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Whether you’re a seasoned scientist who doesn’t mind getting your hands dirty or the thought of math and dissection makes you blanch, on Darwin Day on February 12 we celebrate Charles Darwin’s work and science in general. Take the extra time to learn about his experiments, findings, and accomplishments, and reflect on how they still affect us today. The discovery of evolutionary creation has led scientists across multiple fields to make life-altering and life-saving discoveries about our species and how we originated. There’s a lot to be grateful about for Darwin and his research! On what would later become Darwin Day, future naturalist Charles Darwin is born to a wealthy family of high society doctors, February 12, 1809. After serving as an apprentice doctor with his father, young Charles Darwin heads off to Edinburgh Medical School. When medical school doesn’t work out, Darwin is sent to Christ’s College, Cambridge, to become an Anglican parson in 1828. Theology was also unin On December 27, 1831 Darwin, aboard the HMS Beagle as a naturalist, traveled with the crew for five years, constantly documenting natural life and zoology throughout. Published in 1859 was Darwin’s groundbreaking 500+ page book, “On the Origin of Species,” which lays his theory of human evolution, was released and gained unexpected clamor and popularity. The Darwin Awards originated in 1985 as posts on Usenet group discussions. One early post described the rhetorical tongue-in-cheek honor awards as being given to people who "made the supreme sacrifice to keep their genes out of our pool ensuring the survival of the species."

AKA " @Pullstart Day" in Michigan and certain parts of Wisconsin...

I take gas line hose, cut it to length and then split it down the center. It holds in place and does a great job of dampening the rattle.

Most likely a shortage of Band-Aids there today......

I’ll do @SylvanLakeWH a favor and for him

All the legal mumbo-jumbo is over my comprehension level. But are you saying you could potentially buy 8 acres for $7500 plus some other fees? Seems like a great deal unless I don’t understand something.

You need any good reference pictures (other than cable steer stuff) I’ll climb the ladder, walk the plank, whatever you need cap’m!

Stopped by the Marble Falls Crisis Network Thrift Store (The Warehouse). This stop is part of a normal trip to town. Picked up two brand new 23 x 10.5 x 12 HighRun Turf tires $40. They still have all the nubbies on them. Took a picture of these bunk beds and sent it to my sons. Grandma intercepted and said she wanted them for the grandkids room at our house. So instead of mounting tires I hauled, disassembled and reassembled furniture.

Most of the parts have been paid for. My time has not. This is Mrs. P’s widowed aunt’s car and she has been driving Grandma’s (who has dementia and cannot drive) in the meantime. I’m glad the car can be gone now, and I can get onto another to-do.

Thanks... Hard to keep up with them cheese guys...

my career included dealing with the "abandoned" RR issues you outlined multiple times - in very complex circumstances and transactions - and large sums of dollars, as well as negotiated acquisitions and eminent domain proceedings. I am not a lawyer, therefore don't take what insights I provide as legal advice. First, its important to know the controlling laws can likely vary state to state - as well as by locality. Secondly, the policies and governance by the railroad corporations and their successors likely vary. Moreover, there can potentially be some jurisdictional issues involving federal transportation entities/agencies oversight of old or abandoned railroad corridors and property of which typically local officials or a local attorney would not likely know how to navigate or have the necessary expertise. I believe there should in fact be a record of the deed and/or the right of way in the county land records - it may be challenging to locate and may go back many years - as well as have changed ownership entities numerous times, however, I believe the legal owner ( or ROW ) should be able to be traced. You have the option of asking the County Clerk or Recorder to do the research however title searches are typically paid for professional services of which you hire a lawyer ( or better ) hire a title company who has this " title " research as a specialty. Once you identify the owner entity then of course it's a negotiation like any land transfer. Frankly, I would not suggest any land "deal " be done without legal guidance representing your interests. The fact is you won't live forever and if you or a neighbor wants a "clean title or ROW rights of access" that is documented and publicly recorded for future family generations, you don't want a disputed future "cloud" over the title - especially after you've paid $$ . Regarding your question - -"is it worth it" -- only you can answer that ????????? Good luck, Bill

Not around my neck of the woods. The state park dept would ave snapped that up for a rail trail as soon as the first tax payment was a day late.

It has been very cold since New year and the snow doesn't go away so most of what I plow is now packed snow/ice for a base. Adding some weight to the front helps the roller chain work better. The bigger plow wants to push the front end around. Weights and chains are your friend.

