Broken Tractor
20 July 2008
I hate my tractor. It's difficult to use and it breaks a lot. Several
months ago my cheap Chinese tractor spun a
bearing. I almost sold it then but decided to fix it instead. I had
to take the entire tractor apart and only recently got it running again.
Once I finally got the thing running again, it ran great. The tractor still
had all sorts of other problems but at least the engine was running good.
Then it broke again.
This time it was a leaky oil gasket. The oil filter hangs off the side of
the engine which makes it easy to change the filter but also leaves the filter
unprotected. Leaving the oil filter exposed on a farm tractor doesn't seem
like a good idea to me. When I noticed the oil leak I also noticed a dent in
the new oil filter. A rogue branch or rock or something must have hit the
filter, breaking the seal loose on the mounting bracket.
I tried some Form-A-Gasket but that didn't work. Texas is the closest
place with parts for my tractor and it took two weeks to get new seals.
I replaced the seals then went to start the tractor and discovered that the
brand new battery was completely dead.
It's really easy to bump the switches when climbing on and off the tractor.
Apparently a switch was left on which drained the battery even though the key was
off. This isn't the first time I've had to jump start the tractor and I just
recently purchased an expensive new battery. Hopefully the new battery will
survive the complete discharge.
Once I got the tractor started there were no more leaks and everything
worked great for about two hours. Then it broke again. I was trying
to load a pile of brush when the tractor's bucket stopped moving. The
control lever had fallen apart. I drove the tractor back to the barn
and, while leaving the tractor running so the battery would charge,
pounded the control lever back into shape then reinstalled it on the tractor.
This time the tractor lasted about an hour before it broke again.
The tractor was just sitting there idling on level ground when it started
making a horrible intermittent grinding noise. I'm pretty sure it's the
transmission. I had also noticed that the tractor seemed to have no power
even though the engine was running fine. A bad transmission might explain
both problems. Unfortunately I don't think I can get at the transmission
without tearing the tractor all the way apart again. I really don't want
to do that which is why I'm sitting here complaining about it instead.
Maybe instead of a farm intern I should be
advertising for a tractor mechanic to come live on the farm. My tractor
pretty much needs a full-time mechanic. I'd love to buy a new tractor but
they're too expensive. The tractor I want is about $55,000 for a new one
with a bucket, mower deck, chipper and fertilizer spreader. I've considered
trying to farm without a tractor but that's just not realistic.
I like to stop by the John Deere dealership to look at their shiny new
tractors. I like to sit on them and pretend they're mine. I also
like crawling underneath and feeling how sturdy the suspension and frames
are. Even better is opening the hoods and looking at the nice clean
engines. I actually caught myself checking the oil once. It was
still clean and honey colored. There wasn't even a hint of burnt smell
or metal shavings like my tractor has.
I've never actually started up one of the new tractors. Maybe next time
I'm there I'll ask the salesman if I can take one of their fancy new tractors
for a test drive around their lot. I want to drive one of their Gator's
too. I like the XUV model with the four wheel drive. While I'm at
it, one of the excavators would be nice. They have some really nice
backhoes too.
<sigh> Enough day dreaming, I have to go fix my crappy tractor.
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