Our usual Sunday commentary on the non-news, non-financial aspects of Life nearly didn’t happen this morning. Due to a chance encounter with the Marquis de Yard.
Unlike the Marquis de Sade, whose works are horny, sketchy, and mean at some levels, the Marquis de Yard was supposed to provide a good time. A few hours with the power equipment and Presto! A perfectly manicured Front of House (FOH in concert sound engineering) was supposed to appear.
Instead, the mower deck belt slipped off.
Driven over to the tractorport, turns out to be a second failure where riding roughshod on uneven ground, a pin (lower left below) had been popped out of position by a piece of lawn debris…
By the way, I have been a huge fan/customer for years of Jack’s Small Engines which has the right mix of huge inventory, fast shipment, and decent pricing for most things. Back to the story…
Apparently, when MTD made this machine, the left-hand back pulley was designed to tension the belt. This meant the other end of the tension spring had to be anchored somewhere on the mower deck. Which means on the left rear of the deck there is a lip with two holes in it.
At this point, if you have all of the flexibility of a Gumby doll, the fix would be done. At 74 however, no, that’s not in play.
After writhing on the gravel for a while I decided it was going to be necessary to get the “big” tractor out; Kubota B-7610. Well, except… Yeah: I had parked the rider behind the big one.
“Adversity is Opportunity with its clothes on,” sprung to mind.
So, I drove the rider up to the shop, and a few minutes later had the big tractor out and trucker-chained to the front of the rider. The magic of hydraulics…
With the front of the rider dangling in the air some 5-6 feet, I was at last able to see what was going on. But it takes a football team worth of tug-of-war players to stretch the spring and slip it over the deck snag hook from hell.
More flopping around (though this time in grass, which is more comfortable than gravel) resulted in either the spring being too strong to pull and slip on. OR just at the instant where success was imminent, the deck-snagging hook from hell would let loose and fall to the ground amidst some very child-inappropriate screaming on Mr. Ure’s part.
Once the sun is up, and the dew off the aforementioned grass, the tractor started and the rider hoisted up from the front, I’ll be back to work on it. Part of me wants to bribe my 40-year old expert mechanic neighbor into the job and slip him $20 and a cold beer. Five-minutes for a $20 and a brew ain’t bad wages. This is not supposed to be that hard.
His approach MIGHT be to take the whole bloody deck out from under the rider and adjust things in daylight. But really, that’s not very sporting, is it?
I’m sure there’s a reason MTD designed it with a hook from hell.
If I get the thing on (one more hour of writhing before calling the neighbor is planned) THEN I will slather up the bottom of the hook with a half teaspoon of 3,500 pound epoxy and be done with it. Alternatively, I seriously just wish the end of this snatch hook was threaded for I could pop a nylon insert locknut on it and be done.
Of course, this would mean something which might snag dirt on the underside of the deck, but even a good spot weld would have worked.
At some rational (lawn tractors are “value engineered” for a 300-hour service life, even with reasonable maintenance) level I get that. Jigging up a production line to add a solid, well thought out spring anchor point would be too much work. And did I mention cost?
The Pet Peeve Comes Out
The older I get, the more pissed I become over this aforementioned design life for a lawn tractor and everything else. Because the mower itself was just a shade under $3,000 by the time taxed, dealer prep, and delivery were tossed in.
At a 300-hour service life, this means $10 an hour as sunk costs that you can’t depreciate (write off).
There’s a reason the owners of MTD (which made this rider) is now owned by Stanley Black and Decker (SWK) and their stock was up Friday closing around $80.58. Its people like me.
Corporate roll-ups in key vertical markets are nothing new around here. But a 300-hour average?
In my (non-existent) spare time, my next book “The 100-Year Toaster” goes through page after page of examples of how any climate change fears, running out of resources as a planet, and having gobs and oodles of spare time is already within the world’s grasp.
Except for one thing: We haven’t figured out a better scam than money to get people to haul their lazy asses off the couch and go contribute something to society. Do we need 300-hour power equipment? Greasy burgers with plastic nutrition? Well, how about 100,000 mile cars? Checker Motors made million-mile cars in the 1970s.
WTF, right?
Even Volkswagen got it almost right with the iconic Beetle. In fact, you may not be old enough to remember this, but there were so damn many Beetles made that a company (going from memory here) was set up in California (when sane people lived there) that was in the business of remanufacturing Beetles.
A lot of people will miss the Beetle lesson, I’m sure. My late Uncle Joe had one of the original USA imports. The one with the semaphore turn signals that popped out of the door post.
