Breaking in my new toys... from Yeehaw! to Uh oh!

[VABlue]

Nice place you got there - and great work with the BB! Hopefully, the broken part is only a missing pin. If it was straining to lift the BB before you heard the sound, though, I suspect something got jammed between a lift arm and a non-moving part. Maybe you sheard a pin? That would be nice, huh?

 

[sandman2234]

The things that I can think of that would allow one side not to raise aren't good. Stripped splines on the rock shaft, broken rock shaft. That is assuming that you didn't break one of the links that raise the other side, which would have been obvious.
I twisted the rock shaft on my Ford 1100 when I got a post hole digger stuck and it raised the front end of the tractor in the air. I hit the clutch to keep from going up too high, but released it before the tractor hit the ground. Keep from jarring the front end but the rockshaft took the beating. I learned a valuable lesson with that one. What I am calling the rockshaft is the shaft that rotates inside the rear housing to raise and lower the upper arms which in turn raise and lower the lower lift arms.
David from jax

 

[Spiveyman]

Thanks VABlue & sandman. As much as I hope for the glass is half full kind of situation, my life experiences have told me that if there are two parts that could break and one of them costs more - that's the one that I'll break! I have a buddy that I used to travel with a lot at work. After a couple years worth of trips one day he said, "Tim, I never used to believe in luck, and I still don't believe in good luck, but after knowing you, I now believe in bad luck." Actually Murphy's Laws were just theories until I came along and proved them to be true.

Sandman, I'm afraid something like what you described sounds close. I did hear some clanging and other loud noises last night. There were rocks here and there that never come out quietly, and the lift arms were set up to have some sway in them, so I'd hear them clang from one side to the other as I traversed the various mounds of earth. There also were time where the scarifers would be digging in deep and then the front end of the tractor would go over a hill raising the back end rather quickly that was still parially burried in the dirt. I tried to move slowly through the rough terrain, but I'd say there was some good stress on that sucker. I'd hoped my tractor was rugged enough to tackle something like this as long as I was careful in how I went about it. I'm really dying to get back out there and check my tractor out. I'm going to need it soon for a project on my partner's farm!

 

[VABlue]

Get a toothbar on that loader to cut through the top of the mounds. That might save some wear&tear on the whole apparatus...

 

[Spiveyman]

Get a toothbar on that loader to cut through the top of the mounds. That might save some wear&tear on the whole apparatus...

Already ordered! It should be in this week, but they told me that about the loader for 4 weeks! The guy said he'd come out and torch the holes needed to bolt it in place as soon as is comes in. It would have been nice to have that last night, however now I will be able to appreciate the improvement. I was very carefull not to put too much stress on the bucket/loader. I didn't just floor it and wait for the dirt to break. I took small bites, relieving the pressure on the bucket all the time. Man that was fun!

Speaking of wear&tear... I'm still getting used to having an extra hunk of metal hanging off the front of my tractor. I spent some of the night driving across the piles of dirt, then putting it in reverse to turn around. Once I got the edges manageable I was able to swing out and just turn around, never have to shift or stop. On one swath I was swinging the front around and hit a pretty good size tree. I wasn't going very fast, 2nd gear low, maybe 1,000 rpm. I saw the tree but thought I had room to clear. I hit the clutch right before the bucket hit the tree. It pretty much stopped me in my tracks. I backed up and checked everything out, everything still worked on the loader and I didn't see any fluid leaking, but it was dark. Now I know much better how much room I really need to turn that thing around.

 

[Big Daddy]

Incidentally, the last two nights out there have also taught me something else, this is my mortal enemy! Anyone ID it?http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee183/Spiveyman01/09-04-07Enemy029.jpg

That is the very common and prolific Goldenrod. It can grow from 4-6 feet tall, and is very difficult to get rid of.

 

[Spiveyman]

Incidentally, the last two nights out there have also taught me something else, this is my mortal enemy! Anyone ID it?http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee183/Spiveyman01/09-04-07Enemy029.jpg

That is the very common and prolific Goldenrod. It can grow from 4-6 feet tall, and is very difficult to get rid of.

AHHHH! You are right!!! I had to look it up to check, but that does appear to be goldenrod, which from reading doesn't cause allergies like ragweed. I thought it was ragweed. Well, I'll have to look harder to see if I can find ragweed out there, but there was something that got me good. Most of it's mixed in and under dirt now though. The first night I was out there I sneezed about 14,000 times. Last night I took a pocket full of children's Benadryl and popped them like M&M's throughout the evening. Worked very well actually.

 

[Spiveyman]

So back to tractoring 101. Today's topic the clutch, and what you have to do to wear one out. While I was first tackling those mounds of dirt in 6 foot high weeds I was moving very cautiously, unsure of what I might drive over. I was also babying the box blade a bit to see how it would go. For much of this time I was on and off of the clutch quite a bit.

Is there a better way to do that? To control your motion? Using the throttle was too jerky and didn't seem like a good option. With the clutch I felt like I had pretty good control over things, but I was afraid I'd burn it up. Will that tear up your clutch or is that exactly what it's for? Once I got things smoothed out reasonably I just let her fly only using the clutch if I had to in order to turn around because there was a tree placed inconveniently in the wrong spot!

As for the 3ph, it looks like I'll get a chance to get out there Sat morning to check it out, so I'll be back here that night asking lots of questions I'm sure.

 

[jbrumberg]

Spiveyman:

You are right about "riding the clutch" causing undue wear and throttle "adjustments" are too jerky (sometimes a branch will make adjusments for you ). I would try to stay in a lower more managable gear and/or gear range even if it is less fun. As for your 3PH I hope it is something simple and not an expensive repair. Keep us posted- Jay

 

[sandman2234]

One thing that you must learn about clutches, is that foot pedal isn't a footrest. As soon as your tractor clutch is engaged, your left foot should be sitting on the floorpan, and not on the clutch pedal. I know it is hard, especially when operating new equipment with new attachments. You want that foot real close in case something happens, but if you get in the habit of leaving your foot there, your going to put unneeded wear on the clutch and once you get used to the equipment, your foot will have become used to sitting on that pedal. Considering what clutches cost, plus installation, the price of a boxblade is cheap! Make the stoke of the clutch coming up a continous motion of the foot and don't let the foot stop until it hits the floorpan/step. Consider slowing down a gear or two if you think you need your foot on that pedal, just in case something happens.
David from jax