[My craftsman 917.27308]

Larry, You won't believe this. 16 years ago we replaced our washer and dryer at Sears with the cheapest ones they sell. We use them almost everyday and never had a problem with them.

 

[larrybl]

I heard some where that the transmissions, pumps, heating elements, etc. are all the same between the cheep units and the high $$$ ones. Bells and whistles cost a lot and are expensive to fix.

 

[larrybl]

My wife took this picture last night. They are BIG in Texas!

 

[larrybl]

Today I planned to swap tractors around so I can work on the two I am taking to the TEDTEA Tractor show. Exhibitor Information ? Texas Early Day Tractor and Engine Association I'll be in the Camping area again this year. Well right off the bat RED had a low battery and I had to wait for it to charge. Once he was fired up the smoke detector went off. These guys hadn't been started in a while. Hulk II didn't complain, but his Brother BOH wouldn't start. He spun over good and has a healthy spark. A shot of carb cleaner confirmed a fuel pump issue (yes I checked the gas tank). Little John and Old Girl woke right up. I dug around my parts boxes and came up with a spare carb that has the integrated fuel pump, a spare fire wall pump. All my rebuild parts are for the 3 screw pumps, I need a 4 screw kit for the firewall pump. Anyhow, Little John and old Girl are now easily accessible for a detailed clean up. Guess I'll take the fuel pump apart this evening and evaluate it.

 

[slow wrench]

They are cheep, and I have been using mine daily. Well after watching several videos on removing old decking screws (keep in mind that I need to minimize the damage to the bottom side) I think I need around 25 of the 12" metal saws all blades to remove these. I went through 2 blades on 2 boards. Once cut, I flip the board over and using a punch remove the screw heads. Works good, but time and blade consuming.

Before you suggest, I did try the following;
Tap a Philips bit into the screw (Most just break off)
Drill and use a bit extractor. See above.
Cutting seems the cleanest way. A trip to HF payday is planned.

Don't know if you finished deck board removal.I grind heads off with mini angle grinder.All 3"deck screws have no threads on shoulder,boards will pry right up.Most deck screws are hardened steel,pain to cut a lot of them.

 

[larrybl]

Don't know if you finished deck board removal.I grind heads off with mini angle grinder.All 3"deck screws have no threads on shoulder,boards will pry right up.Most deck screws are hardened steel,pain to cut a lot of them.

Project is on hold, Rain and work. Don't have an angle grinder. Still need to pick up a couple packs of 10" saws all blades. Good suggestion though, thanks.

 

[larrybl]

The tale of two fuel pumps.

Neither worked, One recently quit on BOH, so I decided to make one out of two. After inspection, I think I can save both!

On fuel pump #1 (BOH's original pump) I found the top cover vent hole plugged. We have had a lot of African dust lately.

On fuel pump #2 (never did work) I found the back cover vent filter was painted over.

I think I can save both of these. These things need to breath to function properly.

 

[Michael]

Picked up a couple Ropers today, not the Tractor kind. It was bound to happen with the new house with all new appliances.... EXCEPT the washer and dryer. The complaints started a couple weeks ago, Takes two spin cycles, and two cycles to dry, bla bla bla. I don't know as I don't use them. So I get a call today saying the dryer isn't getting hot. Well I asked if She was happy with the Roper brand, and She said yes, as those lasted over 12 years. $800.00 for a new set wasn't too bad. And now seeing that all the appliances are new, and more Importantly She is happy. Maybe I can sell the old Ropers on Craig's list.

I guess that you lucky in the years that the old Roper's last. My issue was we had a Maytag top loader that lasted 25 years with no repairs and when the transmission went we got a new Maytag (Samsung built) front loader that my wife absolutely hated. She complained that the Maytag was never getting the cloths clean it smelled and she followed the recommendations. It had 3 control boards on it and after the 3rd one went after the extended warranty I took the wife over to the local appliance store and let her pick what she wanted, she had the salesman demo several different brands and he finally took her to a Speed Queen residential washer with the same guts as the laundromat machines. She actually went back to the old fashion agitator machine that she said actually got the cloths wet. That Speed Queen washer was what she wanted. She actually kept the Maytag dryer (also Samsung built) as it has been reliable and works well.

 

[larrybl]

I heard some where that the transmissions, pumps, heating elements, etc. are all the same between the cheep units and the high $$$ ones. Bells and whistles cost a lot and are expensive to fix.

 

[larrybl]

Fixed both fuel pumps

Issues arose while re-positing the tractors to get my Grandson's JD and the Roper 20T ready for this year's show. I noticed the JD was a little stiff in the steering, may need to grease some.... Well I just now saw that the front tire was flat. I jacked it up, put 20 psi in it, and looked for a nail or something, nothing. I hit it with soap water, and again nothing. Will watch / check this over the next couple weeks while I detail them. Hopefully not an omen.

 

[Tractor-Holic]

That is good info on the fuel pump issue...now I'm wondering if that was the problem with one on one of my Sears Suburbans--I ran it on gravity feed and it seems not to complain,so I've left it off...

Pulling deck boards and trying not to damage them is a tough job...ditto for pallets,if your wanting to save the slats for other uses than burning..

When I bust up pallets to burn,I've found I can often pound the thicker boards they use to hold the slats like 2x4's or 4x4's with a sledge hammer, and the nails will either come out of them,or pull right through the slats,without damaging most of them...of course when you do not care if they break (and actually prefer they do,to avoid cutting them short enough to fit in the stove,they wont break !)..
If you try pounding on the slats to get them off,8 times out of 10 they'll break..

