Project D-220

[82Caddy 851]

And we have another delay.  Something shifted and now the exhaust lines up on one side but not the other.  Exhaust is off by 3/4 of an inch to far to the rear on the passenger side.  I'm not sure if I don't have the engine square in the frame or what happened but somehow the pump coupler still lines up correctly. I did have the pump loosened up when I was cleaning some stuff so it's possible it moved.  I'm going to pull it all apart and see if it's obvious where I went wrong.  One step forward, two steps back.  

 

This shows how much vertical exhaust space there is to work with.  Engine was completely loose at this point.  That has a 12in long piece of pipe on it when I was trying to sort out what I wanted to do for exhaust.  

 

 

 

Turns out I found a guy on Facebook that was making stacks and I changed my mind again on what to do for exhaust.

 

 

Left one is an 8" muffler section.  I'm getting a pair of the 8" ones and am going to run them just like the stock D series does right out the bottom of the grill support with the tips pointed to the sides.  I think it'll look and function better then the pepper pots.

 

 

[82Caddy 851]

So there haven't been any updates lately and for a maybe good reason.  I pulled the loader back off the tractor to get some hours put on the engine.  According to my new hour gauge is has just shy of 20 hours of varied throttle and engine load.  I changed the oil/filter on Sunday for the second time and it looked great.  Nothing metallic or shiny about it.  I've been driving it around pulling a lawn sweeper and aerator.  Hydro seems stronger so far then my other tractor.  Haven't really put it to work but did drive it up and down the hill in my backyard a few times without issue. Power steering seems to be working as it should once I tightened up a few fittings and the turning is much improved from my other D series tractor.

 

My only complaint I have so far is my own doing that I didn't get the new steering column installed high enough.  That makes the steering wheel closer to the dash then anticipated.  Makes it slightly difficult to run the motion control lever or adjust throttle speed.  Not sure what to do about it at this point but it's something I can live with if everything else keeps working.

 

Also had to pull one of the lift cylinders apart again as it was leaking.  When I was reassembling one of the o-rings must have torn.  3 tries later with new o-rings it is hopefully fixed.

 

No photos because I forgot.

[82Caddy 851]

Welp, that was fun while it lasted.  Blew something out on the rear end manifold. Spraying oil everywhere   The old commando had to come to the rescue again and pull/push this back into the shop.  As much as I like this tractor, I'm starting to get sick of working on it all the time and not using it.  However, when it works it's a riot.

 

Means I have to pull the loader, sub-frame, rear end along with a bunch of other things to repair it.  Here's to hoping it's just an o-ring or crush washer that failed.

 

Guess it's a good time to redo the front PTO.  I decided I'm going to switch it over to a JD 420 setup instead of the combination of wheel horse and JD parts.  What I have now works, but it's not going to be easily duplicated if it fails or needs to be replaced.  I made a new sleeve adapter on the lathe for the crankshaft to go from 1" predator shaft with 1/4" key way to the 1 7/16" JD 420 PTO with 3/8" key way.  That was fun to do.  I don't have a broach set so my friend had to cut the internal key way for me.

 

New exhaust stacks should be here Thursday and I made a few changes to how the exhaust runs.  It now exits through the vertical grill support and goes straight up.  There are two reasons for this, first is it looks pretty tough with the twin pipes in the air and second so I can add a single wire alternator to the front of the tractor for more charging capacity to be able to add whatever electronics I want.  It'll get run off the same belt as the loader pump.  Only problem I've thought of so far is that I won't have the ability to run a standard D series grill.  I'm ok with that as I don't have a grill anyhow.

[tommyg 152]

Great documentation! I'm really curious about your connection from the engine to the hydropump. Did you find something that worked with the splined shaft from the pump or did you have to do some machining? I feel like it's only a matter of time before my splines are worn to the point that they don't engage with the coupler any longer and I've thought about going to a set up like the one you're using. Looks clean and durable!

