Quick fix - toro 4000d smacker

Here's a "day in the life" episode...

I was buzzing around in the smaller wing mower,

and smacked a hidden trap.

After all these hours 

you'd think I'd know every nook and cranny,..

But dirt moves and wadayado.

This gave me a good slam bang,

totally unexpected.

I wondered why it wasn't cutting grass anymore!!

But what a great excuse 

to pound out a quick metal patch,

while also brushing up my hack repair skills. 

This wood wedge 

is probably how Stonehenge was built.

Typical cardboard template 

and an old scrap bracket for donor steel.

It's been hot,

and getting showered with sparks wasn't happening,

so far welds were doubled up outside,

and only a few small beads inside.

I think it will hold.

The bracket had a handy outcrop piece, reutilized as a stiffener to the banged up inner vane.

Here's a re-enactment of the boom boom.

Even at 5-8 mph it was a jolt!

Smacking something hidden 

doesnt give much to talk chit about.

However when one of the other guys 

fills a diesel machine with gas,

that's another story...

Good times...

TP

mowin for $$

So part of this newish job is actually mowing grass.

Effin lotsa grass to mow!!

It would seem boring,

and at times it is,

mainly the wide expanses.

Fortunately there are only 3 of those parts.

Even then things happen that are like...

What the heck are those beaver bites?

They call that girdling the trees.

Or how about...

holey chit there's a bald eagle!!

Or holey chit there's 3 bald eagles

fighting over a Canadian goose body!!

Half the time mowing is basically a form 

of technical off-roading,

the Toro 580D is a 4WD crawler,

with acres of hills, berms, trees 

and other obstacles to navigate.

This part is called the east berm or bank,

a long gradual side slope,

that runs the entrance to the track.

This is where it gets tricky,

the side wing cutters act like outriggers

as well as weight distributors. 

The 3 black knobs control the hydraulics.

On a light left slope like this,

both sides are down all the way,

the lower deck pushing down as it keeps us upright,

uphill deck on reserve to go up for balance.

The knob control looks like this.

Thumb pushing down,

pointer on guard.

On a steeper right slope the position is reversed,

but the same.

Both decks down,

the 16' width really grabs the slope.

Here's the hand position,

right knob pushed down,

left on guard...

On guard for the steeper slope ahead!!

Here's where it's important to raise the uphill deck,

giving traction to the uphill wheels.

Even then there's a little bit of sliding involved.

The below pic was in the early days,

and looking back is a definite holey chit moment.

If you see the mow mark I overextended the downhill turn,

and had to raise the deck quickly

as the machine lost the traction to turn.

(Rear steer on a front heavy machine)

The Toro 580D doesn't handle well going straight downhill,

and with the guide wire in the way 

there's not much room for error.

I don't get that close anymore!!

Easier to send in guys with weedwackers...

Moving the sticks almost comes naturally,

and I'll give Chief credit,

with its 2-knob shifter system.

People always ask how hard is it to shift.

Muscle memory is powerful!

When slipping down the dirt hills,

it's surprising how automatic controlling the hydraulics becomes.

Months ago I showed how the frame actually broke,

now ya know how critical it is that it stays together!

The day before a big race,

one of the deck frames broke.

4100 hard working hours will create metal fatigue!

This is when the years of metalwork experience kicked in.

I finished an easy day job in a hard couple hours,

while race cars ran their practice laps.

Fat gussets and fish plates,

this will be stronger than new.

Since the grinder was out,

I sharpened a set of blades,

picking some donors from the junk pile.

Typically the outer blades get hammered by gravel and rocks,

so 7 out of 11 are good for a couple grinder edges.

There's a point where they all get pro sharpened,

but where's the fun in that?

The mower was all assembled 

just in time for the spectators to pile in.

The east berm grass died off in the summer!

The flatter areas kept a little green,

although it was more a mix of random weeds 

rather than blades of grass.

After racking up hours of mowing,

I still end up getting stuck.

This was my 8th time,

and first in a couple months.

The ground was so hard the mower just slid sideways like on ice,

then the skids hook into the fence.

Over the winter I'm going to round out the ends 

so they're not hooks.

Here's a huge change from San Diego.

It felt wrong hosing the machine down,

however the track has a well,

with an almost unlimited supply of water.

One of the perks of Oregon...

More soon!

TP

toro 580d battle scars

Get ready for a whopper!!

One thing about having a steady gig,

is the serious case of deja vu.

And I've barely cracked the 5 month mark.

This was the second batch of mower and golf cart.

There were major differences since last time.

This golf cart was gas powered.

