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Didn't think they were going to all come down before the snow started to fly this year.The 420 was pulled into the mix this year. It took 10 outings with 3 tractors and 2 broken rakes to get them under control. The 418-A with 42'' SD did the mulching and blowing them into the woods as well. Glad it's over..The raking does keep the upper body strength in check.

@JCM Who would think of that?!

Can't say how the backpack blower would do buy my homemade Wheel Horse blower works great on gravel.

Pulled the C-101 off the show circuit long enough to put it to work after our latest blow.

This year was so dry, I didn't need the Horse this time. Picked a day when the wind was strong and in the right direction and it was easy to blow them into the street. But here are a few of my favorite picks...

In the 80’s when I was in the lawn care business I started a business called Leaf Releaf (spelled wrong on purpose!) I had a small Echo handheld blower, two 8hp walk behind blowers, my Work Horse GT-1800 with snowplow/dozer blade and an F-350 dump truck with a box on the back and a Giant-Vac 12” leaf vacuum mounted on a pipe hinge on the back of the truck. My method was this, clean around the house and trees with the handheld blower then blow the leaves in a line with the big blower until they would pile up and start curling back at me. Then take the Work Horse and push the line to the truck mounted vacuum, or out to the road where the highway dept. would pick them up. Funny thing was that I would have friends come help me for free just to push the leaves with the Work Horse!!! I remember one time I had blown a large windrow of leaves when my friend stopped by unexpectedly. I knew that in that line of leaves was a stump! However I didn’t think it was a big deal because I thought I was going to be the one pushing the line. Before I knew it, and before I could get his attention he was pushing the leaves out to the road. You know that decal that says High Fixed Objects May Not Trip Blade that is on the moldboard? Well it’s true! He hit the stump and since he was going at a good clip then stopped dead, he went over the hood and landed in the big pile of leaves he was pushing!!! I didn’t know if I should laugh or be worried that my tractor was damaged! Turned out everything was fine and we just laughed about it! It’s just one of the stories I have with my trusty Work Horse. Thanks for reading.

And so it wouldn't be jealous, I pulled out the 854.

It's been too wet to try out my blower. I've got a reducer to choke it down a bit if needed.

Sure was nice with the dry weather. WH tub cart, HHHOOWWWAAARRRDDD!!! and my Flowtron leaf mulcher. Compost for the garden! @stevasaurus needs to chime in with some leaf plowing pics and video's!

Dry weather helped to make short work of my leaves this year. We went about 30 straight days with zero precipitation. It's much easier to blow and pick up dry leaves than wet ones. And the Cyclone Rake is much happier with a lighter load. I do leaf removal once every week until they are all down. One more pick up (number 5) after Thanksgiving and I will be done for another year. By the way, all those leaves that are dumped in the back of my property will turn to rich, dark dirt in about two years.

@wallfish and I agree on not going all @Pullstart and getting hurt having it laying around!

Anyone have likes or dislikes using a STIHL backpack blower for fall cleanup ? How would it work on a 200' plus long packed crushed stone driveway removing debris ? Thus far the JD with 60'' auto connect drive on deck works great in a 3rd of the time anything else has done. Are the backpack blowers comfortable to use ? . weight. noise level etc ? Thanks for your input.

Chopped a branch off a black walnut tree out back and made 50 Christmas ornaments for a lady at work. Her mom and dad go every year to a local children’s home and they give them out so the kids can decorate the Christmas tree.

Hydraulic supply hose ready to install. Hydraulic supply hose installed to pump. Edge protector installed where hose might rub rear of frame.

My Leaf Blower

I just drive over them. You are supposed to rake them ?

Save those pictures for next year, calendar worthy for sure.

Dang it! Now I wish I hadn't sold the old concrete buggy I salvaged! But the funds covered the cost of my new hubs, so....

Went for our usual Sunday afternoon dog run. Today also happened to be one of the few allotted hunting Sundays, so we took a gun just in case. Boy scored his first pheasant. And now I am researching what I need to make my desktop Windows 11 compatible.

I repacked the bearings in an electric PTO that I am getting ready to put on my Bronco. Thank you @WHX??

Took advantage of the warm temps and did a final paint of the frame..

My kids like to make big piles too, I have to remind them the mower vac doesn't like big piles and just drag them away from trees and objects I can't get close too. I have to remind myself they're trying to be helpful and just roll with it

My wife always volunteers to blow leaves with her E-GO blower, but I say just do the sidewalks. She tends to blow everything into piles that the Cyclone Rake can't handle when the mower height is only 2.5". I blow away from the base of trees, and flower beds. I then spread them so there are no piles. I've got it down to a science.

With that much area to rake, a cyclone rake is worth every penny, trust me. Hook it to the 418-A, it will eliminate your three step/three tractor process down to one step. Buy one and just do a few push ups every couple of days for the upper back.

