Monkeying around in Shultzie's garage

[kshultz]

Do they make Gator blades for this zero turn? 50" deck.

 

[kshultz]

Was able to get the zero turn fixed last night. Ready to mow again.

 

[-CӞ]

 

[kshultz]

Smoked a ground hog last night. You gotta love hollow points.

 

[-CӞ]

Smoked a ground hog last night. You gotta love hollow points.

 

[kshultz]

Been a while since I posted. Still lurking though. I've been putting up some LED rope lighting in the garage/man cave the last couple of weeks. I think it turned out well. When we aren't working on the cubs we hang out there a lot. The lighting was just too bright at times for hanging out or watching TV on the big screen. I think this works out well.

 

[cubs4lifeofme]

Looks good. I like it.

 

[kshultz]

I bought this grill/smoker about 4 years ago. I love it but it's not very maneuverable. It has nice wheels on the back but nothing in the front. I know most people don't need to move the grill much, but I like to keep it stored inside the garage when not in use. I figure it will last longer not being in the weather. (RUST) When picking it up in the front it's kind of heavy to pick up and move. So I bought these casters out of McMaster-Carr and installed them last night. I had to shorten the legs a bit and drill a few holes to make it right. I think it turned out well and I highly recommend doing this if you have a similar grill/smoker. Now it moves as easy as a new shopping cart.

 

[kzintner]

I trust you keep that car in a garage too.

 

[kshultz]

Stacey knocked the mower deck wheel off the other day. Got it fixed and back on last night. Does anyone know if someone makes longer lasting blades for this type of mower? Stacey is pretty rough on them.

 

[Jay Fetters]

I buy the blades direct from my cub dealer, they say they have a tempered cutting edge. I like the extra high lift blades, and the "wing" wears away pretty quick, like yours. The last set I bought I tempered the wing and they have been on for 3 seasons now. I'm just starting to get a wear line in the base of the wing, so I'll probly get a new set this fall and repeat the process.

 

[kshultz]

The last set I bought I tempered the wing and they have been on for 3 seasons now

How did you temper the "wing"?

 

[Jay Fetters]

How did you temper the "wing"

I heated the wing to almost a glowing color, then quenched it in oil. That made it harder, but not brittle. Which keeps the sand and dirty from wearing it off. Search "knife spine tempering" on you tube, and you'll get a good grasp on how to do it. My neighbor is a black Smith, so he walked me through it.

 

[kshultz]

Interesting. We have a heat treat oven here at work. Do you suppose I could put the whole blade in and treat it that way?
If not I can take a torch to it and try it your way. When quenching it in oil does it splatter and make a mess?

 

[PACub100]

Interesting. We have a heat treat oven here at work. Do you suppose I could put the whole blade in and treat it that way?
If not I can take a torch to it and try it your way. When quenching it in oil does it splatter and make a mess?

Unless you have a press-quench, you'll warp / bow the crap out of the blade during quench...do not do the whole thing.
Do like Jay stated - just don't get the metal glowing too bright...

 

[Jay Fetters]

Interesting. We have a heat treat oven here at work. Do you suppose I could put the whole blade in and treat it that way?
If not I can take a torch to it and try it your way. When quenching it in oil does it splatter and make a mess?

I wouldn't do the whole blade, because if you hit something, it may shatter instead of bending, as well as warping it like PA said. If you get it to hot, I'm sure the oil quench will spit a bit at ya. We also warmed the oil to around 100° f, I'm not sure what that does, but my neighbor said to do it, so I did. He was also pretty insistent on not getting much heat anywhere near the cutting edge to keep from removing the temper from it. So I made a jig that let the cutting edge in water while I heated the lift wing. Seemed to work.

 

[kshultz]

OK, sounds good. I probably won't try this right away, but when I do get new blades for it I will try it then. I'll keep you posted here.
Thanks!

 

[PACub100]

I wouldn't do the whole blade, because if you hit something, it may shatter instead of bending, as well as warping it like PA said. If you get it to hot, I'm sure the oil quench will spit a bit at ya. We also warmed the oil to around 100° f, I'm not sure what that does, but my neighbor said to do it, so I did. He was also pretty insistent on not getting much heat anywhere near the cutting edge to keep from removing the temper from it. So I made a jig that let the cutting edge in water while I heated the lift wing. Seemed to work.

What happens when you get it too hot is that you run the risk of austenitizing it, therefore when you quench it in oil you'll be at max hardness and without reheating it to the proper tempering temperature the material will be brittle and will shatter when it strikes something. The edge, being thinnest wouldn't take much to heat to austenitizing temp...

Yeah, heat treating metal is what I've been doing the past 24 years, it's very interesting and there's so many variables that can come into play... That being said, it's best to stick with what you can get from the store. Without the guidance (like your blacksmith neighbor), someone could really do some damage with hardened blades spinning that fast...

 

[kshultz]

This is a bit off topic so I thought I would stick it here.
I just bought this disc last night and I need help identifying it. Does anyone know what make and model this is?

 

[kshultz]

Huh........ I think I might have answered my own question. It looks a lot like this one. McCormick-Deering. What do you guys think?
https://smallfarmersjournal.com/mccormick-deering-tractor-disc-harrow-no-10-a-2/