But...Why? (PO "repairs")

[Mudrig150 336]

I don't understand some people some times. Why buy a tractor if you're just going to destroy it?

 

My 140 is a perfect example. The first owner was a meticulous man, kept the tractor in tip-top shape and did constant maintenance. When he sold the tractor to the second owner, he said to take care of it...

The second owner promptly ripped the motor out and threw it away, cut the entire wiring harness apart (cut every single wire, some in the middle, some at the connectors), and twisted both front hydraulic lines almost closed. He threw away the motor, harness, grille, and put this stupid tow hook mount on the back. He tried unseizing the steering box by just putting it in a vice and hitting the pitman arm with a sledgehammer, and to no one's surprise, it just blew the steering box in half. 

Luckily I got it before he did something stupid like cutting the frame in half with an angle grinder, which I have seen before.

I found Larry as a sad husk of his former self, and good thing we got there the day we did, because literally 6 AM the next day some guy was coming to dump Larry on his scrap trailer.

 

My 317 is another perfect example! The first owner was the same way, he cared for the tractor well and put a new driveshaft and dash on it, and then he died. The second owner abused the poor tractor, completely obliterated the RH side panel (bent it so badly all the mounts broke off), badly repainted it, weighted all 4 tires with water, coated everything in ATF, and never pulled back on the brake pedal, so the brakes on the right side were wore all the way down, past the pads, and halfway through the backing of the shoes. The wiring was awful, he spliced literally every wire with just bolts and washers, and then did approximately nothing to insulate them, so there are quite a few scorch marks on the battery tray where the bare wiring touched it, and for every plastic terminal block he just put heat shrink on to permanently attach the wires together, but then he ended up putting the wires back in the terminal block. He apparently only owned a welder and torch, because every hole he added is torched out, he added this awful "3 point", and he even added a trailer ball and welded the nut to the threads, locking it permanently in the hitch. Best part is that when he was annoyed with buying oil for it, he just blew up the motor and sold it as "POS scrap tractor". He then tried picking it up by putting 2 bolts through the tube on the steering box, and hooking a chain to it. To no one's surprise, the tube ripped out of the box with no weight on it.

The tractor was a WRECK, to say the least. 

 

Why buy a tractor just to destroy it and get mad when it's broke? Let's some previous owner "repairs".

Edited November 25, 2019 by Mudrig150

[lynnmor 7,858]

It’s why we have welfare for people that have “nothing”.

[WHNJ701 4,165]

in some ways  tractors meant to be used and not last forever and yes owners do stupid things to keep them operating even if it's wrong.  your better off using your better judgment and letting these junk worn out machines go to the scrapyard or get parted out  that's circle of life.  be selective, spending a little more on something that was taken better care of and maintained will save you a lot of headaches.  

Edited November 25, 2019 by jabelman

[Herder 2,355]

Some people are much better at neglecting things than maintaining them, they are better at destroying them then they are at fixing them.  It's not that they are bad people, they are just bad at fixing things.  It's not that I am perfect, I am just a bit fanatical about thing.  I find it takes less time to fix it properly then it takes to rig it and rig it and then rig it again.  

Edited November 26, 2019 by Herder

[Goldnboy 1,035]

Maybe that is why M(ust) T(rash) D(uring operation) was formed for riding mowers.

[Mudrig150 336]

25 minutes ago, Goldnboy said:

Maybe that is why M(ust) T(rash) D(uring operation) was formed for riding mowers.

Might Totally Die?

[ebinmaine 73,015]

49 minutes ago, Goldnboy said:

Maybe that is why M(ust) T(rash) D(uring operation) was formed for riding mowers.

 

23 minutes ago, Mudrig150 said:

Might Totally Die?

 

 

MTD as a company has no fault here.

They're a contract builder that manufacturers exactly what the buyer asks.

Brand name doesn't seem to make any difference nor the original price of the tractor or other machine.

Some folks just don't maintain things the way they should.

 

The owners of the machines are who's to blame.

 

 

[Mudrig150 336]

Wait...when did this thread go from PO "repairs" to talking about how owners suck at maintaining anything?

