Some well needed improvements.

After the diesel engine swap on my Bolens estate keeper I have begun to really love the little tractor.  It has proved very useful at hauling firewood as I showed in my last post and to top it off it is really cool. 

As you can see she is leaning quite heavily to one side due to an extremely flat front tire and a rear tire on the same side that loses air very quickly.  The rear tire I have been able to pump up and use but the front tire just blows out through a large hole in the tread. Since all these tires are original, (or so I think) I decided I would put new ones all around especially since the front one cant even be tubed. Today I ordered four R1 tread tires which are better known as AG's.  I have the aggressive AG tires on my other diesel Bolens and love the traction and the look of them so I decided that I just had to have them on this one as well.

Off came all four tires and up onto blocks went the tractor.  I am still lacking in the jack stand department so you can see I cut some hardwood blocks and set the estate keeper on them while waiting for the new tires.

Here is where I again talk all about the tools that I use because after much use and abuse I have found out how great they are.  These are two of my most used tools; my combination craftsman impact socket set and my Milwaukee impact drill.  The socket set is pretty basic except for the ratchet which is super comfortable.  The real great part though is the M12 impact drill.  I put a socket adapter in it and I do almost anything with it from removing small 3/8 bolts to lug nuts on the car.  It's a compact little tool so it fits well into small rims and still has the torque to pull the nuts off.

I started painting the deck this weekend after wire brushing and sandblasting it and I just received the rest of my bearings and belts today to put it together when it is painted. 

For a project this small I just use the rattle cans but on a full paint job I would use a paint sprayer. When I get the hood to fit I may repaint the whole tractor but that's a project for another day.  Speaking of hoods, tune in tomorrow for an update on project number three that I have going where we are building a hood for the diesel 1050 Bolens.