Recent content by The Suburban Farmer

I've had my tractor since 2012 and never had any problem with the cooling system and the overflow bottle always showed between Low and Full. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed the coolant was below the "Low" line on my JD2320 and added some. Then, the next morning, it was back to the level shown...

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Just to close the loop here, it ended up being caused by a crack in the deck underneath the pulley tension bar. When I took the tension spring / swing arm assembly off the deck, I saw that the deck was cracked underneath. As a result, the deck was...

I have a 62" mid-mount mower on my Deere 2320 has been bullet-proof for the last few years. However, the original belt FINALLY broke after 7 years. I replaced the belt with an OEM belt, but now it's breaking belts every ~2 hours. Specifically, the belts appear to be wearing on the bottom of the...

Depends on the soil type and the expected load. If the ground is going to be damp, that means "heavy" so I would probably do every 6 feet, but maybe 8 at only 30" high. According to one of my books, a 4-foot-high, 15-foot-long wall could be holding back as much as 20 tons, so you do the math...

One of the worst things I've had happen is for the deadmen to rot or become loose from decay. That requires an ENTIRE redig and rebuild of the wall. You might want to consider making the deadmen out of pipe instead. If the wall rots, you can replace the pieces without having to dig up and...

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The Concept: I have a small workshop... well, it's actually not that small, but I have a lot of stuff. One of the problems has been where to store tools that I don't use all that often. Putting them on a shelf or under the workbench was OK, but it made it tough to justify pulling them out if...

I inherited some old Oneida Victor animal traps from my father (circa pre-1920 or so) and they were in pretty rough shape after sitting in a cardboard box in the garage for 30 years. I have several, and they aren't ever going to be used for trapping again, but they do have a LOT of sentimental...

My lawn is in bad shape. My plan is to core aerate and spread compost on about 2 acres of lawn this week, but was wondering the best way to spread the compost. Here's what I'm thinking... is this crazy? Aerate the lawn with a plug aerator Put the compost in piles around the yard with the...

I am BRAND NEW to using a powered sprayer on the tractor so could use a little advice. I just got a Northern Tool sprayer from my neighbor for my tractor... the Northstar 16 gallon. It's an ATV sprayer, but I've attached to my carry-all. NorthStar ATV Broadcast and Spot Sprayer — 16 Gallon...

Thanks everyone. Tried everything mentioned except for wdchyd's suggestion of using a gauge and flow meter (will have to get a quick-coupler for my pressure gauge to do that, so that probably won't happen until the weekend unfortunately.) The hydro fluid looks fine, and the filter screen is...

I've just noticed that this spring my 2013 Deere 2320's hydraulics seem weak. I noticed it first when I was moving some dirt, but just thought maybe the dirt was wet and heavier than it was last fall, so I ignored it. But today I went to move a pallet with my pallet forks that I put in the...

Yes, I balance them as well using one of these little things that I got on Amazon for like $3 a while back: When I took out the big nicks, they were a bit out of balance, so I ran them through the sharpening jig until they floated perfectly level on the balancer. Now, hopefully, if I do the...

Well, after trying to mow yesterday and getting less than an ideal cut, I remembered to check my blades and they were dull, dull, dull. Chipped, too. I THOUGHT that I'd sharpened them at the end of the fall season, but I guess I didn't. I had a lot of nicks to take out and wanted to make sure...

So, here's a "simple" question that I've been wondering about the last couple of days. What do you guys put in your oil can? When my father passed away, I got all of his old tools including some old oil cans and I've cleaned them up and plan on making them part of my tool kit. Usually, he...