Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

[cliftonbros89]

Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

So as far as the rest of the weekend goes it was spent partially at the girlfriend’s house. We spent Saturday evening with a few friends at brewery in the county just north of us. Sunday didn’t have much activity. Finally shot my 1911 Kimber 45 I received for Christmas. I’m definitely satisfied with it. The evening was spent out to eat along with a round of “The Game of Life” with my girlfriend, her father, and a friend of my girlfriend’s who we took out for a few drinks after going out to eat. Back to the grind tomorrow. Lots of shop work to do. Plus, all the tending to the cattle. Always throws me off and little to take a day off.

 

[jblnut]

We've done a few test plots the last few years with the only variable being different micronutrients. With a few the gains have been very impressive but the cost to do it across the board isn't there with $3 corn. We will continue to do the test plots but until we see something earth shattering we're probably not going to be doing much differently in the near future.

7230, 7510 and a 4020 in the shop. AND an 8760, 4440 and 8400 in the shed. Good grief, you've got the lineup I'd like to have !! Except you have those silly green combines ... I guess there's always room for improvement

 

[cliftonbros89]

We've done a few test plots the last few years with the only variable being different micronutrients. With a few the gains have been very impressive but the cost to do it across the board isn't there with $3 corn. We will continue to do the test plots but until we see something earth shattering we're probably not going to be doing much differently in the near future.



7230, 7510 and a 4020 in the shop. AND an 8760, 4440 and 8400 in the shed. Good grief, you've got the lineup I'd like to have !! Except you have those silly green combines ... I guess there's always room for improvement

I would really like to test a few plots as well. I’m trying to convince dad that it wouldn’t hurt to try a few new options on some things. Things aren’t the same as the were 30 years ago. He can have trouble listening to the concept that sometimes you have to spend some money to make some money.

As far as a lot of these products go I’m sometimes on the fence. I’ve seen several products that really can make a difference. They do work. But all these products, all these seed treatments, all these varieties of seed keep telling you everything will be better. Better yields and so on. The part I have trouble understanding is the supply and demand of the crop. When you talk to certain people they’ll tell you, what can be a eater obvious observation, is that there’s just too much supply. In one area of the country where the corn crop was ****, another part of the country had a well above average year. Then that is what causes the corn to be $3. There’s too much. There’s no place to go with it. China isn’t buying it or whatever the reasons may be. So how do these companies and corporations expect us to buy more of this stuff? If everyone is getting an increase in yields isn’t going to make the supply that much greater? Won’t the demand be decreased further? What does that mean for the markets? I realize this concept may be a bit over exaggerated. But at the same time is it that far off? I’m not sure. Sometimes I think I overthink things too much.

I have too say it really isn’t too bad of a line up. Throw in the 2520, 3020 and our 4630 sprayer and it’s not too bad at all. I have to say though I may have to argue with you just a tiny bit on the combine topic though. But I can say I’ve seen several red ones do a pretty good job too.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Beginning of the week of corse meant feeding as usual. Rain and warmer temps means things are nice and sloppy. Since I hadn’t finished servicing the 7230 I ended up getting it muddy all over again to put out hay. That of corse meant another wash job.

No way I was pulling it in the shop with the tires loaded up like that. So another wash job and it was back in to finish a few things.

I put a new belt on it as the old one didn’t look the greatest anymore. I used my handy snap-on srd6 extension to relieve the tension of the belt.


That thug has worked awesome on several of these tractors for that reason. It can be tight quarters to get in on those tensioners sometimes. It works great. Even used in on an IH combine before.

I finished up with the last bit in the 7230 yesterday and got back to doing a few small things to the 4020. Like the toe-in needed to be adjusted once. Got it back together and ready to go too.

Today I finally got a good start on servicing the 7510 again. Got most the things knocked out of the way. A few more things to do yet. Like change the oil in the MFWD hubs, amongst other things. Pretty sure there’s a hydraulic hose on the back that is looking a little worn too that may have to come off.

In the mean time I guess dad has finally started to take my suggestions for getting the shop a bit more picked up and organized more seriously. Today he started welding up a mount to sit the chop saw on the side of the welding table rather than having it take up room underneath.

He went to town this morning and bought some metal. I don’t think he even drew up any plans, I think he just had it all in his head the whole time.


