Good morning! Are you up yet? What's your plans for today?

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

I was awake until 3:00 AM and then slept 3-8:00 AM.  I am having my coffee and then I am going to go finish mowing the rest of the property. It is 55°F and is supposed to get to 82 or so today with 13% humidity at the hottest part of the day so, It will be a nice day to be outside. Then I have lots other stuff to do outside too.

[Madd Hatter]

Just got back from riding my 83 XR500r into the Post office the long way. Did 38 miles round trip and man was it fun and man am I tired! 😞😁

[Sqrl Klr]

Having worked in some of the most bug infested places here in Florida, the key thing is what you shower with soap wise. Any soap, body wash, or shampoo with a lot of smelly sauce in it is a mosquito magnet. Anything perfumed, aftershave, deodorant, and so one is like ringing the diner bell for mosquitoes. Dial gold soap, any of the scent away or scent killer soaps and deodorants work the best in not becoming a smorgasbord  for mosquitoes.

I don't use strong body wash and I do have scent killer just never thought of using it to not attract skeeters. I don't eat a ton of garlic but I do eat it just as much as my grandfather did yet he never got skeeter bit. Haven't figured that one out yet.

[avator]

Thank y'all for the replies..
Well, things didn't go as planned.
Betty Lou got up and I want what ever she had....  she was raring to go.
First thing she asked me was too mow around her hot house... I didn't have a problem with that until the rod came through the case on the z turn. 
Y'all don't know me but, something like that happens and I need a couple cool down laps before I encounter any other people.
Those laps worked until I realized I took them through ankle deep grass. 

" Ok Bill, it ain't the end of the World, what ya gonna do?"

[avator]

There were 2 mowers left behind here when we inherited the place. An X Mark zturn that need to go to the shop for a few issues, none of which are life ending but all above my pay grade.
Option 2 is a Husqvarna 46" lawn tractor that had been rode hard and put away wet.... many times. But, it is a 46" cut with a 22hp Kaw motor on it.
The front tires had been rode completely off the rims and there wasn't a battery in it. The front cowl was off and I just knew there was little hope. But I really don't have many options. I put a battery and gas in it and hit the key.
Cough, choke, spit and sputter and it came to life. But gas poured out the front.... stuck carb float... a tap, tap, fixed it.
https://www.powerequipmentdirect.com/Husqvarna-960-43-02-18/p63859.html

[avator]

Oh yeah, Betty Lou....
When she felt it was safe to approach me she asked if I felt like working on the hot house.
"Yes, but it will take at least a case of beer."
See what I did there?

[Sqrl Klr]

Shame you don't live closer to Dan there Bill maybe you could've got a engine for a good price if it's even working but from the pic in the other thread it looks fine. The loud boom from the engine scared you and got you pist? If so that happens to me some times too where it takes awhile to wind down. That kind of bs sends me into warrior mode quick. 

[Madd Hatter]

Having worked in some of the most bug infested places here in Florida, the key thing is what you shower with soap wise. Any soap, body wash, or shampoo with a lot of smelly sauce in it is a mosquito magnet. Anything perfumed, aftershave, deodorant, and so one is like ringing the diner bell for mosquitoes. Dial gold soap, any of the scent away or scent killer soaps and deodorants work the best in not becoming a smorgasbord  for mosquitoes.

I don't use strong body wash and I do have scent killer just never thought of using it to not attract skeeters. I don't eat a ton of garlic but I do eat it just as much as my grandfather did yet he never got skeeter bit. Haven't figured that one out yet.

I found that when I take garlic pills I don't get bit by skitters and the flies seem to not like me as much.

[Blowpipe Sam]

Having worked in some of the most bug infested places here in Florida, the key thing is what you shower with soap wise. Any soap, body wash, or shampoo with a lot of smelly sauce in it is a mosquito magnet. Anything perfumed, aftershave, deodorant, and so one is like ringing the diner bell for mosquitoes. Dial gold soap, any of the scent away or scent killer soaps and deodorants work the best in not becoming a smorgasbord  for mosquitoes.

I don't use strong body wash and I do have scent killer just never thought of using it to not attract skeeters. I don't eat a ton of garlic but I do eat it just as much as my grandfather did yet he never got skeeter bit. Haven't figured that one out yet.

I found that when I take garlic pills I don't get bit by skitters and the flies seem to not like me as much.

We eat a good deal of garlic.  It helps.  Sulfur is very effective but who wants to eat raw sulfur?  I could do it when I was younger but I can't stomach it now.

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

Shame you don't live closer to Dan there Bill maybe you could've got a engine for a good price if it's even working but from the pic in the other thread it looks fine. The loud boom from the engine scared you and got you pist? If so that happens to me some times too where it takes awhile to wind down. That kind of bs sends me into warrior mode quick.

Sorry to hear about Bills engine trouble. The engine I took out had 21.8 hours on it. I am embarrassed to admit I got distracted when converting the easy change oil system and then my memory issue bit me hard and I ran it without oil for less than a minute but needs a rebuild because it started knocking a little while later.  The new motor was $1016.00 with tax included.  I have two other non-running lawn tractors too. One was given to me in non-running condition the other just wore out stop starting and backfires when cranked. These engines are real easy to swap out, 11 bolts, two hoses, one wire to the starter, and a wire harness plug. The hardest part was paying for my mistake. I didn't think it would be right to try to get it fixed under warranty considering it was my own fault and not a defect. 

