February 13th
While moving
dung with the bucket, I suddenly noticed that the nearside front wheel
was at a "jaunty!" angle. I stopped the tractor got out and saw that two of
the top king pin bolts had sheared off and only the last bolt was hold
the wheel in place.
Luckily I was in the upper yard so I reversed
the tractor out of the way and parked it up. Even thought I only had
moved ten feet the last bolt had snapped and the wheel was at a very
odd angle.
Its January 2018 and the New Holland TN75SA tractor has been working hard through deep mud to take hay out for the "far" sheep. I was just about to take some hay bales out to the far sheep when turning left out of the upper yard the tractor went right! The inner ball joint on the tie rod that links the super steer axle had fallen a part.
2018
In case anyone was wondering! yes there have been small breakages over the last few years but I have not put them on here. News years resolution "update website more"
Just when I thought that everything was running smoothly. A major breakage happens.
While tidying up Good Wood with the Abbey topper ready for the felling of several rotten trees. I had just finished, had shut the PTO down, pressed auto lift to bring the topper into its transport position, I heard the hydraulic pumps make their normal in transit noise, the next thing there was a very loud bang, the lower rear window shattered showering me with glass. What happened was the pick up lift arm had become detached from hitch and got court by the lower link arm which bent it forcing it up under the hydraulic valve block which broke, this then went through the rear window. To move the tractor I had to bypass the broken valve otherwise oil would spray out! I got the necessary hydraulic fittings from T Cook at Hatherleigh, first time I had been to the new large store click for photo Having started pricing up the parts and found it was going to cost over £600! I rang our insurance company - Cornish Mutual
I thought that dealing with an Insurance company would be difficult and time consuming, However on calling Cornish Mutual I was relieved to find it easy, they said I should get a quote for the repair.
I phoned Andrew Symons our nearest New Holland dealer and they sent an engineer to assess the damage that afternoon (20 Feb 2015) I received the quote via email on Mon (23/2/15). I had to wait for the Insurance assessor (AIA) to visit which he did on Wed (25/2/15). On the Friday I received an email from the Insurance assessors giving me the ok to get the tractor repaired. So I phone Symons, Monday 2 March Andrew Symons sent an engineer out and it was fixed by early afternoon Outstanding! Is this an advert for anyone - well yes (not a paid one though) I think it is a great advert for the companies who together got it fixed. Thank you.
Testing the safety start switch. This switch stops the tractor from being started in gear. The wiring from this caused the cables to burn out - when lots of rain pooled around the non insulated wire that was used to bypass the switch. Strangely the switch does actually work so why it was bypassed I do not know - and its a safety device, the HSE take a dime view of bypassed safety devices.
Health and Safety stops us having fun or having an accident!
Now its the turn of the old ford 4610 tractor to go on the sick list. A complete electrical failure, and just after I bought a new battery. I had to take a lot of the tractor apart to find the problem , burnt out wire from the alternator and the safety start switch. Fortunately the cables to repair the loom are available from Auto Electric Supplies.
I put the pump back and re-installed the other parts and after a few hours it started leaking again!
So after saying a few choice words I took it all apart again- yep I do have other things to do! It appears that the seal has failed perhaps I installed it incorrectly, anyway I bought a new pump which is £43, I wish I had done this in the first place.
What's the metal thing -a tool I made up to the hold the clutch and the sheave wheel to undo their respective bolts.
Anyway the mule has been running with its new water pump for a couple weeks and its not leaking
This is shaft that the impeller and drive cog share, it has corroded so I have ordered a new one and the various O-rings and seals.
Which have taken over 2 weeks to arrive.
The tiny
hole
were escaping water drips, when the oil seal fails
After the head gasket I thought I would have some time off from repairing the mule. However shortly after getting it running again I could smell hot radiator water and also I saw steam coming from under the load bed. I could see hot water dripping from under the water pump. I thought it was the gasket so I replaced that but the leak did not stop. argh! Anyway after reading the workshop manual properly I found that if the seals in the pump fail then water drips out a tiny hole in the casing.
