[AT] Out with the new, in with the old

[Steve W.]

Greg Hass wrote:
> Last night I took my brother to the local IH dealer to pick up his 
> tractor; they parked it outside so we could get it after hours ( also we 
> are only 3 miles away). It is one of those more or less compact tractors 
> of just over 60 hp. It has front wheel assist, a loader, and a cab. He 
> bought it new and it has about 600 hours on it; 36,000 miles on a car. 
> He always said because he bought it new he was going to keep it up in 
> good condition. It had several problems, none that seemed serious; the 
> front wheel assist light stayed on whether it was in 4 wheel drive or 
> not, the brake light flickered all the time, the water temperature 
> didn't register, and the ground speed gauge didn't work. Well, after 
> having it for 2 weeks it still isn't all fixed. First off, because of 
> their high shop rates ($77 per hour) they don't check parts, just 
> replace them. For the 4 wheel light, they first replaced the switch, 
> when that didn't work they replaced the solenoid which solved the 
> problem. The brake light they claim was low fluid; my brother said when 
> he checked it was within one quarter inch so we'll see. They replaced 
> the water temp. sensor so time will tell. The ground speed they claim 
> they don't have a clue; they replaced the sensor but that didn't help. 
> They think it could be in the wiring harness but don't know. They said 
> they have 12 volts at the sensor and only 1.3 volts at the other end, 
> but don't know what the end voltage should be. They said there are 15 
> different connections between the sensor and the gauge, some having as 
> many as 12 pins at each connection. Also they said if were a warranty 
> job they would probably change the wiring harness; however, the harness 
> is $2000 and $1000 to put it in, so they sent it home saying just how 
> much money do you want to throw at it.
> Now to the old; my newest tractor is 24 years old, the other 3 are 
> upwards of 40 years old. All have the original speed meters and all 
> work, also all my tractors have over 6000 hours on them, however they 
> never heard of a computer. How many of these new tractors will still be 
> working in 45 years? Some will argue that isn't the point, you put a lot 
> of hours on in a few years and junk them. I just wasn't raised that way, 
> but was taught to take care of equipment and have it last. When I was a 
> kid, we had a 4 bar hay rake (the kind where the basket went back at a 
> 45 degree angle) and the rule was in a 20 acre field you greased the 
> bars every 4 rounds and the complete rake every 12 rounds. Seems a 
> little craze, but it outlasted 3 rakes that my uncle had. I do believe, 
> and some others agree with me, that those who are 50 and up will be the 
> last group of small farmers. It is getting very hard to find smaller 
> equipment that is in good enough shape to use
>   at a price you can afford. Also, at the high price of parts it is hard 
> to get a worn out piece and rebuild it. When I go to the field, having 
> old equipment doesn't bother me as long as works without too many 
> breakdowns (more on that to come in the future). So, as nice as some of 
> these new tractors are, I think I will keep my old ones that by and 
> large I can fix by myself, and not have a dealer try and fix them by 
> just putting in new parts until it works.
>          Greg Hass
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Sounds like a typical dealer of any motorized equipment these days. If 
they can't swap out a part and have it work they give up.

There should be an easy way to check the speed meter. As a simple test 
to eliminate the harness, just run a jumper wire from the sensor up to 
the connection with the computer. Look at the wiring diagram and it 
should be an easy bypass, just watch if it says something like "signal 
buffer" or similar between the sensor and computer. You don't want to 
bypass that (probably doesn't have one external to the computer but???)

Just look over the wiring diagram, it should not be that hard to follow.

-- 
Steve W.