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Currently I am dealing with tractors and PTOs. I agree that.. Mechanically for motorcycles and cars, everyone who owns a wheeled vehicle should be able to fix t

Currently I am dealing with tractors and PTOs. I agree that.. Mechanically for motorcycles and cars, everyone who owns a wheeled vehicle should be able to fix things and at least know how. We shouldnt have to use brawn when physics should do.

pengaru 6y ago
> We shouldnt have to use brawn when physics should do. There's nothing inherent about this space requiring manly strength, it just takes up a lot of slack when everything else is lacking - from tools to knowledge. The trained professionals don't rely on brawn to perform repairs properly.
- ehnto 6y ago
  > The trained professionals don't rely on brawn to perform repairs properly. If it feels like it should be easier then there is probably a tool for it. We love making tools. It's just some of the best for heavy lifting are a bit out of reach for enthusiasts, like a proper two post lift.
  - pengaru 6y ago
    FWIW I've done a lot of lifting for engine and trans services with nothing more than ratchet straps or a come-along hanging from either an overhead joist or I-beam, or a constructed A-frame when the former were unavailable. Honestly two post lifts are more just a space and time saver for quick service shops and kind of suck. Back when I worked at a muffler+brake shop it was the two post lifts that did the most damage to vehicles due to poorly located pads or doors hitting the posts, and put the mechanics at the most risk. And when you use them to lift something lopsided like a FWD vehicle off its K member for major service, it becomes so imbalanced the damn car is liable to fall off. Not a fan at all. But they conferred good density to fit more bays in the shop. It's a shit compromise from a mechanic's perspective.
    - ehnto 6y ago
      Interesting! What would you prefer over a two post lift? I have always wanted one for a home garage but maybe there is a better alternative?
      - octoberfranklin 6y ago
        A pit, I suppose, like at the oil change places. Climbing up and down the ladder is a hassle but once you're down there it's convenient and much safer.
        jelliclesfarm 6y ago
        Pre fab pits are safer these days
      - pengaru 6y ago
        If there's space and resources a four-post drive-on lift is superior. The good ones include sub-lifts on rollers in the middle for raising the vehicle further off its tires. Some of them can be annoyingly crowded underneath though, alignment racks tend to be this way to accommodate a maximum range of vehicle sizes. If there's no permanent dedicated space, you can get a lot done with robust safety using simple ramps made from stacked wide planks of wood. The first hot-rod shop I worked at in my youth had a simple four post lift and a big iron A-frame on wheels used like a gantry crane. We'd lift entire bodies off chassis or K members with it, and roll them out of the way into a corner so we could access the powertrain. It was a big shop space, usually with 5-6 cars in the air at a time, but most of the cars were on static stands. The A-frame would just move around the place as needed, it was just big enough to straddle the largest anticipated vehicle. But we weren't in a constant hurry like your typical muffler/brake shop full of butchers.
- h2odragon 6y ago
  > professionals don't rely on brawn to perform repairs properly In point of fact I have recently had a mechanic lament to me that he was no longer strong enough to work on suspensions anymore. Professionally, time == money, and where something like a come-along pulling a torque wrench can work, it's not viable in the real world of a busy shop. At home, your own car, hobby, fine; but AFAIK that cost him his job. I've been privileged to have spent a lot of time with people who kept construction and farm machinery operating as part of their living; and sheer brawn is absolutely so large a benefit in those tasks, as to almost be a requirement.
  - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
    This is a feeling and I can’t prove it. Because I dont have a decent sized sample set, but when it comes to women..I think it’s not just brawn, but also our slightly different center of gravity. Many many years ago..when I was young and stupid, I decided that I was going to hike the Appalachian trail..end to end. And then I figured that I was smarter and that I will do it in parts. And then I gave myself yet another break to do the trail stops in any random order. That began my crash course in acceptance towards gender differences. Starting with backpacks to shoes to equipment to tents..to climbing technique and speed..everything was different! Because of our waist-hip ratios, breasts and lower center of gravity. Recently when I was struggling with some tractor stuff, a lot of it came back ..and I could go to harbour freight and found the equivalent for hoisting machines. It wasn’t ideal but if I hadn’t been familiar with climbing equipment, I wouldn’t have known how to use most of it. If you know how to hoist your own body weight, you can project it to do it to any 100-500 lb machine. Same principles. On a slightly different note, I have seen women who were into fly fishing have a special set of hidden skills that they probably aren’t even aware of...I am not a fishing person myself and so I can’t put my finger on it. They are just different! Right from their way of surveying a surrounding area to problem solving to attitude. Is it sharpened by their hobby or did they pick that hobby due to their aptitude? I am torn because I am a big believer of adopting hobbies..and many of them..as a way to unearth hidden skills and talents. But a lot of what’s picked up as hobbies translates to real life survival skills. So a blanket ‘everyone should learn __fill in the blank__ as a survival hack’ is not always possible. I grew up mopping floors, fixing things, bending over a lot, and hanging from high branches etc because I am from a different time and place. The first time I saw a kid pulling a weed at the farm, I knew he was going to throw his back. It’s the same thing at the gym. Most adults don’t know how to lift their own body weight without hurting themselves. It must come naturally. Balancing onself on a motorcycle or kickstarting it(do bikers do that anymore?)..making sure we don’t fall flat on our face or trip over are such fundamental things that are essentially physics principles. Most machines designed should have been intuitively based on the mechanics of the human body or bio inspired by animals around us. If they are not, the learning curve is steep. I feel like this why there are gender/generational differences when it comes to why some people are mechanically inclined and others are not.. Which brings me to my personal bias. Italian design/engineering vs German design/engineering. I prefer the latter. Italian designs make me think that a stubborn male with no friends who lives in a basement made it. German designs make me feel like a group of people brainstormed to come up with it. German designs are more intuitive. Of course, we will all end up with Japanese designs because it doesn’t matter who made it..it was made FOR everyone. A recent example is the gear box with the tractor spader I got shipped from Italy recently. I just couldn’t find it! And after I did, I couldn’t get to it. Hours wasted because figuring it out is a free game by itself that the Italians threw in for shits and giggles. I would like to hear from mechanics and motor cyclists who have known the innards of cars and bikes re Italian vs German engines and designs. Philosophy/attitude.
- nicbou 6y ago
  That's not my experience. Things rust and get jammed together. Sometimes you need a big hammer or a breaker bar. Quite often in fact.