[Matchstickshooter]

  First thing this morning...Chiropractor appointment.

[Jshooter71]

  First thing this morning...Chiropractor appointment.

Me too!!!

I slept in until 0600, I stayed up way too late. No call for work yet, I’ll head to the chiropractor and call the office between 0730-0800.

[maraudinglizard]

I actually slept in a little this morning. Garbage day, so get that to the road. Line up lawn toys to be fixed before the rain moves in. Move chickens around to clean out another weed spot. Bill, you have my sympathy with lawn mowers, they are the most aggravating thing to own. I am only on my second mower since I have been here, it's a craftsman, bought it when sears was still business. All I have done to it is change the oil, belts, and replaced a carburetor on it, this summer it will need new tires. Now that I have the tractor I can go after the bigger stuff with bushhog and not tear up the lawnmower.

[Madd Hatter]

Shame you don't live closer to Dan there Bill maybe you could've got a engine for a good price if it's even working but from the pic in the other thread it looks fine. The loud boom from the engine scared you and got you pist? If so that happens to me some times too where it takes awhile to wind down. That kind of bs sends me into warrior mode quick. 

1 of my jobs while working in aerospace was testing materials such as carbon fiber. We use to have customers come through touring the place and I use to love it when 1 of the customers would be in the test room and a test specimen would break when pulling around 7-10 thousand pounds of load. It would break with a loud bang and the customer (s) would jump and start looking around to see what happened.😁😁😂🤣 You should have seen the women if there was any in the group. Boy would they react. 😳

[Blowpipe Sam]

What? Oh yeah.  Um Morning?  Dang!  I feel a whole lot more like I do now than I did a while ago!

England expects every man to do his duty.

"Character izza whatta you are inna the dark".  Emilio Lizardo.

 

[avator]

Shame you don't live closer to Dan there Bill maybe you could've got a engine for a good price if it's even working but from the pic in the other thread it looks fine. The loud boom from the engine scared you and got you pist? If so that happens to me some times too where it takes awhile to wind down. That kind of bs sends me into warrior mode quick.

[avator]

 Nope, it didn't explode. I just heard some crunching sounds and the the cloud of smoke came and the power loss.
Oil went all over the exhaust so I know it wasn't out of oil. Admittedly, I didn't check the oil level in a couple mows and I should have.
Now I'm wondering it the Kawasaki motor on the Husqvarna would replace the B/S on the Snapper. I was looking up the Husqvarna and a saw that some used the Kaw and some used the B/S. I think it might come down to the length of the shaft.
The reason to swap would be that I can mow this property in half the time with the z turn than with the lawn tractor.

[Matchstickshooter]

  First thing this morning...Chiropractor appointment.

Me too!!!

I slept in until 0600, I stayed up way too late. No call for work yet, I’ll head to the chiropractor and call the office between 0730-0800.

I'm now paying for ALL the foolish things I did when I wore a younger mans clothes.

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

Shame you don't live closer to Dan there Bill maybe you could've got a engine for a good price if it's even working but from the pic in the other thread it looks fine. The loud boom from the engine scared you and got you pist? If so that happens to me some times too where it takes awhile to wind down. That kind of bs sends me into warrior mode quick. 

1 of my jobs while working in aerospace was testing materials such as carbon fiber. We use to have customers come through touring the place and I use to love it when 1 of the customers would be in the test room and a test specimen would break when pulling around 7-10 thousand pounds of load. It would break with a loud bang and the customer (s) would jump and start looking around to see what happened.😁😁😂🤣 You should have seen the women if there was any in the group. Boy would they react. 😳

 When it started knocking I shut it down immediately, my wife came out the front door and said what happened? I was about 100 yards from the house and she was watching tv and heard the change in the sound of the motor and knew it wasn't a good sound. It changed my mood for a few minutes too, frustrated that I did that, I have never done anything like that before. I have a new procedure to follow now. here is a pic the illustrates it.

[anti-squirrel]

Little bit of side news for Bill- Briggs and Stratton sells surplus engines for next to nothing on their website.  I needed a 17.5 hp engine for a neighbor's mower and it cost me under $100 direct from B&S.  The link is kinda buried but chances are there's something here that works for ya:  https://www.briggsstrattonsale.com/spare-replacement-parts/

Those Husqvarna mowers with the Kawasaki engines are tanks.  Ours is a 24hp unit with a smaller 42" deck, sat over a decade before we got it, and just needed a new carb (the old one was junked up so bad a hot-solvent tank couldn't fix it).  Oh, and it needed some wiring repairs and a new battery thanks to fieldmice.  I had to replace the deck belt last year, and sharpen the blades a couple weeks ago, but it still runs great.


Speaking of mowers and today's plan- I'm mid-way through setting up a 21" push mower with pneumatic wheels in the back for use in the semi-cleared woods.  All the clearings are growing grass like crazy and a push-mower is a better choice there.  But the stock plastic "bigwheel" wheels in the back get stuck in/on every root.  I did the same with my walk-behind line trimmers and they work like a champ.  I was gonna smoke some ribs today but work got really busy up until about 20 minutes ago... and will likely pick up again later so I'll smoke them tomorrow.  After work, I foresee a Tractor Supply trip and maybe some wrenching on another freebie mower a neighbor gave me last night- that likely needs LOTS of work knowing him.