No stacks of batteries,

just a little quad like motor.

This one steered on its own,

the axle and spindles were super worn,

and none of the suspension had seen grease in a while.

Easy fix.

The mower was the same ole same ole.

Half the cutter hubs were loose,

so new bearings and seals were hammered in.

I kinda got rebuilding these things wired.

There was also a problem with the 4wd unit,

and the issue was possibly electrical.

This panel hadn't seen fresh air in a while.

The fuses were ok,

but one of the hydraulic solenoids was bad.

I found a good one in the junk pile,

and swapped it in.

I love having a junk pile.

Ultimately another problem kept this issue solved.

Chasing wires found a busted kickdown switch,

with a worn or broken tang.

A couple hundred clicks had it working again,

but it was replaced with a new one that probably cost $100.

Toro stuff is notoriously one-off and over-priced,

which makes having the junk pile that much better.

After that fix I uncovered a great project.

Someone had battered the side wing real good.

A little snip,

cut and grind...

I'm surprised how cheesy these mowers are.

They're basically a special use rat rod,

made using relatively basic engineering principles.

I found a scrap piece of diamond plate,

the perfect size for the repair.

Cut template,

fit steel,

weld and hammer...

And top it off with a nice rattlecan red.

Just enough battle scars to prove a well used machine.

The previous guy had covered up the crack

with these skids.

Check how worn out they are lotsa skidding!

These bumpers were also out of wack.

They keep the front cutting deck from bouncing around.

Everyone figured they were sposta be bent like that.

The bumpers basically keep the deck

from slamming into the frame area,

where those two marks are.

Now it's all banged out and flat again.

I thought lastly was this little gouge.

Before cleaning,

it was caked with grease exiting the hole,

which was the size of that little "puma" shaped template.

After a through cleaning,

the tig came out for some operation-like welding.

If it was too messy or deep,

the hinge pin wouldn't fit back in the tube.

No problem...

Even with a pretty thorough cleaning,

there was shop had some serious smoke.

Now to fix the cause,

this pin had worn out.

It was surprising how cheesy these were built.

New bases were cut,

and a local shop machines new pins.

Glad I brought up the TIG welder! 

Bushings were pressed in,

and had to be honed to fit.

That took a while.

Now there was no slop.

These should last another 29 years...

With everything wiped down,

another wear spot was found.

This bracket holds the outer wing up,

as it rests on that skinny ledge in the background.

It's tough to see,

but it was cracked over 3/4 through,

besides being very worn.

A backing plate and gusset beefed it up.

Here it is all buttoned up.

Lotsa chit goin on here!

And here's the full front cutter deck.

It's a monkey motion mechanism.

Interestingly enough,

there's a newer style replacement deck in the junk pile.

They updated all the issues I fixed with a 1" pin vs 3/4",

and a different belt and tensioner layout.

By this time you'd expect things to be good to go.

Nope.

The hydraulic mechanism that lifts the outer left arm was glitchy.

I was hoping it wasn't a blown o-ring,

as this valve assembly would need rebuilding.

Luckily it was worn out levers.

There was just enough play in the holes,

the linkages couldn't push down far enough.

More junkyard fixes,

but the levers were only a little better.

I welded and redrillled the holes,

and swapped the cheesy pushrod things.

Crude but effective!

It was a perfect chance to clean under the covers,

limiting problems during the season.

Yes this is a long one!!

Meanwhile there was an ongoing hydraulic leak.

Not a pressurized leak just a small drip

Usin some baby powder,

the leak was in this intricate pump.

After studying the junkpile one,

the job would be very intensive.

Maybe later.

However while I was inspecting the underbelly,

what the heck is this?

At first I thought it was a grease spray,

but it was a crack.

Holey chit this is never ending.

This machine had taken a beating,

and had been half ass repaired before,

but the crack had been there a long time.

I had to prep myself for this one.

It's tough lying on your back working overhead,

showering grinding sparks and weld spatter.

Fish plates were definitely needed.

The cross member holds the hydraulic cylinder

as well as supports the side deck mechanism.

The metal was so fractured,

I'd would have replaced the whole square tube

if I had time.

The welds looked much prettier with some rattlecan red.

Just when things were all fixed up,

the 4wd mower came back with a busted hydraulic fitting.

Rocks will usually win.

Here's a quick tip that works wonders in not losing tools.

A piece of tape keeps things easy to find when on the ground,

or in the dark.

I started doing this to mark my own tools at boat jobs,

and realized how quickly cleanup was.

Now we were ready to cut some grass!

Next up I'll show why and how this stuff could happen!

TP