[AT] Got some raking to do

Scott Williams swillia5 at rochester.rr.com
Tue Oct 18 13:44:44 PDT 2016


I'm quite surprised at how brittle the copper is on these tubes, as I try to break out cooling fins, the tubes are splitting open, so I don't feel that "folding over" the end of a cut tube would work.  I've ordered a new one.  Now to do some welding.  With a long extension cord.  Wish me luck.

Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of charlie hill
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2016 12:52 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] Got some raking to do

If you don't want to replace the radiator right away just break out the cooling fins around the leaking tubes and crimp the tubes off.  Then you can solder them shut.
It won't have much effect on the cooling unless you are working the tractor very hard.
Bend the end of the tube over and crimp it shut.  Then solder.  It won't look pretty but it's been done many times by others.

Tractor Supply might just have those brass nuts you need.  If not they can be ordered online.
I wouldn’t worry much about it.  Just put Steel nuts on it.  Better yet use stainless steel studs and nuts and put never seize on the threads both in the manifold and on the nut end.
My experience with brass nuts is that they come loose.

Charlie

-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Williams
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2016 11:14 PM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
Subject: [AT] Got some raking to do

We wanted to raise the level of the soil in front of our new house, which was built quite tall because we're reusing the septic tank from the burned house, and this house is a little downhill from that tank.  Also, the ground has always been a mess because it's really an old farm dumpsite, with multiple barns bulldozed under over the years, lots of concrete and asphalt, etc., and the surface had a lot of gravel and plaster, really not the best soil.  Anyway, we had about 20 truckloads of fill dropped off by the town
(free) and paid the neighbor kid, who works in excavation, to move the soil and level it with a rented Bobcat track loader.  There were some rocks and concrete in the fill (even some big ones) which he separated out when he could, and he compacted it pretty well with that loader.  Overall it was pretty good soil, and we should be able to seed it without paying for topsoil, if we can get it raked up to accept seed.  Plus raking it will help us find any other rocks we should pull out before seeding.  I have a York rake, but it has a broken weld on it.  Need to weld that up with flux core wire, and also need to get my MF135 working.  I tried to patch the leak in the radiator with JB Weld, but the leak went farther than I thought, so as soon as I refilled, it was leaking like crazy.  Now I'll try once more with epoxy, and if it fails again, I'll order a replacement.  They're about $137, not terrible. but they're talking about charging us a LOT to hook the gas line up to the new house, so money is getting really tight as this house project drags on.



I also have a broken exhaust manifold, and got a new replacement with gaskets, but didn't get any studs/nuts with that.  Will an auto parts store like AutoZone or Advance Auto have the brass nuts for the studs?  I haven't been by one to ask, just hoping that's the case.  It runs with the broken manifold, but chokes me out with black smoke if it gets bogged down, and is quite loud.  Actually, I believe there was a big chunk missing off the backside of the manifold flange when I bought it, that I never noticed until the other two broke away, so it should be quieter than ever, once replaced.



I have to say this little diesel is very satisfying to run, the way it really seems to dig in when the going gets tough.  I've got to try to find some good metal to make a brush guard with, to protect the radiator from future damage.  Does anyone have any suggestions for sources of free scrap metal?  I'm thinking I can probably find some old bed frames, something like that.  There was a cast iron sewer grate in the fill dirt, that would be awesome as a grill guard (not very convenient to remove, but would work as a weight on the front) - but not something I'm equipped to attach to the front of the tractor.  Actually, the kid may have buried it with the rocks, anyway.



Scott in Penfield NY



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