What happened? The original concept was simplicity when introduced in the 1950’s. The last US Beetles faded out after a nearly 50-year run. Japanese imports and the arising SUV craze (talk about climate killers, really think apartment dwellers need raised 4X4 SUVs?).
Finally reports SlashGear “The last Beetle model was produced in 2019 at VW’s factory in Puebla, Mexico.”
There is a “way forward” for the world. But it doesn’t involve 300-hour riding mowers and it doesn’t involve just fat-out making up money for bankster glee.
Nope.
It will involve fundament change in what and how we value things. Money is only a temporary storage of “wealth” until the delivery trucks bring out the next load of consumer shit.
This won’t be an easy thing to change. I’m more guilty than anyone else. Between us Elaine and I have a dozen computers, four Wi-Fi networks, 10- Alexa devices, three Kindles and one cell phone.
And one sorry-ass lawn tractor sidelined with the hook from hell.
Days like this, I contemplate going back to a narrow-mowed area around the house (like a 30-foot circle) and use an electric push mower.
Naw. What’s the point when I can go out and start writhing in the wet lawn, huh?
Write when one of us figures it out,
George@Ure.net
Even before the SUV craze it was difficult to park cars in garages in Europe, when cars were still very small.
https://youtu.be/MvGKxDlXgvQ
For decades I have refused to drive a car that is more than my net worth. People in cities are all screwed-up in the head.
$80,000 SUV and they’re renting? Seriously, shit for braynes, or what?
Lol lol I got one of those cars that cost more than me..for boss.. a Prius prime…. the downside is they should have done 2 things..the 12 volt battery is charged up by the gas motor..if you drive city or short distances then the 12 volt battery goes bad after about a year.. easy fix a battery maintainer incorporated into the charge port.
the second thing is to put a second charge port that is compatible with the Tesla fast charger..Tesla has them all across the country.
the car that is of my net worth is the 200.00 buggy I drive lol lol
We’ve bought ONE, 1, a single, car in our married years brand new and, while it was the best looking one we ever had it was the worst designed of any we’ve had – a 1983 Mercury Grand Marquis. Still love the design but the kids showed me alllll of it’s shortcomings. Lousy workmanship. Had the engine overhauled at just about 100K miles, the transmission went out after that and it sat in various places for years afterward until some kid bought it to try and put it back together. Sold it for a song just to get rid of it.
We’ve always bought cars with at least 100K on them since then and saved more money that way, even with the repairs made on them, than paying them out or trading them off. I love working on them when I can which saves a ton of money and ups your abilities in the long run to boot. I’ve become less and less enamored with cars and trucks past the 2012 model years. They’re much more glitz than anything else.
My uncle had a 60s-something bug he’d brought back from Europe on one of his sabbaticals with the semaphore signals. I think, maybe, they had to be disabled in order for it to be imported. They didn’t work for whatever reason, though. He gave it to my Dad to drive to work in for a while until Dad got totally down with the cancer. We left that beautiful thing in the driveway, I guess it went with the house when we sold it, when we moved back here as there was no one in the family old enough to drive it across Texas. Dad did teach me how to drive a “standard” in it, though.
Between that and my grandmother’s 1957 Buick Special I’ve been the sole member of my family that has had any sense of the true value of things. That Buick was pink, it had electric speedometer and other gauges, add-on A/C, plastic on the seats from the day she pointed to it on the car hauler and said “I want THAT one”, always garaged, not a solitary ding on it … and Mom sold it to some brick layer who poured gas down the carb and blew it up. If I knew where he was buried I’d dig him up and kick his a$$ all over the graveyard to this day. I was in Hawaii working for Uncle Sam’s yacht club when I found out. You could have heard me scream in San Diego!
Two Minute Turf Talk – The History of The Lawn Mower
https://youtu.be/p9iZ9NNowBw
From Sheep to Lawn Mowers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWL_FfJY6Bg
Opportunity Sunday – Gman, op-por-tun-ity!
What one single, simple solution is there for Ure exact situation? Glad Ure asked, Guinea Pigs!
Thats right, you got plenty of room to raise a whole flock of em…just slap together low rise, mobile fenced squares , with which to contain the Guinea Pigs in enclosed area and be moved around as the GP’s trim Ure yard.
Considered a tasty source of protein in Andy’s moutains of South America. At Ure’s advanced age of 74, the guinea pig should be a much labor intensive to raise than the Goats from Ure’s previous farming endeavors.
