Ed Kennell 38,719 #126 Posted March 13, 2018 Great story and , thanks for sharing. 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 68,485 #127 Posted March 13, 2018 Please tell Caleb some mountain man from Maine said Congrats and great job! 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,883 #128 Posted March 13, 2018 On 3/12/2018 at 2:29 PM, PeacemakerJack said: more proud of Caleb for the character that he showed as a 13 year old. I pray that he can build upon that as he continues to grow. The character exhibited by a young person is a reflection of his parents and grandparents. You have done a good job of raising him. 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,739 #129 Posted March 14, 2018 Thank you all for your kind words. I feel that often it is only the negative things that teens do which are spoken about in the limelight. It was refreshing to see my son exhibit some character beyond his years... Tonight we carved out a couple of hours to work on the tractor. Uncle Roger had picked us up a bushing for the steering wheel shaft. We had to grind two small flat spots on the “top/bottom” sides of the bushing to fit in dash bracket. It was a tight fit on the steering shaft and so we pulled the shaft out and Caleb sanded it until the bushing fit as it should. Once everything dry fit, then we lubed contact points with grease and started assembling. Caleb installed and tightened the fasteners. After Caleb had the dash securely back in place, then he put the column cover from @19richie66 over the shaft and marked it for length. He was nervous about cutting it and so I used the hack saw to cut it to length. I had forgotten to get black plastic paint for the column cover and so Caleb said that he would use a Sharpie marker on it for now. When we paint the tractor in a year or so, we’ll sand it down and paint it. It turned out good and Caleb was excited to get the steering wheel back on. Next up, we need to finish the wiring details... 1 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,739 #130 Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) Tonight was one of those nights characterized by too much excitement to see JackRabbit “hopping” again. Caleb and I worked to rehook all the electrical connections that were previously taken apart leaving the bypassed switches still bypassed for the time being. He hooked up the hour meter, voltmeter, light switch, key switch... and installed the dash. Next came the new seat bracket and tunnel cover. Before long we had installed the side shields and adjusted the floor boards. Caleb was so excited to be getting his tractor together after nearly three months apart that I even began drinking the “kool-aid” and ignored some things that I would generally do. We installed the seat, connected the battery and we were ready to start it. So we had a complete tractor, I turned the key—nothing! I kept it in run position tried the head light switch—nothing. I got out the multimeter—had 12+volts on the battery and at the hot side of the solenoid. It was 7pm and the family hadn’t had supper and everyone was starving. We left for McD’s and I have some trouble shooting to do. The volt gauge doesn’t even flicker when I turn the key. I suppose it could be the ground. I need to follow the hot path though to the key...updates to follow Edited March 18, 2018 by PeacemakerJack 5 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 68,485 #131 Posted March 18, 2018 5 hours ago, PeacemakerJack said: volt gauge doesn’t even flicker when I turn the key. I suppose it could be the ground. I need to follow the hot path though to the key...updates to follow No worries Mr. Peace. You'll figure it out. Test jumper harness and patience are your friends... 1 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dells68 7,498 #132 Posted March 18, 2018 Looking sweet Caleb!!! Hang in there it won't be long! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 37,134 #133 Posted March 18, 2018 Does look really good Caleb. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,883 #134 Posted March 18, 2018 12 hours ago, PeacemakerJack said: turned the key—nothing! I kept it in run position tried the head light switch—nothing. I got out the multimeter—had 12+volts on the battery and at the hot side of the solenoid. Sleep on it! Check your grounds! Check your fuses. Cover the ignition switch connector magneto terminal (don't want to fry it), take a jumper from the battery + and plug it into the "S" terminal and see if the solenoid closes. Do the same to the accessory wire with light switch on, see what you have 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,739 #135 Posted March 18, 2018 I’ve got a question for those of you that have these tractors. Is the hydro lever supposed to be bent at this angle? although very easy to reach in this orientation, it literally digs into the inner thigh when pulled into the reverse position. It almost looks to me like someone bent it back about 15-20 degrees at one point... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BESTDOGEVER 218 #136 Posted March 18, 2018 Yup it's normally about 90 degrees. Looks good once you get the electrical gremlins figured out it's going to be a beast 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,739 #137 Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) Well guys—IT’S Alive and hopping once again!! After some simple investigation, we found out that the PO had hacked off the green wire from the key switch and spliced it to the light blue wire to the solenoid!in doing so, they must’ve changed out the key switch until they were able to get that green on the momentary contact spade. By cutting that green wire, that removed the entire light circuit plus power to the hourmeter and voltmeter! Then they eliminated the mag kill back tot the key switch because of changing the switches and so they drilled a hole in the dash and installed a mag kill toggle switch. Essentially the only functioning electrical was the newly modified start circuit and the toggle switch mag kill! I’m not sure why they did all of this but it gave me another opportunity to tell Caleb about the importance of doing things the right way!!! He also got to use some of the electrical tools and