Finally picked up a package from MI with mower deck parts to help with the restoration of the two Bolens 18048 mower decks I have. The package had been sitting at the Dripping Springs post office for a week. The ebay tracking utility just showed it as having been received at a MI post office but no further info. When I cut and pasted the number into the usps.gov utility, it came up as having arrived at DS and a notice left for me on March 16. But I never got any such notice so that's why it seemed to be in limbo. Didn't help that the seller threw someone else's tracking number onto the sale notice for my purchase, further confusing things.
All's well that ends well, though. I have two kinds of bearing housings so one type has to be right and will help me get my decks working. Will clean them up and then let the guy I've been working with on the 1455 tractor know so we can get going on the decks.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Motorcar Reassembled
I assembled the spray-painted parts Sunday afternoon and now have a motorcar trailer in might good shape. I finger-snugged the bolts, deciding to tighten it up next weekend. Still have to buy the right size of bolts for some areas. Only part left to put on are the trailer tongues, which are waiting on some u-bolts from Frank Glatzl. As I was assembling the motorcar I held my breath because we had totally new longitudinal frame members. But, bolt after bolt slipped perfectly into alignment. Ultimately, they all went in and there were no misaligned holes or loose play anywhere, a real tribute to Frank's machine drilling. Here's some photos (that's not a dead dog in the photo of the trailer with the tractor, it's my sleeping pit bull, TJ):
I have suffered a setback on acquiring parts for my mower deck renovation. I bought just the parts I needed two weeks ago. Checked the postal service tracking utility today only to discover one of the two packages was delivered Mar. 19 to someone in Highlands, NC. That didn't look good. The utility said the other package was "accepted" by the USPS on Mar. 11 in Saginaw, MI, but there had been no further developments. So I e-mailed the ebay seller to find out what's going on and hopefully, resolve both situations. Sure hope I get those parts, they were mighty good deals.
I have suffered a setback on acquiring parts for my mower deck renovation. I bought just the parts I needed two weeks ago. Checked the postal service tracking utility today only to discover one of the two packages was delivered Mar. 19 to someone in Highlands, NC. That didn't look good. The utility said the other package was "accepted" by the USPS on Mar. 11 in Saginaw, MI, but there had been no further developments. So I e-mailed the ebay seller to find out what's going on and hopefully, resolve both situations. Sure hope I get those parts, they were mighty good deals.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Motorcar Trailer Parts Spray Painted
Finished spray painting the motorcar trailer aluminum frame members this afternoon. Am letting them dry overnight and then will bring them inside the garage until Sunday, when I plan to reassemble the trailer and add the four heavy-duty cross members. Those will support the Bolens 1250 garden tractor engine and mower deck that we will mount on the trailer to serve as a rail-mower. Am also contemplating how to add equipment trays on either side of the engine, along with lift handles to position to rail-mower when setting on or setting off.
More engine parts arrived today. By now I have almost everything I ordered except for a load of miscellaneous parts with, I hope, a breather tube, and some mower deck parts. I got two mower deck lift rods on e-bay for 9.99 that would have cost me 80.00 in total from either of two principal Bolens after-market suppliers. So I got a very good deal on those. Just need to get three more items: the right size air filter, belts for the PTO takeoff and a choke cable. The belts and cable are available at Tractor Supply Co., but will have to find the air filter, maybe online. Received the mower deck bearings (the right size) today, so will give those to my local repair guy who will help me restore the Bolens 1455 mower deck. That will be the first one we do. Since it is the same deck as the one for the 1250, we will get it done and use it on the rail-mower if necessary until the 1250 deck is fully restored as well.
That's it for today.
More engine parts arrived today. By now I have almost everything I ordered except for a load of miscellaneous parts with, I hope, a breather tube, and some mower deck parts. I got two mower deck lift rods on e-bay for 9.99 that would have cost me 80.00 in total from either of two principal Bolens after-market suppliers. So I got a very good deal on those. Just need to get three more items: the right size air filter, belts for the PTO takeoff and a choke cable. The belts and cable are available at Tractor Supply Co., but will have to find the air filter, maybe online. Received the mower deck bearings (the right size) today, so will give those to my local repair guy who will help me restore the Bolens 1455 mower deck. That will be the first one we do. Since it is the same deck as the one for the 1250, we will get it done and use it on the rail-mower if necessary until the 1250 deck is fully restored as well.
That's it for today.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
More Spray Painting
Primed eight aluminum cross members and spray painted orange the axles on the motorcar trailer and one of the round tubes that is used to tow the trailer with. Also sprayed several engine parts for the Bolens 1250 engine. Here's some photos:
These photos were taken during the only five minutes of the day that the sun actually came out.
Next I have to spray paint orange the 8 cross members that have been primed. So will be working on that probably tomorrow. Then I can put the motorcar trailer back together, bolt it down and call that job done.
These photos were taken during the only five minutes of the day that the sun actually came out.