[ebinmaine 73,015]

1 hour ago, Mudrig150 said:

Wait...when did this thread go from PO "repairs" to talking about how owners suck at maintaining anything?

They are VERY much related to one another.

 

We once had a tractor that I started to take apart for a rebuild and I took note of the fact that it had an ignition switch that was of universal design with threaded stud posts.

At some point in the distant past that owner had gone to the time and trouble of changing half a dozen or more wire end terminals instead of just searching out the correct switch.

Even more ironic about that is the correct switch was less expensive than the universal one which they had to spend a lot of time rewiring.

 

To some, that would be considered a repair, done wrong.

 

To my mindset, that was maintenance that was not done correctly.

 

When I speak of maintenance of a machine I refer to the fact that if something goes wrong it should be brought back to its original form provided that is a cost-effective and good quality part or system.

 

 

[pfrederi 18,718]

Not to disrespect Farmers but when you work on old farm tractors you come across a lot of Farmer Fixes. In the older times farmers only had 1 or 2 tractors and if it broke down it had to be "fixed" fast as the manure had to be spread hay bailed etc. no time to wait for parts to be shipped in from Racine Wisconsin, Waterloo Iowa or Rock Island Ill.  Some of these farmer field fixes were still functioning on my Cases and Farmall 40-50 years later.  Not pretty, kinda of dodgy but effective....

[wallfish 18,244]

2 hours ago, Mudrig150 said:

Wait...when did this thread go from PO "repairs" to talking about how owners suck at maintaining anything?

Wait,,, Aren't they basically the same thing?

PO repairs are done because of that's how the PO maintains them.

Maybe the PO with that 140 tractor did not have the skills to fix it properly and didn't have the money to pay someone to fix it right. Yet he needed it to do work so he tried on his own.

Or, maybe he had a bunch of good tractors and that was the worst one so he decided to do some modifications. I've been known to totally dismantle a tractor or 2 and build something with it. Some don't turn out as good as others. Some are total abortions and never work out. Could that be what you got?

[Stepney 2,354]

Boy can I tell some stories of dodgy repairs .. that often did work. With my hobby of antique snowmobiles and stationary engines the repairs and hacks I've seen know no limits. Nothing surprises me anymore. Soda can used bearing shims. Leather belting wrapped around a burnt babbit bearing in an effort to take up the slop, broken gear teeth repaired by drilling little pins and slamming them on.. Oh how about the small cast iron cross that had a nut brazed and wired to it, acting quite well as a rocker arm.. Then the welded flywheels, split blocks held together by iron plates.. remains of three or four broken ignition systems that were never removed.. I had one with a connecting rod, broke in half, held together with iron bar and some bolts.. 
Another one was a little 1.5hp Fairbanks Morse engine. With the builders tag off a 1900's Maxwell automobile riveted to the head, covering up a broken chunk of cooling jacket. 
Gotta marvel at the ingenuity. It likely lasted right through the Depression and many years after.

Snowmobiles.. oh boy. Tracks spliced with bailing wire, all kinds of hack repairs to the driveline and frames..

Heck I've owned some abused WH's but nothing as bad as those older machines. 

Went through a 1935 Ford v8 Fire engine for the town. It had not one or two, but THREE separate, non-functional charging systems rigged up in it. Not to mention 3 headlight switches, several random switches to nowhere..
Tore a mile of wire out of that thing .. believe it if you want .. but it ran perfectly with three wires off the genny that actually went somewhere..

[WHNJ701 4,165]

you got to realize the intent of garden tractor.  it's soul purpose was to be worked.  why do you see so many hoods hacked and cut up, if the engine blew up you made another one fit.  if the key switch or something electric went you cut wires and rigged something, you worked til something catastrophic broke and parked it stone row and some hunter uses it sight in a shot gun.

then 20 years later and idiot like me pays money for it and drags it home restores it

[wallfish 18,244]

Have to admit, I do some shady $4!+ myself. The tractors would never be sold to someone with hacked repairs, they're all mine. Maybe that's why much doesn't get sold and they could eventually turn into donors for something else. I should crash the memory of this site with pics. LoL

 

[ZXT 2,401]

I know what you mean.. You see something that someone has done and think "Really? Can anyone be that dumb?", and then something else comes along to top it. 

