Steve's Table

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!!

5/28:

As I was reminded the other night - sorry for not posting anything for awhile. Things have been really busy around the homestead. Between getting a new tractor ready for this year, getting a track prepared out of mud, a class reunion at our house, grass growing (that reminds me, I need to mow my yard), truck needs worked on, e-mails need to be sent, the mess in the car business (yes, we are still in business), helping out with the fire department, and above all - trying to get back in the habit of going to church every Sunday ------ somehow, I didn't get anything posted here for all our loyal fans to read. Again, sorry folks.

Lets catch up on a few things:

I'm sure as I write this - and some of you read it - you will be thinking "Man, what a pup!", and then some of you will be thinking "Man, what an old fart!" Anyway, in May we had our 15-year high school reunion at our house. It took a lot of cleaning and preparing for this - sending out invitations, cleaning house, keeping stuff picked up (yeah, two boys don't help this much), and getting food prepared. But all in all - it was great to catch up with old friends who I hadn't seen in quite some time. But, here is one point I learned from my reunion. There were 16 kids in my Senior class at Jamestown, several of them stuck around Jamestown - and I see them regularly. We were very close for a class that small. Heck, I spent 13 years of my life with these people. We did everything together: church, sports, FFA, band, high school jobs, everything. Couldn't get much closer - or so I thought. Back to my point - here I am sitting around a bunch of my best friends from high school. And you know what I realized??? I have only really been tractor pulling since the late '90s - and if something happened to me, and I needed help - I can think of a couple of my high school friends that would help. But let me tell you something, I can think of a TON of my tractor pull friends that would help me in a time of need. I know this for a fact!! I've been working on this tractor for a couple of years now - and everyone has been happy to lend some advise or a helping hand! I can't think of a better bunch of people to be around!!!!

The Fun Pull. When I accepted the job of President - I told everyone that I was not going to be able to take off work on Saturday's to make it to the tractor pulls. So - I would help get things in order - but someone else would have to get them going at start time. And again - I couldn't get a better bunch of guys to help. All the officers and board members have been a great asset to MATPA! They took the muddy mess and made it work (along with the help of some of the members). We were able to have the Fun Pull - and get some practice with the tractors for the 2009 season.

Then:

The pull on May 16th - or should I say May 17th (thanks again Mother Nature). Here we go again - rain out and have to reschedule the pull. And AGAIN - MATPA members shine!! It took a lot of work to get the track ready this time. The grass had to be mowed one night, and then the next night - we got a lot of rain. So we moved it to Sunday. But - on Saturday, several members showed up to work on the track and make sure it worked for Sunday's pull. They worked from about 1pm until sundown on Saturday getting ready. Thank you guys!!! - you know who you are.

All in all folks - my point here - is it takes a lot of man hours, and a lot of hard work to get these pulls put on. Oh - and that is a lot of unpaid man hours, and a lot of unpaid hard work. That doesn't even count the people who do all the line up, hooking and unhooking, scales, roller, scraper, and entry and payback! It takes a lot of work for us, as tractor pullers, to have a place to go pulling!!!!

I'll admit - it rubbed me a little wrong at first to hear some people complaining about paying the $3 to get in last Sunday at the pull. Normally, we would give this back to the pullers at their first hook. But folks - things are increasing in cost - and if we don't cover the actual "Cost" of putting these pulls on - we are not going to be able to continue pulling at these locations. I really wish I could make things work, and make decisions that will make everyone happy. But - no matter how hard I try - it seems that I can't get that done. So - on that page - the following will make some of you happy, make some of you mad, and hopefully make all of us think.

We rely on clubs like the MRVSEA, Pilot Grove FFA, County Fair Committees, Lion's Clubs, and other organizations to "host" or "promote" our pulls. That means they put up the front-money, and provide us with a place to pull. Then we come in and bring all our tractors, and family, and pull. We should be a self-supporting organization. We cannot expect the fundraising groups to pick up the tab because our hook fees will not even pay for the sled, scales, and MATPA insurance.

Here is how the money turned out at the Pull last Sunday:

222 Hooks x $15.00

50% payback - now we have $7.50 per hook

$5 per hook for sled - now we have $2.50 per hook

$2 per hook for MATPA Club - now we have .50 per hook

So - 222 hooks x .50 = $111

The scales cost $125

We Lost $14 on the total pull of 222 Hooks. The largest "One Sled" event we have ever had - and we lost $14. Something has got to change guys.

Sled fees had to go up - they have been the same ever since we started using Ben. We were getting the same rate for 130 to 150 hooks, as he gave some of the places with only 75 hooks. So now - he does it on a per-hook basis. This actually makes it easier for us to figure - and make sure we don't loose money for the "Host".

What I want people to think about - and there has been a lot of talk between the board and officers about this - is that we go to 40% payback. This will generate another $1.50 per hook to go towards paying for the sled, scales, and MATPA fee. This only effects the top three pullers in each class. It will reduce their payback amount by 10%. If we would have done this last week - the Steam Engine Show would have made $319. Then - maybe we could have paid back the $3 they collected to get in the gate. But look at it this way guys - they have the fuel bill for the tractors, the electric bill for the lights, and the restroom facilities to pay for. AND - They need to make a little for their time and effort. That's why it is called a fundraiser. Pullers keep bringing up - "Why do we have to pay for putting on the show?" Well, the only pull we go to that has a lot of people sitting around to watch is the Showdown pull in September (Why? They have the show going on at that time - AND Pullers do not have to pay to get in because the show generates money to cover the expenses.) Spectators, under normal circumstances, do not pay the way for us to pull. It is our duty to make sure we are covering our cost. A club that all of us have worked extremely hard to build, could be torn down very quickly by not covering expenses.

I wish we could have given gate money back to the pullers Sunday - especially to those of you who helped day and night getting ready for the pull, and those who worked hard AT the pull. You know who you are - I don't have to name names. Maybe this Saturday - we will give the $2 back on your first hook. But keep in mind guys - we are just trying to cover our cost - and have a safe and fun time pulling our tractors!!!

Enough of my rambling!

Above all - A BIG THANK YOU to the MATPA members who help keep me sane, and those who help put on and prepare for the pulls!!!! See you Saturday!!

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