Next I have to spray paint orange the 8 cross members that have been primed. So will be working on that probably tomorrow. Then I can put the motorcar trailer back together, bolt it down and call that job done.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Working on the Motorcar Trailer
Began spray painting small parts for the motorcar trailer yesterday and got them almost all done today. They had already been primed so I just had to spray them bright orange, to match the original color of the trailer. I then took four aluminum cross members from the original trailer and began wire-wheeling them to prepare them for priming. Shortly after starting, I realized the paint would be pre-mid-1970's and therefore probably contains lead. So I stopped wire-wheeling and used steel wool instead to just rough up the surface and get rid of the dirt. And I vacuumed thoroughly while wearing a dust mask. The rest of the job went quickly. I then moved over to the trailer itself and wire-wheeled the axles (since it was out in the open and a good breeze was blowing). I then primed the axles in preparation for spray painting them orange as well. I have a total of eight cross members ready to be primed and painted tomorrow. I will also take the longitudinal frame members off and get ready to prime and paint them as well.
Various parts I ordered or won on Ebay are arriving. I now have:
--NOS Wisconsin LP65FS1 fuel pump
--starter/generator (spare)
--S-12D points box (spare)
--starter sheave (to replace a broken one on the S-12D engine)
--cotter pins for mower drive shaft
-- a special part to help suspend the mower deck from the tractor
I ordered a PTO control rod, throttle cable and fuel sediment bowl assembly from Sam's Bolens about two weeks ago but it hasn't shown up yet, so am waiting on that.
I also just ordered 12 new bearings (the ones previously purchased just don't fit the spindles) and four engine mount isolators. Plus, I have ordered three bearing housings, and an additional two spindles with bearing housings. So we should have some spares by the time the two mower decks are rebuilt.
That motorcar trailer is going to look mighty bright in orange. The color is brighter than the current faded color (visible on the axles and under frame members) but will fade itself over time to about the same shade.
That's it for now.
Various parts I ordered or won on Ebay are arriving. I now have:
--NOS Wisconsin LP65FS1 fuel pump
--starter/generator (spare)
--S-12D points box (spare)
--starter sheave (to replace a broken one on the S-12D engine)
--cotter pins for mower drive shaft
-- a special part to help suspend the mower deck from the tractor
I ordered a PTO control rod, throttle cable and fuel sediment bowl assembly from Sam's Bolens about two weeks ago but it hasn't shown up yet, so am waiting on that.
I also just ordered 12 new bearings (the ones previously purchased just don't fit the spindles) and four engine mount isolators. Plus, I have ordered three bearing housings, and an additional two spindles with bearing housings. So we should have some spares by the time the two mower decks are rebuilt.
That motorcar trailer is going to look mighty bright in orange. The color is brighter than the current faded color (visible on the axles and under frame members) but will fade itself over time to about the same shade.
That's it for now.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Procuring Parts for the Rail-Mower
Have been buying parts off e-bay for the past week and a half to get the rail-mower's tractor engine and mower deck back to good shape. Picked up an NOS Wisconsin LP62FS1 fuel pump, miscellaneous mower deck parts, a breather tube, a starter sheave (the one on it has a piece missing off one rim), an extra starter/generator in case something goes wrong with one or the other the ones on the Bolens 1250 and 1455 engines, and a points box with the points and condenser. On the mower deck parts, got some spindles, bearing housings, and lift arms. On the down side, found out from my local engine guy today that the bearings I bought for the decks for both tractors were too small to "press in" so am going to have to buy more after measuring them. He said the ones that don't fit on the Bolens tractors might fit on my Craftsman mower deck. Am about to buy some isolators for the engine since the old ones are kaput.
I hauled out a bunch of parts I've been waiting to spray paint and sprayed one side of them late in the afternoon. Red for the 1455 mower deck, orange for the motorcar trailer, and primer rust red for the 1250 engine parts. Will probably paint the 1250 engine parts a subdued metallic color rather than red or orange. At least things are moving forward.
I hauled out a bunch of parts I've been waiting to spray paint and sprayed one side of them late in the afternoon. Red for the 1455 mower deck, orange for the motorcar trailer, and primer rust red for the 1250 engine parts. Will probably paint the 1250 engine parts a subdued metallic color rather than red or orange. At least things are moving forward.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Engine Running after a Day of Work
Frank Glatzl brought over the aluminum cross members and carburetor today and we began to try to get the engine to work. We had to bypass the fuel pump since it didn't seem to be working (found out later some parts inside it were frozen and had to be freed--it also needs a new diaphragm, probably will have to get a rebuild kit). Frank also had to bypass the solenoid since it didn't seem to be working (that turned out to be a rusty grounding surface, but we picked up a new solenoid and installed it so I now have a spare). But he did find we had spark and the engine ran briefly when he primed it with gas. We loaded up a fuel hose with gas and held it up to provide a constant supply while starting the engine.
That very brief run resulted in a lot of dirt being thrown out from underneath the flywheel air shrouding, which meant we needed to take the shrouding off and clean things out. We could tell from moving the starter/generator that mud daubers had been at work underneath it, and it turned out they had nested between the engine and the shrouding as well.
