The picture above shows her west garden which is one of many. This one is secluded behind the house and was carved from the brush.  I think they look interesting and attractive there. Hopefully they will cause the deer to detour around the garden.  As the spring progresses and the flowers grow, the garden will look even more beautiful.

Time takes it toll on every thing, no big deal just buy some new parts, simple. You Bet, not on a 1959 tractor.  No longer available, a problem Hot Roders and car restorers run into all the time.  Making the pipe was the easy part. Rule’s tire in Willmar was able to bent me a copy.The result is below, I had to tweak the pipe a bit by heating it with my old acetylene torch. Yaa, I know The power bender does a nicer job. Normally you have the unit your working on, next to the bender so its easy to do.  I’m ten miles from town and I didn’t want to run back and forth or haul the tractor.

The problem came with the muffler. No one had one on hand that would fit. ordering was a possibility.Searching the parts books for dimensions and pipe size is a pain in the butt. Plus that all takes time. I wanted to use the tractor, so the thought of a straight pipe entered my mind. Not a good idea, I  knew my hearing was already bad enough.

In the corner of the shed I spotted an old muffler from a motorcycle. I knew I had a cool solution. With a little hack saw work and my gas welder, I fabricated up a tolerable system.  [[edit from jeremy:  the muffler is half of a 4-into-2 Supertrapp system from a 1984 VF750F Interceptor]]

View the pictures below I know the tractor needs new paint, that with some work it would be pretty again, buts that’s down the road. With summer coming that means cruises and fun so getting the red convertible ready is first.

In the mean time you don’t often see custom exhaust like this on a tractor.

I like this picture of Thor. He mastered his fear of heights and climbed up (and down) onto the loft in my pole barn.  I showed him how to make sure his hold was secure on the steps, move one hand or one foot at a time, and keep your weight close to the latter. Don’t be ashamed of fear  because it makes you careful, just don’t let it paralyse you. Think before your every move and all will be fine. Living in the Big City the Boys don’t have the opportunity to climb and explore like I did growing up on the farm in the 40’s and 50’s. Life was a continuous adventure with minimal supervision. I survived the cuts and bruises and gained confidence and respect for danger.

Here is Gunnar all ready to drive Grandpa’s garden tractor. He has the hearing protection on and note the smile. Gunnar loves to be with Grandpa in the garages and shop on the farm. He does think that Grandpa should either fix or get rid of the rusty junk that he has accumulated in the corners. Below is a young man taking driving very  seriously.

Fate smiled on me as I was walking through a Flee Market in Mobile Alabama last February.  Off to the back of his display were the two belts shown below. Inquiring, the vendor pointed out that both had problems. One was missing the buckle and the other had a blemish in the leather. I looked them over while trying hard to show disappointment in my face. This was somewhat difficult as these belts were perfect for what I needed. I pointed out that because he was such a pleasant fellow I would help him out by taking these useless items off his hands and pay him a couple of dollars. He pointed out he had paid dearly for these new belts and that they were of premium leather. After several minutes of discussion we arrived at a compromise of less than five dollars for the two.

Above are the belts and my favourite buckle. As you can see the belts  are too long and have no way to attach the buckle. I determined the belt length I needed by slipping the buckle on the belt and holding the belt around me. Than I clamped the belt as you can see in the next picture. On the work bench are  some snaps that I had purchased in the late 1980’s for fixing leather jackets. Next I used my trusty sharpie and a small ruler to mark the spot.  Note the awl I used to center punch the spot for drilling. It is made from  a worn out Philips screwdriver, the large handle make it great to handle. I used a freshly sharpened metal bit for drilling the holes.

Below I crimp the snaps in place note I installed the first snap before I made the hole for the second snap. That way alignment is guaranteed. I use a piece of quarter inch scrap steel  that is 1.25 by 6 inches to protect the desk top that I use for a work bench. The snaps are riveted in with a special punch so the protection is needed. all that’s left, is to mark  and cut the extra off.

The finished product

Not a big deal of a project but I have a new work belt for a couple of bucks and some fun. I did this all a month ago but spring came early so I did not get around to finishing this till now.

No, I didn’t win the Bull Riding buckle in some long ago competition, when I was young and tough. I’ll admit I have spun a few late night stories to acquaintance’s, they were ment solely for entertainment. The truth is I acquired a lot of  them back when I was selling on the circuit. The thing that always  got me in trouble was, “how much would they be if I took them all”. If you feel a need for a few ( or several), get in touch with me. all are serial numbered, limited edition, vintage 1980’s.

That’s me, when the rest of you were soveling snow.  At 68 years of age I had the wheel of a two masted ship at sea. True I wasn’t really the captain, but it’s OK for an old man to dream. It was a great ride for an old hotrodder.

Here Donna and I are on the beach.                                           We really enjoyed the days at Key West.  It is very cosmopolitan, museums, art gallery’s, shops, restaurants and open cafes. It reminded me of the way city’s were in the 1950s. The weather was great, with lots of sun shine. The town is full of tourists from all over the world and  I really enjoyed visiting with people.  My only regret is that I didn’t have my red convertible down there to ride around in.

There are many beautiful and interesting  things I could write about and I will add more later. Here I am at the end of the day, isn’t the sun set grand.                                                                                                                                                                                 

dual mount monitures

from the following pictures. the new brackets are made to hold a monitor from the center of the back and these monitors had a mount point on the lower edge with very different mounting holes.         I would have needed longer screws if I had modified the new mount bracket. Also the mount seemed a bit unstable that way. (I did try). Rather than drive the 10 miles into town and search for Chinese metric screws I decided go the rout shown below. I knew that would be sturdy plus I could use what I had on hand.

