6/24:

One of these days - I'm going to write a book about my experiences in working on tractors.

 

Some of you saw at the pull at Hallsville - I was having clutch problems.  It slipped in the 7500lb class.  When I got home, I discovered oil on the clutch disk and flywheel.  Long story short - when you take the PTO guts out of a Cockshutt, you leave a hollow shaft from the engine to the rear-end housing.  When building this tractor - I had filled the shaft with silicone in order to "prevent" this from happening.

 

"Special thinks to JP Dunn (was gone to Michigan) and Brent Kusgen (Blew the Horn) for allowing me to get the win and 13 points - even with a bad clutch!"

 

OK - back to the story.  So - now I need to remove one of the rear tires, and the rear-end cover in order to get to the shaft.  What the heck, I'm off on Tuesday - should be an easy project - RIGHT????  I don't think I could have picked a more humid day to do it.  I get the tractor jacked up and get the wheel off.  Then take the  bolts out of the cover and remove it.  But wait, where is the hollow shaft at that I need to fix???   Oh yeah, there it is - all the way in front - where the cast covers the rear-end and you can't remove any cover!  I can just barley see it with a mirror and a light.  Yep, that's the one!  You can just reach it if you lay over the rear axle just right - and stick your arm and elbow down in the 90w oil!!  No need to worry about my hands being cracked now!!  (Did someone say something about preg checking a cow??????????????)  Quit Laughing!!!!!

 

So - I can feel it, but I can't see it.  OK - I CAN DO THIS!!!!  So I take a break, spend 15 minutes and about 1/2 of Fast Orange trying to get the 90w off my arm, and go eat lunch.  "If all else fails, take a break and get something to eat"  (No - that never happens to me!)  Quit Laughing!!!

 

Now - I make a trip to the hardware store and get a rubber expansion plug to fit the shaft.  I get home, and try to feel my way back into the area - and the plug is just a hare too tight.  So what the heck, its rubber, just shave a little off with a razor blade right - yeah!  Shave a little off the plug, and allot of skin off my THUMB!!!  Oh, more stock in Band-Aid!!!!

 

So I finally get the plug to go in far enough to stay, (the feeling is coming back in my thumb at this point - it is even starting to hurt), but I can't get the plug to go in far enough for my liking.  NOW - keep in mind, I did not drain all the fluid out - HAVE YOU PRICED OIL LATELY??  Who needs to drain out $50 worth of oil, to install a $4.00 plug???

 

Now - this plug is hanging there - and we need to "drive" it in further - right???  So I take a socket to fit the nut on the plug, put on an extension so I can reach it, and get a hammer.   ANY BODY SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING???  LESSON:  Anything made of rubber - if you hit it, it will bounce back out.   PLOOOP!!!!!  Out comes the plug, and falls "Somewhere" in the rear-end in the oil.  I thought it would be a good day to go fishing!!!

 

Can't reach it - Can't Find it!!  After wasting a ton of rags trying to wipe my hands off, I decide to get a magnet.  The plug has a metal bolt in it, so that should work - and low and behold, I caught a "fish".  Still don't want to drain $50 worth of oil!!!

 

Now - like an IDIOT!! - let's try that again.  But this time, it went in far enough to stay, but again - remember the lesson above.??  The socket and extension bounce out of my hand and PLOOOP, PLOOOP.  Now there are TWO FISH SWIMMING IN MY OIL!!!!!  AND DO YOU THINK I COULD FIND EITHER ONE????  NO WAY!!!

 

Now - some of you remember when I was working on this tractor a few years back, and I dropped a big washer in the same area, and couldn't get it out????  My wife came out and got it for me!  At this point - I'm thinking to my self - I'm going to get this stuff out - I ain't going through that humiliation again!!!!

 

What the heck, it's only $50 worth of oil, RIGHT!!  A man's pride is worth more than that!!!!!  So, now we drain the oil, and low and behold - there is my shiny socket and the extension - sure to never rust again!!!  But hey, I've got my pride right?????

 

Oh well - I was planning on changing the oil anyway!!!!

 

Now - back to the problem at hand.  The plug is in, but not far enough.  So - le'ts get a small bottle jack, and press the plug into the hole - easy enough, right?  Note to self:  Bottle jack + tight space + lack of enough hands = getting hand smashed against the bull gear!!!!!!!!!  Finally, I get the plug pushed in far enough - and get everything bolted up.

 

LIKE I SAID - I think I could write a good book about this mess!!!!

 

6/1:

I couldn't be prouder of being a MATPA member!!!!

 

Saturday went so smooth!!!  I have never seen a tractor pull go so well.  We had a total of 206 hooks!!!  That averaged a tractor every 2.6 minutes down the track!

 

SPECIAL THANKS:

 

Steve Timm, Dale Rackers, and Tom Grant for providing tractors to use all night for the Roller and Scraper!

 

And to those of you who worked all evening and helped out with track duties!!

 

And to Frank Young, Ethan Young, Brandon Young, Andrew Moore, Krista Nichols, Keegan Borts and Larry Borts for helping Friday night in getting everything ready for Saturday.

 

Hallsville is up next!!!  Hope to see everyone there!!