Funny you mention that @squonk about Steve. After the 7th outing will the battle of the leaves I remembered a video of him plowing them Never seen that one before. Who thinks of something like that. I almost hooked up the 48'' blade !

Sustrand hydros have a lot of fluid in the transaxle very little space for air. That means condensation from temp change is not a big issue. Even old Sunny's when you open the transaxle never see any rust like you would in a gear drive...

By long term, how long are we talking? As far as I know, ATF or motor oil can sit on a shelf for decades without any problem. I don't see why sitting in a transmission would be much different. The 875 that I bought in 2019 had been sitting in the owners garage for almost 10 years without being used. Everything was fine when we started and drove it unto my trailer. I didn't change the fluids for several months.

Absolutely! I have just under 1/3 acre city lot & I have 7 tractors! Seems normal to me......

Finally done with fall clean up!

I don’t recall if it was posted on this forum yet, but 2023 was the final year for Honda’s production of gasoline powered lawnmowers. Everything through 2024 and anything left in stores still - was made last year. I had assumed they were just bailing on the outdoor power equipment market. I was thinking, perhaps, it just wasn’t a money maker for them since there were so many cheap mowers on the market making their premium priced things unattractive. Today I found that they are instead transitioning 100% of their walk behind mowers to battery powered. Honda electric mowers They are also introducing battery powered zero turn mowers . It appears these are larger format/semi-commercial models with evidently enough battery capacity to cut up to 15 acres “in ideal conditions.” Ground speed doesn’t seem impressive though. Hmm… I would suspect that their snow equipment and tillers will be following along too in the not too distant future. Almost 2 years ago we stumbled into the little battery/motor combo unit they are making to retrofit a small engine. We discussed it here. Looks like this is what is making it onto the mowers. In fact, I was again looking at that product tonight when I stumbled on to this other news. A recently acquired model 551 Suburban has me wondering if I repower with electric or an engine… I mow my yard with a Honda gas powered mower (no, I no longer use a Wheel Horse). It takes me about an hour to do it if I push the thing as fast as i can and the grass isn’t too high. It appears none of their standard offerings would get me to the end if I didn’t buy a second battery. For a typical homeowner there are a lot of upsides to a battery electric lawnmower. And of course a big monetary downside. Certainly not one size fits all, but I think the benefits can outweigh the disadvantages for those already shopping in this price point. In the case of Honda, the electric versions are similarly priced to the gas models (Honda is expensive in this market). This is on parity to the other premium products. May be easier to swallow for the higher end consumer. It would also be nice if some manufacturer would offer a battery platform that could handle the mower, snowblower, leaf blower, trimmer, tiller, vacuum cleaner, blender, stand mixer, shop vac, air compressor, drill, saw, table saw, inverter, etc all from same battery and charger. Get all your work, household, and recreational equipment using the same battery and we’ll know we’ve made it. Milwaukee comes closest to this, but limits everything to 18v which doesn’t seem like an ideal fit. And nobody is connecting the dots between shop and household applications. There’s bound to be some kind of big leap forward in the next decade regarding consumer product battery formats that will have us looking back wondering why we didn’t get there sooner. Anyway, Honda - who has been reluctant to make the leap into electric vehicles - making this big transition in other markets seems like interesting news for this group. Steve

During the winter I will plan to flush the transmission and clean the motor up

Oh no no. I have a very old wood framed/metal tubbed one that was my maternal grandfather's. Frame rotted. Tub good. I also have a more modern but still probably 20 years aged metal framed/plastic tubbed one. Tub all broken. Frame good. The other day I got to thinking it would make a good trailer if the metal frame was cut/notched/bent so the two handles touched and had a trailer pin.

This is the late 70s Fisher wood stove we've been using to heat the house. We don't need anything close to this size in the house nowadays. At some point we're planning on having Trina's Momma move into our basement. She'll be using the small stove that was upstairs until recently when Trina's freshly restored one was put in. Out in the new workshop space we will need a BIG wood stove. So today we moved the BEAST of a Fisher up outta the daylight basement and across the yard to the back door of the new workshop. To get it ON the cart I used the chainfalls which is still hanging from the basement joists. To get it OFF the cart we just slid it a few feet.

Auto center lever for foot control ready to assemble. Auto center lever for foot control assembled.

That confirms Paul's statement. Sustrand hydros have a lot of fluid in the transaxle very little space for air. That means condensation from temp change is not a big issue. Condensation in your Troy caused the rust.

I recently used an old quart of oil. Mainly to cut the bottle and use it as a funnel. This is what we found in the bottom. @ebinmaine mentioned additives settling out.

