One thing leads to another

[BayouMan]

Well, I thought it was time for me to post some pictures of some modifications I have been working on for about the last 6-8 weeks. I have a 1978 JD-2640 and I thought I would shop around for my dream tractor with cab and loader, etc. Well it soon became apparent that what I was willing to pay versus reality, that I had better come up with option "B".

I have a local repair guy in Prairieville, LA. that contacted me and said he had a used Bush Hog Brand loader, that would fit my tractor. I went and had a look at it on a tractor he had bought for parts. The loader was in very good shape and we made a deal. He agreed to sell me the loader for $3,500.00, plus $1,000.00 labor to install, plus any additional costs for hydraulic hoses, fittings, etc. The first thing he noticed when I brought my tractor to the shop, was my water pump was going out and my hoses and belts were in bad shape. So, he had to tackle replacing these items first. The first photos show the tractor with the loader attached to my tractor and the hydraulic cylinders being flushed out.

 

[BayouMan]

Prior to having the loader attached, I had to remove my front bumper with weights and my limb guards. I later figured out I could put most of the bumper and gueards back. Pictures of that later.

Prior to having the loader installed, I ran across a good deal on some brand new Firestone rears and had them installed along with 2 new front tires. You might start to get an idea now why I named this thread the way I did.

I elected to go with a stacked valve system to control the loader. In doing so, I was able to add a third lever to handle a future grapple set-up.

After getting the loader installed, we hooked up to the bucket that came with the loader. Obviously, this was not the original bucket. It had about 2" of slop where the bucket attached. This was the beginning of numerous welding projects.

The first project invloved modifying the attachment points on the bucket. I welded in 1/2" plate that I bent to match the contour of the loader attachment area.

 

[BayouMan]

Here are some additional photos during the loader install. I worked around the owner and his helper and was able to paint the loader as it was being installed. The loader colors didn't quite match JD green! Had to wire brush off the decals to be able to paint. Have contacted Bush Hog about replacement safety labels, but they haven't come through.

 

[BayouMan]

Once I got the tractor home, I got to looking and figured that my limb guards and part of the front bumper would work. Well, it worked out. I had to cut the front bumper pipe off and the weight bracket and put in a new piece of angle. I was able to weld this to the front bracket for the loader. I then installed the limb ralis and did a test lift. The loader arms come within about 1/4" of the limb rails at full lift height. I thought that was great.

Once the bumper and rails were installed, the tired yellow paint just did not look right against the fresh green paint on the loader. That was a serious electric wire wheel, sand paper and different chipping tools to get the rust off. Then I repainted and was very pleased.

 

[Ductape]

Came out great !

That 'one thing leads to another' thing happens to alot of us.

 

[BayouMan]

Since I was in the welding mood, I decided to next tackle my box blade. Don't know how old this BB is, but I bought it used about 30 years ago. I think it is a Gant. To say the least, it has been abused over the years, especially around the hunting lease. Well after Gustav, I was pushing some logs into a burn pile and I broke the inside grader blade into 3 pieces. Like I said, it has been abused. I bought a new 7' blade and when I went to install it, I quickly realized I had a couple of problems! One, the old blade had 7 holes on 13" centers and the new blade had 12" centers. Two, when I got to looking at the corroded steel and the thought of drilling 6 each, 3/4" holes, I decided to cut the old supporting angle out and replace it. I bought a piece of 3/8" by 7' angle and 2 pieces of 3/8" by 7' flat bar. I had holes punched in the angle and one piece of the flat bar. I then welded the pieces together to end up with a 2" x 2" x 7' piece of angle. I don't remember how many rods I burned, but I ended up with a pretty stout mounting support for the blade. I also added some 1/2" plate to each side on the rear. I was always bending the 1'4" side plates pushing on logs. Not the prettiest job, but it is working quite well, thanks you!

 

[BayouMan]

Since I now had a loader on my tractor, I wanted to have a set of forks for it. I had sold my Bobcat 753 a few months ago. The guy decided he didn't want to forks that went with it. Well, since these were the universal quick attach style, and I had a Bush Hog brand loader, the hook-up was not going to work. As I was looking the old forks over, I saw where the top plate with the notches to hold the forks in place, were very worn. After looking this over, I decide that I could use the forks and the back guard from the old forks, to make my new set with. These is the ones I started with.

