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Are we having fun yet?


skunkhome

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After a long 1300 mile round trip to Mo. I can show you what I picked up.


Unfortunately when I arrived at the sellers house after driving 13 hours, he announced to me that he had tried to start the tractor that morning but the ignition switch had shorted out and burned up the coil. Now there was no spark. He even produced an burned ignition switch he said he had removed from the tractor(how plausible is that?). As a constellation he produced a 16 hp briggs that he stated was good but needed a carburetor, as if I couldn't see.


He said I could use the motor in the tractor with the carb off the 14hp (actually 13hp) or I could use the coil out of the "gift" engine in the tractor. On the other hand I could just get my money back. I knew from the appearance of the nuts and bolts that he had not dismantled anything that morning to get to the ignition switch and that the tractor probably wasn't running when he put it up for sale as a running tractor. I knew that I had been cheated but looking at the tiny shack the old farmer was living in, I decided he needed the money more than I did. Come to think of it, that might have just been his place of business and he actually lives in 4000 sf condo in Joplin. I figured I had at least $400. committed on retrieving the tractor so I took the "gift engine" along with a Sears dozer blade.


I peeled the "sucker" sticker off my forehead loaded the junk up and called my wife Friday night to tell her that once again she was 100% right. It only gets better! On the way home I was singled out of a line of cars traveling though Waterproof, LA (population 237) and given a ticket for doing 57 in a 45 MPH speed zone (900 ft long speed zone designed to extract a toll from out-of-towners.) I guess after 35 years I was due. The two officers (in two brand new cars) sporting camo informed me that if I paid the fine by a certain date that it would not be reported to my insurance company or go on my driving record. Imagine that! (I thought I had already taken the sucker sticker off my forehead). I was hoping that I would be able to get home and start using the tractor to help with hauling chores around the place. In checking over the tractor this morning I figure there is going to have to be a lot of hours spent putting this tractor back in order. In addition a quick check of the "gift engine" gave no indication that the coil was any good in it either. I just have to keep telling my self I bought this junk for the fun of it. Other than being cheated and robbed that trip was a good adventure with my son, Jason, who took a vacation day to be with me. I surely am pleased he was there.
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Dont feel bad. I made one of those many hundred mile round trips a few yrears ago into mid Indiana to buy a 4040 from a friend of one of the members here. I asked on the phone if it had the rear PTO and 3 point hitch. As the tractor needed alot of work I would still be interested if it did have those. Yep, yep, yep was the answer. I asked 3 times to be sure. They said engine was near new, but tractor needed a bunch of little things done to it. When I got there, you guessed it, no 3 point and no rear PTO. The guy pointed to the pin hole in thr drawbar hitch and the two side bolts and siad theres the 3 point hitch. At that point I felt I had a huge SUCKER sticker on my forehead. I made clear my anger at having been lied to and so on, and all he said was dont take it oif you dont want it. I took it home anhow. figured I might recoupe losses parting it out. To add insult to injury the guys wife came out to console me with , Wmy husband has some sort of premature aging disease and he is going to die young, as if that is an excuse for taking someone to the cleaners. They knew what they were doing. Got home to find the near new Onan performer had the remnants of the crankshaft shimms ground up in the bottom of the crankcase. Oh what joy. Then found the one of the rear drop housing bearings were completely out of it. Anyhow, after ebaying all of it, to which I thank a number of other members for their purchases, I got my money back in purchase price and gas and maybe $50 for my time driving. Guess we all have lessons to learn from time to time.
