Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

[Thajeffski]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

lifes dream to own a tractor?

Sounds like you need to take him out on a boat or show him the local strip joint

 

[Stachi]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

I live in Pa and my father lives in Fla.... He calls me all of the time about his cars, I only wish he was closer so I could help.....I wouldn't expect a dime from him , and would be happy to give some back... just my 2 cents...

 

[muskyone]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

my dads dead and i would restore every tractor ever made to have him around to sell them

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

No one can frustrate us like family, but congratulations on being part of a dying breed. You asked for advice and actually accepted it. That reflects character, the ever increasing lack of which I believe is largely to blame for the current state of affairs in our beloved country.

Current? I would say LONG TIME would be better. A long time reflection on character......At least a decade

 

[avenger79]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

I think you have the "right" to be upset quietly. be disappointed that your dad doesn't want to keep the tractor for the sentimental value of you and your uncle fixing it up. but i wouldn't let it upset your relationship.
the fact is it didn't sound like he wanted a sentimental tractor more that he wanted a real tractor to use.
I might not be to willing to jump in and rebuild another one for him but the fact is when you worked on the other one it was by choice not for profit.
family has a tendency to disappoint us sometimes because they may not see things the same way we do.
had it been you and your dad rebuilding it together I might be more upset. the fact is he probably thought you enjoyed working on that one and now that it's done he can move on to another one.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

Umm.... why would someone want a tractor, when there are so many boats out there...???

I already helped him restore 3 boats, but only one needed a ton of work. He owns 5 boats currently. He doesn't need, nor want, another one.

That being said, upset as I am, I decided to help him fix up this one. Here is a photo of us right after we got back from going get it yesterday. Unfortunately it was grossly misrepresented in the ebay ad. It said a 2006 model with 67 hours. This tractor has at least 550 hours and is no newer than a 2003 model, and is mostly likely an 02 model. It said "great mechanical condition" which is sorda true, I mean it works, but there was a huge nail in the rear tire and the engine smokes blue when you start it. I just changed the plugs and one plug was fantastic, the other was so caked full of oily goo I'm absolutely stunned it was still firing. I'm hoping it's not blow by and is just a leaky valve seal allowing the OHC oil to leak past the valves. It doesn't smoke when you run it, but it does when it's been sitting up for a few hours. I don't know what to do about it. My dad is upset, but excited that he finally got exactly the tractor he wanted. For you guys information, hes going to by a trailer hitch to attach to the bucket to move our boats and trailers around. Nothing like having hydraulic assist to make sure the boat goes exactly where you want it!

Yesterday I pressure washed and degreased most of it so we could inspect it and see what we had. Today I changed the oil, oil filter, spark plugs and sanded both buckets in preparation for paint. They'll get paint this afternoon. He asked me if I wanted to do all this while he was at work. He just got summoned for a third trip to Houston regarding the oil spill so in a couple of days he won't be able to work on his tractor for over a week. I decided to go ahead and do what I could to try to fix it up for him. He wants to do the painting which is fine with me.

All in all, its worth what he paid, but just barely. It's not the steal we thought he was getting. I don't guess there is much that can be done as he accepted the tractor. He wants me to give neutral feedback on the ebay sale as about the only thing correct about the auction was the model of tractor, everything else was wrong or a flat out lie. He hour meter is inop, how can the guy know it has 67 hours? We went to change the air filter and it said "due at 587 hours." Ok, assuming he was following the 100 hour interval, it was installed at 487. I decided to tinker with the hour meter and I can seem to barely read the meter which seems to show 554 hours. That's not a ton of time, but is WAY more than the advertised 67. This tractor is used. It's been used, but not abused. The oil was black, so that needed to be changed and the spark plugs obviously needed attention.

Oh well, such is life. He's still happy with it and says its worth what he paid. He's just not jumping up and down about it like he was driving over to get it.

 

[pinecrestwoods]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

Nice trailer.

I don't need to tell you that, even though the auction was closed, you were certainly within your rights to renegotiate, considering the description was a lie. He's lucky you didn't say, "No thanks, Jackwad- I'm leaving, and I'm not paying." Shoulda said, "I'll do you a favor, I'll knock off a few hundred on the amount I'll pay you, and save you the hassle and expense of having to relist it."

