Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[bindian]

8/10ths of rain here again today. It woke me up again. Too wet to mow here today, after my $800 fix to my zero turn mower yesterday. 3 inches total for the last 8 days.
hugs, Brandi

 

[robbyr]

8/10ths of rain here again today. It woke me up again. Too wet to mow here today, after my $800 fix to my zero turn mower yesterday. 3 inches total for the last 8 days.
hugs, Brandi

What happened to your mower?

 

[robbyr]

Jinman, thanks for the recipe. Gonna try it out. I've always done my picante sauce by pulsing in a blender. Probably little over a quart at a time. Wife got one of those magic bullets last weekend so I used it instead. Imagine I'll need to halve or third your amounts. Thanks again.

 

[Western]

Brandi, it will probably rain for the next few days there too, since I will be trying to work in Seabrook:mur: Might as well take the time and wax the zero turn.

I bought a new Thermal Dynamics cutmaster 42 plasma cutter almost 2 weeks ago and haven't even taken it out of the box!! It is either raining, work or sleep..grrrrrrr. even ordered me a nice filter too! Still need to get a few air hose connections, but that is a short trip to the hardware store.

 

[bindian]

What happened to your mower?

The left pump/motor transmission has been getting weaker over the last two years and had a seep. Best price I found online was $1082. My dealer had installed one on another customer's mower and he did not pick up the mower with a $1400 repair bill on it. So to recoup some cost, my dealer said I could have it for $800 or a new one for $925 plus tax. I chose the $800 route and used his shop's lift and air (and fan) to remove the transmission that was installed last September and has just sat.

I cut some donuts Saturday, just before dark, after getting all the linkages adjusted and tuned just right. I spun so fast to the left I felt being thrown off. It's like a new $6,000 mower now!

So with the rain, I was rained out. My son will mow this afternoon with it.
hugs, Brandi

 

[CowboyRon]

The left pump/motor transmission has been getting weaker over the last two years and had a seep. Best price I found online was $1082. My dealer had installed one on another customer's mower and he did not pick up the mower with a $1400 repair bill on it. So to recoup some cost, my dealer said I could have it for $800 or a new one for $925 plus tax. I chose the $800 route and used his shop's lift and air (and fan) to remove the transmission that was installed last September and has just sat.

I cut some donuts Saturday, just before dark, after getting all the linkages adjusted and tuned just right. I spun so fast to the left I felt being thrown off. It's like a new $6,000 mower now!

So with the rain, I was rained out. My son will mow this afternoon with it.
hugs, Brandi

I got rained out too, now the grass is too tall at my work for the zero turn. I will have to haul my mahindra to cut the field.
What kind of zero turn do you have Brandi?

 

[jinman]

Jinman, thanks for the recipe. Gonna try it out. I've always done my picante sauce by pulsing in a blender. Probably little over a quart at a time. Wife got one of those magic bullets last weekend so I used it instead. Imagine I'll need to halve or third your amounts. Thanks again.

I forgot the most important thing even after all my edits.:confused2: You have to cook the sauce s-l-o-w-l-y until it is reduced in volume by 1/3 to 1/2. That takes a long time. In my case, 5 to 6 hours. If you don't do that, your sauce will be watery and have no body. That's why a lot of people opt for canned sauce and tomato paste with a can of diced tomatoes to make chunks. Cooking from raw tomatoes is a slow and tedious process. Salsa or pico de gallo can be quick, but spaghetti sauce is slow and low on the heat, letting it simmer for hours. Even with all my "rules" for sauce, I don't think I've ever made sauce twice that it wasn't different in taste. My recipe is not tight in its contents.

It's been dry long enough that I have to start watering my garden and yard again today. By the middle of the week, we are supposed to be in triple digits again. Hot has returned.

 

[bindian]

I got rained out too, now the grass is too tall at my work for the zero turn. I will have to haul my mahindra to cut the field.
What kind of zero turn do you have Brandi?

Ron,
It's a 52 inch Hustler Fastrac with an 18 hp Honda engine.
hugs, Brandi

 

[C4Ranch]

Wow, just got back from checking out our place to see how much rain we got and was shocked to see all 3 tanks totally full. Up 6-9'!!! Yep feet. GOD sure answered a lot of prayers!