I know the Baird Beaver predated the Wheel Horse and used a rubber friction wheel for reversing. Could be someone replaced the Wheel Horse one.

I've been a professional mechanic for 19 years. I didn't know it was possible to work on a car for 45 minutes and not bleed.

Lots of great comments and suggestions. It seems that this process is much more complicated than I would have imagined. One reason we are interested in the land is because all of the overgrowth is affecting our property. In the last 60 years, the railroad property has grown up in trees--trees that lean over onto our land thus we cannot get our farming equipment within 36 feet of the property line fence. (We've got pictures but I don't have them with me.) Currently we have a man hired with a skid steer with grinder attachment that is grinding the brush and small trees on our side of the fence but the large trees hanging over our land still won't let us get tractors and combines up closer to the fence. When dad was alive, he mowed inside our fence--that's not possible now. At leas once a year, my brother who manages the farm has to gather up branches out of our crop fields. A neighbor suggested to hire a track hoe to run down the fence line and literally strip the limbs and branches overhanging our land. This would provide relief for a period of time. If we had control of the right of way, we'd likely push the trees over towards the middle of the right of way. Saga continues and we are in early stages of what appears to be a long process

From what I can see, the picture is correct. The slotted piece locks the rod in place.

I put the piece of pipe there so it would match the other side I did this to the other wheel horses I think it looks better this way

I must say, the Chevy Traverse 3.6L timing chain setup is among the worst designs I’ve worked on. This was kind of a long term project, mainly because I knew I wouldn’t get paid for quite some time. It’s been in the shop since April of last year. I’ve worked on it when I had time available.

HEY!! I tell everyone I'm not as stupid as I look!

Might help you to try the above circular chains. Weight of course, always helps.

Good oil. Readily available, has zinc in it - good for flat tappet engines....

Well, It sure has been a while since doing much on the Horses. until the other night with my GT2500 Briggs 10HP. Previous geniouses decided to "work on" the governor & the had it all torn apart n couldnt finger out how to put it back together again.... I got it but there are thread inserts on the carb body so it will Not idle to save a life due to vaccuum leaks..... gonnaa bust out the drills n taps but time is short now with Impending Snowmagedon on the horizon here & it is bone chilling cold to make it even better oh yeah.... What was supposed to be a simple fix along with several other issues I have found puts this 1 in the back of the Line Now. Gonna drag Ol' Cyclops ( my C 145) into the garage & put the fuel pump, new ignition parts & fuel lines on it, Mount the Blade & use that Beast. I am also moving during this time so everything is really disorganized but still manageable. Anywho in looking through a Box todsay I found some really cool stuff. A few Years ago I bought this box full plus a pile (nearly as big as the box of small engine parts & service manuals. There's lots of Lawnboy but also several Briggs & Tecumseh Dealer Parts n service manuals, Kohler, 1 Wheel Horse brochure, a Walbro Carburator Manual.... just a ton of stuff I actually forgot I had So Now I really do have a Library to go with All my other Briggs, Tecumseh, Wisconsin, Honda, All kinds of Valuable gold treasures (to Moo-Wah anyway) as these written publications cant be beaten when we often find ourselves eyebrows deep in condensed by someone who doesn't Know there is a huge difference between what the interrnet says & what I have in my hands.... a very frustrating place to be at times. I found these posters of Briggs & Kohler Specs in with all that stuff today. Thought Maybe You guys might enjoy not just seeing it but feel free to Use it. I Love having all that info in 1 easy to navigate spot. For now it will just tbe the Kohler & Briggs Charts as these need to be flattened & sorta ironed out a bit better. Maybe I am puting this in the wrong place but from what I see, most of the Engine Forum Threads are very old So I figure I would put this here as it is a pretty lively topic & it does apply to what I am doing tonight with my C-145 14HP Kohler. Enjoy

Recip with a good blade, go right through

Same here especially in ice/slush. I steer to the side and the plow keeps going straight.

Erector set project?

Picked up a tractor tonight for @WHX?? What? You don't see it in my mirror? It's there, and in my back seat.

Toro is very proud of their chain - around/over 100 when restored mine 5 years ago - option two is tractor supply for a roll - I went with the roll bought a chain break was still 50-60 bucks ahead - should be 40 chain - 10 foot roll you'll have enough left for a spare

I've thought about that. I was figuring on joining the cross chains ⛓️ with fore n aft direction links... or possibly making a diamond ish pattern.