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Sounds like you had an interesting trip despite the stickers! My sticker is invisible to me but, everyone else can see it as plain as day!! The only really down side to the trip is that you had to admit to your wife that she was right again, I hate having to do that!! Other than that it seems like it's in pretty good shape. Have fun with it. Jim
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grin..reminds me of a story also..before i bought my drop deck lifting trailer..i was in the hunt for a tilt bed. well a tilt bed "heavy duty" single showed up....cant remember how i saw the ad, it was in Troy, NY. a good 5-6 hr drive..but price was right. i asked the guy the size ball..he said i think it is a 2". that sounded a bit wierd for the capacity of the trailer..but i said ok..he must know. drove the 6 hrs..met him..then drove another hr..following him out of town to this little camp..no trailer in sight. now this is late winter/early spring with a good amount of snow on the ground. i see his mobile home trailer..but dont see my tilt bed. he says it is out back..im looking at where his trailer is, driveway and 2 junk cars..and cant figure out how there is a trailer behind the house. i go back there and see the trailer...it is a monster..duals, on single axle..deck over..which is about waist high..and looks like it belongs behind a 10 wheel dump truck. i say well...this is a bit more than i was expecting..he says he hauled it with a pickup and it tows great!...i look at the hitch and it is a pintle hook..i dont have a pintle hook. sigh..... i then say ummm how did you get the trailer behind the house? he says trailer was here...and house was placed in after! well i drove 6 hrs..now 7..and i said..ok..well for 200 bucks it is worth that in steel...but now i need a damn pintle..so back into town..find a trailer dealer make him buy the pintle hook for me..drive back an hour and hook up. well try to..it is so tight i cant get my truck over the banks, by his house trailer and hooked up. so out comes the chain and we have to drag 2 junk cars out of the way. now im hooked but the trailer is set in such a way that it is overlaping the house trailer..and i have no room to back up and re-set..out comes the come-a-long..and we drag the trailer sideways..and a lot of fancy driving and 2.5 hrs later we have it out from behind his place. i am a bit angry at this point..and i give him 150$ and we leave..him following me...i have no lights..and it is now dark..driving out of the camp..the trailer is beating the living %^&*(( out of my truck. it was way to heavy and on bumps my rear wheels were leaving the ground! i couldnt drive over 30 mph and had a 6 hr drive at 70 ahead..after all this.. we nearly were out to the main road.. i stopped in the middle of the road..got out and told him i was taking his trailer back to his house, he could keep his pintle and i want my money back..and i said i should have charged him to come up and do everything i had to do to get that trailer out. he said well...... and i said listen, i will park this trailer in the middle of your house or you can give me back my 150 bucks. we agreed to my previous terms and i brought it back and left. no simpathy from the wife..she said i should have gotten a pic before i even left..sigh grin scott
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New coils for both engine are like $35 bucks from Napa. I don't think you go a bad deal at all. $400 bucks for a complete tractor, deck blade, 13hp and a 16hp engine, despite what you had to go through to get it, I don't think that is too bad.
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quote:
Originally posted by ehertzfeld
New coils for both engine are like $35 bucks from Napa. I don't think you go a bad deal at all. $400 bucks for a complete tractor, deck blade, 13hp and a 16hp engine, despite what you had to go through to get it, I don't think that is too bad.
Elon, I am certainly glad to know I can get the coils at a reasonable price. I guess I should just write off the additional $400-500. for gas, lodging and extortion by the Waterproof PD as the price of adventure. Jim, you wrote: "The only really down side to the trip is that you had to admit to your wife that she was right again, I hate having to do that!!" Not really that bad.... By making that admission up front I have defused any further argument. Anything I do to that tractor now is pretty much free game.
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I'm with Elon on this one, The two engines alone are worth $400 if they are in any kind of shape at all and you can do a complete OH on them for $600 dollars and have engines that will last another 40 years.
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My sucker trip was 1100 miles one way. Didn't run, Didn't charge, Deck had a hole rusted through and when I got it home and got it started it was a smoker.
