April 30th

Semi good day today. Picked up two riding lawnmowers in the morning and worked on a 855 the rest of the day. Had to pull the front differential and totally disassemble it to replace all of the bearings. This is all because of a broken drive cover and failed bearing causing metal filings to be distributed throughout the differential. Should be able to put it together tomorrow. Will let you know.

April 27th

Did deliverys today. Put about thirty miles on our pickup and about seventy on our roll back flatbed truck. This was just to deliver three items. My other project the JD855 just grew in size. It went from investigating a strange noise in the front differential to replacing every bearing and seal in the front differential. This is because the whole thing was contaminated with metal filings from a bearing that demolished itself and took out a spindle housing. Almost one thousand dollars later and about eight hours work to get it all apart and back together. If I am not delivering on monday, I guess I know what I will be doing.

April 26th

Today was a very disappointing day. Back home at my "home" store and what was my first job for most of the day, delivering lawnmowers. I was so close to loading my tools back into my truck and calling it quits at this dealership. I guess survival overcame disappointed feelings and I am still here. Other than that, it was just deliver and pickup of riding mowers. Not a whole lot to say about that. Guess I will see what tomorrow brings.

April 25th

My involvement in the air seeder and commodity cart has come to an end. I understand it is nowhere near completed though. The customer wants to add liquid fertilizer and change the closing wheels (the wheels that close the furrow after planting the seed). I guess someone else will have to do that as I am going back to my store. As I mentioned in yesterdays entry, I did accomplish everything that was on the list. Going to have to wait and see what the new day will bring.

April 24th

It will take one more day to complete this project. It seems that every time I think I am getting close to being done another lengthy step pops up. Today's long step was getting all of the seed tubes in place. It is amazing how long it takes to position and connect 48 seed tubes. Attached the draw bar today and routed all of the hydraulic lines and electrical connections. It takes seven hydraulic lines and four electrical cables to operate this thing. Started working on the commodity cart draw bar and all of its connections. I believe that tomorrow it will definitely be completed. Still have to plumb all of the commodity cart seed delivery tubes to the interface panel in the air seed drill, finish the cart draw bar connection, tidy all of the wiring up, investigate and repair wheel bearing issues with one wheel set, grease everything up and test everything. It could be a full and busy day.

April 23rd

Today was a great day. Assembled both wings if the air seeder onto the center section. Attached the seeder raise /lower hydraulic cylinders. Hooked up to a tractor and tested. Also attached the wing trunnions (wheel assembly that the seeder rides on). Tomorrow should be my last day at this store and then back to my "home" store. Will have to hustle to get the seeder done. Still have to attach the tongue, raise/lower wing hydraulic cylinders, and all of the seed feed tubes. Anyway, tomorrow should be a good day also.

April 20th

Completed the commodity cart assembly and modifications this morning. The "inventor" of the scaling system on this commodity cart packed up his stuff and headed back to Minnesota. Moved the cart out of the shop and into the yard to make room for the air seeder portion of the assembly. The air seeder is a thirty foot seeder. That means it can plant a thirty foot wide swath with each pass, hopefully saving the farmer time and fuel.  The air seeder comes in three sections. The center section is so heavy that it was almost too much for the fork lift truck. If it was not for the four wheel drive our fork lift truck has, I would have been stuck in the parking lot when one of the rear wheels was lifted off the ground while traversing a mud puddle. Today's progress was good. Moved the center section under the back cover of the building. Unpacked the left and right wheel trundle assembly's from the wing section shipping framework and got them mounted on the center section.
Found out today that I will be in this store for at least one more day, Monday. Then back to my home store.

April 19th

Today was a good and seemingly productive day. We pulled the cart out of the shop into the rain, a fellow service tech brought his truck around and set up the crane to set the tanks in place on the commodity cart. After the tanks were in place, we pushed the cart back into the shop so it was out of the rain and I adjusted the pads (the items that the tanks actually rest on) and installed the feed tubes to the front of the cart from the metering houses (the device which permits the correct amount of seed to flow to the seed planter). I also crawled into the tanks to connect the ladders and installed plates to plug holes where the walkway used to connect to the tanks. We connected the scaling load cells to power and installed a display panel and found out that they actually work. Surprisingly after zeroing the display, I crawled up onto the tanks and found that the scales were very accurate, it displayed my weight correctly LOL.
We got all of the low pressure air plumbing to the tanks installed also. I think that all of the cutting and welding and painting is coming to a end. I sure can't see any more items that will need modified for this commodity cart to work. I think tomorrow that the cart draw tongue will get installed and the cart will be moved out into the yard and the seeder will get moved in for assembly. I'm not sure if I will be doing the assembly of the seeder, nobody seems to know.

