Pride in ones work

I recently worked on a customer's golf cart. The cart had a oil leak which was coming from the sump cover. I removed the engine and put it on the workbench and then I saw it. Someone had tried to repair the leak previously. They had smeared the outside of the block with some kind of sealer. Why do so called mechanics do this? At best it is a short term fix. I see these kind of repairs often and I just shake my head. Are the mechanics just lazy or don't they know any better. I can't say why they do this, but one thing I can say for sure, they don't take pride in their work

Repairing holes

Worn out holes where pins or shafts go through are commonplace. They can easily be repaired by using a copper backing plate and filling in the hole with a welder and redrilling the hole.

Toro grounds master deck repair

The underside of the deck on our groundsmaster takes quite a beating. I decided to reinforce the underside of the deck. First I rolled three 27" diameter rings out of .125 x3" flat stock. I then straightened the underside  of the deck and welded the rings in place. I think the repair turned very well.

Sometimes it's best to call a professional.

We had large white pine at the course that started to bend over in the wind. It was hollow and had a large crack in the trunk,the assistant superintendent and myself examined the tree and decided to call in help. All trees are generally cut by golf staff, but in this case tree just was to dangerous. So we called in First Choice Tree Care. With the crack and it being hollow there was a good change the tree could barber chair or the trunk could shatter causing injury. The only way to cut was to use a bucket truck and cut it from the top on down. Even the pros said this tree was one of the most dangerous and challenging tree they have cut. 

Bird Houses

I recently cleaned out bird houses and started monitoring them for the year. It has been very cold, with some late snowfalls, so I have not had to start monitoring until now. In a normal year, the blue birds would be back around March 31st. It is important you monitor your houses every week so that you can address any problems right away. Top-opening nest boxes make monitoring easy. Checking the boxes will not cause the birds to leave as some people believe. I have found using 1/2" EMT conduit for poles works the best. Cut one 10-ft. piece of conduit in half and you have 2 poles that are just the right height. Next, cut a 10-ft. piece of  1/2" rebar in half and drive it in the ground and slide the conduit over the rebar and use a conduit coupling to secure the conduit to the rebar. I weld a small flag on the rebar to keep the whole thing from spinning. This setup is easy to put up and is relatively predator proof. You can wax the pole with car wax to make it harder for predators to climb the pole. You will want to put screw in the back of the bird house so it doesn't slide down the pole, secure the house to the pole with 2-hole conduit straps. Mount your houses in open areas, with at least 100 yards between houses. Happy birding!

Front view of the nest box

Rear view of the nest box, mounted to conduit.

Rebar with flag welded to it.

Coupling on bottom of conduit.  I added a longer screw to the coupling to get a better grip on the rebar.

Small trailer

Recently I built a small trailer for hauling a walking greens mower,or other small equipment. The trailer is36"x48". Axles and hubs came from a salvaged beverage trailer. Metal costs were 180 dollars.

Stripped Threads

Stripped threads are a common problem on machinery, especially when bolts are threaded into aluminum housings.  There are a number of different thread kits that can be used to repair your threads.  The kit that I have had the best luck with is TIME-SERT.  The TIME-SERT inserts are thin-walled steel and are locked into place with an expander. 

Picture of the stripped hole.

Contents of the TIME-SERT kit - drill, countersink, special tap, installation tool and thin wall insert.

Drilling hole and countersinking.

Tapping of hole.

Installing insert with tool.  The tool installs the insert, expands it, and locks it into the hole.

Completed project.