What have you done with/to your GC Series 2300, 2400, 1700 Tractor TODAY

[litework]

Down on the lower Potomac cleaning up some shrubbery and other trashy brush. It was pretty cold.
Before:

After:

During:

Note: litework is not in this picture; this is my stepdad getting in on the action.
It's an hour and a half away from my place, so this task took the entire day and there's still a lot more to do.

 

[irvingj]

Neighbor had a dog die and asked if I could try to make a hole for it... I eventually got my stored-for-winter BH on (tip of bucket was frozen into the ground), but it couldn't even make a dent in the frozen dirt.

Oh, well, back into storage.... I had my doubts that the LRB could penetrate the soil -- now I know. Wintertime digging is for the big boys. Now I just need to thaw out my fingers!

 

[Dmacleo]

still nothing done here. 0630 this morning.
edit: oh yeah if anyone wants to see my temps my weather station (ambient temp ws-2902c) is KMEETNA4 in etna,maine. LINK HERE.

 

[irvingj]

Hey!! I just tried the "The Ray Method" of starting the LRB -- and it worked!

No block heater, no battery charger or tender connected, and although it's now almost 10F, it did get down to -1.5F earlier this AM.

It took 3-4 tries, firing & dying -- I advanced the throttle a bit...and it worked! Quite a bit of black smoke initially (and maybe running on only one or two cylinders), but smoothed out within 10 seconds or so, running on all three.

So now I know, but I'll probably continue to use the block heater just to make things a bit easier for the ol' girl.

The way the tractor works now (after the new battery), it's almost like the glow plugs weren't working at all before. Amazing difference, night & day.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

but it couldn't even make a dent in the frozen dirt.

I've found the root ripper tooth will get into the frozen dirt/sod ... But not likely to make a ice fishing hole!

----------------------------------------

I got to swing by home, and squeezed in a little bit of time to exercise Little Baby Fergie! It was in the low 60's!

I had noticed this trail going under the fence my neighbor and I put in last year (actually he did it, I just shared the expenses) ... I figure they aren't paying rent or toll, they gotta go around!

I used the little bit of barb wire on the spool, and ran it about 2" off the ground, then placed the cement blocks, the wire should stop the blocks from getting push out of the way ... they will allow some water to flow through, but hopefully stop the critters ... Then I went and got some more wire on a homemade little "dispenser" ...

I got two strands across the lower section, I think I'm gonna add one more later to prevent hoping over ...

Then I went out back and scooped up some dirt, and piled some rocks on top ...

He used a skid steer and auger, and the dirt around the poles had settled quite a lot, so I filled them in!

Look what I saw on his side of the fence? I thought I could smell something ... Looks like a 10 pointer ...

 

[ray66v]

Hey!! I just tried the "The Ray Method" of starting the LRB -- and it worked!

No block heater, no battery charger or tender connected, and although it's now almost 10F, it did get down to -1.5F earlier this AM.

It took 3-4 tries, firing & dying -- I advanced the throttle a bit...and it worked! Quite a bit of black smoke initially (and maybe running on only one or two cylinders), but smoothed out within 10 seconds or so, running on all three.

So now I know, but I'll probably continue to use the block heater just to make things a bit easier for the ol' girl.

The way the tractor works now (after the new battery), it's almost like the glow plugs weren't working at all before. Amazing difference, night & day.

Next time, more throttle, and more glow plug.

Find the right setting, and it starts first try.

 

[dicktill]

You know how they always say that a tractor is not a bulldozer? Well, hot dang, look at Fergie's Christmas present that finally showed up (weeks late) today. It's a 6-way plow that I'll use for light landscaping. (My neighbor plows all that damned white stuff.) I've got some more plumbing and wiring to do!

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Where did you get it from?

How much does it weigh?

Looks about 48" at most?

 

[dicktill]

Where did you get it from?

How much does it weigh?

Looks about 48" at most?

It was made by Erskine Attachments; I bought it thru Cleveland Equipment. It is really intended for a mini-skid steer, but I had it made with an SSQA mount instead.

