Posted by Sherman in Idaho [108.162.246.23] on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 12:11:33 :
In Reply to: Re: Anybody have a couple old 6V headlight bulbs? posted by Dozerman51 [162.158.255.87] on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 11:02:58 :
I just realized I do have a civilian PW headlight bucket handy so will check and see if it's bigger. You're probably right that it is. I do see some 6V 5-3/4" "tractor bulbs" available for more reasonable prices (~$10 vs ~$50). If they fit the hole and light up, that will be good enough for me. Don't care if it's the right beam pattern or wattage. I just thought as long as I have to take the gauges and dash off and replace some of the wiring, it would be a good time to get the lights working. Still hoping I can get by without pulling the pony motor. Front bearing/seal were totally shot -- it would spit out a quart of oil each time I ran it, but they can be replaced without pulling the pony motor. Crankshaft end play is out of spec too, though, and that means the rear (towards the front of the tractor) crank bearing is also worn. I just ran my old cat with a 12V battery for faster starting and didn't attempt to get the charging system to work.
This one is a very early 7U series D4 (4-digit serial number. It had the old-style fuel tank on the left running board rather than built into the seat, the intake manifold that doesn't preheat from the pony motor exhaust so well, and worst of all the one piece transmission cover where you have to remove everything from the whole top of the machine to get to the clutch. My previous 7U D4 was a later model with the split transmission case, but something inside the PTO broke so the winch didn't work, and then something in the transmission jammed and I was just lucky it was in a place where I could tow it back home. One of the steering brakes was shot, so add all that together and I bought this "new" (older) one. I was suspicious when I went to look at it because the guy had it running and there was no oil visible anywhere around the usual places. But it drove good and sounded good, so I bought it. He must have just steam-cleaned it because as soon as I started using it, the pony motor front seal started spitting a steady stream of oil. I want to make it practical to use, but I hesitate to modify it too much because it's really an antique -- older than any of my trucks anyway. Not sure if I'll fix the newer one or just start parting it out. It would be nice to at least have the 2-part tranny cover and the winch on the "working" unit. That winch saved me a couple times when I got stuck off the bank in soft dirt, and was handy for pulling trees over so I didn't have to grub out the stumps.
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