Some of my equipment mods.

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey Everyone,

Well this is wood furnace part 2:

Another shot of my ugly weld, lol...The wind was blowing...Hey I gotta blame it on something right?



I decided I needed to cut out more of the rust on this corner.





Started welding in new metal.









I couldn't find any angle iron the size I needed for the legs in my metal pile so I made my own, I started with a piece of 4x4 square tubing.

First thing was to square up one end then cut to length, this emilminated the rough torch cut end.



Saw doing it's thing.





OK that is all I can put on this post, more to come!

Enjoy
Paul
 
Last edited:

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey Everyone,

OK Wood furnace part 3:

Once I had the tube all squared and cut to length, it was just a matter of cutting it into the 4 corners, and now I have 4 new legs.

Then it was time to deburr and wirewheel all the rust off, and just like new, lol.

Notice the wood beam assembly in the background, I whipped that together so I could lift the furnace out of the barn, (it still had the cabinet on and I didn't want to bend it all up).







Found a piece of sheetmetal for bottom.



Had a tad bit of rain moving through so had to paint what I had cleaned down to bare steel.





New bottom and legs welded and painted.





Time to get it set back on the legs.

I am using my best friends 3400 Ford to move the stove around and level the backyard.





At the moment these are the 2 best pics I have of his tractor so I will take time to talk about everything we have done to it now.

This is a pretty nice old tractor, the rear tires are fluid filled and have weights on them, it is equiped with a Fel on the front, and a Gill box blade on the back, I have added a reciever hitch to the Gill blad, a hook on top of the front bucket, and have a set of forks I made for my 750 that we also adapted to fit his bucket.

Claude is a great guy, and he can do many things, but fixing equipment, (turning wrenches in general), isn't something he has a clue about, lol, so I am the one that keeps everything running, (with his help of course, he makes a great second pair of hands).

I have put a new clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, and changed the rear main seal in this tractor, then summer before last I had to replace the entire front axle, the way the pump for the FEL is setup on this thing is pretty much like I am wanting to do with my Bota, except the driveshaft from the front of the engine to the pump runs through the pivot pin for the front axle, we had fought with the spline couplings and drive shaft wearing out and breaking for several years and I was rather perplexed as to why, (I hate having to fix something more than once, if it break I do my best to figure out why and make sure to correct everything involved so it doesn't happen again).

Well after the front axle snapped at the pivot point I was finally able to understand why the couplings and shaft were giving me so much grief, (I was not able to see the main problem with everything all put together), but what had happened was the pivot point had worn down to the point it was resting the weight of the tractor right on the drive shaft.

Anyway we made a run to a local tractor salvage yard and found another front axle, it was slightly different from what we needed and was showing a tad bit of wear, mostly on the pivot hole, so I took it to a local machine shop, had them to bore and true the hole, then machine a bushing with the proper size hole and a nice press fit to the oversize hole now in the axle, once that was all taken care of we sandblasted the whole thing, painted it and replaced all the kingpin bushings, replaced one kingpin, got it all put back together with all new grease fittings, and lubed it all up, now it works like a top, even steers better, lol.

I managed to resolve a number of issues when we replaced the axle.

This past summer I replaced the tappet cover gasket, (thing was leaking a quart of oil a day), replaced the top cover gasket for the injection pump, all the fuel return lines, and still have a small leak on the pump I have to find.

If you notice in the first picture with the tractor, I have a piece of stove pipe over the muffler, and there is a nice stream of white smoke blowing to the sky, I put the pipe on it to get the fumes out of my face, it is overfueling big time, I am trying to get him to let me take the injectors and have them rebuilt, still haven't got him to get it done yet, maybe this winter or in the spring.

OK enough for this post, More to come!

Enjoy
Paul
 

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey everyone,

Ok so this is wood furnace part 4:

Well once I got the welding all done and had it back on it's feet, it was starting to get pretty warm out so I decided to play "shade tree" mechanic from there on, lol.

The next few pics just show the progress as I got it wirewheeled and painted with a base coat.

Notice how the paint looks more grey or silver, it is actually flat black, still haven't figured out why the color looks different in all the pics.











It took awhile for me to get the whole thing cleaned up and all the rust removed, but once I got the first coat of paint on the whole thing I moved it over to the front of the new shed and applied another 2 coats of paint over the whole thing, sitting out in direct sunlight did a pretty good job of baking the paint on, lol.









After I got it rolled into the shed I put the cabinet back on, now I just have to figure out how I want to run the flue and ducting, I was surprised once I got it in the shed that it was tall enough that connecting the proper size ducting on top is going to be a real chore, not really enough room over the top of it, unless I move it to the exact center of the shed, and that is going to take up alot of floor space I don't want to give up, sighs.



Well that is all for the furnace, I hven't been able to finish the flue and ducting yet, and didn't get any wood cut, (the doctors put the brakes on what I am allowed to do almost 3 months ago now, so I am hoping after they fix the hole in my heart next week I can get back to work).

