Re: Saved a wad today

On 7/6/2025 7:30 PM, Snag wrote:

  The PTO clutch on my old JD 317 died recently , and today I got around to figuring out why . The rivets that hold the clutch disk to the pulley assembly had vanished ! Wore plumb off down to nubbins is more like it . So I jumped on the interwebs to see what it would cost to replace ... and there ain't no way in hell I'm going to drop 250 bucks for this part .
   So I got to inspecting and figured out that I could machine some rivets from a piece of hot rolled 1/2 inch mild steel . And it worked . Got the assembly riveted back together and installed then headed for a pile of brush to test it .

Like a lot of things, rivets (not pop rivets) used to intimidate me until one day I peened a piece of steel rod into a rivet to hold together some tongs. I've applied the "skill" to a few things since then.  A hammer is an even more useful tool than I thought.
Anyway, good job.
This is actually a mower deck that the PTO

drives , but I frequently use it to clear underbrush -mostly vines and saplings under an inch in diameter - so I can get to dead/downed trees for fire wood . Some of that duty will be going to the Yanmar , especially a couple of areas that are pretty open of heavy underbrush and closely spaced trees. Rusty (the JD) does a good job of cutting a path so I can drag out bigger pieces with The Gook (these machines were built in 'Nam after our gov't stabbed us vets in the back) .

Sorry to hear that.  I grew up hearing first hand recountings and tall tales from Vietnam vets.  Regardless of the reason for the war, thank you for going.
My Uncle Paul was a radio man with a recon unit.  He used to tell about a recurring dream he had about coming up over a hill and seeing a blinding flash, and then the dream ending.  Then one day on patrol they came up over a hill and everything looked exactly as it did in his dream.  They topped the hill, nothing happened, and they went down the other side.  He's not around to tell that story any more.
He told another one to explain some scars on his chest.  He was dog tired and crashed in his tent.  He didn't even wake up when a rat was chewing on him.  His tent mate's M16 woke him when he blew the rat right off of him.  I imagine some of those scars could have been from muzzle flash too.  I wasn't there of course.
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Bob La Londe
CNC Molds N Stuff
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