Sunday Sortie

This afternoon was a good time to move the Super X3 mill in its crate away from the door of the Tractor building so the 8N Ford could be put away. Once I remembered I have a perfectly good overhead lift which runs across the tractor bay, it was simply a matter of rigging a couple “straps” to lift the crate. The chains from Wal-Mart were ten feet long which was about three feet too short. Two chains and a towing strap later I was ready to give it a try. The crate lifted off the floor and was then pushed across the bay. This left room for the 8N Ford to return to the bay. Well, almost enough room. It is quite cramped in the bay now.

Soon I will have either a new work table or a Harbor Freight mill stand #47599 to hold the Super X3 milling machine. You can see the little work room is a bit cluttered too. The X2 mill will go elsewhere and the room will get cleaned up.

I am certainly happy the 1952 8N Ford tractor was able to lift the 420 pound crate with it attached to the middle location of the boom. That is one tough old tractor. It starts easily and does the work every time.

 

Tractor Boy

Back to the blog

Yes, I am back blogging. 

Today I hope to hoist the new mill with my overhead crane/lift and then slide it along. Too much fun. I will take pictures. I do wish I had taken pix of the moving operation yesterday. It was decidedly scary. No injuries and only a few scars to the land from the weight so all was well. I visited Hubert's work room and saw his X3 mill. It is really three times bigger than the X2 we also both have. I need a much bigger table! Maybe I could mount it on the one I have, but it sure could use wheels. I need 17 inch clearance for the base front to back and 27 inch clearance for the entire front to back area (for the column as well as the front handle). The X2 fits on the 14 inch wide table with room to spare as you have seen. I need 39 inches height clearance too. This is BIG, but some people consider it small still. It is easy to have a thousand pound milling machine instead of one which weighs 390 pounds. J

 

Tractor Boy

Saturday struggle

Yesterday I managed to use my 1952  8N Ford tractor to haul the 420 pound crate of X3 milling machine to my Tractor Building. It was a challenge because I was unsure the hydraulic lift would be strong enough to lift the crate fastened to the middle of the boom I have for the tractor. It was strong enough; however, a greater challenge was absence of appropriate lifting straps for the task. I had a towing strap about 15 or twenty feet long and used it. To make things better (maybe), I tied the strap around the top portion of the crate with rope. Then to further insure things did not slip, I used a bit of chain with hooks to fasten to the steel straps on the crate. Well, as I started to lift, the tow strap stretched, the steel strap snapped like it was paper, the tractor groaned, I groaned, and the crate lifted off the ground. As we (crate, tractor, me) drove around the house to the back yard where the Tractor Building is located, the soggy ground showed every inch of the trip, the crate jostled, and began to disassemble itself. I backed into the opening of the Tractor Building, lowered the crate, managed to untie from it after some effort, and got the tractor out of the way.

 

Today I will probably borrow a furniture dolly to somehow put under the crate, disassemble the crate from the base so I eliminate some of the looseness which I now have for the crate, and move it into the work room space. Fortunately the door is large enough. Of course I need to clean the area we will pass through and pick up clutter. If I can borrow a hydraulic engine lift, I will somehow lift the mill onto a stand and then can clean it up. Maybe I will clean it up first while it is still in the tractor bay. That actually seems more sensible to me. Anyway, I will take pictures and post the whole thing to my tractor bog. I forgot to take pictures yesterday while doing this. Maybe I did not really want a record in case a disaster happened. J

 

Tractor Boy