It has pins that can be pulled out so it will fold down out of the way too. I don’t think he’s quite finished with it yet but I think he’s getting close. It doesn’t always feel like we’re getting much done but at least we’re making some progress.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Today I took advantage of the nice weather. I pulled the 9500 combine out of the shed to finally finish cleaning it up from fall.

After the holidays were over the freeze arrived so it definitely wasn’t combine cleaning weather. Finished cleaning the dirt off and gave it a good wash.


After I finished the 9500 I pulled the 8760 over for a wash too. It was fairly dirty and there’s usually oil somewhere from a hose. Sooner or later I should finally get all the old hoses on that thing replaced.

Under the cab it’s a giant mess of hydraulic hoses. Running here and there from one things to another. There’s a ton of them. There’s several that are still original. So they’re gradually wearing out.

This evening I was finishing a few things on the 7510 too.

It keeps having an electrical issue with the flashers on the front of the cab. I guess that’ll be on the do to list the next few days.

It was also time to drain the oil from the from hubs on the 7510 too. That heavy gear oil takes awhile to run out if it isn’t warmed up. It’s hard to find the proper container to fit under the hub to catch the oil. It can easily make a mess if it isn’t set right. So this morning I made a quick trip to town to see the guy who owns the machine shop that I always go to for hydraulic hoses. He was able to fix me up with an adaptor fitting to use to help me drain it.

This is just one variation I’m trying right now. But the pipe was quick and had it on hand already. I think I might just make up a short hose to fit the fitting so it can flow down instead of trying to run across the piece of pipe. Either way it beats sitting there and holding the drip tray waiting for everything to slowly run out.

 

[jblnut]

pg[/IMG]This is just one variation I’m trying right now. But the pipe was quick and had it on hand already. I think I might just make up a short hose to fit the fitting so it can flow down instead of trying to run across the piece of pipe. Either way it beats sitting there and holding the drip tray waiting for everything to slowly run out.

We do the same exact thing when doing the hubs on the 7400 and 7810. We jack the opposite side up 4-5" to help it drain. It seems to work great.

 

[cliftonbros89]

We do the same exact thing when doing the hubs on the 7400 and 7810. We jack the opposite side up 4-5" to help it drain. It seems to work great.

Only bad thing is now I need one for the 7230 and another for the 4630. Cuz why would Deere want to take a chance on possibly using the same type of plug? Luckily I think the 8400 plug is the same as the 7510.

 

[sublime68charger]

Just got all caught up very nice thread and pics of the things you are doing!

 

[cliftonbros89]

Failed to get much accomplished on Thursday as I found out last minute that dad made plans for us to go rabbit hunting.

Friday we had to do all the feeding again. We also loaded up a load of wood.

It was cut by one of dad’s friends. It was for use of one of our tractors.

Then after rearranging somethings in the shed to get everything in I got started on cleaning up the 7510.


Saturday I started on detailing the cab up. It was pretty dirty.

I also got started on the wax job on it.


It’s not fully finished up since I had to quit a bit early. But it’s starting to look better. It’s usually on the brush hog most the time so it tends to spend a lot of time around the edges of fields. Which usually causes a lot of scratch marks from trees.

So finishing a little waxing, replacing a hose and fixing a light issue and it’ll be good to go.

Here’s a look at one of the pulling tractors.

Dad pulled it in the shop for now just to get it out of the other shed for now. I’m sure it won’t take long for dad to want to do some work to rest of them soon.

 

[Firebrand]

Great write up! Totally subscribing as a fellow JD man.

I'll add my JD 820 diesel to the show and tell section, when back at my office computer. She's from Germany and imported during the 20 series of the New Generation like yours.

Please show us more of your green iron on action. Still frozen solid up here in New England. Long way to go for field work in these parts.

 

[Dividing Creek]

Curious what kind of hrs you have on some of these tractors

 

[cliftonbros89]

Curious what kind of hrs you have on some of these tractors

The 7510, 8400, 7230 are all around the 5000-6000 range. The 3020 and 4020 have rolled over several times. I think the 4440 is over 8000 or so. Both combined are fairly low. Our 4630 sprayer is really low on hours.

Great write up! Totally subscribing as a fellow JD man.



I'll add my JD 820 diesel to the show and tell section, when back at my office computer. She's from Germany and imported during the 20 series of the New Generation like yours.



