Winter Project
 

A few years back I wrote that I would chronicle, more or less, the rebuilding of an old Toro 910 riding mower. That time is now. Btw, Mrs. C pointed out that the tires are flat, but not on the bottom.:lol:
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The backstory is that we got this from my sister when she moved from Wisconsin to Wyoming. We've had the little poop for close to twenty years and I think it has been parked outside for almost seventeen due to a broken clutch spring. Actually a belt tensioner spring that I could probably find at TSC for $1.29. It also had what my sister called a 'built in beer break'. Three quarters through a lawn mowing it would just quit and you could separate shoulder trying to get it restarted, unless you took that 15 minute break. Then it would start on the first pull. So, either a failing coil or condenser. It's getting an electronic ignition upgrade anyway.

Anywho, Mrs. C is uncomfortable running the Deere D120. It's too big and scary. So, she wants this one fixed and she'll mow when I'm away, once she has retired(Jan. 8, 2016).:tup:

It's in the garage now, awaiting my return from an extended work trip to LA.>:
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I plan to get a lot more done in the garage over the winter because I finally broke down and bought one of these.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psuojvmfhy.jpg

The most important takeaway was Mrs. C's impending retirement. Congrats, Mrs. C!

I'll be following this rebuild for sure. Your shop is a little too tidy for my liking, but I forgive you.

Please give details about the heater.

Yup, she finally set the date last week. Staying another year for another ten bucks a month on her pension wasn't worth the headache her profession has become.

I will try to rectify the situation in the shop. Shouldn't be to hard to manage.

The heater is propane, 50,000-80,000 btu. Supposed to be able to heat up to 2000 sq ft. If it can do half that, I will be working in shorts and t-shirt this winter. I'm going to snag the 20lb bottle from the trailer for now. It's been on there since 2010 and it is still close to full.

What does that mower have under the hood? I may have some parts here.

Is that heater good for an enclosed space?

It looks like a typical mr heater like they sell at princess auto weldangrind ,you can check out the owners manual on their site to see if it will work for you .I have a mr heater torpedo propane heater ,works fantastic but must be vented which is fine in my old garbage garage .The one cheese has is radiant ,no hydro required ,does work really well under the right conditions .

I should mention that where I live I can refill a 20 lb propane for $10-11.00 bucks at cosco and in my heater that is about 10 hours of heat at mid or higher setting .I had the same size in diesel -kerosene model ,the jug of kero was $27.00 and wouldn't fill the heater so probably needed 1.5 jugs ,and lasted the same hours as a single propane tank .The kero unit can be installed with a thermostat so it turns itself on and off ,but unfortunately you can't do that with my propane model .

Manual recommends some ventilation. So I crank open one of the windows and crack the service door a bit. By the time I'm ready to use it, maybe my son in laws' tires will be out of my garage and I can actually get to the service door.

Kato-All I can tell you is that it is an approximately 30 year old B & S flat head with the automatic choke and a bad crankcase gasket. It will be two weeks before I get back home to get started on it.

Bruce-Thanks for the info on what I can expect to get out of a tank. I'll still have my oil-filled radiant heater* for a backup if I plan poorly.



*If you are 3 foot away from it, you're hot. If you are 3.5 foot from it, you're cold.

I have an old mower with a twin briggs with a coffee break and near as i can tell it is valves. And it was really abused bad before I got it

Scored a rear engine JD 4 years ago so the yardman has been parked since.

Get yourself the heater I have and because of the blower your whole shop will be warm .It is a bit noisy but I only run it a few minutes at a time then shut it off as I am scared to death of it lighting up my 1920's wood floor ,saw dust insulation crappy ass garage .

I've found that a small fan behind a radiant oil heater helps a lot. I'm thinking about building a sheet metal shroud for it, to force all of the fan air through the heater.

I was considering that one, too. It was the same price, but opted for the radiant one because of the noise. My garage is attached to the house, so there would have been complaints.

I should have clarified that I meant an electric raidiant oil heater, for those who aren't familiar.

had to laugh at the comment of the d120 being too big and scary... as a deere tech, that's about the smallest I work on....LOL

I fired up the heater for grins on Saturday.:)
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It was in the sixties so it wasn't needed, just curious. Wow, does it put out the heat. I maybe having the overhead door full open just to regulate the temp in the garage.