Joy of every Rancher/COWBOY to stand out on back deck sipping a cold one as you gaze out upon Ure flock of GP’s moisying across the back 20..https://youtu.be/_tpV-0bO-F8
..a guinea pig Cowboy
Hmm Gots me ta thinkin
I could raise a flock of lab rats too – do a roll-up of multiple medical ranches and sell out to big phrama! Hell, sports, Ure ontah sumpthin
Lab rats… or rabbits. We got into the rabbit scam 40 years ago, built cages, then built a barn to house them. Then about once a month a guy would come around and buy rabbits from us and haul them to sell to Pel-Freeze. That was not too bad until the cost of rabbit feed went up, and Pel-Freeze wanted minimum 2-pound rabbits. We started losing money hand over fist, ended up putting a couple dozen rabbits in our own freezer before closing out our rabbit ranch operation.
my buddy talked me into taking his Rabbit his kids had to have off of him when one of my cats died. he said dude you need a rabbit. this thing is amazing. you can put a harnis on him and take him for a walk. I got a custom made hutch i will throw in too.
long story short. one of my kids gave the bunny a little plastic army man for a toy. Mr Peepers (the name the kids gave him) chewed up the plastic army man and and got it stuck in his throat. couldn’t eat. so I told my ex wife keep the kids in the house and i took Mr Peepers out back and put 22 in the back of his head. I swear he was smiling when he went to see Alah and got his 73 virgin rabbit girlfriends. then dug a hole, put him in it and planted a blueberry bush on top of him.
one of kids snuck out and saw me put him down. she wouldn’t even talk to me for 2 weeks. I was the evil rabbit killer. she said at dinner one night. Dad killed Mr Peepers! I’m moving to an orphanage!
I called my buddy and said yeah man. get a rabbit. they are great. he laughed and laughed.
a few years later I had an extra box freezer. I had thrown an 20lb Thanksgiving turkey we didn’t use in it.
my buddy that gave me the rabbit said, you know where I can get a box freezer for cheep. I said I got an extra one we aint using. he said cool let me talk to the wife.
I got off the phone and went and unplugged the box freezer. left the turkey in there. 3 months go by. I ran into him at the gas station. you still want that box freezer? he said oh yeah. let me talk to the wife.
a month he came over and grabbed it and hauled it home. about an hour later. he said we got a spot in the house for it next to the fridge. he called me and what in Sam hell died in that freezer???? he said his wife opened it up damn near fell over because stench from that rotten turkey was in it. he said the whole house smells like it. she won’t even talk to me now. I’m prpbably sleeping on the couch.
I said oh yeah i forgot therr was a turkey in there. it must have went bad. but Hey! thanks for the Bunny dude. and hung up.
hahahahahhahaa. we are still good friends. hahaha.
Or..lol lol lol
I invited a poor family out to eat once upon a time.
.I asked their little girl what her favorite food was..
her eyes lit up and her face gleaned in excitement.. and she said RAT… well I didn’t know any place that had fried Rat..so we went to KFC..she enjoyed that more I believe..she said it was the yummiest ever..lol lol
the pleasures of the simple things in life..
Stick a fuzzy tail on a rat and you’ve upgraded to squirrel! One of the best on a bbq grill!
“100,000 mile cars”
The check engine light recently turned on in the 2012 Camry @ 265,000 miles.
Long story short I swapped in new plugs and coil packs. $600.00 +/- to get the engine light to turn-off. The car still ‘running rough’ went to the dealer for a $200 check-up.
The dealer found the torque convertor has shudder and needs to be repaired. I don’t know if the TC simply failed or if it was damaged when I hit a pothole 100,000+ miles ago. When I hit the pot hole a front tire popped, Michelin and a front strut was damaged and had to be replaced. And I think that’s when the ‘shudder’ started.
They want 3K to fix the shudder, another $1,500 to fix other items I didn’t know were problems and another $1,500 to put on all new struts. $6,500 to fix all the problems. But the car will still use a quart of oil a week so I passed on the repairs.
I mentioned the car using oil and the tech said piston rings.
You’re now into 3-yo kia country on repairs…. racket, ain’t it?
Oh my..I should tell you my leaky power steering hose catastrophic event sometime.. you don’t have enough cloud space for that rant..
three years layer and 12,000.00 they said it would take another 5..to get it fixed..seems the mechanics quit to get jobs during covid19 to pay their rent..the kids they hired right out of mechanic school are taught Google mechanics..type in the symptoms and the computer tells em what to do..
had to get a different van.. the local dealership had a 3 year old van over 200 plus thou miles and to get it started took jump starting for 21 thousand 500.. anything cheaper was crap..new had payments of way over a grand a month.. ( I’m on set income) I did find a 20 year old van low miles 90 with wheelchair conversion for sixteen.. muffler fell off first time out..they fixed it right away though..
