Todays Project - What did you do today?

[TomG]

My son has a 6000 that needs to be split to fix a hydraulic leak (a seal I think). Doesn't look like too painful of a job.

Tom

[Pete O]

(09-29-2017, 11:07 AM)TomG Wrote: My son has a 6000 that needs to be split to fix a hydraulic leak (a seal I think). Doesn't look like too painful of a job.

Tom

It will be pretty easy to split the tractor at the gearbox / rear axle joint, if it's a similar setup to mine then the hydraulics are all easily accessible from the front of the diff casing. Even with a loader on the tractor, it would not have to be removed to split at the rear flange. Accessing the clutch is a different story.

[Pete O]

The hydraulic cylinder for the 3-point linkage was scored badly, no doubt part of the reason why the lift was unuseable once the oil warmed up a bit. The scores were too deep to just hone out and use the same piston- which is itself deeply scored. A replacement cylinder for this model turns out to be unobtainable, and the smaller ones for the 3000 series are available as a reproduction new unit but for around US$800 which would work out to around $1500 Aussie dollars shipped, and would represent a significant loss of lift power; the existing cylinder bore is 3.300" whereas the 3000 model one is 3".

I decided to have a go at boring the cylinder to the next standard hydraulic size, which is 85mm, and making a new piston that will take an off-the-shelf single-acting ram seal.

Getting this cylinder to run true in the 4-jaw chuck took about the longest of anything I have chucked.
   

I took really light cuts to avoid pulling the thing out of the chuck, and a fine feed to try and get the best finish I could.
I'm going to take it to a local engine reconditioner to hone it to a smooth, accurate finish. I couldn't get rid of all the chatter so I left .008" on the bore diameter for the honing.
   
   

The end of the brake shaft where the clutch pedal pivots looked like this.
   

I ground the worn section to a fresh surface and coated it with some loctite metal epoxy, the stuff you knead. Got it in the lathe to harden overnight so i can turn it to size tomorrow.
   

It's nice that the machine tools are coming into their own on this project. I was able to tell my wife that the lathe has almost paid for itself with that lift cylinder.

[Vinny]

And now you can use this project to justify more machines!

[TomG]

Wow. People actually pay you to make stuff?  

Tom

[Pete O]

(10-07-2017, 08:33 AM)TomG Wrote: Wow. People actually pay you to make stuff?  

Tom

Not much fear of that Tom. Thankfully I get paid to do something else that I'm much more accomplished at.

[TomG]

(10-08-2017, 04:01 PM)Pete O Wrote:

(10-07-2017, 08:33 AM)TomG Wrote: Wow. People actually pay you to make stuff?  

Tom

Not much fear of that Tom. Thankfully I get paid to do something else that I'm much more accomplished at.

Most things I make for people end up being gratis. Partially because they are for friends or family, but mostly because I'm just such a nice guy.  

Tom

[Pete O]

I've been putting in a few hours on this tractor overhaul without appearing to be getting anywhere, lots of time-consuming tasks. Also my long list of parts still hasn't arrived, I did buy a big box of assorted imperial O-rings, the hydraulic system on this thing runs on O-rings the way a modern car runs on hoses. I should have a lifetime supply of O-rings left after the job's done though.
I had started to mill the flywheel using the rotary table
   
really wasn't happy with the setup though so I decided to transfer it to the lathe. I had to make an arbor to mount it, was racking my brains for material for the arbor and remembered I've had 2 cast iron multi-belt pulleys acting as doorstops in the shed for years. This one got a bit of a trim
   
and the flywheel got clamped to it and machined flat. There's a lot of deep heat-cracking in the flywheel, good enough for the tractor I think but it wouldn't be going back into a vehicle that had to drive nicely. Took ages to machine, I whiled away the time renewing O-rings on various hydraulic components while the lathe did it's work.
   
then sent my arbor back to join it's friend- they can chat about the weight loss.
   

I cleaned up all the cast-iron dust from the lathe and then mounted the 700 x 102mm bar of 4140 to make a start on the piston. This is only about the second time I've used the fixed steady (or steady rest), took a while to get it set up. Also I was glad of the gantry over the lathe. Made a start on getting the new piston to size.
   
I've decided it wasn't all bad news having to purchase this big lump of stock to make this little piston, I'll at last have some material to make the missing headstock centre for this lathe as well as a spindle-mounted collet chuck. One day.

This from a couple of days ago, the clutch fork pivot shaft was badly worn at both ends where it rotates in a pair of bushings in the bell housing.
I used the lathe to cut out the plug weld that held the lever on one end, turned it down to fresh material then used the mig to make it fat.
   
turned it to size then welded the lever back on. Ready for another 50 years.
   

[SteveG]

Nice work Pete.
While stumbling around on local ebay just now I came across a seller in QLD that does short lengths of cast iron round bar. Looks like a metal merchant that's aiming at the hobbyist. Ebay isn't somewhere I'd have looked for it, but certainly convenient for a one-off project that you can wait a few days for.

Steve

[Dr Stan]

(10-12-2017, 05:04 AM)SteveG Wrote: Nice work Pete.
While stumbling around on local ebay just now I came across a seller in QLD that does short lengths of cast iron round bar. Looks like a metal merchant that's aiming at the hobbyist. Ebay isn't somewhere I'd have looked for it, but certainly convenient for a one-off project that you can wait a few days for.

Steve

Is the name of the seller a state secret?