Alan in Vermont
06-01-2013, 05:20 PM
I do some work repairing the small hydraulic cylinders used for the lift and steering on garden tractors. Had one from a guy in Michigan that I had to test, after repairs, and ship back. I had bunged up a seal the rist try and it failed the pressure test so I had to open it back up (welded construction) and replace the seals a second time. I had assured him it would go out Thursday afternoon.
Plan was to go cut grass at the club, while it was cooller in the morning, then come home, test and box the cylinder and send it out.
Best laid plans,, yada,,yada!
I just emailed him to let him know it was finally on the way, and why I hadn't met my deadline Thursday.
---------------------------------------------------------
Brian,
Your cylinder left here yesterday.
Instead of spending 3-4 hours mowing in the morning I spent two hours mowing and then 3-4 getting the mower unstuck.
The heavy rain we had last weekend left out shooting range pretty swampy. I got 90% of it done with no issues. There is a drainage ditch across the 200 yd range with only a narrow, like 5' narrow, culvert allowing access to an area 50-60 feet wide and probably 200 feet deep with the target backers at the extreme end. It is bounded by woods on both sides and the end so there is not much breeze in that far corner.
That would be the far corner where the left front tire and both rears dropped into the mud that was lurking under the sod. This is a diesel powered Kubota Z-turn with a 60" deck and it's on the heavy side as Z-turns go. The front wheel went in first and the rears spun just enough to peel the sod off, dropping both the rears into wet clay about the consistency of grease.
Made a 40 mile round trip home to get some recovery gear after locking the range gate and putting up a big sign that the range was temporarily closed. I collected several chains, a very stout, very long (but not long enough as it would turn out) rope good for over 20,000 lbs of pull, a chain saw and a few other tools of misery. I also collected my wife, so that I wouldn't have to walk several hundred yards to return all the planned cast of characters to their proper places. Also to call for help should I succumb to heat, I do not do well in heat and it was 80° and rising by this time.
Upon my return I threw all the assort implements and an 8' 2X6 and a couple half sheets of plywood in the bucket on the 60-ish horsepower farm tractor the club has for maintaining our roads and bush-hogging. At that point I was hoping that I could squeeze the tractor over that short culvert.
Had that worked I could have gotten close enough to put the heavy rope to use and barely broken a sweat getting the mower out. That was not to be, the tractor was just too wide, and I wasn't about to try crossing the steep sided, water filled, ditch. It was way too likely to have TWO stuckees with that scenario.
When I got back the mower was right where I left it. Imagine that.
So I carried everything to that perfect corner of HELL and set about coming up with a working "Plan B".
I put the 2X6 behind the tires of the mower. Took two short pieces of light chain and worked them through the gaps where the center of the wheel attaches to the rim. With those looped around the plank I connected them back the themselves with shackles. That married the plank to the wheels/tires so that by applying a little reverse I was able to get the machine to literally pull itself up on the plank.
At that point I realized that I had put the shackles where they were very easy to connect but, with the plank now well buried, it was impossible to get at them to unhook the chains.
Time for the chainsaw! The woods right there are mostly small Ash saplings 2-4" at the base and 15-20' tall. I cut several of them down and then into about 6' lengths. I was able to slide several of them between the rear wheels and the mower deck, covering the holes the rear wheels had been in just mere moments before.
Have I mentioned it was hot in that corner? That there was NO breeze either? Add in some diesel exhaust fumes and it was just a little piece of heaven on earth,,, NOT!!!
The Kubota has a jacking system where the front axle can be rotated to drive the right front wheel down, lifting the front of the machine and, thankfully, the left front wheel up.
I also put poles under the left front wheel to keep that from hindering movement.
I had laid the plywood sheets on the ground behind the plank, planning to back across the plank onto the plywood and thence to solid ground. Adding to the frustration was the fact that there was solid, and even almost firm ground barely more than 2' from the machine on front, rear, and right side, getting there was where the fun was.
Tried the back onto the plank trick and it was a no-go, the plank was tilted a little bit and the slippery mud allowed no traction.
But, I could go forward.
Charge!!!
But slowly.
I've got well over 1,000 hrs on Z-turn mowers so this was not my first rodeo. I knew from sad experience that running real low throttle lets you idle out of places where you can't move otherwise.
So, I idled ahead and the sucker came out. I even managed to get it to turn 90° so it was heading away from the wet area.
Success!!
Between the sweat running into my eyes and those nasty fumes I could just about see, I was covered with mud and wet where I wasn't muddy yet.
Once I got home I was too beat to do anything more Thursday, sorry for the delay again.
Here's what the crime scene looked like after the fact, I forgot to get a before picture.
