Minor annoyances

snowbound · Dec 17, 2003

( The little "turtle/hare" plastic switch toggle fell off the TC35D while I was plowing today. I have no idea where. But it shouldn't have fallen off in the first place.
)

I found it after the first melt. It was caught on that side of the operator's platform. But it's still quite loose; I will ask them if some sort of adhesive should be used in there.

In the second storm, I lost a shoe from the Curtis plow. I don't understand that since the pin that holds the shoe on is kept by a ring that snaps over it. I guess it must have vibrated loose. I walked the property looking for it but didn't find it so it's in one of the snowbanks or piles. It surprised me because it fell off once before and I put it back on and was careful to ensure that the pin was properly set.

On the other hand, the plow handles decently without it. Now that I'm familiar with how the tractor responds I've upped the operating RPMs to about 2400 and the job goes by pretty fast now.

markie61 · Dec 17, 2003

( I walked the property looking for it but didn't find it so it's in one of the snowbanks or piles. )

If you don't find it after the snow melts, you will be SURE to find it the first time you mow in the spring.....

Found my PTO cover that way....

Mark

Soundguy · Dec 17, 2003

Ditto with horse shoes.... My horses can throw shoes, and I will walk the turn out pen ( 60 x 120 oval ) and nada... but when i mow it, ding.. first ten seconds and I have a divot out of my mower blade...

Soundguy

snowbound · Dec 18, 2003

Yeah I'm sure mowing will turn it right up.

Good thing I don't do the mowing, eh? (A guy with a ZTR does that).

But my place gets so mushy in the spring that nobody will be mowing it until a long time after the snow is gone, so we will have a good chance to find it before the mower could lose a blade over it. Funny things can happen with stuff that gets into snow banks, but my guess is that the shoe is close to the driveway (with the plow on the tractor has only been on the driveway) and the driveway is bordered by rocks and curbs so I don't think the mower guy will find it the hard way.

snowbound · Dec 22, 2003

( If you don't find it after the snow melts, you will be SURE to find it the first time you mow in the spring.....)

I found it today after yesterday finding where it must have come off (located by all the washers being on the ground just about the one place where the plow got tripped). As one suspects with plowing, though, the shoe was not near where it must have come off; I found it about fifty yards away on top of a drift that had melted down to reveal it. When I found all the washers yesterday but not the shoe, I bought some more hitch pins for it at the hardware store because I figured I would find the shoe, but I didn't think I would find the pin. So even though I didn't find the pin I'm back to fully equipped and ready to go for the next storm, which shouldn't be until after Xmas.

JDgreen227 · Dec 22, 2003

Don't laugh at this but I was using my JD 318 with front blade and mower deck still attached (for weight) to push backfill up to my new foundation and SOMEHOW one of the rear wheel assemblies on the deck came loose and got buried. I asked my brother to come out with his expensive metal detector and locate my wheel. Five minutes did the trick. Everybody should have a $500 detector for locating parts that fall off.

snowbound · Dec 23, 2003

( Don't laugh ... but ... metal detector)

I might laugh, but I you can laugh at me too; While I was looking it occurred to me that a metal detector might be just the thing. I'm not sure that is really true given where I eventually found the shoe, but you never know.