Quaranitne Garage Projects!

[Stephen Hawking]

33 minutes ago, Rigid1 said:

On the bold, why the fuck are you taking a deck on and off?? But a set of ramps, chain fall, harbor freight jack?? Or if it's just a garden tractor pick it up and put it on its ass. A simple service should take you an hour at the most..

I always take the deck off every spring, give it a good wire brushing and tend to any rust spots before I coat it with a graphite spray. It's not that hard to remove once a year but I don't remove it to sharpen blades alone. 

[irv]

2 hours ago, Stephen Hawking said:

I always take the deck off every spring, give it a good wire brushing and tend to any rust spots before I coat it with a graphite spray. It's not that hard to remove once a year but I don't remove it to sharpen blades alone. 

What graphite spray are you using and how does it hold up?

Every fall, and sometimes throughout the season, I'll spray my deck down with Rust Check or Krown rustproofing spray but considering the environment it is in, I don't think it lasts too long? My preferred time is in the fall after the last mowing. That way it has all winter to soak in then a quick blast/coat in the spring and I'm ready to go again. I also try to keep the underside cleaned out but that is only done once a month depending on how moist/wet the grass is when I cut it.

[Stephen Hawking]

46 minutes ago, irv said:

What graphite spray are you using and how does it hold up?

Every fall, and sometimes throughout the season, I'll spray my deck down with Rust Check or Krown rustproofing spray but considering the environment it is in, I don't think it lasts too long? My preferred time is in the fall after the last mowing. That way it has all winter to soak in then a quick blast/coat in the spring and I'm ready to go again. I also try to keep the underside cleaned out but that is only done once a month depending on how moist/wet the grass is when I cut it.

It was something i got from napa, called Macs dry graphite spray. Pretty sure PB blaster makes it too.

Seemed to hold up pretty well, noticeably less grass sticking when i went to sharpen the blades during the season. It was reasonably cheap so i gave it a shot.

[irv]

1 hour ago, Stephen Hawking said:

It was something i got from napa, called Macs dry graphite spray. Pretty sure PB blaster makes it too.

Seemed to hold up pretty well, noticeably less grass sticking when i went to sharpen the blades during the season. It was reasonably cheap so i gave it a shot.

Thanks.  Might just have to give that stuff a try. I assume that pic is right after you sprayed it?

[Stephen Hawking]

1 hour ago, irv said:

Thanks.  Might just have to give that stuff a try. I assume that pic is right after you sprayed it?

Yes, was having a beer and doing the oil change while that sat there.

[DriftBusta]

7 hours ago, Stephen Hawking said:

I always take the deck off every spring, give it a good wire brushing and tend to any rust spots before I coat it with a graphite spray. It's not that hard to remove once a year but I don't remove it to sharpen blades alone. 

I took my 60" deck off the tractor a couple weeks ago.  Aside from the fact that its a heavy whore, floor jack and a ratchet strap to lift and hold the deck up, and its pretty easy.  I hadn't sharpened my blades in 3 years and it showed.    They were heavy bitches though, not bent, just dull.

[irv]

1 minute ago, DriftBusta said:

I took my 60" deck off the tractor a couple weeks ago.  Aside from the fact that its a heavy whore, floor jack and a ratchet strap to lift and hold the deck up, and its pretty easy.  I hadn't sharpened my blades in 3 years and it showed.    They were heavy bitches though, not bent, just dull.

Question? Does everyone sharpen their blades razor blade like (you get the idea) or leave them just slightly dull? I always thought sharp sharp as it would be a cleaner, healthier cut for the grass but my older than me boss by almost 15 yrs said, never do that. Slightly dull, which is subjective of course, was always better he said? 

[DriftBusta]

I'm no landscaper, but don't know that I buy that.  I used a grinding wheel to get them as sharp as possible.  They came out mint.

Edited April 18, 2020 by DriftBusta

[Stephen Hawking]

I grind sharp as well, doesn’t take long to dull them up anyway. 

I keep several sets so I can just switch them out and sharpen when I get around to it, have a high lift set for doing leaves in the fall. 

[DriftBusta]

11 minutes ago, Stephen Hawking said:

I grind sharp as well, doesn’t take long to dull them up anyway. 

I keep several sets so I can just switch them out and sharpen when I get around to it, have a high lift set for doing leaves in the fall. 

I should get one with all the friggin leaves I get.  Plus I have a chain link fence around the back of the property, so they always collect back there.  But since I moved in 5 years ago, I've cut more than 20 trees down there, and another couple big ones 2 weeks ago, so I'm just trying to eliminate the leaves at the source.  My tractor has a bagger, but at peak leave time, literally 2 passes around the yard and it has to be emptied or it clogs up. 

