New England B.S. Thread

Free is good. I inherited my first Murray from my dad in 2010 with a bum hydro trans, which was not fixable. Found another one $200 for parts with a bum engine, but the engine fired up after I tightened the spark plugs. Still going strong.

I'm up there at almost 47

Yeah I drive a hydro! Wanna make something out of it?!?!?

 

Hydro was always the way to go.....i ended up getting the standard with the push button blade clutch and regretted my decision ever since.

 

Turns out the Murray hydro back then at least wasn't very known for durability. I looked for a used transaxle alone first and called a place in PA that was a mower scrapyard. The guy said $700..IF I can find one.

There were 3 different ones used in that run as well so finding the exact was a little challenging. One guy absolutely refused to provide me the tag# on the axle even though I had cash and was ready to drive 2 hours to him if it was the right one.

 

The K46 that's in most lawn tractors isn't fantastic--at least the older ones weren't. Mine's on borrowed time and from what I see they tend to go before anything else significant does on most machines. You can find a standard transmission anywhere for next to nothing, but nobody junks the hydros so they're expensive. The K66 in garden tractors is supposed to be much better.

 

That grille is hideous..screaming for attention

 

Mine it was more they were all shitbox transaxles in that particular machine, much like finding a Chevy Luv engine.

 

Well, it depends on what the middle is. If I live to be 100 then I'm about at the middle.

If I live to be 80 then I'm wayyyyyy past the middle.

 

That is annoying for sure... I've literally only participated on the NE regional thread lol. Mostly, its one dude talking to himself every morning.

I tried the index card method. FUCK that method.

 

The one time I used Plasti-dip, I just blasted the wheels and didn't treat the tires or do the index card method. It took a good bit of time to get all the plasti-dip off the tires but it did eventually all come off. If I ever do it again, I'll use the Tire Wet crap on the tires and I guess Plasti-dip just doesn't stick to it and comes right off.

 

Honestly, I just shot it right on the tire. I mean, the tire is flat black, the wheel is flat black... I didn't see any overspray, nor did I care really lol.

 

That was my one saving grace, I shot it right at the tire also and laid on on thick so it did eventually peel off, just took some time, a lot of cussing and a toothpick. I was using a dark silver color so it was noticeable. I'll likely break down and have to derp the black wheels on my truck. They're starting to get rock chips in the paint so, in a year or so, I'll either have to swap wheels again or make the decision to keep these and use dip to keep them looking decent. There are new hardeners now that make dip more durable that I'd go with as well as chemicals to specifically get brake dust out of dip. It's slowly becoming a better option than paint for things like this, in my opinion.

 

My solution for chipping was to hit my wheels with an aggressive wire brush in my drill, then bedline them with duplicolor in the blue can.

 

Noted on both those, I figured the cards would be a PITA. I'll see if I can find the tire wet stuff you're talking about.

 

I'm buying a chain fall tomorrow AM to be able to lift/flip the bed easier and safer, as well as help me position the sheet metal safely.

I have to start measuring all the sections I need, primarily the center section of the bed first, then get that spot welded in place, weld on the cross supports, and work on filling the holes in on either side of the bed. Then I'll work on kinda remaking the wheel wells with diamond plate once the floor is pretty much done. The wheel wells are soft in some spots for sure.

 

Chain fall, don't you have a winch on any of the 18 vehicles you own?

 

The cards are super easy and only take about a minute a wheel to prep.

Get index cards at the dollar store.

 

Won't work for what I need to do lol

 

Yup or playing cards

 

Playing cards are meant to be counted..