Weight is listed as "210 pounds without mount"; I will have to weigh it someday (if I get a scale like yours), but I would guess it is 300-ish.

"Looks about 48" at most?" Hmmph! It is a whopping 49.5" wide. : )

 

[Dmacleo]

ask a woman, that 1.5 inch matters.
its the difference between being 11 inches away from that woman and being over a foot away from that woman.
what???
your all dirty minds were going in another direction?
you all should be ashamed.

 

[Dmacleo]

gc2400 in air ready for fuel filter change.
but...theres always a but...this is first day since june 2025 I can take deep breath w/o low right lumbar spasming. been in therapy 2x a week since september 2025. just gonna ignore the massey today. its 36 deg out and I am gonna continue to relax today.

 

[Dmacleo]

I choose to relax today also, having choices is good.
but this is what I saw this morning. had to touch it of course, worlds largest cat tongue.

 

[Dmacleo]

got to thinking, I deal with fuel filters on many tractors around here. my gc2400, neighbors gc1723,neighbors gc1725m,neighbors mf1532 all use same filter and housing. another neighbors 48hp massey also uses same filter and housing but I don't deal with that regularly but have had to replace filter on it in an emergency 3 years ago.
so I always have at least 6 new in box paper filter elements part 3608255M1 on hand.
what I don't have on hand is that little plastic bowl part 3705009M1 on hand.
so ordered 1 from amazon, 27$. dealer had none on hand and would cost 25$ to order and would take 2 weeks to get here but amazon cost 2$ more and is ready to ship.

Amazon.com

keeping stuff on hand can save you a lot of BS. especially if you are "that guy" in the area....

 

[ray66v]

All my fuel gets sucked through a 10 micron canister filter, before it goes into the tractor.

I just replaced my fuel filter last year, for the first time.

After 425 hours, it still looked fine.

 

[Dmacleo]

All my fuel gets sucked through a 10 micron canister filter, before it goes into the tractor.

I just replaced my fuel filter last year, for the first time.

After 425 hours, it still looked fine.

Looks can be decieving, just ask my wife. Dealing with a wax sludge in mine which is driving all my stupid posts lately. Coldest December in Maine in a century added to my crap. Just glad it's a new year

 

[ray66v]

Looks can be decieving, just ask my wife. Dealing with a wax sludge in mine which is driving all my stupid posts lately. Coldest December in Maine in a century added to my crap. Just glad it's a new year

No visible sludge, or debris in the filter, or the bowl.

And, everything was still operating normally.

As I have said, I do benefit greatly from having a top notch diesel supplier locally.

But, I have had a gasoline filter on my zero turn start to clog up after only 900 hours. However, that fuel goes straight from the corner gas station, into the mower, unfiltered.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Dealing with a wax sludge in mine which is driving all my stupid posts lately.

What color is your waxy sludge?

 

[Dmacleo]

was whitish/greyish. fuel additives corrected most issues but element is cheap so will replace it.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Yeah the whitish gray stuff is the paraffin in the diesel solidifying, if it also seems to have "crystals" in it, that would be frozen water ...

I just put some of the Hot Shot Winter Defense in my trucks tanks tonight when I filled up here a bit North of Dayton, OH ... It takes care of the gelling (solidifying of the paraffin) and separates out any water with a de-emulsifier ... Unfortunately our little tractors don't have a water drain on our filters like my semi-truck does, but it will collect in the bottom of the filter bowl ...

De-emulsifier will separate out the water, emulsifier will cause the water to mix with the fuel, which can be hard on the injection pump and injectors ...

Black slimy gunk is the microbes which will clog up the filters, and needs a biocide to kill it off ...

 

[Dmacleo]

37 and part sun out so I did fuel filter. all the ice on cap of tractor melting onto my face and chest while doing it, nothing I could do. unit had been parked on incline last week to rid as much as possible but sunday mix stuck.
anyways still have to replace that crap battery but I (physically pretty messed up) can do that standing beside tractor, getting on ground is problematic. well I should say I am awesome at getting onto the ground, hell falling is one of my many super powers. its the getting back up thats issue.