[AT] bobbing for drain plugs

Tue Oct 31 14:57:38 PST 2006

Charlie,
    You clean up spilled fuel? I just toss a match on it....
You should have seen how a local fire department cleaned up a rather 
large spill.... OOPS they say they didn't know that a flare would ignite 
the fumes!!!!

charlie hill wrote:
> Chris I had a similar problem today.   I was changing out fuel oil drums 
> for my furnace.  The old one had been pulled out of place and was 
> sitting on a trailer.  The new one was finally in place and I was ready 
> to start piping it up.  I needed to take the valve, filter, etc. off the 
> old tank and put it on the new one.  Not much of a problem except that 
> the old tank still has about 50 gal or so of fuel in it.  The solution 
> was to pick up the end of the tank with the boom on my tractor.  It was 
> sitting right there since I had used it to set the new tank in place.  I 
> put a chain around the old tank, lifted the end high enough to get the 
> fuel away from it, removed the valve, filter, etc and screwed the valve 
> from the new tank into the old one.
> 
> I sprained my knee in early August and haven't been real mobile for a 
> while. It's better now but I still get tired pretty easy so I went in 
> for a break. I had something to drink and a little snack and headed back 
> out about 15 minutes later.   As I got to the tank I heard what sounded 
> like water running.  NOT WATER.  Diesel fuel.   The lift on the tractor 
> had leaked down as I knew it would.  What I hadn't figured on was the 
> valve not sealing.  I had screwed it in until it stopped but failed to 
> realize that it was just jammed and not shut all the way.  I had a 1/4" 
> diameter flow of fuel pouring onto the ground into a puddle that looked 
> to be at least 5 gals.
> 
> I did have an advantage over you.  My finger  would go over the end of 
> the valve and close it off but there I was with my finger in the dike so 
> to speak.  After some careful one hand reaching and breaking I was able 
> to break off part of a hedge bush and jam it into the valve.  It slowed 
> the flow down to a trickle and I headed for the tractor to raise the 
> lift again. In my haste I hit the lift lever a little too hard, the boom 
> came up until it topped out.  That snached the chain loose and the tank 
> fell.
> 
> Well, at that point I guess the luck gods figured I had enough and my 
> luck changed.  The tank landed square on top of the trailer tire and the 
> other end wedged into the trailer frame and it sat right there like it 
> was welded in place.  I fixed the valve and all is well again except for 
> all of that fuel on the ground that I'm gonna have to get up ...... 
> sometime.
> 
> Yeah,  I know what kind of day you had!  LOL
> 
> Charlie
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Britton" 
> <c.britton at worldnet.att.net>
> To: <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 2:02 PM
> Subject: [AT] bobbing for drain plugs
> 
> 
>> For those needing a good laugh!
>>
>> Well, My new tranny fill plug/dipstick came in this weekend at CNH. My 
>> ford 5000, up until this point.. just had the fill plug, sans 
>> dipstick. I knew it had probably broke off and had been laying at the 
>> bottom of the trans for decades.. but hadn't found it on previous 
>> services.
>>
>> I got my buckets and new oil and headed tot he barn. had my tools 
>> layed out.. creeper.. etc. Tranny drain is about 12 quarts or so. A 5g 
>> bucket won't fit under very well, and let you manipulate the tools.. 
>> so i only had a 1g bucket. Plan was.. as I have always done, is to 
>> remove the plug, ( check for accumulated water .. just for curiosity, 
>> as the plug just starts to come loose), then hold the plug close, and 
>> when the bucket gets to 75%, start screwing it back in. That works 
>> -great- untill you drop the plug into the bucket!!! The plug is large 
>> too.. a thumb doesn't quite plug the hole.. though does dramatically 
>> slow it down.
>>
>> So there I was.. laying on the creeper, propped up with back against 
>> right rear tire...left thumb stuck in tranny drain... UTF generously 
>> running down my arm, while my right arm and hand were frantically 
>> searching the drain pail for the blasted plug!.. Got the plug, and got 
>> the drain plugged back up... Bucket was at 99%... At this point.. 
>> creeper only has a couple drops on it.. ( my shirt was pretty good at 
>> sopping up the excess coming down my left arm... ).. floor is clean.. 
>> amazingly.. Had to drag the drain bucket over to my 'bulk' drain ( a 
>> 55g drum i keep to fill with drain fluids.. then haul to work to have 
>> picked up with other drain oil for free ). And then i repeat the 
>> process, sans dropping the blasted plug.
>>
>> In my defense.. this is not a typical hex or square headed plug.. it's 
>> one of those inverted square heads.. like for a 1/2 socket or breaker 
>> bar drive.. not much to hold on to.
>>
>> On the upside, i did find the remenant of the old dipstick.. right 
>> were I thought it was.. safely in the lowest part of the sump, intact, 
>> but bent in a semicircile with a few gear marks on it.. looks like it 
>> may hve been bent by a previous owner, and when tractor moved, a gear 
>> snatched it out of the cap, drug it down the side of the housing ( low 
>> clearance.. thus bending the post ), and then depositing it into the 
>> lowest part of the sump near the drain.
>>
>> it took a telescoping magnet to find the end of the stick and fish it 
>> out.. but i do feel better that it is now out.. I wouldn't want it to 
>> ride the 'train' and take any more trips thru the tranny. Previously, 
>> when i first got her, I looked at the gears.. I saw a couple with 
>> minor side chips.. but no teeth missing... nothing i havn't seen 
>> before on an antique tractor. I coulddn't find the dipstick then.. 
>> glad i found it now.
>>
>> I figured a few of you may have needed the laugh.
>>
>> On the upside.. the oil was nice and clean... good to know i have no 
>> water leaks.. and no metal bits came out.. that's always a plus.
>>
>> After I got all the utf off, I primed and painted the new cap ( even 
>> has a FOMOCO ) logo on it.. nice.. And she now matches the rest of the 
>> tractor..
>>
>> I kept thinking.. good thing this wasn't one of those 2" bung drains 
>> like a ford N has... I'd have never got the oil stopped trying to find 
>> that plug!!
>>
>> Soundguy
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
>> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at 
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
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> 

-- 
Steve W.
Near Cooperstown, New York

Pacifism - The theory that if they'd fed
Jeffrey Dahmer enough human flesh,
he'd have become a vegan.