[AT] Best of ATIS? ---The D8 story -Karl's last post and his Secret Weapon!

Cecil R Bearden crbearden at copper.net
Wed May 9 05:08:11 PDT 2012


I guess as we get older those "adventures" get fewer.  It seems to take 
a lot longer now to do what I did 10 years ago.   I remember the 
adventure we had driving the 76 GMC fire truck from MT Holly NJ to OKC 
with Cecil Monson keeping track of where we were, and getting to visit 
with Farmer for a few minutes as we picked up a Onan generator that had 
been dropped  off at his place a day earlier.  We were so behind 
schedule on that trip due to the deceitful seller of that truck.  
Luckily the fellow I took with me and myself were experienced mechanics, 
even though he came down with the flu the first day out, and we were in 
one of the worst snowstorms on the Penn turnpike.  I still have the 
truck, and  have not been able to get the fire truck bed off and a winch 
bed on it.  Could be due to the same reason this has taken me so long to 
type, my hands are numb, and the fingers won't work....  I still have 
fond memories of going halfway across the country to haul something back 
I bought.  I don't do it much anymore, just going to the OKla line any 
direction and back is nearly $400 in gasoline.  That makes a lot of 
bargains not so much of a bargain.

Cecil in OKla



On 5/8/2012 12:49 PM, Mark Sargent wrote:
> Folks,
> Before the last post--- a few comments,  I'm glad some folks enjoyed it.
> Back in the heyday of the list there were quite a few 'adventure' tractor
> stories like Karl's (and Karl had a more of them).   Some of you have
> analyzed the decline of the list - I'm not sure if any of the analysis I
> read is true.
> I kept this thread at the time -because- it was just that good- there were a
> couple people on the list that said they were compiling the "Best of ATIS"
> threads but nothing ever came of it.    I glad I kept this one for Dad to
> read or I wouldn't have it.    Don't know if the Spencer keeps digests in
> the archives anymore - but digging posts out now would be chore to skim
> through- all of them from the mid to late '90s.    I  was hoping someone
> would pull out a post they kept.       At any rate-- my favorite ATIS
> posters of all time were :
> (my opinion only - you can come up with your own list)
>
> Karl Olmstead-  He did neat stuff and took the time to write about.
> George Willer-  He did some great stuff ( like the NFE Cub), wrote well, and
> always tried to help with questions-    George was/is a great guy.
> Richard Walker-  Early on - he was a reason to tune in to the list.
> Bill Hood- Texas guy that just got things done.  He could write, too.
> Mike Sloane- he had projects and the time to write-- He was/ also super
> helpful.
> Cecil Monson- Stories- he had more than a few few good ones!
>
> Don't get me wrong there was a lot of traffic - back in the day and you
> could always count on Farmer Robinson, Charlie Hill, Dean Vinson, Dean Van
> Perusem, Herb Metz, Bill Strickland, Gene Dotson- to come through with
> knowledge or a story every day!
> I know I'm leaving a lot of you out-- not on purpose- I'm  just forgetful.
> A lot of time the best threads were stories with only a passing reference to
> tractors.   Charlie reminisced one time  about Tobacco selling time on
> Tobacco road  in its heyday--- made you feel like you were there.  And there
> were others.
> Most of the time -- with this list - you felt like you got to know folks --
> because you would listen to them over a pretty long period of time-- respect
> and sometimes friendships -- naturally followed..
>
> There were a few bad apples- (my opinion only) Like Crispens, Walt,  Acton
> - but for the most part the core kept right on pluggin.     The digest of
> the list used to be a must read for me.  - It was like a good book.
>
> And Karl if you are listening-- Thanks for the stories and the  secret
> weapon!
>
> Take care,
> Mark
>
>
>
> Karl's last post  -
> --------------------
>
> Tractor Weekend (summary)
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
>
> To: "atis"<antique-tractor at atis.net>
> Subject: Tractor Weekend (summary)
> From: "Karl Olmstead"<olmstead at ridgenet.net>
> Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 17:12:00 -0800
> Posted-Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 17:18:36 -0800 (PST)
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
>
> When I drove up to Salida to get the D8's starting engine going, there was
> almost no doubt in my mind that I would succeed.  I'm not that great of
> mechanic, but I know how to stack the deck in my favor.
>
> Talking to the people at the trucking company where the Cat was stored, I
> knew that the pony motor had been run within the last year or so.  Then when
> the Cat was sold (it sold on ebay), the guys at the trucking company tried
> to start it for the buyer.  Three people, taking turns cranking and
> tinkering.  Three hours.  They failed, and the buyer took a hike.
>
> > From this information, I concluded that the pony wasn't stuck, and people