Please show us more of your green iron on action. Still frozen solid up here in New England. Long way to go for field work in these parts.

There’s a lot more 2 cylinders around. We also have a 820 industrial. I was going to take a shot of it the other day. The pony motor didn’t want to start up though. It hasn’t been ran in awhile.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So far the week hasn’t been too eventful. Just been feeding and hauling some beans again
.
We hauled a few loads today and yesterday. Planning on doing the same for at least tomorrow.

Met up with the Matco guy last night.

I picked up 2 sets of bushing drivers he had on sale last week. This week he had the hose pinch pliers on sale. Just the medium sized pair was half off. I picked up another set at it seems I often need more than one or 2.

My Wera warrantied screwdriver also showed up this week.

The other broke a few weeks ago. I wasn’t sure how to contact Wera for service so I messaged their Facebook page. They responded quickly and sent me the email address. I emailed them the next day and sent along a few pictures of the broken one. Within a short time I received a response and they asked for an address and sent one right out. I was satisfied after hearing a few disappointments with Wera warranty on here.

Other than that I’ve been staring to get all my **** together to start on all my tax stuff. It’s that dreaded time of the year again...

But hopefully after hauling some more beans by tomorrow evening I’ll be able to get back in the shop again and do some work. Plenty of things to catch up on and finish in there. It’s time to get back in there and crank up some Leon Russell again!

 

[cliftonbros89]

Back to hauling beans again today. Had to sweep out a bin and move the tractor and auger to another bin too.

That took up the majority of the day. Loaded up to haul some more off tomorrow.

This evening when I got back to the shop I finished cleaning up the 7510.

I finished up the wax job and finished cleaning all the windows. So everything on it is all cleaned up and ready to go. I also ended up taking off that leaky hose back behind/partially under the cab.

It was a lot easier to get to then the last few I replaced on the 4440. I plan to take it to town at the end of the week to have a new one made. Of corse this job was made a lot easier by some of my favorite tools, the 1/2” crowfoot. They make life so much easier!

So just putting the new hose on and messing with the front flashers that aren’t working and the 7510 willing finally be done. Then I believe I’ll start on the 8760. Still have to get in the 8400, both semi trucks, and the pickups yet too.

But back to hauling beans again tomorrow. Then we match switch back to hauling corn by the afternoon. We have a small contract made from earlier this month for February that we’ll be filling right away to get it out of the way.

 

[cliftonbros89]

End of the week, besides feeding, was hauling off corn to fill our contract.


A cold front swept thru and chilled things down yet again. We also had a small surprise rain and snow shower. It made the steps on the trucks nice and slick.

I’m sure the pictures of loading trailer trucks has become a bit redundant.

 

[cliftonbros89]

The block heater for the 4020 finally showed up.

I’m hoping maybe it’ll be a project to get done this coming week.

Saturday morning I had the new hose made for the 7510. Finally got it put on too.

As you can see it’s tucked back in a slightly tight spot. But it’s not terrible to get too.

I also got a few fittings to make another drain hose for the hub on the 4630 sprayer that’s like the drain fitting I got for the 7510.

I tried to get something for the 7230 plug as well.

I’ll have to check the dimensions on it again. But the guy who I always go to for my hydraulic fittings didn’t have any sort of fitting that was the same as this plug. Any ideas?

 

[cliftonbros89]

So while loading up corn at the bin over at my uncles I decided to snap a few pics of some of our restored tractors that are stored over at his place to share.

This is our ‘36 unstyled A. It was restored and painted about 5 or 6 years ago.


This is our ‘56 (if I remember correctly) model 60. We’ve had it for as long as I can remember. A friend of mine and I did all the sanding and painting on it.


This ones a bit hard to see much of. It’s a ‘50 styles model A. We completely redid it around the same time as the other 2. I sandblasted every piece on this things.

All 3 of these were painted by a friend of mine who I’ve been friends with since we were 5. He used to paint planes.


This was a picture my girlfriend took and edited of us sanding down the 60 in my friend’s paint booth. We sanded the whole thing in a day and got everything painted and back together in less than 48 hours after sanding it.

A few years ago I also helped him strip down and paint a 2520 for someone else from town

If you notice on the left, we found we did our best work at about 1 in the morning with a case of beer, set to a soundtrack of the likes of the Stones and Rob Zombie. I’ve racked up quite a few hours in that paint booth.

