A Busted Wheel

I actually took the pictures for this blog a while ago, but never ended up writing about this project. I actually have some newer pictures on my phone, but I’m having trouble downloading them to my computer, so I guess that his is the topic for the week. When I was working on my mower, I was using my pneumatic impact wrench to try to loosen up some bolts. When I hooked it up to the air compressor in my garage, I noticed that it was kind of leaning to one side. Sure enough one of the wheel hubs was broken.

When I was finished with my mower project, I unburied my compressor to survey the damage. The plastic wheel hub on one side was broken clean through and would have to be replaced. I was figuring to replace both wheels as long as I was at it, as I don’t have much faith in plastic. When I checked the other side though, surprise! It had already been replaced with a steel wheel by the previous owner. I took the wheel up to Hill Hardware and we had a new steel wheel to match the one that was already on the compressor.

Replacing it was as easy as loosening the axle stud that it was on and putting on the new wheel. There was another fly in the ointment though. The other end of the tank had a steel leg to support it and it was badly rusted from sitting on the damp concrete. I cut off the really bad section and decided to use a hardwood block to make up the height difference. I touched up the paint and it looked OK. I gave it a test run and it worked fine. I wheeled it back into its place and that was that. Just what you need to fix your old compressor, at the Old hardware Store…