Recent content by mark in portugal

  1. M

    SAME Explorer 85 special 4wd

    With the priority flow valve installed, no-work pressure tops at 20 bar; still quite a lot of wasted energy, but much better than before. The next thing I did was swap out the many different flexible tubes that had built up over many years, to a common fitting. I put in steel tube wherever...
  2. M

    SAME Explorer 85 special 4wd

    After I added the system pressure gauge on my instrument panel, I saw that pressure would go really high when RPM was up. It rose in a linear pattern, clearly a flow restriction. I did some testing to find out where the problem was; disconnecting the lines and running the oil into a bucket...
  3. M

    SAME Explorer 85 special 4wd

    The hydraulic pump feeds a long steel tube that runs to the rear valve block; I rerouted it to run to a 3 lever valve block near the steering wheel for the front end loader and hedgecutter (and whatever comes later). First, I made a tubing bender that mounts on my workbench for the heavy...
  4. M

    SAME Explorer 85 special 4wd

    Engine reassembly is stopped while I wait for the last little gasket. So here is some of the hydraulic system upgrades I made, which could be of general interest. I did these over some years, but I'll start at the front end. The European version of the Mercury 85 shipped with a 14cc pump, the...
  5. M

    SAME Explorer 85 special 4wd

    It was still running smoothly with a blown head gasket on number 2; I don't know how that's even possible. The tin is looking pretty bad, OH insists I fix that.
  6. M

    SAME Explorer 85 special 4wd

    A few pictures of the top end rebuild I'm working on right now. While bringing the tractor into the garage, I saw that the left wheel had a loose bearing; bolts had come loose. I had to take it all apart to clean and repack the steering bearings (taper roller bearings), and I put in proper...
  7. M

    SAME Explorer 85 special 4wd

    Long time since I posted here... I've done some work on the old tractor, rerouted and upgraded the hydraulic system, and at the moment reassembling the top of the motor. It had a blown head gasket and the smoke was getting pretty bad. I'm only waiting for the exhaust flange gasket and I can...
  8. M

    TV shows...the good, bad and the ugly...

    thanks for the recommendation, we'll give it a try. We just watched "Squid game". It was ok, but nowhere near meriting the massive hype. We started with English dub but switched to original language and English subtitles, which is better. The dubbing misses the intonation, which is important.
  9. M

    70 yearly man build a tiny cabin for his granddaughter out of recycled pallet wood

    As long as the old pallet wood is free of toxic chemicals.
  10. M

    TS 1610F 4WD Clutch Repair

    they shouldn't cost that much, but I don't know about Iseki.
  11. M

    Impala head gasket blown

    Fun to read the end report of the story and know you had a good result. I had a 1965 Impala...that was around 1990. I wonder where it is now?
  12. M

    Dual Blades on Finish Mower

    I did the same thing; went from 2 single bars to 2 crossed bars, doubling the blades. My deck is bigger though. 1/2 ton and 9-1/2' wide. I figured the only reason not to was if there wasn't enough torque available to do the extra work. The deck maker says 20hp, and my tractor has 85Hp, so...
  13. M

    What else do you do with forks besides lift pallets?

    They held without complaining. I've only used it that way a few times, but I don't expect any trouble. The main difficulty is that my FEL doesn't have enough tilt to dump the concrete. I solve that by lifting a little, then tilting the forks back, then the mixer drum forward so I have more...
  14. M

    What else do you do with forks besides lift pallets?

    Lots of things... My back doesn't like heavy lifting, but my tractor doesn't mind in the least. To pour concrete, I just lift the whole mixer and take to to where I need it. I added some plates that clamp the mixer to the forks. 4wd 4 ton mobile scaffold;
  15. M

    Simple Tool For Operating Hydraulic Couplers

    They seem to be a domestic Portuguese transport company. So no, I haven't tried them. For this sort of thing I'll use cheapo grips from an area DIY store, ebay Spain, or Amazon.
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