straighten out their mess. We fixed the green light circuit first and he was stoked when the key was placed in run and the switch flipped... Even Zach was excited! After checking all the fluids, topping off the fuel, priming the system—it was off and running! Caleb was stoked to be driving it around the yard! That thing seems to run really well and it is SUPER FAST! A couple points of concern that I need to address yet...it only seems to be putting out about 12.5v on the charging circuit. I need to investigate that further. Also, since we have a brand new primary drive belt, I was looking underneath the back of the tractor and I noticed that it was developing a stripe in the middle of the outside/backside of the belt. I looked and noticed that it was riding on the lip of the tensioner pulley—any ideas what might be causing that? Overall—we are both excited to have it up and running! Edited March 18, 2018 by PeacemakerJack 4 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
19richie66 17,523 #138 Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) Awesome! Glad you got it going. I know it feels good to accomplish something like that. Great job! Sounds like one of your pulleys is out of line. Maybe check the tensioner engagement rods/levers also for worn bushings. Edited March 18, 2018 by 19richie66 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,739 #139 Posted March 18, 2018 Thanks Richie!!! I’ll check it over for alignment and worn parts. It sure seemed to be pretty tight when I was studying it over while it was apart... maybe something got overlooked. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfrederi 17,902 #140 Posted March 18, 2018 Great Stuff..With the belt guard and PTO bell off take a yardstick and lay it next to the hydro input pulley the idler and the engine pulley. Something is out of line. (try this with idler up and also down (engaged)) 2 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RandyLittrell 3,885 #141 Posted March 18, 2018 That is a beast, love the stance of it! You've done a great job bringing up our next generation, and glad he is into tractors!! Randy 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,883 #142 Posted March 18, 2018 1 hour ago, PeacemakerJack said: IT’S Alive and hopping 1 hour ago, PeacemakerJack said: riding on the lip of the tensioner pulley The tensioner pulley probably has a wider hub than the one it was born with. I noticed this on mine when going through spare parts to replace mine with. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,739 #143 Posted March 18, 2018 6 minutes ago, RandyLittrell said: That is a beast, love the stance of it! That was my first thought when I got it home and looked it over. My buddy @Achto was the first one to come over and see it in person and he seemed to have the same opinion of it too. With the fat tires, super low steering wheel and seat height, it really has a muscular look. I want to get a 48” mower deck for it and this summer Caleb can put it through its paces. I would think that would be one great mowing machine... 9 minutes ago, RandyLittrell said: You've done a great job bringing up our next generation, and glad he is into tractors!! He is a good kid! He may get distracted from them when he hits his mid to late teens but what you have read above, can NEVER be taken away from us! I’ll always have the memories of working on this tractor and some of my others together. Who knows, maybe he’ll be a tractor guy for life?! 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,883 #144 Posted March 18, 2018 23 minutes ago, PeacemakerJack said: I want to get a 48” mower deck for it and this summer Caleb can put it through its paces. I would think that would be one great mowing machine. PM sent. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coulter Caleb 532 #145 Posted March 19, 2018 Thanks for all the kind words guys. It was a real blessing getting Jackrabbit up and running again after three months in the shop.It was a lot better with a new seat brace on there instead of rocking all over the placeIt started better than it used to and seems to run pretty good too.I'm finally able to comment on my own projects.Just happy to be on the best GT forum in the whole world. 6 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,739 #146 Posted March 19, 2018 Well—my many friends, near and far, I promised Caleb that if he stuck it out on the JackRabbit project he could become a member the day we were able to drive it again. Today is that day! I’m happy to introduce to you a guy that many of you feel like you know from just following this thread. It is hard to believe that he has been turning soil with me for over five years now! I’ll have to dig up the first plowing video that I ever took of him from the summer of 2012. It is classic! We talked about Lots of possible screen names but he liked Coulter Caleb the best. He has earned the privilege to be here as long as he respects you guys like he should. It’ll be fun to share this hobby with him in a whole new way... 2 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 68,485 #147 Posted March 19, 2018 @Coulter Caleb. Welcome to The Forum! Great to see you. How did you choose your screen name? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 49,191 #148 Posted March 19, 2018 5 hours ago, ebinmaine said: How did you choose your screen name? Bet his dad had something to do with that! I like it .....It's better than "Furrow Dog" Caleb! Tell you what you hit the old man up for twenty bucks to become a supporter. If he grumbles like a bear tell him I will give him the twenty bucks and it will be my birthday present to you! 3 1 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
19richie66 17,523 #149 Posted March 19, 2018 Welcome Caleb. Glad you not only got your tractor going but also get to be a part of this forum. Look forward to seeing more from you. Also look forward to meeting you and your father one day. 👍 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coulter Caleb 532 #150 Posted March 19, 2018 Thanks Richie it is awesome that you'd do that for me. Oh by the way, thanks for the parts for jackrabbit it was a real blessing to me and my dad. 2 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