[82Caddy 851]

1 hour ago, tommyg said:

Great documentation! I'm really curious about your connection from the engine to the hydropump. Did you find something that worked with the splined shaft from the pump or did you have to do some machining? I feel like it's only a matter of time before my splines are worn to the point that they don't engage with the coupler any longer and I've thought about going to a set up like the one you're using. Looks clean and durable!

 The pump in this tractor didn't have splines on the pump to begin with. I can't answer much more then that how it ended up that way. I wish I knew how or what was done to this pump to make it have no teeth on it. I'm sure a better machinist then me could remove the teeth and put a keyway into it. I do have a few spare pumps now so maybe I'll see what I can do once this project is all wrapped up. 

[tommyg 152]

No worries. I was just curious. Thanks!

[82Caddy 851]

Here's what the exhaust stacks ended up working out to be.  Plenty of clearance with the loader arms up or down.

 

 

 

 

Haven't pulled the rear end apart yet.  Pulled most of the wiring out as well to redo it and route wires in a neater fashion.  

[82Caddy 851]

I was finishing up putting the rear end all back together with some new o-rings and crush washers last night when my wife asked how long it would be until the loader tractor could be used... Our conversation went something like this:

 

W: When will the loader tractor be able to be used again?

M:  I'm finishing up this and it should be done in a couple hours (keep in mind it was almost 6pm when she asked me this)

W: Oh, I was hoping we could get some compost from the pile and put in on the parts of the yard I put new grass seed on.

M: It'll be a couple hours, I have to put these parts in, bolt the rearend in, subframe and weight box back on, put the loader on

W: So maybe by Thursday we can do that?

M: Would you like to use the other tractor with the dump cart?  It's right outside the door, already hooked up.

W: No, I wanted you to use the loader.

M: So you really are asking me to put compost on the yard where the new grass seed is?

W:  Yes.  and walks away.

 

So I guess I better get this wrapped up and back to work before the Mrs. gets angry with me.

 

 

[19richie66 17,498]

Those stacks look great. Maybe I missed it, but did you make the mufflers?

  I told my wife today I was thinking of her the whole time I was working on my tractor. She said "really?" I said yes. I kept thinking " I better hurry up and get this mess cleaned up before she hets home or she will kill me". She just chuckled and went about her business. I survived. 

[82Caddy 851]

5 hours ago, 19richie66 said:

Those stacks look great. Maybe I missed it, but did you make the mufflers?

  I told my wife today I was thinking of her the whole time I was working on my tractor. She said "really?" I said yes. I kept thinking " I better hurry up and get this mess cleaned up before she hets home or she will kill me". She just chuckled and went about her business. I survived. 

 

I found a guy on Facebook that was making them and got in on a batch he was making.  In retrospect, I should have gone with a taller chromed part to get the exhaust up a bit higher but it works just fine how it its.  Doesn't block the view or obstruct anything so not really a big deal.  It was easier to just buy a pair already done to get the exhaust wrapped up then to spend the time to build my own and go through 2-3 revisions to get how I wanted.  

 

Maybe I'll make some for my other tractors if/when I get time and around to that.  Seems like the list of things my wife wants done continues to grow faster then I can get them done.

[82Caddy 851]

With all the stack discussion going on...here's a video of mine.  I was redoing the throttle and choke linkages with the correct length cables

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2016 by 82Caddy
link issue

[82Caddy 851]

So I have been working on this...

 

Got the new throttle and choke cables ran.  What a pain that turned out to be, guess I just don't have the magic when it comes to that.

 

I added a single wire alternator to the mix of things as if it weren't complicated enough.  I forgot to grab a picture of how I sorted that out, but I should have plenty of power to run whatever accessories are needed.  I did add a fuse distribution block and some switches to power different things.  It was cheap and effective.

 

 

 

Since I have 6 spots for power and the power is only on when the key is on I don't have to worry about running the battery down by leaving the lights on or something silly.  So far I have fuel pump, front LED lights in original headlight location, rear LED lights, LED rear spot and flood light and a set of LED lights on the loader arms.  Found almost all of them on eBay and they had good reviews so I figured I'd give them a try.