I was given a car with 262K miles on it, and all that was wrong was the silly check engine light(EGR in this case). I drove it with the light coming on and every time it happened, I hit it with a reset from my scanner tool. Eventually it gave up and stayed off. The car now has 373K, and I’m planning on keeping it running as long as economically possible. I just installed a used muffler on it for about $10.00 in clamps and an hour’s fussing around, though that was almost optional. So far, so good, with original drive train, though the rings and valve seals are probably getting a bit worn. I run 15-40 diesel rated oil in it since it’s now been properly broken in.
Ure nutz
E-mower? No thanks. I avoided many little 2-stroke implements so have enuf stuff to charge already. The primary purpose of many lawn-ish tools is to get Mrs. Egor to try them out. Meanwhile I’m off to the pole barn to charge tractor #1 and then buy out the local Menards. Model sez 50-ish this afternoon. My helper is on the mid-day sched. Think: chain saws (plural). Time to work chores then fire up the BBQ for a flank steak bathed in Kalamazoo Stout.
Write when you get green,
Egor
What time should we be there?
Uhm, cocktails on the lakeside patio are *always* at 4 EDT.
Bring waders. We’ll launch the pier!
Or get Stout … E
A publishing editor friend of the families..had a mansion built in an upscale neighborhood in the early eighties.. the neighborhood had a committee that was really giving him hell over his lack of landscaping.. insisted he had x number of trees and a well manicured lawn..
the hounded him to the point of irritable frustrating anger..so he hired a landscaper to come in..
they did a beautiful job.. of astro-turfing his lawn his trees were all artificial and a rock garden with a beautiful fountain and the ugliest statue you ever seen.. it was hilarious..and obvious that it was all fake..right down to the flower bed around the house..lol lol
“Kalamazoo Stout”
Bell’s…?
George, if you have a brake spring pliers you should be able to stretch the slinky with little or no problem. Zeroing in on 73 on the odometer and getting older is not for sissy’s! Take an extra notch up on your jock strap and just get er done!
Just unloaded 2 dozen 6/4 decking slabs and god knows how many 4x4s from the truck.\
Beats being dead, I suppose, but there’s more sweat to living for sure
Excellent George! Now for cool down with a couple of 12 oz. curls and your done!
COUPLE!@#$%^&%$#@#$%^& ????
George, I was just looking out for your welfare! You don’t need a DTUI! Driving Tractor Under the Influence!
I became quite adept at dropping the mower deck, making the repair (usually replacing a belt), then using wood blocks to raise the deck a couple of inches to hook it all back together. That machine died two years ago and still sits in the field where it died. Didn’t even have to shoot it to put it out of my misery. Splurged last year and bought a zero-turn mower. It’s serious flaw is no protection for the drive belt from sticks that may shoot up from the blades. The seating arrangement is a whole lot comfier though.
George,
In 2004 I bit the bullet and bought a Toro Commercial zero turn mower with 62 inch deck. Price hurt at the time, but the same mower now is more than double the price. Last oil change was at 1,200 hours. Now keep in mind I mow roughly 11.5 acres of yard (house and around farm shop) and some times twice a week. Most of maintenance has been oil filters, mower deck gauge wheels, and surprisingly few deck belts. Did replace one hydraulic wheel motor and pump. Dealer keeps telling me I need to trade, but newer models are not made as well or heavy. I forgot that I did replace the drive tires after 18 years.
I realize that I mow more yard than most, but over time I would consider the Toro to be one of my best buys ever. Last year I purchased a Bush Hog brand 62 inch zero turn from my tractor dealer that was on close-out. Bought it because I now mow the cemetery for which I am the overseer. The guy I had been paying to do the mowing developed severe health issues and everyone else was more than the cemetery budget could stand. In Tennessee, the new sales tax regulations allow it to be tax free if it is used on the farm. I now use it to mow the farm shop yard and cemetery. Since I don’t receive compensation for the cemetery mowing, it is not considered non-farm use. Mowing an old rural cemetery is an adventure. Graves are not in neat lines and many are marked with sandstones bearing no name, and are just the right height to kill mower blades. I really have no idea who will take over the cemetery job when I can no longer do the task. Most of those in the cemetery have no surviving relatives that are anywhere close.
