Hijack!

[Chet]

On 7/3/2022 at 8:59 PM, Coop said:

Not only the veneer lamination but the use of the threaded rod to spread the glue.

I have done the veneer lamination on a number of projects and it works great.  But to take it on step further after I flush up the veneer, I put a real small chamfer on the veneer edge.  It gives a much nicer appearance then what he ended up with in the video and it makes it pretty much impossible to tell that there is a veneer.

[Coop]

I remember you saying this and plan to use your idea. Thanks

[BonPacific]

So my old lawn tractor finally broke badly enough (transaxle) I've given up on trying to fix it. At this point I think we're just going to try and buy something new, 95% likely to be a zero turn after we rented one to get the lawn mowed last weekend.

Anyone have any recommendations? Brands/lines to avoid? I have no interest in bells and whistles, and while I'll do maintenance the less of it necessary the better. I'm looking for the Honda Civic of riding mowers.

[Tom King]

How much grass do you have to cut?  I would say, from experience, to stay away from box store mowers.

[JohnG]

The “entry level” ztrs are probably all about equal. There’s a jump up in quality when you get to the “prosumer” level and then a huge jump when you get into the commercial mowers. 

[pkinneb]

My only advice would be try to get one with some suspension on it. They are quick but that means you also get beat up more then a rider. My JD Z445 is about 10 years old and going strong with just oil changes, greasing, etc and of course blade sharpening. 

[wtnhighlander]

For consumer grade, I'd recomment John Deer. The suggestion to go with suspension is good, but you can get at least some benefit from just lowering the tire pressure.

Also, consider your lawn's configuration when assessing the deck setup. We inherited a Ferris ZT, 48" deck, that mows the open & flat areas about 1.5 times as fast as my JD yard tractor with 56" deck can do. But the Ferris deck doesn't extend past the wheels, so it is useless for edging under fences or low shrubs. Forget about the road-side drainage ditch, too. And the fixed roll bar makes it worthless under any tree branches below 6' of clearance. So, the old JD stays, to do all the things the ZT can not.

One more feature to consider. Most decks wider than 36" use a three-blade configuration. Consumer machines often use a single, very long, V belt in a 'serpentine' arrangement to drive all three spindles. This is a terrible way to abuse a V belt, and makes them wear quickly. Look for a deck that either uses multiple V belts and no turn-backs, or a flat belt intended for serpentine use. At least look for the fewest turnbacks you can find. V belts do NOT like bending backwards.

Edited July 19, 2022 by wtnhighlander
... another thought.

[Tpt life]

Entry level collection attachments also tend to be awful. Ross just gave you a good feature set to consider, as brands are a lot less black or white than they used to be. All my pro mowing on ZTR mowers was on Exmark. My boss always hated that budget decision, because at the time no collection was offered for those machines. That was institutional…all decisions made far higher up the chain. 

[BonPacific]

On 7/18/2022 at 5:58 PM, Tom King said:

How much grass do you have to cut?  I would say, from experience, to stay away from box store mowers.

1.5-2 acres roughly, with a good mix of hills and trees.

Agreed on the box store issues... I love the Kubota I rented, but I'm just not in a position right now to buy an $8k mower as much as I would love to. Been keeping an eye out for older commercial equipment, but those are usually run into the ground before being sold so no diamonds in the ruff yet. Any sense how the farm-store models compare to the box stores? The local dealers seem to be having the same overall stock issues the box stores have, even on the same models. There's enough ever-so-slightly-different SKUs out there to make your eyes spin.

On 7/19/2022 at 5:19 AM, Tpt life said:

Entry level collection attachments also tend to be awful.

I never bother with collection anyways. I always mulch, and don't mind a little straw on the lawn either. I'm not looking for a golf course.

On 7/18/2022 at 7:26 PM, wtnhighlander said:

And the fixed roll bar makes it worthless under any tree branches below 6' of clearance. So, the old JD stays, to do all the things the ZT can not.

Yeah, I nearly flipped the Kubota ZT I rented because I forgot to flip down the rollbar when mowing the orchard. Thankfully it was an educational mistake and not a life-altering one.

On 7/18/2022 at 7:26 PM, wtnhighlander said:

One more feature to consider. Most decks wider than 36" use a three-blade configuration. Consumer machines often use a single, very long, V belt in a 'serpentine' arrangement to drive all three spindles. This is a terrible way to abuse a V belt, and makes them wear quickly. Look for a deck that either uses multiple V belts and no turn-backs, or a flat belt intended for serpentine use. At least look for the fewest turnbacks you can find. V belts do NOT like bending backwards.

This is good to know. Thanks!

[Tom King]

Get the widest one you can fit between everything.  I wouldn't take a used commercial mower.  My mower wouldn't fit between some of the shrubbery at the rental house, but my solution for that was to pull some bushes up. 

  Cost is a tradeoff of time more than anything else.  I can cut 2 acres in less than a half hour if there is a lot of stuff to go around, or 10 minutes if it's open and smooth.  We have one two acre field that's smooth, and it took more than 45 minutes with a 48" garden tractor type mower, but is less than 10 with this one. This mower cost double what you don't want to spend though.