> had messed with the carb adjustments.  And apparently there weren't any
> major parts missing.  Odds were good that they hadn't had the time to louse
> up the magneto.
>
> So my working theory was that the carb was full of mung, all the adjustments
> were wrong, and the magneto might or might not have spark, but there was
> nothing seriously wrong with it.  When I got to the tractor, I cleaned the
> carburetor, verified that the valves weren't stuck and that there was
> compression, and I made sure that I had spark at the right time.  Once I
> knew that the ignition was OK, I went to work getting the carb adjusted
> properly.
>
> I took along Karl's Secret Weapon, which I mentioned briefly in the report
> last night.  I like to think that I've been helpful over the past couple of
> years on ATIS, but everything that I've done before pales in comparison with
> revealing the Secret Weapon.
>
> Naturally, I can't just tell you what it is; I'm going to milk this
> opportunity and work up to the revelation.  Learned a thing or two from
> farmer along the way, I have!
>
> When I was sixteen, (see what I mean?) my very first real job was doing
> appliance repairs for a little company called 'B Frank Repair', in Rapid
> City, S.D.  Frank would accept any kind of repair job, from toasters to
> washing machines to rototillers.  He was a Lawnboy dealer, and did repairs
> on other brands of mowers and tillers as well.  Actually, I don't think I
> ever saw Frank work on anything; he had me and a couple of other fellows to
> do the work.  The most important trick I learned while working 'up front'
> was that a 100 watt light bulb in series with an appliance will let you
> diagnose most problems without burning anything up.  Motors will run
> (weakly), toasters will heat, etc.
>
> Frank had a fellow with a hot-rod '57 Ford who fixed mowers at the back end
> of Frank's shop.  Along about midsummer, the mower repairman quit, and Frank
> asked me to take over.  I had tinkered a little with gas engines before, so
> it wasn't all new to me.  He handed me a few tools and turned me loose.  One
> of those tools was a squeeze handle oilcan full of gasoline.
>
> Over the remainder of the summer, I probably worked on 100 gas engines,
> mosly lawn mowers, but with a sprinkling of tillers and go-karts thrown in.
> During that time, not one engine failed to start while I worked on it.  I
> had a standard routine, and it worked EVERY TIME!
>
> First I made sure that the engine had spark.  If it didn't, I cleaned the
> plug.  If that didn't help, I pulled the flywheel and cleaned and set the
> points.  Once in a very great while, I had to replace a condenser.  After I
> had spark, I replaced the flywheel and set the carburetor adjustment screws
> to 1 1/2 turns open.  If the engine still wouldn't start, I used Karl's
> Secret Weapon (the oil can full of gasoline) to shoot gas into the
> carburetor.  You know what?  The engine _always_ fired.  Then, keeping the
> engine running by squirting gas into it, I fiddled with carb adjustment
> screws until the engine ran by itself.
>
> On really stubborn cases, I also squirted gas directly into the cylinder
> after removing the spark plug.  Gas injected that way will give you two or
> three good pops before it gets used up.
>
> Some people use ether (starting fluid) and accomplish the same thing.  It's
> never worked for me.  Ether evaporates so quickly that I've never managed to
> squirt and then crank soon enough.
>
> When I was starting the D8's pony motor Sunday morning, I squirted gas into
> the top of the carb (air cleaner removed), walked to the front of the
> tractor, and gave the crank a few spins.  I got the first pop on the fourth
> or fifth crank.  Then I KNEW that I was going to succeed.  I started
> fiddling with carb adjustments, squirting more gas into the carb, and
> cranking.  Pretty soon I had pop-pop.  Then three or four pops.  Then enough
> so I could get around to the carb and play with the choke.  Then the pony
> was running!  Didn't take long to get the idle and main jets set after that.
> The engine got stronger and stronger as I adjusted the screws.
>
> I have to admit, Karl's Secret Weapon is a pain to use on most tractors.
> First of all, you have to get access to the carb inlet, and that means that
> you have to get the hose off that couples the carb to the air cleaner.  Some
> times you even have to remove the air cleaner.  But trust me, it's worth the
> effort.  You can even run an engine without a carb by giving it rapid
> squirts of gas into the intake manifold.
>
> So, that's it.  My secret revealed.  Just don't tell that Cat mechanic up in
> Modesto.  Or the three guys from the trucking company who spent hours
> cranking their guts out trying to get the pony started.  You learned this
> trick because you subscribe to and support ATIS, therefore you deserved to
> know.
>
> 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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