Tractors and Hot Air

June 2025

2025-06-07T23:08:00.000-04:00

Hi. So I will have to start posting some updates again. In the meantime here is a picture of Rocky enjoying a ride.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. 2020 Thanksgiving.

2020-11-27T08:51:00.002-05:00

Actually not too bad. Saw the in-laws. Mom went to little brothers. Big brother has the 'rona.

Wife nearly died twice this year. College for the boy did not go well. The girl seems ok - still butting heads once in a while.

Picked up a 1961 Studebaker Lark for my wife. $500 car. Engine and drive train appear to be solid. Body and interior need redone. Some rust not too bad.

2015-06-28T08:08:00.001-04:00

1942 Farmall B

2 years later...

2013-08-14T19:41:00.000-04:00

and a patch up on my hernia surgery. This sucks.

2013-04-22T21:36:00.000-04:00

It has been wet and cold lately. It is also April. When I was a kid April showers used to bring May flowers. I hated it when the teachers would say that. More because I hated school and would daydream about being outside.

So here is an outside picture for you courtesy of Zane and Audrey.

Grandma Sayers' buns

2013-02-18T08:54:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving Rolls, Christmas Buns. Those little round delights that tasted like angle food but counted as bread.
Grandma Sayers used to make a roll that "was to die for." I don't think she took the compliments on her rolls very seriously. Everyone wanted her recipe but to my knowledge she never gave it out.

And I know the reason why.

It wasn't because she was devious, evil, snotty, mean-spirited or just plain spiteful. It was because she was embarrassed. Her recipe was not a great secret. It was everywhere. Probably over 100 of her fellow church members had the recipe in their recipe books. Today you can pick them up at the local Sam's Club, Walmart, Meijer or Target.

Why? How? When?

Find the oldest Betty Crocker recipe book you can. It's in there. It's here: Betty Crocker Gold Medal Classic Dinner Rolls

Everyone has access to it. Enjoy.

(Her secret was to use butter on the top while they were still warm.)

2012-07-24T21:42:00.000-04:00

5 months have rocked by. Along the way we have had no sidewalks or steps, a backhoe, hydraulic fluid everywhere, a trip to the welder, new steps and sidewalk, new paver patio, a sheep, a broken arm, 2 champions, 100 degree temperatures (wife and weather), no air conditioning, no rain, sold a sheep, new wheel bearings on a car, several great dinners on the new patio and a flying gas grill.

Yep. Pretty sure rocked is the word to describe it.

(It's late. I'll add more soon.)

Classic or Antique - How do you define it?

2012-02-20T20:01:00.000-05:00

A poll was put on my favorite website Antique Tractors Forum asking what we thought classified as a classic or antique tractor. Here are my thoughts:

I've heard on cars it's 25 for classic and 50 for antique.

If you go by 25 years anything made by Allis-Chalmers, J.I. Case or International Harvester qualifies as an antique since they quit those nameplates in 1985 or 1986. Of course Minnie Mo, Oliver, Cockshutt and almost all White's were made prior to 1987. Versitile, Stieger, and Big Bud all pretty much ended production 22 years ago. Deere's 4840 and 8640 are also antiques by that standard.

I like to stick with 50 years on tractors because of Deere's New Generation tractors in the early 1960s. The game changed (or was in the process of changing) with their introduction. International came out with the 706 and 806 shortly after. Of course Case had the 700 a couple years earlier and Allis had their D series at the tail end of the 1950s.

So I guess what I am saying is that anything more than 10 or 15 years older than me is an antique. Ask me again in 10 years and I'll probably tell you the same.

Your thoughts?

Still bothered by the Foose 4020

2012-02-10T05:12:00.000-05:00

First off I am not going to put a picture of the Foose tractor here because a) most of those pictures are copyrighted and b) it's tacky, well maybe not tacky, just too busy for my taste. He has too many things going on with the tractor distracting you from the overall image. The New Generation line of Deere's tractors, of which the 4020 is the prime example, were quite often noted for their simplistic design beauty. These were the first tractors to look like they were completed at design. There are no extra bumps in the hood for hiding a starter, no brackets sticking out the sides, no 4 or 5 color paint scheme.
I saw the videos Chip Foose made while designing and building the tractor. In his original drawing he had a couple of neat ideas. Turning the side vents 90 degrees gives the tractor a streamlined look. The height drop and smooth belly pan add even more streamlining. I am not sure about the black streak down the side or the extension up front where the weights belong. Those might actually look ok if you remove the garish vertical yellow stripe from the middle of the tractor. The chrome exhaust is not bad but it makes mounting the tractor a hot prospect unless you crawl over the back. The right side looks better without the exhaust so it makes me want to find a better routing of those pipes. Here is one sketch Chip came up with.

I like the exhaust in this one. The narrow black stripes on the yellow middle make me think that stripe could stay, or not. He also has the side vents green in this sketch. Yeah, love the green side vents over the silver ones.