 

[jinman]

Brandi, I think you got a darn good deal on that transmission. Did the dealer indicate that they are problematic? HST type transmissions are usually very reliable. Approximately how many hours were on your old one? It sounds like many other HSTs as far as repair. They don't sell replacement parts, only the whole unit as an assembly. Still, a whole HST for under $1k ain't bad. Even high-dollar things fail. . . like nose gears on 737s.

I gotta get to the garden before it gets too hot. I promised my brother I'd bring him a goody bag of veggies today, so I have to go pick some fresh stuff for him and water anything that's gasping in this heat.

C4Ranch: Indeed! Your prayers and many others have been answered by this rain. We have more predicted this coming weekend. I put down a load of gravel on my dams and cleaned out a drainage ditch yesterday. I had not started my New Holland LB75B TLB in over a month. I put the key in and it instantly fired off. I sure love this big ol' machine, and it has been and is serving me well.

 

[bindian]

Brandi, I think you got a darn good deal on that transmission. Did the dealer indicate that they are problematic? HST type transmissions are usually very reliable. Approximately how many hours were on your old one? It sounds like many other HSTs as far as repair. They don't sell replacement parts, only the whole unit as an assembly. Still, a whole HST for under $1k ain't bad. Even high-dollar things fail. . . like nose gears on 737s.

Thanks Jim. I think I got a good deal also. I could buy the parts, but after all is said and done.......it costs more than an outright purchase and you never know if you got it right until you turn the key. My mower has about 270 hours on it. The dealer says they don't go bad and they have only changed a couple. Maybe it was having two drivers? Maybe we bumped too many trees when mowing around them?
As to the nose gear failure, I read or heard from the news about a loud bang. That tells me it was quite possibly a hard landing. Someone some where in the news also mentioned problems with a tire earlier. Nose tires are at 190 psi and could have exploded from being overheated (under pressure) or over pressured or something and caused unseen damage to the nose gear down lock actuator. But I gather the crew didn't suspect anything wrong. An unlocked downlock would give you a red (unsafe) light and not a green (down and locked) light indication on the instrument panel.
Anyway, I'm off tonight and the son and I are going to see the Astros beat the As with free tickets.
hugs, Brandi

 

[jinman]

As to the nose gear failure, I read or heard from the news about a loud bang. That tells me it was quite possibly a hard landing. Someone some where in the news also mentioned problems with a tire earlier. Nose tires are at 190 psi and could have exploded from being overheated (under pressure) or over pressured or something and caused unseen damage to the nose gear down lock actuator. But I gather the crew didn't suspect anything wrong. An unlocked downlock would give you a red (unsafe) light and not a green (down and locked) light indication on the instrument panel.
Anyway, I'm off tonight and the son and I are going to see the Astros beat the As with free tickets.
hugs, Brandi

Brandi, I heard the crew notified the tower that they had a problem with the nose gear. Somebody said they came in nose high and waited until the last instant to put the nose wheel on the runway. A tire was reported to be seen coming off and that could mean the nose wheel was canted and got scrubbed off by the tarmac before the nose gear dug in and collapsed. I'm sure we'll hear much more about it. Frankly, I think anyone who works in aviation knows that a nose gear failure is far better than any main gear failure and is also easily survivable after hours of flying in the simulators and following checklist procedures. It messes up the plane, but everyone walks away. Normally, the plane comes to a skidding stop while still on the runway since the pilot has some control with the rudder down to about 70-80 knots and then it's a matter of how well he can modulate the brakes to maintain a straight line.

 

[SandburRanch]

Brandi, I heard the crew notified the tower that they had a problem with the nose gear. Somebody said they came in nose high and waited until the last instant to put the nose wheel on the runway. A tire was reported to be seen coming off and that could mean the nose wheel was canted and got scrubbed off by the tarmac before the nose gear dug in and collapsed. I'm sure we'll hear much more about it. Frankly, I think anyone who works in aviation knows that a nose gear failure is far better than any main gear failure and is also easily survivable after hours of flying in the simulators and following checklist procedures. It messes up the plane, but everyone walks away. Normally, the plane comes to a skidding stop while still on the runway since the pilot has some control with the rudder down to about 70-80 knots and then it's a matter of how well he can modulate the brakes to maintain a straight line.

