So yesterday was supposed to be a quiet Easter day for my wife and I , we had no real plans which is one of the great things about being retired
. So I finally decided I was going to mow the lawn which is about 1.5 acres of our 2.5 acre property . The tool to do this is a 1986 John Deere model 330 garden tractor with a 50 " deck . Engine is a sweet 3 cylinder water cooled diesel Yanmar . And so I started mowing .
I was aprox. half way done when I looked down at the dash just to make sure nothing wrong going on and there is a mystery fluid
pouring out of the dash and all over the fender pan and my feet ! I immediately stopped and while the tractor was running slowly opened the hood . There was a small geyser of diesel fuel spraying straight up from a rubber hose that obviously had a pin hole in it . Oh well not the end of the world I'll just grab some rubber fuel line from my stash-o-parts and be done . None to be found
So off to FLAPS to get 1 ' of hose and some new clamps , got her put back together and started her up . Ran rough as I expected being a diesel had to work out some air in the line . About 2 minutes later she cleared up and all was good ........... or so I thought .
I finished mowing the front yard which is gentle rolling land . Then headed to the back which in spots is quite steep and a little rutted . I was mowing along and it seemed to me it was steering difficult
. I looked at the right front spindle and it was 3/4 of the way out of the axle !!! The external snap ring apparently decided to flee to the border
and was somewhere in the yard . So I did my best to gently mow and completed the task . Have to get another snap ring and she'll be fixed . So much for the easy day