Love to have the money to do one my way.

Ever screw up a W-2?

2012-01-19T20:12:00.000-05:00

How about sending out 240 with the wrong information? The good news is the other 700 look to be fine. Took a few tense hours, but the corrected forms are now available. The clerk responsible for the error was in tears when she realized what had occurred.

I was nearing completion of a project I was wanting to shove out the door by the end of the day when I received the distress call. Thoroughly put out by the interruption I was considering not answering the phone. Rarely do I stoop to that level, but I could taste the success of my project. Now I am glad I answered it.

She tracked me down in the parking garage and thanked me profusely. I was dying of embarrassment.

Looking for a cheap tractor

2012-01-10T19:45:00.000-05:00

Pretty much looking for a "If you can haul it, you can have it" tractor. Borrowing a trailer and getting help loading it will use up pretty much all of my favors and resources. Not to mention the grief I will get from the Kroft women. So if you know of someone who wants one gone - please let me know.

The kids at Rantoul Show 2011

CLAAS ETRION 400 and the future of American tractors

2011-12-29T20:08:00.000-05:00

First watch the above video. My guess is the design you see will probably make it's way to the states in 20 or 30 years. It's not the compaction that will bring it but the need to put more horsepower to the ground and the need to get from here to there faster. A manufacturer could add additional axles (Duetz-fahr or Big Roy ) but now you are getting to a length that becomes unmanageable when viewing either what is coming or the equipment you are pulling. As they said in the video lifting a set of middle tracks would allow the mobility you need to scoot down the road.

Where will this end? In my opinion? Automated, motorized tillage equipment or AMTs. Eliminate the operator AND the tractor from the equation by setting multiple AMTs out to the field with wireless communications between the AMTs and the owners. Just like ants.

Heeeeere's Henry!

2011-12-17T08:21:00.000-05:00

Cousin Henry spent the night so here is a gratuitous post just for Henry.

Henry said "Merry Christmas! Now I have to get back to my game with Zane."

Zane turns 10

2011-12-17T08:13:00.000-05:00

He is currently sitting across the room skyping with cousin Henry from northern Illinois. And now he is on the cell phone with Aunt Angie. This is all after he skyped with Sue in Rochester and Cousins Roxie and Magnum in New Hampshire and then took a phone call from Uncle Todd. Granny Kroft did it the old fashioned way, she stopped by. This kid is getting more attention than Chad Goodman got in his high school career.

Lost: 2 Posts

2011-12-17T07:51:00.001-05:00

My posts on the 12th and 13th are gone. ???

Oliver 2255 with a 3208 Cat

2011-12-09T04:47:00.000-05:00

I was browsing some pictures I took this year at the Tippecanoe Steam & Gas show and stopped to marvel at the Oliver 2255.

This is one serious looking tractor. TractorData lists this weighing 16,500 lbs with 147hp engine. Funny, most data sheets you see list this engine as a 210hp base with up 435hp fully loaded. It also said the 3208 was a replacement for the Cat 3150 (here is one from another 2255 at the Rantoul show)

This 3150 is the same engine that was in the Steiger Super Wildcat. In the Series II Super Wildcat the 3150 and later the 3208 were used and both engines were listed as 200hp. The Series II Bearcat lists the 3208 at 210hp. From what I have found online it appears the 2255 was Nebraska tested with he first 3150, never the 3208. Do the later 2255's have more power?

Thankful to complain about this November rain.

2011-11-27T06:56:00.000-05:00

Been one of those forgettable Thanksgiving weekends. Thanksgiving day we lose the belt on the car as we are pulling into my in-laws. Thankfully we were not heading up to see my older brother in the Chicago suburbs as the problem was a bad pulley that had to be replaced. Imagine doing that on 8 lanes of interstate.
Spent half of Black Friday waiting on the part to come in. The other half was spent on installation.
Sara spiked a fever that night and spent Saturday sleeping. We did get the tree up.
And now here it is 7:00 am Sunday morning with a nice cold November rain.

Not another turkey

2011-11-23T19:25:00.000-05:00

The rain slickened up the ground. One of my neighbors hired hands found that out the hard way. They were trying to finish picking corn a few days ago when it happened. The hired man pulled the truck into the field and saw he was sinking in a little. He whipped over onto drier ground and planned on heading out a different way than he came in. Unfortunately he was heading over end rows. End rows tend to be tricky because the trash from the picked corn is usually heavier than other places. That proved to be the case here and it wasn't a big spot. With both drive axles so close together, a slick area not much bigger than your kitchen table is large enough to lose traction. It does not have to be deep either, once the smooth wheels spin you better pull your cellphone.

Luckily my neighbor has a CaseIH MX305 that was able to yank that truck right out of the field. Check out the details on TractorData. Due to legal constraints (for the web pics, I did not take any of my own) I do not have any pictures to post.

