Archive through August 07, 2011

[dfrisk]

GLEN - If you just did a new O/S piston & rings, valve grind, etc it will take a while for the new rings to seat. OEM Kohler rings are chrome plated and they can take 100 operating hours to seat completely.

I would think the smoking & oil consumption would be about Zero within 10-12 hrs though.

Main thing when breaking in an engine is to MAKE IT WORK. Mow grass, plow at a PD, get it nice and warm for 5-10 minutes then let it cool for a couple minutes, then get it hot again. Vary the RPM, but do not let it idle at slow speed for anymore than a minute or so. Follow the break-in service in the Kohler manual, 30 weight non-detergent oil for the first ten hours, then use your favorite oil. Staight 30 weight low ash Case IH oil is good as are many others.

 

[kadams]

This is dangerously close to being off topic, but it's in direct response to the posts about the Preval sprayer that is directly related to an on topic tractor, so here goes. What is this? Three degrees of separation? How many are we allowed? Heh. Anyway...

I don't know if I would want to reload and clean those Preval sprayers as many times as it would take to shoot a tractor. If I didn't have a big air compressor, line dryers, filters, traps, and spray guns already in my shop, I would pony up for one of these HVLP kits that can be found at Horror Freight or Rockler. (They're the same kit from the same Chinese factory.)

http://www.harborfreight.com/high-volume-low-pressure-spray-gun-kit-44677.html

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10469&filter=hvlp

Either can be found on sale for around $90 several times a year. I know of at least half a dozen guys that have used the sprayer setup I linked to for shooting oil-based paint on old wood working machinery with great results, so why not a tractor?

Truth be told, I'm actually going to buy one to shoot all of my kitchen cabinets with shortly, because my shop and its compressed air system is just too far away from the house for it to be a practical means of painting the cabinets. I guess if you guys wait long enough, I can tell you how well it works first hand.

 

[dfrisk]

KEITH - $100 buy a LOT of air hose.... ;-) (says a guy with SIX paint guns! & three compressors)

 

[kweaver]

Dennis - If you'd clean out your paint gun you wouldn't have to buy a new one each time you painted

Three compressors ... ya just greedy man !

 

[gcoleman]

Dennis, its gettin a workout today, mowed 1.5 acres of tall grass, got shrub stumps to pull and dirt to level out, so hopefully itll seat well soon and i can change/maintain the oil once i get more. i use DIESELALL oil in it.

 

[mgonitzke]

Harbor Freight has a $20 gravity-feed HVLP gun that's occasionally on sale for $15 or less, and is what I use to paint stuff. It works great with some practice. If you have an air compressor already, that's the way to go.

 

[dfrisk]

KEN - When I worked for the company that owned Porter-Cable & Devilbiss I could buy nail gun/compressor packages for about what the nail gun cost and got both the pancake compressors that way.

Dad had three paint guns and SON bought a couple more. One like Matt mentioned, only issue we had with it the reducer for one type of paint swelled the plastic lid for the plastic paint cup and it wouldn't fit anymore, but for shooting paint it's a decent gun.

I actually like my little detail gun the best, small, light, cleans up with a cup of thinner/solvent. With the price of thinner etc for small jobs you can't afford to use the old style syphon feed guns, the cost to clean them kills you!

 

[kweaver]

I have NEVER in my life heard of anyone complaining about the expense of cleaning a paint gun ...

Charlie I relinquish my title of GRUMP!

 

[thoffman]

Matt, the only problem with the HF gun is the inards are mad of plastic. I used clean out my gun with lacquer thinner b'cause it cleans better. I did that with my HF gun and .......you quessed it, in the junk now. Those guns are a one timer for me.

 

[jbaker]

 

[mgonitzke]

Tom-

The only plastic parts one the one I used were in the paint cup. Everything inside was metal.

