Snow Removal and Tool Review

This post was supposed to go out last night but I went out on a few calls after hours and it didn't quite get finished.  Today's post is going to start off with a little video of the first snow and my first trip out snow blowing with the Groundskeeper.

With all the wights and brand new chains it has a lot better traction than it did last year.  I did get temporarily stuck there but ended up backing out just fine.  I also have to replace the cutting edge on the snowblower with the new old one I bought.  With the topic of snow removal at hand I was able to pick up the snow blade that goes with the caterpillar.

It looks to be a John Deere blade that has had some modifications done to it.  I have another John Deere blade that I received when I bought the Satoh that would make a couple of nice wings or scoops on the side of this blade to widen it and give a bigger plowing area.  They would of course have to be removable so I could still get into the smaller areas I bought this tractor for.

The progress on the caterpillar is coming slowly but I picked up a motor from an acquaintance of mine to test fit it before I buy it. 

The engine is a Briggs & Stratton Vanguard series motor.  It is a 16hp v-twin engine that is still made and parts are very readily available.  I want something like this that I can easily get parts for and easily fix if something goes wrong.  That is the biggest problem with the current engine - it is so old that for one the parts are hard to find and for two the parts are expensive.





The engine itself fits into the engine bay on the Caterpillar but there are a few minor problems with it.  The biggest problem is the oil filter.  It sticks out about seven inches away from the motor at a 45 degree angle and hits on the main support for the hydraulic drive motors.  I have found what they call a remote oil filter kit so that I can move the filter and just have hoses running to it wherever I want to mount the filter.  The engine also needs a starter but I was able to test it with the pull start

I think that the remote filter setup would be good as well to get the oil filter away from the exhaust so as to keep the oil cooler.  I am going to decide whether or not I am going to keep this motor for the caterpillar by the end of the weekend and order the parts needed if I am keeping it.  

TOOL TIME

At this point in my blog I feel a lot like this could be the Red Green show featuring Duct tape but I guess I will feature a little bit better tool.  Today's tool is also my newest it is Milwaukee's rechargeable Rover pocket flood light.  

 

As you can see it is just a little longer than my wallet and quite thin.  The battery can be charged through the USB port or if you have a second battery it has a separate charger so you never run out of light.  I haven't had it long enough to vouch for the impact resistance or the water resistance but I will definitely keep anyone that is interested updated on it through the next year.

https://www.amazon.com/roverpocket light

Well that's all for today but stay tuned and we will hopefully have an engine in the Caterpiller with some step by step instructions on how to install the remote oil filter.  

I think that we fixed the comments section so I would like to hear from everyone.