New to me super clean 1992 John Deere 318

[fireman 1,021]

Been thinking about which mount for my suit case weights to either make or buy. I was searching around and found someone who bought the Harbor Freight Quick Hitch and sectioned out a piece from the top tube to bring the dimensions down to Category 0. He also added a bar for suit case weights to hang on. Added bushing for the Cat 0 pins and it was good to go. 

Well I was at Harbor Freight today and wanted to see one in person. They didn't have a display model so the buy went into the back and brought out a box that looked like it had been around awhile. Looks to have been opened previously at some point. The construction isn't too bad for being from China. They are currently on sale for $99. The guy said he doesn't think the store had ever sold one and this one was probably here since the store opened. He said if I wanted it he'd give 20% off the sale price. Who was I to argue. took it home out the door for $85. 

I'm going to do the same thing as I saw in the other post. Cut out a piece in the center to shorten the width and add a bar to hang my weights from. Then I'm going to add a attachable shelf for my little generator to power the heater for my cab. I also found some other post on other sites about little tweaks you can do to make it work a lot better so i'll do those mods too.







I spent a couple of hours today down in the shop and got the quick hitch modified to fit the Category 0 on the 318. I took 6" out of the middle, then squared the ends and welded it back together. Then I removed the top link pieces from the section I took out, squared the ends and welded those back in place. Now I just need to fabricate a bar for the suit case weights to hang on and get that welded in place and it should be all set. Next I'm going to make the stand for the generator that will hang off the quick hitch.

[fireman 1,021]

I picked up the metal I needed to build the weight and generator rack. After figuring out the design I started cutting and welding it together. The six weights will hang from a bar that will be welded across the frame. The generator will be strapped down so it won't fall over. My friend who is a tool and die maker is cutting me out some .25" plates with 1.125" holes in them for me so I can mount the lift pins and weld those in place. Still need to add a mount for the upper pin. Should be all finished by the weekend then I will give it a coat of primer and paint. It looks tall in the pictures but it won't be any higher then the top of the seat back.






 

[JERSEYHAWG / Glenn 4,497]

Coming along very very nicely.

Glenn

[Wishin4a416 2,191]

Very nice machine and you  did a great job on your refresh!!! I have an 88 like new with 500 on the clock. My Dad gave it to me and he took very good care of it.
I know you will enjoy it. I no I do.

[fireman 1,021]

I had to pick up a couple of pieces of round bar so I could finish up how the weights would hang and be secured. I decided on a 3/4" piece of round bar stock welded across the front for the weights to hang on. Actually I set it up so the weights are actually sitting on the lower square tubing and that bar locates them. Then I went with a piece of 5/8" round bar to slide through the hole that's in each of the weights and welded two pieces of round tubing to the frame to lock the weights in place. I also got the upper mount for the assembly finished too. Now just to paint it JD green tomorrow and I'll cross that off of my long list of winter prep.

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,337]

Quite a bit of weight hangin off the back Jeff....not worried about the axle bearings/seals??
Mike.......

[fireman 1,021]

Total weight between the quick hitch, mount, generator and suit case weights is 350 lbs. According to the John Deere Manual for the 318 it can handle 1200 lbs of weight on the rear and 790 lbs from the front. They also used Brantly as an OEM and offered a backhoe for the 318 that weighed almost 900 pounds. 350 lbs should be no big deal. Lets hope!

[fireman 1,021]

I changed all the fuel lines, filters, screens in the tank etc last week. Washed out the tank too. A few months ago I had rebuilt the carb. When it was all back together I started it up and it did the old Onan hunt and seek, run ruff. So I figured today I would pull the carb apart again and clean it all out one more time. It looked pretty clean inside but went through the whole thing and put it back together. I figured while I'm at it, I might as well pull the fuel pump off and check that too. Dis-assembled it and cleaned it all up. At the same time I put a new vacuum line on it too. Got it all back together and rolled it outside. It fired up and now runs nice and smooth. Let's hope it stays that way for at least a little while. I run ethanol eater in all my gas so should help stem the problem. 

I also took the opportunity to give the new weight mount it's first coat of green paint. I cleaned up the lock bar for the weights and gave that a coat of clear to keep it clean and help it slide through the weights. I'll give it another coat of paint and then top it of with some clear coat when I get home from work on Wednesday.

[bmsgaffer 2,043]

Nice weight bracket!

I'm looking forward to seeing it with the new rubber! That will be a fine lookin' tractor.

[fireman 1,021]

Got the new tires mounted and installed a new add-on to the snow blower. It's a electric actuator to control the tilt of the chute. Nice addition to the hydraulic rotation.

 

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,337]

Nice!

No new tire pics?

Mike...........

[fireman 1,021]

No. No new pics at the moment. Been working tons of OT and was lucky I had time to get the tires and actuator done. The pic of the actuator isn't mine but out's exactly the same on the same blower.

[JERSEYHAWG / Glenn 4,497]

Its turning out super sweet.

