Page 1 of 1

finally making headway today

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:31 pm
by BigBill
I been in a slump for a while energy wise. I went to a diabetic specialist and he switched my meds. Now everything is under control and were it should of been. I went outside and tore into my 3260 deck and wire brushed it and primed the under side. I took 4 rims amd wire brushed them and got all 4 primed and two of them finished painted. I even cut the lawn today too. I need to change out my PTO on 154 and put the 3260 mower deck back together with new bearings and seals. Then i need to flush the tranny. I noticed some white color in the hydraulic oil. If i don't run it the water will be on the bottom of the oil but i'll drain it all. The work on my fcub is next with my 154 fel/backhoe project insite soon too. Once there all done i'm retired for good its just little projects after this like watching the corn grow. I'm painting the 10'' x 7'' 5lug on 4 1/2'' rims for my 650-10 3 rib tires for the front of my FEL. I also have two new tru power tires for my 104 cadet too so two rims are for that too. I figured once the 4'' hand grinder was in my hands with the wire cup brush i might as well do the rims along with the mower deck too. Now i need to order the rear tires for my fel/loader the 11.2x24 ags. Bill

Re: finally making headway today

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:53 am
by outdoors4evr
Wow did you have an over-productive day! :{_}: :-:-): I usually pay for those with the next two days of downtime. :sick: No good deed goes unpunished!

Sure are anxious to find out how you are going to tackle the power steering for your FEL. I'd love to add electric power steering to my 184.

Re: finally making headway today

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 8:20 am
by b52c130
Big Bill,
Glad to see that you have gotten your energy back. We were missing the posts with the progress that you were making on your various projects. - NJDale

Re: finally making headway today

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 6:08 pm
by BigBill
Your right my old age is catching up to me now. I had a few good days and paid for it the next day. It took me a few hours to get up and out of bed. Now i know why my dad always sat in his chair resting as he got older. I been a do'er 24/7 for all of my life. My only enjoyment was working and doing things. I'll go slower now and steady like the tortise(turttle).

I got the 4 rims all wire brushed and 3 of them have tires on them now. I mounted the 650-10 3 rib tire on my orginal 10'' turf tire rims from my int154. These tires look awesome and i can't wait to get them on the 154. I'm starting to look ahead to the fcub rim centers with the farmall a 10'' x 24'' 4 loop rims to mount the 11.2 x 24 ag's on my 154 along with the 650-10 3 rib tires it should look neat and give me the more ground clearance i want too. The fcub rim centers don't fit inside the loops on the farmall a rims i need to fit them by hand so there a snug fit. So they won't come loose all the time. The bolts just hold them inplace and together. Its the snug fit that makes it work. I figure to knotch out the bolt clearance holes to make the rim center bolts line up with the rim loops. Then i'll take some 2''x3'' x 1/2'' plates with holes in them and put them on the rim centers and tac weld them in place rather than rely on the slots only. Then i can carefully weld up the slots into one hole once they line up and fit. then i can forget about it, for its done right.


Setting the ground clearance is needed first so i can start to fab the rear sub frame for the backhoe sub mounting bracket. I'm thinking about making a quick hitch on the backhoe too so i can remove it. Then a weight needs to take its place. I figure a twin mount with upper "U" slot shape that can accept a solid steel 3'' bar can act as the lower part of the hitch. Then i can have an upper bar that slides across the ears on the backhoe and the ears on the hitch so it will connect the backhoe to the subframe. The upper bar will hold the lower bar into the "U" slot on the backhoe bracket. I figure to use two large bore quick couplings on the control valve should work out ok too. Leaving the hoses long enough so the backhoe can be operated to mount it to the machine, you know on and off.

My power steering option is an excentric on the steering box with a rod with two roller bearings will move the rod connected to a control valve then i can attach the hydraulic cylinder to the front steering bracket that connects the two tie rods to the spindles. Thats one option. Another idea attaches the control valve with the cylinder on one plate that replaces the drag link. When the steering wheel turns it pushes on the control valve making the cylinder move to turn the wheels. The smaller the control valve and cylinder the better. Remember the lighter the better too.

I'm also thinking the front spindles need to be tapered roller bearings too. The trailer weld on spindles should workout ok too. I'm thinking about boxing the front axle with steel plates using the certainium castiron welding rod which i can weld steel to castiron. I've done it before. I need to fab new spindles so the tractor sits level with the 11.2x24 tires on the rear and the 650-10 tires on the front. It has to sit level and the subframe on the rear needs to be parallel with the tractors orginal frame too. The more ground clearance the better too. Thats why i'm going with the bigger tires for more height and ground clearance.

I'm going to add a channel on the subframe wide enough so i can cut it out to go around the final drives and it wll have slots in it for the brake rods closer to the frame. I will add another channel were the seat bracket was that will simulate the height of the seat bracket and go out towards the backhoe bracket and tie in with the lower subframe. This will be the upper and lower subframe that will hold the quick hitch for the backhoe. I need to run a flat plate near the brake pedals vertical to sandwich the upper and lower subframes with the orginal frame in the middle. This will hold it all together on the forward side of the final drives. I need to mount a piece of angle to attach the finals to the lower subframe too. One more thought is i need room past the finals in the frame to slide the tranny and finals to the rear so they can be removed if work is needed on them too. I need to think about room to do repairs too. I love a challange.

Now were thinking all this steel and added weight right? I need to do lightening holes and slots in the steel which won't affect the strength of the steel but i can't end up with amy moments (flexing/bending) in the steel too. The subframe has to be one solid box thats connected to the orginal tractors frame. I think i have a handle on the design now. It sounds complicated but its not. I have the picture in my mind.

I have all the steel for free that i need and for a few thousand dollars i'll have a machine i can work with and play with. I just don't want to spend 40k on a new one and have it sit there when i'm done with it. My two sons will also get involved in building it too. They need all my knowledge passed on to them now. My son thats a mechanical engineer gets upset when i tell him the design is on my CAD system in my mind. I can build it as i go with no do overs basically. I need to teach him he can fly by the seat of his pants when designing something. On my old job when doing R&D there so dam slow at it with meeting after meeting and by the time they hash it out i can have it build for testing. Everyone is so afraid to make a mistake it takes for ever to design a new product. Then if it fails they start all over again and repeat it till its right. I had to work weekends to make up for there mistakes and to meet there deadlines. Now my torch tanks are filled, i have plenty of welding rod and my hobart gas engine welder is running awesome thanks to connectikit here. I just need to go slow health wise. But this is my last hurrah with my sons helping me out on this one. Bill

BTW; My 650-10 3 rib tires have tubes in them. I'm brushing the inside rust off the rims too and priming them with the red rust primer too. This way the rims can't rust from the inside out like most tube rims do. Then a tad of silicone will stop the water from getting inside the rim too. A little rim sense goes a long way.