 

[BayouMan]

I took some measurements and determined that the fork frame was 16" from the top of the carry plate to the bottom of the backup plate. Since the original skid steer forks were pretty messed up, I ordered 2 pieces of hardened T-1 plate, 3" wide x 1/2" thick x 4' long. When I got those in, I had the notches cut on both pieces to match the old ones. The machine shop owner happened to be a recent Gustav repair customer and he did the notch cutting for free! Great guy! I also had to order some 4" x4" x 1/4" angle, some 1" square bar stock and some 3/8" by 2" flat bar. The attached pictures show the project from taking out the spear holders to welding in the angle iron, welding the 1" bar stock to the T-1 plate and then welding the plates to the frame. Finished off by taking the back guard from old forks and putting them on the new set. Painted up the unit and it works very well. I think I am going to smear some grease on the plates to make it a little bit easier to slide the forks back and forth. Think that will help? They move, but take some convincing.

 

[BayouMan]

Some more pictures of the forks being made.

 

[BayouMan]

A few more pictures. All I know is that in the last six weeks, I have burned about 30-35 lbs of rods. Still have to make some repairs to my bionic blade, but I'm going to take a few weeks off!

 

[BayouMan]

Last one of the fork project. This shows the forks attached and the unit painted. I think I have a few welds to grind down and need to apply some grease to the T-1 plate to make fork width adjustment easier.

 

[BayouMan]

After trying out my, new to me, loader, I noticed that my front tires were not up to the task of that much extra weight. I was afraid I was going to roll a tire off the rim on any type of side hill run. I happened to have a Tractor House magazine laying around. I found an ad for used aircraft tires on new rims with a tire sealant. I called them and they had the tires I needed, mounted on new rims for $108 each plus $65 shipping. Got them in and had to paint the beige color JD yellow. These tires are 18 ply! I have loaded up the bucket and the forks and these tires do not squat at all! If anyone needs the company name for these tires, let me know. They are used, but I think they will last me for many years. I had used similar tires on forklifts in a chemical plant, with great success.

 

[weldingisfun]

Wow! Not bad for two days work. Just Kidding. Looks great and you did a good job. Now you are ready for some real work.

 

[Baby Grand]

BayouMan,

That's a real nice looking tractor - It has sort of a Dragnet "just the facts, ma'am" look. The FEL install looks like it was made for your machine. Very nice. But the limb guard just makes the whole show. After getting smacked in the face, hard, a few times I just gotta make one of those for myself. Great design. Plus it looks like it might provide a good spot to put a work light or 2.

-Jim

 

[JB4310]

Yeah, pretty much killed that "to do" list

The loader looks great, whats the lift capacity? Now you need a custom ballast box to counter the heavy loads you'll no doubt be handling with that bucket and forks.

18 ply aircraft tires, sealant filled, guess you got that covered, never have to worry about front tires again.

JB.

 

[BayouMan]

Hey Ductape,
You got that right. Thanks for the comments.

Mike

 

[BayouMan]

Hey Weldingisfun,
Thanks for the comments. I have already taken on a couple of chores with the forks that have been waiting on me. Should reduce the number of back aches I get.

Thanks again.

Mike

 

[BayouMan]

Hey BabyGrand,
The limb protectors do a better job of protecting the muffler than me, but they still help a lot. I have been smacked a few times from limbs that catch on the vertical supports near the canopy.

Mike

 

[BayouMan]

Hey JB,

Thanks for the comments. I currently do not know the load capacity of the loader. I do know that when I fill the bucket full and try to back up, uphill, the back tires are a little light! I have tried with my BB on the back and it helps, but I may have to put my Bionic Blade on as a ballast. If that doesn't work, that leads to another project, building a ballast box.

Have already moved a 16' long pecon tree log, 16' long by about 18" diameter. Had a good load, but had no problems moving it about 500 yards.

Still got to get on my bionic blade repairs. May have to wait until I get back from visiting my daughter in London, starting this coming Friday.

Have a great day.

Mike

 

[J_J]

Hey BabyGrand,
The limb protectors do a better job of protecting the muffler than me, but they still help a lot. I have been smacked a few times from limbs that catch on the vertical supports near the canopy.

Mike

Are you related to that ' GIT ER DONE guy' ? You sure jumped in there and accomplished a good many task, and did a good job while working on it. I bet you are very pleased, and you should be. As I get older, it takes more and more to get me motivated.
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