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Hi, I'm Paul. I have been welding welding and taking things apart since I was a kid. Not one to keep all that knowledge to myself, I hope to use this channel as an avenue to get cool info on tips, tricks, and tools to YOU! I used to only blog about it but now that video is cooler, you all can watch my ugly mug on the big screen ;D
As a result of always tinkering with things, I have built quite a few things for customers that have sought me out over the years. My buddy and I started www.CreativeEnterprisesLLC.com as a way to build, list, and sell cool custom made products the shop. Be sure to check it out and drop me a message if you are looking for something that isn't on there!
I appreciate you watching and checking out my videos. Drop a like and subscribe if you like what you see and I will keep publishing!!
There have been many upgrades for this mower. First almost all of the brackets have been replaced with upgraded thicker parts, the tall free standing idler pulley mount has been upgraded with a thick washer and longer bolt as the deck bends there with no support. The brackets you welded will only fail again as the metal is not strong enough. Also, a great upgrade is adding zerk fittings to the blade mounts as those bearing fail constantly from heat.
Not sure what you are asking here. I didn't discover any issues with the pulleys themselves, the issue is when the frame flexes and the pulleys get misaligned with each other.
19,000 views is really saying something about our MF mowers . I’ll never buy another Hustler . I was talking about upgrading to the fastrak next year but I have changed my mind .
For sure. They really failed on this design. I never thought this vid would get so much traction. The mower in the vid is my neighbors and she would happily set this thing on fire and roll it down a hill. I think I got most of the issues fixed at this point. Just replaced both steering pivot points a couple weeks ago because the handles were sloppy and hitting each other. Let us know how your fix goes!
@@diymetalfabrication I will ! I explained in another comment that I already had the upgraded front cross member , I paid for out of pocket , after the original failed . Now this !
For sure, this is a great project to start practicing with. Just make sure, especially if it is a 110v unit that you get it turned up high/hot enough for a solid weld. Let us know how it goes!
I also have one of these fine pieces of s**t! They paid to fix it with all the brackets and some type of stiffener for the other belt or something which I paid for while they had it apart. It stopped today and found that the drive belt idler screw is wobbling. Which is under the motor, best I can tell. So I tightened the nut to jam the idler arm tight. Then, I got the belt back on. I will have to get it up in the air and figure out what is going on with the bolt. Anyway, I still feel this mower frame flex all over the place when mowing. They will fail again. I am certain. Hustler should have a class action law suite thrown at them for this engineering disaster! Let's get it going!
Preach it! I have a Deere Z425 myself and the difference between it and this Hustler is pretty big. My Deere has a square tube frame and doesn't flex at all. This hustler with it's C channel frame feels like riding a magic carpet over the grass as the frame flexes 😆 (not in a good way). It is also really slow and both transmissions leak despite tightening and checking everything last time I looked at it... Let us know how your fix holds up!
I hear ya there, and you are likely right, but I hate fine thread in situations where they get dirty. Seems like they pack up with dirt or corrode, and then when removed, they strip out or crossthread. I had this mower back in my shop fixing something else on it yesterday, and the bolts were still holding strong so far 💪
My drive belt jumped off and after a lil inspection i noticved the tensioner pulley arm had a lot of play in it. Tightened down the arm and its been ok since then. 🤞
Hope that works for you, good luck! 🤞 If it keeps jumping off after that, the next steps are to thoroughly check the bolts and brackets on the pumps/transmissions for looseness or cracking.
@@diymetalfabrication Yeah, i have inspected these since watching a few videos on that. They are ok so far, but I have a good idea what to do if I ever have an issue. Thanks! :)
Good video for sure.going to start getting my gate welded up and painted its a large sheet in the middle that you can put your leg through .tac welds are breaking through out the gate .the metal is in good shape .im going to go your grinder route and possible take it all off clean it all up and re weld it all 🤘any tips on straightening a bent gate from a forklift slightly pushing down on on one side .and also a better locking system than slide pins and chain mine suck
Depends on where it is bent. If it is bent at the things you will likely have to cut them off and reweld or replace the hinges. If the gate itself is bent it will have to be bent back. While you have the expanded steel cut off make sure the gate frame is square and flat before welding the expanded steel back on. Might need to add some reinforcements to get it to stay. Good luck with your project. Be safe and have fun doing it.