*******************************************************************
The wheel with the least traction always takes the lead. In this case the nose gear and then eventually no nose gear has the least traction so keeping the plane straight isn't too much of an issue. The main gear wheels having different traction is a whole new ball game and with one strike you are probably out.

 

[robbyr]

Brandi I hope your Astros win as it would be good for my Texas Rangers

 

[bindian]

Brandi, I heard the crew notified the tower that they had a problem with the nose gear. Somebody said they came in nose high and waited until the last instant to put the nose wheel on the runway. A tire was reported to be seen coming off and that could mean the nose wheel was canted and got scrubbed off by the tarmac before the nose gear dug in and collapsed. I'm sure we'll hear much more about it. Frankly, I think anyone who works in aviation knows that a nose gear failure is far better than any main gear failure and is also easily survivable after hours of flying in the simulators and following checklist procedures. It messes up the plane, but everyone walks away. Normally, the plane comes to a skidding stop while still on the runway since the pilot has some control with the rudder down to about 70-80 knots and then it's a matter of how well he can modulate the brakes to maintain a straight line.

Jim,
I gather they is conflicting infor out there. Both pilots and two or three flight attendants, along with passengers went to the hospital. That tells me they were not prepared for the impact.

The Associated Press said this....... there was no advance warning of any possible problem before the landing......... here NYC airport fully reopens after jet's hard landing
If they would have known of an unsafe nose gear, the airport fire department would have foamed the end of the runway.

Dallas Morning news has a video here Minor injuries reported after landing gear fails on Southwest jet in New York | Dallasnews.com - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News


When a nose gear strut (shock absorber) extends to full length after takeoff, it forces the steering to center the gear. Otherwise it would not go into the wheel well. There is some talk that before the flight something was said about a delay for a tire problem, but not which tire. So that could have been a worn main gear tire that was changed. Not sure.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

*******************************************************************
The wheel with the least traction always takes the lead. In this case the nose gear and then eventually no nose gear has the least traction so keeping the plane straight isn't too much of an issue. The main gear wheels having different traction is a whole new ball game and with one strike you are probably out.

Huh?
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Brandi I hope your Astros win as it would be good for my Texas Rangers

Always happy to help fellow Texans.:thumbsup: Especially a Texas Ranger.:laughing:
hugs, Brandi

 

[sseelhoff]

Jim,
I gather they is conflicting infor out there. Both pilots and two or three flight attendants, along with passengers went to the hospital. That tells me they were not prepared for the impact.

The Associated Press said this....... there was no advance warning of any possible problem before the landing......... here NYC airport fully reopens after jet's hard landing
If they would have known of an unsafe nose gear, the airport fire department would have foamed the end of the runway.

Dallas Morning news has a video here Minor injuries reported after landing gear fails on Southwest jet in New York | Dallasnews.com - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News


When a nose gear strut (shock absorber) extends to full length after takeoff, it forces the steering to center the gear. Otherwise it would not go into the wheel well. There is some talk that before the flight something was said about a delay for a tire problem, but not which tire. So that could have been a worn main gear tire that was changed. Not sure.
hugs, Brandi

That pilot wasn't Som Ting Wong, was it?

 

[jinman]

Woohoo! I just finished mowing my grass and got run inside by a downpour. Radar shows it won't last long, but it's a nice soaking.:thumbsup:

 

[bindian]

I heard this morning the nose gear collapsed backwards and up into the fuselage, taking out the forward avionics racks in the main electronic and electrical compartment behind the nose gear well. The photo in this article Southwest Airlines Flight 345's nose gear "collapsed rearward," NTSB says - CBS News shows the gear, minus both tires and the left tire's (#1) axle. So just looking at the photo and knowing the gear normally retracts forward and up..........I'd guess the pilot wheelbarrowed the nose gear into the runway for a nose gear hard landing. Even if it was metal fatigue, the gear would only go backward on a wheelbarrow landing. If just the drag brace broke, normal landing procedures would let the gear retract forward and up into the wheel well. So I guess this pilot's name is Ino Flare or Iauger Nose.
hugs, Brandi