 

[poppinjohnnies]

I enjoy all of the JD tractor pictures. I'm hoping to get started on a few of my old 2 cylinders this spring.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well no pictures to share today. Had some technical difficulties. Not only did my phone no longer have service this morning, but the battery no longer was charging either. I’ve been having some difficulty with it the last few weeks. So I didn’t have a phone today. Since I had a chance I went to AT&T to get a new one this evening. Luckily I got them to actually lower my bill even with a new phone.

So today I had to feed, put out mineral and protein tubs for the morning. I was on my own because dad had a doctors appointment today.

Also had one of the Deere mechanics come by to do combine inspections today. Sounds like the 9770 is going to need a bit of work. I’ll have more on that later on.

I also finally got the lights on the 7510 fixed. Just a bad terminal on each that needed to be replaced. So the 7510 should be good to go and out of the shop. On to something else now.

I also tried to get a start on my list of parts to order. Deere is having their last parts sale for the winter this week. Going to try to get some things ordered this week that I didn’t get ordered last time.

Getting the new phone took up most my evening. Technology is frustrating and not just a pain in the *** but a pain in the wallet. But I suppose that issue will be fixed for awhile now. We’ll see what the week brings. It was still cold again today. Chance of a “wintery mix” tomorrow evening. I always hate that term. It’s always better when it’s either snow or rain. A mix is never good. But not much I can do about it. Lots to get done yet before we even actually get busy.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[jblnut]

Absolutely beautiful classic Deere's. There are a few older tractors on my "gotta have one day" list and a 34'-38' Unstyled A is on that list. There was a sharp looking original 35' A with a wide front on an auction a few years back up here that I had to pass on and I kick myself everytime I see another early A.


Damn nice looking resto's on all of them !!!

 

[cliftonbros89]

Absolutely beautiful classic Deere's. There are a few older tractors on my "gotta have one day" list and a 34'-38' Unstyled A is on that list. There was a sharp looking original 35' A with a wide front on an auction a few years back up here that I had to pass on and I kick myself everytime I see another early A.


Damn nice looking resto's on all of them !!!

Thanks. I have a lot of hours invested in those tractors. Too many. If you like A’s I believe we have 6. Two unstyled built for pulling, the ‘36, two early styled (I think they’re both around ‘40), the late styled ‘50, then there may be another in parts in one of the barns.

I have to say it has to be tough if you passed up one with a wide front end. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those in person.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well the day today started off fairly well. I had big plans for today. But that ended up slightly interrupted. Good thing I had a phone for pictures today. It ended up rather eventful.

I started out by pulling the 7510 out of the shop today. Dad wanted to blade the road so I hooked it to the box blade for him.


I finally was able to pull the 8760 in the shop to look it over. I had to pull in the 420 too. We had some trouble with the started on the 420 Saturday when we used it to split wood.

I started on the 420 first. I had to remove the battery and the small toolbox and shield by the battery to pull the starter out. I also had to remove the gas sediment bowl so I could get a wrench on the nut for the starter. I drained the gas as well since it seems as though the bottom of the tank is leaking.

I quickly found at least part of the problem with the starter. Notice the large crack.


I also looked over the 8760 a bit this evening and found some hoses that need to be replaced and found a few places around the transmission that seem to be leaking oil. I guess I’ll have to further investigate that issue.

This was the mild part of the day.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Like I mentioned dad wanted to work on the driveway. Several spots needed to be fixed and it needed some more gravel. Dad used the 7230 and the 3-point blade to spread and level the gravel.

Since I was working in the shop he worked on that. A friend of his came down to drive the truck to haul the gravel for us. However, things didn’t go so smooth toward the middle of the day. As the truck was dumping gravel the hoist that lifts the bed broke loose from the truck. With all the weight high in the air and the truck not level the bed fell to the side just about taking the cab with it.


As you can imagine, this was definitely not in the plans for today. We were able to get most of the gravel out of the truck with the loader on the tractor. But the rest we just had to shovel out. After we emptied the gravel out we used a few chains the pull the truck back on it’s wheels with the 7230. It is definitely in rough shape.

Too make matters worse, as dad was attempting to scoop gravel up with the loader, he managed to bust out the windshield on the tractor. I advised him to not proceed further toward the truck to scoop up anymore gravel. He insisted on ignoring me and inched closer to scoop more rock. As we started to lift the bucket on the loader, the rod for the truck’s tarp caught on the loader and hit against the window before he could stop.


