What did you do to your Implement today

[billrigsby]

Not sure if this will take off, but I have four different implements that will need some serious attention.

So I am going to start this thread, if only as my soapbox


I am close to finishing my L1500DT rebuild, and turning my attention to,
first my front end loader (FEL). Soon to follow will be the Brush Hog and Rear Blade.

While the loader (Great Bend M10) was off I have decided to start a repaint / repair on it.

First I removed the controller, which is leaking and not worth repairing (parts availability).

The adjustable mount was completely rusted, so it is getting some WD40 through the lock bolt hole.

While all that is going on, I recreated the decals which are not available any more, for after the repaint.

I will have these printed at the local sign shop.

 

[D2Cat]

Bill, in your third picture you mention spraying WD40 on the rusted area. You just as well urinate on it...same effect!

You want to break down rust use something that works on rust. Like KROIL, or mix automatic transmission fluid 50/50 with acetone.

WD40 is a Water Dispersant and the 40 is from the 40th formula that worked. It's real good to spray on your saw blades so they don't rust while in storage.

Nice work, but it must be HELL to have to have everything perfect all the time!!

 

[rookiefarmer]

I really needed to bush hog the paths through my 9 acres of woods, the tractor has been out of commission for over 2 years. My 60" rotary cutter had bee sitting in the dirt for at least that long as well. I hauled it into the shop to assess the damage to the implement. The previous owner stored everything under a tree and it was caked in mud and leaves when I purchased it. I used it for 2 years in pretty rough condition.

Well the 2 years that I have let it sit didn't do the thing any favors. Top deck rusted through in multiple areas. Rear wheel wouldn't pivot on the caster. Bearings in rear wheel completely worn out, one side was missing the balls in the bearing. Gearbox was dry, no fluid.

I got the rear caster pivot to break free and start to mover with a pipe wrench. Greased it all up and that works now. The rear wheel assembly needs replacing. I can weld new deck steel without too much difficulty, only time which I don't have much of with the new baby.

I filled the gearbox with 80W-90 and it came out the bottom as fast as I could pour it in, the bottom seal is completely blown out. I really wanted to use the implement is I could get it to at least a useable state, so my neighbor recommended an old farmers trick, pump the gear box full of bearing grease then add a little gear oil to make a pudding type consistency. That seemed to hold.

I used it very carefuly and taking multiple breaks to try and not heat up the gearbox too much, and it seems to work ok.

My question is this, since I essentially need to repair the entire unit, repair or replace? I need to:
1) Rebuild the Gearbox, at least new seals
2) Weld new deck together
3) Replace rear wheel assembly - Roughly $80 locally at TSC
4) Still have a 20 year old unit that has been abused.

Thoughts? New or Used Replacement? Keep using it as is and repair over winter when time may be more available?

 

[D2Cat]

Go to Craig's List and find another one. too much time and cost to fix this one.

In the mean time use an infrared thermometer to keep a close eye on the gear box. (You can buy them now for $20). As you add more grease to the gear box, go to the JD dealer and get "cornhead" grease.

 

[olthumpa]

Tore the top link off a set of scarifies.
Oh well, I needed the welding practice.

 

[billrigsby]

Nice work, but it must be HELL to have to have everything perfect all the time!!

Its no big deal, fix stuff up and then take care of it.
its not perfect by any stretch of the imagination,
but I like my stuff to be in good shape.

 

[PHPaul]

That Landpride FDR1660 I bought is MUCH nicer than the old Deutz it replaced, but it wasn't perfect.

All four tires were dry-rotted, so I ordered new tires from Amazon. Installing them was a bit of a circus, all of them were holding what little air was in them courtesy of about a gallon of Slime tire sealer. Yuck!

Three went okay, the fourth had a bad valve stem, ripped around the hole in the wheel. So, on hold until new valve stems and a stem tool arrived. Needed to have them on hand anyway.

When I bought the mower, the Previous Owner said "It's all greased up and ready to mow". Uh...yeah...about that...Caster spindles dry, wheel bearings not quite dry but definitely in need of grease. Assumed the same for the mower spindles. Yet another proof of the axiom "Never believe what the PO tells you."

Got the tires all fixed and went mowing. I like to make square corners so I pick the mower up when turning. Noticed the back was running too high when I put it back down, still had tension on the top link. Reset the top link into the front hole, mower castering properly.

I was about 2 weeks behind on the mowing and the grass was about a foot tall. Belt started slipping immediately. Adjusted the height up another inch, still slipping. Pulled the covers off and the belt is pretty tired, but tightened up the idler tension and got the job done.

