Progress on the 640 for Friday 1 July

This is what I accomplished today before it got too hot to work. I was out after 7 a.m. and quit before 11:30 when the temp got to 94 degrees. I think it got to about 100 today. Anyway, you can see a decal above the PTO and a nice decal on the fender of the Ford 640. Also I managed to get the metal part of an old gear shift knob off the shift lever and put on a new one. I also managed with great effort to put all new gauges on. The ammeter was easy but the rest required a variety of sweat and effort. The temperature gauge was the hardest since the sensor end came off in the engine and I had to remove the battery box to get it out. As soon as it came out a flood of coolant came behind it. The oil gauge was another challenge. Finally the proof meter took a lot of work. I needed three hands or four for most of the work.

It was a good day. Tomorrow I put some more together.

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...

Farmall Cub greasing

Replacing gear oil and greasing the ’49 Cub ought to be a straight forward task(s). Well it hasn’t been. The transmission fluid was tan, looking like tan paint. Folks on Yesterday’s Tractor Farmall forum said it meant water had got inside the transmission. I wonder whether this tractor was under water at one time. I bought a Spectricide brand insecticide pump, put kerosene in it, and flushed the transmission, then refilled with 90 weight gear oil. The gear oil looked like and had the consistency of thin honey. Pic 1300 shows the transmission filler plug. A lot easier to reach than the plug for emptying the transmission. Note it has a square head. All of these plugs are square headed. Three and a half pints later, the transmission was back together. After the transmission, I decided to check the steering gear oil. It was not tan. It was black as could be so I flushed the housing with kerosene again and refilled with ¾ pint of 90 weight gear oil and replaced the filler plug. Pic 1301 s...

Yard Work

This afternoon I decided to attack the brush and thorns around the Guard Light pole again. I got an idea that I might be able to use my Kubota and its front-end grapple to dig below ground and pull up brush by its roots. It sorta worked. I did manage to get a few large grape vines and some thorn and tree plants up. I then used my lopping shears and pulled and pulled. I worked for about 2 ½ hours. In the end I had a pile about ¼ the size of the one taken away by the city truck on Monday. The area is looking better and better. Tomorrow I may be able to get a few cedar trees cut down and hauled away. I tried to rent equipment to cut cedar trees. The rental place said he had nothing I could use. He suggested renting a bulldozer to push the trees over. I have eight acres of trees in town and would need to do something fairly quickly with the uprooted trees or I would have a big fire hazard drying out on the ground. I will try a couple other ways to get cedar cut down. Mean time I am going t...

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