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Posted: Wed Aug 12th, 2020 02:23 pm

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Tsquare
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My niece and her boyfriend bought a house about 2 months ago and it is 45 minutes up the road. My wife and I were invited over for Sunday lunch. It is a good house for a first house. It is a small 3 bedroom on a half acre lot. With all the expenses of a first house after years in apartments they have been overwhelmed with additional expenses. The one item they still have not addressed is a lawnmower. They had weeds and grass a foot tall in their yard. I volunteered to come mow their lawn and bring lunch.

A few days prior I had smoked a brisket for some Texas style BBQ. My wife does not like BBQ beef so it was up to me to finish it but I took half of it to my niece's. They enjoyed the BBQ and did their work-from-home thing while I mowed their grass. About 10 minutes in the mowing I hit a stump with the mowing deck. I hit it hard enough that it ripped the rear mount off the mowing deck. The stump was 2" high, 6" in diameter, and solid hidden in the grass/weeds. This is a 22 year old John Deere rider and the deck was rebuilt 3 years ago with new spindles and reinforcement of the rear mount that got ripped off. I did manage to use a cargo strap to hold the deck up to finish the mowing.

A stripped replacement deck is $630 from John Deere and there is a 2 month lead time. I have looked at a few salvaged decks that were in the $200 range that would need rebuilding and reinforcing. Mine is fixable but I no longer have access to welders. It did not break at the weld but ripped the rusty thin metal 1" to 2" around the mount.

I am off to buy a welder, mask, and other accessories. I have needed a welder a couple of times over the years.

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Tony
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Posted: Wed Aug 12th, 2020 02:38 pm

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Eddie Money
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I can relate. My rider got toasted when my sister and boyfriend volunteered to mow moms yard for mothers day. I brought the mower out gassed it up and told them to get to it. 20min later they were walking around like they were done. I went to check on the mower and found they had decided to lower the deck. The blades contacted the ground and bent the shafts and broke the blades. Toasted the whole underside and just left it with out saying a word... gotta love family...

Congrats on them getting a house!!!

Make sure they know how to use the fireplace before winter... apartment life...

Last edited on Wed Aug 12th, 2020 03:33 pm by Eddie Money

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2007 Sport 4door 4x4 4.0L SOHC V6 Ranger

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Posted: Wed Aug 12th, 2020 07:45 pm

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Thankfully they do not have a fireplace.

I got a duel voltage flux wire/stick unit. It is my first venture with a wire feed that does not have gas. Sloppy welds, but then again I am out of practice. It took a little practice to get a decent bead with the wire. I finally got the hole patched to my satisfaction and all I have left is to put on the mount. I did end up cutting the first patch out and making another. The grinder got a good workout today. I will get the mount on tomorrow.

I also need to do a little welding on my trailer.

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Tony
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'04 XLT regular cab 3.slo stepside
Semi retirement

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Eddie Money

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Posted: Wed Aug 12th, 2020 09:30 pm

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VelociRanger
Iâ€™ll probably do it tomorrow

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Welding is awesome. You can do so many things with a welder from fixing your busted lawn mower deck to fixing a crack in the boom on a backhoe. Got any pics of the repairs?

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1983 Ranger, reluctantly taking apart. Donor/project vehicle.

1997 Ranger Ex Cab Manual 4.0 2wd, dead on arrival. Hopefully reviving for a daily driver.

1984 Ranger, currently in â‰ˆ861 pieces. Sheâ€™s donating whatâ€™s salvageable.

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Posted: Wed Aug 12th, 2020 10:33 pm

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It is some ugly welding but it passed the hammer test. I will post a picture of the finished product.

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Tony
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Posted: Thu Aug 13th, 2020 10:09 am

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410customs

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very very happy with my Harbor freight mutiprocess welder for under $700 now the titanium 200 is on sale $680
It will mig, tig and arc, 220V, works AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I build custom RBV, specializing in drivetrain conversions, wiring, suspension and complete custom trucks

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Posted: Fri Aug 14th, 2020 08:17 pm

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The deck was painted last night after I serviced the spindles, swapped out the old blades for sharpened/balanced blades, and lubed up the blade shut off mechanism. I reassembled it then mounted it this morning and adjusted the height where I got it right the first time - I have done this a few times before to mine and other JD mowers that were out of spec. It cut the grass beautifully as I finished up just before it started raining.
I will take the old blades and sharpen them and then balance them for next summer. I have 3 spare blades that get rotated. The set that were on the mower were due to be changed out when I do the semi-annual service at the end of September.

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Tony
NE ATL
'04 XLT regular cab 3.slo stepside
Semi retirement

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Eddie Money

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