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Tractor looks good. You should have seen my 712-S and my wife when I got it home with rented trailer. Tractor was covered with lots of bird and did not run ether, Pushed tractor off trailer but I only had to haul it 30 miles. If you need more parts post and maybe we can help you out.:) Stan
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Right from Napa wed site. This first one is for 7hp-16hp engines Item#: SME701605 Price: $29.99 tax and shipping not included Attributes: Engine Manufacturer:Briggs & Stratton Engine Model #:144200-147707 147400-171706 190400-191708 200401-200466 233401-233499 243430-243499 251400-251 Replaces OE #:298968 --------------------------------------------- Item#: SME701622 Price: $38.49 tax and shipping not included Attributes: Engine Manufacturer:Briggs & Stratton Engine Model #:10-13 HP "L" Head Engines 9 12.5 &14 HP Vanguard Models Replaces OE #:492341 --------------------------------------------- Item#: SME701643 Price: $41.49 tax and shipping not included Attributes: Engine Manufacturer:Briggs & Stratton Engine Model #:7-16 HP Single Cyl Eng. Replaces OE #:398811 ------------------------------------------------
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Thanks everyone... I appreciate all the encouraging words. I am sure I am going to need a bunch of tech help as this goes along. I guess I am first going to need to find a trouble shooting guide for the ignition system. It could be that the coil is shot but I don't want to start part changing without being sure. Funny thing happened today when we were moving the tractor and were trying to get it over a bump. When I put the tractor in 1st gear and reverse and cranked the starter to get it to move it actually fired one single time. I don't really know what that meant but maybe the coil is good. With all the kids over for Fathers' Day I did not want to be spending any more time messing with the tractor.
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quote:
Originally posted by skunkhome
Jim, you wrote: "The only really down side to the trip is that you had to admit to your wife that she was right again, I hate having to do that!!" Not really that bad.... By making that admission up front I have defused any further argument. Anything I do to that tractor now is pretty much free game.
I can see how that would work and am going to have to remember that:D. That is an awful long way for a tractor. Are they that sparse in your area? The tractor does look to be in really decent shape and you have two engines to work with. Once running the memory of this sucker trip will be just that, a memory:D.
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Scott, You've got more patience than I do. :o) I'd have stopped at the pintle hook and told the guy to shove a carrot up his you-know-where and took off. I admire you for going through all that crap. :o) I didn't have an experience like that with a tractor or a trailer, but something kinda similar. I saw this convertible that was in the papers years ago- it said "Great condition, runs good" for $1,600. I thought the price was right... I was a college student at the time. When I got there, the car body was in good shape, but the interior was really nasty.. I mean nasty. The rear window was ripped open and the guy said "oh yeah, it rained last night... It has been closed this whole time, I just aired the car out for you" And I'm seeing algae on the seats and on the plastic rear window. It looked like a miniature frog pond. There was NO WAY in heck that window was open for one night. It had to have been like that for MONTHS. The interior was all cracked, sun damaged, wet, mildewed up, 2" water on the floor, rust stains in many places, top was about ready to fall apart, and etc.. etc.. I was ticked off. I drove 3 hours to get there. The owner was pretty nasty too. He was a very large man that hadn't showered in a very long time. His stomach was sticking way out from under his shirt, and his belly was brown and the fat creases were really loaded with gunk and grossness... Like dirty brown... His pants were halfway down, and he was holding it up and when he turned around, you could see half of his dirty and naked arse. No underwear, and he smelled pretty bad. I mean, pretty bad. I swear, I didn't think he had showered for months. Boy scout's honor. I mean, this guy was so disgusting to the point that the horrible image is forever burned and etched in my mind. Amazingly, he seemed professional on the telephone and all that. But, 6 hours total drive.. And that terrible sight stuck in my head forever. Nice price to pay, huh? Phil, The seller was a jerk for doing that to you. At least, it wasn't as bad as some others. Your tractor actually looks VERY NICE... I had a 3410H and I loved the heck out of it. With your tractor, the first thing you should check is the pintle shaft. It's that shaft thing on the back of the transmission, on these, they tend to leak pretty bad around the seal surrounding that shaft, when they're old and worn out. You'll only be able to find out once it's running and you're driving it. It's a fortune to replace, and a big pain in the henie to repair. But, if it doesn't leak, you've got a really super tractor there for a half decent price. :o)
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I earned my sucker sticker too. Some good old-fashioned horse trading landed me two 16 horse briggs. I didn't need them, but spares never hurt. I bragged about my "deal" in these forums and soon after a member e-mailed me with a song and dance about how desperate he was for a couple of 16 horse motors. Money was tight, contractors bending him over, yada yada yada. The dumb trusting soul that I am, I offered up my two motors for $100 and a homemade electric spout rotator for my snow thrower. He was there that same week to pick up the engines, but my check didn't come for nearly two months. I am still waiting for the spout rotator a year later.