The Firing Order for John Deere A: 1 - 2

2011-11-14T21:45:00.000-05:00

How is that for informational? A two-cylinder engine has a firing order of the number 1 cylinder first and then the number two cylinder. How complicated is that?

I mention this because I pulled the fuel tanks (the A has a 14 gallon main tank and a 1 gallon auxiliary tank that piggy backs on the big tank) last week and was looking up repair tips. It never occurred to me to ask about the firing order but in all dead pan honesty a blogger/poster pointed it out: 1 - 2. Makes me want to roll on the floor with laughter.

As for the tanks - when I drained the fuel for the winter globs of rust came out of the fuel line. So I pulled the fuel lines off of both tanks and tried to blow air through them. Nothing except that heavy headed feeling you get from an industrial strength balloon. The fuel lines are copper so the rust had to come from the tanks. There are methods of sealing old tanks to prevent rust-thru. I am going to be exploring those methods in the next few weeks.

1 - 2.

Still yeech

2011-11-14T21:26:00.000-05:00

Been two weeks now. Still hurts when I sit for extended periods. Incision pains are gone. Just not right yet.

Turning 40

2011-11-01T11:45:00.000-04:00

I turned 40 on Saturday. I had hernia repair surgery on Monday. Yuck.

Update on the A

2011-10-22T08:14:00.000-04:00

I drained the water on the A. It came out a nice orange color but surprisingly still had the consistency of water. Next I drained the fuel. It also came out orange. With lumps.

    For those of you new to the mechanical and chemical side of anything with an engine - orange is bad, lumps are worse. Orange means there is rust in your fluid. The darker the orange the worse it is. If you hit brown you need to look at options.
    Lumps are groupings of rust. These form when your fluid has been sitting and the rust settles into a nice low place, say the hole in the bottom of the tank where your fuel line begins transporting fuel to the engine. Lumps are capable of plugging up things like carburetors and fuel injectors which have small openings to meter out the fuel going into the engine. Picture a hairball in your bathroom sink. Equally gross and annoying. Both stop things from flowing.
I removed the carburetor from the tractor and brought it home to work on it this winter. I have no real experience with carbs so I have begun my research. Even better, I have experts to guide me through it. My friends at antiquetractorsforum are always eager with advice, experience, pictures, diagrams and videos. Locally I have found my ace-in-the-hole, Dick Engler. No, not acehole. Brian and I take turns at being the acehole. Dick and his neighbors south of Lafayette do a lot of nice restorations. (At least from the pictures I have seen. I'll need to attend one of their shows to be sure ;)). When I told him what I was working on Dick was able to explain in detail the problems and quirks I would run into and how to handle them.
Cleaning up the carb and putting new gaskets and o-rings will make the tractor run smoother and stronger but the real key will be preventing it from happening again. Virgil, my father-in-law, has used a product that rust-proofs fuel tanks. Performing that process on the A will not be an easy task. I'll go into detail on another post.
    Before this turns into a full on ramble I will say: End Chapter.

Been awhile.

2011-10-06T19:50:00.000-04:00

I am sure you hard been bored to tears without my inspirational prose. It has been a lack of inspiration on my part that has choked the prose. I agreed to put on the church service for Laity Sunday on Oct. 16th. This will include me giving part of the message. The stress has been overwhelming. I have actually lost sleep over it. The message isn't the hard part, I have relevant stories. The hard part is putting the service together. What parts to include? Do I put in extra bible or responsive readings? One of my readers thought he would take a brief vacation to St Vincents Hospital, I hope he is ok, but that does add a twist to my planning.

John Deere 68

2011-09-15T20:19:00.000-04:00

I picked this up from a former coworker last weekend. Flat tire, torn up seat, wouldn't turn over, bad carburetor. Zane and I ran down and picked it up last Saturday. Even though the mower deck is in good shape we took it and the bagging attachments off after we got home. When we pulled the inner cowling the gunk was so thick on the carb that the governor and some of the throttle linkage would not move. We removed few additional shields and then pressure washed the mower.
The left front tire would not hold air. Being it was tubeless I decided to try an old trick. First I pumped it full of air and then held the wheel under a garden hose. Sure enough, air leaked around the bead - but even better - it was only on one side. So I pried that side of the tire back a little and shot it with some lube and then pumped it up, it has held 5 days now. Checked the plug, changed oil, cleaned air and fuel filters (will need to replace them this winter), shot carb with carb cleaner, put new fuel in and charged the battery (see here).
Then on Monday I bought a new battery. Then I removed the old torn seat and replaced with one I had received for Christmas a few years ago. Thanks to Bill Shortz for the help on that. We then put a little fuel in the carb it after a couple of cranks it fired up.

Here are the kids riding it.

Just wait until tomorrow.

2011-09-14T20:38:00.001-04:00

Really. I have an announcement coming tomorrow.