I couldn’t help but immediately let him know that was why I told him to stop where he was.

So everything really turned south rather quick. I check the Deere dealers inventory online and luckily one of their locations south of us actually had the windshield in stock. So I told them I’d be down to pick it up this evening.

So with the new glass and new weatherstripping it turned out to be an over $700 mistake for today. Which of corse, isn’t counting what happened to the truck, which will likely be considered totaled.

So everyone is fine and safe. Just a big hit to the pocket book. Not to mention a few rather frustrated farmers. Just another day. You never know what will happen. It’s definitely a prime example that you always need to be paying attention to the equipment and what is going on around you.

 

[cliftonbros89]

On a side note. Mom brought me a surprise to the shop this evening from my grandpa.

It’s an old SK toolbox. Said he found it when he was cleaning things at the house over the weekend. It was his after he graduated high school and worked on airplanes for a few years. He said every person who worked there was required to buy one of the boxes to store the tools in for their job.

It’s in pretty good shape yet. Just needs a good cleaning. Not sure what I’ll do with it yet. But I doubt it’ll be used in the shop for anything. At least not yet. I’d like to make sure it stays in good shape.

Pretty cool little piece to add to the collection though.

 

[dchance]

That is a great story on the tool chest.

Glad no one was hurt with all the mayhem that you had in the afternoon. That was a lot of twist on the truck frame.

Dwight

 

[jblnut]

I couldn’t help but immediately let him know that was why I told him to stop where he was.

I'd imagine you did it as calmly and politely as you described it here.

Machines can be fixed/replaced, at least no one got hurt.

I have a very old no-name toolbox that my grandfather had when he was very young and it is in my little shop front and center with odds and ends in it. Also not sure what to do with it but it's never going to see active duty out and about.

 

[cliftonbros89]

That is a great story on the tool chest.

Glad no one was hurt with all the mayhem that you had in the afternoon. That was a lot of twist on the truck frame.

Dwight

It was some major twist! The bed is bent and twisted all over. Even up by the engine there’s several things twisted. There also a fairly good oil leak from by the engine now that wasn’t there before. The hood sits to the side now. It is messed up for sure.

 

[cliftonbros89]

I'd imagine you did it as calmly and politely as you described it here.



Machines can be fixed/replaced, at least no one got hurt.



I have a very old no-name toolbox that my grandfather had when he was very young and it is in my little shop front and center with odds and ends in it. Also not sure what to do with it but it's never going to see active duty out and about.

Well I wasn’t able to get to carried away. I think I was still dumbfounded that the truck was tipped over that seeing the window shattered just kind of made me laugh.

Yeah it’s a pretty cool box. I’ve always really liked SK too. It has his initials on it in several places and a number that I guess was assigned to him. He apparently can’t remember what the number was for exactly. But I’m hoping to give it a good wash job soon. Might just store some things in it in the house. Sort of repurpose it a bit.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well...we got the window in today. It took a good part of the day to do. First we had to take the loader off before we pulled it in the shop.

First we had to clean up all the broken glass and remove what was left of the weatherstripping which still had plenty of glass attached to it. Then we also had to remove the hood, the lift for the hood, the cab lights on the top, and side, remove the hardware for the window, loosen a few wiring harnesses, remove the fire wall and remove a second panel behind the firewall, (I think that’s it) and then we are finally able to put in the new windshield.

Naturally the glass was a bit awkward to handle and maneuver around everything. It was also kind of a pain in the *** to line up with all the bolt holes.


But we finally got it. Looks good. While we had the hood off I decided it was a good time wax it. It’s a little difficult to do on the tractor with the loader and mounts for the loader. So I did that as well. There was also a part of the grill screen that needed to be straightened out.

That took a good part of the day, like I said. Then this evening we ended up taking the fuel tank off the 420. We’re going to try to get it fixed since we have to wait on the starter to be fixed.

With the fuel tank and battery out of there with the hood off it really makes a big gap there. Looks kind of funny.

So that’s one day of unplanned jobs done. No wonder I get behind on things.

 

[cliftonbros89]

My brother-in-law used our buffer for his car over the weekend. I had to go out the road to go get it from his shop to use for the 7230 hood. Thought I’d share a few pictures of his project he’s been working on the last few years.


