Shopsmith Forums

Maybe there's already a thread for it, but I thought it might be fun to share some of our screw-ups.

We rescued a puppy from a shelter a few weeks ago and I fenced in the back yard with dog wire. I decided to build rather than buy a gate and I finally had a chance to do that yesterday.

I made it out of 2x4 lumber, half lap joints, screwed together - all fairly basic but solid. I used landscaping timbers for the posts. Everything was square and true and fit perfectly, the gate swung easily and latched automatically. I stood there admiring my day's work thinking to myself "that's a good looking gate!"

Then I looked over in the garage at the riding lawnmower. Looked back at the gate. Back at the lawnmower. And that's when I realized that the lawnmower is about 12" wider than the gate!

heathicus wrote:Maybe there's already a thread for it, but I thought it might be fun to share some of our screw-ups.

We rescued a puppy from a shelter a few weeks ago and I fenced in the back yard with dog wire. I decided to build rather than buy a gate and I finally had a chance to do that yesterday.

I made it out of 2x4 lumber, half lap joints, screwed together - all fairly basic but solid. I used landscaping timbers for the posts. Everything was square and true and fit perfectly, the gate swung easily and latched automatically. I stood there admiring my day's work thinking to myself "that's a good looking gate!"

Then I looked over in the garage at the riding lawnmower. Looked back at the gate. Back at the lawnmower. And that's when I realized that the lawnmower is about 12" wider than the gate!

Nada to worry about. Simple solution. It is called a push mower dedicated to the back yard.

dusty wrote:Nada to worry about. Simple solution. It is called a push mower dedicated to the back yard.

And As ATONEMENT for such lack of forethought, it must be a REEL type with No motor. This will teach you to not think things through before starting to make sawdust.

JPG40504 wrote:And As ATONEMENT for such lack of forethought, it must be a REEL type with No motor. This will teach you to not think things through befre startring to make sawdust.

I always thought a push mower was without motor and synonyms with reel mower. Anyhow - that is what I meant.

dusty wrote:I always thought a push mower was without motor and synonyms with reel mower. Anyhow - that is what I meant.

Some folks(usually those with wet ears) think a 'push mower' is one that does not have any means of propelling itself even though the cutting mechanism HAS a motor.

I'll share a small one to get this thread back on track -

Last summer I was building a dust collecting base for my contractor style tablesaw ( this was before my Mark V find ). I was following a Shopnotes design. During the layout I found 5 unused inches from the bottom of the baffle to the bottom of the cabinet. Couldn't let it go unused, should have, but didn't. Since the front panel was already cut, two cuts on the tablesaw would give me the gap I needed for a drawer. Made the cuts, tossed the cutout on the scrap pile and proceeded to tongue and groove everything. Plus I decided to get fancy with some hardwood trim on the opening. Then started glue up...........

......and three quarters through that process found I had tossed the bottom part of the panel and kept what should have been scrap. Needless to say, when I get around to building the drawer, the face will be longer than it should have been.
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There are no mistakes in woodworking... Only "in-process design changes"...
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Maybe you can make a dolly that you can bolt to the lawnmower and tip it over on its side to push it through the gate.

heathicus wrote: . . . I stood there admiring my day's work thinking to myself "that's a good looking gate!"

Then I looked over in the garage at the riding lawnmower. Looked back at the gate. Back at the lawnmower. And that's when I realized that the lawnmower is about 12" wider than the gate!

Draw a center line from the front of the mower to the rear. Measure 6 1/4" to each side of the center line. Draw two lines parallel to the initial line at this 6 1/4" point. Remove everything between these last two lines and weld the remaining pieces together. Of course this will reduce the cutting radius of the mower blade, but it will pass thru the gate!
No need to thank me.
Dick

dickg1 wrote:Draw a center line from the front of the mower to the rear. Measure 6 1/4" to each side of the center line. Draw two lines parallel to the initial line at this 6 1/4" point. Remove everything between these last two lines and weld the remaining pieces together. Of course this will reduce the cutting radius of the mower blade, but it will pass thru the gate!
No need to thank me.
Dick

Yeah, I'll take that under consideration.

But right now I'm thinking I'll just build a mirror to the first gate and make it a double gate there. Or just build another larger vehicle access gate on another part of the fence.

Mistakes and screw ups are such an integral and normal part of my life that I tend to forget them. One that does stand out because of the "pucker factor", involved a trailer loaded with 12 sheets of MDF.
I thought I'd gotten a great deal (free) on a trailer that a farmer had used to transport his tractors. After switching out the clevis hitch for a 1 7/8 ball reciever hitch and installing a ball on my Ford Fairlane, never thinking about trailer brakes, I drug it to Phoenix and bought the MDF, loaded it and strapped it down securely. Proceeded back through the city towards home.
Everything was fine and I was hitting all the green lights.....until I got to one that changed too quick. I hit the brakes and that trailer and MDF pushed me right through the intersection. Luckily, traffic was light and there was no cross traffic.
I finally got it stopped...well past the intersection. I just sat there for about 5 minutes until I stopped shaking enough to drive again. I don't think I got over 30 MPH the rest of the way home. That taught me about inertia, trailer brakes and guardian angels.
Now, we pull a 5th wheel (with brakes) and the episode with the MDF is always front of mind and I'm very cautious approaching any intersections.