Beaver Re-do

[fosterchild420]

I bought a Beaver a couple months ago on the cheap. $800 with a flat left rear tire (bad wheel) and no battery. It was a 4x4, had good tires all the way around and over all looked to be sound. I purchased a rear wheel with tire, a air cleaner top, owners manual and shop manual from Valley Power. I got a new seat from Tractor Supply.

I am now to the stage of cleaning, sanding and painting. I thought I would put a few pictures up as I had a chance to work on it. I don't have a fancy shop or alot of time to work on it, so please be patient with the progress.

I will post some pictures shortly.

 

[fosterchild420]

This is what it looked like the night I bought it.

 

[bearcreek paul]

Looks like a nice project. For 800 you got a good deal,I'll be looking forward to see the progress and pictures.

 

[techwrtr2]

This is what it looked like the night I bought it.

What size are the front tires? They look over sized. And I see a PTO reverser there. $$$.

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

Indeed, that is an excellent find. I think the rear tires are smaller, not the fronts too big. They were on mine too, either from wear or made that way. My Iseki rice-paddy rear 8-16 tires are about 31.5" high, while the Satoh's measure in at only about 28". A fairly significant difference.

One thing about tractors is that they can look pretty horrible, but it's amazing what some wire-brushing, degreasing, and paint can do. Just have to have some patience. The fenders may be more challenging. I need to fix mine too and haven't done much sheet-metal work in my life so I'm expecting it to be difficult.

Pay particular attention to rim hole cracking when you get to painting the rims. This can be common I'm finding out and could present a possible safety hazard.

Also if you notice any metal shavings in any of the oil changes, you may want to consider going in and inspecting bearings/gears, especially on the front axle. The only two front axles I've been into had problems that were undetectable until I had them opened up and they were rather serious and probably would have showed up eventually in a catastrophic way had I not done the inspection.

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

My progress is slow also and I keep finding more problems with the drive train. One of the front axles I discussed is the one I'm working on now. I just completed the main gearbox repair. Somehow a previous owner broke some gears. I thought I was onto just cleaning and painting and wanted to change the front axle seals as they leaked. When I got inside I found broken parts that I put in another post.

Here are some pics so far of my partial restore. I say partial because I don't plan on going into the engine as it runs acceptably to me. I also will not be able to compeletely clean all parts as they should be. I'm shooting more for a light-duty work tractor than a show tractor. Maybe the next guy can take it further. I also don't like the original muffler so I added a different vertical one. I'll hang on to the old one though but it could use a good cleaning/painting as well.

 

[fosterchild420]

The first pictures after i got it home and did a bit of accessing what needed to be done first. I sourced a battery thru my work and pulled the wheel and tire that were flat. My first thought was that i could repair the rusted out wheel and put a new tube in. After breaking the tire/wheel down, i could see that was not likely. I wire brushed the wheel and the rust scale kept breaking off larger pieces untill i had a 4 in hole in the wheel. I think i can fix this wheel but it was bad enough i moved on to a used wheel from Valley. All the 3pt links were bent beyond belief, so i am figuring on replacing them with new Yanmar cat 1 links.

 

[fosterchild420]

more pics:

 

[fosterchild420]

pics as i started to disassemble and paint. I can only take apart so much as i am still using it on the weekends. I included some more pictures of the overall condition of the tractor. The one rear wheel is the one i bought used.

 

[fosterchild420]

These were taken yesterday when i put it back together so that i could get my lawn mower out. I think the lug studs being painted really stand out and i may retouch them because they stand out.

 

[fosterchild420]

After that last batch of pictures, cleaned up my shop (porch) and pulled the tractor back in. I took both rear fenders off and i planned to bring them to work today for repair but i forgot. One of the guys i work with is an awesome welder and metal worker. He is going to look the fenders over and see what can be done to repair them.

 

[jamangus]

After that last batch of pictures, cleaned up my shop (porch) and pulled the tractor back in. I took both rear fenders off and i planned to bring them to work today for repair but i forgot. One of the guys i work with is an awesome welder and metal worker. He is going to look the fenders over and see what can be done to repair them.

What are you using for the "white"?

 

[techwrtr2]

Indeed, that is an excellent find. I think the rear tires are smaller, not the fronts too big. They were on mine too, either from wear or made that way. My Iseki rice-paddy rear 8-16 tires are about 31.5" high, while the Satoh's measure in at only about 28". A fairly significant difference.

Beaver has 8-16 R1's in the back and 5-12 front. Those look like the original Bridgestone tires in the back

 

[fosterchild420]

The tires seem to be the original ag style on the rear because they are 8-16 bridgestone and they fronts are 5-12 bridgestone but seem to be rice patty tires.

I am lazy and using "rattle can" paint. The white was rustoleum "almond" and the blue was "bright blue". they seem to be so close that most would not know they are not factory colors. be warned: when i first sprayed it, it seemed too yellow. but it changed as it dried and lightened up.

I had to work it good this weekend pulling up roots and small stumps around the yard. the hydraulics started to get weak and pump make noise after about an hour of work. i found the fluid level low, so i refilled it. After about another hour, they started to do the samething. I think the filter maybe stopped up but have not had time to work on it since then.

I found a boot to go around the shifter in an attempt to keep some trash and water from seaping in. I got a rack and pinion boot from a nissan altima and it seems to be the right size. I will let everyone know how that works out.

I had to move an old car i have for parts to clean up my yard this weekend as well. It had 4 flat tires and the beaver powered thru. I had to lock it in 4wd and it was scratching pretty good in the dirt but it pulled it across the yard.

 

[Reluctant1]

...I found a boot to go around the shifter in an attempt to keep some trash and water from seaping in. I got a rack and pinion boot from a nissan altima and it seems to be the right size. I will let everyone know how that works out...

I was wondering how this is working out and what the nissan part number / year / model / etc. so I could source it. I get my Beaver tomorrow, and the boot is missing and it rains too much in Seattle to go without one!

 

[fosterchild420]

I have been super busy lately and therefore slacking. I have not put the boot on yet but i will try to get it done this weekend. If the one i have works, i have all the info as to what it fits and such.

 

[fosterchild420]

I finally got back to the grind and worked on the tractor. I got the boot on the shifter but i may have to cut it off. I am gonna give it a try as is for a little bit. Here is a before shot with the shifter knob removed. It was quite a bear to loosen but a 17 mm wrench and a pair of vice grips took care of it.

 

[fosterchild420]

I also had time while waiting for dinner so i sanded and painted the hub, axle and wheel. Now i did get lazy and did not tape off the tires like i did in the front. They will get replaced down the road anyway. I really just wanted to stop the rust from progressing. This wheel is the one i purchased from Valley Power a few weeks ago but still had a few spots of rust. The axle was cleaned and sanded but i just let the paint fall on the housing. I will do more on that this winter as i plan to break the tractor in half to replace the throw out bearing and sand blast the entire thing.

 

[fosterchild420]

I will get the part number for that boot later but the application is 02 thru 07 nissan altima 2.5 4 cyl, rack bellows or boot. It is a bit long but the diameter was correct (and it was free).

 

[fosterchild420]

Today I washed the entire tractor down with a degreaser. Then I cleaned off my garage area (front porch). I pulled the other rear wheel and started to sand down that wheel. I did figure out that whom ever owned this tractor before me tried to destroy it. I found the inside of the rear tire and wheel torn up from a lack of sway links on the 3 pt hitch. I had planned on replacing the rear tires bit not anytime soon. I may have to move that up higher in priority. I kinda ran out of daylight now. Nothing real interesting for today.