CC_Ranger

My step daughter lives in Saint Petersburg. They lost power yesterday, had a bit of wine damage to their fence and shed, but other than that made it through it fine. Granddaughter asked when I was coming to fix the fence, wife told her she would be there next week, but I won't be there till thanksgiving, granddaughter replied, "well then grandma, you bring pop's toolbox and fix the fence! They moved in with the in laws today since they have a whole house generator. This was the best outcome we could have hoped for with this storm.

My target date is the end of October. With good sunny days, the solar gain in the house works great. Days of clouds and rain really cool off the house. I heat mostly with wood and once I light the stove, I like to keep it going, rather than having it and the chimney go through the heating/cooling cycles. Should be able to get close this year, both the wife and I will be away the middle two weeks of the month, so it will only be the last week to worry about. Need to exercise the heat pump anyway, so might as well use it to take off the chill.

That hay accumulator is cool, a different take on a New Holland style machine. Not too many machines like that around here. Most guys used wagons behind a blast with a thrower. I'm not sure the current safety culture would let a machine like that be sold now a days, no railings, no guards around the chain, no cab for the driver. We have a DewEze slope mower at one of the dams. Interesting machine, hydraulic driven wheels in line like a bike, wide 6' mower deck underneath, mower follows the slope while the "cycle" part stays upright and plumb.

They are called barrel keys. A good locksmith should be able to make one for you, it just might be a different shape on the end. Harleys use a key lime this also.

That is a cool video! Loved the GMC tandem axle tractor hauling the combine heads. There were several Massey dealers in this area in the 70's. I don't recall seeing any crawlers, but I know of several industrial utility loader tractors still in operation.

A little bit of everything at that show. I hope your daughter liked it. The Turkey Hill ice cream experience is pretty neat, we took my niece and nephew the other year. I didn't make it on Friday, got tied up at work getting ready for a big assessment this week.

Tim, I will be going past you next Tuesday. I will be working at the lakes above Mansfield for the rest of the week. This is a great post, haven't been to the falls since I was a kid in the 70's.

I am planning on Rough and Tumble on Friday. I am about 25 miles from Hershey in western Berks County. A lot of good suggestions in the previous posts. If you have time the Amish experience your is very worthwhile, and would be great for your daughter. Have a great trip!

Was that from the Praxair display/tent? Every year at Ag Progress Days, I check out the Dewalt specials, but never buy anything. Last year I finally went with a wad of cash in my pocket and then they didn't have anything on special that I was interested in buying. I'm going to Ag Progress Days next Wednesday. It is always a day for me, and a day away from work, even if I'm not in the market or don't buy anything. I look forward got it every year.

Art, That was what I was afraid of when I typed my title!

Anyone know of a lawn mower savage yard that specializes in Hustler machines. We have a super Z ATZ zero turn at work that has a tilting seat that is set up to mow slopes such as dams and dikes. The machine works great. Hustler dropped production of this machine several years ago. We were worried about what we would replace it with when it dies and thought If we saw a used one we would pick it up. I ran across one this weekend, a couple of years newer than ours with less hours, first thing Monday morning we bought it. The machine is the same except the new one has a Kohler 27 hp engine instead of the Kawasaki 31 hp on the old one, but the main difference is that it does not have the tilting seat. We spoke to the dealer and he told us that they only offered the tilting seat for a couple of years, there are no parts available, and our best chance of setting it up would be to find a savage yard. Of course, he didn't have any to send us to. Any info or leads would be appreciated.

I spent an afternoon there the year Red Power was in Huron, SD. Didn't get a chance to meet Stu, he was at Red Power that week. It was a great collection and his story on how he got into IH stuff was interesting. I don't remember exactly, but if I recall correctly it had something to do with the local IH dealer extending him credit for trucks and construction equipment. He was in the excavation business in New England, Massachusetts I think, and the dealer would carry him through the winter months and that sold him on IH. If I am way off base on the story, someone correct me.

Article says that the beef cattle handle the mowing. Yes, Tim, I was talking about Ray's mower service.

I knew of one under an M, guy kept it mounted all year. I always thought it would be very convenient to use for mowing. I had one in a Cub, but with no live PTO, it was a PITA, so I traded it off. We had a hydraulic run one on a Ford backhoe at work, but took it off the machine, it got in the way when using the tractor for backhoe/loader work.