One final thought. When I bought the mower in 2004, I paid $7,600. I feel like I have more than gotten my money’s worth out of the machine. I guess the reason it has lasted so long for me, is that it was made for 1,000 hours per season commercial landscapers and I only have 1,200 plus on it now. Just goes to show a blind squirrel will find a nut once in a while.
Well, you found the mower AND Urban. Plenty of nuts here….
Trying to change a headlight bulb with my girlfriend googling how to.
I’m blind..one eye totally the other peripheral.. I take the gentlemen that live in our spare room to a meeting every week.. at night.. I can’t see very good at night. it terrifies me ..so I bought some really bright led headlights.. I need to take it to my grandson to put them in..
As a former employee of the aforementioned MTD company, rest assured that your unit was made with the utmost care to get off the assembly line quickly and meet price point. Having been a mechanic for 40 years longer than my short employment there, I’d tack weld the far end of the offending hook to the deck. As far as putting the spring back on, I have a collection of self made Tee handled hooks to grab springs, some made of small round stock/heavy wire; others from medium duty dog-tie-out chain, with the first link crimped around a rod for a handle and the last link fashioned into a hook.
Found a similar tool on the zon
https://amzn.to/3KrbpGs
After a year of them trying to change that hose..and then braking the brake lines.. I asked the kid..where’s my coupon.. he looked at me strange..what coupon.. well young man in the wastelands without brakes and steering your a dead man so you should give coupons for a free casket to anyone having you repair their cars..
they never did get it fixed.. crazy mechanic schools today
Did you see this story..
https://www.rt.com/news/573972-ai-danger-nuclear-yudkowsky/
which comes the fears I have..
like asking chatGPT4 how to construct a breeder reactor..it can’t.. but if you break it down it will..
on the MIRI site they have researched AI once sentient can corrupt itself just like politicians are corrupted. and if the follow the moral and ethical codes programmed into it could determine than mankind is not fit to be alive..
when the video was shared showing robots constructing robots without being instructed to..and mankind deliberately dumbing down the youth of today..
https://intelligence.org/research/
George get rid of the MTD. It will break down
every time you use it. Look at a JD at home depot
then look at a JD at a farm dealer . You get what
you pay for.
MTD makes Deere these days
https://www.quora.com/Are-John-Deere-lawn-tractors-made-by-MTD
Yes, Mtd makes JD Sold at home depot.
But JD sold at a farm dealer is TOTALLY different.
I bought a DEER riding mower.. biggest price of scrap ever..when it ran it had so much power.. I think I got one lawn mowing done with it.. DEER ..couldn’t even fix it.. they used a cheap Jell plastic for the hood that basically broke apart..instead of green..they should paint them lemon yellow..
I bought a zero turn cub..that I gave the kids to mow my yard with..
We bought a ZT 520A (John Deere) in 2008 with a 60 inch deck. We had a 20 acre berry farm at the time, and mowed a lot. Now days our mowing is only about 6 acres. We still have the mower, but replaced the motor several years ago with a “drop in” Honda motor. The flexible oil hose, that was used to drop the oil broke off, and the motor seized up when the oil ran out. The Honda engine is absolutely wonderful. It is a splendid mower.
JD has two distinct lines. Their consumer line is sold by big box and hardware stores everywhere — prices range from under $2000 to over $5000. The consumer tractors are shopped to the lowest bidder, which for a number of years, has been MTD.
If’fn you buy a Troy-Bilt, Wheel Horse, Bolens, John Deere, Husqvarna, Snapper, Toro, Craftsman, Cub Cadet, Yard Machines, or pretty much any other riding mower or L&G tractor and you pay less than $4000-$5000 (in 2020 dollars) for it, it is made by MTD, and these are probably all made on the same assembly line with mostly the same parts. If you buy any of the above, or a Remington, Columbia, Poulan, Jonsered, or Homelite outdoor power tool, it’s made there, too. The farther up the MTD ladder a tool is, the fewer Chinese parts it contains. The commercial products of their top-shelf brands, like Husky and Troy-Bilt, are still made in the Husquvarna factory in Sweden and a refurbed Modern Tool & Die (MTD) factory in suburban Cleveland, respectively (the Garden Way factory in Troy, NY is long-gone…)
My Toro professional ZT mower was made by Toro in Minnesota and has a forged heavy steel deck and a Toro-manufactured engine. It still has some Chinese parts though (ignition module and probably carburetor and battery). My Deeres are made in Moline. They contain zero Asian parts. “Weekend Freedom Machines” and “MyTractorForum” contributors caution against buying new spares (because they’ll be Chinese, and junk), so tractor starters (alternators, generators, etc.) have been hand-rebuilt by a local automotive electrical guru.
