It was pointed out to me that my first apology was actually passive aggressive tripe.
New apology:
To MM, I apologize completely. I should not have mentioned you in my blog and I will never do it again. I am sorry.
To KWB, I totally miss judged you. I ahold not have made remarks which I thought were funny but were really stupid and mean. I apologize.
To MM, I take your comments to heart. I will strive to not make mean comments about people in an attempt to be funny.
I need to look back at my summer posts. How worried was I at the end of last summer? I don't remember. It is amazing how much work there is yet to do.
We had our first rain. I poured and then drizzled for a day. It warmed up Friday and Saturday and then we got a good thunderstorm last night. I was trying to move some dirt with the White 2-60 and a pan scraper. I ran over my phone, but since I was going in circles and it didn't actually destroy the phone my the book I was listening to via Bluetooth headphones did not stop. Then I saw the blue of my phone case in the dirt. Modern problems.
It started raining and I headed home. The thunder hit pretty good and so I hung out in the shop with Rosco the dog for a while and listened to Jimmy Buffet (RIP). I also attempted to set up a new toolbox. I rarely buy anything like that new so I was trying not to scratch it. Funny. Of course I used the forklift to tip it back over after installing the wheels so who knows.
I installed a bigger hydraulic pump on the 2-60 which has made all the difference in speed of the loader. It is still a 1970's hydraulic system but it works much better. Of course the whole project turned frustrating as the pump had to come off again as I didn't the output connector hooked up right and ended up spinning the gear off the pump. Of course then I got a flat tire so I spent yesterday morning at the tire shop.
In other news the 2-155 is going but high range immediately failed. My only other friend with a 2-135 in the state of Oregon said he had a similar problem. Sometime White changed the 2-135 over drive clutch specs to the same as the 2-180 which uses thinner discs. Everyone, including A&I have switched to the new discs. However no one updated the specs to require extra discs! So I put it together based on the old instructions but with new plates. Actually, I think I mixed thick and thin plates so who knows.
Anyway, there is my life update, have a happy day!
I am posting today because I feel like crap and don't have the energy to go outside. I have been waking up with a sore throat for the last couple days and I start coughing at night and it is hard to sleep. Probably the wu-flu... Summer colds are the worst!
I have been working evenings and weekends on the 2-135 and 2-155 tractors. The 135 is now back together with a new clutch and a front steering rebuild. It leaks a lot less oil than it has in the past. However, I left the door latch installation to who ever was going to use it next and they opted for a bungie cord.
The 2-155 is almost together. The three-speed seems to work. I hooked pressure gauges to the test ports on the transmission and i have 200lbs main system pressure and 200lbs pressure in high and direct. (Pressure is zero in low range) The tractor changes speed when I shift it on the highway. I intended to hook it to a disk this weekend but I am painting. I discovered that the newly painted hood panels were damaged over the winter so I sanded them down and repainted. I am not sure doing this on an 80 degree day is a good plan. I can't get the Argent silver metal flake to gloss properly as it is drying too fast.
I am still working at the college. I have been looking at jobs but haven't applied for anything seriously.
My older non farmer brother has brought me a motorcycle to try out. His belief is that all frustration can be solved by riding motorcycles at high speed. I am not completely sure I share the sentiment but I figure I can probably hurt myself.
I should ride today but am just tired and am enjoying sitting in the house.
As soon as I post this I am going to go out and see just how bad the paint has turned out. Too hot, too much dust, should have painted in the evening.
I have spent the winter working on the White 2-155 Series Three tractor. This is a true Series Three with the new style cab and semi digital dash. The cab is much quieter and the floor is easier to remove but it has idiot lights instead of gauges for the three speed and hydraulics.
So far I have changed the clutch and partially rebuilt the three-speed and I now have the engine and transmission installed.
I cheated on the engine installation. The forklift started running out of propane as I finished the installation and I did not want to pull the engine again. The problem was with the shims that level the engine. What I needed to do was put a dial indicator on the three-speed housing and a jack underneath and make sure the junction point between powershilt and main transmission had proper clearance. The assembly slid together quite easily but the shims under the right rear motor mount were loose.
So I got a big bar and talked my wife into sliding an extra shim under the mount while I leaned on the bar to lift the engine. I have been using knife shims for New Holland balers as they come in several thicknesses and you can slide them in with the motor mount bolts installed.
