How's Everyone Doing

[rwork]

Just wondering how all the regulars are doing.
Gary, what's going on up your way?
LittleBlue, getting any rain over in Texas?
Bob77064, I promise the pictures are coming!
Joemd11, how are things over in PA?

It's been a bit quite in here this week. Hope everyone is doing good. Chime in once in a while a let us know whats going on.

Randy

 

[joemd11]

Randy,
I haven't been on the forum much as we are in the middle of a kitchen remodel and it has been a little hectic. Also, the grass is really growing fast this time of year and lots to do before winter sets in. We have had a few nights when the temp dipped into the 30's. I did change the oil/filter on the LS and greased it. I also checked the torque on the wheel bolts and loader mounts. Still have to change the fuel filter but that looks like a pain to do. That about sums up my life for the past few weeks. Hows it going down on the Gulf Coast?

 

[rwork]

Randy,
I haven't been on the forum much as we are in the middle of a kitchen remodel and it has been a little hectic. Also, the grass is really growing fast this time of year and lots to do before winter sets in. We have had a few nights when the temp dipped into the 30's. I did change the oil/filter on the LS and greased it. I also checked the torque on the wheel bolts and loader mounts. Still have to change the fuel filter but that looks like a pain to do. That about sums up my life for the past few weeks. Hows it going down on the Gulf Coast?

Hey Joe,
Still waiting for some cool weather! They say we may get a front next week. Still in the upper eighties down here, but the humidity hasn't been quite as bad as usual!
Good luck with the kitchen, I know you've got your hands full there!
Randy

 

[Gary Fowler]

I was lightly disking up/pulling a drag on the pasture after sowing some winter rye grass. Pasture was pretty rough hence the drag. Noticed the seat feeling a bit funny like something was loose. Checked it out. After removing it from the mount and getting it onto my shop table and a little disassembly, I found the problem. It has an X bracket on each side and the pin holding the X together broke off. This caused the bottom of one leg of the X to break the weld also.
I took the seat cushions and frame off the suspension bracket and took it to my dealer as he had said he could likely order the part. Well when I got there his book didnt show any part so he called the area distributor. Guess what? The bracket cant be ordered as a part. THE WHOLE SEAT IS ONE UNIT!!! I am still under warranty (just barely) and asked them to order me a seat AND lets see if we can fix this one so I can use my tractor in the next 6 weeks. Thats how long it took them to get me a fuel tank. So we went to their shop and the mechanic finally got it aligned and held the pin in while I welded it back. Then we pryed around on it till we got the bottom of the X bracket back closely aligned and I welded that. I could barely see out of their old dark lens hood and could just barely get a welding rod into the pin. The only rod they had was a 1/8" 7018 and I needed a 3/32" Sure missed my auto-dark. It wasnt pretty but it is much better than before. When I got home, I welded the pin on the other side.
When the called the area distributor man and told him they had a customer with a broken seat, he said "what happened, did the pin break". Looks like it might be a common problem. Any way got it all together and in the tractor but now the seat back is leaning forward like it was tilted and I cant get it to go back. I have to disassemble it this morning and see what I did wrong as I cant find any latch to release to let the seat back stand up straight.
Good news is that now the welds are stronger than original. The pins holding the X together in the middle which supports all the driver weight has just a really light fusion tack weld of maybe 1/2 mm in throat size by 2 mm long. That pin should have been solid plug welded.
Anyway will see about getting new seat as the owner wasnt there and it was me and the counter man with a mechanic to deal with it.

 

[BlackDogTx]

Getting some rain this morning down here in Waller, Texas (about 40 miles Northwest of Houston). Haven't had much seat time as work has been crazy busy. Looking forward to some cooler weather soon as it has still been pretty warm this month..

 

[Gary Fowler]

Got my seat back together and found the latch mechanism that tilts the back so that wasnt an issue. Only had the tractor 2 years and never found that seat back latch. Cant even find my operators manual now, wife says hasnt seen it but I am sure I had it in the house a couple years ago when I was reading up on the tractor. It isnt in my shop or on the tractor so will have to see what/where to find it (later). Got back to discing and pulling a leveling drag over about have of the 42 acres that we have (brother in law and myself). Finished fixing the seat, double dragged about 5 acre plot and then had to wake up my brother in law at 8am. Man I just cant sleep THAT late unless I am taking sleeping pills or something. Taking a break for lunch then got a couple more parcels to work up. Hoping that we get that promised rain sometime today to germinate that $450 worth of rye grass seed that we put out.

 

[rwork]

Boy, my grapple project is getting more expensive by the day! I think my oil filter and two hydraulic couplings may have cost me a couple hundred bucks!

Had to get up early before work this morning, so I could make a trip to my dealer to pick up a couple male connector ends, and my filters. Got the supplies, and in a rush to get to work to open up, knowing I would be late; I had my foot in it a little to heavy....

Yep the good ole State Trooper got me! 85 on a state hiway with a 65 mph limit, ouch! I know this one is gonna hurt!

