FAO GadgetBoy !!

[BaZBaZ]

Hi GadgetBoy my Dear Friend (grovel grovel) ...
Umm, I've broken my 24" Briggs & Stratton-Engined Rotary mower, by chopping a bit out of a manhole-cover-corner; I think it's bent the bit the (New) blade bolts on to, plus it left little twirly bits of plastic-casing when I used it and shaking about a lot ...

Got the Repair Manual, but can't make much head or tail from the Manual, to work out if I can replace the bent bit/s myself ?? !!!

Would appreciate your advice/comments, I DO love it soooooooooo ...

BaZBaZ/ aka John]

[GadgetBoy]

Is your blade a bar or a disk with 4 blades on it?

[BaZBaZ]

It's a flat 2-bladed metal bar ...
24" cut I think ...

(I hope I haven't upset The Americans by 'the revelation' ... in the end they had enough Enriched Plutonium for TWO bombs (the 'Trinity' Test up on top of the tower, & the 9th August '45 Bomb) plus the Hiroshima Bomb (of a different type) of 6th August '45 ...

(and they've been banging on about it ever since, & chucking scrap Depleted Uranium all over the Previously Civilised World, and blaming other bu**ers for it all !!

Trouble is, I suppose, with a weapon like that & its by-products, they gotta have an 'enemy' or two, or three; or they'd not be able to drop the crapp rubbish on them; in the name of "Policing the World as a Safer Place", of course. Plus sending the bu**ers the bills for it, AND for rebuilding the place up again after !! ... Ooooooooooooooohh 'orrible.

[BaZBaZ]

It's an 18" blade, on a B&S 'Classic' 35 Engyne, Single-Speed carby.

It's everso good !! (before I bent it !!)

BaZBaZ they say i might quite like guantanamo ... mostly, I used to say 'Nutz' ... but I looked up what that meant !!

Anyway, isn't the grass tall this year !!?! 4' 6" tall some of it in the back garden, along with Teazles, mmm Honeysuckle, wild Celandines, Forget-me-Nots; plus quite a large cubic-volume of Brambles, which have started to fight to get at me !!

Plus, I've decided I now want a Paraglider: any hints welcome.

[BaZBaZ]

I should emphasise that the Poll with this topic is actually nothing to do with GadgetBoy in any way, and is absolutely my own deranged/outraged opportunism , & any comments I might make are completely my own responsibility & also nothing to do with Our Genial & Excellent Host; who has over the Years put up with QUITE a lot of cr*pp from me.

Any Techno on how to mend my mower would be urgently appreciated; as would any suggestions of what I should do with my Paraglider. Some of the grass in my back lawn is more than 4 feet tall,

must have been all that rain we had since ooh, about the end of 2003 as I remember.
Is it airborne dust particles that make it rain ? I DO seem to remember something to that effect in my 'A' Level Geography. (Don't yanks kick up a lot of dust is their worldly perambulations. Yes. About time they stopped, I think !!)

I also wanted to try find out what permitted weight a VW Camper Van will tow (in Britain)

Oh, & for my Reinforced-Concrete-Boat Project, I'd really like to find a Sideboard Motor. (Yes, really !) >>>> or two ??

My 'Cat' Riva 1500cc is progressing slowly, having regained ign; rebuilt the Clutch Cylinders (coo, hard to get at the RHD clutch m/cyl !!) & partly bled before bedtime yesterday; engine started up ok afterwards, !!!!!(Cat "Horror" Carb, adjusted idle speed on the black screw (clockwise speeded mine up) & had a twiddle with the front mixture screw, screwed it in a bit to weaken it a bit less smelly.

Brakes have got air into them though, so got a EasyVleeder to pressure-bleed brakes from a tyre: yes, doesn't it blow DOT fluid all over the place; so I washed the wretched car as well. (I'll wash it properly later grr)

So I'll apologise to everyone again. I MIGHT re-train, for the Diplomatic Corps for instance. I'm SURE the yanks would love me.

I would.

[GadgetBoy]

Hammer the blade bar as flat as you can (leaving the little upturned flaps alone) and it'll be fine.

Check the bolts that hold the engine to the deck.

Your blade bar is probably out of balance .... that's all.

[BaZBaZ]

Mmm, no chance I think: I put a new blade on it (The damaged one is split like it's de-laminated where it hit the manhole frame, & it doesn't really LOOK safe to use,

So it happens with the new, makers, blade on it, & takes little squiggles of the plastic casing out when it's running, & vibrates heavily as well,

[Jonno]

Almost certainly bent crank Baz, if you are extremely lucky it may just be the boss that the blade bolts to thats distorted - but I think I will stick with my first judgement. Simple motors to work on and spares readily available from your friendly lawnmower repair centre. The older B&S engines had a series of numbers stamped into the engine cowling (not sure how old your motor is) - you will need them for correct parts ordering. There may be different cranks available for a particular engine casing - exposed crank length for example but any engine numbers you can find will ensure correct parts. Failing that try car boot sales for a suitable donor engine.

[crb247]

Failing that try car boot sales for a suitable donor engine.

LOL do you mean the guys that are found in alleys... "Pssst... Hey Psssst.. you wanna buy a B.S. engine cheap.. or how bout this $2000 stereo i'll let you have for 15 bucks..... Or how bout this genuine Bro-lex watch, plenty to choose from "

Usually found around truck stops or down by the docks down in the big cities here.

[Lucky Eight]

Early atom bombs were based on the theory, first propounded by a German chemist, Otto Hahn in 1938, that if the atoms of a heavy element - such as uranium - were bombarded with neutrons, they would split and create a chain reaction - thus releasing an enormous burst of energy.
In July 1945, scientists in the U.S., working on the Manhattan Project, successfully tested the world`s first atomic device in the New Mexico desert. President Truman, in his questionable wisdom, had no hesitation in using the new weapon against the Japanese - killing some 80,000 civilians instantaneously in Hiroshima, on the 6th August 1945. Followed of-course, by Nagasaki, 3 days later - killing a further 35,000 people. Truman lived to a ripe old age. Some survivors still carry the physical and mental scars, to this day.
Robert S. McNamara, ex- U.S. Secretary of State, also lived to a ripe old age. He died a couple of days ago - aged in his nineties. He did express some regret for his decisions and actions with regard to the infamous Vietnam War. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians - many of whom were children - were killed and burnt alive with another "whiz-bang" scientific creation - napalm.
Man`s inhumanity to Man.

[crb247]

On the east coast of Canada not too long ago they finally recieved acknowlegement of testing and settlement from the US for long term health issues caused by the tesing of another Vietnam era Chemical weapon on some Canadian Military Bases. The infamous "Agent Orange" and even less known but more devestating "Agent Purple" It was apparently denied for Decades that the chemicals were harmful and in some instances that they were even tested up here.

[Lada & Korean Parts]

the bombs had to be dropped though,shortened the war by many months,the japs had almost finished some secret weapons of there own,and if the war continued,a lot more people than that would haved been killed......

every side in war has their own weapons,and unfortunatly in every war innocents get killed.......

vietnam,as in afganistan & iraq,the enemy & civilians dressed the same,and they didn't care what happened to their own civilians anyway......often killing and torturing them out of hand if they refused to join the fight.....

people don't think about consequences unti decades later....

like the fight here with ex airforce personel who were sent into fuel tanks of f111's to clean them,most are now suffering from diseases including cancer,government is still refusing to admit there is a problem.