Moved it to the projects forum - keep us posted on your progress! Looks like you got your work cut out for you. Might want to use high temp PLA for your parts though - and don't park it in the sun
Some things are meant to be closed. Your mind isn't one of them.
So far I have done some general cleaning as well as giving it a once-over to see where I need to focus attention on the tractor.
I flushed the coolant last night; it was a bit dirty but not too bad all things considered:
I had planned to change the oil, but stopped when I found a white sludge on the dipstick:
The oil looks fine otherwise. It's most likely condensation that's accumulated over the years, so I'll be adding 1/3 of a can of Seafoam to the oil, running it for a while, then doing an oil and filter change on it.
I'm going to hit all of the lubrication points and change out all of the fluids after that. All-in-all, the engine and transmission seem to be really well taken care of on this tractor. It looks like it'll be mostly body-related stuff and new tires on this project. I'll post updates as I do stuff.
Given how busy my summer is, I'm not sure how much I'll make it to the Hive these next couple weeks. As soon as the weather turned nice, I had a whole bunch of stuff added to my Honey-Do list. LOL
Last Edit: May 23, 2016 14:21:36 GMT -5 by sgraber
Post by jimustanguitar on May 23, 2016 15:18:02 GMT -5
Have you ever read the instructions on the seafoam can about sucking it straight into the intake/carb through a vacuum line? It always seemed a bit extreme to me, but I've never had to burn 50+ years of sludge out of anything either.
Have you ever read the instructions on the seafoam can about sucking it straight into the intake/carb through a vacuum line? It always seemed a bit extreme to me, but I've never had to burn 50+ years of sludge out of anything either.
Nope, I've not read that before. Hopefully I won't have to go to that extreme...
Post by jimustanguitar on May 30, 2016 19:33:51 GMT -5
Those fluids look really old. The brown foamy way that the tranny fluid was, usually indicates that there's water in it. (I'm assuming that it's more like motor oil or crank case lube than red ATF tranny fluid) You see that in cars with bad head gaskets.
Does it have a case breather somewhere that might be prone to drips?
It's also possible that a decade plus of moisture and condensation just didn't run long enough in recent history to evaporate it all out. Crank cases stay cooler than engine blocks.
Last Edit: May 30, 2016 19:34:32 GMT -5 by jimustanguitar
Neither the transmission nor the front steering gearbox are pressurized and after sitting out in a couple rain storms can have this happen to it. Same for the krud in the oil pan/filter. The operators and preventative maintenance manuals go over what to do, which is essentially drain the fluids, flush the system out using kerosine, and putting in new fluids. For this particular tractor, it takes 10w30 for the oil, then 90w gearbox oil for both the transmission, front steering gearbox, and the two rear wheel gearboxes.
At this point, I've got all the fluids changed and the engine sounds good. A lot of it now is finding replacement parts for items that are worn out, like the tires, seat, front grill, etc. Then a lot of degreasing, grinding, welding, and repainting. I'm probably going to pick up a wire welder at Harbor Freight in a month or so for the welding. Replacement parts will come from various members of farmallcub.com's marketplace, steinertractor.com, and maybe from Myer Equipment just south of Elkhart. I'm actually heading over to Myer's tomorrow to see what they have in the way of Cub parts.
Then a lot of degreasing, grinding, welding, and repainting. I'm probably going to pick up a wire welder at Harbor Freight in a month or so for the welding.
Here's a deal on a stick welder. It depends on how thick the stuff is that you're planning to weld, and whether or not you've got 220 out in the barn.
Ah, I wish I had 220V out there but I don't. I was looking at the 70A wire welder as supposedly that's easier to use for fixing holes in sheet metal.
It is
What size conductor do you have running out to your shed? You could wire it 220. You simply locate the Neutral wire and remove it from the Neutral bar (at both ends). Wrap red tape on it so it is "legal" and connect it with it's matting black wire to the two poles of a 220v breaker and - VOLA you have three wire 220v in your shed.
If you don't have any power in your shed you can run two extension cords, plugged into opposite circuits and that will give you 220 also.
Some things are meant to be closed. Your mind isn't one of them.
Post by jimustanguitar on Jun 1, 2016 11:37:33 GMT -5
For sheet metal, tube, and other relatively thin stuff like that you definitely want a wire welder. If you're making a new bucket or repairing the frame - 1/4" thick or better, then you'd want a stick welder.