(Note to self. Don't put face close to burner while lighting.):ohno:

That's a good way to save money from needing to get your eyebrows waxed LOL. The Midwest appears to have been having a pretty warm autumn so far. I hope it continues, but my guess is the big storm in Denver is heading that way. Don't put your heater away LOL

Got some stuff done today on the little tractor. :tup:

Amongst the walnut shells, mud dauber nests, cob webs, and dried up crud, I found an engine.:) Hood and deck are off. The deck is going to need some serious sheet metal work and lotsa welding. The short block is in the process of being pulled. Carb and cylinder head, along with some other bits, went through the ultra sonic cleaner. I had to cut the belts off and found all the idler and tension pulleys rusted solid.:ohno:

Found the fuel tank to be beyond my willingness to repair, so ordered a brand spanking new one. Also ordered a gasket kit for the engine and a rebuild kit for the carb.

The little bugger is a lot older than I thought. 1968/9 and the engine already had the Briggs & Stratton electronic ignition upgrade. Toro spec'd it.:yay:

I stopped at pulling the engine because I need a puller to pull the drive pulley from the shaft. All my pullers are in my box at the shop. So a trip was needed to our favorite store, Harbor Freight, for some new pullers. (how many times were variations of the word 'pull' used in this paragraph?):hehe:

Probably will have the engine off and in the back of the pick up before it's turkey time.

Pictures man!

You asked for it.;)

Where I left off yesterday.
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The boogered deck.
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Looking down the fuel tank. There is a good 30mm of dried out fuel in it.
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Bottom of the tank starting to separate.
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I flipped it up on the backside to work on the underside. Every one of the pulleys are frozen. There are two 6200 series bearings under the big red pulley. Every thing else is a bronze bushing. Tie rod has been broken and repaired in the past. Bent now. Will probably fab a new one.
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After yanking the front axle, I lowered the frame on my cycle jack so I can move it around the garage.
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Gonna pull the rear axle/diff and trans tomorrow. So far, the parts list has grown from the fuel tank and gasket kits to include three belts, new springs, two 6200 series bearings, tires, bushings as needed, Drive chain and probably a new seat. This little beast was only made for two years so most, if not all, model specific parts are unavailable. And I haven't even looked at the deck yet.

A bit more research done before I hit the turkey puts this as a definite 1968, model number 57051. The 1969 Toro 910 had electric start. Still trying to locate a downloadable manual for it but did find parts lists on a couple of mower parts websites.

So, there you have it.

An electric start transplant would be so nice! I was working on a Cadet 75 as a tow vehicle for Son of Weldangrind's middle school Jr. dragster team, when I came upon a Cadet 85. I moved on to the 85 simply because it had electric start.

I had the luxury of being able to ditch the deck, since it was going to have pavement duty only. I bought new sprockets from Princess Auto and re-geared it to tow a little faster, but in retrospect not nearly high enough.

From past experience, this little bugger was always a one pull and go. And the starter handle is mounted on the dash in front of the operator. And since this is for Mrs. C, the less to go wrong, the better.

I have plans of yanking the the rear axle and tranny today, but it is a really raw day. May point my efforts elsewhere.

Did just that, parked my backside in the recliner yesterday and vegetated. Hey, I'm on vacation. :D

Got nothing done today, either. Went roller skating instead and managed to screw up my back in only one lap.:wtf: 'Walked it off' by going back out on the rink. Managed about fifteen laps before tangling up my feet and went down in a face plant. At least this time I was wearing my wrist guards, not like a year ago. Only managed some 'rink rash' on one elbow and a jarring reminder that I boogered up my back.:ohno:

Now, again firmly parked in my recliner with a heating pad and some ibuprofen. Considering getting myself a finger or two of some good single malt, just for medicinal purposes. But that would require standing up. :hehe:

Do you have a dining room?

Yes. I also would like to live a long and mostly pain free life.

You said it's for Mrs. C.

You can also point out that if she REALLY cared for you, she'd want you to be warm & comfy.

:lmao:

No scotch assistant?

Can't use that one as I do have a heater in the garage. Besides, we have an agreement. HER car does not park in MY garage. MY projects do not end up in HER house.

Bit of an update. Just waiting on parts. Gasket and carb kits arrived. Still waiting on the 6203 2rs bearings(or is it 6302?). Found I can get new tires through Tractor Supply pretty reasonably. Took the frame to the shop to clean it with our heated pressure washer. Also ran the short block through the parts washer. It was gross.

