cdover73
Silver Member
I was out looking for a smaller tractor to work my food plots with and ran across one that I am not considering buying, but couldn't believe what was done to it. It is an older SD 2200 4x4 and looks to be in good shape. The owner says he bought it about 3 years ago and hasn't had any trouble with it. Then he told me about the crank. He said the previous owner was a friend of his and he actually helped him repair the tractor. Apparently, the flywheel key broke and the large nut on back had come off, allowing the flywheel to spin on the crank. They tore it down and found the inside of the flywheel to be chewed up to the point that it wouldn't fit the taper of the crank any more and the keyway was non-existant. This is where I laughed in his face. He said they wrapped the crank in duct tape to make up for the clearance and welded the nut to the flywheel and the inside of the nut to the crankshaft!! He said he has been running it ever since without any problems, and I have to say it ran extremely well when he cranked it for me. I just can't believe this fix would hold and I wouldn't buy it now if it was free! I thanked him for his honesty and drove off, still laughing at what some people will do to get by. He also told me that the only other option was to buy a used crank and flywheel, but it cost $1300 and he didn't want to put that much into it. He was asking $4500 for the tractor, 4' cutter, and 4' box blade.
I have to admit I am curious though, if it has lasted this long as he said, would their 'fix' hold up longer?
I have to admit I am curious though, if it has lasted this long as he said, would their 'fix' hold up longer?