CC 149 Winter Projects.

[Ambush]

One of those small projects was sealing up the steering column. When I first got the tractor I pulled the steering box apart to go through it and it was obvious that water had slowly ran down the shaft and right into the box. Grease kept it out of the box itself but the top bearing was very rusty.

It’s almost like the column tube itself is too short. The flange on the wheel should go over the tube and cover it, but there is quite a gap. Any snow build up would melt and run down the shaft.

Anyway, I had a steel cup that came as protection on some expensive Speedisleeves. I cut it down and bored the center with a step bit. I bought a PCV valve grommet because it was 3/4” ID and thick enough to give some crush and I cut that to the right thickness.

With the grommet in the cup and slid onto the shaft the wheel squeezes everything just right to exclude any snow or rain. And the flange on the cup goes over the column tube. Everything turns with the inner bearing race.

[garydee]

Ambush, I read/viewed your loader build on OCC today. Fantastic work! Your engineering and fabrication skills are amazing!

You are quite a problem solver too! Figuring everything out in your mind before cutting steel avoids many problems. All that thinking keeps your mind sharp! (sorry to hear about your back problems) Your loader build and pictures with explanations are a great resource for tractor lovers who can appreciate all that goes into such an extensive project.

Thanks for taking the time to document your work for the benefit of all Cub fans who enjoy this site! Keep up the great work!!

[Ambush]

Thanks Gary. I’m much happier fabricating than painting , that’s for sure.

I put the third and final coat of paint on the topside of the pan today. I have one little spot of orange peel that will have to be fixed later.

When I got the tractor a few years ago, one of the first things I did was change the engine oil. I discovered a PO had smashed the oil pan in, likely by dropping it on the drain plug or it landed on something while it was in the frame, I don’t know. But it was pushed in and fractured all around the plug. The PO had a couple of thick cork gaskets and a thin steel washer doing its best to keep oil in. It did drip but not bad.

When I rebuilt the engine shortly after, I did a farm repair job by welding it up with a wire feed. Oil saturated cast aluminum is a bugger on its own and doing it with wire instead of Tig is even worse. But I figured I’d easily find a cast iron pan later, but that turned out to be a dream.

So anyway, today was the day I would use my newly acquired Tig welder to fix this pan properly. I cleaned it and heated out as much oil as I could then went through the tedious process of welding in and cutting out oil contaminated pockets as they appeared. That took a good hour and a half but I ended up with a good porosity free pad to drill and tap for the plug. I just have to make a gasket for the plug now.

[jbrewer]

This is inspiring.

All I need is a lifetime of skills and tools !!

Seriously this is great work. While I'll never be able to do it, I appreciate the skills of someone who can.

[garydee]

Ambush, you put MacGyver to shame! What skill...tig welding too!!

I would never be able to do something like that in a million years. I would have to get another oil pan or even another engine!

Your skills are fascinating to see in your project pictures. I'm guessing you could build your own tractor rather than use the 149 for your loader if you wanted to. Keep up the great work!

[ol'George]

Ambush,
Ain't it great fun Tigin' oil contaminated aluminum?
its like trying to weld oillite bushings Ha,LOL
We used to submerge stuff like that in heated trichlorethylene to boil the oil out till they took it away for environmental reasons.

Then we got to breathe the vapors as the try-core boiled out as we welded it.
Did you ever try to braze something that had been soldered?
yep, Champaign time with all the bubbles.
But we were young and dumb.

[Oak]

Great job Ambush. What brand of TIG welded did you get?

[Ambush]

I picked up an older Lincoln Tig 175, fully equipped and some consumables. I would have bought the same machine in 200 if I could have found one in very good shape for a decent price. This one was owned by an guy that did small metal art. I wanted a machine that was all dial and toggle switched to avoid the digital and electronic switching. It can handle 5/32” stick rods too. It weighs one hundred pounds, so not grab 'n go, but two seniors can easily handle it. I just have to keep scouting for a good deal on a hand remote control. The foot pedal is great for bench work, but a hand amptrol is way handier if you're standing up.

ol'George; yeah oil soaked cast aluminum could be a real pita. I welded up a lot of turbines and impellors for heavy Caterpillar torque converters and you always prepared yourself for a fight. After build up I would machine the pieces back to spec. The worst was always when on the last cut, a porosity pocket would come through. Off the mill and back to the welding bench then back to the mill. But it still saved a Cat owner about $7,000 over buying new Cat parts. Our repair business thrived on repairing very high priced OEM components.

[Ambush]

Progress seems slow and I think that’s because it is. Lots of little engine attachments to strip and paint plus the engine shrouds. I checked the valve clearance and set the timing.

Today I decided to cobble together a rattle can shaker. I see you can buy ones that fit a drill, some just spin and one shook the can up and down. Then there was the homemade Sawzall powered shakers which mostly used a sliding clamp bolted to a saw blade. I kinda went off that idea.

I gathered up a piece of bed frame, the ends leftover from some heavy strap hinges, a carriage bolt and 3/8” nut. Plus the thickest saw blade I had.

I turned the square shoulder off the bolt and reduced the head. I drilled about halfway through the nut as a keeper. A little cutting, tapping and welding had me ready to shake my first can just for fun.

Its seems to work well and if I leave the clamp just barely touching the lid, the can slowly rotates too. I think it’s going to be a big plus for rattle can work. I just have to make a trigger block to keep a constant speed on the saw. Probably about 1/3 speed.

[Ambush]

Forgot a pic