Repairs/Updates

This page details repairs and improvements I've made (or attempted) on the Ferguson.

2004-10-24 - More Shed Progress I'm ready to put on the roof, but I thought I'd put some paint over the OSB while the weather was still good. I've used 3 cans of green "marine" paint for the base coat with maybe another 2 to put a good finish on it. As you can see, the firewood will be on the right and won't have a door to cover it. On the left, there's a 7.5' x 7.5' doorway where little Harry will live; that door will be a horizontal slider. Click for a closer view. 2004-10-02 - Shed Progress The shed is coming along well enough. This is how it looked as of the morning of October 2. (In case you're wondering, the center beam is doubled 2x6 to support the 14 foot long 2x4 rafters.) Click for a closer view. 2004-09-17 - New Shed In light of the embarrassment of having a nice tractor and not having a decent cover for it, I'm building a SHED. Here's a quick diagram of my idea of a shed. 2004-08-21 - Clutch Stuck Well, this is annoying! It looks like the clutch throwout bearing is seized on the shaft. I can push down the clutch pedal, but this doesn't disengage the clutch. I can start and run the engine, but that's about it. I'm going to have to look online for a solution. Let's hope it doesn't involve splitting the tractor... Why did this happen? I'm pretty sure that it's because the tractor has been sitting around too long, doing nothing. Must find implements... 2004-05-04 - Lighting I put the lights on the tractor tonight to see how it looks. I'd picked up rubber-cased 12V five inch lamps from a co-op store the previous weekend and just wanted to see how they fit. It bothers me that the holes on the sides of the hood aren't drilled at the same height! Yes, it's true. I'm suspecting that one of the the side panels is a transplant. Anyhow, the rear lights worked out well, being bolted to the handy little bracket on the fender. Now I need to figure out my SMV sign... Might have to resort to buying the "proper" bracket for it. 2004-04-29 - Misfiring Solved When I bought the tractor, it wasn't running smoothly. I chalked it up to needing a good tuneup as everything looked pretty good in all other respects. However, the little beast was short on the amount of power I expected, so it was time to take a closer look. When I held my hand above the exhaust, it had a distinct pulsing feel so I suspected a cylinder wasn't firing. I shut off the engine and popped off the distributor cap. Everything looked pretty good under there, but I cleaned the contacts anyway. But when I started the tractor back up, it was still missing on a cylinder. My next step was to start pulling plug wires while the engine was running. (This can be an electrifying experience, if you know what I mean! :-) I began by pulling the plug wire off for cylinder #4; no effect. Ok, so this was the problem cylinder! But, let's continue... I pulled the wire off of cylinder #3; no effect. TWO cylinders not firing?? At this point, I was getting a brilliant idea... I pulled the wire off of cylinder #2; the engine immediately begins to die, so I shove the wire back one. Same effect with cylinder #1. Now to try my idea... I swapped wires for cylinders #3 and #4. Immediately, the engine was running smoothly and had power to spare. Who would have thought that the wires were reversed? I'd bought the tractor knowing it wasn't running smoothly, but I was taking a big gamble that there wasn't a hole in a piston, or something! I was lucky, this time. :-)