A friend decided to use a constant supply of free pallets as a source of flat boards to cover the bare stud walls in his garage/barn years ago..

We tried a lot of methods,most all resulted in the slat boards splitting or breaking if we tried pry bar-ing them up,those ring shank glue coated nails or screws they use to build them really hold good...

We tried drilling the screw or nail heads off,that was not working well,the drills dulled almost immediately,or broke off..we tried a sawsall,and like you discovered,the blades usually don't last more than a few screws before they lose all the teeth,or get bound up and kinked or broken..

We tried using a claw hammer or crow bar to pull the screws and nails out ,but you had to hammer the bar down deep under the heads to get a good grip,then many just had their heads pop off--but them the boards could be pried off the shank fairly easy..but it boogered up the slats pretty bad..

We tried using a tool he had used to make dowel plugs,its like a hole saw,to cover screw holes on furniture,that worked pretty good,we could bore around the heads of the screws or nails and then get the claw hammer or pry bar under them and try pulling them out.
It left a "ring" about 1/4" deep in the slats--he used dowels and glue or sawdust to plug them,and screwed the slats to the wall in a different spot than the original nails or screws were in if possible...we did two rooms that way,it took awhile,but it looked very cool after we finished,it had a knotty pine look to it ,but most of the slats were red oak or some hard maple--we had to drill holes for nails first or they wanted to split,or just bend the nails,it was hard as rock..

 

[larrybl]

Yes, was surprised at the easy fix on the fuel pumps (un clog the vent holes) be very careful with the gaskets and diaphragms. Don' loose the small springs. As for the deck boards. The saws all and punching the screw heads out from the bottom is working, but it will take a couple months and a bunch of blades. I removed three boards today.

 

[larrybl]

Looks like I won't need to borrow a bigger trailer to get them to the show next Month. I got them out this morning and gave them a good soapy bath, then a detailed wax. Decided to try and load them up. Roper went blower first, and that didn't work, the JD wouldn't fit. Tried the JD first, and the Blower wouldn't clear, so I tried backing the Roper, just spun at the top of the ramp. Got a come along hooked up and got them to squeeze on there. not enough room for the cart, but it can go in the back of the truck, and I can put the cooler on the trailer. I also made a better pin for the cart as it rattled a lot. Put a piece of rubber tube over a pin, and drilled a hole in it for a clip, It is the little things like this that I like.

 

[larrybl]

Worked on the deck tear down some. 9 boards removed and on my 7th blade. Found that 1 in 10 screws will come out with the drill, so it is saving some blades. $10 for 5 at HF, not too bad. Here is the magnet booty today.

 

[JP Savage]

Real shame you could not make that one work out on the house some where. Looks to be in pretty good shape still.

 

[larrybl]

That's why I am dissembling it. Plan to rebuild it as the new back porch. At least the deck part. Roof will need to be new.
Burn ban was lifted and no winds so I decided to get rid of some bad deck lumber and tree trimmings tonight. Still watching it.

 

[larrybl]

Oh, and the old porch roof lumber will be turned into flower planters around the front side of the new house. I don't wan't to waste anything except the beyond use lumber.

 

[Tractor-Holic]

I wonder if you could put a floor jack under the deck boards and put a 4x4 piece between the saddle on the jack and the deck board--perhaps if you place it close enough to where the screws or nails are ,they will pull out before the board cracks or breaks..

I remember seeing a guy use an air chisel to get siding boards off a house intact once too,without breaking that many--he used a pointed punch bit to drive the nails right thru the board..he tried using a chisel bit between the board and house to cut the nails,that didn't pan out too well..
I wonder if one of those new "zip" saws that will cut under mouldings with a metal blade would cut the nails ?..probably would,but the "reach" is too limited to get at the nails further inboard..

 

[larrybl]

I wonder if you could put a floor jack under the deck boards and put a 4x4 piece between the saddle on the jack and the deck board--perhaps if you place it close enough to where the screws or nails are ,they will pull out before the board cracks or breaks..

I remember seeing a guy use an air chisel to get siding boards off a house intact once too,without breaking that many--he used a pointed punch bit to drive the nails right thru the board..he tried using a chisel bit between the board and house to cut the nails,that didn't pan out too well..
I wonder if one of those new "zip" saws that will cut under mouldings with a metal blade would cut the nails ?..probably would,but the "reach" is too limited to get at the nails further inboard..

Good advise. I have an air chisel but the angle wouldn't work except for the outer boards (which I have already sawed through. The saws all lets me get right to the screw.

 

[larrybl]

More water filter woes today I had to come home early, wife called and said she heard water running outside. The connection to the house side of the filter was spraying pretty good, and the only way to tighten the connection was to amputate the whole valve assembly, and buy new fittings. I opted to omit the house side valve as we have an inside shutoff and this was redundant. I bought the filter on-line, and designed the first set-up with a by-pass. The House installers hooked it up, but it was my over design that failed. The By-pass valve was leaking and couldn't be tightened without cutting one side, the compression fitting didn't work. House installer came back, and we removed the by-pass. It held till today and started leaking / spraying at the outlet. Again couldn't be tightened without disassembly. I fixed it this time, real tight, and 8 wraps of Teflon tape.