[AT] Proper introduction? (Long''')
Scott Williams
swillia5 at rochester.rr.com
Fri Sep 16 22:46:17 PDT 2016
After leaving my machine stuck out in a mud pit all last winter, I totally
get needing 4wd. My little 135 is a lot of bang for my buck, though. I've
seen no equivalent 4wd machine for even twice the price. I'm very pleased
to have it working again, and feel much better with clean, dry oil in the
trans.
Time to make room in the old garage, so I can keep it dry this winter.
Scott in Penfield NY
-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Mike M
Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2016 1:05 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] Proper introduction? (Long''')
Scott, welcome to the list. I had a MF 255 that was a great tractor.
Only reason I got rid of it was I needed 4wd. If I'm not mistaken there is a
filter screen accessible from the bottom of the tractor when the fluid is
emptied. It's a small mesh tube that needs to be cleaned. If you neglected
to clean this screen it could be adding to your problems.
I see you put the Traveller brand universal fluid in the transmission, that
should work fine. If you need to drop the fluid again and clean the screen
it's really not that big of a deal, just get a couple clean containers to
put the fluid into. Hope this helps.
Mike M
On 9/16/2016 10:54 PM, Scott Williams wrote:
> I seldom see things on Auction Time that are near enough to me. Right
> now there is a really nice back blade on there - in Indiana. One of
> the really big auction sites locally is AuctionsInternational.com.
> Lots of government entities, a few businesses, not much else.
> Auctions in NY, some PA, some farther east (Vermont, New Hampshire,
> Massachusetts.) The government stuff can be great. I really like how
> they don't usually put reserve prices on anything - hey, it isn't
> their money! That's where I found my Alamo flail, sitting unused
> behind a neighboring county's highway department. They mostly use
> offset flails and the hydraulic wing flails, so this basic unit was
> surplus. I keep my eye out on that site for flatbed trailers, other
implements, etc. Sometimes things sell quite low there, but not always.
> There are a few local auction house websites that I watch pretty
> regularly, too.
>
> Someone mentioned the farm auctions. There are a couple big farm
> consignment auctions coming up, but I don't see any box blades listed.
> I suspect that prices would be best at auctions that are live-only (no
> "online
> bidding") because then the pool of bidders is limited to the guys
> standing around the lot. If what you want comes up later in the day,
> there may not be that many people left when it sells. But you have
> to drive a couple hours or more, and stand around, just to find out if
> prices are any good or not. It has been a long time since I've been
> to a live auction. I always felt a little intimidated by them (get
> your number, remember the buyer's premium, etc.)
>
> There's a guy almost two hours from me selling a Woods box blade (not
> super heavy duty) for $750. I've seen really heavy duty ones sell for
> a lot less than that, but right now I'm not seeing anything else
> available. I'm thinking of offering him $500 and see what happens. I
can't go over $600.
> I can wait and see if a better deal comes up at a farm auction, but
> I'd really like to get one before winter hits. This "gravel" driveway
> of ours will be a mud pit if I can't turn it with a blade. I think it
> will be easier to do before it gets really wet, too (says the guy
> who's never done it before.)
>
> Scott in Penfield NY
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Tyler
> Juranek
> Sent: Friday, September 16, 2016 9:22 PM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Subject: Re: [AT] Proper introduction? (Long''')
>
> Scott,
> Keep your eye on
> http://www.auctiontime.com/
> You'll be surprised what you can find there.
> Take Care,
> Tyler Juranek
> IA
>
> On 9/15/16, Scott Williams <swillia5 at rochester.rr.com> wrote:
>> I don't believe I've ever properly introduced myself here on the list.
>>
>>
>>
>> We've got a 5 acre parcel with an old farmhouse, been here since
>> about 2000.
>> >From the beginning taming the land was a struggle (I grew up in the
>> suburbs,
>> with a push mower.) A 1966 Cub Cadet 123 with an oversize 44" Cub
>> mower was my first tool. It made little paths through the thicket,
>> but wasn't ideal for clearing large areas. One fall it got stuck in
>> the mud WAY out back, and it never did move again for me. Wouldn't
>> start the next year. A couple years ago I tried to find it and
>> couldn't!
>>
>>
>>
>> Coming up on 2 years ago, our house was damaged by fire. We decided
>> to build a new house farther back on the lot (the old farmhouse was
>> right by the busy road.) Now I'm getting to the part that's relevant
>> to a tractor list. Now that the house was moving, the "back yard" of
>> our new house would be the thicket that I'd never tamed. And so I
>> started watching YouTube videos on land clearing, tractors, DR Brush
>> mowers, etc., trying to figure out what I could do, with my meager
>> budget, to clear some brush. I learned that I could hire someone
>> with a brush hog, OR, I could get a tractor.
>> Gee,
>> hard choice, LOL!
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm a bit of a Craigslist addict, and I get pretty obsessive when I'm
>> really hunting for something. The best deals on Craigslist, most
>> people never even see. They're posted, sold, and ad removed before
>> anyone notices. If you want to save the money, you've got to put in
>> the search hours, obsessively.