Ok, I may go with the backyard and shed next, but not sure if I will do any of that tonight or wait and do some tomorrow.

I am almost thinking I might need to start another whole thread becaue of all the pics, lol.

I run them all through an optimizer program I have that really shrinks the file size, but I am starting to notice the length of time it is taking to load the whole thread.

Enjoy

Paul
 

skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,094
2,755
113
SW Pa
Never underestamate a man thats got a welder and a pile of scrap....lol
 

MagKarl

New member

Equipment
L245DT
Aug 2, 2010
663
0
0
Olympia, WA
Welcome S40. It's great to see some folks still look at "stuff" that others might call "junk" and see future value. Nothing better than putting "stuff" a lot of folks in this society would throw away back to work in a little different manner than it may have been originally produced. Well done.
 

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey Everyone,

Never underestamate a man thats got a welder and a pile of scrap....lol
Welcome S40. It's great to see some folks still look at "stuff" that others might call "junk" and see future value. Nothing better than putting "stuff" a lot of folks in this society would throw away back to work in a little different manner than it may have been originally produced. Well done.
Amen on both comments! :cool:

I have always told people a machine is a machine is a machine, they all use the same basic parts, it just depends on how those parts are used that determines what the machine does.

My wife used to ask me why I didn't throw stuff out when it didn't work anymore, after a couple of years watching me recycle she finally got it and stopped asking, lol.

My biggest problem right now is not having all my "junk" organized enough to know exactly what I have on hand....:eek:

I am a true believer in recycling, and my labor doesn't cost me as much as buying new parts when I can make something on hand work for what I need to do.

Best regards

Paul
 
Last edited:

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey Everyone,

Hope you are all having a Great Day, it is a Good Day to be Alive!

Well I tried to beat the backyard into submission so we could put up a new pool and shed this past summer, it didn't work out so good so I decided to just bury it, lol.

It is amazing how you can look at land and think yea that is close to level or maybe a slight slope, but when you start trying to actually level it, BANG, all of a sudden you realize just how far out of level it really is.

I knew our backyard wasn't level but I thought maybe a foot or two in one direction and less than a foot in the other....I was soooooooo wrong!

Here are some pics of what all I got done on it, hope you enjoy!

This is what I started with, I was going to put up the old pool, but it was full of holes, so we decided to get a bigger one and do a better job of leveling it and raise it to the height of our planned deck off the back of the house.

As you can see it was a mess, we didn't putthe pool up last year so it was starting to grow over and all the plastic and traps had blown around.

You can also see the solar heater I built, it worked like a top until the tubing melted, I used the wrong stuff, (regular PVC), but it was pretty cheap as an experiment to see if it would do any good, so now I know it will work and the next one will be made with better tubing.

The blue box housed the pumps, one for the pool and the other for the heater.









First thing was to clean up all the old junk and start hauling in clay to raise the level.








16 tons of fines from a local lime factory, $85.00 delivered.

This stuff is like concrete once it is compacted and get wet.




OK that is all I can add to this post, more to come!

Enjoy
Paul
 
Last edited:

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey Everyone,

So backyard part 2:

I knew I was going to need some Grey PVC conduit to run power to the shed and pool so I bought it and just connected a few pieces together to simulate the 22' circle of the new pool.




There is more than one way to get out of cutting grass, lol.



Some of these may be out of order, lol, but they do a good job of showing the process and progress.

I actually had the rock delivered a lil too soon, it ended up being right in the way so I had to move most of it up on top of the clay.















Ok that is the limit for this post, more to come!

Enjoy

Paul
 

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey Everyone,

So backyard part 3:





We had some ceramic tiles left over from another project in the house so we thought we would lay them out and see if we could make the shed floor out of them..











It was miserable hot even in the shade when we started setting the tiles so I made a nice lil canopy to help keep some of the afternoon sun off.







OK all I can add to this post, more to come!

Best Regards

Paul
 

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey Everyone,

Ok so backyard part 4:







Well finally time to put the shed up.















OK all I can add in the post, more to come!

Enjoy

Paul
 

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey Everyone,

Ok so backyard part 5:

Actually we are moving more toward just shed here, lol.













Every shed has got to have a workbench..lol



These are the pavers that will go under the support legs for the pool, and the area where they are sitting is where all the pool equipment will go, pump, filter, ect.





On the other side of the shed is where I will build the new solar heater for the pool, and it will also act as a cover for stacking firewood.

There will be 4 of the posts set on each corner of the pool area, and we are planning to add these solar powered light to the top of each one.



Ok all I can add in this post, more to come!

Enjoy

Paul
 

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey Everyone,

Well from here on for now I will move to just the shed and electrical.

I took these pictures for another forum because someone had asked if a powered miter saw would cut PVC.

This is actually Grey PVC Conduit.



After making the cuts.



After shaving off the burrs.