April 18th

Well, we did not get the tanks on today. It seems that we are short a hose that needs to connect to the tanks before we can set them in place. I did get the "pads" put on the octagons today. They are the part that the tanks rest on when mounted. I was tasked with getting all of the wires from the load cells mounted on the octagons to the junction boxes. This is something that I enjoyed doing. Kinda brought back memories of my last job. Also had to run the wires from the junction box to the bundle of wires and hydraulic hoses that will be going to the seeder. these were 45 feet long. The fabrication that was done today was on the "catwalk". I had to make a brace that would support the end of the catwalk. Normally this catwalk would be supported on the tank, but since the tanks "float" for weight measurement, I had to make a support brace. Tomorrow I think we will set the tanks in place, put the tongue on the commodity cart and possibly test the scales. Again, we will have to wait and see if this comes to fruition.

April 17th

Still continuing to work on the JD1910 Commodity cart with air seeder. Finished the modification on the rear tank scaling framework and feed box. Started working on the front tank. It is almost identical to the rear tank. Still lots of welding, painting, drilling and bolting parts together. It sure seems to be going together pretty slow. I suppose it wouldn't be as slow except there are no instructions, just the "inventor" with the instructions in his head. I have to ask "what's next" all of the time just to keep busy. Oh, did I mention all of the welding, painting, drilling and bolting parts together that is needed to put this thing together? I was informed that possibly tomorrow we could get one of the tanks put on this thing. Guess I will wait and see what tomorrow brings. :)

April 16th

First day at a different store. Found out what I was sent down here to do. It seems that there is this JD 1910 air seeder that needs to be assembled, however it is modified such that it is not as easy as just following the directions to assemble. I am working with the "inventor" of the scaling system being installed and the reason for the modifications being done. Pictured below is what I am working on, currently I am working on the last section behind the tractor.

Some of the stuff I had to do today was welding together "pads" that the new scaling system will sit on, Cutting and relocating some tank (the big yellow portion pictured above) mounting pads, and welding washers on some ladder mounts for inside the tanks. There was also lots of using the forklift as a crane to position octagons (the framework that the big yellow tanks sit on) in place so we could see what needed to be cut and rewelded. Anyway, today was much better than the past few days at the other store. I am actually doing something that is ag related.   

April 13th

Today is Friday the 13th, bad luck? If not working on ag equipment is bad luck, I guess so.
Was given the task of doing pick up and delivery's today. Was not enough work to keep busy all day though. Only three delivery's, kept busy till lunch. After lunch, worked on a GT325 rider. It is the shops rider for moving the reader board from the front of the store by the road to the back of the lot. Guess what, as the shops rider it is neglected. Had to pull the carburetor off of it and clean it. It was full of water, one of the most common problems we see when mowers come into the shop.
The other repairs that I did today was to replace a carburetor on a Honda push mower and a Troybilt Horse tiller. The tiller had gas so old that it absolutely stunk. The carburetor was so gummed up, that the needle and seat metal was green and the float was waterlogged. Put the carburetor through the cleaner and with a few new parts it should be good to go. Its just too bad that I will not be able to see it run. I loaded up my tools and moved them to one of our other stores where I start working on Monday for about a week. It looks like it will be an interesting week. Stay tuned and I will let you know.

April12th

First thing this morning, I was sent out on a service call to follow up on a tractor that I had worked on in the shop a few weeks ago. It seems that the tractor would turn sharper to the right than the left. Well, I checked toe-in and it was good. Checked out the power steering assist cylinders (one on each side of the tractor). Sure enough, the cylinder on the the right side was shorter when extended. Unbolted both cylinders clamping bolts (clamped to the radius rods) and positioned then so that both cylinders were extending the same. Had the customer check it out and he was very happy.
Sorry to report, but still no tractors to work on ion the shop. Did work on three Sthil string trimmers, a craftsman riding mower, which is in very sad shape, and three push mowers.
Will wait and see what is in store for me tomorrow.

April 11th

Still no Ag work. Sure am getting tired of not having any "work".  I guess I don't consider working on riding mowers, push mowers and power washers work, which I did today. I have to admit that it all pays the same and it occupies my time, but it just isn't the same as working on tractors.
Its official, I will be working in another store next week. I have been told that I will be working on 5 and 6000 series tractors. Looking forward to that.
Going to keep this post short. It's just because I am not sure how to embellish the fact that I did some services on push and riding mowers and a pressure washer. You know, change the oil, oil filter, spark plug, air filter and grease the machine and sharpen the blades. How can you expound on that?

April 10th

Well, what can I say, it is still slow. Even though we have had a couple of days without rain, we just don't seem to be getting any business brought in. The lack of rain has increased the CP business some. Seems like everyone wants their mowers fixed right now since they can get out and mow. Since we still do not have any Ag business coming in, I am now working on a F930. That is a front mower with a 60 inch mower deck. A front mower is when the mower is in front of the tractor instead of underneath it. I am just doing a service on it. During the service, I found that one idler pulley was bad on the mower deck and the fuel pump was not holding its prime. Ordered both and now waiting for them to come in. Also worked on a X585 riding mower. Had to replace the battery along with doing a service. Since I have parts on order for the F930 and the service on the X585 is complete, up next is a Honda walk behind mower. This on is not even a service, just replace a governor spring, spark plug and change oil. Will probably finish that one within the first half an hour tomorrow. Did I mention that I may be temporarily reassigned to another store within our dealership? If I am, I would be working on Ag equipment, Yippee. Will know more tomorrow. Stay tuned....

April 9th

Another slow day, performed a service on a X585, nothing out of the ordinary except that it still is a consumer product (cp) and not an agriculture product. This was pretty much what occupied the morning hours. The afternoon hours was a little better. Performed a PDI (predelivery inspection) on a 6140D tractor. Again, it is not anything exciting, but at least it is on an AG product, something I was trained to work on. Sorry for the short post, but when you don't work on a lot of equipment and do repairs, there is not really much to write about.

April 6th

Well today was slightly better than the past few days. I finished the service on the X300 and completed another service on a X324 riding mower. About half way through the service on the X324, I was handed two work orders to assemble some new equipment. When I finished the service on the X324, I cleaned my work area in preparation for the assembly of a three point chipper and a log splitter.

Went looking for the forklift and found that one of out parts specialist was using it. Since he was using it and was going to go past my chipper empty, I talked him into bringing it into the shop for me. That's the way, delegate. Also managed to talk him into bringing in the log splitter at the same time.

Uncrated the chipper and put the discharge chute on it. Other than attaching the PTO drive shaft that was the extent of assembly. Just to be on the safe side, I greased the machine also. I know that they usually come in pregreased, but ........

The log splitter was a different story, there was more assembly required for this. I mean, like putting the wheels and fenders on it, attaching the draw bar to the motor and hydraulic tank assembly and then attaching the splitter hydraulic ram and rails to the drawbar and motor assembly. Topped of the hydraulic tank, engine oil and fuel tank. Started the motor and purged the air from the hydraulic system. Assembly completed, but now to cut up the shipping crates with a chainsaw in the shop and throw all of the pieces into the dumpster. Cleaned up the wood chips and clocked out for the day.  Monday looks like a X585 garden tractor is in need of servicing.

April 5th

Again another slow day. As I mentioned yesterday, I cleaned the water maze. Today I got to clean another part of the filtration system, the sump screen. This is where all of the larger "crap" is captured before it goes into the maze for "purification". If we had a backhoe on site I probably would have had to clean the "pit" which is sorta like a septic tank. All of the heavy "crap" settles to the bottom and the liquid flows off for "purification". 

After that job, I started working on a John Deere X500 riding mower. It is a relatively simple task, just a service (similar to a lube, oil, filter change on a car), tire repair and a pulley replacement on the mower deck. Oh-did I mention that the deck had about 50 pounds of grass clippings on it. It just about filled a garbage can. I will probably finish this mower tomorrow.

About half way through the mower service, I was sent out to deliver a rotary disk mower about 20 miles away. Before leaving, I was given the instruction manual and spare blades for the mower. Guess what, I forgot to take them with me. I guess the salesman will have to take it to the owner. Oh-well.

When I got back from the delivery, I found out that there was a production crew in the store creating a video for the stores website. Ten minutes before they wanted to video the shop area it suddenly became urgent that I was to fill the shop with tractors. Well because we are slow we don't have a lot of tractors in the shop, so I brought every customers tractor in. This amounted to two compact tractors, two new tractors with boom mowers attached and a New Holland articulated tractor. Ten minutes later, out they go.

Now back to the X500 for about twenty minutes before end of the day. This was just enough time to sharpen the mower blades and get them installed.

April 4th

Today was a slow day. Took the two ton rollback tow truck out and picked up a 4320 tractor. Brought it back to the shop hoping that my service manager would let me do the repairs on it. No such luck. It was given to the "senior" technician. Finished doing a tune up and blade sharpening service on a LA115 riding mower. Installed a Bogie wheel kit on a Kuhn hay rake. A bogie wheel kit is basically dual wheels in place of the single wheels. That was the extent of repairs and wrench turning. Was given the task of cleaning the water maze. The water maze is the contraption that takes the runoff water from washing the tractors and "purifies" it enough to flush it down the sewer. There are several stamped plastic sheets that fit together to form a sieve or screen to capture the "crap". You have to pull these plastic sheets out of a tank and clean then put them back in. Just for a little background, we service tractors that are from dairy's and they usually come in covered with cow manure. So you can just imagine what these plastic sheets are covered with and how they smell. Wonderful day.

A day in the life of a John Deere Technician

The purpose of this blog is to document my life as a John Deere Technician. I decided to create this page to show all of the budding technicians what the ups and downs of a technician are.

Having been through the winter months, I have been told that there should be a lot of work rolling into the shop soon. I certainly hope so.