After lunch, we went over to Tractor Supply and got the solenoid, a new starting belt, and a gear puller as well as more gas. To take off the shrouding, we used the gear puller to pull the drive sheave off the main shaft. First we used a 5/32 hex key mounted on a 3/8" drive to remove the two setscrews. Then we heated the sheave up with a small torch, mounted the gear puller and began rotating it with a breaker bar. There was a sudden "pop" and off it came.
We loosened up the dirt with a screwdriver and brought an air compressor hose over and blew it out. Plus we cleaned the shield with degreaser. We installed the new starter/generator belt (after I took the first one back to TSC and got a shorter one) and tightened it using the adjustment screw. The belt that came off was too short to use the screw and a wooden wedge had held the starter in place.
After putting everything back, we gave the engine another try and it start and ran well at that point. Carb needs some adjustment but that should be doable. No smoking or coughing, so that's a good sign the engine's OK.
Now that we know the engine will work, I can invest in buying the remaining parts to get the tractor in good operating condition. Will need the following:
1) a PTO control rod to replace a makeshift one I fabricated for temporary use;
2) two choke cables to adapt as a throttle cable and choke cable;
3) a fuel pump rebuild kit or fuel pump;
4) three new PTO belts;
5) a special cotter pin for connecting the PTO takeoff shaft to the mower shaft;
6) a new sediment bowl underneath the fuel tank;
7) four engine mounts; and
8) a strap to hold the tractor battery down.
I already have an NOS air cleaner assembly with breather tube, so that will go on to protect the carb.
Once I have the parts ready, will check back with Frank to schedule another session (this one lasted seven hours).
I am also in the process of rebuilding the mower deck for my Bolens 1455 garden tractor. The 1455 has a front end loader and ten-ply tires. I plan to use it this year to mow the Llano wye. Its mower deck is identical to the deck for this Bolens 1250 tractor, so we can learn what to do with it from the 1455 deck rebuild. I have taken all the parts off the 1455's deck, cleaned them up, primed them and painted them. Am just waiting for my local guy to finish boring out the spindle housing bolts. Will be ordering bearings for both decks now (12 in total). And I will eventually have to work with either the local guy or Frank to take the 1250 deck apart, sandblast it, clean all the parts and get new ones as needed and put it back together. We are still a long way from finishing the rail-mower but at least now we know the engine runs and that is a huge step forward.
That very brief run resulted in a lot of dirt being thrown out from underneath the flywheel air shrouding, which meant we needed to take the shrouding off and clean things out. We could tell from moving the starter/generator that mud daubers had been at work underneath it, and it turned out they had nested between the engine and the shrouding as well.
After lunch, we went over to Tractor Supply and got the solenoid, a new starting belt, and a gear puller as well as more gas. To take off the shrouding, we used the gear puller to pull the drive sheave off the main shaft. First we used a 5/32 hex key mounted on a 3/8" drive to remove the two setscrews. Then we heated the sheave up with a small torch, mounted the gear puller and began rotating it with a breaker bar. There was a sudden "pop" and off it came.
We loosened up the dirt with a screwdriver and brought an air compressor hose over and blew it out. Plus we cleaned the shield with degreaser. We installed the new starter/generator belt (after I took the first one back to TSC and got a shorter one) and tightened it using the adjustment screw. The belt that came off was too short to use the screw and a wooden wedge had held the starter in place.
After putting everything back, we gave the engine another try and it start and ran well at that point. Carb needs some adjustment but that should be doable. No smoking or coughing, so that's a good sign the engine's OK.
Now that we know the engine will work, I can invest in buying the remaining parts to get the tractor in good operating condition. Will need the following:
1) a PTO control rod to replace a makeshift one I fabricated for temporary use;
2) two choke cables to adapt as a throttle cable and choke cable;
3) a fuel pump rebuild kit or fuel pump;
4) three new PTO belts;
5) a special cotter pin for connecting the PTO takeoff shaft to the mower shaft;
6) a new sediment bowl underneath the fuel tank;
7) four engine mounts; and
8) a strap to hold the tractor battery down.
I already have an NOS air cleaner assembly with breather tube, so that will go on to protect the carb.
Once I have the parts ready, will check back with Frank to schedule another session (this one lasted seven hours).
I am also in the process of rebuilding the mower deck for my Bolens 1455 garden tractor. The 1455 has a front end loader and ten-ply tires. I plan to use it this year to mow the Llano wye. Its mower deck is identical to the deck for this Bolens 1250 tractor, so we can learn what to do with it from the 1455 deck rebuild. I have taken all the parts off the 1455's deck, cleaned them up, primed them and painted them. Am just waiting for my local guy to finish boring out the spindle housing bolts. Will be ordering bearings for both decks now (12 in total). And I will eventually have to work with either the local guy or Frank to take the 1250 deck apart, sandblast it, clean all the parts and get new ones as needed and put it back together. We are still a long way from finishing the rail-mower but at least now we know the engine runs and that is a huge step forward.
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