Thanks @squonk,wish I had known about that tractor cover / leaf bagger. I just sold 2 Peco bagger set - ups. Who would of thought. Overall not a bad Idea. I wonder what his neighbors think of him. Just got word my longtime Dental Hygienist is retiring in December, wonder who Taryl uses ?

@stevasaurus will make a point of , stoping , every separate , issue, usually as any related , thought comes up, had a stroke in my left eye , that effected , detailing , had to go to a RETINA SPECIALIST , for that , included , getting injections into the eye ball. as some of us get older , we change , regularly adapt to what used to be. function . will make apoint of stopping , every detail for you . used to work with a bunch of guys . that never did anything , or went anywhere , kind of like living in a closet . when ever I came back from a trip . it was always the same , well where in the hell did you go this time ? none of them could relate to anything , that my wife and I , had seen , by the way , have you ever , been to the CN TOWER IN CHACAGO ? PROBABLY NOT , go at night , so you can see the aircraft , lighting , hanging in the sky , against a very well lit city . the room you are in is all clear safety glass , top to bottom , you get there in the freight elevator , when the door opens , its a light show , thats hard to beat , hope the periods helped , pete

I love my Stihl backpack blower. It is not particularly comfortable, but I can tolerate it for the length of time I have to wear it. It moves a ton of leaves. I have crushed stone in front of and around my pole building. Aside from blowing a few stones, the blower does a great job of moving the leaves and other debris.

After the dust settled and all the RS members left. A solitude trail ride until September 2025

Having come from @stevasaurus I wouldn't expect anything less than prefect.

Here is the final assembly before I tear down and prime and paint. Note this is a 5cu ft vs a 4 cu ft that brinly originally used so I should be able to get about 400-500lbs of material in here.

If yer use it yer gonna change the oil anyways unless yer cheap !

Now that's interesting... I agree that the smell of diesel is off putting. Trina in fact dislikes it severely. Enough so that we'll likely never own a piece of diesel equipment. I hadn't considered the usage of a flush. Bought right, it's only a couple dollars more than diesel or K1 and may very well work better. You stop up anytime 😊

I've had an older Stihl backpack blower here but rehomed it in favor of a single hand held model. It worked GREAT for relocating whatever was light enough to move. Leaves of course but also nuts and small stones. You can get used to the correct positions to reduce that. The reason I sold the backpack type was my own personal people chassis was incompatible with the pack size. You've met me. I have an exceedingly long/tall back. If I was shaped more like a human and less like a Bear 🐻 I'd have kept it. This of course depends on you. Likely you'll be fine for 15 to 30 minutes even when you first get one. That time can be built up just like any other activity. I'd be more concerned with vibration than noise. And again that's something you can adjust with the right clothing and hand protection. Noise is easy. GOOD PPE is essential. One BIG advantage to using a blower is that you'll be able to get leaves out from under places you've not reached in years because you won't need to move the things around. If you store stuff on pallets it's even better. Would I recommend you buy one? Yes.

Hopefully they added grease zerks for you!

I had the exact same thing when I got my 314-8, although I never put in 3rd and let clutch out at full throttle. I usually engage 3rd at low rpm, then run the throttle up. I did end up getting a set of front wheel weights back when I first started mowing with it. Definitely helped keep the nose down if I popped the clutch too hard. then my gas damper failed and the I had to pull up on the clutch to get it to go. Fixed that with the factory clutch return spring that mine didn’t have.

Oh, now I see it...the seat.

Lower steering shaft and steering support ready to install. Lower steering shaft and steering support installed. Shaft greased on both ends where it rides on bushings. Bolts never seized and torqued to 30 ft/lb.

I’ve had a Badger airbrush for many years, always been a fantastic tool. But the tin plate lid of the spray jar has seen better days and I can’t source a replacement. Having had a coffee and a scone at my local tea room I found they had a huge supply of empty miniature jam jars, about the right size for my air brush. I didn’t like the idea of trying to modify the flimsy steel lid by fitting a threaded insert into it for the paint pick up. So I set out to turn a whole new lid from brass complete with an integral threaded boss to take the pick up pipe. Turning was easy and a dremmel tool cut the material away to create the female “thread” to fit the jar. Looks good and works a treat. I also bought me a piece of artwork. Sandra loves paintings in the house, usually from somewhere we have visited or that mean something to her. Well this time I got one that spoke to me. It's called "Winter project" and it's by a local artist who lives out in Derbyshire, our nearest proper countryside. I love that the old landrover has been pushed into a lean to garage for repairs over the winter. The owner just forgot to say which winter and it's rapidly becoming one with nature. The piece of rope securing the rear door is a typical farmer fix, if it can't be mended with a length of baler twine then it's too broke to fix lol. It's at the framers now but will be up in time for Christmas I think.