pengaru 6y ago

> We shouldnt have to use brawn when physics should do. There's nothing inherent about this space requiring manly strength, it just takes up a lot of slack when everything else is lacking - from tools to knowledge. The trained professionals don't rely on brawn to perform repairs properly.

ehnto 6y ago
> The trained professionals don't rely on brawn to perform repairs properly. If it feels like it should be easier then there is probably a tool for it. We love making tools. It's just some of the best for heavy lifting are a bit out of reach for enthusiasts, like a proper two post lift.
- pengaru 6y ago
  FWIW I've done a lot of lifting for engine and trans services with nothing more than ratchet straps or a come-along hanging from either an overhead joist or I-beam, or a constructed A-frame when the former were unavailable. Honestly two post lifts are more just a space and time saver for quick service shops and kind of suck. Back when I worked at a muffler+brake shop it was the two post lifts that did the most damage to vehicles due to poorly located pads or doors hitting the posts, and put the mechanics at the most risk. And when you use them to lift something lopsided like a FWD vehicle off its K member for major service, it becomes so imbalanced the damn car is liable to fall off. Not a fan at all. But they conferred good density to fit more bays in the shop. It's a shit compromise from a mechanic's perspective.
  - ehnto 6y ago
    Interesting! What would you prefer over a two post lift? I have always wanted one for a home garage but maybe there is a better alternative?
    - octoberfranklin 6y ago
      A pit, I suppose, like at the oil change places. Climbing up and down the ladder is a hassle but once you're down there it's convenient and much safer.
      - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
        Pre fab pits are safer these days
    - pengaru 6y ago
      If there's space and resources a four-post drive-on lift is superior. The good ones include sub-lifts on rollers in the middle for raising the vehicle further off its tires. Some of them can be annoyingly crowded underneath though, alignment racks tend to be this way to accommodate a maximum range of vehicle sizes. If there's no permanent dedicated space, you can get a lot done with robust safety using simple ramps made from stacked wide planks of wood. The first hot-rod shop I worked at in my youth had a simple four post lift and a big iron A-frame on wheels used like a gantry crane. We'd lift entire bodies off chassis or K members with it, and roll them out of the way into a corner so we could access the powertrain. It was a big shop space, usually with 5-6 cars in the air at a time, but most of the cars were on static stands. The A-frame would just move around the place as needed, it was just big enough to straddle the largest anticipated vehicle. But we weren't in a constant hurry like your typical muffler/brake shop full of butchers.
h2odragon 6y ago
> professionals don't rely on brawn to perform repairs properly In point of fact I have recently had a mechanic lament to me that he was no longer strong enough to work on suspensions anymore. Professionally, time == money, and where something like a come-along pulling a torque wrench can work, it's not viable in the real world of a busy shop. At home, your own car, hobby, fine; but AFAIK that cost him his job. I've been privileged to have spent a lot of time with people who kept construction and farm machinery operating as part of their living; and sheer brawn is absolutely so large a benefit in those tasks, as to almost be a requirement.
- jelliclesfarm 6y ago
  This is a feeling and I can’t prove it. Because I dont have a decent sized sample set, but when it comes to women..I think it’s not just brawn, but also our slightly different center of gravity. Many many years ago..when I was young and stupid, I decided that I was going to hike the Appalachian trail..end to end. And then I figured that I was smarter and that I will do it in parts. And then I gave myself yet another break to do the trail stops in any random order. That began my crash course in acceptance towards gender differences. Starting with backpacks to shoes to equipment to tents..to climbing technique and speed..everything was different! Because of our waist-hip ratios, breasts and lower center of gravity. Recently when I was struggling with some tractor stuff, a lot of it came back ..and I could go to harbour freight and found the equivalent for hoisting machines. It wasn’t ideal but if I hadn’t been familiar with climbing equipment, I wouldn’t have known how to use most of it. If you know how to hoist your own body weight, you can project it to do it to any 100-500 lb machine. Same principles. On a slightly different note, I have seen women who were into fly fishing have a special set of hidden skills that they probably aren’t even aware of...I am not a fishing person myself and so I can’t put my finger on it. They are just different! Right from their way of surveying a surrounding area to problem solving to attitude. Is it sharpened by their hobby or did they pick that hobby due to their aptitude? I am torn because I am a big believer of adopting hobbies..and many of them..as a way to unearth hidden skills and talents. But a lot of what’s picked up as hobbies translates to real life survival skills. So a blanket ‘everyone should learn __fill in the blank__ as a survival hack’ is not always possible. I grew up mopping floors, fixing things, bending over a lot, and hanging from high branches etc because I am from a different time and place. The first time I saw a kid pulling a weed at the farm, I knew he was going to throw his back. It’s the same thing at the gym. Most adults don’t know how to lift their own body weight without hurting themselves. It must come naturally. Balancing onself on a motorcycle or kickstarting it(do bikers do that anymore?)..making sure we don’t fall flat on our face or trip over are such fundamental things that are essentially physics principles. Most machines designed should have been intuitively based on the mechanics of the human body or bio inspired by animals around us. If they are not, the learning curve is steep. I feel like this why there are gender/generational differences when it comes to why some people are mechanically inclined and others are not.. Which brings me to my personal bias. Italian design/engineering vs German design/engineering. I prefer the latter. Italian designs make me think that a stubborn male with no friends who lives in a basement made it. German designs make me feel like a group of people brainstormed to come up with it. German designs are more intuitive. Of course, we will all end up with Japanese designs because it doesn’t matter who made it..it was made FOR everyone. A recent example is the gear box with the tractor spader I got shipped from Italy recently. I just couldn’t find it! And after I did, I couldn’t get to it. Hours wasted because figuring it out is a free game by itself that the Italians threw in for shits and giggles. I would like to hear from mechanics and motor cyclists who have known the innards of cars and bikes re Italian vs German engines and designs. Philosophy/attitude.
nicbou 6y ago
That's not my experience. Things rust and get jammed together. Sometimes you need a big hammer or a breaker bar. Quite often in fact.