Constantly Working on Equipment

[TractorGuy]

Just venting a little but it seems like I work on my equipment as much as I work with it. For example I started the day Saturday changing the front tires and oil on my mower. Mowed the lawn and then adjusted the deck some. Center shaft looks to not be straight with the outboard shafts so that's a repair for another day. Charged up the AC in the backhoe and went over it with a leak detector. Did not find the leak but the charge was gone on Sunday. It has a couple of long hoses that route through the hydraulic lines. All are wet but can't tell where any of it originates because it doesn't drip while running. Will have to try cleaning the undercarriage some time then pressurize with nitrogen and soap it all up to look for bubbles. Sunday I went around part of the property with my 855 and landscape rake. Came in and found the lynch pin missing from one of the lift arms. Dropped the rake to hook that back up. Hooked up the brush cutter and mowed around a section that had grown up. Something got into the PTO linkage and bent it so I couldn't disengage the PTO. Dropped the brush cutter and hooked up the grader blade. (saved the PTO repair for later) Went back around and leveled a section that had a large dip in it. Got in the backhoe and dug a couple of stumps before a hydraulic leak developed. Turned out one of the hoses I installed last week came loose and the o-ring was damaged. Guess I had the 45 degree end turned so it pulled loose. Installed a new o-ring and rerouted the hose. Looked at the radio wiring because it turns off sometimes but did not determine the cause. Came home today and found the bent PTO linkage on the 855 and straightened that. Just seems never ending.

I figure this is typical for having a bunch of old equipment. :confused2:

 

[Tomtint]

I just had the exact same feeling last week. It seamed like literally everything needed time and money. The mower broke a shear pin and the brand new 70.00 blades hit each other.. Now junk. New trailer had to have the hitch adjusted to sit level on the truck.. Had to buy a 1 1/8 socket .. Then after it was adjusted the Jack was too long to drop and get it off the ball. .. Had to ***** with that and a saws all. Then had to drop the pintle for the other truck and all 4 bolts snapped taking them off. .. More work. I don't even want to get started on the other crap that needs service ..

 

[Rustyiron]

I have a helmet sticker (motorcycle) and it says "If it has tit's or tires, it'll give you trouble"
That works with just about anything with either of those :laughing:

 

[MF283]

Gloom, despair & agony on me to. Waiting on a front coil spring mount for 95 Ford, replaced shackle 2 weeks ago on rear, luckily got the rusted brake line apart w/o breaking it.
JD 5303 started & ran great yesterday, good amperage all around, connections checked/cleaned, nothing with the key & not a light one.
I guess the tit/tire thing is true.

Ronnie

 

[4570Man]

I don't seem to have that much trouble. I have some new ish equipment, but I have a lot of junk stuff too. It seems to be the electrical stuff that constantly give me trouble. Currently the power seat adjustments on my truck and the power mirrors don't work. The biggest nightmare is the boom lift.

 

[Wagtail]

Life is nothing but "sunshine, lollypops and rainbows" down here! :dance1:

 

[spitter]

With u on always fixen suten.Put tracks on it u see real problems.:confused2:I'ts all better than paying 4 new keeping old stuff running.Most of my stuff is 2000 vintage.Tractor trucks yard equipment every time i think about replaceing sutten i look at the price and come to my senses.To much pollution sh-- to high aprice.Havent had a pament on anything but the house since 04.:cool2:That's y god created beer .Crank you'r favorite tunes open a 12 pack and enjoy.Could b worse might have to go shopping with the wife.

 

[square1]

With (15) gas/diesel motors and countless electric motors powering different tools that make life "easier" (I assume those counts are typical of our demographic), maintenance and repairs is a ongoing necessary evil. Throw in occasional tweaking of the non motorized accessories and it's a wonder we ever get any work (play) done at all

 

[LD1]

I feel your pain. Seems I am always working on my 5500TLB.

Just got the motor rebuilt over the winter, installed my geothermal, and been fixing field tile off and on over the last few months. Til last week when the hydraulics just quit.

Narrowed it down to the 3-spool valve that controls the boom, dipper, and bucket.

