TJ's fixing stuff

So basically I thought I'd make a thread for flipping stuff, fixing and keeping, etc.  It's in off topic because I deal a lot in two strokes and push mowers, not many tractors.  There's less of a profit in two strokes, but it's still worth it IMO.  

What I fixed today:





It's a Craftsman string trimmer.  I bought it from a guy a couple towns over.  He brought me that MTD with the oppy, a hydro OHV LT1000 with a bagger, 4 parts string trimmers, 1 parts Poulan chainsaw, this string trimmer, a pressure washer with a blown pump, a Honda tiller with a bad gas tank, a leaf blower, an edger, and a few other misc stuff, and he delivered.  He has more he's supposed to be bringing me today for no additional cost.  I paid him $250.

The string trimmer had a Tecumseh in it with a gummed up carb and a broken crankshaft (yeah it literally broke, I'll get some pictures for the Fail thread later), so I just said yeah no thanks and took it off.  I pulled this Honda GVC 160 off the pressure washer, and found the exhaust valve was stuck.  Since Honda was super cheap and they make their head and block one piece, I had to disassemble the engine entirely except the cam to get the valve unstuck.  I did a valve job while I was in there, put it back together, and it ran.  Carb was immaculate so I didn't have to touch it.  I've got about $5 in spray paint (touched up some rust on the handle bars), oil, and silicone (this engine was siliconed from the factory, they literally don't make a gasket for the crankcase).

I've got it up for sale for $185, with the prices in my area I think I can easily make that for it.

I’ve got a couple of those GCV engines, never had a problem out of one and they’re super quiet and just sip fuel. Kind of an oddball design as I’m sure you found out haha

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

I’ve got a couple of those GCV engines, never had a problem out of one and they’re super quiet and just sip fuel. Kind of an oddball design as I’m sure you found out haha

Yeah, I've got a couple too, they seem decent but man are they hard to work on.

I actually had to put a crankshaft in one of those GCV's a month or so ago, it was on an AWD Husqvarna push mower and the guy had hit something metal sticking up out of the ground and bent the crank.

Here's the one I took out, I kept this one, haha.




Those walk behind string trimmers are neat, pretty beastly. They sure make a lot of noise when that big string is whipping around, haha.

AllisKidD21 wrote:

I actually had to put a crankshaft in one of those GCV's a month or so ago, it was on an AWD Husqvarna push mower and the guy had hit something metal sticking up out of the ground and bent the crank.

Here's the one I took out, I kept this one, haha.

(picture)

Those walk behind string trimmers are neat, pretty beastly. They sure make a lot of noise when that big string is whipping around, haha.

Holy cow, whatever it was sure was in the ground good. I've got an AWD Husky with one of those engines on it, it's a really good little mower. I bought it new, it was 50% off last fall.

Yeah, I may keep one someday. They're a bit easier to get a level cut with than a regular weed eater.

Sold the trimmer today, $185.

Also got this running. It's a Ryobi backpack leaf blower. I dunno what the deal is, but every time I try to fix a Ryobi made engine, I always have a ton of trouble with the carb. Everything else takes 1-2 take aparts and cleans, but Ryobi stuff takes close to 10-12 cleans, and half the time I end up buying a new carb, which is what I did in this case. Only cost me $13 so it's not a big deal.

I have about a dozen string trimmers that all need carbs. Diaphragm always dries out on em

I haven't ran into too many of those. Ya know at $10-$20 per carb, you can make a lot of money off those.

So my dad decided he wanted the blower, so he gave me his old electric blower and paid me $50.

I've got it listed for $40.

Someone is coming tomorrow to buy this Ryobi weed eater that I have about $5 plus a few hours taking the carb apart a million times. If they don't pick it up there are several others lined up.


I've got $70 on that.

Then the big winner today...I had to go to TSC to get some tools I needed to replace some bushings on the Honda, and up front, was this beauty.



With this tag on it.

The manager said the clutch was locked up. I noticed that the chain was waaaay to tight. So when the manager wasn't looking, I took my leatherman out, undid the clutch cover, and sure enough, the chain was just way too tight. I fixed it right there and bought it for $100, I've got it listed for $250.
So that's pretty cool.

Big update.
Sold this pressure washer for $200.

I had $35 in it.

Bought this for 40. Runs great, so I'm just going to flip it.



Bought this push mower and the John Deere riding mower for $80.



The push mower just had a valve seat come undone, I put it back on and I had to order a new handle for the self propelled for $8. I should be able to get over $100 for it.

I had a friend selling a seat and hood for $125, so I got those. The hood isn't the right hood but it fits so I'll just peel the stickers off it. All it needs is a fuel line, carb work, and some touch up on the paint.


Then I picked up all this junk for free. A couple push mowers, one I'm going to try to save (self propelled briggs), the other a Tecumseh with no compression so I'm scrapping it. A tank to an air compressor with a duel compressor on it, I'm going to try to put a gasoline engine on it and keep it for myself. The MTD I'm scrapping, but I got the engine out of it. 17 HP Intek Pressure Lube.



I've also got a previous customer bringing me 2 pressure washers to fix today. So that's cool. He's paying me to fix them.

Man, you're buying and selling to beat the band! Nice work!

Thanks!
I sold the Deere for $400.

Then I picked this up for $30. It's an LT1000 square body, thing starts right up, runs great, drives, cuts, everything! It's too dark, I'll get more pictures tomorrow. It needs some love but you can't beat a riding mower that works great for $30.

So I scored BIG yesterday.  I responded to this ad:


Drove 20 minutes, and got it for $30.  
Got home, and here's the video I took when I was about to unload it.

So yeah.  I stuck a spare seat on it, put a new carb on it (I had one in the shop that I paid $15 for so I decided to put a new one on), like $3 worth of spray paint, and a good cleaning!
It was pretty darn dirty.



I did order the plastic grille headlight piece, was only $15.

Here's how it looks now. Runs and drives great, cuts great, has new blades and spindles that I didn't install.  I can easily get $450 for it in my area this time of year.   So yeah!  I can't wait for that grille piece to show up.

Man that is a score! I've had some scores like that myself. I could get probably get $350 for it here... maybe $400 on a really good day.


If you ordered your grille piece from Partstreedirect, you might be a little disappointed with the shipping. It took at least 3 weeks to get the headlight lens for my Craftsman T1200. I think it was about the same for the MM's headlight lens.

If you ordered it from Ebay though... Very rarely am I disappointed in their shipping.

Thanks! No, I ordered it off Ebay, and it's supposed to be here Tuesday.
I've got a number of parts coming this weekend, should be able to list 3 or 4 things.

So I picked up like 50 2-stroke carbs today for $25.

So that's pretty neat!

I also went to the hardware store and dropped $300 on some tools I've always wanted. 8" bench grinder, 7" multi purpose bench vise, impact gun, and a bunch of misc stuff. So I'm pretty excited about that!

I also didn't mention that a few weeks ago I got a bunch of stuff for $250, a couple weedeaters, pressure washer, chainsaws, etc. Ended up making a few hundred off it. But it also had a 10 gallon air compressor and an ancient old heavy duty drill press! Kept those. I'm actually getting a legit shop set up! My work is getting a lot easier lol.

Oh man, you won't regret that vise and impact gun.... It makes working on stuff sooo much more enjoyable. With a ratchet, it would take me about 3 1/2 hours to disassemble a widebody. I had the MM completely disassembled in 2 hours with the impact and it was pretty rusty.


Heh, I understand about the shop... I couldn't do 60% of what I do 2 years ago. All I need now is a welder and BIIIIIIG water cooled shop fan or something LOL.

I got my first air impact 2 years ago, thought it was the best thing ever. Then I got my cordless impacts and have since changed my mind. You also break a lot less torx bits on an impact than you would with a breaker bar or ratchet. The sustained torque is what kills em.

I use Milwaukee, but honestly kobalt is a much better price, just as powerful, and carries the same warranty....just in case you decide to go cordless

Murraymountain wrote:

Oh man, you won't regret that vise and impact gun.... It makes working on stuff sooo much more enjoyable. With a ratchet, it would take me about 3 1/2 hours to disassemble a widebody. I had the MM completely disassembled in 2 hours with the impact and it was pretty rusty.


Heh, I understand about the shop... I couldn't do 60% of what I do 2 years ago. All I need now is a welder and BIIIIIIG water cooled shop fan or something LOL.

Yeah, it's already been handy.  I'm currently rebuilding the whole front end of my 420 Rancher, upper and lower ball joints and bushings, bearings, break pads, axle boots, etc.  It's made it a lot easier.  Yeah I want a portacool but they're sooooooo expensive.

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

I got my first air impact 2 years ago, thought it was the best thing ever. Then I got my cordless impacts and have since changed my mind. You also break a lot less torx bits on an impact than you would with a breaker bar or ratchet. The sustained torque is what kills em.

I use Milwaukee, but honestly kobalt is a much better price, just as powerful, and carries the same warranty....just in case you decide to go cordless

Well, I looked into cordless, but I have a couple cordless tools (sawzall, circular saw, drill, etc) and I really actually regret buying cordless.  They're nice tools, but when the battery is dead, you're done for a couple hours.  For a shop tool, a cord really isn't that big of a deal considering it's always going to be ready to use, or in the case of an air impact, only a couple minutes at most.  So I went corded.

