I remove the Engine on the 2-155 again and attempt to be a troll. I fail at trolling...

So the 2-155 started leaking oil out the rear main seal the other day. Perhaps leaking doesn't really give you a good picture. One gallon per 17 acres is more than a leak it is dust control. If there was any dust. It probably qualifies as a HAZMAT situation.
Yesterday we pulled the engine. Actually it was Wednesday evening. My friend Eddie came over to give me a hand. His name is not really Eddy but dad got confused and started calling him Eddie and it was easier to just change his name than to explain what it really was.
But, I digress.
In a couple hours we had the hood and radiator off and the bell housing unbolted. There is a special tool that holds the PTO shaft in the 3-speed housing so it doesn't come out with the engine. I couldn't find the tool (it was exactly in the correct drawer where it should be I just could see it because I am mentally challenged...) so we decided to try pulling it without.
I blocked up the 3spd with wood blocks and slid the engine ahead on the motor mounts. There is a protrusion from the front right side of a Hercules engine that keeps the engine from going ahead enough to lift straight out. You have to lift the front of the engine up and that puts a bind on the PTO shaft so it stuck in the engine hub.
I quit and went to bed.
Yesterday morning my brother and I finished the job. I slid the engine back together with the three speed, removed the fuel tank and all the little lines and wires and crap that I didn't want to remove and we pulled the engine and three-speed together.  This time when I had to lift the front of the engine the PTO stuck in the transmission hub. So... I unbolted the three-speed and the engine came free.
I got the flywheel off and could see that the rear main seal had come out of its housing. This is a bit of a puzzle. I put a prybar under the end of the crank and pried up. The whole crankshaft moved.
I said, "oh shucks..."
Anyway....
I went to CarQuest and got some putty that you can used to measure clearances. It is a little thin strip. You unbolt the main bearing and put a strip of "plasti-gauge" on the crank. Then you torque the bearing back down to specs. Then you take the bearing back off and you compare the width of the squished plastic putty to a chart on the package and it tells you the clearance. It showed .004" which is with in clearances.
I was still worried so I called my friend Mel at the coast. He is a genius and a fountain of arcane mechanical information. If only it were possible to down load his brain into a data base. You wouldn't want to do that with my brain. You would get a lot of info that sounded almost right but was actually wrong. And a lot of lyrics to really bad and really old country western songs...
But I digress,
Mel pointed out that I was only measuring part of the clearance as I needed to push the crank up against the top bearing. I needed to put a piece of cardboard (like a business card), in the adjacent mainbearing and torque it to specs, and force the crank up tight against the top bearing.
I did this and my clearance dropped to .005" which is at the end of the tolerances.
Mel also noted that since all the force of the piston firing was at the 6:00 position on the bottom main bearing that I could do two things. First I could roll out the top bearings by putting a cotter pin in the oil hole on the crank and spreading the ends. Then as I turned the crank the it would push the bearing out. (if you go the correct direction and don't fight the tabs holding the bearing in).
Next you switch top and bottom bearings. This puts the worn bearing on the bottom. To improve your tolerances you can put aluminum foil under the bottom bearings.
But, really all this will do is raise your oil pressure. The crank rides on a thin film of oil that is trapped by the bearing. If that film of oil is gone due to excessive clearances, antifreeze in the oil, or low oil pressure, your bearings will fail rapidly.
It was quite the interesting conversation.
He also wants me bring my daughter to Montana May 22, for a week long rafting trip. I am not even going to tell the family. I expect to be chopping silage, planting corn, making hay, and having a nervous breakdown somewhere at the end of May. I'm sure my brother would help but I suspect he will have to help anyway. There is no one to take his or my place at that time of year.
In other news I tried trolling on NewAgTalk. It didn't work. I thought my post was funnier than a train wreck but no one responded. I think those guys have way too many female hormones. I made reference to a hilarious post made sometime ago where someone asked for advice on how to clean off his cat who had gotten into hydraulic oil. Apparently he was serious and many people got offended. But, for crying out loud. If you go on the internet and ask how to clean your kitty you are going to have to accept some rudeness!
Have a nice day...