New Snapper Belt

A week ago while mowing, the blade drive belt on my snapper riding mower broke. i had to buy a special 6-sided belt that only snapper uses, it was $15.

Then i had to get the thing on. First i lifted the mower up and set it on 4 plastic milk crates.

That made the rest of the steps a little easier. I saw online that i may have to remove the bolts and lift the motor but it was easier than that, barely.

I removed the plastic cover over the front 2 drive pulley's. Then i fit the belt through the front tightener pulley then the tough part, fitting it around the back pulley on the drive shaft. By moving the drive wheel from reverse to 5th gear and by lifting up on the "rocker" it took about 10 minutes but i finally got the belt on.

It was really dirty from the dirt, grass, gasoline and anything else that drips down from the engine.

And lastly i fitted the belt over the front pulley.
It works and cuts fine now.

Banana Tree

I'm surprised how well the banana tree grew in my house. It had lots of roots.
With it now being 80 degrees i decided it was safe to move and replant outside.
It likes a lot of water. I've noticed that even watering it every day outside isn't enough, the leaves sag a lot and turned brown. But a water pan underneath it's doing better.

Wood Bench

Karrie asked if i could make a quick and simple bench for her back yard, just cut a couple of 2x4's and nail them together. Instead i decided to make this:
Obviously it took a bit more time and effort but it was basically the same cost, right around $30. I measured several existing chairs to get the right dimensions and sketched several different designs on paper until i ended up with something i liked. Then i drew it on AutoCAD to get the right dimensions and made sure it all went together correctly. Here's an image of the AutoCAD drawings i made.Here are the actual PDF files:
PDF 1
PDF 2
I printed out the full size pattern then cut out the pieces. I added the holes to lighten the weight, which i think it makes it look better too. Again form and function working together.
I spent a few hours tracing the patterns onto the wood, then cut out all the pieces.

I used a router to round over all the edges, then screwed and glued everything together.
There were a few surprises. One major change was that i decided to make it 4' wide instead of 5' wide. When i put the first 2 slats on i realized that it was too wide, so i cut them down to 4'. That also meant that it was stronger and there would be no wasted wood since they were 8' boards.
It didn't turn out exactly as i hoped. The seat could be longer and back rest could have been be more comfortable.

Once i had it all together i took off the slats then sanded, stained and put two coats of polyurethane on everything.

Fire Wolf?

I saw this truck in January, it's part wolf - part fire.