Tractor Abuse!

Hate to keep harpin' on the subject, but I was visitin' with the boys over on the IH board yesterday 'bout this and many of 'em, I would suspect, think I'm running around with a coocked hat.

Dunno, maybe it is because I've spent my whole life trying to keep mechanical things running like they were designed to run and in good operating condition, but if ya take care of things, these old tractors will darned near run forever.

Anyway, from the first day I drove this latest 966, I could hear a noise in the rear end, so I finally had it opened up this fall and checked out.

Clearly, it has been overloaded. Overloaded to the point that the ring gear shows stress cracks and all the "pull" bearings are "pitted" from being subjected to way, way too much load. Somewhere along the line, this tractor has just plain had the guts pulled out of it, for whatever the reason.

It is a local tractor and the drawbar shows some egging, so I suspect it was used for farm work which was way, way too heavy for it's original intended use.

Yeah, I'm just venting because I'm the silly old sap that has to pick up the repair bill to make this tractor right agian.

But, can't people tell when they're "over doing" it? Can't they tell when the tractor is in over it's head? It is just like beatin' an animal that can't pull the cart.

Think this is one of my greatest "pet peaves" when it comes to old, used tractors. And yes, I know I'm too darned "picky", but abuse is abuse, no matter what ya call it. :>(

Allan

It was a plain mess. It was run til the pump broke, the front end trashed, the engine destroyed, the drawbar pulled off it, and the brakes were AWOL.

Then I realized, he was a farmer. He used his tool until there was absolutely nothing left. Can I fault him? Absolutely not. He did not have my comfy job, my heated garage, my tools, or my endless clock. He was a farmer. He used it til it was junk, then bought another. He was quite the unconventional engineer, but he apparently was successful at keeping it running.

There are alot of folk that simply cannot afford the tool they need to do the job properly. What can you do but make what you have work. When I was young, our 135 rarely had its front end on the ground, much less pointed in the intended direction of travel. The baler it towed was twice its size. The hillsides were murder. Yet there were mouths to feed and the local economy of the early 80's left little to go around.

I ain't sayin' that your tractor was not abused, but perhaps it's owner was like us, one mistake away from starvation, and one payment behind.

Sorry, just kinda hit home....

Aaron

If you pay attention to what's going on (both sight and sound) will more often than not tell you the story about how hard you are workin' a piece of equipment.

I think implements get bought sometimes for the reason that they are "the right price"...and then once those implements get home, the new owner realizes that they are maybe a couple of horses short of a full team for the said implement. So what do ya do? Ya throw on more weight and more fuel! It fixes everything don't ya know!

Too funny how common sense makes no sense at all to some!

Glad ya got the 9 going and in good shape!

Billy

The fellow was a fanatic for maintenance detail like you would never believe. Every piece of equipment was perfect - some from the 30's and 40's.

The tires on the old Krause one-ways weren't even low.

The factory radio and cab upholstery in the old 930 Case was still perfect.

The old Massey cabless combine was still in perfect running condition.

The fellow was an aging loner, got sick, and hung himself from the windmill. But he wrote a notebook full of notes on most pieces of equipment for the auctioneers to post for the sale.

Things like "truck in perfect condition except slight oil leak on rear left axle - find seal on stairway in basement". Or on the old Model T - "note matching serial #'s - only thing that needs attention is hood mount blocks need to be shaved 1/16 of an inch".

He also left notes asking that no one who was not "authorized, competent, responsible, etc..." touch any of the cars in the barn.

The auctioneer stopped the sale at the 1940's grain truck and told the story that the owner told every farmhand they had hired during harvest, that if they were caught with the windows rolled down on the truck while it was still in the field or dirt road before they got up on the pavement they would be fired.

There was a 40's model Chevy pickup in perfect working condition - with a pintle hitch on the rear bumper that had almost 1/4" groove worn in the bottom hook. He had USED his equipment and taken AMAZING care of everything.

It was more like a museum selling out than an old farm estate.

The whole sale was eerie and sad and a good lesson at the same time. Reading his notes as different pieces were sold was very eerie.

It was sad that he died the way he did - alone and sick - but it has stuck with me as a lesson to this day that it is possible to take care of the equipment almost indefinitely. The amount of respect he had for taking care of things was inpirational.

To this day, it still affects my attitude on maintaining my tractors and equipment.

He also left the university where I work a good portion of a million dollar bequeath - so it paid off for his family to farm like that.

Howard H.

My dad had a saying, "The only man who never gets in trouble is the man who does nothing."

I disagree with ya. (What's new?) :>)

Using them correctly does not hurt a tractor one little bit. In fact, it is good medicene for the old beaters. It is what they were designed for. It is what they do and most of these old ones were way "overbuilt" to start with. They do not "wear out". They just don't.

Egg shaped drawbars are not a topic. Drawbars get beat up. Old tractors have egg shaped drawbars, fact of life and sure not an arguement there. But, you show me a bearing race that is flaking off and I'll show you an abusive operation somewhere along the darned line.

I will agree however that inactivity is probably the "worst" thing a guy can do with a tractor. Lettin' the tractor just sit kills 'em.

Now, I can certainly understand one dying from old age. That's normal and is to be expected.

