A day in the life... Toro 322 trim mower

Winter means going through

all the machines.

This is the one chance a year 

to get these reliable for next season.

This antique is a crucial part of fighting 

the weeds and grass,

specifically in the spots between the trees.

Sometimes the trees win.

You'd think a 1990 toro 322d,

almost 30 years old,

would be babied to last this long.

No.

The toro's are built strong but not too strong,

otherwise they'd never get replaced.

Interestingly there are 3 evolutions of this machine,

each seems to be made weaker than the other.

Luckily I'll take any excuse 

to get some cutting and welding in...

The scrap pile donated the perfect metal,

some 3/16" plate and fat rebar.

Way thicker then what these are built with.

There's a risk of making it too strong,

as somethings gotta give.

Well that'll give me or the next guy

something to do!

Looks like a beefy boat repair.

Good enough for years of thrash time.

This was the weak link,

the bracket that holds up the cutting deck.

Not even an inch thick spatter weld could hold it together.

Sometimes welding practice is better on scrap,

not something holding 3 rotating knives.

Probably why I fit in here.

After some grinding the crack was revealed.

Zip zip and as strong as new.

Now let's see how the guys trash this...

Besides going through the whole unit,

oil change, bearings and stuff,

a leaky hydraulic hose was also replaced.

That meant removing all the floorboard panels.

So yea this wasn't really a day in the life,

more like a couple days scattered over a week.

Now get to work guys no more excuses.

TP

Making a little monster - Daihatsu hijet

Here at an enclosed city park,

we make optimal use of these little unregisterable off-road only trucks.

This daihatsu hijet was from a power plant

somewhere in Southern California.

This is the lemon twin in the fleet,

the other one is a workhorse,

this one doesn't like to run.

I found a problem with a fuel safety shutoff,

deemed necessary on the cab-over configuration. 

The wire had been twisted flush.

This little piece was impossible to find,

so surgery was required.

After digging down into the insulation,

a new wire was soldered on.

JB Weld has saved the day 

on similar tedious projects.

This trick got it running for now.

There's still an ignition issue I'll get too later.

Now that it could move on its own,

it was time to make some modifications.

Green daihatsu #3 had some good things to copy.

The scrap pile was raided for a solid bumper.

These have a hi/lo transaxle perfect for towing.

Brackets were whittled out,

and welded directly to the frame.

No bolts here.

I needed a welding project,

it had been a while and I missed basic metalwork.

More scrap for the tow hitch.

The ball threads were wasted,

so it was welded on solid.

Tip - 

U-haul won't rent you a trailer if your ball is welded!

Next up was this box of goodies,

an almost complete lift kit.

The rear used long spring shackles,

the front used spring spacers.

The new bumper was tested with the jackstands.

No problem.

The original shackles were a symmetrical design,

with a connected bolt.

So the fuel tank had to be dropped to removed.

Fortunately the new shackles slid on quickly.

The pinion angle wasn't changed much.

The before shot had a tail stagger look.

The after shot had the nice stink bug look.

Like a truck should.

The front was held up with a coil over shock,

or something like a McPherson strut.

The cup basically pushed it all down.

At first I didn't like the 2-piece design,

but it allowed a rough alignment with the slotted holes.

The brake line bracket had to be cut 

and welded at a different angle,

otherwise it was a quick bolt in.

This raised the whole truck over 2"!

Makes the tires look even tinier.

The green daihatsu has spacers and quad wheels.

I'm thinking of a dually rear wheel setup.

The only issue was the front camber is really angled,

more than this pic shows.

I've got a few ideas to fix,

but only one can be used.

More on that later.

This drove for about a week,

then it started acting up again.

I swear some things are lemons!

Anyway I'll update soon.

TP

A day in the life... fillin holes...

Now that the track events have slowed down,

I'm able to tackle a handful of projects

that were on the imaginary chit to do list.

This warning barricade was put up last April.

It's bugged me ever since,

especially now that high-profile events like 

Indycar are scheduled for next year.

Someone had used a huge aluminum pot

as a manhole cover.

And yea this is a city park!

Holey chit.

It was banged up back when I started,

but something had mangled it beyond repair.

I'm thinking it was one of these boom truck things,

although I'm not sure why it would be out  there.

Underneath hid a gaping trap of a hole,

at least 5-6 feet deep.

A definite accident waiting to happen.

I searched our boneyard for donor material.

It's like the motherlode for scrap building.

Check this out!

A cool drag racing sign rotting away -

Northwest Drag Racing Association.

There were actually 2 of them.

The dragstrip had some fast cars back then.

Lo and behold the perfect chunk of 3/8" steel,

the exact diameter of the concrete ring.

A hole was missing it's cover somewhere...

A quick compass was made with a paint stick and screws,

no need for tape measures here.

I'm not sure what the previous mech expected to do 

with this baby torch.

After grinding a nice radius to follow,

an imperfect circle was hacked out.

Not my best freehand torch work...

It's been awhile.

More scrap used for the guide pieces,

doubling up as finger guards for the pickup holes.

Magic green rattlecan finished off this masterpiece,

now a forever part of Portland Parks...

Yea some damn glamorous stuff a raceway worker gets to do!

More fun at work later...

TP