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Gene's Shop

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About this blog

For years I've admired and wanted a Simplicity Carry-all like this one. Maynard had 2  and when he passed I made a mistake not requesting one when sold. We just don't see 'em in  Missouri as it seem the farmers who bought garden tractors were fiscally conservative and they just didn't splurge for equipment. Heck, you don't even see many hydro garden tractors around here from the 1960's as farmers opted for "the poor man's hydro" variable speed units because of their familiarity with similar drive units on harvester/combines. But I digress..

 

 ACken fabricated the top link for me. I cut, drilled, and welded the rest of the skeleton from new bar stock purchased locally. Again, the skeleton is similar but different than the original (we can say to protect infringement on patents but in reality I'm no engineer so it is what it is). 

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I decided to weld instead of bolt together the frame. Besides, my drill bit collection is junk. And, I bought a Hobart 125EZ welder on closeout at TSC so this was an opportunity to get familiar with wire welding. Was I going to take this apart later anyway? No 

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You can see I also used some angles cut from a Cub Cadet frame I had from a part out.

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I may fab up a set of longer lower arms. I think this would make carry-all have a steeper incline when dumping a load of whatever. I have the tailgate too. I'll post a picture mounted in a few days.  How about my climbing wall? More on that sometime later but you can't get to it w/o climbing over my garden tractors & equipment.

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Entries in this blog

You must have patience with a variable speed

I'm generally a patient guy, especially when it comes to spending cash. Wasn't always that way but age, raising 2 daughters, and a divorce have contributed to that characteristic. Couple of things I discuss in this entry hinge on my patience. First, I've been looking for a decent 12hp briggs powered fdt since selling my last one, a 3112H, to member ronhruska about 2 yrs ago. On March 1 I decided to contact Jared Olsen aka SimplicitySwede regarding a 3012V package deal he was wanting to sell. We

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Worked after work so I can work

Well, nothing went right yesterday, Monday April 17. Our day was crazy at the office, phone calls from the wild side, etc. I checked but I already knew the full moon occurred last week, not this week! Over the years I've seen the pattern and I am a believer that a full moon brings out the wild side. When I got home the day didn't get any better. I enjoy mowing with a 42" deck fdt; especially the longer frame models, so last week I readied the B210 for mowing duties with my rough deck so I can ju

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Workbench No 2

I've used a light duty wooden workbench that came with a house I bought in '95 till recently. Moved that bench twice. It's functional and will continue to be used in our basement as an odd job work and storage. (18hp command hiding under the sheet)   In 2010 I added a 6' beast of a workbench made from pallet rack metal and 3/4" plywood.  The fellow that made it incorporated electrical outlets and a steel plate to mount my Rock Island vise. I really like its design so in my new shop the

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Vanguard 16 maintenance

Winter 2020/2021   I bought my Conquest new in 2001 and for the most part I’ve not done anything other than regular maintenance to it or the Vanguard 16 hp engine. Oh, I’ve replaced a starter once, replaced valve cover gaskets twice, but otherwise it’s oil and filter every 50hrs, air cleaner 2-3 times per year, grease the front axle pivot and other fittings, and that’s about it. With 750+ hrs she’s started leaking oil (I think) around the crank seal and #2 valve cover. Oil was collecting on the

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Stumping for progress

Received a call from the cement contractor; coming next week to form new shop foundation. Last minute prep: had to move a stump from removed tree to an area out of the traffic way. Simplicity 3012 hydrolift strained a little but lifted high enough to transport. Individual brakes would have been nice option to steer . 

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Sovereign Repower

Everyone has them if they admit it. My money pit long-term project is about to get re-started. I've been lurking around eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and on-line classifieds. Patience... I won the Ebay auction the February 16, shipments only on Fridays and for some reason not on all Fridays...Confirmation received item was shipped March 1 from Portland OR and on March 8 the box arrived via Old Dominion at my work in Jefferson City, MO.   Box unloaded in the shop.  

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Soggy Weekend Repair Job

The heavens opened on Central Missouri this week making it a soggy one. I emptied 1.6" from a Wednesday rain, 5.5" from Saturday rains, and .6" today. I forgot to take a picture of my rain gauge so this from Paul Jeffery, a college fraternity brother and buddy of mine.     No mowing grass or any other tractor work much this week. So I pulled the steering wheel (much easier than I expected), removed the bolts connecting the steering shaft to the steering gear, and pulled the steeri

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Snap-On torque wrench surgery

Bought a 3/8" drive Snap-On torque wrench on eBay a while back to use on small engine projects. Wrench was decent price but skipped a cog or two when using. I had given some thought of chasing around auto shops to catch the Snap-On guy but checked out their on-line store. Easy enough. $10+ and no charge shipping under $50 for the repair kit. Received in 2 days this package:    Small items!  And, I didn't have a torx bit small enough for the screws. So $15 for a SK 1/4" drive T-7

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Sickle mowing & repair

We have about 1 acre at the far end of our town property that is rough and I don't mow it often. But, when I do mow I use one of the foot draggers because they are just so tough. I decided to give the sickle mower a try this time as the growth was a little out of hand.  I knew to use the small mid pto pulley and 1/2 throttle or less. My Allis-Chalmers Early B-10 will throttle way down and I enjoy listening to the 23d engine operate as slow revolutions. I should have taken a picture of the 12" gr

