[AT] Cleaning out Tractor cooling system

[robinson at svs.net]

On 17 Jan 2005 at 20:57, Ralph Goff wrote:

> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <robinson at svs.net>
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 2:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [AT] Cleaning out Tractor cooling system
> 
> 
> > The shop is below zero today and so is my ambition level. I have Diana's
> > Lincoln jacked up to repair what turned out to be a hole in a brake line.
> I
> > just couldn't bring myself to lay on that zero floor to do it today.
> 
> The older I get the less I enjoy working on the floor underneath a vehicle. I
> can still recall years ago when my brother's two and a half ton Buick fell off
> the blocks a few seconds after he had crawled out from under it. Nowadays I like
> to make use of the grease pit that my other brother built in his garage a few
> years ago. It was a lot of work but sure nice to be able to stand up straight
> under the vehicle and do whatever maintenance is required.
> 
> Ralph in Sask.




	We have discussed pits several times over the years here. Some guys are 
terrified of them and some love them. I understand some places have banned 
them. I had one in my shop out on the highway when I was doing automotive work 
and I loved it. In some ways they are better than a lift especially if you have 
two guys working. One can work from the top while the other works from the 
bottom. I started to dig one in my shop here on the farm but lost all of my 
volunteer help at that time and just filled it back in. I still may put one 
over in the south end of the existing shop later. I even dug one outside over a 
tile ditch once and used it for a couple of years but it was just a temporary 
thing and was in the wrong place. I have an old two rail frame lift that I was 
going to put in but decided against it for safety reasons. If I get to the 36' 
X 36' addition on the south end of the shop soon I would like to put in a floor 
lift. Those two post above the floor lifts are getting quite reasonable but 
really eat the space. I was in a fellows large auto shop where he had two of 
them and it used half of his shop. Lifts and pits are not very useful on old 
tractors and I have reached the stage where I hate working on cars...
	I hope to get some hot water heat under the area of the concrete floor where I 
get under cars by doing a horizontal bore and I think that will help a lot.
	One of the things on my wish list is one of those hydraulic platforms that sit 
almost on the floor and then jack up to about bench height. Also I have a chain 
hoist overhead but would still like a mobile engine hoist. Those are getting 
less expensive too.
	My big wish item (almost must have) is a good pneumatic tired fork lift with a 
good safety cage. It is almost up to number one on my list... I'm getting too 
old to keep wrestling as much stuff around as I do. Its time to change some 
things. I also plan to use it to move hay on oversized pallets. I can stack 
them two high and sit them up in the lofts. From there I can position them with 
a hand pallet dolly.

-- 
farmer, Esq.
      Wealth beyond belief, just no money...


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net



-- 
Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.6.5 - Release Date: 12/26/04