On the theme of "Puttering..."
![Giggle :giggle:](./images/smilies/yahoo/71.gif)
I've been working on some improvements to my cheap Chinese Wood Chipper (Princess Auto / Powerfist brand)
and thought I would share the progress now that the project is pretty much complete. A Stihl weedwhacker and the WoodChipper were the first major purchases we made once the ink was dry on our purchase of the property up north...
Of course it became a never ending circle of one improvement leading to another...
a couple of weeks after taking the chipper to the property I realized it needed some sort of secure, covered storage, and that led to building the chipper shed...
Finally I could do some clean up work and start tidying up old piles of slash and branches left from the previous owner removing some of the trees before he sold the property.
It's spent a couple of winters up north bundled up in a tarp and secured in the shed. This spring I decided to bring it home to the city for some upgrades and improvements.
Once it was home I started off with an oil change...
What a stupid place to put a drain plug,
![Cussing :cuss:](./images/smilies/new1/cussing.gif)
short of making a duct tape channel to direct the draining oil It's impossible not to make a mess
Of course it got better
![Big grin :D](./images/smilies/yahoo/4.gif)
It's a Chinese engine so of course they wouldn't use an NPT plug or something simple to fangle an extension or elbow with a drain valve... the fitting was a straight thread metric M10x1.25 plug - and almost flush with the bottom of the engine mounting surface.
Off to Amazon I went, and overnight delivery of a Fumoto M10 x 1.25 drain valve. These work really slick, and it's nice to be able to attach a hose and drain your oil with no fuss or muss...
but wait, the fun isn't over yet... the body of the valve goes lower than the base of the engine...
some gentle grinding of the mounting plate below the engine and I can find enough wiggle room for the valve, the plastic safety clip and room for the hose when it's time for the next oil change.
It was handy having a selection of copper washers to be able to "clock" the valve and drain lever in the best spot...
'68 Case 195, '84 Case 446, '88 Ingersoll 222 - and 1965 Case 530ck (fullsize backhoe)