May 30th

Started today early. A customer had ordered a canopy, weight bracket and a motor control SCV for his 5075E tractor and I was tasked with the installation so he could get it back today. The first two went fairly easy but the third (SCV) was a pain in the butt. The location of the power beyond hydraulic hose fittings was not exactly the easiest location to get at. With lots of persistence I got the job done. After that job, I helped deliver the 3320's that I worked on last week, then on to a 1026E mower deck installation. Installed the lift arms and was just about ready to work on the mower deck when I noticed that there was no gearbox included with the kit. Work came to a screaming halt, fortunately it was 5pm and quitting time.

May 29th

First thing this morning, I was informed to load up my tools in the pick up and head for the coast. Had to go work on a JD 317 skid steer. The fuel system had some algae in it. The customer had changed the filters about ten days earlier and now he had said that he had to shoot ether to get it started every day. I ended up changing both fuel filters and the transfer pump. That transfer pump is a bear to change, difficult location and limited access. Somewhere on that skid steer is my 1/4 inch drive 2 inch extension and a 9mm socket.  I dropped it and could not locate it anywhere. I guess that's the cost of working. Got back to the shop and was given a 5055E and had to install a Farmi winch on it. I guess that the owner is going to do some logging.

May 25th

Finally finished the two 3320 compact tractors, installed a rotary mower on one of them. Looks like they will be delivered on this coming Tuesday. Delivered a riding mower and picked up a walk behind mower. Loaded the rollback with a 4005 compact with bucket and forklift forks and a flail mower for the afternoon delivery. At least the delivery was not too far from the store.  Got back to the store and found out that there was a service call to go on. It was on a 4100N that I had repaired the transmission on about two weeks ago. Somehow they had jammed two gears together again. I suggested that the farmer replace the gear shift cage (the plastic piece that that the shift lever sticks up through). This will keep the shifter from slipping out of the shift forks and jamming up. Time for the weekend......

May 24th

Today was an OK day. Only had one delivery today. Loaded a 3320 tractor with bucket and grapple, a six way push blade, a  frontier 2060 rotary cutter, a 655 tiller and a post hole auger on the two ton roll back truck. The truck was crowded. Had to put the tiller and post hole auger on the back of the truck because they had to slide off since they were not mounted to the tractor. After I was finished with the delivery, I managed to work on the two 3320's  with the loader installation. Finished the loader install and then had to put wheel weights on the rear wheels. That was a fiasco in itself. Could not put the weights on the outside of the wheel where the installation would be easy because the valve stem was in the way. Had to remove the wheel from the tractor and bolt them to the inside of the wheel. When I was attempting to remount the wheel on the tractor, I found that the wheel weight opening in the center would not go over the hub on the tractor. That meant swapping wheels between sides. If it wasn't one thing, it was something else. I guess that's the life of an AG technician.

May 22nd and 23rd

Totally spaced making an entry yesterday. That's the reason for this double entry.  Anyway, yesterday was was another uneventful day. did some pickup and delivery's in the morning and installed a belly mower on a 1023R. That was a total pain in the a$$. The instructions were very cryptic at best. It took a lot of intuitive reasoning. Anyway it is installed and the customer has their tractor back. Today was much the same. Did pick ups and delivery's in the morning and started a pair of loader installs on a pair of 3320 tractors. Just about done with both installs. Still have to install backup alarms, install wheel weights and PDI the tractors. Should be good for another afternoon.

May 21st.

Today was an easy day. Had to pick up one riding lawnmower. Finish an auxiliary power outlet install on a 1023E subcompact tractor. Started installation on a 1026R quick attach mower deck. Like I said it was an easy day. I will probably be doing pick up and delivery all week. We have one cp (consumer product) tech out this week and the "new hire" delivery driver declined the job so we are without a part time delivery driver.

May 18th and 19th

OK, so I forgot to make a blog entry yesterday and I worked Saturday so here is a combined entry.
Friday was a fairly light day. Finished removing and installing the hydraulic hard line on the 955 tractor. Then was given a 3038E that another tech had been working on and I had to finish. The other tech had started installing a grapple on the bucket and was all done except for the hydraulic lines from the power beyond valves that were added. I made two hydraulic lines 13 feet long to route from the back of the tractor to the front of the loader. Mounted the quick couplings on the loader and then connected the grapple lines to them. Started the tractor and found the lines to the grapple were too short so I had to make longer lines for the grapple.
Saturday was strictly an overtime day. I worked on lawn and garden items. Installed a bagger on a X300 and ran a drill bit into the meaty portion next to bottom of my thumbnail. Put a band aid on it and continued the install. Then it was a tune up on a walk behind push mower and putting brake pads on a LX172. With those completed I brought in another X300 to replace the blades  and do a tune up. And that completed an overtime day.

