building a right side console with new controls . Also I will mount four new headlights for night snowplowing.
Until yesterday I still did not like the looks of this project. But starting today I can now see it is going to look much more like I imagined.
You still have to use your imagination too at this point
Life is GOOD !!

 

[188slo50]

Anymore build info on the belly blade for the 110 u did. I pm'd but never heard back

 

[Don Campbell]

Sorry,
I got so many projects going and several people asking me how to build different things and there just isn't enough time in the day .

 

[Don Campbell]

I should explain more that for 18 years I built models and everyday I had e-mails from people wanting me to explain to them how to make models . It is very time consuming but I tried to tell them. It took so much time but I did it. Now the models are done I just want to share what I do now with a few pics each week . I hope you can get a few ideas from my weekly photos.
Thanks

 

[Don Campbell]

Todays progress shows the new side console with all new levers and switches. Also I did not like the lug tires on the back so I mounted these 23x10.50x12's on . I like these much better.
This will be decaled with the Bolens name on the side

 

[188slo50]

I should explain more that for 18 years I built models and everyday I had e-mails from people wanting me to explain to them how to make models . It is very time consuming but I tried to tell them. It took so much time but I did it. Now the models are done I just want to share what I do now with a few pics each week . I hope you can get a few ideas from my weekly photos.
Thanks

I don't want you to tell me how to do it, I just wanted some more pics of it do to the excellent job that was done. Sorry I took up your time.

 

[Don Campbell]

Todays pics show the rear frame section now looking better. It was a rusty mess, I cut out the old steel and welded in new. It had no battery and the wiring was 80% gone. I still have to rewire everything. I also got more use out the the tire changers yesterday .
So nice to be able to these without going to the tire store and dishing out $20.00 a pop. The small tire changer came with way too much slop in the stand so i made some shims that fit in the side and end and it made it much nicer to use.

 

[Bears Fan]

Your a mad evil genius slaving away in your lab...l love this thread!

 

[Don Campbell]

Ha, Ha, Ha Very funny !!
I bought this horizontal / vertical bandsaw 20 years ago and only used it five times . Since I have been puttering with the garden tractors I really enjoy having it around.
I used the saw this morning to cut some square tubing to extend the rear frame 5 inches.
Here is a picture of the blade I will put on this rig. It is from the walk behind snowplow I made last year. But I figure why walk when
I can ride

 

[burleyfarm]

Another project pulled out of the shop , let it set a couple weeks now before fine sanding and buffing it out.
One day next week I'll pull all three 110's out for the first pic of them side by side. This one will get the snowblower mounted on it ,
THINK SNOW

Boy that looks great Don. Can't believe its the same tractor.

 

[Don Campbell]

Thanks !
Todays picture shows the muddy , gritty stuff still coming out of the gas tank. But each time it gets better as now it will come out the bottom of the tank. Before it would only come out the top . PB blaster , continuing to rattle around 30 or so nuts inside and a little gas / diesel fuel mixture is slowly cleaning it .

 

[taumac]

Wow, Just read whole thread. Simply amazing work! I love the fact you do all this in a small shop with basic shop tools.

5 Stitches Garage
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211899
Florida GJ Group
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=117

 

[Don Campbell]

Thanks ,
Yes it is the size of a one car garage and my tools are very basic.
I like to encourage others they can do all kinds of projects in a one car garage .
Today I moved to the dash and tore out the old dash and am working on something that looks much nicer. The pics show the old and the new

 

[taumac]

Well Don, you gone way beyond encouraging it. You flat out showed it. A shocking statement was the old Lincoln buzz box and your use of flux core while others use migs and tig. I gonna have to read up on some your tips for using flux.

5 Stitches Garage
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211899
Florida GJ Group
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=117

 

[Don Campbell]

Flux core and buzzbox is in my price range !! I do what I have to do with the limited budget . I just did it and never really thought about it. I love the buzzbox and use it almost everyday. Just proves us guys with no money can still have fun in the workshop.

 

[Don Campbell]

I got the new dash painted and it looks better than the old one.

 

[Don Campbell]

I decided today to go ahead and build a smaller snowblade for this project.
This 48 in. is perfect and much lighter for this light duty Bolens machine.
You can see I can only bend 48 inches wide with my small bender

 

[Don Campbell]

You can see I have re-designed the front lift brackets and removed the old side lift style. I also changed the lift handle to be much closer . Today I should get the plow frame built and attached to the blade.

 

[Don Campbell]

Today I got the plow frame all built and the blade all welded up with the pivot brackets. Now grinding and sanding getting ready for some paint.
Also raised the blade the first time , it worked great
I lightened this blade by 40 lbs compared to the other one.

 

[Don Campbell]

Today I got the plow frame sanded and painted . I will sand and paint the blade this afternoon .

 

[taumac]

Do you take a break or sleep. Great work done really quick.

5 Stitches Garage
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211899
Florida GJ Group
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=117

 

[PCO6]

I love your work so don't take this wrong. 100 years from now you are going to drive the archaeologists crazy. They'll be scouring old John Deere catalogues and asking ..."Who was this Don Campbell guy and where did he find this stuff?"

 

[Don Campbell]

Thanks ,
ha,ha, very funny and true !!!
I got the new blade painted and now I am starting the process of figuring out the wires. They were ripped out !!

 

[Bighead38]

The cat bulldozer is amazing