Projects

It all started out with a simple plan to tie up some of my free time down here in Kentucky. Why? Well, we live out in the country which is nice and quiet, but I moved from the great state of Indiana from family and friends. Hence I started the mower project. The John Deere 317 was built from 1979-1983. It came originally with a Kohler series I 17 HP. However, the series I motors had catastrophic engine failures due to the oil pump not sending the accurate amount of oil through the motor. By the time the problem was fixed, John Deere had lost all credibility with the mower and therefore quit producing it. When I started the rebuild process, I went ahead and put a new Vanguard 20HP motor in. I still have some work to do on the deck, wheels, and tires, but she is almost there.

It is a hydrostat and it is up and running. In fact, it will keep up with my zero turn. As I have been waiting on parts and other such items, I have been working on other projects. The file cabinet was donated to us from one of Jessica's colleagues. I took the time to sand it down and paint it appropriately. Jessica made the decals, but I think it turned out great for a free cabinet and one can of spray paint.
The total project took maybe one hour, so it wasn't as time consuming as I may have wanted. Therefore, I started on side project number two a couple of days later. My father-in-law had given me one of his spare dollies. It of course had been sitting outside and the paint was a faded teal with silver wheels. I sanded it down and painted it accordingly. And once again, it turned out pretty good.


It took a total of about two hours, mainly due to the yellow trying to cover the darker silver color. Over the weekend, I ran out of things to do, so I grabbed our hose reel that we bought brand new when we moved in. And just like everything else made in China, I discovered that it started to rust in just 2 months. In order to give a more cheerful life and for it not to feel left out, I sanded it down and painted it accordingly. My wife was just thrilled beyond belief.


She can't wait until Spring to use the hose. What I don't understand is that she told me she liked it, but locked everything else we have up. I thought she liked my painting abilities.