[AT] refusing to replace old equipment - N-Complete

[charliehill]

I saw a good idea on a mower tractor this fall and I think I'll try it.  It 
was on a 185 AC.  The guy had welded a hinge on one side of the grill and 
put a latch on the other side so he could open it without taking any bolts 
out.  That wasn't the good idea in my mind but I guess it worked for him.

What was the good idea was he put a furnace filter inside the grill over the 
front of the radiator.  Kept the seeds out and is easy to remove, shake out 
or replace and get back to running again.

Charlie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen Offiler" <soffiler at gmail.com>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 8:01 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] refusing to replace old equipment - N-Complete


>A radiator clogged with weed seed is far from unique and I am more
> than a bit surprised Tom was so stumped that he was ready to drop in a
> whole new engine.  Kudos for standing behind his work, certainly; but
> not for troubleshooting skills.
>
> Steve O.
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 10:33 PM, Keith Kinney
> <kkinney at herculesengines.com> wrote:
>> About 35-40 years ago my Grandpa replaced our Ford 8N with a 1956 Ford
>> 600.  The 600 has been our main tractor around the place, 22 acres,
>> ever since.  7 or 8 years ago it was getting to the point where it was
>> just worn out. We'd rebuilt the engine 20 or so years prior but it was
>> time again plus everything else was tried on the tractor.  Mom wanted
>> dad to invest in a new tractor that would be reliable but he didn't
>> want to spend the $20-$25,000 for a new, similar sized, compact
>> tractor.  I had heard about N-Complete and suggested for less than
>> half of new he could have the 600 "re-newed" and we'd still have
>> Grandpa's tractor.  He thought about it a while and finally had it done.
>>
>> It came back looking like new.  Everything went great until he tried
>> bush hogging with it.  After about a 1/2 hour of cutting it would over
>> heat.  Actually the first time it over heated and after he let it sit
>> a few hours to cool down the engine was locked up.  What we discovered
>> is the gas cap didn't have a vent and the fuel boiled and pressurized
>> the tank filling a cylinder or two with fuel.  Tom immediately sent us
>> a new fuel cap and carburetor.  But, it still continued to over heat.
>> We took it back to them, a 5 hour drive each way for us, but they
>> claimed they couldn't duplicate the problem and try it again.  After a
>> second trip and still no duplication of the problem Tom came to our
>> place and watched what we did.  He saw first hand that it would over
>> heat after bush hogging for 1/2 our or so and it wasn't something we
>> were doing wrong.  He tried several things but still had the problem.
>>
>> So he said if we'd bring it back one more time he would put a newly
>> remanufactured engine into the tractor as he couldn't think of
>> anything else to try.  Bear in mind this has been going on for a few
>> years by now.  We took it back to Tom.  This time he finally found the
>> problem.  The new radiator he put in when he originally rebuilt the
>> tractor did not have proper distance between the fins.  It was an
>> automotive radiator core not a farm radiator???  The problem was the
>> radiator was clogging up with weed seeds and overheating.  Anyway, he
>> went ahead and put a new engine in the tractor, replaced the radiator,
>> and put a screen in front of the radiator to keep the weed seed out.
>> We haven't had any overheating problems with it since.
>>
>> We did go through a lot of inconvenience with the whole process but I
>> will have to commend Tom and N-complete for standing behind their
>> work.  I'd certainly have no problem having them rebuild another one
>> for us or purchase one of their rebuilt tractors.
>>
>> Here's some pictures of some of our tractors including the 600:
>> http://www.herculesengines.com/tractors/
>>
>> Keith
>> www.herculesengines.com
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