MT160D

[Capricious]

Working on the "Worksaver" blade (ironic or what?)



The bent swivel plate; 1/4 inch steel when it should have been at least 3/8 inch



The home-brew steel bender, utilizing my old Hi-Lift jack*
x


Plate more or less straight




Fitting a piece of 1/4 inch by 2 inch flat bar to stiffen the back edge of the plate.




Poor welding job









*I bought the Hi-lift in the fall of 1977, from a little one-man 4X4 shop in Hazelwood, Missouri, an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis. When I pulled into the parking lot in my 1974 IH Scout II I parked next to the shop owner's truck, a 1975 (I think) F250 with raised suspension (not that the "High boys" of the day really needed to be raised) and very large tires. I don't believe that he was using the name yet, but this was the first incarnation of the
"Big Foot" truck, which went on to be a very big deal, and became the primary focus of the business.

 

[Irishman73]

I live in Bloomfield, Indiana home of the High Lift jack. Around here they are called Bloomfield Jacks. It never ceases to amaze me in what you can do with one. I used one for building fence to stretch the barbed wire.

 

[Capricious]

Still working on the MT160D

I am setting it up with "limit chains" for the cutter to ride on. Drilled holes in the cutter, through the steel angles that the A-frame bolts to. The bottom termination of the chains will be just below the bolts that hold the A-frame to the cutter. Considered attaching the bottoms of the limit chains to the lower "pins" of the cutter but then the chains would angle back more than down. Upper ends of chains will be secured just below the top link.

Waiting on delivery of a PTO slip clutch and will then need to shorten the PTO shaft. The shaft had been left laying for years in a fully compressed condition, resulting in light surface rust over the entire exposed exterior of the sheet metal tubing shield / guard. So the "bright" area showing on the shaft in the photo below shows the extent that the shaft is extended. Even without the slip clutch the shaft could be shortened, probably SHOULD be shortened. Hope to deal with the clutch & shaft and chains this weekend. Still need to deal with changing the front axle oil and secure the battery in place and the thing should be ready for a test run.


Discovered that the lights all seem to work; I had thought that they did not. Horn does not work. Would like to install a temp gauge but running out of time. Need to get into the field.

Oh, also need to think about some sort of shield/guard for the gearbox/slip clutch / universal joint.


EDITED: No clutch and shaft work this weekend. Ordered the slip clutch from Agri Supply on Monday, and they just handed it to UPS today (Thursday).

 

[Capricious]

Where the tractor will be used:

 

[Capricious]

The road that the "Worksaver" blade will need to maintain:

 

[skylarkguy]

Nice looking property.

 

[284 International]

I love your use of the Hi-Lift jack to straighten that bent plate, and what a cool story to go along with it! They are extremely useful jacks. It would be neat to see a collection of all the creative ways people have utilized those jacks.

Ordered the slip clutch from Agri Supply on Monday, and they just handed it to UPS today (Thursday).

I have ordered many times from Agri-Supply, and have always been happy with their products. Their customer service is excellent as well, but I have experienced similar delays in them shipping my orders. They always come, and are well packaged and of good quality. I just wish they shipped more quickly.

 

[Capricious]

"..I love your use of the Hi-Lift jack to straighten that bent plate, and what a cool story to go along with it! They are extremely useful jacks. It would be neat to see a collection of all the creative ways people have utilized those jacks..."



Probably 20 years ago i used the same jack to partially "dry dock" a 43 foot long boat. Houseboat with twin MerCruiser 351 CI "V" drives, with water-cooled exhaust out the transon right at the waterline. The (4) exhaust outlet flanges @ the transon needed to be re-sealed, but were partially submerged, so of course one could not just remove the things. Ran a doubled line (rope) from the stern cleat on one side, down underneath the hull and up the other side to the jack which was hung from the roof structure of the floating dock (slip). Jacked up enough to "roll' the boat slightly, lifting the exhaust outlets on that side of the boat above the water, removed the outlet flanges, re-sealed and re-installed. Then re-rigged the lines & jack and rolled the boat the other way and resealed the flanges on the other side.

Not my boat, by the way. This photo is not of the actual boat, but of the same model:
http://piratescovemarina.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/4372NautalineMain.jpg

 

[Capricious]

A busy weekend working on the tractor & realted items.



Made up a set of limit chains for the cutter. Used some old rusty chain and fittings that I had on hand, but dressed things up a little with some gray spray paint (that I also had) so in the end I only needed to buy (4) cotter keys and a couple of bolts with nuts & washers. I drilled holes in the cutter as low as posible and bolted the bottoms of the chains on, rather than ultilize the "pins" as most sets of chains do. I thought the pins too high.



The battery was unsecured and rattling around on it's platform so I used some 1/4-20 all-thread and some light steel channel that I had laying around, so the costs of securing the battery were some wing nuts and washers.



After changing the front axle oil, i bolted on the steel I-beam front bumper, which should protect the grill and headlights from brush as well as add a bit of weight (probably 70 or 80 lbs) to the front of the tractor.


My trailer had come with a "gate" of metal mesh, which i had removed in favor of a couple of ramps that i welded up. The ramps are fabricated of 2 by 2 by 1/8 inch angle and only about 38 inches long (trailer has a dove tail) and while they had proved themselves strong enough for the tractor alone, I was concerned that they might not be strong enough for the tractor with the cutter. My original plan had been to buy a rusty-looking 4 ft cutter and leave it on the property, and just haul the tractor back and forth, but since I has able to find a nice-looking 42 inch cutter i am now going to try to haul the cutter as well. So Saturday afternoon was spent "beefing-up" the ramps.

Wile working on things Sunday, I shut the tractor done with the lift fully raised and left it for 4 hrs, during which time I noticed no "leak-down" at all

 

[skylarkguy]

That bumper will make a great platform for "stuff"...a toolbox, chain storage, chainsaw...whatever.
Neat!