What I do now………

[wull]

Now the season is over it’s time to slightly wind down and get cracking with maintenance jobs, both racecourse related and machinery.

The season has been hectic and there’s been a few machinery breakdowns along the way, some rendering the machine out the game until I got it sorted, usual run of the mill things, fuel related, hydraulic leaks etc. Most of the leaks were easily solved but I had one on the HR600 which was a nightmare to find, probably took me a good 2-3 hours to find. It wasn’t easy replacing the o ring either, everything is the back of beyond with next to no access.

I’ve made a list of repairs that are needing carried out and it’s depressing me and new issues are appearing every day…….happy days!

So that’s me been there just over a year now, a few ups and downs but mostly good, I’m enjoying it so here’s to many more years.

[Skub]

Now the season is over it’s time to slightly wind down and get cracking with maintenance jobs, both racecourse related and machinery.

The season has been hectic and there’s been a few machinery breakdowns along the way, some rendering the machine out the game until I got it sorted, usual run of the mill things, fuel related, hydraulic leaks etc. Most of the leaks were easily solved but I had one on the HR600 which was a nightmare to find, probably took me a good 2-3 hours to find. It wasn’t easy replacing the o ring either, everything is the back of beyond with next to no access.

I’ve made a list of repairs that are needing carried out and it’s depressing me and new issues are appearing every day…….happy days!

So that’s me been there just over a year now, a few ups and downs but mostly good, I’m enjoying it so here’s to many more years.

Glad your settled man.

Any bikes in your future,or are you still investing in knocking more weans out of your poor missus?

[wull]

Now the season is over it’s time to slightly wind down and get cracking with maintenance jobs, both racecourse related and machinery.

The season has been hectic and there’s been a few machinery breakdowns along the way, some rendering the machine out the game until I got it sorted, usual run of the mill things, fuel related, hydraulic leaks etc. Most of the leaks were easily solved but I had one on the HR600 which was a nightmare to find, probably took me a good 2-3 hours to find. It wasn’t easy replacing the o ring either, everything is the back of beyond with next to no access.

I’ve made a list of repairs that are needing carried out and it’s depressing me and new issues are appearing every day…….happy days!

So that’s me been there just over a year now, a few ups and downs but mostly good, I’m enjoying it so here’s to many more years.

Glad your settled man.

Any bikes in your future,or are you still investing in knocking more weans out of your poor missus?

Nah can’t see any bikes in the future or weans, I’d rather have a nice car if I’m being honest, something we can all enjoy. The bike would just sit wasting away.

[weeksy]

Now the season is over it’s time to slightly wind down and get cracking with maintenance jobs, both racecourse related and machinery.

The season has been hectic and there’s been a few machinery breakdowns along the way, some rendering the machine out the game until I got it sorted, usual run of the mill things, fuel related, hydraulic leaks etc. Most of the leaks were easily solved but I had one on the HR600 which was a nightmare to find, probably took me a good 2-3 hours to find. It wasn’t easy replacing the o ring either, everything is the back of beyond with next to no access.

I’ve made a list of repairs that are needing carried out and it’s depressing me and new issues are appearing every day…….happy days!

So that’s me been there just over a year now, a few ups and downs but mostly good, I’m enjoying it so here’s to many more years.

Glad your settled man.

Any bikes in your future,or are you still investing in knocking more weans out of your poor missus?

Nah can’t see any bikes in the future or weans, I’d rather have a nice car if I’m being honest, something we can all enjoy. The bike would just sit wasting away.

That seems a shame in a way as you seemed to love riding.

Although, you also seemed to be a fucking liability

[Skub]

Nah can’t see any bikes in the future or weans, I’d rather have a nice car if I’m being honest, something we can all enjoy. The bike would just sit wasting away.

Ghey.

[Skub]

That seems a shame in a way as you seemed to love riding.

Although, you also seemed to be a fucking liability

To be fair,he probably is as big a liability on four wheels.

[wull]

[.....]