Picked up two new belts, will replace the belt that's on it before I mow next time, plus one hanging on the wall as a spare. That and a touch-up on the blades should have it mowing to my satisfaction.

 

[billrigsby]

Got my new controller today for the FEL (Prince-MB 8 gpm with / Float)







Of course only the inlet and outlets are the same threads, need adapters for the cylinders,

Oh well, the frame needs painting anyhow.

 

[PHPaul]

Put that new belt on the Landpride.

Woooooo! First thing I noticed was that the idler arm is now as smooth as silk. With the old belt it was bouncing around like a 2 year old on a sugar high.

Old belt must have had some broken strands.

Dropped the mower 1/2 inch and it mows like a dream.

 

[billrigsby]

Got the rusted control mount separated


Moved the old hoses over,
and modified the old mount to accept the new controller

Stripped all the plumbing off the frame

and pressure washed the frame

No paint today - Rain

Sent the decal file off to the printer, should have fresh decals next week.

 

[rookiefarmer]

Go to Craig's List and find another one. too much time and cost to fix this one.

In the mean time use an infrared thermometer to keep a close eye on the gear box. (You can buy them now for $20). As you add more grease to the gear box, go to the JD dealer and get "cornhead" grease.

Ran the rotary cutter for over an hour with the grease in the gearbox. Checked with infrared thermo, 88 degrees at the gearbox with 79 degree ambient. I'm just gonna a keep running it as is until it blows

 

[billrigsby]

Irrelevant; But got up real early and got a batch of English Pale Ale brewing
so that gave me 45 minutes...
To get a couple of coats of paint on the FEL frame.


During the boil process I painted the bucket,
and later in the day got it mounted.



New decals Friday, and one more item off the To-Do list.

 

[Lil Foot]

Repainted my forks yesterday:

 

[gregger]

I've been wanting hooks on the FEL bucket of my BX25D since I bought it, and had a couple different ideas of what I did want, but decided to make up double plates, each 5" X 2.5", drilled for two 3/8" bolts. I made up three hooks, two for the outer sides above the cylinder mounting plates, and one for the center. I used 1/4: steel for the two outer ones, and used 3/8" steel plate for the one center mount.
Now I had intended to simply shape a couple hooks to weld onto the plates, but since I wanted them mounted on the inside of the bucket, saw they would stick out slightly more than I wanted. SO, putting my thinking hat on,

I had access to some 3/8" X 2" chain, and so I sliced the 3 links at 1.5" long, and drilled the plates to insert the link cut ends into the holes, with one whole link in the cut link, then spot/hole mig welded a hot pass inside the holes, then fillet welded the outsides of the links onto the plates.-This may be hard to envision, hence the photos. The idea is, now I had the main plates to bolt through the bucket with the backing plates. The inside main plates now have the half link welded to the plate, with a hanging link in the welded plate link. The hooks I used are 3/8", the type that have the pin and cotter pin to attach to chain. I bought two lock hooks, and two open hooks, and replaced the cotter pins with hairpin type pins, allowing me to hook up whichever hook(s) I need at the time. Having the hanging (loose) link in the mounts give me flexibility with the hooks, as they will hang/point where they have to, with no side-stress on the hooks. They can be switched out/installed in 10 seconds, and I can keep them in the Ammo/Tool box when not being used. This is exactly what this old Tinkerer wanted.

 

[gregger]

OOPS, forgot to post the pix of my hooks.
I'll add pix of them now on the bucket when in the garage later.

 

[Jeff Gordon]

Cleaned out the fire pit with the fel ,took the dirt and ashes to fill in some holes down in the woods ,brought up a load of field stone to put around the pit ,graded the driveway with the York rake ,I gave the old girl a pretty good workout and she takes it with no complaints,great piece of equipment.

 

[skeets]

Morning Bill while Im not much or a pale ale guy I do enjoy a black beer once in a while,, OH and the tractor is lookin real good

 

[billrigsby]

Got all the new, decals on the Great Bend loader.











One more thing off the "To Do" list,

Only have one leaking hose to replace!

 

[Daren Todd]

Just took a road trip yesterday and borrowed this bad boy for a few weeks from another member of the forum It's a 6ft gills pulverizer. The goal is to get yard smoothed out and seeded.

Thanks Len

Did run into one snag transferring it from the truck to the trailer. The original plan was to drop it between the rails, then back the tractor onto the trailer to unload it.

Well, the trailer is 77" wide and the implement is 80" oops!!!!

Looks like block and tackle next weekend to unload it

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[billrigsby]

Added some weight to the rear box blade so it will dig in better....



Added a post hole for additional weights

Added a post hole on the right side for angled trenching also

Currently have 65 pounds added

A coat of black paint for rust protection