This is the original mount that took up much desk space and was a bit unstable

Above is the new mount as you can see,  it is very different where it attaches to the monitor. Next shows the 3/16  sheet  iron plate I made to attach to the monitor, next is the new mount bracket and the 3/16 thick sheet  iron I used, The iron I used is all salvage, cut from junk or left over from projects. The last picture in the row is finished plate with the holes drilled to match the new mount bracket, note the marker and the up arrow on the iron plate. Nothing worse than to spend the time to cut and drill a piece and then to turn it wrong on the welding table and screw it up permanently. Easy to do with grey pencil marks on grey iron or trusting your eyes.

On the left above is the one inch by 1/4 iron bar on the anvil with the hammer that shaped it. The bar is also from my junk pile, much stronger than needed, but it is what I found quickly  on a cold winter day. The anvil was my fathers and I think my Grandfathers, which makes it over a 100 years old.  Even though  its shows its age it’s perfect for shaping iron with a hammer. I wonder if my Grandfather, when he hammered out plow shares or shaped horse shoes on it, could ever have imagined what I used it for today.

The next picture shows laying out the irons to determine the size. On this type of project I find it best to constantly check for size and fit. The third picture shows the iron cut to size and marks for  fit up.  Next we are back to the welding table, because I was concerned about alignment I clamped the pieces down. My weld isn’t the most beautiful work that I have done but my welding shop is unheated.  The lens in my helmet would fog up even if I held my breath. You need to see the puddle of molten metal to make a good weld and so I erred on the safe side by letting the puddle get a bit high.

No problem with some extra weld metal, the big hand grinder takes it down fast. You can barley see my nine inch yellow grinder in back of the vice.  The second picture shows us back inside checking alignment again. Than back to the welding shop  and forming a matching bracket for the second monitor. They must be the same to look right. the last picture in the above line shows the jig I made to hold parts in line for welding and to assure that the brackets match.

Above you can see all the metal work is done. In the next picture  we try it and it looks ” good enough for a town this size”. It is  now safe to finish the second bracket.  Next we take things apart and hang the brackets up and paint them as you can see in the third photo. Because it is cold outside, I paint in the wash room in the lab which get pretty strong smelling . I did have an exhaust fan set up but that blows too much heat out. The solution I have found best is to paint it than go for coffee.

The forth shows the finished brackets final attachment to the monitor, almost factory looking.

Below is the finale test mount. Next to it is the finished product, very stable as it is clamped to the table.

Below is my Son and Grandson enjoying the finished setup.

The cost of the project? Two 6013 welding rods, A couple pounds of scrap iron, some spray paint and bolts from my junk drawer.  Less than the cost of a good cup of java, plus a bit of time.

Now we always have lots of door prizes which adds to the fun. As you can see from the following picture, some are extra nice.  The way we do things, a table is filled with prizes and each lucky person gets to chose the one they like best.

The last Breakfast, Lady Luck smiled on me. My name was the first name drawn, so I had first choice. Check the picture below and note the headlight bezel clock on my shop wall. Sharp isn’t it, can you name the car it came from?

These are hand made by Brian Pearson of New London MN. They are not cheap plastic but solid metal,  made from the real headlight bezels. He makes a wide variety and can be reached at pearsongs@charter.net. Brian also does some other interesting things. Check this site  at www.aabaca.com/pearsong.html

Car Clock

This is my grandson Gunnar Anderson on the day I gave him Donald. He is not quite two years old. Gunnar soon learned to scoot down the side walk in front of their house and loved to ride alongside me as we walked to the neighbourhood park.  Two years later when  My  Grandson came to me with his favourite toy and showed me the worn-out  wheels,  I tried to explain that Donald  was old ,well worn and almost too small for him. The “please fix the wheels, you can fix anything, Grandpa” was more than I could resist.

Upon examination  I could see the worn-out wheels were cheaply made and beyond  repair.

A search of  my back room found a set of new wheels from who knows where. They probably came from a swap meet several years ago, one of those “deals” you can’t resist even though you don’t know what you will do with it.

The old wheels were held on by retainers driven on the shaft. They are often difficult to remove without destroying everything. I used a tool I made in 1966, a simple slide hammer. The axles in Donald were too small for the new wheels so the search for new axles began. I wanted something stronger than mild steel, so after determining  diameter, I took my old calliper and began searching the junk pile. I always search the used iron pile first before I go buy new iron. It was nice years ago when I worked at a place with a big rack of new iron, just go over and pick what you need. The plus side is looking through discarded and broken machines and things gives one ideas.

I found a pair of old screen door closers whose centre rod fit the bill.Enough length, right diameter and good steel. The cylinders are definately not designed to be dissembled.

Note the picture’s of cutting the cylinders apart. the cylinders had a fairly strong spring inside of them. when I cut them open I had a violent reaction. This is why it is best to be alone when doing this type of thing. The red lines indicate where on the floor the parts ended up when they stopped bouncing.

The rest was simple as the pictures show. Test assemble to determine length, remove and cut with hack saw, then grind the  end smooth. I used some drive on caps that I had on hand to hold the wheels on. I believe they were purchased for pedal tractor repair. below are the pictures of me putting them on and the finished project.

Below is one Happy Grandson, I don’t think Donald will last very long as Gunnar is too big for it already. he can go lightning fast down the side walk but I had to say no when he took it up to the top of the slide.  No matter how long it lasts, that smile below was More than worth the effort I put into it.

Update for September Gunnar has discovered the tricycle—–although he can still go faster down grade on Donald.