Smooth(er) Driveway

I acquired a neighbor's leftover wheel weights for a riding mower he had sold, and some 1" steel plate that I attached inside the rear frame where it doesn't interfere with anything. It's nice to have a milling machine to modify stuff like this.

Home-made chains on ag tires didn't do my lawn any good and their traction on ice was disappointing compared to my car's Arctic Alpin winter tires.

What's a lawn ? We have some kind of wild grass growing out there , but it ain't a "lawn" . "Grassy clearing in the woods" is probably the best description . And when we get iced in down here in The Holler the only way we're gonna move is to chain up . No studded tires here . Gotta check out chain prices for the tractor and Ma's car ... she ain't gonna be happy . "If it's not one thing , it's another" . Wouldn't be so bad but I hit her yesterday with a need for a new back tire for Mr. Motorcycle , at around a hundred forty bucks . It just never ends ... I'm glad I can work on my own stuff , if I had to pay for labor I'd be ridin' a bicycle .

Here in New England two feet of snow or two inches of ice on the road is a damn nuisance that slows down the rush hour commute. The only thing that actually immobilizes us is trees and possibly live power lines fallen across the road.

Here in the Ozarks we have a real problem when it ices . Snow isn't as much of a problem , but the elevation changes here will flat f*ck you up on ice unless you've got chains . Wife totalled one last winter , and she's a very experienced snow/ice driver . Learned the same place I did , northern Utah . People here don't get enough practice on slick roads to get comfortable with limited traction . It doesn't help that most snow storms here begin with rain that turns to sleet/ice/freezing rain then snow . Makes for a potentially deadly situation .

Terry, are the tires filled with liquid? If not, that might be most of what ou need, plus some wheel weights you can make yourself.

I use a rotary tiller to balance the back end down but plan on making a heavy lift box and leave the tiller in safety. Sometimes one backs into trees or such in the operation of some fancy curves. The front bucket easily can be the weight box if the back needs counter weight. I can back up and pick up quickly and that is easy enough to load with water or steel. I'll just build in a bottom host fitting so I can spread the water around instead of boring a hole into the ground.

Having 4 wheel drive also helps but weight and 4 wheel does do the job.

I only wish I had the next tractor size up, but to late now.

Martin

I know that one. Earth quake and trees fall all over. Pacific storm and trees fall for 90 days afterwards. One winter I carried a chain saw and gas in the back of the truck so I could get home or go to work. Often I'd come upon a 20" Redwood across the highway and you would see two or three saws working on it. Tricky if the road is hilly - watch which way the logs roll. Most often they were on a clearing with a valley from the ocean. UP draft and gusts do the job.

One winter storm after the '89 earthquake kept the house out of power for 3 weeks. The earthquake was a week and a half. Some in less time.

Martin

Good question ! A good friend has an antique car resto business , he has recently started doing Rhino lining . I think the stuff needs a rust-free surface to adhere properly , and that will be a problem with this unit . I'll be asking ...

My next door neighbor has a little Kubota with a front end loader and brush hog. He leaves the brush hog on the back for weight when he needs to do full-bucket work in front. When pulling the stump of my decorative cherry tree one year, the hydraulics proved strong enough to lift the tractor and hog off the ground momentarily. Both of us thought I had cut all roots off it, but I hadn't. It was as strong under the ground as it was dead on top. He's happy with the little thing, though. He uses it as a trash can to pick up dead limbs and leaves, then dumps 'em on his burn pile. When he cut his dead oak tree into 200# rounds, he used it to move them to an area where he could split 'em. Very handy.

I think it would cause grass to stick to the deck and cause more problems than it's worth with buildup. There are sprays for decks now, butcha gotta lift them to use it each time. PITA.

Silicone, more or less.

What bike? I ride the dark side on my 'wing. Currently have almost 30K on the Khumo that's on it and it was under 100 bucks mounted!

(Dark side FYI is using a properly sized auto tire in place of the EXTREMELY expensive bike tires)

I remember hearing that simple kitchen and bath cleaners make most metal rust free.

Indeed, but a far greater danger is the election of an intelligent and amoral rogue rather than a fool, after the fool has destroyed or rendered non-operational, the traditional checks-and-balances.

You may want to investigate liquid filled rear tires.

Right, our future is far from safe. That's why it's imperative to retain our 2nd Amendment rights. We're one of the few remaining groups who stand in support of those checks and balances.

Maybe it'll work just fine. Who's going to guinea pig it?

I'm on a '90 Harley Ultra Classic Electra Glide , been running Dunlop Elite

3's . This last one was a real disappointment , got less than 5k out of it . They've been giving me between 12 and 15 thousand , so this was a surprise when I saw it was gone . I'm considering going to the American Elite , a bit more money but it's supposed to have a harder rubber compound in the center for better wear . Actually , I'm wondering if ANY tire is going to give me decent wear (and reasonable grip), considering the way I like to ride the roads around here ... just because you CAN drag shit doesn't mean you SHOULD . And yet ...

If I use something to eat the rust there won't be much deck left ... and mowing is not one of the primary tasks for this unit . If I can get it safe to use I'll be happy . We don't really have a lawn up here , more like a frassy clearing in the woods . But what grass we have and the weeds/grass/hardwood saplings in the small orchard need to be knocked down once or twice a month .

These are tubeless , and the rims are already corroded a little bit . What do they use to keep from rusting/rotting the steel rims ?