It’s a ‘69 (I’m pretty sure) Camaro that he’s making into a drag racer. I couldn’t tell you all the details on it for sure. He’s done a lot of stuff to it and fabricated a lot too. It’s by no means complete. But it was just recently painted. The friend of mine that painted our tractors I just posted recently painted it for him. It’s turned out pretty good so far.

It was hard to get better pictures since his shop was loaded full of stuff.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Last few days have been fairly busy. Aside from feeding I’ve been spending quite a bit of time in the shop with the 8760.

I think I forgot to mention that earlier in the week we had one of the mechanics from Deere come to do annual inspections on both the combines. The 9500 is in pretty good shape but the 9770 is going to need some work. So that’s no added to the to-do list.

Getting back to the 8760. I finally got fed up with the oil leaks that is has. I found 2 hoses that were leaking, along with 2 others that look pretty rough. So they came off. I plan on having some new ones made tomorrow morning. The guy at the machine shop is really going to like me. I think this will be my third trip in about a month.

Another problem was the selective control valve (SCV’s) couplers leak too.

I don’t have all the proper tools to make things a little easier to rebuild these. So I’m having the dealership rebuild them for me. So last night I took them off.

I cut the heads off a few bolts to makes some guides/supports for taking the SCV’s on and off. They’re a pretty good chunk of metal to hold in place to line a bolt up properly.

For anyone who may not know the SCV’s are where an implements hydraulic hoses plug into the tractor.

We were also having an issue with the steering valve that causes the tractor to constantly pull to the left. It can get pretty annoying especially when your trying keep straight in the field.
As you can see it has 9 different hoses on it. So I tagged and labeled each one as so I don’t get them mixed up when I’m hooking them back on later. Most of them weren’t to terrible bad to get off.

But I got it off and let it drain overnight. I pulled out all the stops getting everything apart though.

Crowfoot wrenches and Martin and Bonney flarenut wrenches got the job done.

 

[cliftonbros89]

In between everything else I got my list of more parts together to order for the Deere parts sale this week. Had to order several parts for the 8760 and some things for our 4630 sprayer. Dad wanted some new style tips for spraying too. Plus he wants a new step to put on the 4020. He has a hard time pulling himself up on it anymore.

The local New Holland dealership has a 3 day parts sale too this week. They’re also the Kinze and Kubota dealer. So I ordered some things for our Kubota RTV, we also looked over the planter to see what parts we needed or order for it too.

Amongst other activities today I also took out the seat valve on the 8760. It’s controls the ride and height control for the seat. It’s been working but it also had a bit of a blow out this fall and had been leaking a lot. So it came out too.

It’s the dirt and oil covered green piece sitting on the step in the picture. A little thought to get to. The only way to really access it well is through the seat. Plus it had cylinder rods attached to the seat as well. It sits between the bottom of the cab and the top of the transmission so there isn’t much room. It also has 3 hoses attached to it which are a bit of a pain in the as to remove too. Plus there’s a nitrogen accumulator attached to it for charge. It has to come out to get the valve out as well.

So this afternoon I took all 3 SCV’s, the steering valve and the seat valve with the accumulator to Deere to have them all checked over, repaired and tested.

Yesterday we also were able to get the hood and the loader back on the 7230.

We wanted to use it to put out hay today so we wanted it to be ready to go.

It seems like I just keep coming up with more and more jobs to do lately and I keep having less and less time to do it all. It’s kind of funny, most people think all we do around this time of the year is just kind of sit around and put out some hay for the cows a few days a week. I’m actually working just as many hours as I do rest of the year. There’s a lot to do to make sure everything is ready for when it’s really time to hit it hard.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

Well Saturday morning I had more new hoses made for the 8760.

The guy at the machine shop is really starting to like me. He’s made a lot off of us in the last 2 months.
These are always fun to put on. We always tie a piece of baling on the hose we’re taking out. That way it makes it easier to pull the new hoses through all the other **** when putting them on.

I had 2 to put on that didn’t require fittings. I shoved a cork in those to keep dirt and things from getting in them.

As you can see sometimes they’re not always in great spots. This is definitely why the wire is handy. This one goes to the hydraulic reservoir. There’s a hole that I can fit my 4 fingers in to grab the hose behind the batteries. It’s a great spot.