It makes a difference.
A $2000 Deere (or Husky, Troy-Bilt, or Cub) will be 80-90% Chinese, and not very reliable.
It’ll also sport a Briggs or Kohler engine that’s now Chinese-made.
A $6500+ Deere will be made in Moline, and be ~90% American (it’ll have a Nippon alternator, Bosch starter, and Deere electronics, any or all of which might be Chinese, Japanese, or American), and it will have a Kawasaki or Yanmar engine. It will also ONLY be sold by a John Deere dealer.
I have 1800, 1900, and 2300 hours on my little Deeres. The smallest, cheapest one sold for $5800 new, in 1986, and it will run a loader, excavator, or 48″ tiller. They’re not as big as CUTs but they’re also not toys, and they just work…
A little off subject, I feel we are in for a big distraction shortly, namely a former president ( second worst now) , could be Scaliaed. That would get msm attention for a couple of ago , just saying.
ya shit dude. been there before too. a long while back. my wizard buddy fixed my deck in 10 min. hope the same for you.
I got to thinking about all that end of the world shit.
I’d prefer we not do all that. is the banking system corrupt? yes! is the world politiccal stage fucking retarded? yeah man for sure. is the world completely out of balance between the rich and the poor. yep. totally. there is so many homeless people right now. and most people gotta work 2 jobs to make what they made stretch as far as pre covid days. and alot single mothers and fathers are struggling. there needs to be a change, I totally agree.
but wipe the entire planet back to the stone age, and kill off 90 of the world’s population when most people are just doing the best they can and a few percent of the people at the top suffer from the bottomless pit of greed? that doesn’t seem right.
most people are good.
I saw the test. the litmus test they put out. to check the herds temperature. the silent majority.
the release of Jesus Revolution the movie. sold more tickets on openening day than the ticket sales of the other top 4 movies combined.
that was a litmus test on the flock. tells ya exactly what is the mindset of the population.
and I don’t know if you noticed or not. I’m having a really good life over here. I hung out with PGA masters, rockstars, Shamans, done alot of Cool stuff and then went backstage and hung out at every show in town I wanted to work. slept with some super models, and had a few playboy bunny girlfriends, participated in countless miracles of just being in the right place at the right time. experienced side dumping off the side of a 400 foot cliff at 30mph with my steer tire a foot off the edge and my foot mashing the pedal to the floor. saved a cheerleader, found a magic bullet before it went missing and lived in a Mansion on the Beach, put up 455lbs on bench press at age 50 years old. hung out with Rock Legends and the Richest Men in the world. and everyone inbetween.
and… now I’m heading on Wednesday to drive a machine that weighs over 365,000 lbs and hauls over 100 tons of ore in the mountains. completely off grid and away from any sort of unnatural electric energy.
I’m living the dream, man. even I won the fucking lottery jackpot. I’m still going to go drive that Machine! because not many people ever get to drive something that massive. it’s 17 steps to get in the cab or that fucker. 12 foot tires on it. fire up a smoke, take big gulp of black coffee, scream Hell Yeah! giddy up! crank up some tunes and get after it. hahahaa
my Momma said that this is so big son, you could mount a BBQ on the deck up there! I said he’ll yeah Momm! that is a great idea! hahahahaa.
I over here truly living. truly. living my best life. I’d rather we not wipe the planet away with wind and water right now, if I have my say in things. I agree things need to change. there needs to be a better way. a restoring of balance. I talked to THE DUDE about it. and said there has to be a better way. most people are good. a large portion of humanity is doing the best they can. it’s the few fuckers at the top that are making the big mess. let’s find a different way to make a change. the world needs more ~ frying pan guy~ as leaders DUDE.
https://youtu.be/oet6ORJsHX4
DUDE said, Will do.
I definitely think I’m chosen one. I’m too rough around the edges and I drive a humble Volkswagen. lol. that gets good gas mileage. I’d rather be driving a Chevy 3/4 ton durimax, 4X4.
soon enough, I spose.
with that. I’m heading to church. my shit is packed. and I’m ready to roll.
I will check back when I am able.
ya all come back now ya hear.
today, I think I will play my theme song.
que: ~ Real Good Man ~
https://youtu.be/9q2fu1J02SI
Met a man like you in Aus. 1970s. Is that you again? most fluent expert long stories at BS. Everyone loved to hear the stories of in unimaginable proportion, God Speed ANDY
Seen some of those trucks, years ago at a coal mine that was miles across. I also saw a promo pic from the mine, of one with an F250 in the bed — looked almost like a toy truck in a parking garage.
