Mowing ..

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Palm spike removed, under full anaesthesia. Surgeon reckons it’s a common injury. 22+ millimetres long, had speared into the muscle. Looking forward to full recovery through the coming fortnight.

I’d go to the vet next time - it would be faster and more to-the-point (pun noted). Maybe not so ideal in terms of having one’s temperature taken.

Geez, what a pain.

[mad2]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Palm spike removed, under full anaesthesia. Surgeon reckons it’s a common injury. 22+ millimetres long, had speared into the muscle. Looking forward to full recovery through the coming fortnight.

I’d go to the vet next time - it would be faster and more to-the-point (pun noted). Maybe not so ideal in terms of having one’s temperature taken.

well that was sharp & to the point . . . .... having it in the calf is a .. pain tho. otherwise hope ya doing ok now ?.


we had to clean up the 'bush' in front of the old aircon unit....... don't know the name of it [said 'bush'] .. but the needles on it are the leaves and 22 mm is nothin on these. aircon guy enjoyed em too!.

[Citroënbender]

Mending steadily now, old school oral antibiotics aren’t great on guts but definitely the lesser of two evils. What the ultrasound guy marked as the splinter limits:

Had to work today as tomorrow’s forecast rain would have filled up the tray bottom tarp like a bathtub and I’d be charged for tipping 150kg of extra weight in water. Dover’s owner, my “brother from another mother” came over and did the driving, 220kg of green waste safely unloaded and back to home base.

[danzvtil]

Bought home the old cox ride on from a clients under the guise of changing the belts that were starting to squeal.
The internet is usually my go to for tutorials on jobs like this, but couldn’t find anything that was a simple step 1, step 2, step 3, just a lot of rubbish, so went in blind.
After an hour of following my nose, it has a new drive belt, and a blade belt, just got to wait for daylight for a test drive to see if I was successful.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

Bought home the old cox ride on from a clients under the guise of changing the belts that were starting to squeal.
The internet is usually my go to for tutorials on jobs like this, but couldn’t find anything that was a simple step 1, step 2, step 3, just a lot of rubbish, so went in blind.
After an hour of following my nose, it has a new drive belt, and a blade belt, just got to wait for daylight for a test drive to see if I was successful.

Middle of the night mower test run. As good as DFB's whip cracking neighbour.

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Middle of the night mower test run. As good as DFB's whip cracking neighbour.

I waited for 9:30am, didn’t want to be THAT neighbour on a Sunday.
Just had to fanagle the tension, the whole engine slides back and forward to allow this. There’s not a lot to them when you look closely.
Chickanic was right, the belts don’t stretch, the ridges wear off them causing lack of grip on the pulleys.

[mad2]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Finishing off a rough-as-guts yard cleanup with a flourish… Canariensis needle jammed in my calf muscle, about 30mm deep and snapped off. Currently in A&E at my local hospital, who - rather than fish with tweezers and local anaesthetic - want to X-ray my leg first.

pic of said plant



measures roughly ........ 13cm's with various lengths all over. and they do not snap off.

[Citroënbender]

Nasty. I’d be knocking it over.

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by mad2

pic of said plant

image

measures roughly ........ 13cm's with various lengths all over. and they do not snap off.

The reason pole saws were invented.

[mad2]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Nasty. I’d be knocking it over.

canna do that Mr. Bender...... missus mum planted it.. i'd love to more 'somewhere' else tho as it's growing under our powerline.

Originally Posted by danzvtil

The reason pole saws were invented.

a match would be betterer.......

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

The reason pole saws were invented.

Pole saw? I would douse the bloody thing in petrol and set it alight! Have always despised palms, any and all of them.

[Citroënbender]

C’mon, tell us how you really feel! Shame I can only “like” that post once.

The only palms I can tolerate are the fruiting date varieties. Everything else is a filthy, spiky weed.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

C’mon, tell us how you really feel! Shame I can only “like” that post once.

The only palms I can tolerate are the fruiting date varieties. Everything else is a filthy, spiky weed.

As most will know, I live in northern Victoria, an area that gets quite frosty during winter, most palms don't like that.

So when white-trash-fancy people come in and tell me they have just installed a pool, I know exactly what they are going to ask for...............

"...........we want to make a nowise trowpical look and stuff en that, thinking palm twees..."

Basically, all I can show them is a Cocas palm, Date palm or Bangalo. Date palms are vicious, Cocas are ugly and messy and Bangalo's burn up with frost.

So, then I'm the left to either sell them knowing how it will end up, or manage to persuade them to buy something else. Either way, the customer ends to be disappointed; they either don't get their twopical holiday looking backyard, or they end up annoyed when the dam thing burns in the frost, stings them with a thorn or makes a mess all over their fancy pool.

So yes, palms are stupid.

[DFB FGXR6]

Who likes a smoke show?

