The Piranha Tooth Bar is installed on my Kubota bucket. I used a 4 pound hammer to adjust the side braces of the tooth bar so it would fit inside the bucket. I used the larger clamp to snug the braces up to the inside of the bucket so I could tighten the nut on the bolt with then lock washer in place. The hammer was used to bend the brace in and then to bend it to fit better. I used an air tool attached to the air outlet I had put on the tractor side of the Tractor Building. A 15/16^th inch socket fit the bolts and nuts of the tooth bar and an adjustable wrench held which ever was the other side ( nut or bolt). The pictures show the tooth bar and the fasteners.

While I wanted to try out the new implement, there were a few other things to do before it got too hot.

 got the riding mower out and mowed the rest of the front yard, including where we planted Bluebonnet seeds. Then I decided to venture into the side yard and cut trail. That lasted for just a few minutes and then I got a piece of tree jammed in the cutting blades and the motor stopped. I tried several times to get the branch out and finally had to raise the mower on the mower hoist and then get the branch out. Once I did that, it seemed good to use a hose and wash off the grass stuck above the mower deck. It took a while, but I prevailed.

Next, I got the Outback Billy Goat out and drove it to some brush piles including the big Chinese Tallow forest my neighbor has been trying to get rid of for years. The Billy Goat cut the small trees, yet it go hung up on cut off trunks of former trees and a really big fire ant mound. I managed to disengage from the ant mound and the stumps. I did cut a good bit of the Chinese tallow and then went on to visit my side yard and cut some of that brush. It cuts a 24 inch swath and is easier to get into tight places than my brush hog is able to do. Once the Billy Goat gets stuck, one wheel spins and the other stays stopped. Then it is rock the machine, try to back up, try to twist sideways, rock some more, pull and pull. Eventually I get it unstuck and mow on. It is a form of intense exercise since the machine weighs about 360 pounds. It sure does cut well with that ¼ inch thick blade. If the weather holds, I shall add fuel and make more trails along my fence line.  Billy is almost out of gas. I started the Billy Goat again s I saw brother in law Bob do. No kick back and it started on the second pull.

Tractor Boy

8N Wood Chipping and Discing

Recently I purchased some new implements for use with the two Ford tractors. They had been on an 18 foot trailer waiting my figuring out how to remove them. I attached a boom to the 8N Ford three point hitch and tying the disc to the boom with a chain, was able to lift the disc and turn it to face off the trailer and then lift and drag the disc off the trailer. Once on the ground, I replaced the boom with the disc and proceeded to start in my garden area which has not been disturbed in years.

The green Coban covers the broken finger I received which chipping Hackberry limbs. In the picture is the very limb which kicked back and got me. My leather gloves looked fine, but my finger sure did not. The 8N Ford does not steer easily on a good day and is very difficult to turn with the wounded left hand. I had to give up the disc operation until the splint comes off so I can better grip the steering wheel.

As a result of this adventure, I am going to restore my 640 Ford tractor to running and add power steering to it. I may then sell the 8N Ford or move it to another property and store it there.

It is a fine work horse and seems as good as new even if it is fifty-eight years old. It is still younger than I am and I am still working.

 

Tractor Boy

Cub helps tree clearing

When the weather was good enough to clear and haul some cedar trees, the 1949 Farmall Cub was called to action. It is the perfect size for a small acreage operation. After the trees were cut, I rigged a chain between the tree and Cub to drag the tree to a convenient location for further cutting and then running it through the wood chipper on the back of the 1952 8N Ford tractor. Also, it is very dry and I could minimize fire danger from any sparks by working on ground which was mowed. It worked well and was fun.

 

Tractor Boy

FW: 8N Ford and Dr Chipper

 

 

 

This afternoon (Sunday) I trimmed the Crape Myrtle trees in my circle. I decided to use my Dr Chipper attached to my 8n Ford 1952 tractor. I thought this will take about ten minutes to hook up, but I got a chance to stop and add a clutch between the tractor PTO and the chipper shaft. As soon as I started to drive forward and stepped on the brake is when I realized I had forgotten the clutch attachment on the PTO. Know what happens without that clutch? The tractor keeps moving forward.

The Dr Chipper had a bird nest or two in the exhaust shaft, but it worked well as soon as I removed them. The actual amount of brush was twice or more than is in the picture. I filled a wagon about a foot deep which is about 3X5 feet in size. Hearing protection and good leather gloves are a must. Almost free mulch.

