At Home In The Woods

[Coyote machine]

Ethanol free gas is not needed in autos/trucks. They run on a closed loop, pressurized fuel system, unlike lawnmowers, chainsaws, weedeaters, outboard marine engines, etc., that use open to atmosphere fuel systems. Any fuel system open to air can/will allow for phase separation of the E-10 gas, and that fuel breakdown/separation cannot be recombined. When the fuel breaks down water is one result and it sinks to the bottom of the tank and water is not, last I checked, good for SI combustion.

Lawnmower spring, replace with local spring from hardware store of choice. Also make sure your pullies spin freely with no noise, no axial wobble, etc.

 

[Obed]

It would not have occurred to me to look for the spring replacement at a hardware store. Thanks for the tip.

Obed

 

[Diamondpilot]

It would not have occurred to me to look for the spring replacement at a hardware store. Thanks for the tip. Obed

Try TSC and Rural King also.

Chris

 

[Obed]

Last weekend I visited some people who had these carpenter bee traps hanging on their porch. They appear to work. The bees crawl in the holes. When they crawl into the plastic jar, they cannot find their way out of the jar. I need to get some of these.

 

[s219]

Last weekend I visited some people who had these carpenter bee traps hanging on their porch. They appear to work. The bees crawl in the holes. When they crawl into the plastic jar, they cannot find their way out of the jar. I need to get some of these.

View attachment 423483 View attachment 423484

I built one last year, and hung it below our front porch. Caught 5-6 carpenter bees in a few weeks. Very easy to make with scrap, and preferable to use a fragrant soft wood like pine. Mine has small holes on all four sides (drilled upward at 45 degree angle) and uses a 12oz plastic water bottle screwed into the bottom. Idea is, the bees crawl into one of the holes when exploring, and then the only daylight they can see from inside is through the clear bottle jar, where they fly to and get trapped. I meant to build a few more this spring, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Those bees would do a number on our house if left unchecked.

 

[Obed]

My New Push Mower
It is a Troybilt TB130 with a 160cc Honda engine. It is not self-propelled. I can push a non-self propelled faster than I can walk behind a more expensive, heavier, and harder to maneuver self-propelled model. So I greatly prefer a push mower over a self-propelled mower, even if both types cost the same.


Assembling the mower was fairly easy.


The MTD YardMachines mower that I returned to the store last week had this exact same "Slope Gauge" picture in it. The consumer grade mowers all seem so similar it is tough to believe that they are actually made by different manufacturers. It makes me suspect that a company in china makes them all and each "manufacturer" specs out the engine model, color, and a few minor cosmetic differences to the "actual" Chinese manufacturer that "actually" builds the machines.


This Troybilt mower with the Honda engine actually has an accessible oil cap and dipstick.


I doubt I will ever use the grass catcher function. I don't understand removing grass clippings from the yard. The clippings provide very useful organic material that keeps the topsoil healthy. In addition, bagging the grass is time-consuming and not any fun.

 

[s219]

I doubt I will ever use the grass catcher function. I don't understand removing grass clippings from the yard. The clippings provide very useful organic material that keeps the topsoil healthy. In addition, bagging the grass is time-consuming and not any fun.

It's good to bag clippings when mowing newly planted grass, or if for some reason you miss a mowing and the grass is extra tall. In both cases, the clippings would be detrimental to the grass. If you want to get picky, it's important to monitor the thatch layer of the lawn, and there may be cases where you want to bag to prevent too thick of a layer at certain times of year.

One benefit of mulching the clippings back onto the lawn is moisture and nitrogen -- you release all the moisture and nitrogen in the cuttings back into the grass, which can be a help. In summer months, it's good to recover that moisture.

 

[Obed]

It's good to bag clippings when mowing newly planted grass, or if for some reason you miss a mowing and the grass is extra tall. In both cases, the clippings would be detrimental to the grass.

I can see the use in the cases. Good points.
Obed

 

[Obed]

My wife went to Kubota today and asked them about the mower drive belt tensioner spring we bought from them two years ago. They said they had sold us the wrong spring. They ordered a new spring which should arrive at the end of this week.

 

[sld]

Bagging is also great in the fall to pick up leaves. Talk about shredded....