Ah spring is in the air

[yoda313]

Well its finally getting a little more spring like around here. If only the temperatures would start warming up But the grass is getting greener and some flowers are starting to bloom.

[ZAPPER]

Ah, several of the ordimental trees in my yard have bloomed and passed already. Most all of the deciduous trees have green leaves and I even noticed that the Fig trees outside my window have started to put on leaves in the past couple of days.

Last weekend was a big "Spring clean" day for the lawn. I mowed and vacumed the turf of the overwinters pine needles and stray leaves, and the lawn paid me back by growing two shades darker green by the end of the next day. Mother nature paid me back by sending tornados and high winds thru the area to litter the yard with broken twigs and more leaves though.

Just today I saw the dog and cats watching the black and yellow butterflies chase each other in their springtime mating flight. All was right with the world, then my kid swatted the butter flies with a tennis racket and yells "Gottchya!"

[BJ_M]

there is still some snow around here and it was -6 today , but sunny ,,'

[shelbyGT]

I've already mowed the yard twice. Saturday was sprint cleaning day, however. I love it...

[ZAPPER]

I've already mowed the yard twice. Saturday was sprint cleaning day, however. I love it...

Who? Me? Procastinate?

I do a rain dance every Friday after work in hopes that I won't have to do any yard work over the week end

Actually, I don't mind the yard work. It is a good time to have some solitude, to reflect, to daydream, to get eat up with chiggers, tics and stung by wasp and hornets!

I got an almost empty can of saw mixed gas, an almost empty can of wacker mix (yep I run two different mixes) Two empty fives for straight gas, two empty ones for straight gas and an empty two gallon for straight gas. That's 16 gallons of gas that I need to stock up on, on top of the fact that almost every peice of equipment is on empty. It's gonna cost nearly a hundred dollars to top everything off!

I am thinking about getting a feild and brush mower (kind of like a walk behind Bush Hog) and a gas hedge trimmer. I think the hedge trimmer is more in line with the wallet though.

I should have bought a Bobcat over the winter when the prices are down on the used stuff, now I am kind of kicking myself for not. I could easily loan/rent it out to a few buddys to help with the maitainence cost, but where would I keep it? And the attachments? Just what I need another money pit hobby.

[BJ_M]

what ratios do you use in your weedwacker and saw ? I keep playing with oil types and ratios slightly (in a couple of 2 stroke outboards also - and a couple dirt bikes)

[ZAPPER]

what ratios do you use in your weedwacker and saw ? I keep playing with oil types and ratios slightly (in a couple of 2 stroke outboards also - and a couple dirt bikes)

Pretty much close to what the book and brand reccomends. I don't know right off the top of my head and I do go a touch more on the oil usually and sometimes run a hotter plug to keep it burning. I figure that the heat is what does the damage and I can clean a plug if it fouls. (Never really had much problems though) I think that Stihl calls for a 50:1 mix and I use Stihl oil. The wacker is a cheap Homlite that I think calls for some bastard 38:1 and I use Homlite oil. I know that the oil shouldn't matter as for brand but I will tell you why I don't use off brands. I have seen and heard the horror stories of guys that have used off brand oils and the guys at the repair shops can tell the differences by the color of the deposits and will void your warrenty in a second to sell you a new machine. None of my stuff is under any warrenty and hasn't been for years but it is still running. (I also buy by brand because I can never remember what takes what ratio and the packaging has the answers) I see lots of guys fill a gas can nearly full and then add exactly the measured amount of oil for one gallon. What they are missing is the fact that a gas can, depending on the style will hold over a gallon of gas. So these guys are running oil lean and burning their equipment up in a year or two. (Some one gallon cans can hold almost a gallon and a half)

Another thing that is purely my opinion, is that these little engines ain't built to go to war. They are built for production economy, that is as cheap as they can make them to meet any kind of short warrenty that they may offer. Joe average home owner figures that he got two or three years out of it and says that was a good engine, when it only really had 60 hours on it. Joe pro landscaper figures that he is lucky if he gets a year out of it putting it in the shop two times, because you can only get one season out of it in commercial use and that is the cost of doing business. I say that they are both wrong. I ain't no angel or perfectionist, but a clean gas can and the right mix and something as simple as wiping the dirt away from the gas cap before you open it, goes a long way towards keeping your equipment alive.

Alot of guys will argue one side of the coin v/s the other and say that lean is the way to go because it starts easier and gives you more power. If you want easy start get something with an electric starter, if you want more power get a bigger engine.

An old timer told me that Alcohol is rough on a two stroke too, but I know that they have all kinds of new gas mixes for racing now. Which is fine if you are really into it and willing to kill the engine to win a good purse. My nephew races four wheelers and he runs some kind of super dupper nitro alcohol and can't understand why it burns up so fast. While a buddy of mine has a 30 yearold dirt dike that has only been in the shop because it tried kill him with a tree once.

[Doramius]

what ratios do you use in your weedwacker and saw ? I keep playing with oil types and ratios slightly (in a couple of 2 stroke outboards also - and a couple dirt bikes)

Check on the oil bottle and the motors manual. Oddly enough I have a 2 stroke Chainsaw that uses a different ratio than my 2 stroke Jet-ski. They both use a 2 stroke oil, but the chainsaw, runs on a very thin mixture. Never had a unit run different like that before.

[stiltman]

Shucks,,,Ill never be a red winger.

[smearbrick1]

Shucks,,,Ill never be a red winger.

:shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :shock:

If he only knew what that meant.

[Epicurus8a]

It doesn't seem much like spring here. Northern CA is flooded again, and more rain is being forecast.

[Conquest10]

What happened to winter? 70 degrees here today! Not one below zero day at all this past winter. What is going on?

[zzyzzx]

I was expecting gratidous bikini and short skit pics posted in this thread.

[ZAPPER]

I was expecting gratidous bikini and short skit pics posted in this thread.

Sorry man, All the pics I keep are full nudes

[zzyzzx]

I was expecting gratidous bikini and short skit pics posted in this thread.

Sorry man, All the pics I keep are full nudes

That's what PM is for.

[yoda313]

Wow it was 75 today and sunny

Summer is near

[BJ_M]

still a bit of snow on the ground here -- lots in the hills