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and there is so much more erick! ..first, he wasnt like me, or you probably..ya know..take the bull by the horns..and get-er-done. so i get there..and point out the pintle problem..he says hmmm. and that is it???? so i explain the problem...he nods..offering no solution.. i just drove 7 hrs for a single axle heavy duty tilt bed with a 2" ball that was used only behind a pickup (what he told me) and am looking at a 15 ton capacity, pintle, heavy equipt. hauler that was only moved once with a pickup!!!from there it was downhill. moving the cars..no idea..no help..do you have chain i say? "probably" he says....then doesnt move!!!! i say where is it??? "somewhere" ..."somewhere where????" ...."somewhere in the snow!!!!" so i had chain...i yank the junkers..(no help at all) tell him the trailer wont pass....come-a-long the trailer sideways..no easy task..then when backing and moving the 1800 times i had to to get it out and around..he is suppose to be watching and guiding..yet he is giving no signals!!!.. i say am i close? he says yup! sigh...no warnings, nothin...at one point (i am quite angry, having to get in and out of truck to keep looking as he is standing there like a stump...) he finally says "you got it" yet i can clearly see in my mirror that i am overlapped by about 1" i say nope..gotta set over a bit more...he says nope..your set..we argue back and forth...finally i say ok, you are right..and punch it...taking off a 15 foot by 4 ft high section of his alum. siding on his camp trailer. he..being quite stunned..says "you hit my house!!!!!!) so i kindly ask him wtf does "your clear" mean in your mind? (and before you feel bad for him, my truck is sporting a dent and a scratch down the whole body from sliding off a bank into a tree.) yep had to come-along the truck out too, he wouldnt use his truck cause he didnt want it stuck..growl. phew...well least it feels good to talk about it now, i dont think i have been that mad at someone before (least someone i didnt care about) scott
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quote:
Originally posted by firefoxz1
[quote]Originally posted by skunkhome
That is an awful long way for a tractor. Are they that sparse in your area? The tractor does look to be in really decent shape and you have two engines to work with. Once running the memory of this sucker trip will be just that, a memory:D.
I have been looking for a tractor for over a year and this one is about the closest one I could find. I did have my sights on a very clean, one owner, 314s in Tennessee but it was taken off the market before I could make the 1st bid. Actually I was going to buy it outright for his asking price. There are some larger tractors such as B's, C's or CA's even G's closer to home. In fact I saw a for sale in St Francisville on the way home (about 25 miles from the house). In all my life I think the only A-C or Simplicity lawn tractors I have ever seen belonged to my family. This is John Deere and IH country.
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quote:
Originally posted by Ketchamized
Scott, With your tractor, the first thing you should check is the pintle shaft. It's that shaft thing on the back of the transmission,
Scott, I am not sure what you mean by "pintle shaft". There are a number of shafts sticking out of a shuttle transaxle: pulley shaft, 1st intermediate shaft, axle tube and shift rod but I am having a bit of trouble figuring out which you are referring to. Are we talking about the same transmission?
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hey phil, think that is "erick" giving you that advice about the pintle shaft. i have no idea what it is...but lord i have a seizure when i hear the phrase pintle hook...:) scott
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A Vickers hydrostatic transmission has a "pintle shaft". It is the "shifter" for the transmission and the bore it runs in tends to wear where the o-rings contact it which results in leakage. A shuttle transmission does not have a pintle shaft and will not have that particular problem.
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quote:
Originally posted by plastikosmd
hey phil, think that is "erick" giving you that advice about the pintle shaft. i have no idea what it is...but lord i have a seizure when i hear the phrase pintle hook...:) scott
forgive me Scott, I'm so confused! I can understand your abhorrence of the "P" word.
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