New Tools

[ZLrider]

Just call somewhere or stop in that has horses. The manure builds up amazingly fast and most are only too happy to give it away. On years when I skipped the manure the garden definitely suffered. Horse poo is like a supercharger for your dirt.

 

[R. J.]

My Brother-In-Law Jim H. owned four horses. I'd haul away two pick up loads of manure every Sunday. I charged $10 a load. I learned to hate horses for more than one reason.

 

[ZLrider]

Can't say I hate horses. They are beautiful animals. I'd never want to own one though. My recently departed cousin had several on his little spread and that poor guy and his wife worked themselves pretty much to death keeping up with them. I can't remember how many bales of hay he went through but it was in the thousands. He was always complaining in the fall when he'd stock up for the year how many thousands of dollars he was spending on hay alone.

 

[87kawzl]

Well, the "gear drive" on the tiller sounds like it is beat. I checked the belt driving the transmission sprocket and it seems to work. Don't think I'm even going to spend the time taking it apart.

I may strip the motor off it since it runs good but then again what would I ever use it on? Any ideas for uses of a small side shaft engine?

 

[R. J.]

Maybe a gokart or minibike.

 

[ZLrider]

Honestly I'd probably scrap it. What is that a 1 HP engine? 2? Not a whole lot of uses for something that small. That tiller likely was never the greatest. You might look on ebay first though and see if parts are in demand. Many times these days you can sell parts from a whole lot of stuff for more than the item itself is worth.

 

[87kawzl]

I may put it up on craigslist for a week then to the scrap heap if I can't get $25 out of it.

 

[R. J.]

My 12 year old Harbor Freight three ton floor jack is on it's way out. I priced USA made ones. Way to much for what I use it for. I bought a black DAYTONA three ton heavy duty low profile long reach floor jack. $224. My cross beam insert wouldn't fit my new jack so I had to drill both sides out 1/8" wider and 1/4" deeper at both ends. The new jack has a 25 inch reach. With the cross beam on it reaches to 30 inches and with my two extenders it reaches to 36 inches. I also bought a PROTORQ bit driver set from Amazon. $36. ____________________________
https://www.harborfreight.com/autom...-jacks/steel-floor-jack-cross-beam-64051.html .

 

[87kawzl]

I bought a Wilmar 2.5T jack some 35 years ago it was made in China and it has done everything that I asked of it. The only thing that I sometimes would like to have is a low profile and quick lift when there is no load on it.

 

[R. J.]

A friend has a lowered Mustang and mine slides right under it. It also has the quick lift foot pedal.

 

[ZLrider]

Looks like a pretty nice jack RJ. I had to replace my 30 year old Craftsman a few years ago because it would no longer fit under my cars. BTW was a bit surprised to find that jack was not made in the USA either. Sheesh, must be going on 40 years since manufacturing moved offshore. Pretty sad. New jack came from HF and I've been 100% happy with it. It's super low profile and goes up lots faster than the one from Sears. Only thing I don't like is it weighs like 92 lbs. It's not something you easily toss in the back of your truck. I see you got a bit set like I recently picked up too. Nice, no?

What's with the cross brace though? I don't get what that's used for.

 

[R. J.]

I use the cross brace mostly for lifting the front of a car/truck. That way you don't have to lift one side at a time but I also use it for the sides to.

 

[R. J.]

My oldest Son Jonathan bought me a shelving kit for my B-day last October. It's made by 2x4 BASICS. https://2x4basics.com/ . I used it to make staging shelves for bike parts for my new work shop. I was limited on room so it's 8' long and 16" deep with 4 shelves. The top 2 shelves are 5' long. I mounted 4 casters on it so it can be moved if needed. I glued the same vinyl flooring on all 4 levels as what is on the shops floor. The shelving is stout.

 

[ZLrider]

Shelves are nice, but cabinets are better. I've repurposed a lot of old wall cabinets for parts and supply storage. Keep an eye out for somebody remodeling their kitchen and you can many times get freebies.

 

[R. J.]

Cabinets would not work on the back wall of my SHOP!!! I want to see what's on the shelves. Also cabinet doors would not open because bikes would be in the way. My SHOP is only 12 feet deep and 20 feet wide. I redone my kitchen about six years ago and gave all the old cabinets to my friend Wayne H. https://www.zl-oa.com/community/threads/remodeling.19877/page-8 .

 

[R. J.]

In 2016 I made a carb maintenance stand/jig out of 1" PVC and an old alluminium no parking sign. I made it so it can be leveled using 5/16" SS cap bolts with SS wing nuts. I also made it so it can adjust from level to 30* at the head. All the materials was free. The freeze plugs was $20 from AUTO ZONE. Time spent about two hours. _______________________________________________________________________

 

[ZLrider]

Very nice. I always have the issue of when finishing a project like this of should I keep it or break it down? I also built something along the same lines awhile back and then broke it back down. It's been 15 years since I needed it, so guess it was the right call. Don't you ever get annoyed with clutter? Seems I have so many "use once in a blue moon" type stuff that is just in my way. First thing comes to mind is a router table that I haven't used in 2o years. I also have a large drill press that I use for 2 mins about once every 3 or 4 years. I'm thinking of deep sixing it as I now have a pretty nice Craftsman top box with lots of drawers and the only good place I can think of to put it is where that drill press sits.

I understand the advantage of shelves, but I just do too much dusty stuff and cabinets keep everything from getting grimy.

 

[R. J.]

THANKS. I have no clutter. I have all my tools in tool boxes and all my bike parts in totes or boxes. Everything is labeled and dated.

 

[87kawzl]

P-touch label maker borrowed from work. Great item that doesn't cost a bundle.


I went all "RJ" on the toolboxes

Sorted pretty well now and I can pull the tabs and re-label when needed.



It took a while to get things sorted as far as what tools took up what space and where I wanted things I used the workspace. Now when the cheese starts slipping off the cracker I should be able to find what I was looking for...what the heck was I looking for anyways

 

[R. J.]

NICE!!! What does one of those cost. I use a DYMO organizer xpress handheld label maker. $14. It took me 5 hours to do lable 10 draws. I kept misspelling words. . I have 62 draws to go. https://www.staples.com/dymo-organi...-XmOlU6-Xd3yX-w08jspJg6zVNjYIDvcaAjftEALw_wcB .