Great article, not too far from Bitty. There used to be a garden tractor/lawn motor salvage yard outside of Boyertown, PA. I used to make an annual trip there each spring to see what was new. Spring was the best time to go, in the summer stuff was all buried in the weeds. No order to anything, but if you asked for something, he would point you in the right direction. He retired and New owners cleaned up a bit, but also posted it " no tresspassing" said that their insurance company would not allow people to walk around the yard. The place is still in business, but I haven't been there in years. I miss the good old days!

Thanks for the info and pictures.

Tell me some more about this dipstick kit. First I have heard about it. I found out I didn't have a dipstick in my '15 Silverado when I went to add the additive to correct the shifting issues. Surprise, surprise! Did have the dealer flush it and add new fluid, that helped for a while.

That M with the New Idea picked takes me back to the '70's. The 1200 4x4 long bed stepside also takes me back. The township had one in the aqua/blue color rigged up with a Meyers plow that I waited to see after every snowstorm as a kid. Thanks for the great pictures!

Nice looking truck! What motor and trans do you have in it? That will most likely be my next truck. Don't know what to expect moving to a 2500. My '15 Silverado with the 6.2 and the 8 speed averages mid 17 for overall driving over the past 61k miles. On the way to Michigan every fall I am right around 20 mpg,if I would keep my speed to 65 I would be low 20's, but I right around 80 once I get out of Pennsylvania. Even with the max trailering package, the rear suspension is just not set up for trailers. I plan on waiting another 2 years or so when inventories are back up.

I'd like to see some more shots of "Jaws". Is that homemade also? I could use something like that to lift bolts onto my splitter. Nice job on the processor! When I am getting my wood together for the next season I always wish I had a processor, but the majority of the year when it would just sit around makes it that it can't pencil out. There is a company near by that rents out units, I thought about renting one for a week to get everything done, but then it becomes a schedule issue to take vacation and fit it in with everything else, I don't want to rent it and have it just sit. My next upgrade for firewood will be a push through typos splitter, hopefully with a log lift. The Timberwolfe brand and similar are very pricy, so I am keeping my eyes open for a used one. There is an online brand, Rugged, that is more affordable, but I wonder about support.

U-C, Thanks for the update. I will have to do a search on them and see if there are any dealers in Pennsylvania. that Terratrac looks very versatile.

Thanks for sharing. I have been aware of their products for a while. I found them while doing a search to slope mowers when looking for equipment for mowing levees and dam embankments. I don't think that they have much exposure or support in the US.

I loaned my 16' flatbed one time to my brother in law, key word being once! Trailer came back with a bunch of issues, the pins holding the ramps in place were bent at a 30 degree angle, he didn't have enough of a drop in his hitch, so the back end of the trailer was hanging low and was dragging at intersections. The side boards were all beat up from his rake not being tied down and bouncing all over going down the road. When I picked it up it had a brand new plastic toolbox on the tongue, replacing the one I had on there. Turns out he Jack knifed the trailer crushing the corner of the box, instead of telling me and punching out the corner, he got a new one and mounted it. He mounted it by driving self drilling screws into the tongue instead of using the u bolts I had the one mounted with. That was over 10 years ago. I just recently loaned him my box blade and chain drag, figured he can't mess that up too much, but I will see. While this trailer was stripped to the frame for rebuilding, if I needed a trailer I rented one from the rental center. I don't loan out my dump trailer, it seems to always have a dead battery or bad tires when some asks to use it!

Looking good Brock! Great job, you should be proud!

Push mowers I put up on sawhorses and my drain pan underneath them, open the plug under the deck and let it drain. Speaking of old LawnBoys, I have 4 or 5 of them. Most of them ran when parked! I even have the IH version. I have been looking for a simple trimming mower to get the corners and edges I can't get into with the zero turn. Nothing made now a days can compete with the offset design of the LawnBoys. I have a newer steel deck offset LawnBoy with a 6.5 Techumseh, it leaks more oil at the base of the dipstick tube than it burns! A plastic tube stuck in the block with just an "O" ring to hold it in place. What I really want to find is a set of rechargeable grass shears to trim along my brick wall, with them I could eliminate the trimming mower.