January 10 2003
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 The used tractor as expected has proven to have a few problems.  The PTO does not engage with a load, and the oil pressure switch that enables the instruments is bad and the differential lock lever is broken.  The rotten right front tire had a blow out while we were moving some dirt to smooth out the power line road and fill in the drive low spot.

  We ordered a replacement tire - a 4 rib 11L-15 from Florida Tire.  After cleaning up the old tire and rim we found that it was a 16" rim that someone had put on the tractor some where along the way, not a 15" like the other side or book called for

We removed the other rim and after cleaning it up we noticed that it was starting to crack around the bolt holes.  We ordered a pair of rims from Miller Brothers tire in Orlando.  Due to the Christmas holiday they were delayed a few days. 

We had ordered Goodyear 4 rib 11-L15 8 ply from Florida Tire for the front as they had a tread pattern that would work in the soft sand and were rated for the load that the front end loader would put on them.  The tire they shipped in was mistakenly returned to the distributor while we were waiting for the replacement rims.  The replacement tires that were shipped were almost smooth - not the deep four rib tires we ordered.  They were send back and the replacements that showed up were shallow 5 rib tires.  These were closer but not what we were looking for.  The third time was the charm as the 4 rib tires showed up. They mounted them on the new rims and we picked them up at 5:30pm as the sun was setting.  We went straight out to the tractor to mount the wheels as the next day Robinson Equipment Co. in Mims had a delivery in Geneva and wanted to pick up the tractor to take it in for service. 

All of the wheel work has occurred at night with the light of a full moon and a flashlight. It is amaizing how much light the moon does give.  After mounting the front wheels and removing the jack stands I drove the tractor to it's parking place for pickup the next day.

 

Driveway low spot getting smaller.JPG (279712 bytes) The wet spot is about 1/3 smaller that it was.  The tire went flat where the tractor is parked - just after being in the mud and water.  At least it failed in a nice spot to change it.
Broken bolt in the front left hub.JPG (387856 bytes) This is the left front hub.  One of the bolts is broken off in the hub and will need to be drilled out.  I have ordered some left handed bits to see if they will do the job. 
Front spindle left side.JPG (711852 bytes) This is another view of the left side of the axel and hub.  The stands did not sink into the soil. The day after the flat we stopped at Harbor Freight to pickup a pair of jack stands and a farm jack. The items were of decent quality and were on sale for about 1/2 the normal price. Remember to chock the wheels and leave it in gear when working on it.
Help heep the water out of the oil.JPG (555171 bytes) I keep the loader valve and gear shifts covered to help keep out rain.  The boots on the shift levers need to be replaced.
Right rear tractor tire.JPG (244002 bytes) This is  the good right rear tire.
Bad rear left tire.JPG (244333 bytes) This is the bad left rear.  We will have it replaced when the tractor is in the shop.