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Shop Build ++

Well. I am finally beginning that garage build I've discussed and planned for some time. Linda really wants my shop, tractor, equipment, & parts collection out of the basement. So, with her blessing, I began the process October 2016. I have been intentionally slow to allow myself analysis time to decide what exactly I want and, to allow some adjustment in Linda's expectations (looks, colors, landscape, etc). October 10, 2016 my friend and contractor Mike Schneiders brought h

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Power Hacksaw repair

Posted a picture of my old Excel Power Hacksaw in Shop Talk thread What did you do in the shop today?  by plastikosmd https://simpletractors.com/forums/topic/60372-what-did-you-do-in-the-shop-today/?page=12   Ken (maxwood) responded with a picture of his:     Ken and I corresponded back and forth and he sent me information that the design was originally Covel  & sold by Sears and later bought by Atlas. He also directed me to vintage machinery website that has a

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Mr. Mouse

We've received much needed rain here last two days. Sunday a nice .7" all day rainfall allowed me a little tractor maintenance time. I have not overworked the 3012 Sovereign since acquiring last spring but I've really not taken time to examine it completely either. So, rain keeping me from outside activity I took advantage to check behind the blower shroud on the Briggs 12hp engine. Look what I found, and destroyed. While the grill was removed I added the missing axle travel stop from

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Maintenance - property and machines

Many of us do a lot of maintenance stuff outside our hobby but it may include our hobby equipment too.  Linda and I have 26 acres surrounding our house that requires a lot of maintenance. So, I thought I’d start this blog with a wide scope in mind and cover some of things I do and probably reflect back on things I’ve done too.  Sept 18-19, 2021   Now that I've retired its time to put at least a little emphasis on improving our yard. We live at the bottom of a hill and there is a rock s

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Long Winter

Celebrated President's Day weekend doing a little maintenance and snow removal. It's been a long winter here in Missouri with extended periods of lower temperatures and a fair amount of snow as well. We live at the end of a dead end street, a community really, and off the street about 500'. So I have a nice drive to push when it snows and, I usually clear from 4-6 neighbor drives as well. Linda took a picture of me on day 2.   After I finished snow removal duties I decided to replace the cu

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I had a tailgate made

Ever tried to acquire a tailgate for your Simplicity or AC dump cart?     Well,  I came back from 2018 Garden Tractor Daze in Portage, WI with two nice AC implements for my collection: a 42" fdt snowblower w/hitch and an AC cart w/o tailgate. Posted want ads, negotiated with sellers of rough carts w/tailgates, but in the end I just couldn't fill my order in the market. Next I contacted a fellow from a different site who offered new fabricated tailgates but I received no reply (mustuf s

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FDT weekend rodeo

We're experiencing a beautiful June 24-25 weekend in Missouri with mild ('70's) high temps and low humidity.  I'm batching it right now so I planned to get the foot draggers out for a little work and repair. First, my B210 shucked the starter/generator belt last week while I was retrieving a neighbor's wood splitter from behind couple of houses and a swimming pool. Got to use my repop front/rear hitch for that job. Luckily I didn't kill the engine till the move was finished.  So, after work on F

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FDT replacement gas tank

I used my last metal fdt gas tank setting on the shelf last summer to replace a leaker. Metal ones in good shape are getting harder to find so I purchased a well weathered Lawn-boy Commercial tank for a decent price off a FB page. Read about others using them here. https://simpletractors.com/forums/topic/46259-fdt-plastic-replacement-gas-tank/?tab=comments#comment-83318 Tank looked like this when I received it. Well actually I'd already cleaned it up when this picture was taken. May have be

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Carburetor Overhaul

When I picked up the Simplicity 3012 from SimplicitySwede earlier this spring, he told me it leaked gasoline from the carburetor. He controlled the leaking while parked by shutting off the valve under the gas tank, however there was a constant drip while operating the tractor as well. My shop is in the basement of our house and, any slight smell of gasoline permeates the Linda's house. So, I either have to keep these things under control or move the culprit tractor out under the deck (for now). 

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Anvil stand

Western anvil came from CarlH I’ve had it setting on a block of wood that Linda had in the basement. Worked alright but I needed to sit on the roller mechanic stool to use it.  Told my neighbor I needed a stump to make an anvil stand. Shortly a tree service cut white oak in his next door neighbor’s yard and I got a call to come pick up my stump. We debarked and let it dry on my shop porch until this week. I watched a YouTube video on cutting an anvil stump/stand to correct height

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gwiseman

Agri-Fab Utility 10 Carry-all

I am getting a handle on blogging (late is better than never, right?) so bare with me as I cut from the original, paste in new entries, and add more.  I've thought about starting this on a FB post, saying something like: I've ended my life-long search for an Agri-Fab Utility 10 prototype carryall. I read about these "prototype" garden tractors found, one of a kind stuff, modifications like my dad and I would make to farm tractors and equipment to make them work better for us in our particul

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AGCO 2025 + Loader & more

My ST and farming friends all convinced me a loader would make lifting a lot easier so I've been on the hunt for one that fit my pocketbook for nearly a year. Passed up a few that I probably shouldn't have, looked at newer small compact utility tractors but a little too pricy. I found a CL ad listing a loader with this piture From discussions here I thought it probably was a Kwikway for an early Legacy so I answered the ad via email with my contact info and waited. No response for ove

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