Mud Daubers, they got me again!!!

   / Mud Daubers, they got me again!!! #1  

EddieWalker

Epic Contributor
Joined
May 26, 2003
Messages
25,137
Location
Tyler, Texas
Tractor
Several, all used and abused.
Couple of years ago I couldn't get my little Honda generator to start. It's always been easy to start, but that day it just sputtered and died. I thought it was a fuel issue, so I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out and even bypass the gas tank and run a separate fuel line without any improvement. Then I noticed that the exhaust was plugged up with dirt. I cleaned out the dirt and it fired right up and ran great.

For the last week or so my Kawasaki Mule has been running poorly without any power. I thought it was the fuel filter, or something blocking the fuel from getting to the engine. It fires up quickly and easily, and it ran fine just sitting there, but once you tried to drive it, there was nothing there. It never died, it just didn't have enough power to move faster then a crawl and it felt like it was dying.

I never did find a fuel filter and need to look online to see if I can find a diagram showing me where it's at. I'm guess that it's inside the fuel tank. Anyway, while searching for the fuel filter, I was following a hose that came off of my charcoal filter that was open to the air under my fuses. It was plugged up with dirt from mud daubers. I removed the dirt and then took off the hose and blew it out with my air compressor. Since I couldn't find a fuel filter, or anything else wrong, I decided to take it for a test drive.

WOW, it was night and day better. I had so much power that I had to slow down while racing around my place because I was scaring myself!!!! It's so much better then I even remember it being when I first bought it. The power is awesome, and what's really amazing, is that it was such a simple thing to fix. It just slowly happened over time and I just sort of got used to it having less power as it happened over time. I just hope that the next time I have a mud dauber issue that I recognize it sooner!!!

For those that are not familiar with them. Mud dauber - Wikipedia
 
   / Mud Daubers, they got me again!!! #2  
It could be worse:

Florida Commuter Airlines
On September 12, 1980, Florida Commuter Airlines flight 65 crashed en route to Freeport, Bahamas killing all 34 passengers and crew.
The cause was determined to be due in part to a malfunctioning air speed indicator caused by mud dauber nests that were improperly cleared from the aircraft's pitot tubes.

Birgenair Flight 301
On February 6, 1996, Birgenair Flight 301, a 757 jet flying from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
All 13 crew members and 176 passengers were killed. A key part of the accident was a blocked pitot tube, a component which measures outside air pressure
through small tubes on the outside of the aircraft and displays this as the plane's speed. Although the tubes were never recovered from the ocean floor,
it was discovered that the plane had been sitting on the tarmac for two days with uncovered pitot tubes. Investigators believe a black and yellow mud dauber
got into the tube and built its cylindrical nest inside, causing faulty air speed readings that were a large part of the crash. The main and primary cause of
the crash however, was pilot error due to the flight crew's improper response to inaccurate airspeed as well as the stick-shaker stall warning.

Gulfstream N450KK
On April 10, 2015, about 1845 eastern daylight time, a Gulfstream Aerospace G-IV, N450KK, was substantially damaged during a cabin over-pressurization
event over the Caribbean Sea while en route to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. An initial examination of the fuselage revealed that the outflow valve safety port,
located on the outer fuselage, was completely plugged with a foreign material resembling dried dirt from a mud dauber
 
   / Mud Daubers, they got me again!!! #3  
I don't know God's purpose for mud dabbers.
 
   / Mud Daubers, they got me again!!! #4  
An excellent reason to to keep spare hydraulic fittings and hoses protected...!

Also for some reason they seem to like the orifices on things like gas burners and torches etc...
 
   / Mud Daubers, they got me again!!! #5  
An excellent reason to to keep spare hydraulic fittings and hoses protected...!

Also for some reason they seem to like the orifices on things like gas burners and torches etc...

And don't forget the hydraulic reservoir air breather hole either. (the little shepherds crook rubber thingy)
 
   / Mud Daubers, they got me again!!! #6  
When we bought our place out in the country in Navarro County, the 40' x 60' shop building had more mud daubers nests on the walls and the inside of the ceiling/roof than I'd ever seen anywhere. I spent all day two days just knocking them all down. And I had bought a 1981 Ford F250 pickup that was old, but in great shape. However, the automatic choke quit working. Some of you are old enough to remember when you simply mashed the gas pedal down and let up before turning the key to start the engine and that set the automatic choke. When it quit working, I just pumped the gas pedal to start the truck. And then one day I decided to see if it was time to replace the air filter and when I removed it, I found the housing had mud daubers nests and a mud dauber nest on the throttle linkage was what kept the automatic choke from working. It worked fine after I cleaned out the much dauber nests. And just this morning I was sitting on the patio when I noticed a mud dauber building a new next on the wall by the door into the shop; got to looking around a bit more and tore down 4 mud dauger nests; first ones this year.
 
   / Mud Daubers, they got me again!!! #7  
I usually sprinkle some sevin dust where my A/C condensate drips out. It seems to be a place the little guys like to get moisture and mud.
 
   / Mud Daubers, they got me again!!! #8  
I don't know God's purpose for mud dabbers.

Rid the world of excess spiders. The adults built the nest, lay eggs in the bottom, then pack the rest of the tube with spiders to feed the larva of the eggs when they hatch. I get the need for them, but DANG why do the have to plug up every little hole they can find? Leave an air tool out...they will plug up a 1/4" connector solid. Plug up the ground holes in extension cords so you can't plug something in with a ground pin until you clean out the grounding hole in the cord end !
 
   / Mud Daubers, they got me again!!! #9  
I have a portable air compressor that I have not used in a while. Recently I had a need for it and got it out, plugged it in and turned it on. It only buzzed and didn't start. I figured it was locked up from setting too long. When I got time I removed the fan cover to try to rock the shaft back and forth. I discovered a mud dauber condominium that had the fan locked up. I cleared everything and it started right up.
 
   / Mud Daubers, they got me again!!! #10  
I had the "daubers" fill the key slot on my riding lawn mower. Solution - clean it all out, leave the key in the slot. It was all full of a yellow/green sticky stuff. Not easy to clean out. I heated the key - jammed it in - it's a more or less permanent instal now.
 
 
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