One drawback to plastic tractors

[CVHoss]

They melt./w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif This probably wouldn't come up too many times in your tractor operating, but I did this to my tractor a couple of days ago. Took a picture today so I could let you all know that, as long as I'm alive, none of you have to worry about bein' the dumbest person on earth.

Finally got a go ahead to light my burn piles again. I've been using the loader to "feed" trees into the fire. I've been really cautious about getting too far into the pile, though I have done a pretty good job of burnin' the paint on the inside of the bucket (some of them hot little chunks want to fall in there). Well, I had just "fed the fire" again, backed away, shut the tractor down and was admiring my handiwork. Noticed this gray rock on the hood and was wonderin' where it came from when I realized it wasn't a rock. It was an ash covered coal and it was darn hot (I know this cause I picked it off with my fingers). The attached picture shows what it did to my hood. Guess I'll wait till I've got all the burnin' done in case it happens again and then dig out the Bondo and body tools.

Hoss

 

[Bird]

Ooops!

 

[TxBillyed]

Interseting advices,I am just about to lite off a big time burn pile, some of the stuff is over 8 years old on the bottom, I think I will keep the green machine far away.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Randy,

The longer you wait, the better it will look. Before long you will be showing it off and telling the tail of how it happened/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif If it were metal, it would have burned the paint and started to rust, then you would have to fix it. Ain't plastic great?
Al

 

[Thomas]

I wonder if a good auto body shop could make a repair,for I would hate to think what a new hood would cost..ouch.

 

[Hillbilly]

A little body putty and some John Deere green paint and you would be good to go.......Or a big bandaid./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Egon]

Hoss:

Save yourself a lot of time and work. Mount a tiltmeter over the small blemish.

Egon

 

[RobS]

Bummer, but at least it won't rust and you don't have to rush to fix it either /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MossRoad]

I contemplated burning my brush pile, but figured I'd probably end up burning down my woods /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif. So I pushed all of the brush to a place on my property where I don't have to look at it and surrounded it with pines and shrubs. It slowly rots down over the years and I just keep adding to it. It is out of sight and makes a great home for wildlife. I even used it for fun once. I was adding stuff to the pile one day when I saw this big buck running around on our property. I noticed that when I would rattle the branches, he would come closer. So I hid in the pile and rattled now and then. He came to within about 50 feet of me. Then a breeze came up over my back and about 2 seconds later, he bolted.

Is the color all the way through on your hood? You might be able to sand it down and polish it. There would still be a depression, but it might be the same color. You might want to ask your dealer.

 

[CSAW]

CVHoss

Let's see, a new hood for my stx 38 riding mower is $195.00. I can't see why you wouldn't be able to get a new hood for a real tractor for 6-8k/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Seriously, I would just pretty that up around the edges maybe with a razor blade and let it go. If you repaint it will never be the same.

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>dig out the Bondo and body tools</font color=blue>

Heck, just sand it smooth and slap a decal over it. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Looks like a good place for an Amercian flag sticker to me.

Of course, if you didn't keep your tractor so clean, you wouldn't notice it anyway.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Hoss

I'd have to agree with the sand it and buff it philosophy. The hood is probably polycarbonate with color straight through, and a little light sanding and buffing should fix it. Be alot cheaper than either repainting or replacing. Paint over polycarbonate is tough to make look good.

Or, if the mark is in the right place, you could bore a hole though it and mount a hood ornament. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

SHF

 

[CVHoss]

<font color=red>It is out of sight and makes a great home for wildlife</font color=red>

Know what ya mean there. Ya should have seen the rats runnin' out of the piles when the fire started. Next time, I'm goin' to keep my 22 with me and do some "big game" huntin'.


<font color=red>Is the color all the way through on your hood?</font color=red>

Yup, goes all the way through. The burn spot is about 3/4" in diameter. While it's difficult to see in the picture, there are actually several little pin-holes in the bottom of the burn that go all the way through the hood. If you open up the hood, you can see daylight. It wouldn't be hard to fix but the molded in green is a little lighter in shade than painted green. Might be able to mix a little white in with some J.D. Green and get the match pretty close, but it wouldn't be perfect. So goes life./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Hoss

 

[CVHoss]

<font color=red>Of course, if you didn't keep your tractor so clean, you wouldn't notice it anyway.</font color=red>

That's kinda funny, Harv. I actually cleaned the area of the hood to take the picture cause I was too embarrassed to let you guys see my tractor that dirty. Last month, I took the tractor to one of our shootin' ranges to help clean up after the ice storm. One of the other guys there helpin' was lookin' over my tractor and said, "Pretty nice. What is it, two or three years old?" Not sure he believed me when I told him it was only about six months old. When I was showing my wife the burn hole, she was just giving me that sarcastic look wives give when you do something stupid. Told her I didn't buy it to look at, I bought it to work it. Sounded good to me.

Hoss

 

[kerr]

Go get ya one of those old MACK truck bulldogs and mount it over the hole.Butt,a top off an ol bowling trophy Will work in a pinch im thinkin! Dang fire ball woulda heated up a steel hood ,warped the bee gee bers outa it ,never ta close properly again.Green plastic rules!

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Kerr

Or, if the mark is offset to one side, he could get a set of deer antlers or cow horns and mount them. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif That way there'd be one for each side.

(Actually, I've seen a few guys mount antlers to the front bumpers of their trucks. But they usually don't stay there too long.)

SHF