It's been awhile since I've posted an update, so here's the scoop so far.
- Got the motor & associated sheetmetal painted & cleared. Waiting for some fasteners to come from McMaster Carr to get it back together. Also waiting on a new flywheel as mine jumped off the crank while the motor was sitting on the engine stand and it landed on the floor. Broke a few fins off and now it sounds different; a dull sound when you tap it with a wrench. Thinking its cracked internally. Not going to chance it.
- Ordered & received a bunch of parts from Chris to put the tractor back together. As always, better-than-excellent service in regards to my order.
- Ordered & received a sleeve hitch, lower brackers w/ears & some hitch plates from Aaron. Everything except the hitch plates have been painted and finished.
Oh my gosh, you talk about quality. He called me to say my order would be late because one of the brackets wasn't good enough for his standards. I patiently waited for it all to come (very short wait) and was more than pleased with what arrived. He will definitely get my business again.
- Took an old pair of coarse-spline axles that were laying around and drilled out the lug holes, ground down the welds flush on the hub plate (on the tractor too) and cut off the splines and turned them into stub axles to hang weights on.
- Picked up a 55 gal. poly drum with a resealable top (it hang the metal band to capture the drum & top together) to use as an electrolysis tank. It's just sitting now, haven't done anything with it yet.
- Haven't started on the hyd. lift system as of yet. Will get the tractor in usable condition and build that on the side so I can swap it in when its all done.
My picture folder for the tractor has increased in size by roughly a third (there's over 200 pictures in there now) since the last time I posted, so here's the link to those.
http://s1102.photobucket.com/profile/litlmikeyl
Enjoy fellas.