Continuing Thread: What Are You Fix-It'ing Today?

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

The luxury of mowing lawns with a Honda mower...

I love the sound of a Honda engine.

I know Bill, right?

Got that sucker up and running in about 10 minutes. Hardest part was trying to loosen the oil filler cap - had to use a pair of pliers...lol....

Mowed beautifully!

Originally Posted by mthomas58

After years of tightening and replacing loose and lost nuts on a wobbly and dangerous garage attic pull down stairs I overhauled as follows:

Hi Mark....really appreciate your post & photos more than you know! I did a little work on the one at Mom's earlier this year with the intention of continuing once it cooled off a little - so perfect timing!

I was looking at replacement stairs too, but ultimately decided that repairing what she has now would be the easiest fix.

I have some bent brackets and might just replace those as a start....but also not a fan of some of the fasteners....

[Baz]

As busy as I have been with repairs from the hurricane, I'm also trying to fit in other small projects to maintain a small sense of normalcy. Like touching up the palm tikis.....which was on my to-do list pre-Ian...

[rsrguy]

Those are cool... does it kill the tree?

[Baz]

Originally Posted by rsrguy

Those are cool... does it kill the tree?

Thanks, Guy - and no it won't hurt the tree....

[911 Rod]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

The luxury of mowing lawns with a Honda mower...

I love the sound of a Honda engine.

I've had a Honda mower for about 8 years. Although it runs well, it is a pig as far as weight goes.

[rsrguy]

Today's dust fest.. I started the drivers side with a stud gun and slide hammer directly following stripping and epoxy prime. Yesterday's pics showed the first full day of glazing putty from stem to stern finished with a solid coat of high build. Today was block the high build and touch up anything I missed yesterday. After that white sealer and orange epoxy primer. Todays epoxy coat will be blocked down to 320 then wetted to 400. Hopefully there will be enough left to allow the color to cover evenly. High build on the passenger side tomorrow.

[Alan A]

Need to swap out the rear coilover springs in the Triumph for variable rate ones.
It doesn’t like me, a 200lb+ passenger and a full tank of gas - I get horrible tire rub.
It’s tight under there so I’m struggling…

[GH85Carrera]

My old string trimmer was getting to be really hard to start when first starting it from cold. I actually looked at the thing closely and noticed one major issue, Doh!


The primer "bulb" had a major hole in it. It was the one the edger came with and I have had the Echo edger for about 10 years. The old bulb is obviously on the right, and the new one is on the left. So I ordered the bulb, and it only comes in a "kit" with an air filter, spark plug and even the fuel lines for about 14 bucks. OK,. the plug is old, and it sure never hurts to replace an old air filter.

Well "while I am in there" I could use a new string head. The old one really had to be whacked on the ground, and it had trouble feeding the line.


Yea, some wear there. No wonder the string was constantly snapping off at the hole, and I had to stop and re-thread the line.


Now how do I get the old one off? I was guessing it was a reverse thread, but YouTube to the rescue. I watch one video and the moron did say it was a reverse thread and to turn it counter clockwise. What? Lefty losey is counter-clockwise and normal. So I just took the reverse thread to heart, and used a strap wrench to get the old head to spin off. No big deal. I used the same strap wrench to put the new one on a bit snug.

Now the sting feeds with just a slight tap on the grass. I was lazy enough to just not mess with the fuel lines. It ain't broke, so why fix it? I have the rubber lines and plunk tank filter and a extra prime bulb in a baggie hanging next to the edger in the shed.


The yard is edged and mowed and I am ready for a shower!

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by Baz

I know Bill, right?

Got that sucker up and running in about 10 minutes. Hardest part was trying to loosen the oil filler cap - had to use a pair of pliers...lol....

Mowed beautifully!

Paddle shifters! Nice!