[mad2]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

As most will know, I live in northern Victoria, an area that gets quite frosty during winter, most palms don't like that.

So when white-trash-fancy people come in and tell me they have just installed a pool, I know exactly what they are going to ask for...............

"...........we want to make a nowise trowpical look and stuff en that, thinking palm twees..."

Basically, all I can show them is a Cocas palm, Date palm or Bangalo. Date palms are vicious, Cocas are ugly and messy and Bangalo's burn up with frost.

So, then I'm the left to either sell them knowing how it will end up, or manage to persuade them to buy something else. Either way, the customer ends to be disappointed; they either don't get their twopical holiday looking backyard, or they end up annoyed when the dam thing burns in the frost, stings them with a thorn or makes a mess all over their fancy pool.

So yes, palms are stupid.

yeah i could never understand the fascination with the palm trees down here [vic in general] ..... but the ones down here in Geeetown seemed to have 'survived'.. somehow - like the smoke machine.

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

As most will know, I live in northern Victoria, an area that gets quite frosty during winter, most palms don't like that.

So when white-trash-fancy people come in and tell me they have just installed a pool, I know exactly what they are going to ask for...............

"...........we want to make a nowise trowpical look and stuff en that, thinking palm twees..."

Basically, all I can show them is a Cocas palm, Date palm or Bangalo. Date palms are vicious, Cocas are ugly and messy and Bangalo's burn up with frost.

So, then I'm the left to either sell them knowing how it will end up, or manage to persuade them to buy something else. Either way, the customer ends to be disappointed; they either don't get their twopical holiday looking backyard, or they end up annoyed when the dam thing burns in the frost, stings them with a thorn or makes a mess all over their fancy pool.

So yes, palms are stupid.

I think it’s a hangover from the 80s and 90s when every pool was kidney shaped, surrounded by cocos and philodendron. But yes, bloody messy, I planted 8 in my front yard 20 years ago, they are now at a height where I just can’t reach them to keep them tidy. I have to pay a much younger and crazier tree guy to climb them and trim them, at great expense.
Yards and pools now are like kitchens, all minimalist, straight lines no adornment.

[Citroënbender]

Probably good in a way, given how much time most people really spend in them. Maintenance is simpler - better to save the effort for the few who actually want something outdoors to engage with in their lives.

Feral jasmine and decay at my “slow” makeover job; how do I even get in there to start tidying?

[Interceptor]

So.... yesterday I learned that due to new emissions requirements, Honda have discontinued the snorkel kit they used to supply for mowers in extremely dusty environments.....

So to prevent the damage of burning a little extra fuel, we're now replacing air filters more often.....

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

So.... yesterday I learned that due to new emissions requirements, Honda have discontinued the snorkel kit they used to supply for mowers in extremely dusty environments.....

So to prevent the damage of burning a little extra fuel, we're now replacing air filters more often.....

That's crazy.

What's the basis for engine sucking clean air got to do with emissions. Wouldn't a blocked filter cause it to run richer and burn less efficiently? I don't get it?

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

What's the basis for engine sucking clean air got to do with emissions. Wouldn't a blocked filter cause it to run richer and burn less efficiently? I don't get it?

From what I've seen, the snorkel kit runs a filter in the snorkel head, and the extra restriction makes them run a little richer than they usually do

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Pole saw? I would douse the bloody thing in petrol and set it alight! Have always despised palms, any and all of them.

I don't mind them, we used to make a packet cutting them down when I was tree lopping

Spring is upon us, in WA at least. After a couple of weeks off I've come back to our Santa ana couch fairways in need of a mow, we haven't touched them in 3 months now.
This also means renovations are just about due. We'll give them a foliar feed of Iron and Manganese before a hit of nitrogen, following that we'll cut them down to 6mm, core and vertimow.
The Bent grass greens will also be cored, dusted and amendments made to weak areas. We also need to keep an eye out for fungal infections with the cool dewy mornings.

The wildflowers have also stared coming out, the adjacent bushland is a sea of golden wattles and native orchids have started to appear.

I was lucky enough to find one of the holy grails of WA native orchids on my holidays, the Eastern Queen of Sheba.

[Citroënbender]

That’s a really impressive bloom!

RS, Sydney spring is probably tracking yours ATM. Reckon it’s a good time to heavily shape a neglected viburnum hedge now, or wait 2-3 weeks?

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

That’s a really impressive bloom!

RS, Sydney spring is probably tracking yours ATM. Reckon it’s a good time to heavily shape a neglected viburnum hedge now, or wait 2-3 weeks?

You don't get frost do you? So you should be fine to rip into it now.

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

That’s a really impressive bloom!

RS, Sydney spring is probably tracking yours ATM. Reckon it’s a good time to heavily shape a neglected viburnum hedge now, or wait 2-3 weeks?

