Update

 

I read a very interesting article the other day at Running Cause I Can't Fly2. The article titled "When a Train Wreck is No Accident", is from here. It's not an article dealing with covid for a change but about the financial mess we're in and how we got here - short, concise and scary. The same day Running Cause I Can't Fly also had an article from Natural News about the difficulty farmers are having getting tractor tires and repair parts. When I stopped at the tire place to check on inner tubes for my project the counterman alluded to having trouble getting tires - might be what he was referring to. I've never looked at Natural News prior to reading this article but I might have to add it to my daily reading list. If you're not prepared for what's coming, might need to get on that chop-chop.

I talked to my brother again yesterday and he's got a piece of walnut that will work for the dash. I also talked to my cousin and he has a planer that I can use to get the piece cleaned up and planed to thickness. So that decision has been made - just need for the board to show up. No hurry, still have the steering to hook up and get some welding done on the trials bike. Plus, when I changed the mower blades the other day, one of the bolts didn't want to tighten up. 

I don't know how it could have possibly stripped. It's a fine thread 5/8 bolt that has at least an inch of thread engaged when it's all the way in the spindle. I always run the bolts in by hand until the lock washer is making contact, so no way I could have cross-threaded it. I tighten the bolts up with a breaker bar but it's only about 16" long. I snug the bolts up but I can't imagine I torqued it enough to strip out the spindle threads. It cut the grass OK as long as I went slow through the tall stuff but I could tell it was slipping some. One more thing to add to the list.