Adam - NC

OK, I'll have to get a manual. I was hoping that I could change the seals without pulling the axles.

I guess I'm a little behind, so here's what we've accomplished: Manifold neck rethreaded and manifold reinstalled, with a pipe nipple and a muffler from Steiner. I returned the stanley muffler I got at Tractor Supply, but to be honest I couldn't tell much difference in the sound. The muffler from Steiner's looked better and has IH stamped in it. The carb was rebuilt as well, may still have to reset the float height. Last weekend we changed the oil and filter. I don't think the filter housing has been off since is was painted, and that's been a while. I decided to drain the transmission - got out 2/3 of a bucket of sludge / molasses / caramel like gunk. Poured in a half bucket of cheap oil and had my son make laps around the yard for half an hour, then drained it again and filled with slightly less cheap universal tractor hydraulic oil from TSC. Found a nice puddle under the end of the axle housing today. We replaced the oil pressure gauge and sensing line. We get about 20 psi max, and it drops off as the oil warms up. We also replaced the temp gauge, and somehow seem to have broken it. The needle never moved while we were running it Saturday, and the upper hose did get fairly warm while we were playing with the tractor. I made bushings for the steering column. It took a lot of the play out of the steering, but the threads on the steering wheel shaft are worn out and the nut won't grab. My son keeps pulling up on the steering wheel while mashing the brake pedals, and pulls the steering wheel off. The shaft is worn at the universal by the bell housing, I think if I can tighten it up there the steering will be nice. A few pictures, and maybe some questions at the end... Well, if you made it this far, I have a couple of questions - How difficult is it to change the axle seals? There is a grease fitting there, will greasing the axle help the leak? Any thoughts on how I may have damaged the temp gauge? My son says it worked when we put it in, I can't remember. The coolant was warm enough that the needle should have moved some Saturday, but all I saw was some vibration / jiggling. What should the oil pressure be? There is a fair amount of smoke from the breather on the valve cover, especially when climbing a hill at low throttle and the governor opens the throttle a bit. What does that indicate? worn valve guides? That's enough for now - thanks for looking!

Yikes! Thanks for the reminder.

Tried to fix the threads in the neck of the manifold tonight. Haven't been able to find a 1-1/2" NPT tap to borrow, so I tried making a thread chaser out of a fitting, and tapering off the threads on a piece of pipe. No luck. Then I noticed daylight through the bottom of the manifold. There is at least one pin hole in the exhaust passages, so I suppose I'll be pulling the manifold off tomorrow to see how bad it is. I've got a neighbor that's pretty handy with a torch and brazing rod, maybe it is patchable...

Wonder why easy outs are called easy outs? In my experience, they are not easy and seldom result in getting anything out... but today we had success! I had gotten as far as I could on the block drain, so I picked up a 3/8 pipe tap today. I stuck a 9/16 bit In the hole and tried to turn it with a wrench. Once it bit into the remains of the plug fairly well, the plug started to turn further into the hole. I got my largest easy out and backed the remains of the plug right out. I chased the threads with the new tap, and I believe that little problem is taken care of. I’ll run water through to flush out the shavings when it warms up outside, and be one step closer to putting it all back together.

We've piddle at this a little bit over Christmas break. Today I wanted to get the steering shaft out of the column, so I could figure out what to do to take the wobble out of it. I want to get as much slop as I can out of the steering. Step 1, break a tap off in the puller hole in the steering wheel hub. The steering wheel is fairly nice, don't want to ruin it. I took the shaft loose at the u-joint below the dash and got it apart from below. I guess I'll leave the broken tap in the hole and hope I never have to pull the wheel again. I decided to drain the antifreeze. Finally got the drain tube between the front wheels flowing. The block drain was broken off flush, so I decided to teach my son how to deal with broken bolts. I drilled a 1/4" hole into the plug and showed him how to break off a bolt extractor. Then I showed him how to drill tiny holes around the broken extractor and finally wiggle it out. I got the drain plug drilled out to 1/2", still have a little bit of it to get out of the threads some how. After rinsing everything off with brake cleaner, I decided to try to heat the remaining metal from the drain plug with a micro torch (butane soldiering iron). Imagine my surprise when the brake clean floating on the water left in the block ignited. My son was stoked that he got to use a fire extinguisher on the burning brake cleaner on the lid of the bucket I had drained the antifreeze in. I was able to blow out the fire running down the block, but the lid of the bucket was too wide to blow it out. All in all, a normal day in the shop, right?

Thanks Dennis!

We backed the 240 into the corner of the shop yesterday to start the clean up and repair process. The list so far - Rebuild carb, fix manifold outlet pipe, new radiator hoses, fix starter, new temp gauge, new oil gauge, drain / flush / fill cooling system, change oil & filter, drain and refill hydraulics and rear end, find a fast hitch drawbar, rewire / add lights / maybe get charging system working, find replacement side panels, replace bushing in steering column... probably a few other things I'm missing What's your favorite supplier for gauges and carb kits? I may also be looking for a replacement fuel guage sending unit. If I decide to switch to 12V with an alternator, can I get a compatible sending unit and fuel gauge?

Ouch! That your trailer, or was he on someone else's farm?

And no eye protection, but he has two personnel on fire watch! Well, one that's paying attention and one with her back turned.

Sorry Troy! Hope you recover quickly.

That's heart breaking to loose a freezer full of meat, not to mention unpleasant to deal with the mess.

Kinda reminds me of my neghbor. I had to go look at building hand rails for an older fellow with him last night. My neighbor is 80. His current to do list includes: 1. hand rails at two sets of steps for a man who just got out of physical rehab after falling down the steps and cracking 7 ribs 2. Porch and steps on a double wide for another neighbor. 3. pentagon shaped pergola to hold five porch swings for one of his friends He says he is afraid if he slows down he won't be able to get started again. Might be some truth to that. My dad slowed down and deteriorated until he wasn't strong enough to endure surgery for knee and back problems.

Where's Mike Rowe when you need him! Looks like it qualifies for Dirty jobs! It's awesome your dad is still able to help.

Will pray for Kinley in NC.

That,s terrible, you will be in my prayers.

The new to you truck looks kinda squatty with that trailer!

Got a picture of the monster KW?

Cool, thanks for the explanation.

I'm far from an expert, but that looks like a lot of tractor for a 5 bottom plow. Is that set up about right, or is that just the plow you have?

Sorry Troy, I'm sure that gets frustrating!

I thought we got to see concrete poured today! What, you busy or something?

There are two or three on I-40 heading east from Asheville / Black Mountain down to Old Fort, seems like the may be one or two on US421 east from Boone. We have a little culture in NC! There aren't any ramps on the Saluda Grade on I-26. That's more of a "hey ya'll watch this" kind of ride.

Awesome! Cute little girl!

Uh, what is it?