It's just that I've just never been around a 175-year-old IH tractor and can't speak to that issue. :>)

Allan

But, Hugh and I just like to poke sticks at one another. It's what we do around here. :>)

Allan

Well, let's see. @ 3,000 hours a year on a farm tractor, that would pencil out to right at 250 12-hour days per year. 'Course, that's not stopping for fuel.

Come to think of it, that's not stopping for anything. Don't drink two cups of coffee 'cause we ain't got time to stop. :>)

I'm tellin' ya, you must have one heck of a long growing season up there. :>)

But, you may be right, I sure don't know. The most I've ever farmed was under 800 acres irrigated and couln't squeeze 200 hours a year on a tractor if I tried.

Maybe that's why I've never had a bad T/A or a bad rear end? You're probably right; guess I'm just being silly.

Allan

I ran my 1066, 10,000 hours in 8 years, a good bit of that was done on custom work. I had two young lads working for me that would leave home on Sun. night and run non stop until Fri night. It was summer work only pulling a root windrower doing clean up after bulldozers on land clearing. soon as the crop was in, silo full of alfalfa, they'd hit the road until the next cutting of alfalfa, and soon as that was done they were gone again. They averaged about 120 hours per week on the meter, and filled the silos much the same.

These guys travelled with camper behind pickup, fuel and supplies on pickup, tractor and rake and they quite regularly got 100 miles from home. I have seen them 150 miles from home but not often.

Rod

The last four 86 series tractors we sold were in the 20K to 25K hour range when 15-20 years old. I can guarentee that all of them had a little extra noise coming out of the rear end. Dad had 11K hours on his 1466 when he traded it in '80 for a 1486, he thought it had a lot of hours. He didn't know the tractors he was buying that year would end up with double the hours. The only tractors we owned that didn't see at least 800 hours a year were the 4X4s.

With only 200 hours a year you should go at least 20 years between between TAs. You're barely even getting the good out of an oil change in a year.

I'm used to irrigated farming, which is some of the most intensely "tractor use" farming there is. Most I ever remember squeezing on a tractor was one hundred seventy some hours in one season.

Please explain how you do it. Do you let the things set there and idle all night long or what? Or, are you farming in the 15, 20 thousand acre range?

Allan

The cattle and hogs alone will account for 10-20 hours of PTO work on a grinder every week. In a year's time that's 500 - 700 hours. That's before you even feed a bale of hay or a load of silage or clean a feedlot.

When I was helping out last spring the "new" combine had almost 1000 separator hours on it, the "older" combine had over 3000 hours seperator hours.

Some folks can actually "feel" the stress of the iron, others just take another drink and full-bore ahead.

But, it takes all kinds to make the world spin tho.

Guess I'm just grumpy 'cause I've never before owned a tractor that has had 'er guts ripped out from pure, uncut abuse; be it intended or not.

Just torques me off a little 'cause I now gotta cover their tracks. :>)

Allan

Rod

That's what I used to say about GM. "Bless your heart for that 700R4 tranny".

That under-engineered thing fed me very well for many, many years. :>)

Allan

You know as well as I do that there is a big difference between "defective bearing", defective "preload adjustment" and the plain, old-fashioned failure caused from a bearing being "overloaded". You can see it in the bearing.

What gets me is that I would have sworn that the tractor needed bull gears. Just had that "sound and feel" to it. But luckily, that department looks just fine.

Red shop is installing the bigger stuff that the 10s and the 14s use, so it should last me to the end of my days anyway. He also agrees that they should be set up on the tight side of "spec". :>)

Allan

When I get it home, I should scribble the hours down somewhere. When all the dust settles, I will have had something like $18K invested in the ol' brute from start to finish.

However, no stone has been left unturned. She's now new from the pivot pin to the lift sockets and it really is one heck of a nice old tractor..... ....(now). :>(

Allan

None of those people who are so proud of the 170 hp their "100" hp tractor delivers ever mention exactly what that mega hp actually does to the rest of the tractor.

Now you know!

Feel like doing the Farmal Owner thing and turn up any more of your tractors?

I never did buy into that line of thinking. Just doesn't impress me in the least.

It'll pull what it'll pull and that's good enough for me 'cause I know it will pull forever at that load.

That smoke screw is nothing but a slow speed grinding wheel as far as I'm concerned. :>)

Allan

Here's some interesting data on labor vs. production:

When farming was first getting started in this country it took 300 man hours to produce 100 bushel of wheat, from soil preparation to harvesting and transportation.

Back in the 1930's that figure dropped to about 20 man hours.

During the 1950's it was down to about 5 man hours.

Today, I would guess we are approaching 2 man hours for that same 100 bushel.

Don't even get too worked up over those "blue colored" things. :>)

Allan

Where would a guy pick up one of these John Deere tractors reasonable like?

Oh, that's right. Forgot. Ya can't buy a green anything without paying three times the money.

Guess I'll just pay the repair bill and keep my yap shut. :>)

Allan

I'm right in the middle of a tractor-swap-talk-nonsense right now for a 1486 vs any one of my pretty red ones.

However, if I bring home one more tractor, I know darned well I'll be spending my evenings out in the barn! (Some things ya just know without being told.) :>)

I've got six guitars and five tractors. Lookin' for the loonie-bin squad to show up at the door just any day now.

"Paging Allan, paging Allan, paging stupid old Allan". :>)

Allan

I told the wife that the only way we can realisticly deal with this current situation is to shut off the nightly newscast.

It's ust too hard on the old ticker. :>)

Allan