Still don't have pictures yet, but the stand got much worse yesterday. I was moving a lot of dirt and rocks and noticed that I was rubbing the tires on the stand A LOT. After a couple of hours of moving dirt I looked down and saw that I burned a hole into the stand tube. Not good.
The dealer came by last night to drop off my manuals and I had him look at the stand bar. He said "Yup, that's bent". Like I said before, I still don't know how I bent it. Maybe I bent it taking it off, putting it on, or hitting rocks? But he said the bar shouldn't be pointing 90 degrees to the ground but more like 45% angled up.
I asked him what to do...and he said be careful not to let any more rocks hit it
. So I said I need to bend it up because it is rubbing my tires and going to kill the tires. He said to try to bend it back.
So I hooked a chain to it and hooked another end to a telephone poll on my property....and SLOWLY put the tractor into reverse. The key is to pull the bar out, and not up. Pulling up is not going to help...so that is why I choose the telephone pole as I could put the chain exactly where I needed.
This has helped alot as I now have about 4 inches of clearance from my tires and the bar (In full turns
) But what I don't like, is that when I am digging dirt, rocks from the piles in the yard it is VERY easy to hit the bar with a rock, etc. This bar is VERY easy to bend and before you know it, you have bent it by just touching a rock.
I guess I have to be VERY careful working around rocks now. I would have expected this bar / tube to have some protection if it so easy to bent.
Anyways, I at least know how to fix it if I bend it towards the tires again. Just hook up to telephone pole
I wonder what will happen the next time I take the FEL off.....we'll have to see.
My experience as a new tractor owner continues.....
