Tractors, Mowers, Chippers, Trailers, Chainsaws, Generators, Driveway Erosion Control, ETC.

Any of you guys ever replace a culvert? Noticed mine is failing today.

 

What do you have to work with equipment wise?

 

Few recent projects.
Stump grinding


Stump pulling

 

Hand shovels we shall see how long it lasts, have been wanting to widen the driveway anyways.

 

You know what to go get! Shovels are not going to get it.. Dang dude. You just made me hurt and tired.

 

Definitely wouldn’t be by hand I have been on the lookout for a bobcat for awhile now and I would rent a back hoe. Was more wondering if anybody has replaced a driveway culvert before and if it’s worth it to just pay somebody since I will have to get cement poured for the driveway itself.

 

If thats the case find out what they would charge.
I put one in with a tractor and bucket. went well just did the fall from high side to low side. If they gotta come out and dig anything with machines when doing concrete, they have probaly done it before.
Have fun.

 

Definitely have the crew doing the concrete do it if they will. If concrete is going over the top then the material over the culvert replacement will need to be packed down really well to avoid the concrete settling and cracking. Even if you rented a small compactor it might not work well enough to avoid settling. Plus if you do it or someone else does it then if something does happen to the concrete the concrete contractor can claim it wasn't their fault and you are on the hook for the repair. I suspect a culvert replacement is high on the list of PITA jobs. The crew that does it all the time makes it look quick and easy but it will probably be neither.

 

That’s one of the best stump grinders made for the price

 

its been great for me so far, bought it lightly used from a friend. After replacing the retaining pin on the PTO which just vaporized, its doing a very good job behind the JD.

 

Yearly mowing has begun

 

I did it a few years ago. When up in size from a 18" pipe to a 36" pipe and two 36" pipes to two 60" pipes. Haven't had any more storm wipeouts since. With three of us and an excavator we replaced two creek crossings in a weekend. If a lot of shovels is all you got, I hope you have plenty of them and friends attached to help! I would get some quotes to do the whole job and just the concrete. Then compare that with the cost of renting necessary equipment and your time for doing it yourself. Our project was much bigger but we saved about 20K doing it ourselves.

 

Great pic!

 

Finally done with this project. Only thing left to do is use it. Then maybe replace the knives and install an idler and or clutch if need be... Then also make a front mount for my SxS...

Anyways, pics...
Started really a couple of weeks ago with the idea to just sharpen the knives and give her a go... There are 80 knives and a light pass with a grinder made short work of the job. Took like maybe 20 minutes total. A few are totally mangled and I used channel locks to straighten them out enough to be passable.
During the knife sharpening I couldn't help but notice the surface rust everywhere underneath this thing. I was not surprised, but thought since I was already underneath it, why stop with just the knives? I had planned to use it then break it down during the winter, but...Combination of wire wheels and flapper discs to take off all the surface rust. Probably shortened my life by many years, but my Iron levels have never been higher. Surprisingly it all cam right apart. Every single bolt on this thing is a 1/2" and truth be told, there are surprisingly few in total.
Bush Hog red was replaced with Kubota orange because why not. Also the flail and anti-scalp roller got hit with Rustoleum rust reformer which is exactly what I use on the frame on my truck and seems to work well. Under the case I used John Deere yellow since I had it and it was glossy vs. matte so maybe stuff won't stick under there as bad? Maybe not, but the yellow makes it easy to see under there if need be.
Just some rust reformer. I expect this stuff to get worn off pretty quickly, but at least I can say I tried.
Reassembled. Eagle eyed viewers will notice the old school Kubota logo haha. Again, why not. I actually taped off all the factory stickers that were in decent shape, so it looks sort of factory still. Predator 420 non-hemi, battery for the electric starter, .50 cal. ammo can onboard tool box.
I mounted the battery over to the otherside as far as I could to disperse the weight on the one side. It was important for me to use lawn tractor front tires for the weight cap, but also incase I have a flat, I can just grab a front of one of the riders at my cabin. Only real issue with the whole deal was the axle on the motorside. On the non motorside, a rider tire fit perfectly. On the motorside, the tire would rub the axle mount since it oddly shaped to fit around the rotor pulley, so the tire hub sat back for the end of the axle stub by only about 1/8" once shimmed with 3/4" washers. I ended up drilling and tapping a 1/4" tap into the end of the axle stub and simply have washers held on by a bolt. The other axle stub has your traditional cotter pin/washer setup. I'm curious to see if this method will hold up, I can't see why not as the wheel rested fully on the axle stub, just covering the cotter pin hole requiring modification. I honestly just didn't feel like reworking the one axle since I ultimately plan on front mounting this thing anyways. Or just lazy...
So originally it was a Bush Hog GPF50, I rebranded it as a GPF50L. What's the L for you ask? Limited. What makes it a Limited? The metallic wheels and metallic Toolbox of course...
Here you can see the extended tongue I made. I simply used some square tube and a 3/4"nut and bolt so I gould thread it on if needed and remove it if not needed. The tongue on this thing is crazy short so backing up and turning with a SxS in stock form was impossible. It warped a bit and looks wonky, but I figure a slight offset won't matter much where I mow anyways. The extension is just a square threaded rod and is not attached all the way in the pics.