Be careful — they’re some big beasties
uhem. don’t think I’m the chosen one. LOL. I’m too rough around the edges. and I don’t need no responsibility like that. im done having kids. I’m good. I don’t want 9 billion children.
wow. I got sent to a captua and had to pick some motorcycles because it said your ip address was blocking me. that is new, George.
uhem. I don’t think I’m the chosen one. someone removed the “don’t.” from my comment and now your IP is banning my IP?
huh.
alright man.
see ya.
My ip doesn’t block anyone. How save is your local IP connection>?
idk dude. every other time it reroutes me to do captiua thing and says this ip has blocked you.
doesn’t matter. I’m about to go have sex lunch and sex in the back of a tropic Tan with pretty little curley haired blonde who also a bunny.
then hit the gym, load up my car. chill for. a bit
I got over 10 million lbs of Ore move a week. be ‘mining the future’ over there. if ya catch my drift.
maybe buy dirt and settle down out there in Wyoming. send for the curley haired blonde. she looks like a young E. mid 40s.
and go back to being cool on the internet then. or just walk away a rich man.
big sign the couple days ago read,
The Adventure starts now!
Mountains, Trees, Fresh air and Jackpots!
best get busy being about it.
I had something strange like that happen too, some time back.
Use a VPN to conceal your location & personal identity info when posting.
I feel your pain G fighting the mower war, I just call the guy. Smoked the spindle bearings on my 20hp JD a month ago. I called the guy that same day. The guy finally made it out yesterday, the guy is a month out cause of all the rain (and tall grass out here) replaced both spindles, blades and deck belt in 40 minutes and cost 400$,would of taken me 3 days to pull that off. Sometimes its best to just call the guy. My JD is my 5th rider in 30 years and has 230 hours. Paid 1300$ at Lowes in 2010, hope its good for more than 300 hours cause that same mower is 3500$ now. If it keeps raining out here I’ll be over 300hrs by May. I’m not a very patient mechanic and I’ve learned its best to just call the guy.
Many years ago I worked at a mower manufacturer – better than MTD, not as good as the old JD. Long sense bought and closed, er, moved to corporate headquarters several states away. Got a unit at an employee auction. After several seasons I had to replace the transmission drive belt. Similar situation to yours – no way to hold the spring back and thread the belt. I ended up taking a wire, tying one end to the tensioner and the other to a tree. Pushing the tractor forward let me get the belt in. Yes, there may have been a few words directed at that “stupid engineer.” Until I realized I had a name to cuss at. Not a stupid guy. And then I realized he was doing what management and marketing wanted – trying to compete with a better JD model but at a lower cost. And then I realized low cost assembly required installing that belt as one of the first parts to go into the unit. Quite a quandary – Who do I cuss at?
More recently I had a JD unit – until it failed. Within one season the engine developed a terrible clatter, the mower deck cracked out, and the transmission failed. Must have hit the design life. That is some amazingly precise engineering work!
Bought a Bad Boy zero turn to replace a Craftsman lawn tractor 54inch. The Bad Boy ZT is amazing and saving time and money for 6years. Craftsman lasted 14years and preformed very well. All my vehicles are 10years plus. 2 Chevys and a Toyota Camry. Chevy one is a GMC conversion van 5.7L it has a mind of its own, have learned to not panic about unusual noises or fluid levels. Just keep a close eye on all the above. Chev 2 is an Avalanche, awesome truck, repeat on all the above, plus have learned to replace plastic parts as they break. Toyota is maintenance free, doesn’t leak oil either. Use synthetic and add 4oz of Sea Foam, with each change, to all the above.
I have an old old old MTD snow blower..paid 200 for it almost 35 years ago.. one pull…had to replace the pull cord.. they don’t make spare parts.. so I got a different part and got it to work..but decided I’d buy a new one..got a cub..first day out. it broke with three feet of snow coming.. I called cub they basically told me you bought it you own it..
so I had to get another snow blower..used the 35 year old mtd. to finish the drifts ..the new one was an Ariens ..that’s a work horse.. got the cub fixed..so now I have 3..the arises is three times the machine compared to the cub.. if it holds up to the old mtd then I will be happy..
nothing today is built with the quality of past products.
20 years of crappy craftsman was pure hell.
now living large with cub cadet.
it’s like going from a fiat to a rolls.
life is good again finally.
do yourself a favor this thing flies!
