I broke my 7118 !

[Tarheel]

 I goofed. I took in a job working on a magneto off a Farmall Cub  for an old friend. Could only get weak fire on it. More yellow than blue. He brought the tractor later and left it setting in the field beside the house still on the trailer.  Which was all good except he left it sitting in a way that made getting the car by it was a bit close. I went to get the 2 wheel drive Frontier to move it but had left the interior light on and the battery was dead. Now I have a couple of old 4x4 720s. One is a Nissan and the other a Datsun, but neither crossed my mind. I just went and got my 7117 with the 18 Magnum in it and hooked to the trailer.

 The Simplicity had no trouble moving  it but there is a small "wing" ditch between the field and the gravel drive. Wanting to stay in the gravel, I turned the wheel on the 7117 before the trailer tires crossed that ditch. Now when I say this is a small ditch, When the kids next door used to ride a go cart through the yard and cross that ditch, they hardly slowed down. But it was enough. The trailer hitch is mounted on the front of this tractor and about the time I got some angle, the trailer tires dropped into the ditch and when this happened, it plowed the front wheels and pretty much jack knifed the rig.  This pinned the left front tire on the 7117 under the tongue of the trailer. Now the smart thing to have done at this time would have been to have hooked something to the back of the trailer and  backed it up a bit. But oh no. I had to try and back up anyway.

 The way the Simplicity was now pointing, I would be backing back across the ditch and I didn't want that. So I tried to turn the steering and I popped the steering wheel right up the center of the hub. Now I had to unhook the Simplicity and move the trailer with something else. Luckily there was enough bite left with the steering wheel to get it back to the shop and the Frontier had been on charge from the time I found the battery was dead, Maybe 20 minutes. Still not thinking of the 4x4 Nissans or even of the 4x4 F150 with a 3 ball sleeve hitch (Would have had to unbolt the clamp on it to change then change it back) So I hooked up the Frontier and backed the trailer/tractor up to the shop.

 Now I am out a steering wheel. This one has the nut on top. If anyone has one to sell please PM  me.

Thanks

[Bill725]

We like videos!

[ShaunE]

16 hours ago, Tarheel said:

This one has the nut on top.

Let us know when you get the nut off. When you get it off, you may need the type where the bolt goes through the shaft.

[Tarheel]

4 hours ago, Bill725 said:

We like videos!

I have found out that my MotoG phone is locked in some way and that is why I can't find it when I connect to the computer. There is a long list of things to do to unlock it. But I still have my Sony and even without a SIM card I think I can do pics with it.

1 hour ago, ShaunE said:

Let us know when you get the nut off. When you get it off, you may need the type where the bolt goes through the shaft.

As soon as I saw your post I seemed to recall welding a quarter inch bolt on the shaft. But I don't recall why.

[ShaunE]

20 hours ago, Tarheel said:

As soon as I saw your post I seemed to recall welding a quarter inch bolt on the shaft. But I don't recall why.

I figured you’d understand. Besides, you write about all the welders you have, if you snap that stud off, you can either use one of them or drill a hole in the shaft & use an updated wheel.

[Tarheel]

 Yesterday I pulled a parts 7117 around to the front of the shop to rob the steering wheel. First the bolt wrung off on the nut side and then it wrung off on the other side.

So I moved on to a hammer and punch. No movement so I got a bigger hammer. Still no movement.

 The set of punches I have are 2 piece. The handle is mild steel and the punch is hardened. I got out my air hammer and tried that for a bit. Again no luck. Then I removed the punch from the air hammer and put the punch from the set into the air hammer. It drove the broken bolt to about half way and locked down again. I have a feeling that the bolt had mushroomed and stopped when it reached the steering shaft. Now I need to decide if it's best to drill or drive it from the other side. If it moves pretty easy, then driving backward may be better but the bolt is pretty soft.

 Anyone else had this problem ?

[Bill725]

BFH. LOL!

[Tarheel]

 Well, the steering is fixed. As it turned out, I had to drive the bolt backward and then drill it. But once I did, It came out easily. Getting the wheel off the shaft is another matter but I've been there done that.

 I used a motorcycle tie down strap to connect the wheel to the winch and lifted until the wheel bent a bit. (hooked at two points) Put a nut on the threaded rod and tapped with a hammer. Took maybe 5 minutes.

The seat pan on the parts machine has a good heavy rubber seat and a rear light while the 7118 has neither so the seat deck pans will be swapped next.  And btw, the 7118 was not the one I had welded a bolt on.

[Tarheel]

 Got the seat deck changed. This tractor has never had a seat as long as I have owned it and it seems strange having one now. But it was always on tiller duty and I never missed having a seat.

 The mowing deck with the pallet jack rollers is going on it next. It will take the place of the 7117 that blew the PTO shaft seal. (That machine is up and running but I plan to do some engine work before putting it back into service)