Downeaster's Tractor Overhaul Thread.

All my other projects are on hold for one reason or another and the remnants of Ida are passing through so rain and wind pretty much make outdoor stuff a pain.

Got a little bored (ALWAYS a dangerous and usually an expensive thing for me) so decided to investigate why the Shibaura engine was being such a miserable PITA to start.

First thought was dead glow plugs, so I pulled them out and hooked them to my bench power supply. After a few seconds they started glowing red hot just like they should.

Second thought was the glow plug timer that's built into the electronics on the JD chassis wasn't giving them enough current (my power supply indicated about 3 amps at 12vdc) so I thought "OK, I'll hook them direct to the battery via a momentary switch and an indicator light and run them manually".

Per my usual practice, I buffed up all the connections before reassembling and wired them back up to the onboard timer and thought "Those connections were pretty grungy, I should probably try it again to see if cleaning them helped."

Two glow cycles later, she cranked right up!

I'm going to wire an indicator into the circuit as right now I'm listening for the relay to drop out and being old and more than a little hard of hearing, that's not very efficient. The original indicator was built into the JD dash panel which was trashed beyond repair.

Good news is that it's an easy (and cheap) fix. Bad news is, now I'm out of things to do again...
 
jetmechmarty said:
Rehabilitate another XS650!
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I concur with Marty - it’s time for you to return to the fold DE.

Your snazzy new shop is crying out for a cool new XS650 project and we all would love to see a big Yamaha twin go rumbling into downtown Prospect Harbor!
 
MaxPete said:
I concur with Marty - it’s time for you to return to the fold DE.

Your snazzy new shop is crying out for a cool new XS650 project and we all would love to see a big Yamaha twin go rumbling into downtown Prospect Harbor!
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My wife would have a s**tfit. She wants me to get rid of the bike I have but has the good sense not to say it out loud.

Yet...
 
Downeaster said:
My wife would have a s**tfit. She wants me to get rid of the bike I have but has the good sense not to say it out loud.

Yet...
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My wife drove four hours to pick me up at the hospital after I drove head on into a pickup truck. She said something in the car early in the trip home. I responded that it was not the time. That was five years ago. We aren't going to have that discussion. When she married me, the motorcycles were already part of the package.
 
My problem if anything is wife thinking I should buy new instead of fixing, not just motorcycles but many things! Don't think some people can understand the enjoyment one can get from taking something that does not work and get it working again.

I did break down and buy a new zero turn mower for her to run, my mower I use for the majority of what we mow is a 1947 Farmall. I will at times bite the bullet and replace a major part like when I repowered a pair of Ariens Snowblowers with new motors a few years back, original motors were just too worn to make sense in rebuilding. Price for parts and machining work would have been more than the new motors!

One thing that bugs me is I'm thinking I'm going to have to replace the 2011 Rav4! Only mechanical problem with it is the AC died this summer. But while under it to repair a minor problem with exhaust I got a good look at the rust under it, not pretty! Half tempted to see if I could find a 2011 or so Ford Ranger pick-up from some place that does not have the rust problems we have here in the salt belt/snow belt of the north east. With my luck I would end up with one of the ones you see on the news floating down stream after one of the floods in the south!
 
kshansen said:
My problem if anything is wife thinking I should buy new instead of fixing, not just motorcycles but many things! Don't think some people can understand the enjoyment one can get from taking something that does not work and get it working again.
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Yes the old stuff is usually simpler and therefore better. Much of it is worth fixing beyond the satisfaction of just doing the job. Last night, I enjoyed an hour of spinning 50 year old records on my nearly as old stereo. It's far better than what my kids have (an iPhone with a portable speaker).

kshansen said:
But while under it to repair a minor problem with exhaust I got a good look at the rust under it, not pretty!
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I escaped NY upon my release from the custody of my parents. I fully understand the problem. Down here in the Southland, a Toyota is a forever car, or at least 400,000 miles with proper care. Up there, nothing is going to survive those long sloppy winters.
 
jetmechmarty said:
I escaped NY upon my release from the custody of my parents. I fully understand the problem. Down here in the Southland, a Toyota is a forever car, or at least 400,000 miles with proper care. Up there, nothing is going to survive those long sloppy winters.
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So what would a basic 2011 or there abouts Ford Ranger pick-up go for down there? Short bed, extended cab, four cylinder 2 or 4 wheel drive?
 
ft2.jpg


Got the hard-starting issue fixed as mentioned above. Did a little beautification (damn little...) by blanking off where the old instrument panel was and adding a new one. That was driven by the fact that there wasn't room to fit the mechanical tach from the Shibaura under the original panel.

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Added a light for the glow plugs. Was going by the sound of the relay clicking off but that's a pain as deaf as I am. Nice little blue LED is easy to see. Also added an ammeter and a little bling in the form of a custom decal.
 
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