Well let's start with the good news. Went down this morning to that long haul firewood cut that I couldn't complete last weekend and got her all done. With the three trips I made down there I should now have about enough firewood stacked to last the Winter unless it is really bad cold. I am not going to stop though as I am still trying to build my reserve back. I am done with the 60+ mile trip though and all the other cutting will be close to home.
On the way back I stopped in and picked up another 2 gallons of oil for the diesel. Filled her up when I got home and she started right up and purred like a kitten. I already had the new Manure Spreader hooked up so I took her for a spin and made sure it worked.
Good news number two the Manure Spreader worked great or at least everything worked like it should without any manure in it.
Yesterday the damned dog tried to eat another chicken. We couldn't find her last night so we thought she was dead but late in the night she showed back up at the coop door.
Good news number three we still have 18 hens and the one that got chomped was still alive this morning and looking rather perky.
While collecting eggs today we also found a new type. A smaller one that was pink. Looks like good news number four one of the Amerikunas is starting to lay. The guy we got her from said they sometimes lay pink eggs rather than blue so it has to be one of them.
By this time it looked like I had dodged a couple of bullets and I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing. I left the old 861 running and after about 20 minutes when she started getting hot the knocking started up again.
Sounds like I twisted or fused a rod bearing. The poor girl is going to require at the minimum a new rod and bearing and perhaps a complete overhaul now. Not as bad a news as I had feared but no where near as good as I had hoped.
Now I am going to have to see what this is going to set me back. Buying this old girl like I did I was pretty sure an overhaul was in her near future anyway but I would have liked to have waited another year or so. The only prices I can find on full rebuild kits for these old Ford are gas so who knows.
Bottom line is the verdict is not in yet. It may well be that if it is too expensive I may have to part the old girl out which will devastate me to be honest. I don't think I am up to rebuilding or over hauling the engine on my own either. If it was the 8N I might try it but not the diesel. Looks like I might be dipping into saving in a big way soon.
Oh well live and learn.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!
Did you ever find the oil leak? The whole thing is strange.
ReplyDeleteHow is the water level?
Sf - The oil leak appears to have come from the oil plug that worked it's way loose. I cannot blame that on anyone but myself as I changed the oil in it back in April or May. The oil level was fine last week before I tilled the pumpkin patch but I guess it either worked it's way loose while I was tilling or something because there is a big spot of oil in the grass where I had it parked. I know it wasn't knocking when I tilled.
DeleteBottom line I should have followed my own procedure and not started her without checking but I was too engrossed in the Manure spreader unloading and forgot. It did start smoking before it knocked and I should have shut it off then as I had never seen it do that before. Hindsight and all that.
This is going to set me back a bit and depending on cost I might just look for another tractor to replace her.
It would be nice if it was fixable, maybe there is a ford group on line that could help diagnose it. I found a facebook group on model As. I found an old guy to work on my ferguson a while back and he tore it a part and put it back in a few weeks for not a whole lot. Lots of diesel guys around here maybe some out your way. I am not much help I guess,
DeleteSf - Well all is not lost and things are looking up actually. The complete overhaul kits are available for these tractors (one reason I stuck with Fords) and my nephew is a diesel tractor mechanic for New Holland. My brother rebuilds muscle cars and told me tonight we should just do it at his place. I might get an entire overhaul done for under a grand now.
DeleteI hope its not too expensive I dont know a thing about engines I wouldnt know were to start looking not without a manual to follow :-)
ReplyDeleteDawn - Oh it's going to be expensive but nothing more than I planned on regardless just about a year earlier than I wanted to do it. It was always my plan to restore this girl completely it just means I have to do it earlier rather than later.
DeleteTwice now I've done a quick & cheap fix on a knocking engine by just dropping the pan & replacing the rod bearings only. Course those were gas, one flat head car & one IH tractor, diesel might be different. The problem with fixing something is often where to stop.
ReplyDeleteMV - Well I am lucky in the fact that my brother rebuilds and restores muscle cars and his son happens to be a diesel mechanic that works on tractors. I also am lucky in the fact that my brother just finished restoring a 67 Camaro and is in the process of buying a 65 step side pickup to start on BUT hasn't moved it into his garage yet.
DeleteWe may be putting his truck into my loafing shed and taking my tractor in to his house and getting a bunch of work I had planned on doing done this Winter anyway. My brother kinda likes the idea of doing it anyway and so do I. Maybe this was in fact a Godsend in disguise.
Think of it as spending quality time with your brother.
DeleteExile1981
Exile - I am actually looking forward to taking her apart. As I said I had planned on needing to do it int he near future anyway I was just hoping it wouldn't come this near :)
DeleteI was talking to my Dad about your tractor, and he mentioned that those little diesel Fords were actually a British tractor rebadged as a Ford for sale in the US. I don't know if that little tidbit will help your parts search. He has an 8N, and apparently these little Fords are very popular right now; he tells me that parts are easier to find now than they were 20 years ago. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWolfman - Parts are easy to find for all the old Red Belly Fords. Getting the parts isn't the problem right now the problem is finding a place to work on the old girl especially with Winter coming on. Those old diesels will smell up a garage quick so taking her apart at my brothers house maybe out the question since my Sister in Law is not known as an amiable sort :)
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