Dad was welding up something to use to hold targets for shooting. It was his birthday so we took the afternoon to shoot ***** for an hour or so. It was about 30 degrees and wind was blowing about 15 mph so it was a bit chilly for everyone. So we spent the rest of the evening just hanging out in the house.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Took Sunday easy. We ended up having 3 calves born over the weekend. Two from 2 of the 3 new heifers we bought awhile back.

The first is in front. The second is kind of hiding behind 1859 on the right. They both arrived Saturday.

This morning I put out hay for all the cattle. Dad was attending a spraying class all day today. So I was on my own all day. At dad’s I saw a cow that looked very close to calving. Then within about a half hour I checked on her. I saw the calf arrived.

Hard to see the calf at this angle. She was in the midst of cleaning it up and I didn’t want to bother her. As you can see it wasn’t long after she had it. I checked on it this afternoon and the calf was up wobbling around on it’s legs a bit. The cow was laying close by keeping an eye on it. Seems to be health so far.

Then yesterday I received a message from our landlord out at our rented pasture. She said a new calf arrived out there as well. I checked on it today too.

The cow had it well hidden. It took me a little bit to find it. It was laying in a weedy patch near a brush pile. Born of a white cow and a black bull it came out about the color of chocolate milk. They tend to loose that color as they get older though. It seemed to be doing well too. Hopefully, they all are up and able if the weather gets worse by the end of the week.

Aside from checking on the cattle I had to run some errands in town, make a phone call on taxes, and I received a call from the Deere dealership on estimates for repair on everything I dropped off the end of last week. Not much aside from that.

This evening I made up a few covers to put on the 8760 where the SCV’s go that I removed for repair
Just some scrap sheet metal, bolts and some gasket material. I wanted to make sure the dirt stays out. Plus with them open there’s a little oil that seeps out too. It’s likely to be at least the end of the week before I get it back together so I want to keep it clean.

I also made a few new holders for my crowfoot wrenches. I have 2 of my 3/8” sets on the Snap-On holders. But I don’t feel like they’re practical for $6 a piece, nor that great for my smaller sets. I feel like the holder would just take up more space than it’s worth if it’s not full. So to experiment I picked up a few pieces of key stock over the weekend.

I only had one 12” piece which was enough to make one for 2 different sets. I’ll have to get some more. I had them all stored on 3/8” bolts. But then they spin around on the bolt. Plus it’s a little annoying when you need the one closest to the head of the bolt and all of them have to come off. So I drilled a hole for a key at each end. It works to take one from either end they way.

I also picked up a piece of 1/2” key stock as well. It didn’t fit quite as good as the 3/8”. But nothing the grinder couldn’t fix.
I had enough to make up a holder for my 1/2” torque extensions and part of my 1/2” open send SAE set. I’m going to need some more for the rest of my 1/2” flare nut and open end metric and larger SAE set as well. Might be a few days before I get a chance to do that. But I already like it better than just using a bolt.

So soon my crowfoot wrenches will all be stored a bit better. With the exception of my 3/8”’oil pressure sensor crowfoot and my spare 1/2” 1-1/8” flare nut crowfoot. It was one I’d picked up online for a few fittings. I bought it a few years ago before I was able to afford a whole set. Plus, at the time it was my most common one I needed. Won’t hurt to keep it though. Plus it may find a home in the truck box soon. Just in case.

Sounds like the week my end up pretty soggy around here before it’s over. I’m hoping it’s not. But we’ll see.

 

[1949 caddyman]

Nice job on the crowfeet holders!

 

[dchance]

Thanks for the update and glad the calves are doing well.

Dwight

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well not much to report from the last few days. Yesterday we hauled off some more corn to fill out other contract for the month.

We were able to load out of both of the biggest bins so we were able to haul off 6 loads all together, even with a late start.

The newest calves all still seem to be doing well. So that a plus. Even with the rain showers we had earlier this morning.

Today was a bit of a late start. Late last night I dropped by a cousin’s house in town. Her and her husband home brew beer in their basement. They’re always making new beer and having people over to try it. Her husband even quit his job to start working for a local micro-brewery just to get some experience with the business side of owning a brewery. So I wasn’t too excited about getting started this morning.

I got to the shop and did a few small things and cleaned up. I washed all the grime off the trailer trucks from the last few days hauling grain. They like look decent again.