Looks like a fun toy, though. What's he got planned for the hoe?

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

He really just wants it for a toy. Nothing really planned for it. After we got the other tractor fixed up my aunt needed a large pile of dirt moved and it came in very handy. He just wants a little tractor. If anyone in the family needs dirtwork done, they need not go any further than us! We have some ditches that we might cover later on and that thing would be very handy for that job.

As far as the trailer is concerned, that trailer is 22 years old. My dad is meticulous about maintaining stuff so it has brand new tires, new wheel bearings and a constant fresh coat of paint on it. After each use he walks around it with a can of Krylon and touches up the scratched areas.

My uncle came by to pick something up and looked at it. He discovered some hydraulic leaks. I figured it would leak because the cylinders are pitted on the ones that aren't used much. Anyone know any way to sand them down? My uncle suggested steel wool. It's not a bad leak, though.

 

[rbh]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

100% percent of pits are in the chrome on the rams, and to get rid of them you send them in for re chroming.
On the top of the cylinder there are wipers and seals, they wear out and need to be replaced once in awhile (blue moon)
never paint your rams as that will kill the seals and wipers.
Wipe down the rams and the top of the cylinders with a soft cloth if you have crud built up on it.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

Thank you RBH. I'm already putting out feelers to see how much it's going to cost to have them rechromed. I can't tell you how much help it is to have someone familiar with this stuff. You don't deal with this much on planes. The stuff is used all the time so pitting and such isn't ever an issue and if the plane has been sitting long enough for the hydraulic rams to pit, the plane has much bigger issues than leaky hydraulics.

Not much from airplanes rolls over into heavy machinery, I'll tell you that.

 

[rbh]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

You know, if the area around the pit's are smooth (its not tearing the seals and wipers) I would not worry about it, "for a few minor pits"
and yes you can buff up the rams with some super duper fine abrasive cloth
(you need to ask an expert what grit)

 

[skargo]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

Umm.... why would someone want a tractor, when there are so many boats out there...???

My tractor matches my boat! I use the hell out of my tractor, this weekend I am going to help a lady out and mow 10 acres of pasture for her. Plus it snows here and if I can't enjoy the boat, gotta have something to play with...

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

Allmand ?

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

I know when my dad was alive, I always did as much as I could do to help him out. Somethings I would scratch my head and wonder why he made the choices he did. However, they were his decesions and not to be questioned by me. That is just the way I was raised. Sometimes I felt hurt by him when he would get rid of something just to be replaced by something else.

Keep in mind that things are just that, they can be replaced. A fathers love is something to be cherrished as many young men only wish they would have a father figure in their lives.

I would think that your dads new toy could become a money maker for yourself. Landscaping or digging a trench. People will pay good money to have it done. Good Luck WITF,,,,I wish you the best between you and your dad,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,SS

 

[marlboro180]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

Water-

Nice tractor. !! You can tell yer dad I say so! Hmmm, blowing oil at startup- bad valve guides? If not huge amounts, just keep oil in it and the top end will be well lubed if nothing else.

For seals on rams and stuff, re-chroming connections,hoses, etc. a national outfit I like is Motion Industries. And, of course, any Parker Hannifen shop.

I have re-worked a pitted ram or two, wet sanded ( n laterally )using cutting oil and 800 -1000 wet/ dry sandpaper to knock the sharp edges off the pitted chrome. Still going fine on one of dads old machines, 4 years later.

check out mytractorforum.com !!!!

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

I wouldn't hesitate to give the ebay seller crummy feedback. Sounds like it was an outright attempt to deceive.

But +1 on the joys of playing with tractors!

As for leaks, my 58 year-old Fergie has got a couple minor ones. Probably been dripping longer than I've been alive although the hydraulics and petty well everything else just keep chugging along. The old girl's going to get a good teardown one of these winters - she certainly deserves it.

(BTW - that grungy thing on the trailer isn't a boat but rather a mould for a small fibreglass sailboat. I found it half-buried in the bush on the property we bought a few years ago up north. Go figure...)

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Do I have a right to be a little peeved?

Allmand ?

Yep, you can check out http://www.allmand.com/products/tlb-325.asp for more information on the one my dad got.

And thanks to everyone for their feedback on this!!!