Now the season is over it’s time to slightly wind down and get cracking with maintenance jobs, both racecourse related and machinery.

The season has been hectic and there’s been a few machinery breakdowns along the way, some rendering the machine out the game until I got it sorted, usual run of the mill things, fuel related, hydraulic leaks etc. Most of the leaks were easily solved but I had one on the HR600 which was a nightmare to find, probably took me a good 2-3 hours to find. It wasn’t easy replacing the o ring either, everything is the back of beyond with next to no access.

I’ve made a list of repairs that are needing carried out and it’s depressing me and new issues are appearing every day…….happy days!

So that’s me been there just over a year now, a few ups and downs but mostly good, I’m enjoying it so here’s to many more years.

Bumped into a bloke going from larne to Scotland with 2 Honda big red trikes. Had a chat with him and discovered he collected them. He had a plethora of 4t trikes and several 2t race bikes, as well as a few 70/110s
Wondered if you'd ever bumped into him?

[wull]

Earlier in the season leading up to the horse trials this BX2200 was getting used more frequently to water areas that had been freshly turfed or recently sown. I then get a call that it won’t start after filling the IBC back up which is on the trailer and after diagnosing I came to the conclusion that there was so much shit in the fuel tank no fuel was getting through, I had removed the supply fuel line to the fuel filter and zero fuel was coming out. I used the air compressor to blow back to tank to see if that would clear it enough to allow me to get back to the workshop, which it did.

So full strip down of fuel system clean everything and then back together, working as it should. The build up in the tank is what they call Asphaltenes.

[wull]

For the BX2200 fast forward to a month ago, I decided to sort a problem which it’s had since I got here, a problem which got worse and worse over time. There had been slight leaks from the rear transaxle and for whatever reason they had left it, apparently they were told by a small dealership that to fix the leaks they’d have to remove the transaxle strip it down and replace seals, but that’s not true.

So first fix was the axle seals and bearings themselves. Drain the oil, remove filter, remove filter screen. Clean up the axle shafts, make sure it’s all clean then fit new seals and bearings, then put back in the transaxle. New transmission filter and fresh oil. It takes 20 litres.

Next up was the input shaft for the diff lock, that required a new o ring which can be done externally as well.

Who knows how many years it’s been running like this but it’s now running as it should with no leaks and the correct level oil in the back end.

[Skub]

I had to google 'Asphaltenes' a new one for me.

The internet tells me readily what they are,but not so helpful in explaining how,or why the process happens in a fuel tank. Drops in temperature,or olf fuel sitting about seems to be all on offer?
I wonder is it the same process where mineral and synthetic 2T oil go to sludge if mixed?

[wull]

I had to google 'Asphaltenes' a new one for me.

The internet tells me readily what they are,but not so helpful in explaining how,or why the process happens in a fuel tank. Drops in temperature,or olf fuel sitting about seems to be all on offer?
I wonder is it the same process where mineral and synthetic 2T oil go to sludge if mixed?

That’s pretty much it, builds up over time for those reasons plus the bacteria itself that’s present, you can add an additive to your fuel tank to stop it from happening but people rarely do, can’t remember how much you’ve to add to a 1,000 litre tank but nobody bothers. Usually what happens is the inline fuel filters block first so you swap them out and it’s fine again, maybe happens mid season but on older machines it seems to get to a point where it gets really bad in the tank over time then it’s time to remove tank and clean it properly.

A few years back we were having serious problems with the fuel water separator bowl filter, the ones that were like a paper filter material, they would block very easily.

[wull]

In fact, I’m sure there is an old post on here showing it on the John Deere 9 series lawn tractor, the in tank fuel pump with tea bag filter was caked in it.

[wull]

A few weeks back when it was cold I had left the MF 5420 to run for an hour outside when I noticed a small puddle underneath. So after cleaning it and trying to find the leak I narrowed it down to the injection pump advanced timing housing rear cover o ring. It was leaking from this area. As soon as you started the tractor it was coming from here.

