Recent content by rcalhoun

Sorry for the long delay in closing out this thread. The issue was indeed with the oil seals on the turbocharger. When the turbo blew, it trashed various sensors and (more seriously) dumped oil into the diesel particulate filter. Replacing the turbocharger was just $$s but the real concern was...

I spoke with the shop this morning. The oil seals on the turbocharger were blown, so there was engine oil getting in and making a mess of everything. It's not clear why it happened yet. It was probably 15 F overnight the day I first saw the problem, but 15 F is not that cold. They may know more...

Sorry for the long delay in posting an update. At the beginning of April, I drained a gallon of fuel, cleaned out the water separator & replaced the fuel filter, bought 5 gal of fresh road diesel and ran it off of that. It still smokes, time to call the professionals. CAT used to own Perkins...

I have a Stihl MSA 160 (12" bar, pico chain) that I bought in 2012. When I asked the guys at the tractor store how customers liked it, they said "don't know, you'd be the first". It was a new product back then and it was clear the guys at the store though I was nuts for paying 2x the price of a...

Thank you for the advice. Machine is a 2015, bought at 620 hrs. It had broken overpressure valve that led to overheating problems on arrival (now I know why people sell low-hour machines :-/), so that valve, oil filter, engine oil, hydraulic oil, hydraulic oil filter, water separator, fuel...

Hi, I have a Vermeer FT-100 (same as ASV/Terex Posi-Track PT110 Forestry) with a Perkins 854E-E34TA (Tier 4 interim) engine that is putting out white smoke as it warms up. I'm about ready to send it to the shop but I wanted to make sure there isn't something obvious I'm missing. Background: I...

Since Halloween is coming up, here's a photo I took in my back yard last year: Some searching revealed this to be Xylaria polymorpha a.k.a. "Dead Man's Fingers". :eek: The really scary things in this picture are the creeping charlie and the vetch...

Hello from Northeast Ohio! I've enjoyed reading about flail mowers, mulching heads etc on TBN, and as everyone is so friendly here, I figured it was time to join. I recently purchased 35-ish acres of vacant land that was logged off a couple of years ago. Soil descriptions for much of the...