 

 

 

 

 

[82Caddy 851]

I bought a grill for the tractor too because I wanted it to look more "complete."  Only problem is it doesn't fit how I think it should.  Is there a spacer or something that goes on the top or bottom I'm missing?

 

 

That little hole lines up on both sides, top and bottom for where the grille would have pegs that it slides into.  It's just a 1/2ish inch too short to stay in place.  Guess I'll have to make up some sort of spacer or something to fill the gap so the grill will stay in place.

[82Caddy 851]

Pulled the loader off to make it a bit easier to work on a few things.

 

Decided to see how it went up the stairs...because why the hell not.

 

 

[82Caddy 851]

 

So I had rebuilt the spool valve and all of the cylinders hoping that the internal o-rings was bad and that's why it was leaking.  Turns out the bores are worn and the spool valve needs to be replaced.  Leaks quite a bit and I'm over it.  Time for a new one.

[Uncle Buck 246]

Over it? As in burnt out with it? I hope not. Maybe you need to set it aside for a time and revisit it later? That is what I commonly do and how I have amassed my pile of toys!

[82Caddy 851]

No, I'm over the spool valve leaking. The harder it was worked the more it leaked..  I ordered a new spool valve.  Should be here after the weekend.

[82Caddy 851]

Replaced the rubber lines from the spool valve to the hard lines on the loader frame.  They were starting to show some cracking a wear.  New spool valve works great.

 

New issue has presented itself.  The electric PTO is drawing too many amps (about 16amps when it should be between 3-4) and eventually kills the engine.  Pulled it all apart and the field coil is fried.  It looked questionable when I bought it all, but the price was right.  I also wanted to make sure that everything (pump connector, front pto, etc)  would work before I invested too much money into.  I ordered a new field coil that will hopefully be here before the weekend.

[Terry M-(Moderator) 2,175]

Thats one fine looking "D"

[82Caddy 851]

Used this to move some mulch a bit ago...

 

 

 

Almost 4 yards moved without a hiccup.

 

 

[82Caddy 851]

 

 

Got the grill installed, single wire 60amp alternator working and had FleetPride rebuild the last lift cylinder so it doesn't leak anymore. 

 

Still lots of things to tidy up under the dash for wiring and gauges. Seems to be working great though. 

[82Caddy 851]

Was driving along about the load the tractor up to head to my parents to help with a few smaller tasks around their house when failure struck.  No motion, no hydraulics, nothing.

 

Had to tear the tractor down again:

 

 

Experienced first pump to engine coupler failure.  A better machinist would have seen the design flaw of my coupler. Lets see if anyone can spot the issue:

 

 

If you guessed that the space between the snap is slightly bigger then 1/4" you are correct.  No prizes.

 

Here it is with the key reinstalled:

 

 

 

Whole thing

 

 

I'm not sure how to fix this right now, but I've made a few calls and am going to get a few friends together that are better at this then I am.  Hopefully will have a solution by the weekend.

I should add that the key wasn't fully seated in the keyway in the photos, just showing that it can apparently slide out.

[Don1977 604]

I take it that the steel shaft is press fit into the aluminum adapter. If there is room for the key to slide out drill and tap the end of the shaft for a bolt and washer. Another solution could be red thread locker. Permatex makes a high temperature one that will hold to +450 degrees.

[82Caddy 851]

Fix was easier then expected and only took 15 minutes to repair.  Solution was to add a set screw to the key.  I don't know why we didn't think of this from the beginning.  We'll just call it part of the R&D process.

 

 

 

Everything is back together and seems to be working again.

 

I also replaced the hard lines from the spool valve to the first T connector.  The lines had been spliced a few times, were starting to seep some fluid and just not looking to be in the best overall shape.  Rest of the hard lines look great though.

[Don1977 604]

I could not tell how far the shaft extended into the adapter looking at the pictures.