I had to remove the timing housing because there was no room to access it, remove old gasket and o ring and put back together. Leak is now gone.

[wull]

Another leak to fix.

This time it’s the lift cylinder on the MF 362, I went to the dealers to order the seal kit for it and it’s been discontinued. That’s the problem with older machinery, it’s a 1992 tractor.

I removed the cylinder, stripped it down and took the seals to A&P Bearings with the hope that they’d be able to source the seals for me and they did not disappoint. I ordered two sets to keep one set as back up.

New seal kit fitted, cylinder back on and ran for a bit bleeding any air out of the system. I actually have a few more leaks to sort on this tractor, I’ve been slowly making my way through them.

[wull]

During the horse trials in August the young summer boy made a bit of a fuck up, I got the call that the quad bike had broke down and when they towed it back he admitted that he filled it up fully with diesel. Ah bollocks!

With it being the fuel injected model it was slightly more of a pain in the tits to fix but not the end of the world.

Quickly stripped eveything down cleaning it all, fuel tank, fuel lines, external fuel pump housing ( same set up as in tank pump just external ) spark plug and throttle body.

I went and got a replacement filter and seal from the local dealers and put it all back together. Back running as it should.







m

[wull]

First break down of the year which happened our first day back on the 5th. We got all the machines going to give them a run and get the fluids circulating etc and when I had came back with the 362 the boss was in the car park with the hood up on the HR600. He said it was like it had ran out of fuel.

Straight away I noticed the plunger on the fuel water separator filter head was depressed fully in so I knew there was an issue with that. I jerry rigged a fuel supply and got it back to the workshop.

I did the usual process of bleeding the fuel system but it would only run for roughly 30 seconds to 1 minute before it would die. If I bypassed the filter head it would run quite the thing no problems at all. I ruled out the filter bleed screw as it did have a small crack in it and I also ruled out the filter as I fitted a new one, it just kept doing the same. So I knew the problem was with the filter head itself, I stripped it down completely and there was nothing jumping out at me, so I priced one up, from Ransomes themselves it’s £526 + vat and from Kubota it’s £350 + vat. Jeez.

But I had a fuel water separator filter head and filter which is for a Jacobsen GP400 so I fitted that, I had to add some fuel line for it to work as the inlet and supply side are swapped round, but this works perfectly fine as I didn’t cut any of the existing fuel hose so it can be reverted back to the original set up if they ever fancy spending that much on a filter head.

The only real difference is the correct setup incorporates a sensor for detecting water, but the new set up is a clear bowl so you can visually inspect for any water.

It’s now running perfectly well. Other than the usual service I have a lift cylinder for the right hand wing deck to rebuild, it has an oil leak. It also threw a code for charge filters when I was test driving it so that will be solved when I service it.




The ridiculously expensive filter head.




Original set up that does not work



Bypassing filter set up that works no problem



New set up with GP400 filter head and filter

[wull]

Another issue after the Christmas period was the Massey Ferguson 362, it would not start. In fact when one of the workers came in to salt the car park between Christmas and Nee Year it would not start.

When I came back on the 5th it would not start, I jumped it and that day at the end of the shift I put the battery on charge. Next day it would not start. I tested the battery and it was no good, it failed the test. I jumped the tractor and tested the charge rate just to see and it was overcharging. I took the battery from the 5420 just to rule out there being a charge problem due to the faulty battery and it was the exact same, so the regulator within the alternator had failed.

New alternator and battery fitted and it’s now back working exactly as it should.

[Skub]

Handy little battery health gizmo.

[Nordboy]

Wull, quick question which I think I know the answer to.

When does the market kick in again? I have a Honda sit on lawnmower that needs a service and going over ready for the spring/ summer.

I'm guessing I should really get it booked in ASAP with a local company to sort out?

they'd have to pick it up, so what sort of price should I be looking at? I inherited this mower with the house when I moved and have no idea what I'm doing with it tbh.