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  • gwiseman

    Maintenance - property and machines

    By gwiseman

    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
    • 5 comments
    • 13,327 views
Orange Spectacular

Orange Spectacular 2024

July 26, 2024. It’s been a tough few months: left foot reconstruction surgery Oct 25, 2023 then left ankle replacement April 8, 2024. I planned this trip one year ago with hope. Brother Wendell said he’d make it easy. See, he makes the 8.5hr trip each year and has a relationship with the organizers. He takes a golf cart and offered to drive so come along for the ride.  Orange Spectacular is an Allis-Chalmers three-day event, hosted by the Upper Midwest A-C Club at the McLeod County Fairgrou
gwiseman

gwiseman in Orange Spectacular

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blog

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
gwiseman

gwiseman in blog

5

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

9

New Sunstar Hydro Control Rod

Post Office delivered the control rod for my Sunstar the other day. I purchased it from Jack's Small Engine and have to say I was not impressed. I ordered what I saw as "In Stock" where the parts I ordered were in fact not in stock and had to be ordered. So, it took much longer for the part to arrive than I was expecting. I had thought about rebuilding the old control rod, but I abandoned that idea because the control rod cost $27. The surgery was short and simple (about an hour), no other surpr
Tired Iron

Tired Iron

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New Addition to the Tired Iron Ranch

Bought a Sunstar 18 a few weeks ago. It needs some TLC and I have been working on it. The hour meter has 2316 hours on it and the M18S is still running strong with no noticeable oil consumption or power loss (not sure if it is the original engine or not, tag isn't legible). The hydrostatic control linkage is worn out and the replacement has arrived, so that will be installed soon. The 48" mower deck was rusted through in several places and I stripped the deck down to the shell and transferred al
Tired Iron

Tired Iron

2

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

8

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.  
gwiseman

gwiseman

5

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

0

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

3

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

4

9020 Restore/Resurection

Been sitting around for 5 years and finally coming to the top of the Queue.  Saw it on craigslist and immediately called at around 8PM.  It was located about two hours away so I asked the guy if he would hold it for me.  He said no, as he had other interested parties.  I asked if I could come up that night.  He said, "You want it that badly"?  I said, "Yeah, I have been looking for one."  So he said he would hold it.  Got it the next day for $350.  It came with a 5 ft deck, front blade, rototill
wwbragg

wwbragg

36

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

3

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

1

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

3

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

49

My 620 PTO needs help!

I bought my 620 new in Nov. 1974. I used to do a limited amount of custom garden plowing/tilling for fellow Church members, friends, & neighbors. I also mowed 2-3 acres for the 1st 25 years until the mower deck was too rusty to continue. I repowered it in 1999 with a 22 HP Kohler Command, before there were repower kits to my knowledge. Almost two years ago, after extensive use of the Simplicity 48" tiller, apparently one of the bearings seized so suddenly (after I switched the rear PTO
denisons

denisons

2

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

2

Sickle bar update

Received the new hinge and bracket.  The bracket was AC yellow - - -can't have that so after about an hour media-blasting and a day or so waiting for paint to dry, here are the parts, ready to install.  But wait!  What's that I see on the cutter bar?  Is that another wobbled bolt hole?  And same thing on the matching hole on the lever assembly.  Man. if it isn't one thing it is something else.  the fun never ceases.  I took the bar and lever to the machine shop where they will drill the holes to
wwbragg

wwbragg

17

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

0

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

0

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 . 
gwiseman

gwiseman

1

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
gwiseman

gwiseman

3

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). 
gwiseman

gwiseman

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