 

Tractor Boy

New Implements

Today I went to Kempner, TX and got my 18 foot trailer, 5 foot rotary cutter n(“Bush Hog”) and 4 foot plow/disc which were waiting for me already on the trailer. The implements are new. The trailer is used. It has electric brakes and my truck is equipped for that. The dealer had to find a suitable adaptor to plug the trailer wiring into the Nissan Titan towing plug and then I drove them home. Right now they are still on the trailer in the yard while I figure out just how to remove them and place them in a convenient location. I certainly need to learn to back a long trailer.

 

Tractor Boy

Farmall Cub Switch Replacement

It was a cold, wet, dreary day in Central Texas. Perfect weather in which to replace the light switch I replaced last week. The first replacement was blowing a 20 amp fuse in less than a second when turned to the farthest right position. Fortunately I had added a separate fuse holder to the circuitry when the replacement did not have a fuse position. I spoke with the nice folk at Farmall Cub Forever and ordered a three position six volt switch which arrived a few days ago. This time I took pictures so you can see what I was doing. Again I replaced one wire at a time. The switch has a protrusion which fits in a notch in the console and I replaced it so the two were properly aligned.

 

I discovered it was easier to take the console off this time and I did not need a small monkey to reach in the confined space.  I did; however, forget that I placed a piece of board between the hydraulic housing and the hood/fuel tank. So when I started up the Cub to see how well it would run, there was an extra part, wooden of course, under the hood. Well… I now have head lights which burn dim and bright. I did not attempt to include the tail light as I am going to put a switch for it somewhere so the tail light is not always on when the head lights are on. What I noticed is that the ammeter, which is in the charging range and steady as can be with the lights off, goes into the discharge range and flutters rapidly and wildly when either dim or bright lights are on. I will seek the wisdom of those who know what that means. It cannot be good.

 

Tractor Boy

Farmall Cub working

Believing the original four position light and charging switch was mostly worn out, I ordered a replacement from Farmall Cub Forever. Nice folks with whom to do business. Yesterday I braved the cold here in Central Texas to enter my Tractor Building and replace the old switch. First I placed a block of wood between the hydraulic system and the hood/fuel tank to keep the fuel tank from collapsing onto something and maybe damaging the fuel bowl. Then I proceeded to remove four screws from around the top of the console and two bolts which fastened the console to the tractor body. Much easier to write than to do. There is very little room to move and I do not have a trained monkey to reach in there and turn a wrench while holding something in place. It turned out to be much easier to remove the part than to replace it later, but I was blissfully naïve then.

The choke rod, the hydraulic rod, and the starter rod all had to be disconnected from one end or the other to allow room to move the console back far enough that I could get at the four position switch. The wires were removed from the old switch one by one and fastened onto the new switch. Finally I soldered appropriate ends on a replacement 20 amp fuse holder and then put the new switch were the old had been. The new switch had no fuse holder such as was on the original switch. It seemed prudent to add a fuse going between the same points as had been protected by the fuse in the first place.

Once I had the new switch in place it was time to replace the console on the tractor body and screw it to the hood. Here is where I needed two little monkeys to help me hold things in place and screw or bolt it all down. It took quite a while to complete. Then the three rods were refastened where they go. Time to try it out.

Oh, Oh. As soon as the switch was put in the fourth position (far right) I heard a tiny “tic” and the twenty amp fuse was blown. After two more tries with the same result, I decided to avoid the fourth position and ask someone from the place where I bought it. I did that today and a three position switch is on its way. These old tractors such as my ’49 Cub were modified over the years. It seems I do not need a four position switch because I have a voltage regulator instead of the original “cut out”. I can say I got the lights to work. A final thing I did was to add hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic reservoir. From a new five gallon pail, I pumped for quite a while until it began to flow out of the observation/filling hole. So today I started the tractor and ran it a bit to warm it, the worked the hydraulic touch control lever back and forth at least a dozen times. All is smooth hydraulically speaking. The Cub started immediately and I fiddled just a couple minutes with the choke to get the engine running smoothly. It was forty degrees in that building and the Cub started within a couple seconds. As soon as I could get off the choke, I opened the sliding door and we cooled down to 32 degrees. Brrr.

 

Tractor Boy