It doesn't leak, so far.
However....
After getting the tractor started I found an oil leak on top of the transmission. To fix this I had to wedge myself between the door and the dash console. I started to smell electrical smoke. By the time I got myself out and the battery unhooked there were small flames.
The main power wire to the cab was melted like a cheese sandwich.
Down the rabbit hole I went.
The wiring is a mess. I found some 8 guage multi-strand wire and set to work. Much of this involves contortionism as the cab is tight.
I finally got it all together and wires neatly sorted yesterday. (I even took most of Thursday off, but then feel asleep on the couch for two house after starting the fire so I guess that doesn't count.)
I then discovered the warning lights did not work. No power to the sensors and when I flip the lamp test switch on the dash it trips a circuit breaker and the warning light square block goes dead.
After an inordinate amount to time spent tracing ground wires I discovered that I also had no engine RPM. So I wiggled the bulkhead connector at the cab. I had rpm and hydraulic temperature. However, hydraulic temp comes from the OTHER bulkhead connector.
After more wiggling of wires and breaking out a voltmeter I got all the lights to work except the 3-spd low pressure light. I am suspicious that buggery has been committed to this circuit. I have been surprised by the crude repairs of the former owners. The ground wire from the sensor has all the insulation melted off.
The series three warning light system uses a switch on the clutch lever. When you depress the clutch lever the switch bypasses the warning sensor for low pressure on the 3-spd. This is because the 3-spd has its own pump and when you have the clutch pushed in the 3-speed stops turning which would activate the alarm. Upon testing the broken connector at the clutch I found 12v on both sides of the switch. I am not sure it should have 12 volts, although it does activate the cab buzzer alarm.
The problem I have now is two fold. I have traced all the wires but the warning wires down the right side of the steering column. I can't get the bolts out and there is no room between the window to used a hammer screw driver thing to break the Phillips screws loose. I am having a hard time getting the plastic warning box apart to see what is up with the bulbs.
I may give up. I really need a new wiring harness as there are multiple wire breaks. Oh well...
I have had one success.
The ground speed section of the digital dash has never worked. A new sensor is like $450 from AGCO. I found one with the correct thread and the correct connector for $26 on the auction site. And it works! Small successes. I won't say how many hours I spent in the greenhouse at my other job trying to find this sensor.
I finished the 9N Ford and sold it a week ago. I had to deliver it 20 some miles. The truck has a bad driveling and the tipping trailer was missing wheels and it doesn't fit my pickup hitch anyway. My amigo friend at work told me to not be a sissy and just drive it. "It will only be an hour," he said. Quickly, doing the math in his head. (Note: he came here illegally at 17 years-of-age and never went to high school. Yet he can do math in this head)
He was off by a half hour.
Although, I did stop to show the 9N to another friend who has an 8N. The drive was a little chilly. When I drove up the driveway to the 9N's new home I was really glad I was pulling a trailer.
Last night I finished assembling the over-under hydro shift for the White 2-155. This could be a post in itself. I used the I&T shop manual, the official White service book, I watched several videos on YouTube, and I took it apart several times.
How to assemble the Over/Under. (it wasn't that easy)
The video I should have watched but didn't. (It is hard to watch videos and make straight lines mowing the baseball field)
Today I am debating if I should attempt to spin it somehow out of the tractor and do all the pressure tests. I think it would basically take me just as long to test it as to install and then pull the engine.
In other news. More of my friends keep dying. Makes me worry about Gorges Grouse and Tom from Hippo On the Lawn.
I lost all my email from my blogger profile as I forgot to check my mail for a year. I have somewhat re-established my online presence.
Yesterday was a great day!
I completed tasks! (well almost)
I have three ongoing projects. Actually it is more live five or six but for the sake of avoiding tedium I will stick to four.
A month ago my wife and I helped her friend clean out the shop of an elderly gentleman who was moving into the rest home. I ended up hauling home a Ford 9N. I put it in the barn and then it refused to start. It took me a week or so to figure out that the reason it was turning over slow was that the ring gear was spinning on the flywheel. I fixed that by applying wicking Loctite 390 to the ring gear and turning the flywheel until the Loctite grabbed and it stopped turning. (The ring gear had been tack welded to the flywheel)
But... I had left the key on and I burnt the coil. So I thought I would do a tuneup. This was a pain in the arse as the distributor is affixed to the front of the engine and the coil is mounted on the side of the distributor cap. You have to remove the distributor (two bolts) to change and set the points. I could not get the new coil and cap to reliably pass electricity between them so I ended up just buying a whole new distributor and cap. ($50 pos Chinese clone) I hooked it all up yesterday. It runs!
