Tractor Stories

Great news! The fellow who sells and makes run Nancy’s long arm quilting machine and robotics (quite a challenge) came to the house to help Nancy get the robotics working right. He asked whether I wanted help getting my Farmall Cub running and said he would look at it right after he was done with the robotics. Well, he did and began tracing through possibilities. He noted that the choke linkage was not working and the choke was one full, there was water in the carburetor bottom, there MUST be an on-off switch, and once all that was set right, the Cub started and I drove it in the yard. The light circuit fuse is blown so when I replace it, maybe I will have head lights too. Apparently I had simply been flooding the engine if I had any spark at all. I am most happy.   Emily came down and brought two rifles to hunt deer. She got a license last evening and we hope to get to the range before Friday afternoon. Going to get cold here about Thursday morning and colder still for a few days ...

November 6, 2010, was opening day for deer hunting in the part of Texas where I live. I shot two small does from a field near Lampasas. The rifle is a CZ 550 in 6.5X55 millimeter Mauser caliber. I loaded the cartridges with 140 grain hunting bullets. This first deer dropped immediately. The second and smaller deer ran about 70 yards after being hit, then fell over. One thing I do is check beyond the deer to make sure there is no other animal or house in line with the bullet after it passes through the deer. November 13,  I decided to load some 30-06 ammunition so  my daughter will  have some to shoot a deer or five. I used a premium Nosler 150 grain ballistic tip boat tailed bullet, Lake City MATCH brass, which was unfired, CCI primers for the Garand, and IMR 4895 powder. Obviously, these can be used in a Garand since that powder is the original Garand powder (new, of course). I made her fifty cartridges so she will have plenty for the range to sight in and have fun, and ...

Today I made a trip to the Temple Gun Club to shoot my new Kel-Tec RFB. RFB stands for Rifle Forward ejecting Bull pup. It uses FAL metric 20 round magazines and shoots .308 Winchester or 7.62X51mm Nato rounds from an 18-inch barrel. The overall length is 27 ½ inches and it weighs about 8 pounds. The RRFB comes with no sights; however, it has a Picatinny rail for mounting sights. I put a Barska 3-9 scope with red or green cross hairs. I do not know how to put the sling on the RFB as there were no instructions with the sling, and the manual refers to those instructions. About 120 rounds later, I love this little rifle! Recoil is much less than one gets from a bolt action rifle. The accuracy is still unknown since mostly I shot Wolf ammo and that is not very accurate. Initially I had a lot of problems. The rifle would not pick up the next round and usually would not lock the action open after the last round from the magazine. Once I looked in the manual, I found the answer. The gas port ...

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 worktable 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 ...

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

Yesterday I managed to use my 1952 8 N 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 ensure 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...

‘Tis a fine day in Central Texas. The air is 35 degrees, and it is sunny, with a cool North wind. It is a perfect day to go for a drive on the 1949 Farmall Cub. That is just what I did. I saw it had not leaked gasoline anywhere, so I disconnected the six-volt battery charger and connected the negative battery cable. I managed to touch the battery box while snugging the cable and threw a nice spark which told me both that the battery is charged and to be more careful. Then I climbed aboard using the clever step device dangling from the platform, pulled the choke, pulled the ignition switch, and then the starter. The old Cub started right away and soon I had figured out how to give it just enough choke to keep it going while it warmed up. We backed into the yard and went for a drive ‘round and ‘round we went in second gear, making about five laps of the back yard. I stopped it in the sun to take pictures and to “bleed” the hydraulic system. That thing howled and squealed and scared me ...