[Rigid1]

1 hour ago, irv said:

Question? Does everyone sharpen their blades razor blade like (you get the idea) or leave them just slightly dull? I always thought sharp sharp as it would be a cleaner, healthier cut for the grass but my older than me boss by almost 15 yrs said, never do that. Slightly dull, which is subjective of course, was always better he said? 

The sharpest edge you can get but still have the edge fairly thick if that makes sense. Kinda hard to explain. It you had a thin razor sharp edge it will dull Extremely quick. I'm sharpening my blades every 2 weeks, and I have carbide edges on my blades, imbedded about a half inch into the cutting edge of the blade.

And one more thing if you guys are home sharpening your blades, make sure you balance them, you will tear up spindle bearings real quick with an out of balance blade. Just a nail in a stud in your garage wall, hold the blade at 3&9 O'Clock, which ever end drops take some more material off. A company called Oregon makes a blade balance tool, I think it's like $12 or something.

 

I did this stuff 2 weeks ago, but I like talking mowing..lol..New steering dampeners, one was blown out I'm sure the other was shortly on its way also so replaced them both and did a new seat..

Edited April 18, 2020 by Rigid1

[s pump]

3 hours ago, irv said:

Question? Does everyone sharpen their blades razor blade like (you get the idea) or leave them just slightly dull? I always thought sharp sharp as it would be a cleaner, healthier cut for the grass but my older than me boss by almost 15 yrs said, never do that. Slightly dull, which is subjective of course, was always better he said? 

They come from the factory sharp as fuck. I sharpen as sharp as possible. Only down side is they dull easier when super sharp. I keep a set sharp and swap them a couple time a season. My lawn is glorious. Blade speed is the real key to a good healthy lawn IMO.

[irv]

Just now, s pump said:

They come from the factory sharp as fuck. I sharpen as sharp as possible. Only down side is they dull easier when super sharp. I keep a set sharp and swap them a couple time a season. My lawn is glorious. Blade speed is the real key to a good healthy lawn IMO.

I've had my mulching mower for likely 10+ yrs now and I think I have only sharpened the blades a couple of times? There use to be a mobile sharpening guy driving around who would ring his bell to let everyone know he was around but I haven't seen him in a couple of years? I was hoping to get him to do it as I'm sure it would be done properly but I'll tackle it again before the first mow, which is likely coming up real soon?

Do you use a file, mini grinder or Dremel tool? I think I've just used a big flat file/rasp and got it pretty good but likely a Dremel or something similar would be better?

[s pump]

3 minutes ago, irv said:

I've had my mulching mower for likely 10+ yrs now and I think I have only sharpened the blades a couple of times? There use to be a mobile sharpening guy driving around who would ring his bell to let everyone know he was around but I haven't seen him in a couple of years? I was hoping to get him to do it as I'm sure it would be done properly but I'll tackle it again before the first mow, which is likely coming up real soon?

Do you use a file, mini grinder or Dremel tool? I think I've just used a big flat file/rasp and got it pretty good but likely a Dremel or something similar would be better?

I use a bench grinder. Use the coarse wheel to rough shape them then the finer wheel to get em sharp and balanced. The grider has a notch in the rest to keep the angle uniform. Most landscape guys sharpen weekly.

[Momorider]

On 4/16/2020 at 2:01 PM, Carlos Danger said:

It is used in machining for measurements of height mainly. It is a granite block that is 24x24x6 inches that is flat within 1  50 millionths across the top surface.

 

[Momorider]

On 4/16/2020 at 5:56 PM, irv said:

I was a Mobil guy for a while but then did some research on it, mainly from the bob is the oil guy forum, and found it wasn't any better, and in fact not as good as some oils that could be purchased for less money.

No fear of your engine grenading on it or anything like that, but for the price of it, especially up here, I switched to Pennzoil a while back and haven't looked back.

The VOA's and UOA's, from what I seen looked much better from Pennzoil than they did from Mobil. Full 5 qt jugs are still cheaper than Mobil's 4.4 Lt jugs up here.

Yah it's nothing back in the 80's you could barely even find Mobile 1 in Canada

Edited April 18, 2020 by Momorider

[Stephen Hawking]

6 hours ago, DriftBusta said:

I should get one with all the friggin leaves I get.  Plus I have a chain link fence around the back of the property, so they always collect back there.  But since I moved in 5 years ago, I've cut more than 20 trees down there, and another couple big ones 2 weeks ago, so I'm just trying to eliminate the leaves at the source.  My tractor has a bagger, but at peak leave time, literally 2 passes around the yard and it has to be emptied or it clogs up. 

 

 

If there is a ton of leaves i usually chop them up a bit first, if not I'm constantly emptying the bagger like you said.