I would buy from a dealer that you like that's closest to you.  The farm store mowers look close to the same as box stores.

This 72" deck does have a single belt, and the 35hp motor pulls one belt to run everything, but the belts are very substantial, stronger even than the fan belt on my diesel truck.  I would have liked to have a pto shaft to a geared deck, but you can't find everything you want in any one mower.

It doesn't have suspension, but does have an air ride seat, so it's not so bad.  I almost wanted a Ferris with the suspension, but they didn't have steerable front wheels that will hold a sidehill like this Cub Cadet will.

[legenddc]

Back to work after a week off so why not post here instead of responding to all my emails? 

Last week we spent a few days in PA and took the kids to Hersey Park. I can't believe how brave our kids are. They've done little kids rides at the beach and just a month ago rode the teacups. Last week was their first time on roller coasters and they (almost 5 and 7.5 years old) did a coaster with a loop and one with a 96' drop. My daughter (7) was freaked out after the loop one but I think she would do it again given the chance.

After PA we came home and went to a Water Park and then finally relaxed some on Friday only to go get a piece of furniture from my parent's house and organize our basement. Pulled out a ton of stuff to sell and give away.

Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon working on the 10% of the molding I never did after we got our floors redone in March... Of course it's going to take 90% of the time to do it. Having to lengthen the door jambs by about an inch. Once that's installed, filled/sanded and painted I can install the last of the quarter round. Trying to get it all done soon so I can pick up on the TV stand that's been untouched since March.

[legenddc]

Rough tickets at today’s Nats game..

[Mark J]

Today's Grilling Tip:

I got tired of my eyeglasses being spattered with oil and grease whenever we grill.  Now I don a cheap pair of clear OTG safety glasses, which solves the problem.  And nothing elevates your grill glam like wearing safety glasses.  

[Mark J]

Spring type clothespins.   

I bought a pack of these eons ago for some school project, probably gluing popsicle sticks. 

Somewhere along the line I discovered these made great closures for an open bag of chips/cookies or a twist tie replacement for a bag of bread.   They get a lot of use in pur house.

But now comes something completely different.  A collar clip to keep your hoodie from falling off the hangar.  This obviates having to zip up the hoodie while trying to hang it.

And when the hoodie is in use the clothespin clips to the hangar awaiting the hoodie's return.

If your jacket has a snap at the collar that's easier, but hoodies don't.  

[Coop]

Can someone that’s smarter than me tell me the difference in these .

DeWalt DC9096 NiCd 2.4 Ah battery for $76.00 ea.

and

Off brand DC9096 NiMh 4.6 Ah, 2 for $40.00

[wtnhighlander]

Uhhh, one has 'Dewalt' stamped on the side?

[wtnhighlander]

Hey Coop, I just noticed the off-brand is Nickel-Metal-Hydride. That is a different type of battery tech. Nice comparison article here.

[JohnG]

From teardown videos I’ve seen, some of the off brand batteries are decent and some are sketchy. To me, saving $50 isn’t worth the risk of burning down my house. Dubious claims about capacity are probably the only thing that is guaranteed. 

[Coop]

My drill and sawzall both use this battery. Today, while cutting back some banana plants for a friend, I encountered a Yellowjacket nest and dropped the sawzall while fleeing. The bottom case of the battery broke off and there were several small batteries similar in size to the 123A. The battery is 7 years old and is a DeWalt. From the description, can you tell which kind it is? 

[Tom King]

I bought a couple of those off brand batteries for Makita tools off ebay.  One worked okay, but doesn't work as long as the ah's imply compared to OEM ones.  The other one was getting hot enough to smell the first time I put it on the charger, and by the time I could get to it, smoke had started to pour out.  I threw it out in the yard.  It didn't catch fire, but I expect if it had stayed on the charger much longer something spectacular would have happened.  I quit using the other one too, and put them both in the recycling box at HD.

[Coop]

Two old adages come to mind:

You get what you pay for

If it’s too good to be true,........ 

I guess I’d better opt for the DeWalt! 

[BonPacific]

I'd be more inclined to get a re-built name-brand battery than a brand new off-brand. If you have any old batteries that still work but just don't hold much charge there are places that will swap in new cells (I know Interstate batteries will do it, but haven't tried them personally). A hungry tool like a sawszall in particular I wouldn't risk it. Those things can push the limits of even the name-brand options.

[Coop]

 I hot glued the broken case back together, being the tight wad I am, and it works well. I date with a marker, just about everything and this was purchased in 2015 so prob not much life left. If I can get 7 years out of a new DeWalt, good money spent and it will prob outlast me. Thanks all. 

[Tpt life]

Off brand are a craps shoot. I have had an equal number of high performers and low performers. The low performers were never about the cells. The low performers were always a failure in the case. That’s just my experience, and that experience causes me to look for reviews. 

[legenddc]

You might want to look at the Dewalt 18v to 20v battery adapter so you can run lithium ion batteries. Would help you transition to the 20v tools to if anything breaks.