So I got this thing a week or so ago, it had a cracked gas tank and was missing the air box.  It's a pretty neat little tiller.  It looks like it should be a 2 stroke but it's a four stroke.  It has a 2 stroke carb on it though, which is odd.  







Parts showed up today and I got it fixed.  I should be able to get about $200 for it.  They're actually not cheap little tillers, and it's pretty light and quiet.

Cordless batteries should run all day on an impact with a 2AH battery. Or all week with a 5 lol. Only takes about an hour to get a full charge. Cordless has come a long way, but I’ve also got 5 batteries between all my tools so it’s hard to say one way or another.

You think you can get a pic of the valvetrain on that little tiller? Always wondered how those were put together

I worked on one of those little 4 stroke Honda units once, they are pretty neat. I can't remember if they are overhead cam like the GC's or what.

I still think the Mantis/Echo tillers are the most fun though.  

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

Well, I looked into cordless, but I have a couple cordless tools (sawzall, circular saw, drill, etc) and I really actually regret buying cordless.  They're nice tools, but when the battery is dead, you're done for a couple hours.

If you buy a bunch of cordless stuff from the same brand, (I have a Ryobi impact, sawzall, and the drill got decapitated, but still), then you should have several batteries. The Ryobi stuff charges in 30 minutes, and with 3 batteries, I'm never left with a dead battery. That's how cordless works for me. But everyone has their preferences...

Okay, I'm done jacking the thread now. Lol.

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

Cordless batteries should run all day on an impact with a 2AH battery. Or all week with a 5 lol. Only takes about an hour to get a full charge. Cordless has come a long way, but I’ve also got 5 batteries between all my tools so it’s hard to say one way or another.

You think you can get a pic of the valvetrain on that little tiller? Always wondered how those were put together

Well, I still just don't mind a cord. My dad also has a Dewalt battery powered drill. Things nice but the batteries don't last long, and then you're done. I'd rather just have a cord.

I would but I just put it up for sale and I'd rather not pull the valve cover off it right now lol.

AllisKidD21 wrote:

I worked on one of those little 4 stroke Honda units once, they are pretty neat. I can't remember if they are overhead cam like the GC's or what.

I still think the Mantis/Echo tillers are the most fun though.  

Yeah, it is pretty cool! It says OHV on the valve cover.

Yeah, probably.

Murraymountain wrote:

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

Well, I looked into cordless, but I have a couple cordless tools (sawzall, circular saw, drill, etc) and I really actually regret buying cordless.  They're nice tools, but when the battery is dead, you're done for a couple hours.

If you buy a bunch of cordless stuff from the same brand, (I have a Ryobi impact, sawzall, and the drill got decapitated, but still), then you should have several batteries. The Ryobi stuff charges in 30 minutes, and with 3 batteries, I'm never left with a dead battery. That's how cordless works for me. But everyone has their preferences...

Okay, I'm done jacking the thread now. Lol.

Eh, yeah I do have a few Black and Decker cordless tools and I have their 5 Amp hour batteries, and I still wish I'd just gone corded.

So I haven't really sold anything lately. But I have a number of items up for sale. I did get the Craftsman II all set up and for sale.

Yesterday, I traded an LT1000 that had piston slap and a blown hydrostatic trans for this baby. 55CCs!






I'm planning on keeping it. It's a late 90s I think, back when Craftsman stuff was good. I'm planning on using it as my primary saw, since it's an industrial model.

Someone please come buy some saws. All but 2 are for sale, and this isn't even all my chainsaws lol.

Tiller sold for $185. Still waiting on a carb for the Echo. Should be here tomorrow, then I'll list it.

Okay so, this is a message thread I sent on a discord server (censored for this forum), I need advice lol.  

So today i fricked up...BAD
Actually about a month ago.
So for years I've been driving by this house in my town, and there's an old 70s, 80s John Deere lawn/garden (I dunno) tractor sitting there. It definitely doesn't run.  A month ago I left a note on their door asking if I could buy it.  I said "The worst he can say is no."
Well....
The guy called me today.  He's 58.  He had a stroke 7 years ago, this was not at all an easy conversation to have, it was hard to understand him.  I'm not exaggerating any of this, I swear.  That mower was bought by his grandfather in the 70s.  When his grandfather died young, he left it to his father.  His father used it until he died, and then it was given to this guy (Rod).  He used it until he had his stroke 7 years ago, and ever since then, it sat.  When he got my note, he first thought no way, too many memories, I'm way to attached to it, etc.  His exact words were "it means the world to me."  But he thought about it, and he said, and I quote, "My grandfather smiled down at me from Heaven and said Rod, sometimes you just got to let things go."

I feel so fricking bad.  I kept offering to fix it for him, I said I'd do it for the price of parts, I eventually offered do do it completely free.  He kept saying no I want it to move on to someone else and let you make memories with it.  I feel SO FRICKING BAD.