Thursday, January 28, 2016

A Bee Flight Day and The Tractor Part





It was warm enough for the working girls to take some cleansing flights today. All the hives were flying and active so no Winter losses yet. Of course most Winter losses happen in March so my plan is to get around and get all the hives fed some dry sugar this week. We are suppose to be back up into the 60's by Saturday.

I spent the better part of the morning going through a small pile of Ford Diesel balancer assemblies. I finally found one that had a casting number B9NN-6A308-D. If you remember the one I had that I was trying to replace was a -C. While of course the assembly housing still would not work the gears did measure out as near as my amateur eye and calipers could tell.




The real issue is not so much the shape of the housing but the fact that the center main inside the block only has those four corner bolt holes to attach the thing with.




You can see where this part fits. Even if I tried not using the four corner bolts there is no center hole to attach the housing opposite the oil pump hole. We have to have those four bolt holes or replace the main center gear housing (least I think that's what it's called) and then have the engine crank rebore lined.

The other issue is the oil pump. The tube that goes into the balancer assembly and into the block wall is not long enough if we use the -D housing. I would have to dig up a new oil pump tube.




The good news is though that the gears inside the -D housing are different than the other ones I looked at and are held in by hex head screws into the inner shaft not pressed in with the little ball housing. It means we can remove the gears and move them into the -C housing much easier.

Of course that is simply a theory right now but it's what we are truing next.

I know one thing now though. If this engine ever blows up or if the crank/balancer goes out I am putting a gas engine on the old girl. Not enough of these old Ford diesels still around to keep em in parts.





Here's a side view of the engine so far.


Should have the old girl back together by next week now it looks like.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!


9 comments:

  1. I looked at those parts on line last night and learned more than I ever wanted to know about them. I saw where one guy who worked at a dearler back in the 50s said that they would remove the unit as the farmers didn't want to pay for the replacement part. It seemed to be a common problem with them being missing and the shafts having problems. It looked like more modern motors put a unit on the end of the crank shaft to do something similar. I think you need to have one on the motor but if not, they will run for years depending on what kind of use is put on it. I don't understand why there is such a problem as old model A fords aren't even counter balanced and they don't break, strange.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sf - Well it appears to be a diesel problem only. The gas Ford engines did not have nor need balancers. Supposedly there are two spots where it causes vibration issues, one on the low end and one on the high end. I found the low one and just always idled it higher than the vibration spot. The high one I bet I never hit as I don't work the tractor that hard. My baler clogs up if I run her at that throttle speed anyway usually.

      We will see what the final solution is but from what I read the balancer gears and bearings go out about as much as the cranks break without em.

      Delete
  2. We are having a chinook the last two days. Tuesday was -12C at noon and we were +13C at noon today. Though winter will be back sunday or monday.

    Exile1981

    ReplyDelete
  3. Whats up with the blog? All the colors changed since I posted earlier today.

    Exile1981

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exile - We are having agreat warming period here now. We are even drying out a bit too!!!

      I changed the layout design some. It was suggested that the old layout was causing some of my updating issues. So far not helping. Blogger is frustrating.

      Delete
    2. http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/supply-chain/wisconsin-police-recover-second-cheese-laden-semi-in-week-of-high-profile-dairy-heists-161405/?utm_source=CMO&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CMO-EN01292016

      Big cheese heist - cheese recovered. I think we will see a lot more food theft as the economy freefalls.

      Exile1981

      Delete
  4. I've seen discussions about parts for these tractors on here before. I think I'd just go ahead and put a gas engine on it due to the availability of parts and be done with it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anon - I will admit if I knew then what I know now I would have taken your advice. My main reason for sticking with diesel however is to have the alternate fuel source diesel provides. I currently have 2 gas tractors so a diesel backup seemed like the right choice.

      At this stage of the game I am hooked though. I am in to it too far financially to back out now.

      Delete
  5. Sounds like you're on a good track with it.
    Our dog is an English setter. We got him last summer when his original owner died.

    ReplyDelete

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