Ahh man thank you! I’ve been farting around with this belt issue for a few days now. My bolt backed out. Wild they installed them in such a way that if the nut comes off the bolt falls out the bottom. I’ll be turning those around. You’re the man!
They make an upgraded bracket kit to replace the old junk parts. All of them. The side brackets bend and the front and back ones crack or completely break.
You definitely can buy the upgraded brackets, but even they might not be a permanent fix. There were some comments on this vid from about 5 months ago saying they were having issues even with the upgraded brackets. Try them out and let us know how it goes!
I have 2 Metal cutting bandsaws...one is a Mitering Bandsaw..it cuts 45 degree by sliding the base.... the other one is a standard horizontal bandsaw .. i haven't bought a Metal Miter saw yet... still use the Abrasive ones have a Ridgid 14" and a small 7 " version too... yeah they are noisy and dusty and less accurate sometimes .. I use a Metal cutting grease ..comes in a grease tube and solid at room temp...works great on Ferrous and Non Ferrous metals... they are sold at Supply stores for Metal or Fastener hardware... messy but less than a liquid also great for tapping or drilling use... had my saws for about 40 years now.... I like horizontal bandsaws..they are slow but cut great if you set up your cuts properly...been using them for 50 plus years... Bi-metal blades are a great upgrade... 🇨🇦🤓🤟
Hey, that is cool! I have never heard of metal cutting grease. Is it something like this? amzn.to/4dlyNBL Do you just turn the saw on then rub it on the blade before cutting?
I have a 2018 Hustler with the same problem throwing drive belt. I just went and looked and the bolt was missing on the left side will repair with bracket. Thanks for the information
Excellent video, well explained and thoughtfully planned out. Just threw my drive belt, had other issues in the past. Great idea for a rear stiffener bar. I'll probably put that idea to use before the end of this mowing season. Mower has 1100+ hours...still runs well, just these little(rather frustrating issues).
Nice, congrats on making it to 1100 hrs. Have you had to replace the handle bar pivots yet? I just got those delivered for this same unit and will be putting them on here soon. Might make a vid about it. The handle bars are sloppy and knock against each other while steering.
Good question. All welders are set up different. I generally use .030 solid core wire with 75/25 argon/co2 mix. This thickness of metal on my welder (older Hobart Handler 180) is usually a 2 or 3 on voltage setting and between 50 and 60 wire speed. I just turn it up or down a bit depending on if I am burning through the expanded steel. What are you working on?
This job was for a good friend and neighbor so I did it for really cheap. I remember thinking about halfway through that if it hadn't been for him then wasn't worth it 😅. If I were to guesstimate a retail price, maybe like $400? I don't do this for a living, the stuff in my shop is mostly just for myself and some beer money.
Good to know! Seems like a waste of space though, the room is now a foot smaller than it could have been. Is that how it is typically done for most houses or is there another/better way?
Possibly. According to Wikipedia, 2003 is the year the smaller Vitara was pulled from the market. If your '04 is the smaller Vitara and not the larger XL7 style then it should work. It sounds like for the XL7 they beefed up the rear end and changed the driveshaft to a CV style. I don't have access to one to confirm though. Do you know if yours is the XL7 version?
Somebody recently brought up a good point that I didn't cover in the video: Why didn't I just grab a 3rd member out of an 88-98' Tracker/Sidekick? My answer is, yes I could have but I would have had to source one from a donor vehicle and would have likely paid as much or more for that than I did for the machining on the ring gear. Also, if the gear ratio isn't the same, I would have also needed to install a different gearset in the diff which would have cost even more $ and been harder to set up especially for novices. But if you have access to a Tracker/Sidekick for parts, I think the 3rd member will bolt right in.
Thanks! I can't leave anything alone... They should be some nice improvements though. Now all I need is 52 weeks of vacation 😋 You got any travel plans this year?
I don’t see any travel in my future. I only leave surprise to go to my grandchildren’s programs, meets, ball games… lol But I see some fun in your future! 52 weeks of vacay sounds like a good plan for you! 😊
Good video. I like that so far all the criticisms have been constructive and not nasty. I also like that you have taken the criticisms/ comments in good faith and turned it back to the poster to ask for their advice.