Some of the parts arrived for the 420. I don’t recall if I mentioned that we had the starter fixed up for it too. We’re just waiting on the gas tank that we were having sealed up.

We’re still working with insurance on the truck accident. We have to get estimates on damages and repairs for them.

We’re also in talks of possibly having another grain bin set up. It’d be nice to possibly keep us from having to rent the few we do every year.

I also received a call from JD today about the steering valve. The other parts they’re already working on. Each costing a couple hundred bucks a piece in repairs. The steering valve however they said had some major scaring, which is likely what was causing the problems we had. However, it’s likely that with the rebuild that it could still causing issues because of the scaring as they probably wouldn’t be able to take care of that even with reseating everything. So instead it sounds like we’ll be spending $2,000+ on a complete new steering valve. It’s definitely a lot more than we were hoping to spend. Especially, since we’ll have even more money wrapped up in that 8760. But that’s how it goes with this older stuff.

So hopefully by the end of the week I may have the parts to put back on the 8760 along with most the parts I’d ordered for the parts sale.

Meanwhile, I shut things down early today. Figured I’d take girl out. I know she’s been a little aggravated since Sunday has been about the only time we’ve had together the last several weeks. So I thought it might be good to call it quits for today.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Another day. We took out old 2 ton truck to town for inspection. Likely have to use it to haul some rock since the other truck is out of commission. Had to get some more estimates on the damage of that truck today too.

Spent a little while in the shop today. Had a nice warm day, although it was really windy today. Bringing in another cold front.

I washed my farm truck up and cleaned it up. I put it up for sale today online.

My brother-in-law bought a truck that was previously owned by his place of work. It’s bigger, newer, diesel and less mileage. It still has a utility bed but a little different set-up. He was in debate on keeping it for awhile but he decided to sell it. So we talked to him and decided we’d take it. So I’m selling mine. Even though I’ve only had it for a little over a year. It’s been a decent truck but I’ve already invested quite a bit of money in it. Plus it needs tires and the a/c started going out at the beginning of fall. So we’ll see how it goes.

I replaced some filters in the 8760 and checked things over on the engine and serviced the batteries. Just waiting on parts yet. But I guess I can start on the wax job on it while I’m waiting for everything to arrive for it.

This evening I made up a few more crowfoot holders.

Still need to get some more pieces of 1/2” square stock to finish up all my flare nut 1/2” set. That may come over the weekend.

Dad also started on a project. We discussed making a step to mount to the front frame of the 8760. Makes it easier to access the engine for getting to filters, filling oil, checking coolant and opening the front part of the hood. I found Deere had a step available for it. But, naturally they wanted an outrageous price for it.

Dad had picked up some metal for a few other projects earlier this week so we picked up some to make a step too. He came up a little shy of getting the bottom step done today. But a bit more metal and some paint and it’ll be ready to go. I think it’ll make things easier for dad to check things on the 8760 too if he needs to if I’m not around.

So tomorrow will be partially full with feeding. I may have an interested buyer in the truck show up already tomorrow. We’ll see. Hopefully they’re in a buying mood!

 

[cliftonbros89]

Not much action for Friday. Did all the feeding. It was pretty muddy out. Had a rain in the early hours of the night.

Dad finished the step for the 8760.
I think he’s going to have one of my bil’s friend powder coat it for us. Turned out really good.

I also spent the whole afternoon waxing the 8760.

I wish it could stay looking like this all the time.

No word on parts yet. So nothing is back together yet. Hopefully next week.

Took today off to relax once. Had an early snow this morning. But it was followed by rain and above freezing temps so it’s already gone. It was enough for my nephew to make a couple snow men though.

So first Saturday off in awhile and not many plans for tomorrow. Had a fish fry with some friends last night. Took my girlfriend’s grandmother out for lunch today. Then some drinks with a few friends this evening. I plan on taking it pretty easy tomorrow. Then back hard to it on Monday.

Still haven’t sold the truck. A no show, which is always expected. Then of course a few people that want to pay me half of what I want. No serious takers yet. Hopefully one will call, text or email soon.

 

[jblnut]

It's incredible what Deere wants for some of those convenience type items like that front step!! It turned out really nice !!!

Definitely going to be stealing the crowfoot holder idea .... those things never stay put in the toolbox and it's always such a PITA to grab them all when you need to bring them to the field.