Finally felt well enough to work on it today. PTO was coming off come hell or high water. @Shynon says the reverse drive friction wheel was made out of brass and we wondered if early ones weren't made of rubber this one was. Finished taking the motor apart. and on the hunt for parts. Guy's gotta wonder if these were old school snowmobile bogie wheels & used by the Ponds. Sure do look like them.

That is surely a bummer! Washer fluid is rated and a lot of it sold around here for cheap is good only down to 0º F--you have to hunt a bit (and pay more) to get the stuff rated lower. I look for -35º. Also, the anti-freeze additive’s effectiveness does degrade over time--I check the date on the jug when buying to be sure I’m not getting old stock. A freeze in your car’s reservoir is as undesirable as a split tractor tire.

Some forward progress & 1 set back. First the forward progress. Got the body work done on the sheet metal. Paint stripped off the transmission, ready for a wash & some paint. Pulled the head off from the engine to see what was what. This was the set back. I was planning on just a paint over haul on this one but plans have changed. When I pulled the head I thought "Holy piston wash Batman". Well guess I'm doing an engine rebuild too. Given this fact the engine is now torn down and ready to go to the machinist as soon as the new parts get here. Crank measures out perfect, bore is not out of spec but finding the early small bore parts is not easy. So late model 2 15/16" bore will be in order. Took the time to blast all the engine parts as well. Wanting more forward movement I decided to squirt a little more paint. All I got for this weekend.

Didn't you post a source for all kinds of new weights last week or so??? Am I nuts? Don't answer that...

HEY!! I tell everyone I'm not as stupid as I look!

@Pullstart loading are we?!?!? Parts is parts ... Thanks again Andy & @Redav72 Bonus I just spied a plow handle in there! @Achto

I know how well the roller chain works for my situation. I'd like to hear what others experiences are with standard cross chains. Seems as though they would have a tendency to slide sideways just because of the orientation of the chain.

Don't think on it. Get the Rimguard. You don't think you need the weight until YOU DO. And then it's too late. It's heavier than everything except liquid calcium and should be good down below about -30 Fahrenheit. Fluid filled tires have advantages over Steel weights. The weight is where it should be and causes little to no stress on the tractor. The fluid also helps keep the tire seated on the rim if you don't use a tube.

Installed #50 roller chain on front wheels. Chain is 50.75” long center to center not including connecting link. Hopefully this will help with steering on ice.

True that. Tranny felt sound, still gonna pop all new seals in it.

Currently 27⁰ We aren't scheduled to go above freezing at any point in the next 11 days. At least 2 more plowable snows in that time too.

LOL! Not sure were close enough for the wife to buy the "going to help out a neighbor for a bit" line. Would be fun though...in the meantime keep posting pics!

I think I saw yours done that way in another thread and thought that would work. Still deciding on if I want to kick it forward a bit. It clears the pto but would be better with a 45 forward. Gonna drill and tap the plug to mount a brace to it. Gonna clean the carb today and sandblast the mower deck if it doesn’t rain. I have a cheap harbour freight sandblaster.

Installed the muffler stack today and a new shifter boot. Getting ready to sand blast the mower deck and paint it. I figured I would start with that before I work on the tractor tins. That way If it doesn't look good I won't care as much. Learning as I go. I still need to make a brace for muffler and may shorten how tall it goes. I had a piece of 8 inch so I used that for now.

I got my BKTs mounted & filled with Rimguard. Here are some photos next to the Carlisle Turf Savers I removed: They are both 23x10.50-12 tires.

Well in all honesty, I guess I will get a break every 3hrs when I have to go out & dump 2 gallons of gas in it. Less than $3 per hour. Price I have to pay to maintain 125psi non-stop at the blaster. The pressure at the compressor never drops below 150psi. 1.5hrs to go before the first 5hr oil change on the engine. Recommended every 50hrs after that. 50hrs for first oil change on the pump, every 100hrs after that. I may shorten these intervals though. Oil is cheaper than engines & pumps. So far, very happy with the purchase.

My brother David bought this 633 about 15 years ago for $60. It had a bad motor so we decided to put a Kohler 8 hp recoil start in it . I used this for mowing with a front reel mower and plowing snow in the winter. i love the way this machine handles. Yes we still have this and glad to see you working on one of these Dan! They are one of the really good round hood models!

Luckily that's all Randy .. also a nice sized dent right in the front. Your more than Jam ... I haven't had time to work on it lately between honey do, those stupid 702s and teaching that recliner a lesson...

You sort of "Nailed it" The solenoid wouldn't work "sometimes" so he jumped across the 2 large lugs with the spoon to start it