Thank you for the kind words. The internet police must have been slacking this week 😅 I struggle with putting out informational videos because there is ALWAYS a better way to do something. On the other hand I try not to let perfection stop me from passing along knowledge, "Perfection is the enemy of progress". I know this method is 'good enough' because I have been doing it this way for many years and it works just fine. This response is way more than you asked for but here it goes anyways. I suddenly lost my dad a couple of years ago and it was a real wakeup call around 'life is finite' (He was only 61 at the time). My dad taught me A LOT when I was growing up, I recall very few things he wasn't able to do himself. I took that base he helped me build and have since stacked a bunch more knowledge on top. I am aware that my life is also finite and wanted to use this as a channel to be able to document some of these skills not only for my kids, but for those kids (or adults) who were never taught skills like these. I sincerely hope to provide value, or at least some educational entertainment. Do you have any ideas on skills or topics that would be helpful to cover?
@@diymetalfabrication on occasions if I had a stripped ID thread and no tap for it, I'd take a bolt of the same size, grind a long narrow point on the tip of the bolt and use that to re-fresh the stripped thread. Worked most of the time.
Ooh, that is a good one. DIY thread chaser. I had some thread chasers in my Amazon cart for a long time but never pulled the trigger on it. Like these: amzn.to/3InsQ94 Thanks for the ideas. I'll have to make a vid on chasing threads one of these days.
@@diymetalfabrication if you're going that route, you might be better off just buying an 80 piece set of tap and dies for both metric and sae for about $60 along with some nice handles.
I hear ya and agree with you, though I don't know any machinists. The technique I covered here is for the folks in the garage hanging upside down beneath the hood of a car. Running a nut down first is a safety backup to straighten the threads a bit if things go awry (or sloppily). I didn't have my belt sander until a couple of years ago, so historically a lot of my bolts in the past were dressed with an angle grinder 😅 What kind of sander do you prefer for dressing your cut bolts? Not from the machinist perspective, but there was a pretty good thread discussing this here: www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/how-do-you-properly-cut-and-finish-the-threaded-end-of-a-bolt.80070/
Good point. Got any suggestions for preventing that other than buying new bolts? In this particular case, these were just for mock up. I eventually ended up buying metric bolts with hex heads because this is my trail truck and I didn't want to get stuck on the trail unable to remove the bolts because I didn't have a triple square socket on me.
Congrats on your retirement! I hope you like the band saw. I think my favorite part is how quiet it is vs an abrasive chop saw. Let us know how it goes!
I just finished framing my shop and I’m planning on doing the R-19 roll insulation as well. I’ve also got that same exterior vapor barrier stuff. You think it would be beneficial to take twine and staple gun and make “netting” to hold the insulation in?
Awesome to hear your shop is going up! Why would you need to hold the roll insulation in with netting if it was faced? The paper part of the faced insulation gets stapled to the framing.
@@diymetalfabrication well I was thinking of not doing any framing. I was going to run some horizontal 2x4’s across the posts. Trying to save some $. They also have this product called “insulhold”. Just curious what you think
They sell 8' wide unfaced Batts that hang from hooks placed on the outer stringers just for that purpose. They talk about it here. I believe it is available at Menards and most post frame building suppliers www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/where-to-buy-post-frame-insulation.492696/
Here is a build thread where the guy shows how he put up his 8' wide bats. www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/because-my-wife-said-yes-30x40-pole-building.445450/page-2
@@diymetalfabrication Doing some prep demo for an elevator we're having installed. THEN the fun stuff, copying (or trying to) your your plow. I watched your other videos and have to hand it to you, WAY TO GO!
You're too nice. Good luck to ya! All I can say is these projects keep my mind busy and me out of trouble 😁. I didn't get to use the truck plow last month because the Suzuki has been broken. Should be fixed this week though! Let me know how the build goes!
I don't. It basically just fills the space from side to side and seat to tailgate. Just make sure there is plenty of room for the tailgate to close after getting the latches added. I need to do an update video on this that is more in depth. I have been using it going on 2 years now and it has been great. You working on a similar project?
Thank you. Possibly. I didn't really set it up for any solar hot water though. Lots more research would be required for that. Another more extreme thought I have had in the past is a geothermal setup. I honestly think I'm pretty close to being done/happy. Just gotta put that last piece in that is the mini split. You got a shop project going on?
