He helps with breakfast:
He helps with laundry:
He helps with paperwork:
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
The New Monster
Last week, Dad gave me this old chainsaw that's been in the family for years. It is a 1960 McCulloch Super 44A. Evidently, my Grandfather used this saw back in the 60's. Or from the way Dad tells it, my Grandfather waited for one of his boys to use it - usually Dad's brother.
This thing is huge in every way. It is over 20 pounds of arm-killing machine. It has a 24 inch bar strung with 0.404 pitch chain. The 87 cc engine probably has nearly unstoppable torque. I haven't put it to any logs yet, but I bet the wood chips really fly.
I spent the past Saturday working on getting it started, and my body is still hurting 2 days later. I did manage to get it started and running after partially cleaning the carburetor passages, but the carb leaks gas terribly bad. I hope to find the proper rebuild kit for new seals after I do a little more research.
Now compare this old saw to my new Stihl MS250 I bought a few years back. This, of course, is my primary worker saw. I bought it because it had about the highest power-to-weight ratio within my price range.
As you can see, the 52 year old McCulloch makes the new Stihl saw look like a baby's toy. This Stihl saw weighs in at a nifty 10.1 pounds and has a respectable 18 inch bar. The Stihl is just over half the displacement of the McCulloch - it is 45 cc's. The Stihl does all the work I've ever considered to do.
So what are my plans for this old monster? I think I would like to get it in good, running condition and use it once in a while just for the fun of running an old engine. This is not an every day saw by any means. I think it will be a fun novelty toy that will make me appreciate using new technology.
This thing is huge in every way. It is over 20 pounds of arm-killing machine. It has a 24 inch bar strung with 0.404 pitch chain. The 87 cc engine probably has nearly unstoppable torque. I haven't put it to any logs yet, but I bet the wood chips really fly.
Now compare this old saw to my new Stihl MS250 I bought a few years back. This, of course, is my primary worker saw. I bought it because it had about the highest power-to-weight ratio within my price range.
As you can see, the 52 year old McCulloch makes the new Stihl saw look like a baby's toy. This Stihl saw weighs in at a nifty 10.1 pounds and has a respectable 18 inch bar. The Stihl is just over half the displacement of the McCulloch - it is 45 cc's. The Stihl does all the work I've ever considered to do.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Where Do I Begin?
It's been almost 6 years since I worked on this project last. This is my old 1941 John Deere LA. I bought it from a cousin in Central Indiana 7 years ago, and worked on it pretty good for the first year. Things slowed down when Number 1 Kiddo popped out, but I continued to work on it slowly.
Seven years ago, Dad and I hauled it home and it looked like this:
It's a small tractor. Nearly the smallest of the small for that vintage. If I remember correctly, it weighs in right around 2000 pounds, and generates a mere 14 horsepower as seen on the PTO. Only 11 of those horses gets to the rear wheels. (Keep in mind I just dropped in a new 23 horsepower engine on my lawnmower this past spring.) The John Deere LA was intended for the "truck" farms - mostly vegetable and small produce farms. There were only 60,000 or so made. (Chime in if any of this is incorrect - this is all from memory)
So, all that is to say these LAs are kind of few and far between. So imagine my surprise when we moved to our new house in 2007, and discovered my next door neighbor had an LA in a nicely restored condition. Suffice it to say, we get along pretty good with our neighbors.
Since we moved over 5 years ago, I haven't worked on this tractor restoration project since. I have stopped at this point:
And I have all these many parts to put back on:
It looks like a daunting task, but I hope I can keep up my motivation and get it done sometime this upcoming fall. There's not too much to do: mostly all body work on the sheet metal. That's the hardest part of all these restorations - I dislike sheet metal. But my job in academia is teaching me patience, so perhaps I need to try this again.
Seven years ago, Dad and I hauled it home and it looked like this:
It's a small tractor. Nearly the smallest of the small for that vintage. If I remember correctly, it weighs in right around 2000 pounds, and generates a mere 14 horsepower as seen on the PTO. Only 11 of those horses gets to the rear wheels. (Keep in mind I just dropped in a new 23 horsepower engine on my lawnmower this past spring.) The John Deere LA was intended for the "truck" farms - mostly vegetable and small produce farms. There were only 60,000 or so made. (Chime in if any of this is incorrect - this is all from memory)
So, all that is to say these LAs are kind of few and far between. So imagine my surprise when we moved to our new house in 2007, and discovered my next door neighbor had an LA in a nicely restored condition. Suffice it to say, we get along pretty good with our neighbors.
Since we moved over 5 years ago, I haven't worked on this tractor restoration project since. I have stopped at this point:
And I have all these many parts to put back on:
It looks like a daunting task, but I hope I can keep up my motivation and get it done sometime this upcoming fall. There's not too much to do: mostly all body work on the sheet metal. That's the hardest part of all these restorations - I dislike sheet metal. But my job in academia is teaching me patience, so perhaps I need to try this again.
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