Not sure what today will bring, might tinker in the shop for a while, I have to go sign some checks at the airport, might be an excuse to take the little plane out for a neighborhood tour.
Not sure if I've told this or not, but a buddy's dad had 3 fabric planes. Buddy and I both worked in the heat back in the 80's. He'd call and say meet at the grass strip runway hangar after 5pm. Whoever got there first would start pre-flighting. We'd usually take the Cub, or sometimes the Super Cub, just to go on a 3K foot altitude quick jaunt....with the entry door window in the up position, so we could cool off. Man o man, did that feel good. 80mph air conditioning could cool you down quickly. I miss that. Boy, were we spoiled.
Good afternoon. We escaped frost by a smidgen last night, thought I would warm up by cutting brambles with my ancient, yet still very useful, billhook.
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The porridge powered hand tools of years gone by still appeal to me on a cold winter's day. Ironic really as yesterday I was sucking petrol (gas) out of the brush cutter, water pump and generator. They don't use that much fuel and at times can be unused for months, so decided to pay a bit more and run them in future on Alkylate. The dregs of old fuel will be used up in my Husky chainsaw, then once that has gone it too can look forward to drinking Aspen 2 stroke next year.
Wng, our Christmas tree options are also limited this year. I half heartedly suggested one to my wife that had no branches on one side. She surprised me by saying it is perfect, fits flat against the bookcases and leave plenty of room to walk past.
I can just see the Vikings trudging across the hills with some of those. I like the good idea for a 1 sided tree usage.
Warm today. 86F running A/C. Cold front coming. Need to bring bales up to front area to load. (with tractor)
Prayers for Topps and Bupps. You guys get well....and for the rest of our team.
Rich, thanks for sharing. I have my wife listening while I read your drama aloud to her.
TxDon and Caren, sorry about Gray2. There is a male cat hanging out around here if you want me to trap him for you, let me know. He's already full size.
Miller Roughneck 1e saga. So it was given to me, with the fan shroud off of the Kohler K301. It has no spark, so I need to get the flywheel off....UHGH. Both holes for attaching a puller were stripped out. 1 of them had a helicoil, but too loose to grip a bolt. I watched Taryl's video of getting flywheels off. He had about 5 engines where he used a pry bar, and hit the crank with a hammer. So I put the nut back on the threaded crank end, and tried it with my 5lb copper hammer. Nope. I put 2 opposed prybars, using a ratchet strap wrench to apply pressure while I banged it. Nope. Got my propane torch out and applied a bit of heat. Not just Nope, but I broke off the 5/8" male threads on the end of the crankshaft. Material is very grainy, like maybe cast steel, possibly cast iron. Sure didn't take much abuse. I found a video online where the same exact thing happened to a small engine mechanic, and he just drilled out the end and used a 1/2" diameter bolt to retain the flywheel. It has a taper with a keyway....I was pretty dejected/mad and at this point, it was Kyle vs the Flywheel. At first, I didn't figure my 3 fingered flywheel puller would fit so I didn't even get it out, because this flywheel is about 10"+ in diameter....but I got it out and it just barely got a grip over the teeth of the flywheel's perimeter (electric start). Maybe just holding on each finger with about .100" (2.5mm). I had to drill a new centerdrill hole in the end, and managed to get it way off of centerline...did I mention there is a frame member bar in my way, making it hard to get a good strike with the hammer, or keeping the drill straight? I got the puller on, tightened the pry bar ratchet to banjo string tight, applied more heat, tighted the $|-|it out of the puller, and with the puller's threaded shaft sticking out about an inch past the frame, I gave it a big bang, and the whole mess came crashing down. Puller, pry bars, ratchet strap, flywheel, all on the floor. Finally. I worked in a small engine shop my teen years, and I've never had one that stuck. I pulled the head off, and plenty of carbon at the top of the cylinder as expected. No gouges in cylinder wall, but it is like a #2 finish glass smooth. Remember it has a lot of blowby. I'm going to get out my dial bore gage and see what it measures. If it isn't too bad, I might just order a set of rings and run a ball hone in it. It will be a pain to remove from welder, as there is another flywheel/fan on the back of the motor attaching it to the welder end....