[gregpark]

I have that same mower for my smaller lawns. Great mower. Those paddles are the go pedals for self propelled. This guy I know needed money so I let him do some yard work. I showed him how the mower works and left him to it. When he was done, the lawns looked untouched. He was so intrigued with the self propelled feature he forgot the instructions to pull up on the blade activation bar after starting and just wasted gas and time. He felt really stupid and I agreed with him (in my mind). My wife said "oh well, at least the lawns got vacuumed". No they didn't! the blades are the vacuum!

[porsche930dude]

Putting wood on this trailer I got for free. It had angle iron ramps going up over the wheels for a race car. Poorly done and kinda useless. I rebuilt the sides as a utility trailer. Can also fit a car i guess a jeep or something narrow. Going to paint it tomorrow and oil the wood later. Still need to run lights and make a tailgate and fenders but its slowly progressing

[Robert Coats]

Originally Posted by Baz

I've never owned a Honda mower before and finally caved in!

FYI, all Honda mowers sold in the USA are actually made in the USA; the Honda plant in Swepsonville, NC has a foundry and casts, machines, and assembles the engine on site. The rest of the mower is also manufactured at that plant, as well as loose engines Honda sells to other equipment manufacturers, snowblowers, mini-tillers, string trimmers, a couple of 2800w generators.

Be sure to register your mower with Honda, as this will make it easier for you and a servicing dealer if warranty repairs are ever required. More important, registering means Honda has a way to contact you (by US Mail only) in the event there's a safety recall on the mower.

https://powerequipment.honda.com/registration

[A930Rocket]

Spent several hours trying to figure out if I can stuff a 12” tire with different flares on the 330.

Also, replaced the bushing/clip on the end of the transmission cable at the transmission on Ms. Rockets Tahoe.




It would not start or change gears after filling up on the way home from New Orleans last night. The tow truck driver patched it up with some electrical tape to get her home.

[mthomas58]

Bought a wheeled miter saw stand to facilitate a deck rebuild this summer but the wheels were too small and wheel base was too narrow. After dumping the saw a couple of times in transit (no saw damage thankfully) I completed several mods to safely use and move the top heavy setup.

* Changed out the 4" hard plastic wheels 7" apart with 10" pneumatic HF wheels and an 18" hand truck axle. My first attempt using 5/8" aluminum tubing, as an Amazon reviewer had done, failed. Too much weight resulted in a bent axle. Solid hand truck axle did the trick.


*Added Dewalt leg lock pin levers to make it easier to collapse the stand with the saw mounted on it.

* Built a "kick stand" that mounts to the saw table using the stock material clamps allowing temporary storage of the assembly during projects. When not in use I store the saw and stand on different shelves. Painted with Rustoleum Lagoon Blue - pretty close to Makita blue.

[mthomas58]

One more pic - I had to resize the image to post.

[Crowbob]

Well done!

What material is the ‘kickstand’ made of?

[herr_oberst]

Makita should have done that for you for as proud they are of that tool. Nicely done. Beefy!

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

Well done!

What material is the ‘kickstand’ made of?

Thanks! The kickstand is made out of scrap PT 5/4 pine. Had fun making it. The holes were in an attempt to reduce weight which in hindsight is was immaterial relative to the weight of the saw and stand at 77lbs + 10lbs+/- for the wheels and solid steel axle

[Baz]

Hey Mark - another congratulatory post on your modifications - outstanding! Makes you wonder what Makita was thinking with those little plastic wheels and narrow width! Thanks for sharing - very inspirational!

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by Baz

Hey Mark - another congratulatory post on your modifications - outstanding! Makes you wonder what Makita was thinking with those little plastic wheels and narrow width! Thanks for sharing - very inspirational!

Thanks Baz! And thanks for the attaboy on the attic stair repair as well!!

That is Makita's entry level/smallest miter saw stand. They make heavier duty models better suited for the more weight and transportation to job sites but I wanted the compact size for storage reasons. Now it fits my needs perfectly.