>> And I did. I got very lucky (see how luck happens after you spend
>> countless hours searching?) when I found a 1972 Massey Ferguson 135
>> vineyard diesel.
>> This was owned by a local orchard since the 1970s, had 2 brand new
>> back tires, and I got it for $2000. It's interesting how compact
>> this
> "real"
>> tractor is, being a vineyard model. It has 24" rear wheels and 15"
>> fronts, fairly narrow track (about 4 ft.) but over 40hp and weighs
>> over
> 3500 lbs.
>> Once I got the tractor, I bought a barn pole (boom,) but what I
>> really needed was a brush hog (rotary cutter.) That wasn't going to
>> be as easy to find. Turns out these get beat to death before they
>> reach my price range around here. I did find an Alamo SHD74 (6 ft.)
>> flail mower in really good shape at auction by a county highway
>> department, and was able to get it for $600. I didn't know if it
>> would be good enough for what I needed, but I liked that flails don't
>> shoot dangerous projectiles like rotary cutters do, because I worry
>> that kids and dogs will never be very far from where I'm working (5
>> of my 7 kids are still at home, and 2 dogs.) I suspect I'll need to
>> get a rotary cutter, too, but the flail was too good a deal to pass
>> up, and could be used to keep the land mowed, not just clear it.
>>
>>
>>
>> That was all last year, before they even started construction of the
>> new house. I started using the flail, and made a path out back and
>> saw my pond for the first time in a couple years. As I was cutting a
>> separate path back, I found a soggy spot - DOH! Very quickly got
>> stuck. Though it was early December, it wasn't cold enough to keep
>> the ground solid. I broke through and was done for. My multiple
>> attempts to extract myself all failed miserably, and the tractor and
>> mower spent the winter in the soup. Sigh.
>>
>>
>>
>> I tried to get it out this spring with an "8000 lb" hand winch from
>> Harbor Freight. I shouldn't have bothered. The frame started to
>> rack, and the little ratchet teeth started digging into the cable,
>> but the tractor didn't move AT ALL. The cable was so tight that in
>> my exhaustion, I could sit down on it like a bench and it didn't deflect.
>>
>>
>>
>> OK then. Electric winch it is. I bought a 12000 lb 12v winch from
>> Harbor Freight, and mounted it to the front of the tractor. Wow,
>> that sounds so easy, "mounted it to the front of the tractor", HA! I
>> had to put the winch and all the mounting hardware, and the battery
>> drill and other tools, onto a kids plastic toboggan, and drag it WAY
>> out back, in 90 degree temps and over 90% humidity. Just a stroll,
>> really. I could use windshield wipers on the inside of my glasses
>> when I'm doing work like this. Wow, it really was miserable work.
>> And the toboggan dumped its contents more than once. How fun.
>>
>>
>>
>> Once the winch was mounted and wired up, winching it out was as easy
>> as hook it to that big bush, pull the bush out of the ground (boo,)
>> hook it to a medium sized tree a good distance away, and AWAY IT WENT!
>> You cannot imagine (or maybe you can) how satisfying it was to get it
>> unstuck. I did some mowing, but only did about 35 or 40 minutes when
>> the PTO shaft came off the tractor. I drove it home and left it for
>> another day. Ordered a push button PTO yoke (sounds simple enough,
>> but first I had to figure out all the different sizes and types of
>> PTO, and figure out what I needed, and figure out where to get one)
>> and a few weeks later I got a hydraulic press to install it, then
>> started REALLY clearing land! It was SO FUN! And exhausting, and
>> filthy dirty, and painful (thorn bushes, anyone?) I "found"
>> some old wire fence out there (about 80 minutes with bolt cutters to
>> clear that out of the mower.)
>>
>>
>>
>> Now, with money going into appliances, furniture, curtains, etc., I
>> am scraping together my pennies to save up for more attachments. I'd
>> like a carry all, a rotary cutter, and especially a box blade. The
>> "back
> yard"
>> of
>> the new house needs some smoothing out, and the gravel driveway
>> really needs some work, too. One problem I have is I don't have any
>> way to pick up a rotary cutter. I have a large van, but it isn't a
>> full 5 feet between the wheel wells, and fitting a 5 footer won't
>> work. The box blade I just might be able to handle, if I can get the
>> seller to load it for me. Seems like a trailer hitch and a trailer
>> will be the most economical answer, but then I think about something
>> that can haul the tractor, and that's a whole different story (dual
>> axles, ramps,
>> etc.) Anyone want to volunteer to explain that I need this to my
>> wife?
>>
>>
>>
>> I joined the list last year, but didn't have time to really keep up,
>> so I've been going through all the list emails recently and have
>> learned a lot. I'm up to about January or February. Plenty of good
>> reading ahead.
>>
>>
>>
>> Scott in Penfield NY
>>
>>
>>
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