 

[pburkle]

I have a 1979 1650 Cub Cadet that I am having a great time with !! It runs and mows just fantastic as compared to the brand new LT1050 Cub Cadet that I used to own !! ;-/ I sold the LT1050 and bought the 1650 which is a much better lawn tractor !! I have to wonder why my 16 HP 1650 has so much more power than the twin cylinder 25 HP LT1050 had !? 25 HP is theoretically more HP than 16 HP right !? ;-/ However, there is NO comparison to the two lawn tractors !! I know I'm a little biased but the fact is the 1650 can mow circles around the 25 HP LT1050 !!!! Any comments out there about this !? Then finally, the "glass" on the hour meter on my 1650 seems to be a little "clouded". I'm wondering if it would be possible to replace this "clouded glass" with new glass ? Any comments here will be greatly welcomed and appreciated !! ;-D Thanks !!!!!

 

[lpalma]

Mothers aluminum wheel cleaner/polish works wonders,also good for dull tail light lenses!!

I gotta 72 recoil start today.Yahoooo!!!

 

[kweaver]

Paul HB - Generally single cylinder engines are longer stroke and produce more torque than a twin , but the twin will rev quicker and run smoother. I don't know if that 16 can produce more torque than the 25 though. I've never seen the torque numbers for the twins. I'm on the wrong computer now or I'd tell ya what the factory torque spec is for the 16.

 

[kadams]

Dennis:

$100 does buy a lot of air hose, but he with the most tools wins, right? Or is that the most Cub Cadets?

 

[dfrisk]

KEITH - Yes, That statement is VERY true, Person with the most tools, Cub Cadets, trucks, motorcycles, anique tractors, whatever IS the winner. I don't think coils of compressed air hose rates real high in that contest.

I had to replace the trim molding in our bedroom & bathroom several years ago. I carried my miter saw, brad nail gun, & tiny pancake compressor upstairs, set the saw up on the upstairs deck. Job went MUCH better than I expected. And after 30 years I finally have the RIGHT tools for finish carpentry work, but I still don't enjoy it that much.

KEN - You should know this! We're OLD enough to remember what STUFF used to cost, that includes paint thinner and laquer thinner. I'm like TOM, I used laquer thinner to clean my HF $15 paint gun and it started dissolving the paint cup & lid. My little detail gun is also from HF but it's all metal, think it was $20.

If you search around on the 'Net, you'll find special paint gun cleaning cabinents for places like body shops, think of "special parts washers just for paint guns", and their ONLY reason for being sold is to reduce the costs of cleaning paint guns. As I said a couple weeks ago in another thread here, that's why I like my powder coat gun, it comes apart in a minute and a couple blasts of compressed air cleans it up and It's ready for starage or the next job.

And KEN, You can keep the title, "The Grump", I'll just go back to being the head of "Team CHEAP".

 

[pbell]

Paul HB
Keep in mind that the 1650 is a true garden tractor, not a lawn tractor, that was also used by some to mow grass. The LT1050 is a lawn tractor, and depending on the lay of your lawn, not a very good one. Keep in mind that it's 25 hp engine is rated 25 hp by the engine builder, not Cub Cadet, and there are/have been law suits over the inflated hp claims of the engines. That and supposedly the "hp rating system/method" is different from what was used on the older "K" series Kohler engines.

 

[wshytle]

Am I correct assuming the hood from a cc71 is the same as the hood on a cc100? I checked parts look up for p/ns but they just show nla.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Charlie, My parts showed up yesterday, thanks for the awesome service!

I can't wait to try out the new blades. The blades I've been using are at least 20 years old. They were the hard coat type and have held up well but the wings are nearly gone and the cutting edges are so swept back they no longer cut very well. I'll take a photo of the old blades when I change them out.

Gotta like the Made In USA.

I like that an <FONT COLOR="ff0000">I</FONT><FONT COLOR="000000">H</FONT> is still on the belt.

 

[nbartee]

Paul B.,

I'm glad to hear that, always wondered how the newer machines stacked uo against the old ones. I knew the old ones were made better, but didn't know about the power.
About the clouded glass. Mine was on the inside so I cut a new lense from an inexpensive pair of plastic safety glasses and epoxyed it on. The contour matched the old glass perfectly. Works great!