At Home In The Woods

[PAGUY]

Dave said - 1. Penetrating oil, and let it soak for a while. Might I add tap the nut. Be careful not to damage the bolt threads when you do this to cause the penetrating oil better access to rust busting.

Obed - Knowing what it is like to be a landlord those 9:30 calls because a bathroom light doesn't come on or the electric hot water tank isn't working and renter is afraid of opening the circuit breaker box to check if it tripped and to turn it off till you get there are just examples of two I remember off hand, Coming home from a days work and having to put on your maintenance hat and check on calls gets old quick.

Have you given any thought to making money by buying and then "flipping" the house. I know a Real Estate agent who does this besides working for a Real Estate company.

 

[Obed]

Have you given any thought to making money by buying and then "flipping" the house. I know a Real Estate agent who does this besides working for a Real Estate company.

I have considered that seriously. I'm not great at the construction work but could probably do the research and financing. Many years ago I bought a foreclosure condo at the courthouse auction, fixed it up and flipped it. I hired out all the repairs. My wife and I did the cleaning. If I could find someone willing to do the repair work today, I would love to do a flip again.
Obed

 

[Obed]

Success!
I ditched the impact wrench and bought a 15" breaker bar today.



I wedged the mower deck between two trees. I attached the 30 mm socket and slipped a 4' steel pipe over the breaker bar handle.



The bolts broke loose easy without any issues. The bolts really weren't that rusty; the threads look to be in good condition. After removing the mover blades, it became apparent that heating around the bolt to break it loose would be fruitless. The mower blade and cup that surrounds the bushing would obstruct any heat from reaching the threads.



One win from this endeavor is I now have a 1/2 breaker bar and a 3/8 breaker bar, both which I bought today. I probably will look into getting an electric impact wrench for tight spots for which the breaker bar won't fit. My air compressor is not big enough to power an impact wrench. I might like a corded electric impact wrench. Or if I could get a reasonably powerful battery impact wrench that is also a drill, I might consider that.

 

[radioman]

Glad you got the bolts off. It's always righty tighty, lefty loosey.
As for tenants, that's why now I hire a realtor to look for renters for me. It costs me the first month rent or what you can negotiate with them. They can do the dirty work of screening, waiting to show the house. I used to do it all, but now I realized it not worth it

 

[Obed]

I had another person call me today who said that he is a smoker and his wife is not. He claims he does not smoke in the house. While he might be telling the truth, I just won't risk it. I've rented more than one non-smoking hotel room that smelled of recent smoke.

 

[brin]

I had another person call me today who said that he is a smoker and his wife is not. He claims he does not smoke in the house. While he might be telling the truth, I just won't risk it. I've rented more than one non-smoking hotel room that smelled of recent smoke.

Way to go....Expect the worse from a tenant and then you can only be pleasantly surprised if they turn out better than expected...It has to be because the property is not theirs and they just don't care or take care of it as if it were theirs....but there are some renters whose personal standards are high and they are the ones you want...:2cents:

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Some blade bolts are reverse threaded. one of my mowers are. I Keep a note in the barn on wrench size and direction for mine.

 

[clemsonfor]

Just checking in so that no one fears for my well being and stalks me down

Good luck on the rental...

As for the nut, i see i am a bit late as you got it off. Some tips for future...yes your compressor is probably too small and therefore your not developing the full torque. When you heat you want to heat the nut first so it expands the most, and yes the shaft will get heat through transfer but not as much as the nut. You want to heat as hot as possible , cherry red helps but with propane and a large nut that is difficult if not impossible? AND you want to be carefull with heat as you can melt/ruin seals on your spindles and you can boil greese but it your that hot your seal is toast anyway so be carefull with heat and shafts with seals near the heat. And a big hammer is a freind the impact will somtimes loosen the nut thats why impacts work, so you can beat the nut heat it beat it try to turn it and if able but pressure on it and beat it at the same time.

I have tried to pull flywheels on my outboards before and because i too have an undersized compressor i cant fully pull the flywheel off with the impact so i have to wait for it to catch up, try some more, spray lubricant on it wait and then bang with a hammer sometimes it just pops off others i have to bang as the impact is hammering trying to turn it.Have not had one beat me yet!!

 

[clemsonfor]

Just checking in so that no one fears for my well being and stalks me down

Good luck on the rental...

As for the nut, i see i am a bit late as you got it off. Some tips for future...yes your compressor is probably too small and therefore your not developing the full torque. When you heat you want to heat the nut first so it expands the most, and yes the shaft will get heat through transfer but not as much as the nut. You want to heat as hot as possible , cherry red helps but with propane and a large nut that is difficult if not impossible? AND you want to be carefull with heat as you can melt/ruin seals on your spindles and you can boil greese but it your that hot your seal is toast anyway so be carefull with heat and shafts with seals near the heat. And a big hammer is a freind the impact will somtimes loosen the nut thats why impacts work, so you can beat the nut heat it beat it try to turn it and if able but pressure on it and beat it at the same time.

I have tried to pull flywheels on my outboards before and because i too have an undersized compressor i cant fully pull the flywheel off with the impact so i have to wait for it to catch up, try some more, spray lubricant on it wait and then bang with a hammer sometimes it just pops off others i have to bang as the impact is hammering trying to turn it.Have not had one beat me yet!!

 

[nc redneck]

On the renter thing I have been doing it for years commercial and residential. Just get used to your place being trashed, they are renters. If they were like most people on this sight they would save and buy a house. Wait and find the right person, better to sit vacant for several months than to get the wrong one. Most important look for long term, paint and carpet ( that you will do ) is a profit buster at 12 months, after 2 years it is not so bad. And at 4 years it is painless. Also rental stuff never breaks at 8:00 Monday morning only at 5;30 on Saturday night, just part of the game.
Commercial has almost no weekend headaches but cost and risk are very high.
Good Luck
Scott