2816 Repair and Restoration Project

[sadexcuse4s10]

Hey guys, I'm new to the site, but not new to tractors by any means. I'm probably a little younger than most tractor owners at 28 though.

My grandpa had an Oliver super 55 gas when I was growing up (i always wanted it, but he got older and sold it). And Since I've owned my house for about 4 years, and being a contractor I needed a rig to tear the yard up that could handle a larger place down the road too.

Fast forward until last year when I came across a smokin deal. A coworker had a compact tractor with loader sitting on his land, it had been spray painted all up nasty blue, and the clutch was shot.....but it ran great! $1500 later I brought it home.

I couldn't tell what brand it was other than it said Mahindra on the seat and Mitsubishi on the motor. All the labels were gone, and no plastics around any of the shifters. I had to do a little research to figure out which model it was, but once that was sorted out I was off to the races.

The day I brought it home, it would barely move up the driveway in R-Low.

I guess somebody liked ford colors.

 

[sadexcuse4s10]

So lets fast forward a new weeks after that, the **** thing could creep around in first or second gear, but otherwise it wouldn't move. Well that didn't hurt my feelings, I can do almost anything mechanic wise, rebuild engines, modify suspensions, bodywork, etc.....And I'm pretty **** about having my equipment be in 100% working order.

So I got some prices on clutch kits.....and at $1500 for the whole setup I was blown away! I changed my plans up and figured I would wait a while on that. So I started shopping around for some implements in the mean time to quench my thirst.

Scoured up a $100 bush hog that needed quite a bit of work. 5ft howse

And a $50 scrape blade that was so rusty it wasn't worth a picture. But that's ok, I can weld and i had both items in working condition after a couple weekends.

 

[sadexcuse4s10]

So this spring, my wife passed away at 24 years old, and I took a little time off work to clear my head and take care of our son. We were married for 5 months.

She died the morning after Cameron was born, This is a recent picture of Cam and I, he's my little sidekick, loves the tractor and anything outside. He loves to sit on the deck while I shoot the little .22 marlin and play around. I would have burned my house down and probably be in jail right now if I would have lost him also.

Enough with the sad stuff, I have to stay busy tinkering to keep my mind off of it. I came upon a free weekend and took the front end loader off. I tore the tractor down in my garage and had the clutch out in 4 hours. I don't play around, and had no time to take pictures

I discoverred that the clutch drive dish was shot, had a ring of fiberglass and was burnt to the rivets, along with the first pressure plate. So I ordered those two items for $500 and cleaned up the rest. I sanded the flywheel with 80 grit also to give the PTO disc some grip.

It took probably two weeks for the clutch parts to come in.

 

[sadexcuse4s10]

So all the junk came in and I took the clutch pack apart and replaced the torn up stuff, cleaned the soot off of it and put the tractor back together. 10 hours to do all of that and have it in running/driving shape.

I put new hydraulic fluid in it, changed the oil, and rode it all over to make sure it worked 100%, and I'm very happy with how it shifts now.

Still that pathetic spray paint blue though, but that's next on the list!

Off came all the sheetmetal, and on went about $50 worth of sandpaper, spray paint, and vinyl lettering from walmart. I could have sprayed it, but I'm pretty rough with things and it would get beat up in the woods. I did take my time getting nice even coats though, and it came out pretty nice for a dogged out tractor.

the dirtbike behind it is another one of my rebuilt projects, a honda xr650l

And I got it all put back together and as good as a certified pre=owned kia!

I then labelled everything on it with the vinyl lettering, no way i'm buying all those plastic parts and a decal set!

 

[sadexcuse4s10]

And I had all this done by the time my boy was 2 months old so I could break him in right. I think Jeanna would be proud of me and that's what matters. There's no better way to spend time with your kids than to be able to hop on the tractor and ride in the field. You don't look at your watch at all.

The tractor is part of the family now, I'll pass it on down to Cameron when he gets his first home. Along with my liquid cooled JD lawnmower that my dad gave me when I bought my house.

That's what it's all about.





I am also looking for either a small mini excavator somebody trashed, or a 3 point backhoe next. And I bought a box scrape a couple months back and I'll get a disc before long.

 

[sadexcuse4s10]

Not bad for around $2100.

 

[manganos]

Great job and I'm sorry for your loss. Your son is lucky to have a great father.

 

[Bob77064]

Sorry for your loss, the tractor looks great.

 

[sadexcuse4s10]

Thanks guys, it's been a tough 8 months without Jeanna, but the way I see it is this.

If I couldn't handle it, I wouldn't be faced with it. I haven't found a task/challenge yet that I've given up on or wasn't able to complete, and something like this really puts things in perspective. I learned what really matters in life isn't money, or nice cars, or the job you want.....It's your family, not a piece of green paper.








Back to the tractor now

Plans this fall are to load the tires up with fluid....I have to decide on what fluid to use without tubes as I would prefer to just break the bead and add it myself. I was thinking a water/alcohol or water/antifreeze mix. But if that will rust/damage the rims/rubber than maybe straight antifreeze.

Then I'll probably build my own canopy this winter out of some 1/8" diamond plate aluminum I have lying around. Hopefully eventually I can build a 1x1 frame and get some lexan sheets and make my own cab.

And I want to add a rear hydraulic remote to the rear next spring/summer sometime.

 

[DavesTractor]

My condolences on the loss of your wife. Sounds like you are a great dad!

One thought that I hate to bring up, but I have only seen a few tractors painted up like this with a color from another make. A guy on this forum, MtnViewRanch hates red and loves blue and has two Mahindra's, one of which he had painted blue before he took delivery. Other than that, a full "rattle can" color change would make me want to make sure this is not stolen, or being looked for by a finance company. See if your buddy can give you some history on it. You don't need more grief.