I say 2-3 weeks sounds right, give it a fertilize now, it'll tell you when it responds with some new growth, either from the fert or change in season, then give it a prune.

The orchids have become a bit of an obsession. I started doing a bit of gentle walking as part of my injury rehab. Walking around the suburb got old quickly so, with the national park close by, I started walking with my camera. I was taking pictures of birds but when I started looking down I found some really interesting stuff, I'd then go home and nerd out trying to identify them. Heres a couple of others I've found.



^This is the Flying duck orchid, its a hammer type, when the pollinator goes in for some nectar the hammer comes down covering them in pollen.

[Citroënbender]

Thank you both!

I won’t wait too long then. Probably scheme up a green waste load within the fortnight. There’s a really intense bit of deadwooding and weeding adjacent, it’s my best shot to reset the whole border. Hopefully without further injury.

[DFB FGXR6]

Last week, I decided to drag the 2-stroke Mustang out of the shed to do some mowing in the back garden. Well, things didn't go to plan.

These engines are know to be diva's, suffering from a range of ailments that can make them a nightmare to own. This particular mower is eight years old now, so not a bad trouble-free run. Usually, these engines will fire on the first to third pull, any more than that, it's not going to happen!

I say STOP at this stage because all you will be doing is making it worse and wasting your energy pulling that rope. From there you need to pull the plug, crank the fuel out of the cylinder and try again. It's amazing how you become in tune with an engine over time, any and all of them.

Anyway, looking down at the primer, there was fuel pouring out the base of the cap. So, I turned the fuel tap off and went and ordered some parts, which turned up just in time this morning.

First job was the clean the poor thing. This unit gets pulled out when there some serious cutting to do, so it was showered in grass. A presoak with Bilt Hamber Surfex, a pressure wash, Surfex reapplied and agitated with a brush, followed by a final rinse. I then followed with some Hydr02, because I can!



Onto the job at hand, the leaking primer cap. The rubber o-ring that seals the cap to the carb body is a known wear item, leaking from the base of the carb is the classic sign its time for replacement. These o-rings are available in a few different ways, in my case I ordered them as part of a kit so I had some spares on hand for next time. I also ordered two replacement primer caps as these are also known to perish and warp over time.

https://www.greenacresmowers.com.au/...or-victa-carbs
https://www.greenacresmowers.com.au/...-victa-2-stoke



Now, you don't need to remove the fuel tank for this job, but its only three bolts and it gives you proper access to the carb. Remove the fuel inlet hose from the front of the primer cap while you are at it.



For those that don't know, the starter setup on these engines also forms the cap for the crankcase. The rubber o-ring that seals it all up is also a known wear item, and an important replacement as it prevents dust from getting into the engine.

With a towel down to soak up any leaks, there was none on mine, remove the primer cap screw, which is actually the main jet.



Inside the chamber was clean...............



The primer cap is made up of the cap itself, a float, plastic needle and the main jet. The rubber o-ring is what keeps it airtight, in this case seemed fine but I replaced it anyway.



After cleaning the cap, I replaced the o-ring with a new one and then reinstalled the needle (pointy end down) and the float. Held carefully, reinstall the cap, making sure to keep the arrow pointing upwards so the float functions correctly. Reinstall the main jet.





Fuel tap on, and NO LEAKS!!

This would have been at least a $150 repair if I took it into the shop. So to have done it for a few dollars and an hour of my time is brilliant. I also got to learn more about these engines.

While I was at it, I chose to replace the lower foam air filter insert, the original now half the size it should have been and basically falling apart. I actually ordered two of these because the one on my grandfather's Mustang had turned to dust. The original OE Victa filter was fine and will see another round.

https://www.greenacresmowers.com.au/...ta-air-filters









The thing fired on the first pull and is sounding as healthy as ever..............



This is probably my favorite mower, its unstoppable when the going gets tough. These versions of the Victa 2-stroke had the ability to throttle up when under load, even with the throttle at full. The resultant noise is glorious! Where even the stoutest 4-stroke would bog down and stall, this thing just powers on through. Such a shame the greenies killed this engine off.

[janddbone]

My favourite mower.

[danzvtil]

A client of mine has a 200m long driveway lined with mature spotted gums. I’ve just spent the second day in a EWP cage getting up into the canopy with my husqvarna pole saw to cut out dead wood and tidying up, we’ve dropped probably 10 or 15 t worth of firewood, and we’re only halfway there. The huski saw is the MVP, followed closely by the customers wife who insisted I wear a hard hat. She bought one and “donated” it to my van safety kit. It got hit twice on its first day. Smart lady.

[Citroënbender]

Good time of year to do it, too. Will they start to occlude fairly quickly now?

BTW spotted gum is great for handles - hammers, axes, shovels… Maybe a few bits with fiddleback can be sold to artisans?

[DFB FGXR6]

Hmmmm, not dangerous at all................