Wild and Free

Man have not used a CB since college days about 1991-1992. Have several of them in a box in my shop was going to pitch them but just keep hanging on. On the farm used to use them until about mid 80's then switched to radios with our own 2 FCC issued channels one unit to unit and one long range through a repeater and never looked back. I remember using old Johnson CB radios with the crystals "It's been so long I think thats what I remember people saying about them old radios and a huge antenna outside the house and being able to talk to people about as far away as folks with Hamm radios.

I have the newer version of EIFS stucco on the south side of my house and the small downy woodpeckers have drilled numerous holes through the stuff already, i have a 22 revolver with bird shot laying beside the door for when i catch them in the act, have had to shoot two in the last few months, hate to do it as i enjoy watching them but once they become destructive they do not stop.

I kind of thought the same thing as well, since the install if it sat for more than a couple weeks they seemed really week at start up.

What did I miss?

Wife and i need to get out that way again to see her cousin in Missoula and my cousin in Butte. She has friends in Great Falls and both of us have friends in the Billings area too.

Ha Ha, Here is a pic of 2 trees right beside my house one week ago, they are both bare now, not a single leaf left on them. Spent the last week doing yard clean up.

Well a buddy of mine just sent me pics of his new to him ride, he is now out of the diesel ownership club as of yesterday. He traded in his 03 cummins for a 2014 1500 Hemi crew cab with 29K on it. This is the 03 I was looking at the same time as the 02 I wound up buying instead for the same price I could have got into that 03 for.

Just do a visual. Only reason I platigauge is when replacing bearings that showed signs of wear to make sure things are kosher with the crank shaft dimensions when installing new bearings, no need to throw parts at it if it doesn't need it, trying to save some costs on the project otherwise I would have just bought a rebuilt engine with a warranty for another $1500+ but this tractor will not get enough use to justify that extra money.

There is no advantage to removing it unless replacing the cooler line with the oem line with a temp sensor port in it then they would be doubled up so removing one from the cooler fitting is needed so as not to have 2 in the line which then could cause lower flow issues.

Found this group yesterday while browsing the Tube and really like what i hear. I am well rounded musical individual. My wife and I take in the Symphony a few times a year plus my wife is really good friends with the Symphony Conductor as well, they run together a couple times a week. http://bismarckmandansymphony.org/?page_id=149

Well finding a good used engine wound up being a lot longer ordeal than I thought it was going to be, between guys i was dealing with being wishy washy and or not getting back to me and tons and tons of engines out there out of refer units with way over 10K hours on them which i didn't want to spend near 2K on an engine that was near a $1500-2K overhaul at which point I could have bought rebuilt engines for less. I finally found a supplier who had a lead on a low hour refer engine "supposedly" in the 3K hour range out of a wrecked truck and his price was really fair in comparison to most I found, getting shipped out tomorrow for a price of $1970 with shipping costs included. It is a 2005 model engine "Which is 15+ years newer than the tractor" and is a newer style V2203 Direct injection and is 4 HP more then the engine I took out 34 jumping to 38 hp which doesn't sound like much but is actually a lot when dealing with these small tractors.I am replacing a 1.7L engine with a 2.2l engine but externally they are exactly identical and a direct bolt in unit. Hoping to have it by end of next week. I am going to do a valve adjustment on it and have to swap the oil pan from my old engine over to it as it is designed for the front driveshaft of the tractor to clear and at that point will pull a main and rod cap to inspect the bearings just to make sure i am not wasting time installing the engine that needs work right away. Probably be a while before getting it done now as I have weekend call at work in two weeks and will need to get other parts ordered for the engine install and then leave on vacation to Florida again right after that. So looking like its going to be a cold December project now in the unheated portion of my shop.

Ain't she pretty now? First pic post with new phone, couldn't get it to work the other day for some reason. These are the $400 wheels and tires I got a while ago finally got the time to insall them last week. The ol girl hasn't been this clean for several years either although it has been sitting in the garage and has a pretty good coating of dust over the whole thing but the pic hides it well. It was not about the quality of the battery, it was about spending an extra hundred bucks for nothing but the name cast into the case, I absolutely hate supporting companies who have millions upon millions of cash to throw at sports teams for advertising. I like supporting the off name brands with equal quality for a fraction of the price and gag at spending extra just for a name alone and not having supported my locally owned parts house instead but one gets into a pinch on occasion and just has to spend the extra cash and swallow ones pride and forge ahead i guess, Just have to work an extra couple days before i can retire, looking to be a retirement age of about 92 1/2 now.

And all most likely built by the same company just boxed up differently, go with who ever will be the most convenient for you if going through a local brick and mortar store at that point. I use my locally owned parts house 90% of the time unless its after hours on the weekend. Best service and the same faces for the last 30 years and all knowledgeable unlike the rotating door of employees at all the chain store parts houses where lets just say we are not dealing with intellectual heavy weights. If I had to go with a chain store i would seek out a locally owned and operated Napa store would be about the best chance of finding someone with any kind of knowledge and service.

Rock auto should have a good selection of the options at a good price.

Most of the pumps have a small screen built into them behind either the return or pressure side can't remember right off.

When one removes the lines from the gear the entire system is pretty much dry after it drains out including the brake booster as it syphons the system out completely since this is the lowest point in the system. IIRC on my 05 to fill the system up from completely empty takes just shy of 2 quarts.

That's not an "OLD" issue. I was the lucky one to inherit a small bladder from my mom and her side of the family. tee cup size would be a huge improvement I think.

I can't even count how many brand new brand name "E" rated trailer tires i have had the tread peel off and leave only the cords and casing over the years.

Well got the new batteries in it and a new air filter and then put the new to me wheels and tires on it and went for a test drive and retorque. Took the first pics of it with my new phone but now can't seem to be able to send it to the forum as i tried to do a first ever phone post and pic upload both kept failing, tried to send it to my e-mail and that won't go through either not sure what i either don't have set up yet or am doing wrong. BTW it looks dang good. Time to go work out and start drinking for the night and forget about all this modern stuff.

Well my reliability factor just dropped to a new low this morning. Went to go start the 05 this morning which has sat for a few weeks turned on the key and got nothing but a lot of clicking from all over the pickup, new the inevitable had finally come. 11+ years and close to 130K on OEM batteries and they were down to 10v each, didn't even bother to charge them i knew they were getting a bit week the last 2 years already, went to town for a new set if Interstates, had to lower my standards and open my wallet for that one but it was too late in the day for my normal parts house of choice, sometimes one just has to swallow hard and hope for the best.

North Dakota not Utah.

Bluetop is not a them or they operation, it is a one man show unless Ryan's wife helps out on occasion. He works a full time shift work job on the same crew as me on top of his business. He said he was out to see Redheads operation / owners this spring and said they do a lot of things the same way he does only they are a huge business.

The dry shift linkage clunk was like someone lightly tapping the floor board under the steer column with small ball peen hammer, not a big clunk just an annoying one that varied upon road conditions, packed grease into the areas i posted took care of it for me. I have also seen where the adjustable steering links were not adjusted to where the tie rod ends were in a neutral 90* position and they would cause a clunk as well.

The two areas I lubed were the parts broke out in the circle and the ones on the horizontal linkage #4,5,6.

Not a bushing issue its a dry part issue. I never replaced any parts in any of mine just needed to lube them up every 2-3 years or so and the clunk disappears. Not sure what parts there are to replace, its a ball & socket no wear parts in it that I know of, you may be thinking of another part than I am.