PeacemakerJack 10,719 #51 Posted November 11, 2017 We got the tires on Clyde tonight and both of us were more than pleased with how they look! Looks like a tractor! Like my favorite Dino @stevasaurusonce said, “you aren’t going to want to wrap your fingers around those fenders while plowing with that clearance!” even though they aren’t period correct, I really like the extra rim depth on the GT-14 rims. Dad has now decided to repaint the hood, grill, visible engine parts, tower, and fender pan next spring! Pure coolness! For my plow dog buddies out there: the business end of Clyde! Check out the 14” of ground clearance. Dad won’t have to worry about hanging up on the furrow wall or soybean trash clogging his fenders up like I have on GhostRider. Soon, I’ll hopefully have my first plow pictures and maybe a video of it! I’m so glad I got this gift for Dad—he really likes it! 6 6 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 37,102 #52 Posted November 11, 2017 I for one... will be sad to see it's original patina go. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,035 #53 Posted November 11, 2017 Owwww I duuno......I'm with Craig on this one Josh.... Tom's gonna be mad you know how much he likes his patinas & originals! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 37,102 #54 Posted November 11, 2017 With some concentrated effort... one could easily make that thing glow just as is. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,035 #55 Posted November 11, 2017 (edited) Agreed AMC ... Josh you should talk to @prondzy on how he made an old patina come alive. Was a lot of of work he claims but the results were spectacular. Forgot to ask Josh has paint every been messed with before? That's kinda important here. Edited November 11, 2017 by WHX12 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shynon 7,450 #56 Posted November 11, 2017 21 minutes ago, AMC RULES said: I for one... will be sad to see it's original patina go. 8 minutes ago, WHX12 said: Agreed AMC ... Josh you should talk to @prondzy on how he made an old patina come alive. Was a lot of of work he claims but the results were spectacular. Forgot to ask Josh has paint every been messed with before? That's kinda important here. No original patina left on that one, someone had painted It before I got it, so I decided it was time to replace it. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,719 #57 Posted November 11, 2017 The tractor has been repainted several times through its life. In that case, preserving “patina” isn’t really important. If this tractor was in the condition that it is with the original coat of red from South Bend, there is no way on earth that I’d let dad paint it. However, for those of you that have seen it in person, you know how thick the existing—three or four coats of paint really are. Some of it even looks brush painted. However, it still looks plenty good to be a “plow mule” but I know my dad well enough to know that he likes everything he has—pristine! Dad with his show winning ‘67 Goat that we restored in 2004-6. Granted, he understands that if he makes Clyde to sharp, he won’t want to plow with him and that defeats the purpose. But thank you for all your feedback. 1 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prondzy 3,873 #58 Posted November 11, 2017 38 minutes ago, WHX12 said: Agreed AMC ... Josh you should talk to @prondzy on how he made an old patina come alive. Was a lot of of work he claims but the results were spectacular. Forgot to ask Josh has paint every been messed with before? That's kinda important here. Thanks Jim, but that 953 is due for a beauty make over... I like the way its going Josh. Jim your not referring to this old worker are ya? 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,719 #59 Posted November 11, 2017 That thing turned out AMAZING Mike. If I would’ve had the coin, I would’ve kept that thing here in Cheddar Country. I wish Dad could’ve seen that in person at Jim’s plow day. It is a patina “work of art”! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevasaurus 22,527 #60 Posted November 11, 2017 You take off all that paint and you just might have room for your fingers wrapped onto the fender when plowing. 2 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,719 #61 Posted November 11, 2017 Well—we finally got Clyde to cut a furrow and test it in the soil. we were plowing my garden which is very sandy soil and so it is traditionally easy to plow. However, this week we had several 24 hours periods where the temperature didn’t rise above 32 degrees. So there was about an inch or two of frozen soil on top. The plow just wasn’t sucking in good. If one of us pushed down on it, it was ok but not good. Dad suggested setting the Coulter lower to cut deeper thinking it would help—it didn’t! Dad was enjoying himself anyway! Dad is loving that hydraulic lift! Then uncle Roger showed up. He watched dad make a round and said, “The ground is frozen and that Coulter isn’t allowing the plow to drop in, it is pushing the plow up like a land wheel would do!” So, we pulled the Coulter and voila—it sucked deep and plowed great! 