May 17th

Finished the 4100 tractor this morning. All gears and ranges worked just fine. Owner came and picked it up about 2 hours after I was finished. New projects include a 955 with a bad hydraulic line and a 1026R that needs a loader installed. Started with the 955 so I could get parts on order. The hard hydraulic line from the oil cooler to the filter housing is bad. There were two places where it was rubbed through. One was from the tachometer cable and the other was from the clamp on the front drive line shield. Started and finished installing the loader on the 1026R. That was the second install this week on a 1026R. The time for the install is getting less. I should be able to do the next one in under 2 hours. I don't know how much time is allotted but I should be able to beat that time.

May 16th

Today was a so-so day. Spent the morning doing pickup and delivery's. Delivered two riding mowers, picked up two riding mowers and a Yanmar compact tractor. The last part for my 4100 transmission came in and I spent the afternoon completing the assembly only to have to split the transmission because I put a gear in backwards and it would not shift because it would lock two gears together. Managed to get it all put together and it is bolted to the tractor. Now to complete the assembly of the tractor and get it back to the customer in the morning.

May 15th

Spent most of the day reassembling the 4100 transmission. I have it all assembled and ready to put back on the tractor with the exception of the detent balls and springs for the shifter forks. I have the springs and balls but there seems to be a "pin" missing that locks two shift rails together. I definitely do not remember it being there when I disassembled the transmission. Maybe that is why the gears meshed wrong and broke teeth off. After all this transmission had been apart before within the last year. I was also sent out on a riding lawn mower deck belt replacement on a X320. The customer was expecting a blower and bagger attachment to be brought out when I went but it seems the customers son canceled the order and did not tell his father. Mass confusion on both of our parts as my work order did not show a bagger, therefore I had no idea what the sons wife was translating (Japanese) from the customer (father) and telling me.

May 14th

Finished the grapple installation on the 6430 today. Watched it get loaded on a trailer for delivery about 30 minutes after completion. I guess that was cutting it close. Next work order was another loader installation. Only this time it was on a 1026R subcompact tractor. Same concept as the bigger tractor, but the parts are a whole lot easier to move and handle. Also takes a lot less time to install. After that install, checked my parts bin and found that all of the parts for the 4100N transmission repair had come in. Spent the rest of the day putting the transmission together. For used gears, they were in pretty good shape and did not require a lot of reconditioning. Should be able to get it all together tomorrow.

May 11th

I was sent out to work on a Yanmar compact first thing today. The customer wanted a hydraulic hose replaced and an adjustable arm put on his three point linkage for his rotary mower. Decided to tackle the three point linkage first. Removed his old non adjustable link and went to put on the adjustable link. The only problem was he had purchased the wrong pins and they would not fit his rockshaft arms. Ended up putting the original arm back on and adjusting the adjustable arm to level his rotary mower. Then on to the leaky hydraulic hose, went to remove the hose to return to the shop and have another made but found that fitting was loose and that was where it was leaking. So, my service call was to adjust the level of his mower and tighten a fitting. Back at the shop, I was given a 6430 and was tasked to finish the loader and grapple install. Got part way through the install and the owner of the 8870 that I had been working on called and said we could get to it and do our thing. I went to the job site and proceeded to drain the hydraulic tank so I could pull the filter prescreen out and see why it was hot in that area. While draining the low pressure return line, a large piece of cellophane came out of the line. This may have cause a restriction and was the reason for the excessive heat in that area. Put everything back together and filled the hydraulic tank. Started the tractor and tested, found that there was approximately a 20 to 30 degree drop in temperature. Problem solved? Will have to wait and see if the farmer agrees.

May 10th

Today was a messy day. Was working on the 8870 articulated tractor trying to diagnose a hydraulic problem. The problem that was reported was the axles were hot to the touch. While I was heating the hydraulic oil up, a hydraulic line ruptured (strictly coincidence) and proceeded to shower me and the tractor with hydraulic fluid before I could shut down the tractor. Removed the hydraulic hose and off to the shop to get a replacement made. After returning to the tractor and installing the newly made hose, I proceeded to heat the hydraulic oil up and performed temperature measurements throughout the system. I found that the filter housing and valve was heating up before anything else was. Checked the tech manual and found that there was a screen in the housing that could be plugged. I called the shop and talked with a more experienced tech about pulling the access plug for the screen and was informed that a little oil would come out when the plug was removed. I started to remove the plug and was just about drenched with hydraulic oil because there was sump pressure behind it. Needless to say I will have to drain the system to remove the screen. I guess that will be tomorrows job.

May 9th

Spent three hours on the road driving to and from the coast today. While I was at the coast, I helped a fellow technician install a loader on a 7330 at one of the local dairy's. The dairy was hauling silage all day and it was quite windy and every time a truck or tractor with trailer went by, it kicked up a lot of dust. I spent most of the morning installing the loader joystick, power beyond kit and connecting all of the hydraulic lines. We managed to get the loader installed and operational in just under six hours. Not too bad if I say so myself. Tomorrow, its off to the field again to look at the 8870 that I glanced at yesterday.