I needed a way to pull wires into the shed and then distribute out to the seperate circuits, I was originally going to install a panel, but I already have one under the house where the well pressure tank is, so I figured I would just use it.

I couldn't find anything to fit my needs so I made my own.







Installed using a piece of sheetmetal to help reinforce the thin shed wall.





Got some peg board put up and mounted 2 papertowel holders up high so the mice can't get to them, one for regular paper towels and one for shop towels.





Cell phone doesn't take pictures as nice as the digital camera, but I tried to clean the LCD display screen on the digital and it doesn't work now, sighs, need to try and find a replacement for it.

OK all I can add in this post, more to come!

Enjoy

Paul
 

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey everyone,

These are shots of the dig site where I got all the clay for the backyard this summer, it is a good 200 yards from the house, and overlooks the pond, (well it does when I have all the brush cut down, lol).







I shaved the 3-6 inches of top soil off and pushed it back in the woods, and from there I have about 4 foot of nice red clay before I hit the rocks and other hardpan.

It was a real chore digging over the summer with little to no rain, the top soil wasn't too bad but that dry clay was another story, I hauled about 15-20 buckets a day for about 27 days to get the yard built up where it is now, and still need about that much more before I am done.

Well that is the end of what pictures I have on hand.

I know some of the things I have shown here don't look all that great, but they do work in the end.

Hopefully next spring and summer will be more productive for me, with a little luck I will get the back yard finished, (including the new pool), get the wood furnace all setup for next winter and have my firewood cut before the first snow.

I really need to get the cab and engine swapped out on the pickup so I can get that back on the road, and REALLY need to get the D4 redone with the better engine and auto tranny, that thing is a must have in the woods.

One of the biggest problems I have had the past couple of years is my best friend gets stuck helping take care of his mother-in-laws mobile home park, so he isn't around as much as he used to be, and my wife is 10 years older than I am and she is to the point where she can't do as much as she used to, and then I have been slowing down some too, (maybe getting the ole ticker fixed will help some).

One of the main things to keep in mind, nothing is impossible, it just hasn't been thought out yet.

You are only limited by your imagination, where there is a will there is a way.

It is always harder to help someone fix something via the internet or phone, than it is if I can get my hands on it, but I am always willing to give as much help and advice as I can, please don't hesitate to ask.

I will get more pictures taken for your pleasure in the near future, I still have lots of goodies to share, even if it is only my junk that I haven't done anything with yet, or is sitting around just waiting to donate it's parts to a good cause.

In the mean time, play hard, enjoy your time with the lil Orange machines, and above all else, Please Be Safe!

Best Regards

Paul
 

coachgeo

Well-known member

Equipment
L225 w/woods Few Mowers & Back Blade, D722 in Motorcycle (Triumph Tiger), LMTV
Nov 16, 2012
2,460
32
48
Southern OH
Hey Everyone,

I thought I would share some of the equipment mods & implement creations I have done over the years.

It is amazing how much more functional a piece of equipment can be with a little imagination, work and steel....
Great stuff.

with all the logging and everything else you do..... what you need is a Unimog and implements. Man you'd me in heaven with such a machine. Love see what you and your welder could create for such an amazing logging truck as a Mog.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/unimog/1642646-406-421-forst-ii.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVqqf-VVgQs
 

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Great stuff.

with all the logging and everything else you do..... what you need is a Unimog and implements. Man you'd me in heaven with such a machine. Love see what you and your welder could create for such an amazing logging truck as a Mog.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/unimog/1642646-406-421-forst-ii.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVqqf-VVgQs
Hey Coachgeo,

Yea those look like some neat trucks, I loved the video.

I have a 49 military 2.5 ton 6x6 that I want to do something with, thinking about making it articulated so I have both the front steering and the articulation, and still have both rear axles under the back end.

I haven't had it running yet so I am not sure if it has posi track on all the axles or not, (I doubt it), but I really would love to get that project done.

Thanks for the links, neat stuff.

Best Regards

Paul
 

skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,094
2,755
113
SW Pa
Son I don't know what the duce your smokin up there but by gawd hows about sharing it!!!!:D
 

skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,094
2,755
113
SW Pa
Ya must be doin sumthin, cause ya got me all worn out just lookin at the picutres,,lol
 

South 40

Active member

Equipment
L1500DT, 750 Ford backhoe, 49 D4 Cat Repowered with 6.9L Diesel
Nov 12, 2012
168
52
28
Bloomsdale, Mo. USA
Hey Skeets,

LOL. Yea, that is what I call being HIGH on life.

Normally I am just hyper, and I Love being outdoors, and tinkering.

Best Regards

Paul
 

cabu

New member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
Kuno B1-15 (B1502DT)
May 24, 2009
736
2
0
Germany, Oyten
Looks like fun! I will read the full thread the next days, at the moment I have also to work around the house.
I like your way to start things, get your idea in reality and jobs done.

You should take a look at the threads of helomech... ;)


der carl