 

If you ever happen to get into working on old cars, you'll see things that you never thought possible. The level of "ingenuity" (hackery) of some people is astonishing. Sure, some of it was done out of necessity, but it is mainly done out of ignorance and laziness. 

 

Just in case anyone was wondering, if you decide to channel your '34 Ford, when you shorten your brake and clutch pedals, don't cut a section out and then braze them back together. It doesn't work. It snaps off if you press very hard. Car was built as a drag car in the late 50s and never finished, so they didn't figure out how well their "fix" performed. Broke on me while unloading it off the trailer.

[Mudrig150 336]

The 140 was a parts tractor, to its second owner. The 317's second owner was just negligent.

[The Tuul Crib 7,339]

16 hours ago, pfrederi said:

Not to disrespect Farmers but when you work on old farm tractors you come across a lot of Farmer Fixes. In the older times farmers only had 1 or 2 tractors and if it broke down it had to be "fixed" fast as the manure had to be spread hay bailed etc. no time to wait for parts to be shipped in from Racine Wisconsin, Waterloo Iowa or Rock Island Ill.  Some of these farmer field fixes were still functioning on my Cases and Farmall 40-50 years later.  Not pretty, kinda of dodgy but effective....

 I couldn't agree with you more. We were that way on the farm growing up if it broke you had to fix it now with whatever you had. There was farming to do it couldn't wait .  Those were the good all days !!

[WHNJ701 4,165]

12 minutes ago, The Tool Crib said:

 I couldn't agree with you more. We were that way on the farm growing up if it broke you had to fix it now with whatever you had. There was farming to do it couldn't wait .  Those were the good all days !!

it's like my grandfathers old wheelhorse that he bought new, he took care of it but when little things went he fixed as cheap as possible.  I have the tractor now and i don't plan on changing any of his repairs it functions and ads to the sentimental value of it.  like the broken key switch he replaced with a toggle switch.

[Pullstart 67,084]

17 hours ago, wallfish said:

Have to admit, I do some shady $4!+ myself. The tractors would never be sold to someone with hacked repairs, they're all mine. Maybe that's why much doesn't get sold and they could eventually turn into donors for something else. I should crash the memory of this site with pics. LoL

 

 

Ever seen Roadkill on YouTube?  I bet Finnegan and Frieburger didn’t get to where they are by hacking all along the way, but it sure is fun to see how far they make it!

[ZXT 2,401]

11 hours ago, pullstart said:

 

Ever seen Roadkill on YouTube?  I bet Finnegan and Frieburger didn’t get to where they are by hacking all along the way, but it sure is fun to see how far they make it!

Roadkill is one of my favorites shows.

 

Sure, they hack all along the way on the show, but they do it for fun. Both know their stuff and are pretty talented.

 

In 2015, Roadkill did a road trip with the cars they've built, starting in Detroit and ending in Ft. Worth, which is about 30 minutes east of me. The stop was at a drive in movie theater and fans were encouraged to bring their cars. We took dad's '57 Chevy over there, met and talked with both Freiberger and Finnegan, and then watched a few episodes of Roadkill on the big screen. Super fun night. 

[ohiofarmer 3,379]

Bought a 1056 for the engine that at least fired and ran. The deck had this thick plate welded on that made it hard to determine where old stops and repairs begin..   The  PO advertised it as a 12 HP but I proved him wrong. The tie rods were repaired by drilling out the ball end and Inserting a bolt

   I have some old MTD tie rods that I cut down and welded back together for a quick repair. At least that stopped the wear on the fan gear.

  Net price 107.00 after I took back a coil for credit supplied by him.. Not bad for a worker. He advertised it at 250.00

 Strong runner. Side drive equipped,it will take down thick Ohio bluegrass and fescue the height of the hood in a few passes.

Edited November 28, 2019 by ohiofarmer