May 8th

Today was a very busy day. Went on a service call and finished the 5500 tractor. No hydraulic leaks. Then went back to the 770 to start pulling the injector pump. What a PITA. I had taken our gear pulling kit from the tool room to remove the injector timing gear, but the bolts were the wrong size. finished unbolting the injector then went back to the shop for some different bolts. Also brought back a couple different sizes of two jaw gear pullers just in case the bolts were wrong again. Well guess what, the bolts were the wrong size AND the pullers were too large to get into the cavity where the gear is to pull the gear. Time to totally improvise and get the job done. Found that if I removed two bolts from the timing cover they were the correct size and lenght to fit the gear puller that was in the tool room. To cut the story short, gear came off and injection pump is off. Bad news is that I had to park the truck about 150 yards from the tractor because the owner forgot to unlock the gate and while walking back to the truck I stumbled and threw the pump and all of the tools I had in my hands to the ground.  Well guess what, I broke one of the mounting ears off the cast aluminum pump housing. Maybe the injector shop can weld it back on. After that PITA, I went out on a hydraulic issue on a 8870 articulating tractor. Only had enough time to make a couple of pressure measurments and then found that I did not have the fittings I needed to finish the pressure readings. Back to the shop for the night. Will pass this job onto another tech as I get to go to the coast tomorrow (I think) to help install a loader on a 7730.

May 7th

Today was a very decent day. The weather was very good, not too hot of cold. Was put in a pickup for service calls. Stop number one was a service on a 770 compact tractor. Not only was it a service, but the owner complained it would not crank and start. Replaced the battery and the engine cranks just fine but it would not start. After diagnosing the problem it turns out that the injection pump is bad and not allowing fuel to flow to the injectors. Did not have the tools on hand to pull the pump so back to the shop. At the shop I was diverted to a major nursery grower in our area to work on a 5500 utility tractor. Turns out that the SCV (selective control valve, valve that controls hydraulic fluid to the implement) was leaking where it attaches to the rockshaft housing (rockshaft is the mechanical device to raise or lower the three point implement). Had to remove the seat and dress panels in the cab to get to the SCV. Got it removed and found an o-ring was missing which is why it was leaking. I had rebuilt the rockshaft about 8 months ago and I guess I had forgot to put an o-ring in it or it dropped out when assembling it. Anyway, back to the nursery tomorrow to finish the job and then back to the 770 to pull the pump tomorrow.

May 4th

Sorry about posting this a day late, but that was the way my day was yesterday. I managed to get the differential for the 855 all together and put on the tractor Was just about to finish up the paperwork and wash the tractor when my service manager sent me out at 3pm for a couple of delivery's. Had to deliver a riding mower with cart first. The location for delivery was about 20 miles from the store. Then had to backtrack 10 miles and then travel about another 8 miles to deliver a 1026R. Had to show the customer how to operate the tractor because it seems our sales person does not show the customers this. Long story short, with Friday rush hour traffic it was about 5:15pm. Actually that means I got some overtime this week with approval. I guess all-in-all it was a good day.

May 3rd

Good news, I did not do pick up and delivery today. Instead worked on removing the transmission on a 4100N (narrow) tractor. Got it off and disassembled it. I found six gears inside that had damaged or missing teeth. By the time I added the price of the gears, new bearings, seals and gaskets the bill came to about $2500. On top of that, there will be about forty hours of labor. Once I put together a parts list and turned it in to my service manager so he could call the customer, I started working on getting the 855 back together.
Also found out today that there is a quest for a part time pick up and delivery driver. I hope they hire someone soon so I will not have to do that anymore.

May 2nd

Today was a good day? Started out normal(?) with the standard pick up and delivery's. Delivered 2 new X300 riding mowers and a 2305 compact. When I got back to the shop after delivering mowers, I found a couple of sticky notes on the computer screen. Both were to call customers of past and present. The past customer wanted some of his old used PTO shaft parts back. They went on an Agric tiller. Did some dumpster diving and found them in the steel recycle dumpster. They will be delivered tomorrow by one of our service techs during a service call. The other call was from a present customer about the status of his tractor. The one that I have not had time to work on because I have been doing pick ups and delivery's. He wanted to know if it would be done by Saturday. I rather doubt it at the present rate of assembly.
 During my lunch, my service manager called me and wanted me to go out to a customers site and order parts for a 4100 transmission that was suppose to be disassembled already. The disassembly was suppose to have been done by a local "tailgater". A tailgater is one who works out of their own service truck and takes business away from our store. Back to the transmission story, long story short, the transmission had not been disassembled at all. Called the customer and he said to call the tailgater, it is the stores policy not to deal with the tailgater. Well my service manager called the customer and I went back to the shop to get the roll back tow truck to haul the tractor in for repair. Now I have two projects and no time to work on them. I guess I will have to ask my service manager how he expects them to get fixed without giving me any shop time to work on them.
I guess if I am going to give tractor numbers, I ought to give you a way to see what they are. The best web site I have found is www.tractordata.com. Just put the tractor number in the search box and pick the result that links back to tractor data web site.

May 1st

Its a new month and nothing has really changed at our store. I am still doing pick up and delivery of riding lawn mowers, not really the ag equipment that I was trained to work on. I did manage to get about an hours work in on the 855 front differential, starting the reassembly process. At the current rate of working on it, it may take about a week to get it done. Guess this is going to be a short post because there was nothing new to report.