Probably will do the engine over the weekend, then off to Puerto Rico for work.:ohno: I know, I know. It's a dirty thankless job but someone has to do it. They had to twist my arm. I had to help, though.:hehe:

I'm sure it is much warmer in Puerto Rico than Wisconsin. ;)

I can't understand why many of my coworkers are mad at me?

Bearings came today.

As promised, I tried out the new welder today. The 20oz Gatorade bottle is there for scale. Tiny bugger.
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This is what it is replacing. An antique.
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Here is what I'm attempting to repair. Think I bit off more than I can chew.
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Prep.
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No pictures of the repair itself because there was nothing there to fix. A quarter inch below the drilled hole, the steel was paper thin. A waste of time.

I grabbed some scrap metal and smoked a few rods. First off, I haven't used a stick welder in at least fifteen years. So, it took a bit of practice to get the hang of striking and maintaining an arc again. I was using 1/16" 6013 rod. The welder instructions states that rod of that size should use a setting from 20 to 40 amps, the rods state 20 to 50. I started at 30 found it too cold. I found that 44 amps worked well on the 1/8" scrap I was practicing on. That got me good penetration and a fairly flat, if ugly, weld. I will need to retrain myself to control the puddle to get something resembling a nice weld.

About the welder. 110 volt, small, light weight, easy to set up. Even comes with a shoulder strap. I may or may not use the strap. At this point, the machine is better than the monkey making smoke.;)

After going through Welds' thread on Linda's Utility Trailer, I read where ripcuda modified his welding cart to hold both of his units. Great Idea. As I don't have a cart, I went shopping today. Found this Lincoln cart on sale at Farm and Fleet.
http://www.farmandfleet.com/products...ding-cart.html
As both my stick welder and plasma cutter are pretty small, I can probably get both on the cart along with the flux core machine without too much hassle. That would free up some space under my bench.

BTW, the new stick welder looks lonely on the new cart. Scored some 1/16" 7018 rods on clearance, too.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...pshai32cbq.jpg

cheesy, in my experience with stick (very limited...LOL) i have found the best amperage for good penetration and ease of arc striking is usually about 10a over the recommended amperage setting....LOL although that does depend onn the thickness of the material as well... welding 20ga steel with 1/16th rod at 60 amps is like trying to weld it with a cutting torch....LOL

also and fyi i have had pretty good luck with harbor freight welding rods... they are quite cheap from what i remember too....

Nothing much happening with this at the moment. I've acquired most of the parts I need. Also got the material to mod the welding cart. Just looking for some me time. We, Mrs. C and I, have also been busy getting ready to have the kids here from Maine for the holidays. Looking forward to spending some quality time with my granddaughter. We haven't seen her for over a year. I expect much hot chocolate with whipped cream will be consumed along with a visit to the local bicycle shop. Maybe we will stick pieces of metal together.

I will admit that we both are still in a funk with Dashers' passing. We both look at his blanket on the couch to see if he is breathing then realize he isn't here anymore. Jeez, we miss him.

I can totally appreciate that. The only thing that has helped us move forward after Cooper's passing is our younger dog, Winnie.

I was home alone today so I forced myself out to the garage today. Decided I should attempt the mods to the welding cart. Got it where it will hold the flux-core and stick welders plus the plasma cutter.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psdtotwase.jpg

Still some more to do; hooks for hanging cables for each unit, tubes to hold rods, tool storage, and a place to hang my helmets and other safety gear.

Cut everything with the plasma cutter. It's the catsass for a long cut in 16ga sheet. All the welding was stick using 1/16" 7018 rod. I forgot how nice that stuff was to use. Not too shabby for two hours of eyeballing.

That's a nice outfit. It would be easy to roll the whole deal under a bench.

Thanks.
I like that idea. Too bad it won't fit under any of my benches.

That's precisely why I'm building new benches.

As this will be a green Christmas this year, I decided to take the grandkids into the garage and show them how to make snowmen and Christmas trees with the plasma cutter. I'm sure Karis will eat it up. Eli, on the other hand, will probably be more interested in my latest die cast acquisition.
1960 Falcon Ranchero.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psggkhtj5u.jpg
I learned to drive in a red 62 with a 170 six and 3 on the tree. Eli has already unpacked it.