The new belt was 31mm wide, the wear limit is 29mm & mine was 26mm wide
with cracks. New belt has a direction of rotation which I could not see
on the old one.
I phoned our dealer to check which way it went because it was not mentioned in my workshop manual.
The Mule had been "unwell" for a couple of weeks, for a while I was not sure of the cause, but it became clear ... a blown head gasket. I had thought that it was a air lock in the cooling system as I had recently changed the anti freeze.
I also tested the fan switch which I found to switch at 95oC not 85oC as per specification so I replaced it.
The symptoms were... Not starting easily / not ticking over, a lot more condensation from the exhaust. The radiator not getting hot, and the cooling fan not coming on. The coolant water having a oily shine and smell of combustion gases, the engine overheating and coolant spraying out of the header tank after a few miles. I also found a bent push rod, the cost of them is £1.84 a bargain!. Kawasaki P/N 13116-2057. When I put the engine back together it run so smoothly in fact better than it had ever done I just wonder if it had a bent pushrod when I bought it.
Another problem for the Mule while being driven it lost all its gears, later found to be the gear cable had snapped. (second time in a under 2 years)
A temporary fix was devised by Justin Freeman, - well done that man. It did mean that someone had to get out to change into reverse/forward direction, but we used it like this for a week!
While checking the front transmission oil I found that the brackets holding the transmission on had cracked. So I had to practice my vertical welding!
This is one of the gaiters and you can see the split in it. They are used on the front and rear drive shafts of Kawasaki Mule 2510 and on rear drive shafts of the 3010.They need checking regularly after all the mud has been wash off.
They cost about £20 from a main dealer. Part No: 49006-1257
In Devon Andrew Symons is a dealer for Kawasaki mules
These are 2 of the drive axles from the Kawasaki Mule. The Universal joint wore out because this sliding joint... stopped sliding! This I am sure was due to the rubber gaiter letting in water and mud. The gaiter is held in place by 'O' rings which perish and then let the gaiter move about. I have used tie wraps in the past which seem better. If the joints seize up on the front axles and if you go over a big bump the drive shaft breaks the hub plate and lets oil out of the front diff and water and mud in - I know it happened to me.
This leak appeared after the new tractor spent 2 hours loading big bale haylage. It is the pressure sensor on the rear axle hydraulic distributor. And it started to leak badly under load. A strange and worrying point was that the electric connector and been removed and tapped up, Why? Was the pump about to fail? anyway the new part cost about £30, and when I reconnected the wires a new light on the dash board lit up but thankfully went out when the engine started.
This is the topper I bought for £200, bit untidy but a bargain. It is Votex 9ft Topper. www.votex.co.uk who are still going and making the spares what a wonderful company! The web site has all the old operator manuals and spare parts lists. I have replaced a drive belt and the blades. But after several hard days of topping I noticed an oil leak, The bolts covering the oils seals are completely seized they need heat from a oxyacetylene torch which I don't have. So I need to find someone urgently before Easter to heat the fixings so I can undo them. I have already ordered the O - ring and oil seal from Votex.
The steering valve or servo has been leaking oil for years and the steering was getting heavier and heavier with the loss of oil and increase of air in the system. I had bought the O-ring seals about a year ago and kept putting the job off but when I parked the tractor and saw a puddle of red oil on the floor I had to fix it. No leaks and the steering is much lighter!
This weeks leak is the Front axle to prop shaft drop box quiet a bad leak requiring a drip tray, the dust and mud on the floor weren't enough to soak the oil up. The O-ring was about £6 so apart from my time taken to replace it, which was about 4 hours, so it was a cheap leak!
During any Harvest, tractors, machinery and people get pushed to their limits and sometimes beyond. While running the tractor I had heard a distant rumbling / clattering noise, of course I took no notice because we were busy Tedding the cut grass. But that rumbling was the water pump bearing going which shook the fan blades to bits. Luckily it did not damage the radiator, which I replaced last year at a cost of nearly £200. The pump and fan cost £60 and 3 hours to replace it.