Murphy I hate that guy

[TonyK]

Every fall I spend at least one weekend getting ready for the winter season by pulling out all of the snow gear and going through it. I service everything that I use so that when the cold weather really hits I am ready and don’t have to spend a day freezing under a piece of equipment. I have come to the conclusion that all of this effort is wasted time. No matter how hard I try and all of the issues that I attempt to head off when I can rather than when I have to. when it comes right down to it everything I need or want to use breaks. This weekend I have had to or am in the process of re-repairing 2 plow trucks, 1 tractor a wood trailer and a snowmobile. I think I am only one lottery ticket away from just buying new everything each year. Rant over. Does this happen to you guys or am I just cursed somehow?

 

[cnice_37]

Haha - this weekend on my "to-do" list was to check the plow controls as my plow was a little slow moving at the end of last year.

First adjust the choke for cold weather setup, then fire up the old girl, and sure enough she's sprung a leak. Small puddle of coolant forming along with a very audible clicking coming from water pump area.

So now she sits up the road at the mechanic's shop... with the plow controls unmolested.

I took every Friday off in December to start getting some wood ready for next year, and so far I got maybe 1/2 cord cut/ split and not enough time for the fun stuff.

 

[LumberjkChamp]

Yup it happens to me as well. Every year, without fail, something will need to be fixed in the coldest of weather. I'm not talking 20 degrees. That's warm. I mean cold (for VT anyway.) Like 10 or 15 below. Last year it was tie rod ends on the daily driver (beater.) Years before that it was brake lines or fittings. This year it is a serpentine belt tensioner pulley and brake lines and fittings on two dif. vehicles. That has to be done today. Its not that cold yet but by tonight it will be. Gotta get the parts.

 

[TonyK]

Unimog plow truck, tractor and wood trailer fixed (for now) and running. 85 Ford Diesel dead and probably not going to be revived. It won't even roll on 100% ether so I am thinking it is done for. I bought it cheap and I got my money out of it so I guess if it has to go it is ok.

 

[logbutcher]

Not you Tony. It's the way.

Guys in my unit when the sh__ was about to hit, said:

"It's Goldberg's Rule, Murphy was an optimist."

At least you're coming down for breakfast.

 

[Shmudda]

My Grandfather used to tell me "Boy, the more you own, the more it owns YOU"!

Wise man he was.......

And yes, no matter how hard I try to stay ahead of my equipment something always happens to it.....you can't win the game, you can only play it!

Craig

 

[Taxmantoo]

'85 Ford, 6.9L, gots glow plugs, right?

Did you at least get a satisfying bang out of it when you sprayed the ether?

 

[Diesel nut]

85 Ford Diesel dead and probably not going to be revived. It won't even roll on 100% ether so I am thinking it is done for. I bought it cheap and I got my money out of it so I guess if it has to go it is ok.

Oh don't give up on her yet! How cold was it when you tried to start it? Did it turn over very fast? If she don't turn over very fast even either won't make her fire. Your glow plugs may not be working if you used either and didn't get a loud bang. I've used either when I knew my plugs were bad and it always fired on it pretty good. My starting system was in great shape though. Good cables, batts and starter make a big difference in these old girls. If you need any advice on gettin her to run let me know. I know quite a bit about the idi diesel Fords. And no your not cursed... We all are!! LOL

 

[dingeryote]

LOL!!

1 wood trailer needing welds, another getting by with a length of properly applied bailing wire in the time bieng.

Harvester is still outside in the snow having fits about starting and running with generator drag that showed up about the time it was to be parked for the winter.

Tractor decided to pee on the floor from a new spot/seal under the cab all of a sudden, and the back up Tractor needs a new primary and PTO clutch as well as a new PTO slider gear as of last fall, when the MIL decided to "Help" by chopping 8" trees with a light mower deck. Good thing I had prepped both for winter already.

Still gotta do a winter service on the quad, and of course the shop heater took a crap on me, and getting to the thermocouple on the thing is about as fun as working on a Mini-Mac.

Yep.
The plan WAS to have everything done and ready, untill that Bastard Murphy showed up.

Is cutting and splitting procratination?

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Blazin]

Oh hell...I thought it was "ritual" to have bunged up #### when winter hits. The JD350 is tore apart in the garage with a blown hydraulic line, one of them REAL easy one's to get at...damn near got it stripped to the frame for a $30 line. A nice simple oil change on the GMC 3500 plow truck turned into me yelling ####!!!! after finding a rot hole on the inside of the frame where the plow iron bolts on, nothing major....only the size of a softball. LOL! 2 shovels with busted handles, not a sniff of sand ready for ice, and one wood pile that never got covered is now a block of frozen misery.

Other than that I'm set!!!

 

[TonyK]

'85 Ford, 6.9L, gots glow plugs, right?

Did you at least get a satisfying bang out of it when you sprayed the ether?

The glow plugs have been dead for two years. I have seen the damage that can cause and it is not pretty. The temps were mild and I had given it an hour with the torpedo heater on the block. I might get back at it once the frustration leaves my mind but for now the plan is to drag it down to the equipment landing and leave it in a snowbank perhaps with an oily rag burning in the cab.

 

[Somesawguy]

I try to have things all ready to go for winter. Without fail something happens.

They found a rust hole in my truck frame when I went for an inspection. Guess what I've been doing the last few Saturdays?

I need a garage. opcorn:

 

[Taxmantoo]

If you need any advice on gettin her to run let me know. I know quite a bit about the idi diesel Fords. And no your not cursed... We all are!! LOL

Oooh, I just had an unpleasant IDI memory. Friend took his '86 IDI in for a tranny check. Stealer called him up, told him they couldn't do anything with the truck unless he gave them $200 to replace his (brand new Interstate) batteries so they could start it. That's funny, it ran fine when we dropped it off the day before.

We went to the stealer's parking lot, it cranked fine but no fire. I popped the hood, plugged in the wire on the injection pump that operates the fuel on/off solenoid, and it fired right up. If the truck's owner had any brains, he would have driven the truck home right then, but that's another story.