 

Glenn

[fireman 1,021]

 I decided that since I had removed most of the engine tins to change out the vacuum line for the fuel pump, that I would do some preemptive maintenance that is probably needed anyway and re-seal the intake manifold (This is a common cause of the hunting Onan Engines like to do!). I figured 23 years is old enough for the silicone they used as a gasket. So I removed it, cleaned it up and polished the inside a little. I'm going to use Permatex MotoSeal 1 Ultimate Gasket Maker, which is what has been recommended to seal it. Going to buy new intake and exhaust gaskets while I have the opportunity to replace them. I already have a new Carb base gasket. Also throwing in a picture of the new tires for Sparky.

 

 

 

 

[fireman 1,021]

I resealed the intake manifold and re-installed it along with replacing the intake, exhaust and carb base gaskets. I also took the time seeing as I had this all off to check the valve adjustment. One side was almost perfect within .001" and the other side was within .003" I adjusted them exactly to spec and replaced the valve cover gaskets with new ones. I fired it up and it runs really good. No hunting or running rough. 

I decided to mount a 2" receiver to the bottom of my weight bracket so I can use my SnowEx Salter on the tractor. Once the cab is installed along with a heater in the cab and the 47" 2 stage blower this thing will be the ultimate winter beast.

 

 

 

[WNYPCRepair 1,918]

You have done some beautiful work on this machine. 

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,337]

Very nice Jeff....and I love those tires!

Mike..........

[Coadster32 793]

That thing is PHAT yo!! 

 

Great job on it Jeff. The way the weather is...you'll still have a few weeks left to work on it.

[fireman 1,021]

As far as I'm concerned it can stay this way for the rest of the winter! If I did all this work for nothing then so be it. I am so done with snow and cold weather. I'll need the extra time Chris as painting and mounting the cab is still on the agenda. We have a new CAD/GPS dispatching system being implemented at the FD and I'm responsible for installing all the new modems, laptops, docking stations, GPS antennas etc in every one of our apparatus including the spare trucks, shift commanders vehicles etc. Been working 80 hours a week trying to get them all done including my regular shifts. We were supposed to have a launch date of December 1st but have been having some bugs in the software that need to be worked out so it's put off to the first week in January. That's a good thing because I still have like 5 engines, 2 tankers, and a rescue truck to do. On top of all that one of our Mechanics just went out this past Tuesday for a hip replacement so I have fill in for his absence too. The bump in the paycheck is nice but it's pure blood money. Plus add in my 3 hour commute there and back each day it really takes a toll but i'll get through it. 

[Coadster32 793]

17 hours ago, fireman said:

As far as I'm concerned it can stay this way for the rest of the winter! If I did all this work for nothing then so be it. I am so done with snow and cold weather. I'll need the extra time Chris as painting and mounting the cab is still on the agenda. We have a new CAD/GPS dispatching system being implemented at the FD and I'm responsible for installing all the new modems, laptops, docking stations, GPS antennas etc in every one of our apparatus including the spare trucks, shift commanders vehicles etc. Been working 80 hours a week trying to get them all done including my regular shifts. We were supposed to have a launch date of December 1st but have been having some bugs in the software that need to be worked out so it's put off to the first week in January. That's a good thing because I still have like 5 engines, 2 tankers, and a rescue truck to do. On top of all that one of our Mechanics just went out this past Tuesday for a hip replacement so I have fill in for his absence too. The bump in the paycheck is nice but it's pure blood money. Plus add in my 3 hour commute there and back each day it really takes a toll but i'll get through it. 

 

Dam....I'll be quite about my 65hr week average and 2 minute commute time.

[fireman 1,021]

Well unlike the past few devastating winters, this year we ended up having a mild one and I never needed to use this beast. I hadn't started it since the winter so I figure seeing as today was really nice and I wanted to do some spring cleaning, I pulled it out to let it run for a while and drove it around. This was the first time I drove it with the snow blower installed. That snowblower weights in at over 500lbs and let me tell you it steered like a dream with the power steering. I don't even have my 180lbs of rear wheel weights installed. 

 

 

 

[RedRanger 1,468]

How vertical does the quick hitch lift?  Does it go straight up and down or does it arc toward the tractor as it raises?

I put the same quick hitch on my 425 and it arced so bad that it ended up at about a 45 degree angle when fully raised.

I relocated the upper arm of the 3 point to the bottom of the quick hitch cross member and it now goes up and down perfectly vertical.

Just a thought in case yours does the same.

 

Those HF quick hitches are designed for cat 1 and the top mount is too high to work correctly on a cat 0.

The top bar should be about parallel with the lower arms to lift straight.

 

[Ken B 3,164]

Dang Jeff that blower is huge! Hopefully that Onan can handle it...

[fireman 1,021]

Yah I wish it was like a 24hp Kohler or Honda engine in there. Now that I re-sealed the 2 piece intake manifold, that Onan runs like a champ. No more hunting (at least not yet)

Edited June 4, 2016 by fireman