[AT] California Tractors - was RE: . Best of ATIS? -The D8 story Karl's Post

Grant Brians sales at heirloom-organic.com
Sat May 5 12:32:15 PDT 2012


Herb's post reminds me of his pleasant visit with his wife to us. As list
members know, my vegetable farm has gotten larger and we are actually almost
ready to test the D8 that I acquired 4 years ago now. I'll wait for updates
on that story till I can give the whole story.
     But Herb's post brings up something that I would like to note for the
list. We really are kind of cut off from the midwestern and eastern majority
on this list by the vast distances and the different conditions we have. I
saw Karl and John Boehm to wave at at the Tulare show last month, and
Richard Walker and I were watching the ACMOC work "pit" at the show - that
is a post that needs to happen! I am so unbelievably busy with getting the
farm to the point of supporting my family better that I just have not been
able to socialize like I would like to. I now farm 235 acres and am
negotiating to pick up another ranch or two if I can. As a comparison to the
midwest, most of my cropland (leased and owned) has two or more crops per
year grown on it, we harvest every week of the year (last year our shortest
field crew work week was 4 days Christmas week and otherwise they work
either 5 or 6 days a week year round), and we will start Potato harvest
before the end of this month.
     I will continue on the list, but not always get to posts in an even
remotely timely manner. I will invite ATIS and Farmall list members to visit
when they are near the Santa Clara Valley here and also mention that I am
looking for a local to me parts Oliver 77 and a parts Farmall 100....
          Grant Brians
          Hollister,California vegetable, fruit and nuts farmer

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com]On Behalf Of Herb Metz
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2012 11:00 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] . Best of ATIS? -The D8 story Karl's Post


I can remember when Karl first posted this message. By then we all knew he
was good; but making known his plans was a bit surprising.   But, he did it.
Last I heard, Karl was still active on Farmall list. His posts were always
informative and educational.
A one acre garden takes too much time for me to read all posts; but if
memory serves he sold that "running D8" before heading home.
At the Tulare, CA April 2008 Tractor Show, I briefly met Karl; but he was on
a tight schedule and had some commitment (buying or selling) that took
priority.   However, my old college roommate (we both had 350 ccc. Triumphs)
and I were treated to a several hour personalized tour by Richard Walker and
Don Bowen.  By the end of this tour we both felt as though we had attended
the last several years Tulare shows.
Also saw John Boehn and his show tractor.  First met John several years
earlier when he gave a tour of his many special JD NFEs and Hi-Crops.
The next day we drove over to Grant Brians and had a short tour of his
sizeable operation. Barbara still mentions the beautiful roses his mother
raised.
Herb

Cc: "Monika" <m.lenz at rrh.org>
Posted-Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 21:06:26 -0800 (PST)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I had the D8's starting engine running pretty well.

I had checked the coolant and oil in the main engine.  Hmm.. oil is only
midway up dipstick.  Better check it when the engine is running (that's what
the book says).  Coolant is OK.  Pony oil is down a bit, too.

Showtime!  Let's see if the pony can turn over the main engine.  Latched the
starter pinion, engaged the clutch, and the main engine was turning!  I let
it spin five or ten minutes with the compression release set to 'start'.
Oil pressure climbed to almost the middle of the gauge.  Moved the
compression release lever to the 'half' position, where three cylinders are
allowed to compress fully.  Ran there for a while, and moved the compression
release to 'run', where all cylinders get full compression.  Started playing
with main engine throttle.  In another five or ten minutes, I started
getting puffs of black smoke from main engine exhaust, but that was it.
After fiddling for a while longer, I remembered that I had set the starting
engine's transmission to 'low', which is mainly for spinning the engine in
subzero weather.  It doesn't spin the diesel gast enough to start it.

Shifted the starting transmission to 'high', re-engaged the clutch, and the
1246 c.i. diesel began to spin much more quickly.  I climbed back onto the
seat and began playing with the throttle some more.  It took me quite a
while to find the throttle; it had been moved to a big lever to the left of
the seat so that it could be operated from the winch platform.  Gradually
the number of black puffs from the exhaust began to increase.  At least
twenty minutes of cranking, by then.  I began to wonder how I'd know when
the diesel engine was actually running.  Then, all of a sudden, the pony
motor began to speed up.  Runaway?  I jumped back down and disengaged the
pony clutch.  And realized that the main engine was still running!!  Jumped
back up to the seat and played with the throttle.  Sure enough, it was
running!  I shut off the fuel petcock to the pony motor, but the carb holds
so much gas that it took a long time for the starting engine to quit.  It is
considerably louder than the main engine.  Pony finally died.

I have to admit, at this point I almost chickened out.  Unless you've
climbed up on one, you have no idea how BIG a D8 is.  The thought of putting
it in gear and driving it was, frankly, pretty scary.  But I did it.  Shoved
that big transmission shifter into first gear, got my feet ready to brake,
moved the throttle up a little, and pulled back on the flywheel clutch.  We
were moving!  Pulled back on right turning clutch, nothing happened. Stomped
right brake, and the Cat spun to the right.  Tried same on left side, and it
worked perfectly.  Suddenly, I was king!  I could go anywhere, do anything!
I even tried reverse.  Steered quite nicely.  Drove the Cat back to where it
was parked and put it in neutral.  Time to look for leaks and check the oil.
No leaks, but the dipstick had only a tiny spot of oil at the very tip.
Oops.. shutdown time.

I was pretty happy with the first run, but I needed oil.  Drove around and
found a convenience store/gas station.  Asked the lady if she'd sell me a
case or two of oil.  She did.  $50.00 for 24 quarts.  I hate buying quarts!

Back to the Cat.  Dumped a case and a half into the crankcase, then checked
fuel injection pump.  It needed a quart.  Pony got another quart.  Dumped
the rest into the main engine.  Six gallons, all together.

Starting engine lit right off.  Main engine started almost immediately.
Hadn't cooled down much; lots of heat stored in that big motor.  Wonder what
it weighs; it's five or six feet long.  Drove around a bit more and liked
how it felt.  I hate to say it, but if I closed my eyes, it was exactly like
driving Richard Walker's Cat 22.  No more difficult.  But bigger when I
opened my eyes!

-- end of part two --

Karl Olmstead   <olmstead at ridgenet.net>

K&F Engineering     Ridgecrest, CA
Karl's Old Tractor Page:  <http://members.xoom.com/kolmstead>




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