50 hours up on the new tractor so first service time. Engine oil and filter, hydraulic oil and filter and the rest is a check over and grease. This engine is slightly different to the old beastie. Access to the oil filler cap on the rocker cover is not easy. The air cleaner now sucks off the top of the radiator so has a hose that runs from the inlet of the little donaldson to an intake and that is right on top of the cap. Then there is the harness for the glow plugs and the bonnet release cable. These run over the cap too. Pulling the hose is easy so that is sorted. Drain plug is same place so a drain pan fits nicely. Oil dumped and ready to do the filter. Except this is now on the opposite side but it is at the rear rather than front. No way to get two hands on it and the oil pressure switch is there too restricting access. Not to mention the loader frame. Absolutely no way I could spin it undone and there were no teenage boys around with the necessary wrist strength to get it either. OK, borrowed my mechanic mate's three prong crotch grabber tool to remove the filter. Three big dings in the filter but it moved and off it came. Stupidly tight. Put some oil on the o ring and spun the new one on. Filling carefully with a measuring jug, at least carefully until the little cat rubbed up against my legs. Got to spill some oil on an oil change right? Hydraulic drain and filter are awkward to get to with the deck on so I will delay that until next weekend. Best to pull the filter screen too and that is impossible with the deck in place. Blades need sharpening anyway...
First 50 hours on the tractor have been pretty uneventful. Mows and drives just like the old one so nothing new there. Steering wheel tilts which is nice and the seat is way more comfortable than the aftermarket one I put on the old tractor. The loader has been on and off a dozen times and is mostly very easy though I do find it is helpful to have a spotter because there are places you cannot see from the central missionary position. And as such it is possible to catch the support legs on the tractor frame and using the power of hydraulics change the shape of the frame so they no longer fit where they are supposed to. With loader on the tractor the frame can come off for reeducation. The loader is made in the good old US of A. And made of chinesium. Had to bend some 75x5 (imperial something x something else) and take out a twist. Then panel beat the pressed 3mm (ish) spacer section. Used a 450mm shifter and had to bend it back the other way because it was so soft and bent way too much under gentle aggression. The frame is held on at the bottom with stainless circlips and one of these popped off during my less than optimum installation. I found it on the driveway. It was bent which usually means it is stuffed. But wait there's more, this one bent back into shape with the aid of two pairs of pliers. I bought new circlips. These seem not to be made from papier mache. Anyway the loader works goodly and has done a heap of jobs I had been putting off but I wonder about the steel in the thing. It is constructed from large enough sections and looks very strong but you know...
All that ^ is meant to be straight and in line. The final fun in putting it all back together was replacing the screws that stop the bushes falling off the pins. M6 hex. Using a 10mm ratchet spanner I sheared one off while spinning the screw in. What!?!??!?! Anyway drilled it out and luckily the tapped hole is quite deep so some nice new stainless hex headed screws went back in with a nice quantity of neverseize. I then looked carefully at the heads of the other screws that I replaced. 4.6... More cheese...
First 50 hours on the tractor have been pretty uneventful. Mows and drives just like the old one so nothing new there. Steering wheel tilts which is nice and the seat is way more comfortable than the aftermarket one I put on the old tractor. The loader has been on and off a dozen times and is mostly very easy though I do find it is helpful to have a spotter because there are places you cannot see from the central missionary position. And as such it is possible to catch the support legs on the tractor frame and using the power of hydraulics change the shape of the frame so they no longer fit where they are supposed to. With loader on the tractor the frame can come off for reeducation. The loader is made in the good old US of A. And made of chinesium. Had to bend some 75x5 (imperial something x something else) and take out a twist. Then panel beat the pressed 3mm (ish) spacer section. Used a 450mm shifter and had to bend it back the other way because it was so soft and bent way too much under gentle aggression. The frame is held on at the bottom with stainless circlips and one of these popped off during my less than optimum installation. I found it on the driveway. It was bent which usually means it is stuffed. But wait there's more, this one bent back into shape with the aid of two pairs of pliers. I bought new circlips. These seem not to be made from papier mache. Anyway the loader works goodly and has done a heap of jobs I had been putting off but I wonder about the steel in the thing. It is constructed from large enough sections and looks very strong but you know...
All that ^ is meant to be straight and in line. The final fun in putting it all back together was replacing the screws that stop the bushes falling off the pins. M6 hex. Using a 10mm ratchet spanner I sheared one off while spinning the screw in. What!?!??!?! Anyway drilled it out and luckily the tapped hole is quite deep so some nice new stainless hex headed screws went back in with a nice quantity of neverseize. I then looked carefully at the heads of the other screws that I replaced. 4.6... More cheese...