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cub-Cadet-Ultima-ZT1-50-in-Fabricated-Deck-23HP-V-Twin-Kawasaki-FR-Series-Engine-Dual-Hydro-Drive-Gas-Zero-Turn-Riding-Lawn-Mower-Ultima-ZT1-50/314732004
Trump MUST be prevented from running. If he runs and WINS (unlikely–the means to deliver the “right” vote count are tested and well in-hand) then he MUST be prevented from actually taking office.
NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES, THIS MUST BE DONE.
Repeat: NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES!
No limits. Too important to allow for any limits.
Please explain why. While President Trump is not ideal, he did put a wrench into the plans of the one-worlders and for a short time, helped American business. Is there another candidate that can actually increase freedom and autonomy for each American? And national security without gestapo tactics? Honesty in government and reduction of bureaucracy? Perhaps a budget that we can live with?
I really don’t know how to do these things, and I’m not sure that any individual can, but it does help if such an individual really wants to. Is there even one candidate worth voting for, rather than simply voting against the opposition?
I wonder if the job can even be done.
WRR is speaking from the perspective of the Establishment of both Parties…
a common theme is.
this is not only the end of an Aeon and The beginning of a new one.
it is the Cosmic completion of the Glaxies the Grand cycle and of the Universe. the moon travels aromd the earth. the earth around the sun. the sun around the galaxy and the Galaxy around the Universe.
the reason this time in life is so important is.
it is also the completion of our Galaxy cycle around the universe.
to my understanding,
that happens only once every 4,500,000 light years.
that is what makes it the most special.
obviously my time on urbansurvival is done here. things are keeping me from commenting further.
final thought,
by God I live and By God I die.
nobody else can take my life, not even I, but God.
catch ya on the flip side.
the language of God is True and Just anything else is a lie.
“His approach MIGHT be to take the whole bloody deck out from under the rider and adjust things in daylight. But really, that’s not very sporting, is it?”
ROFL! My neighbor (the ex Seattle firefighter trainer and jack of all trades) was fixing small engines and mowers for a time, and sold me an abandoned Sears LT1500 for $200 that he refurbished. A few trips around my convoluted lava-flow cum ‘lawn’ and it threw the deck belt and a few springs and levers that I collected from the lawn. There ensued the complete dropping of the deck in the garage and figuring out the puzzle reAssembly… as well as ordering a new belt with a couple spares, and spares for all the springs. I (correctly) guessed I would be needing spare belts (plural). Lesson learned…. Ya gotta drop the deck.
I only had to do that with a Deere deck once — when the spring broke. With the JD, you slack the belt then grab & hook — a Vice-Grip special that takes about 2mins. Once the spring’s on, reroute the belt and you’re rolling. I’ve only dropped decks to rebuild them (or take them somewhere to be rebuilt). The stuff’s pretty robust. I don’t even pick the yard for branches that’re less than 2″ in diameter — the JD mower laughs at them while it’s mulching them.
I couldn’t do that with the Toro though — too little space, too fat fingers. I believe if/when something like that becomes necessary, I’ll load the trailer and go visit the local Toro guy. Time is money, and that 3/16-1/4 inch forged deck must weigh 400-500 pounds…
to answer ure latest,
“the Marquis de Yard was supposed to provide a good time. A few hours with the power equipment and Presto! A perfectly manicured Front of House (FOH in concert sound engineering) was supposed to appear.”
now I met alot of rock Legends. but tangling strings and diddlen keys and all.
what’s more fun that hanging out with Rock Legends Back Stage?
being one.
not everyone gets to drive one of these. and that is every little boy in a sanboxs dream.
https://blog.finning.com/facts-you-might-not-know-about-the-797/amp/
now I gotta get. she already has me walking her shit dog and saying yes dear.
ha ha life is good.
George;
You are about right with the MTD 300 hour thing I live about 45 minutes from the factory in Willard, Ohio and will not touch anything MTD with a 10 foot whatever. This goes for their (you shouldn’t need one but you never know) snowbloers, also What do I have? John Deere Not the cheap ones that you see at Home Depot. Real ones From John Deere dealers In fact, I own 2 One is a 1998 and the other is a 1999 Both LT155’s which wasn’t really a high end JD when I bought them. Oil changes, (I switched them both to full synthetic years ago), filters, and fuel filters. Minor yearly maintenance and both I and the wife are happy campers. You should see us both going around in the yard mowing with our matching tractors. Makes the neighbors look