Talk about fun taking that out. 6 (-14) fittings for the work ports, A -16 tee with two -12 tubes for supply, a -16 PB and a -16 return. All working down through a little opening, no room to throw a wrench in those sizes, Having to take the ORB-JIC port adapter off after each tube comes off.............Was about a 2.5-3 hr nightmare. Funny things is, I can pull the whole freakin motor in 2 hrs.

 

[EddieWalker]

Add me to the always fixing stuff club. There is no greater thrill or surprise then just getting on the tractor, turning the key, it starts and I'm able to do what I wanted without having to fix anything. This past weekend I replaced the blades on my mower and was looking forward to getting some mowing done. Halfway through it, my rear tire goes flat and it's Saturday afternoon. My tire shop is closed and Walmart doesn't fix those sized tires. Wasted an hour finding that out. The dozer has a cracked track, so I need to weld that up before using it. The backhoe blew a hose, which is nothing new. Just took an hour to get it off, then another hour to get it back on again. Fortunately my Dad is great at running to the store to get stuff, so that helps a lot!!! Then while out bush hogging with my little tractor, I found a soft spot and got stuck. Backhoe is down because of the hose, so I just walked away from it and pulled it out the next day after fixing the backhoe. At least changing the oil in my truck went smoothly!!!

 

[LD1]

The backhoe blew a hose, which is nothing new.

I can just hear how you would say that:laughing: BTDT

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I always break stuff when I'm working. It never fails. I usually do the 3 steps forward and 2 steps back. I try and fix things before it becomes a catastrophe too so I'm sure that has something to do with it. I also have a habit of breaking stuff if its not heavy duty or contractor grade.

 

[k0ua]

It is called entropy. The whole universe is "running downhill". Everything is going from a higher state to a lower state. That includes us. We will all be wormfood some day.. We do what we can to "push the ball uphill", but it always rolls back down. Sometimes it rolls right over us.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I had been pretty lucky for that last few years, nothing broke. Then I found the plastic 'hood' on my craftsman zero turn cracked where the mounting bolts (3 of 6) fastened it. Took it off to repair with some epoxy and accidently shorted some of the ignition wires when hooking everything back up. It let out the magic smoke from somewhere and now nothing works as far as starting it. I cant find an inline fuse anywhere nor any burned wires, so I guess it is time to call a technician. Luckily I have my primary mower still working. I just used the Craftsman to mow the soft to muddy areas since it is lighter and with R1 lug type tires it goes a bit better but it will still get high centered in the mud around my ponds since I sometimes jump the gun on getting into the wet spots after the ponds overflow.
I guess I am a bit lucky in that this is the only thing to break in recent memory.

I did have lots of hoses break along with other issues when I had my Vietnam rebuild Yanmar so I guess my break and fix got overloaded with that one.

 

[oldballs]

It is called entropy. The whole universe is "running downhill". Everything is going from a higher state to a lower state. That includes us. We will all be wormfood some day.. We do what we can to "push the ball uphill", but it always rolls back down. Sometimes it rolls right over us.

I switched from boxer shorts to jockey shorts........... that helped.

 

[k0ua]

I switched from boxer shorts to jockey shorts........... that helped.

You got me rolling on the floor here with that one Mike. :rotfl:

 

[Thomas]

Sounds like its your turn in the fish barrel.

 

[Birdhunter1]

Everytime I turn a wrench and think I'm tired of working on old equipment I remember that a $210 a month for 48 months is what it takes for a $10k loan without interest. It makes turning the wrench and dealing with built up crud more worth it.

 

[rgr33]

I share your pain guys, but I often have another irritating situation that has to be dealt with. It seems like every time I decide to deal with one problem, two other jobs must first be done in order to get job one done correctly.
No good deed goes unpunished.
I will say though, that I am much handier in the shop than I was when we lived in town, old farm equipment and You tube have been my teacher.

 

[Rustyiron]

It let out the magic smoke from somewhere and now nothing works as far as starting it.

:laughing::laughing:
I like that one!:thumbsup: