AUGH! How do you stop this thing?!?!
As mentioned a couple of postings ago, I finally got the swather home. Yesterday, we unloaded it from the transporter, which was quite an experience.
The Versatile Hydrostatic 400 Swather is a fairly simple machine; A Ford 200 cubic-inch 6-cylinder inline engine drives a large hydraulic pump, which in turn drives the hydraulic motors which turn the drive wheels. A smaller secondary pump drives some of the other hydraulic rams on the machine that adjust the cutter height, reel height, etc. The "gear shift" on the machine is really just a large valve that opens more when you select a higher "gear", and thus drives the hydraulic motors faster. The tricky part is steering the beast...
The machine has a steering wheel like you would find on pretty much any modern vehicle, but the way it steers is more akin to a tank or "skidsteer" than a conventional steering system. Turning the wheel to one side or another causes the opposite wheel to spin faster, thus turning the machine. For example; To turn right, it slows the right wheel down, and increases the speed on the left wheel, thus turning the vehicle to the right. The problem is that the steering is extremely sensitive, and keeping it moving in a straight line is going to take a lot of practice!
Now, take an extremely sensitive machine, put it in the hands of an inexperienced operator, and perch it up in the wheel-cradles of a transporter. In a worst case scenario, it's only about a 14" drop to the ground if the machine jumps off the transporter, but it's still something you want to avoid. I actually mananaged to get the machine backed out of the cradles and down the ramps without it falling off, but then it suddenly started turning (I had nudged the wheel just a tiny bit!) and I sort of panicked. There are no "brakes" per-se on one of these things, and the pedals that one would assume to be the throttle and brake actually control the header. It took me a second to reorient myself and remember the "gear selector" which got the machine to stop, and then take off in a different direction. I managed to narrowly avoid hitting my new trailer, and got it pointed out into an open field where I was able to get it back under proper control. Afterwards, I puttered around with it and got some practice with the touchy steering.
I should point out that this machine only has three wheels; The two drive wheels in the front, and a third swivelling trailing wheel in the rear. It can turn on a dime, and doing donuts is terribly easy (and frightening) if you don't pay attention to what you're doing!
In other news, I also finally got my 1950's-era Chevy 1700 truck home. This isn't the little 1430 that I bought at my In-Law's auction, this is it's bigger brother; a Three-Ton version, with a dual shift transmission and other fun. Bernie and I tried to drive it home yesterday, but it would only go about 50 feet, then surge, and stall. We wound up finally towing it back to the repair yard, where the mechanic who had been working on it asked if we had put any gas in it? I thought it had a full tank according to the fuel gauge, but he told me that the gauge didn't work, and the most likely thing was that I was out of gas as it only had a couple of gallons in it to begin with. It was too late to make another try, so we called it a night and decided to try again in the morning.
This morning Bernie and I went out again, this time armed with 10 gallons of fresh gas, and another bottle of lead-substitute. Even with fresh gas, the engine wouldn't start. I tried the old trick of pouring a few drops down the throat of the carbourator, and that fired it up right away. Fortunately, this carbourator is only held in place with two screws, so it was easy to remove and give it a quick cleaning. Sure enough, the fuel-inlet was gummed up, and once that was cleared out it ran beautifully! For about 1km...
Then it gummed up again, and it would not go any further. At this point Bernie and I knew what was wrong, so we just hooked it up to Bernie's truck and towed it out to the farm. I'll have to take the carbourator off again and really give it a thorough cleaning, and I'm going to put an inline fuel-filter between it and the tank to prevent any further gunk from coming up the line and clogging it again. Ah, fun and joy with old vehicles. The nice thing is that these old vehicles have plenty of room under the hood, and you really can fix most problems with a screw-driver and a standard set of wrenches. :)
I didn't have much more time to play with it afterwards, as Trixstir and I had to get ready to head to Saskatoon for the AGM of the Bowling Proprietors of Saskatchewan. This little convention will introduce us to other bowling-lane operators/owners, and also to suppliers who can help us determine how much it will cost to bring everything up to par again. Once we have some estimates, we can apply for various small business loans and grants to help get it all paid for. Yay! We've stopped for the night at the In-Law's farm about 1/2-way to Saskatoon, and will continue tomorrow morning. Back on our farm, my mom is visiting to take care of the horses and the kidling, and do some more painting. It's going to be a busy weekend for everyone!
Also got the news today that Michael Jackson has died. While I wasn't a big fan, I did enjoy his music and I consider his passing to be a great loss. Yeah, he was getting pretty weird, and he made a lot of bad personal choices, but I think a lot of the negative crap was little more than trumped-up charges from people seeking to make a quick buck. Rest in Peace Michael, you'll be missed.