Turns out the exhaust leak is from the manifold. This is not my tractor, I am trying to sell it to a friend. I am getting a little too much money into it. Not sure I want to tackle the exhaust manifold. Things can go wrong with rusty and ancient exhaust manifolds.
I also got the top of the transmission covered on the White 2-155. This was a rather tedious job. The worst part was getting the drain plug out of the bottom of the transmission. I had to put a pipe on the end of a long breaker bar and hold the bar into the plug whilst my brother pulled on the bar. Nearly stripped out the square threads.
I was able to then flush most of the dirt and crap out of the transmission before putting the cover on. There is no way to keep crap out of the open transmission.
The next problem was getting the three speed cleaned and drained. Of course the pressure washer would not start. Took me an hour but I did it.
My retired helper has been cleaning my shop. He tends to stuff things into odd places. When I get home from work he has a pile of stuff for me to sort through, I have been giving things away and making use of the trash can. He has made his way back to the freezer which hasn't worked reliably in five years. I hauled it outside and put it on a pallet for the guy who repairs old appliances. Of course the tractor wouldn't start and that took a half hour.
But, I got the three speed cleaned and drained and I got it sitting on the bench, the 9N running, the freezer moved. and the top of the transmission cover on. Not a bad Saturday.
I fall behind on my blogging. I suspect the number of readers who wait anxiously for a new post has diminished slightly over the years. I know I have not been keeping up with my the blogs of my gentle readers.
I keep thinking I will become more optimistic and that my blog will become funny and informative, but alas I seem to be in a continual downhill slide that can only end in... well, just me being a grumpy old farmer.
There are interesting things I am doing. I am working on another White 2-155 charge pump. This is the third time I have removed the cover of a 2-135/155 transmission. I have become fairly adept at it. Aside from introducing a lot of dirt into the transmission/hydraulic system.
I was given another Pioneer receiver and am trying to figure out how to fix the hum in the output stage.
I am into process of doing a tuneup on a 9N Ford which has the coil affixed to the distributor which is in turn attached to the FRONT of the engine and virtually inaccessable. (I figured it out)
I am in the process of building a Colt M1911 Commander and am trying to decide if I should do it in .45 or .22 and if I should buy the jig or just go by measurements in my new book, "The US M1911A1 Pistols, A Shop Manual," By Jerry Kuhnhausen, and use a milling machine.
Currently I am setting on the couch with heat on my knee and ice on my head.
I have had a headache for a week. I feels like my brain is trying to crawl out my left eye. I wish it success as this might end the headache. Strangely enough this started the day I went back to work. Probably only a coincidence.
Last night I was working on my White 2-155, (actually I was listening to George Jones and fixing up a hydraulic jack my wife bought at a garage sale) and I got a call from my wife. The oven was on fire and sparks were shooting out. She couldn't find the breaker and so I told her to hit the main power. I then ran to the house and tripped going up the steps. I didn't notice anything amiss (I fall down all the time) until I tried to kneel down to figure out the small writing on the breaker box. Pain shot through my knee and I almost feel over again.
The stove was not serious. The element decided to die in a rather spectacular fashion. However, my wife is now quite concerned with my health. My brain hurts and my knee hurts. This means heating pads, ice, bed rest and use of my sleep machine.
What I find rather amusing is what I do when I am half asleep. I was having dreams about my daughter and my knee hurt. I got up and found an ice pad. I then pulled the covers over my head as I had the sleep machine hooked to my nose and I can breath under the covers without fear of dying from an accidental toot and I imagined building a sprayer for my Gator. I woke up to my wife shaking my (good) knee and exclaiming that we would be late for Church. It was 10 a.m.
The short of it all was she got me coffee, gave me specific instructions on taking care of myself, but also she expected the fire going and the chickens fed, and she went to Church.
I did most of what was expected of me. (Although I did take a break to go help my neighbor start his car and I painted her garage sale jack) and now my head hurts like thunder. Whatever.... Getting old is a bummer.
I hope you all have a nice day...
Posts
All Comments