 

[Bob77064]

Randy, doing fine here the weather is great. Thanks for asking. Sorry to hear about the ticket.

Bob

 

[rwork]

It's rained all day, down here in sunny south Mississippi! And it's supposed to be worse tomorrow......I can't catch a break !?!

 

[Gary Fowler]

The Big rain we were to get barely wet the side walk. Barely got enough to make dust stick to the windshield while I was discing up the pasture. At least we got all the rye grass sown and dragged dirt over it. Now it Mother Nature would cooperate and give us some decent rain to make it grow.

 

[joemd11]

Has anyone with an R3039 changed their fuel filter yet? The procedure in the manual says to disconnect and plug all the lines and then unbolt the unit from the engine. The placement of the filter unit makes it kinda hard to get at as it is behind the loader mount. I was just wondering if anyone has a better method or shortcuts.

 

[Bob77064]

Not yet sir, but I agree with you the loader makes it hard to get to things. Have you had the loader off yet?

 

[joemd11]

No, haven't had the loader off yet. It probably would make changing the fuel filter easier.

 

[LittleBlueTractor]

LittleBlue, getting any rain over in Texas?
Randy

Guess I'm a little late to this thread. Yeah, as others have noted we've been getting plenty of rain around these parts this year and more this last weekend. Unfortunately I'm still losing pines. Guess they were too stressed by the drought last year to survive. I've never been a big fan of pine trees, but they are certainly better than nothing. I'd like to drag some of them out of the woods and into open field, but it's really too dangerous to do anything in the woods on a tractor right now with all the dead and dying loblollys.

Not much tractor related stuff going on for me at the moment. Thinking real serious about adding a manual hydraulic diverter on the back so I can get a tilt cylinder for my 3-point. Already have the top link, but only one rear remote.

 

[rwork]

Well, as I figured, I got rained out Sunday from getting my new grapples hooked up.
I got up early, and went out to try and beat the rain, but all I managed to do what get soaked! One of those days when nothing goes right!
For starters, I had to get it out of the steel crate that it was shipped in. Easy enough. Wrong! Hooked a chain to it thinking I could just lift it out. For the life of me, this thing was larger than the crate. I'll just grab the grinder and cut it out. What! my extension cord is about eight foot shy. I hook back up to the tractor to drag it within reach of the cord. Just get started good, and here comes the rain! When the rain let up, I realized that I might be able to chain up to the rear end of the grapple, and lift it up back end first. That actually worked, and I got it out finally.
The rain picked back up, so I gave up and went home. Maybe this week!

 

[Bob77064]

Hang in there Randy, we are getting the rain today.

 

[rwork]

Hang in there Randy, we are getting the rain today.

Well, at least we should get a bit of cooler weather down here, and hopefully a little sunshine later this week!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Man we could use some of that rain here. Over a 2 day period of cloudy days and nights , we got .3". Nothing yesterday or today. Spent most of the afternoon yesterday picking up rocks from the lawn where the discing turned them up.
This morning I thought I would give it another look and pick up the ones I missed yesterday. Was going good till I found one about a foot long showing about 2" wide which I attacked with a knife that I keep in my RTV for cutting weed roots. After digging for about 3 minutes and discovering that the actual rock was much larger than what was showing, I went after the backhoe. When I stopped digging, I had hauled 3 loads on my Kubota 900RTV rounded to the max and 4 FEL bucket loads of rocks away from that one location. I just stopped digging around 3 foot deep which seemed to be a solid rock slab at that depth. The ones removed were from marble size to foot tub size and I used them all lining the down stream side of the last dam we put in the creek.Finally got the hole filled in pretty good and then decided to pick up a few on a small pasture next to the lawn. I was picking along and found a razorback ridge of rock about a foot long that was same story as other one, so back to the backhoe. This one ended up being about 2 feet in diameter and I had to load in the RTV with the backhoe and thumb. By the time I got all the shards that were stacked in with the large boulder, I had another full load on the RTV. By this time it was about 5PM and I had been at it since about 9am with only a short break for the sandwich that the wife brought out to me.
I guess it will be more gathering of this years rock harvest tomorrow. I didnt realize how much fun I was missing prior to retiring. Funny how such a little job can turn into an all day or all week project.

 

[joemd11]

Wish I had a backhoe to dig some of my rocks. I have been trying to dig them out of an area I mow and am tired of running over them with the mower. Most often they are small and easily dug out with a pick and shovel. Then some are just the tip of the iceberg so to speak. And of course once you get one out, 2 or 3 more show up!

 

[Bob77064]

Wish I had a backhoe to dig some of my rocks. I have been trying to dig them out of an area I mow and am tired of running over them with the mower. Most often they are small and easily dug out with a pick and shovel. Then some are just the tip of the iceberg so to speak. And of course once you get one out, 2 or 3 more show up!

We have lots of rocks here all sizes. When I find a huge one, I get the 10lb sledgehammer and try to beat it down a little.