The best one I ever saw was on a Ford 861 Ford tractor. It would have been in the mid 1980s. Things where going a little better for us and The old Ford 861 that was used a lot in hay was burning oil real bad. I had bought it in 1978 for $1000 at a sale.
So I tore it down to do an overhaul on it. Usually a set of bearings, grind the valves, and new piston/rings/sleeves and you are good to go.
When I took the number 4 rod cap off I found a thick piece of leather wrapped around the crankshaft journal. There was no rod bearing even in the connecting rod. Just this heavy piece of a leather belt wrapped around the crankshaft with the cap bolted tight on top of it. I know it was a belt as the back side was black and there where some punched holes in it out in the middle.
This tractor had good oil pressure and did not have any kind of engine noise what so ever. It just burnt oil by the gallon.
So I had to completely remove crank shaft. It was junk. It was so worn under that connecting rod journal that they could not weld it up and guarantee that it would not break.
So I found a good used crankshaft and replaced all the connecting rods.
I had used the tractor for 8-10 years with that leather in the rod cap. I did not pull it real hard as it usually ran the rake and small square baler in the summer. In the fall I used it on augers and elevators. So it never was pulled like it would have been while plowing.
The tractor is still running good. I sold it a few years after I overhauled it to my BIL. I replaced it with a JD 2020 diesel tractor that I still own and use.
So what have you guys found rigged up that was working fine????
So I tore it down to do an overhaul on it. Usually a set of bearings, grind the valves, and new piston/rings/sleeves and you are good to go.
When I took the number 4 rod cap off I found a thick piece of leather wrapped around the crankshaft journal. There was no rod bearing even in the connecting rod. Just this heavy piece of a leather belt wrapped around the crankshaft with the cap bolted tight on top of it. I know it was a belt as the back side was black and there where some punched holes in it out in the middle.
This tractor had good oil pressure and did not have any kind of engine noise what so ever. It just burnt oil by the gallon.
So I had to completely remove crank shaft. It was junk. It was so worn under that connecting rod journal that they could not weld it up and guarantee that it would not break.
So I found a good used crankshaft and replaced all the connecting rods.
I had used the tractor for 8-10 years with that leather in the rod cap. I did not pull it real hard as it usually ran the rake and small square baler in the summer. In the fall I used it on augers and elevators. So it never was pulled like it would have been while plowing.
The tractor is still running good. I sold it a few years after I overhauled it to my BIL. I replaced it with a JD 2020 diesel tractor that I still own and use.
So what have you guys found rigged up that was working fine????