72248
72249
Anyhow, your cylinder tested fine this time. It's a bit sticky trying to move it by hand but is fine under pressure. It should give good service for a long time again.
I hope you got a laugh out of my escapade.
Al Nadeau
PS: Did I mention it was HOT!
Plan was to go cut grass at the club, while it was cooller in the morning, then come home, test and box the cylinder and send it out.
Best laid plans,, yada,,yada!
I just emailed him to let him know it was finally on the way, and why I hadn't met my deadline Thursday.
---------------------------------------------------------
Brian,
Your cylinder left here yesterday.
Instead of spending 3-4 hours mowing in the morning I spent two hours mowing and then 3-4 getting the mower unstuck.
The heavy rain we had last weekend left out shooting range pretty swampy. I got 90% of it done with no issues. There is a drainage ditch across the 200 yd range with only a narrow, like 5' narrow, culvert allowing access to an area 50-60 feet wide and probably 200 feet deep with the target backers at the extreme end. It is bounded by woods on both sides and the end so there is not much breeze in that far corner.
That would be the far corner where the left front tire and both rears dropped into the mud that was lurking under the sod. This is a diesel powered Kubota Z-turn with a 60" deck and it's on the heavy side as Z-turns go. The front wheel went in first and the rears spun just enough to peel the sod off, dropping both the rears into wet clay about the consistency of grease.
Made a 40 mile round trip home to get some recovery gear after locking the range gate and putting up a big sign that the range was temporarily closed. I collected several chains, a very stout, very long (but not long enough as it would turn out) rope good for over 20,000 lbs of pull, a chain saw and a few other tools of misery. I also collected my wife, so that I wouldn't have to walk several hundred yards to return all the planned cast of characters to their proper places. Also to call for help should I succumb to heat, I do not do well in heat and it was 80° and rising by this time.
Upon my return I threw all the assort implements and an 8' 2X6 and a couple half sheets of plywood in the bucket on the 60-ish horsepower farm tractor the club has for maintaining our roads and bush-hogging. At that point I was hoping that I could squeeze the tractor over that short culvert.
Had that worked I could have gotten close enough to put the heavy rope to use and barely broken a sweat getting the mower out. That was not to be, the tractor was just too wide, and I wasn't about to try crossing the steep sided, water filled, ditch. It was way too likely to have TWO stuckees with that scenario.
When I got back the mower was right where I left it. Imagine that.
So I carried everything to that perfect corner of HELL and set about coming up with a working "Plan B".
I put the 2X6 behind the tires of the mower. Took two short pieces of light chain and worked them through the gaps where the center of the wheel attaches to the rim. With those looped around the plank I connected them back the themselves with shackles. That married the plank to the wheels/tires so that by applying a little reverse I was able to get the machine to literally pull itself up on the plank.
At that point I realized that I had put the shackles where they were very easy to connect but, with the plank now well buried, it was impossible to get at them to unhook the chains.
Time for the chainsaw! The woods right there are mostly small Ash saplings 2-4" at the base and 15-20' tall. I cut several of them down and then into about 6' lengths. I was able to slide several of them between the rear wheels and the mower deck, covering the holes the rear wheels had been in just mere moments before.
Have I mentioned it was hot in that corner? That there was NO breeze either? Add in some diesel exhaust fumes and it was just a little piece of heaven on earth,,, NOT!!!
The Kubota has a jacking system where the front axle can be rotated to drive the right front wheel down, lifting the front of the machine and, thankfully, the left front wheel up.
I also put poles under the left front wheel to keep that from hindering movement.
I had laid the plywood sheets on the ground behind the plank, planning to back across the plank onto the plywood and thence to solid ground. Adding to the frustration was the fact that there was solid, and even almost firm ground barely more than 2' from the machine on front, rear, and right side, getting there was where the fun was.
Tried the back onto the plank trick and it was a no-go, the plank was tilted a little bit and the slippery mud allowed no traction.
But, I could go forward.
Charge!!!
But slowly.
I've got well over 1,000 hrs on Z-turn mowers so this was not my first rodeo. I knew from sad experience that running real low throttle lets you idle out of places where you can't move otherwise.
So, I idled ahead and the sucker came out. I even managed to get it to turn 90° so it was heading away from the wet area.
Success!!
Between the sweat running into my eyes and those nasty fumes I could just about see, I was covered with mud and wet where I wasn't muddy yet.
Once I got home I was too beat to do anything more Thursday, sorry for the delay again.
Here's what the crime scene looked like after the fact, I forgot to get a before picture.
72248
72249
Anyhow, your cylinder tested fine this time. It's a bit sticky trying to move it by hand but is fine under pressure. It should give good service for a long time again.
I hope you got a laugh out of my escapade.
Al Nadeau
PS: Did I mention it was HOT!