04 November 2018

Splitting a kubota L3750 tractor and BF900 front loader

Holey Chit!!
It's been almost 3 months...
Let's not waste any more time!!
Two posts ago I wrote about this tractor.
Since then a half day was spent on it
to get the steering working.
We were planning on using it to pull an aerator,
the thing that makes holes in grass fields.
It didn't take long,
one weekend,
before the guys busted it yet again.
I realized at that moment,
my job here at PIR is fixing wounded soldiers,
sending them back on the battlefield 
to fight against hack equipment operators.
My coworkers are an interesting bunch,
good guys just not mechanical.
I've had to show them what a temperature gauge does,
how to read an oil dipstick,
why not to put gas in a diesel mower,
how to drive a stick...
Yes.
These are the guys using our equipment!
It reminded me of an old friend that was a movie set painter.
He'd spend weeks/days/hours building and painting,
they'd shoot the scene(s),
and tear apart the set the next day.
Sadly frustrating.
The carrot on the stick 
is the check every 2 weeks,
and not having to pay for parts.
That's enough to overcome my personal issues!!
That fateful weekend resulted in a burnt out clutch.
It was running so good too.
To replace the clutch,
the front loader needs to be removed,
then the tractor is split in two.
Sounds like fun!!
Before the misplaced manual was found,
I watched videos and read forums on
"How to remove a front loader from a tractor".
Not surprising,
a ton of videos on the newer idiot-proof machinery,
with kick-stands that are permanently hinged.
No info on tinker-toy engineering from the  1980's.
Yes,
this post is for you internet mechanics.
Hopefully you find it on your Google searches!!
This procedure took two of us about an hour,
including not fully reading the manual.
(I just needed the one assembled picture
to steer me in the right direction.)
We had added the two vertical arms too early,
and the wedge pins didn't pop out easily.
Hey I didn't grow up on a farm...
I'm new to this tractor game!!
The next time will maybe take 20 minutes.
I'm hoping pictures are worth a thousand words,
cause I'm not writing a play by play...
But this guy did years ago!
Just one picture woulda been nice!
Thanks J.D.!!
So yea here's the start to hopefully more regular posting.
The race season was so crazy here,
lotsa pic-stories comin up,
and I got a couple more projects...
there's a bunch to write about.
Until next time...
TP

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