6 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 37,102 #62 Posted November 11, 2017 Always fun to watch someone who's mastered the process... when they make it look easy. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,719 #63 Posted November 11, 2017 Dad’s been turning soil since he was about 10 years old—that was a long time ago! He has a lot of insights and I’ve been running 10 and 12” Brinly’s for about 6 years and have learned a few things about the little tractors and plows. However, I don’t ever want to stop learning. I love going to the big plow days and seeing what other guys are doing with their rigs. I have a couple more videos uploaded... Here you can see how deep this thing is really plowing. If I was doing this with the GhostRider, he’d be dragging the land side wall with the tranny. Clyde shows air space! I Love dad’s smile! Thank you Tom @Shynon for selling me such a cool tractor which made a great gift for dad! I took several rounds on this tractor and with dad’s new seat, it is a VERY COMFORTABLE tractor to plow on. The engine runs smooth and seems to make good power. The rear end/tranny is pretty noisy. I don’t know if that is typical for the 953 or if this one is on borrowed time. However, I’m glad I was able to truly surprise dad with this tractor after all the wonderful things that he has sacrificially done for me! He’s a GREAT GUY and the best role model that I could ever have. He loves God, loves his wife of 43 years, loves his kids/grandkids, and is an unselfish man. Thank you to my “RS local circle” for helping me make this dream a reality for him! 4 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,277 #64 Posted November 11, 2017 Awesome seeing Clyde & Dad in action together!! What a wonderful gift. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 54,343 #65 Posted November 11, 2017 1 hour ago, PeacemakerJack said: The rear end/tranny is pretty noisy. I don’t know if that is typical for the 953 Sorry, 953s are no different than any other when it comes to the transaxle noise. Sounds like you may have a bad bearing or two to replace. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,719 #66 Posted November 12, 2017 Thank you for the info...I’ll have to pass this along to dad. Sounds like a late winter early spring project... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TravelinJavelin 620 #67 Posted November 12, 2017 3 hours ago, PeacemakerJack said: Well—we finally got Clyde to cut a furrow and test it in the soil. we were plowing my garden which is very sandy soil and so it is traditionally easy to plow. However, this week we had several 24 hours periods where the temperature didn’t rise above 32 degrees. So there was about an inch or two of frozen soil on top. The plow just wasn’t sucking in good. If one of us pushed down on it, it was ok but not good. Dad suggested setting the Coulter lower to cut deeper thinking it would help—it didn’t! Dad was enjoying himself anyway! Dad is loving that hydraulic lift! Then uncle Roger showed up. He watched dad make a round and said, “The ground is frozen and that Coulter isn’t allowing the plow to drop in, it is pushing the plow up like a land wheel would do!” So, we pulled the Coulter and voila—it sucked deep and plowed great! that was awesome i always wondered how these worked with brinly plow......you now inspiered me to get one for mine love the rear rubber too! thanks for the video! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,035 #68 Posted November 12, 2017 My bad on what I thought was orginal paint, I should have looked at it closer.I guess it's fair game for repaint then.Sure does look like it does the job plowing! Take it easy on that tranny till we can figure out what that noise is. Wouldn't want to see the carnage that has been going around lately on trannys! Hopefully it can make an appearance at my next year's plow day. Landowner on the 2nd field was really impressed with our work and invited us back! On 11/10/2017 at 8:16 PM, prondzy said: Thanks Jim, but that 953 is due for a beauty make over... I like the way its going Josh. Jim your not referring to this old worker are ya? Mike knock it off ...I could really see that tractor as being my go to! 1 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,719 #69 Posted November 12, 2017 8 hours ago, WHX12 said: Take it easy on that tranny till we can figure out what that noise is. Wouldn't want to see the carnage that has been going around lately on trannys! No doubt Jim! It has been quite contagious. We certainly don’t want a situation to get worse that could’ve been prevented. 8 hours ago, WHX12 said: Sure does look like it does the job plowing! Hopefully it can make an appearance at my next year's plow day. Landowner on the 2nd field was really impressed with our work and invited us back! I was hoping that would be the case. That was a great area for plowing with lots of room to “play”. Those conditions lend themselves well to lots of seat time for sure! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,462 #70 Posted November 12, 2017 Thanks for posting the videos and pictures. I have two 953s and got one running, temporarily, until crud or something in the fuel clogged the carburetor....twice. That one needs some hydraulic pump work done to it. The other 953 hs some serious wiring issues (needs rewired). It has the inside rear wheel weights. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,719 #71 Posted November 12, 2017 @T-Mo With just a little seat time yesterday, I think one of these (953/1054) would make a great purpose driven plow tractor as we are doing with Clyde. The hydraulic lift is awesome! The look speaks for itself! The two areas that would need to be addressed for a serious plow mule would be the engine (make sure you have adequate power) and the tranny (make sure you have the strongest internal parts possible because of the torque applied with larger wheels etc). The greatest advantage of these tractors is the ground clearance. It is so much different than a 12” rim tractor. We took dad’s Bolens plow and were going to try it yesterday. It is a fixed bottom plow with no adjustments. Dad fabbed it for his 875 in about 1976. It works great on there but on Clyde it was duck point up by about 2” just sitting on the ground out of the furrow! In the furrow it would’ve been even worse. That clearance will make itself really useful in big field plowing! Thanks for your thoughts! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,462 #72 Posted November 12, 2017 7 minutes ago, PeacemakerJack said: @T-Mo With just a little seat time yesterday, I think one of these (953/1054) would make a great purpose driven plow tractor as we are doing with Clyde. The hydraulic lift is awesome! The look speaks for itself! The two areas that would need to be addressed for a serious plow mule would be the engine (make sure you have adequate power) and the tranny (make sure you have the strongest internal parts possible because of the torque applied with larger wheels etc). The greatest advantage of these tractors is the ground clearance. It is so much different than a 12” rim tractor. We took dad’s Bolens plow and were going to try it yesterday. It is a fixed bottom plow with no adjustments. Dad fabbed it for his 875 in about 1976. It works great on there but on Clyde it was duck point up by about 2” just sitting on the ground out of the furrow! In the furrow it would’ve been even worse. That clearance will make itself really useful in big field plowing! Thanks for your thoughts! I have a 10 inch Brinly that I used on plow day events. Last weekend it was on the back of my 416-8. I also have a 8 inch slot hitch plow that needs some work to get it to adjust. I love the looks of the 953/1054 tractors. And I would love to get at least one of these 953s ready to do some plowing. Time, right now, is my enemy. Just don't have enough of it to do any damage in the garage. But, with the holidays coming up, we usually take a week off between Christmas and New Years, so if there isn't anything on the "honey-do" list, maybe I'll have time to mess with these 953s and a John Deere 425 I picked up back in September. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shynon 7,450 #73 Posted November 12, 2017 Great, now we have another plow hound to deal with @WHX12 you better get more ground secured for next year Seriously the look on his face Is priceless looks like he is having a great time. Glad to see it went to a great home. @PeacemakerJack we do not use coulters as I seems they hinder our plowing abilities, seeing the videos makes me want to get back to my 1054, my plan is to install an 8 pinion differential into the stock 3 speed trans and at this time I have a k341 freshly rebuilt with 2 hrs of run time on it may find its way into the 1054. At this point maybe I will have it done before the next meet and greet. Again really excites me to see his excitement on Clyde it think you knocked this one out of the park for your dad. 4 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,277 #74 Posted November 12, 2017 13 hours ago, WHX12 said: Landowner on the 2nd field was really impressed with our work and invited us back! That's great news @WHX12. I hope to have the bugs worked out of my Raider this winter. Maybe next year we can get that whole field done. 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,719 #75 Posted November 12, 2017 2 hours ago, Achto said: That's great news @WHX12. I hope to have the bugs worked out of my Raider this winter. Maybe next year we can get that whole field done. Dan! That is exactly what I was thinking. We may need to save Jim’s little field for a local circle plow with just little tractors. However, with the big field, we could host a bigger group of plow dogs and turn ALOT more ground I can’t wait to hook the Punisher to your Raider! What a combo! 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites