CA Project Pics

I'm anxious to know too.  He indicated that one or more parts were in the wrong order or backwards.  He said he had it apart about 15 times, following the manual (as did I at least 5 times).  I had difficulty interpreting some of those pictures in the manual.   I even tried following

this depiction assuming the ordering was correct since it matched what I thought I saw in the manual.

I'll try to get more info when I pick it up.

In preparation for attaching the first 3pt implement, I attached the new front wheel weights.  It probably wasn't necessary.  The finish mower is 524 lbs.  

Because the right side rim was damaged (calcium chloride damage) and welded all the way back in the 60s, the wheel weight isn't sitting flat on the right side.  I'm probably going to have to grind the weld down more to get the weight to sit flat and reduce wheel wobble and then see if I can balance it better.  If I have to get a new rim, I will.

First attempt connecting a 3pt attachment.  It worked fairly well although the rockshaft mounted top link bracket makes for an extremely short top link requirement.  I have some improvements in work (including for improved safety).  The CA PTO shaft is a bit too high and too close to the top link bracket.  I have some design tweaks to make to eliminate any potential collisions when the top link angle declines.

The tractor picked the mower up with not even a hint of complaint (524lbs).  

The remote is still leaking.  The pipe extension was pretty rusted, I'll probably have to change it out.  I think I have some spare stainless pipe extensions.

I also installed an overrunning clutch.

Another repair was to fix the rear tail light.  It turned out that the entire fender was not grounded.  I had added some largish flat washers to distribute the load on the thin fender metal.  I guess grounding was previously via the lock washers digging through the paint.

Great pictures of your continued work on your nice CA! Might get me moving a little on ours!

Regards,

 Chris and Cheryl

Mounting of the step on the left side in front of the clutch.  This is a better location than the designed placement at the cultivator mount on the torque tube.  I never really had any trouble getting on/off, but this does make it a bit easier.

I added an extension on the PTO shield to keep the rockshaft mounted top link bracket from going down too far and contacting the PTO shaft (if something went wrong).  This allowed me a convenient mounting point for the safety emblem (it was previously on the old original PTO shield, which I have saved unmodified).  I also added a spotlight on the top.  This is one of the original headlights.  Both were pretty mangled, but I made one good one out of the two and a repair kit for the bulb socket.  It has an LED bulb, but I'm not sure if it's bright enough.  There are LED bulbs in the headlights too, but I couldn't locate the same non-polarized bulbs I used.  The headlight bulbs are 2X brighter.  The bracket is just a tad too close to the seat, but I don't think it will be a problem.  I can always move it back if it is.

I created an adjustable bracket for the spotlight.  I can point it pretty much anywhere I might need it.  It isn't quite convenient because you do need a wrench to hold the bolt while tightening the wing nut.  I may find or create a lock for the bolt heads to make it easier.  I ordered some 2-tab washers that may work if the tabs are long enough.  Bend one tab up and one tab down.

The original bail was initially just moved furthest back in the hangar on the bottom side of the draw bar.  In order to get it further out of the way of the 3-point lift arms, it needed to go further back about 3 inches.  This necessitated a spacer (shown below).  The original bail is used to provide part of the horizontal stability of the add-on bail.  It still only requires removal of 3 pins to completely remove the drawbar (e.g. to connect the plow).  However, it is a bit heavier, and advisable to remove the 3-point arms to lower the weight a bit.

The bracket needed to move the bail forward required a 3 inch spacer which I luckily had an exact 1 inch thick x 3 inch remnant available (got a few more coats of orange after this pic).

In order to keep the PTO shaft from hitting the implement top link bracket, I modified the rear to top link braces to bring the top link bracket fully vertical and inline above the lower lift arm attachments.  This significantly improved the PTO shaft clearance by several inches (mostly problematic at the lowest lift position).  The old Zephyr 510 450RPM 1/2 inch drill nearly broke my arm drilling those large holes.  I remember it almost broke my arm in the 60s when I used it too.  I was surprised it's still functional :).

Toward the end of the trip I began cleaning up and priming the cultivator and side weight brackets.  You can see where the right side of the cultivator lift arm is slightly bent in.  I left this with the former AGCO dealer to see if he can straighten it a bit.  It looks to be bent exactly straight inward, little to no twisting.  I didn't have anything substantial enough to clamp it to.

I'm not sure how often it might be useful, but I don't like the idea of going down the road with the implement raised in the "hold" position with the PTO off (to stop blades from turning, etc.).  I've not detected any droop so far, but for longer distances between fields, I might just disconnect the PTO shaft and leave the pump on.  So, I made a little PTO shaft hanger with a lock mechanism (probably unnecessary).  It should hang on the PTO shield extension through a single hole (to be drilled).  I had intended to add a little flare of the top hanging end straight outward as a sort of locking mechanism for the top attachment, but I should have added that bend first because it no longer fit in the bender tool or vise conveniently.  I doubt it would bounce out anyway though.  If I decide not to add the bend later, I may need to shorten the top hook just a bit to avoid the PTO shaft if needed.  Surprisingly, my cheap tubing bender bent this solid rod easily.  But it didn't quite have enough throw length, and I had to finish it in the vise.  I looked at some rebar benders that look useful for these types of brackets.  I typically do these in a vise.  I have an Eastman bender that does a good job, but sometimes the bend radius is not sharp enough and sometimes the bend is too complex (or part too small) to fit the part in.

Edit:  I compromised and bent the tip of the top end straight back (90deg) instead of out.  The hole in the PTO shield bracket will need to be slightly larger to accommodate inserting the upper end and rounding the 90 degree bend.  I only scuffed the paint a little.

Thanks Chris and Cheryl :) I was happy with the most recent trip.  Still a few things planned:  

Left side final drive oil pan, clean and apply gas tank sealer compound (did the right side already because it was leaking).

Get it running better (B and B working on the distributor, install correct venturi in carburetor)...?

Explore ROPS and Canopy (I've used (thick) flat steel so far and I know C-channel might be better/stronger but flats are easier for me to fit).  I think 3/4" flats will be acceptably strong as compared to a typical thin walled C channel or square tubing, when corner braced.  I could easily go thicker if needed.  Of course, adding a ROPS will complicate removing the drawbar with 3-point in use, since it will attach to the secondary bail I created for the 3-point mods.  That's not very desirable since I want it to be easily reconfigurable.

Explore secondary hydraulic pump mounting options.  I'm inclined to design the bracket to support either mounting via rear belt pulley or on the front via the installed cultivator bracket (i.e. both places as needed), designed for easy removal to reconfigure for cultivator use.  I've been looking at the front engine pulley (adaptors, spline rods) that's commonly sold.  It does not support the hand crank, but I think I can mod it to supply both a spline and a hand crank fitting.  That is, if there is room for the hand crank fitting which is doubtful (from memory), but I haven't measured it.  I might try cutting the hand crank notch out of the spline fitting if there's enough metal to work with.  Possibly silly, but I want to keep the hand crank capability.

Edit:  I intentionally chose a CW pump to interface with the belt pulley better in my selected mounting location.  I would need a CCW pump to mount on the front.  I'll probably go ahead and make the dual bracket, but I'd have to buy another pump (SAE B mount) to use it on the front.