Mower

Right after we bought the Allis Agco Tractor, I started looking for a bush hog type mower.  I saw a "Finish Mower" in an ad for a tractor and we went over to see it.  Sitting there under a tree was a mower that  new sold for about $1400.00.  I didn't know what it was worth used, but I went out on a limb and offered the owner $400.  He wasn't sure, but the next day he called me and said it was a deal. 

My toy

I put the mower on a trailer and brought it home.  That was the easy part...   I started the whole effort by pulling the cover off the belt(s).  There had been an idler freeze up and the belt was shot.  That started the whole effort to get it up and running.  I found an idler and replaced it.  The belt took three trips to the belt supply company and finally I got it up and running.  Or so I thought.

As I was mowing the field, the whole thing started smoking and the belt snapped.  I took it apart and it was clear that the idler had stopped working and it burned the belt in two.  As I looked at the idler, it was clear that when I put it back together, the washers I used, rubbed on the housing and the grease melted and finally the idler just froze in place. 

Yesterday I started the repair and replace process all over again.  This time I think I found the correct spacer to let the idler turn freely and the right size belt in place.  I did have to rebuild the adjustment part so the different size idler would work.  Wouldn't you know it took an angle grinder to extend the slot in the body of the mower and last week I killed my angle grinder.  The good news was that harbor Freight had one on sale and a replacement grinder was all of $9.99.  It didn't have a wheel so I had to break out another $3.  With that, I cut the perfect slot and everything seems to work fine.

I am not sure where it started but a few years back I just decided that I was going to fix my stuff as much as I could.  Sometimes it works and sometimes I have to re-fix things.  I do seem in the long run to keep most of the stuff running and for less than half of what it would cost to pay to have it done.  In the process I have accumulated a lot of tools.  I hope I can find a way to organize it all in the new building.  I guess what I want to say is I hope I can at least park the Ford inside this winter.  We'll see. 

Oh well, enough of this.

MUD