Sorry for the novel, just really excited about this one. I hope to get it out next weekend and see how it goes.
I'm pretty sure knives are the next task on this thing.

 

Awesome!

 

Nice job!!

I watch for a flail but around here they are 1) few and far between 2) stunningly expensive when found.

The front mount will be excellent - waiting for the video.

 

Don't hold your breathe on the front mount, it's gonna be awhile lol. Front mount flail is my ultimate goal though, dragging a trailer mower through trees sucks at certain times. Driving between trees and through brush with a front mount is ideal in my mind. At my cabin I have tons of small saplings, like 1-2" diameter stuff and a flail with heavier hammers should handle it. Current knives will be ok for grass and briars hopefully.

I just got a killer deal on this thing. Yeah I had to rework the whole thing and ended up buying a new motor, but my initial cost was only $200. On FBM the seller had it listed as "No" haha. Reworking it is part of the fun and I had no desire to spend $2500 on a new front mount Chinese made flail.

I've only ever seen a few of these Bush Hog flails and since it is wider than a traditional Mott it is better suited to my needs. Of course bigger choppers are popular, but they are too big for my needs.

 

Got my old single blade riding mower back yesterday. Non-running and smelled nasty from what I suspect a mouse infestation. So, we pushed it by hand into my truck.



Had ramps to load it, but unloading it would be a different story. Luckily I have some hilly areas in my yard to make unloading easier. I may or may not have had to drive through the neighbors property to achieve this...



So, back to it not running. Of course the battery was flat, so I tried to use my jump pack to get it going. Would crank over fine, but not start on its own. Friend said they drained the old gas and put a little bit of new in. I already knew the carb was gummed up from the ethanol. Gave it a sniff of ether and it started, although it was NOT happy on the starting fluid. So, loading and unloading by hand was needed. Then had to wheel all the way from the back yard to the garage.

Battery was so dead I had to break out the old "dumb" charger. I keep it around for these reasons!



Removed the engine cover and low and behold...






Removed the debris and found the little bastards chewed the coil wire! Luckily not all the way through, so I just put on heat shrink later on.



Did a quick spray down with some cleaner and a hose. Still needs a pressure washing, but I wasn't getting it out just for that yesterday.



There was a couple wires I did have to repair, nothing too bad though.

Removed the carb and gave it a good cleaning. Re-assembled and it still wouldn't start on its own. Removed the fuel shutoff on the bottom of the bowl and there was no fuel. Hmmm. Removed again and found the needle and seat was sticking. Cleaned it up and lubed it the best I could. Was getting fuel then. Fired right up on its own, but the carb is screwed. Gonna have to order a China carb for it. I replaced this carb about 7 years ago and then there wasn't one of those cheap knock-offs. I think it was like $150 back in 2016. It still mows grass pretty good, tested a spot in the back yard. Deck spindles need bearings, but they've been noisy since I first had it. Once I get it cleaned up and a carb on I'll try my hand at selling it even though it's late in the season. Hoping to get around $300 for it. With the cost of new ones hopefully someone will snap it up.

@Squirt @wilcam47

 

This raises a question I have.

My Zero Turn mower is my first ever mower with a battery. This winter when it will likely sit for a few months waiting for spring, should I hook it up to a battery charger at some point? Or am I being overly concerned? Mower is only a few months old, I got it brand new in late April, so don't expect the battery would have any issues this soon, but just wanted to get the best advice on keeping the beastie in top shape for as long as I can. It's a lower Residential model, not a Prosumer/Professional model, but am hoping to get several years worth of abuse... I mean use, out of it before I have to contemplate replacing.