Lockdown day 10

Well it's official, I go back to work on Monday as long as I don't get sick. Was good to have these days off and get some things done and could use a few more. Especially since it won't hurt much financially. Apparently I get "sick pay" from the stimulus package and get paid for 40 hours a week because my wife was sick. This will be the first government money that I've collected to my recollection. I know I've never collected unemployment, work comp or welfare and can't think of anything else. At any rate, it has allowed me to do most of a summers worth of projects, so that is good.

Speaking of projects, made some progress on the manure spreader yesterday, as usual not as much as I wanted. Worked on patching the rusted parts. Cut a piece out of the old header to patch a round shield.






Two of the angles that carry they rear beater were rusted badly, so they got replaced.




Guess I didn't get a pic of those done. I had cut the old bulk tank apart to get it out of the milk house and it had some shapes that worked for some parts, so I cut that up to patch the rest of the pieces.




The upper lip of the tank had an angle that was just right to fix the parts that hold the upper beater.









The front panel had some fatigue cracks that needed fixing. Sure is tough trying to weld thin rusty metal, especially with a welder set up for heavier work.








The last part is the sides which are rotted all the way along the bottom. Used the long strips of stainless I cut from that piece above to make patches. Lots of square holes to cut for carriage bolts with the plasma. I'm not as good at it as I was, out of practice I guess.








That's as far as I got yesterday because I ran out of gas for the welder, so a trip to Napa today for another bottle. Which brings me to the worst part of the day. Was carrying the old header out to the back yard when a pin fell out of my loader and this happened.




As I was driving I saw the pin sticking out and tried to stop and lower the loader, but as soon as the loader started down the pin rotated and flew out and the load dropped. The bent frame is no big deal and I can easily fix that. But the bent cylinder shaft is more problematic. Hopefully I can get it straight again. The pin fell out because the bar welded across the end as a stop broke so it came out backward. The cotter pin is still in it. I see one other pin has one side of the round bar broken too. Guess I'll be checking those regularly from now on.

Hopefully today I'll get the rest of the sides done and get the loader fixed. But we shall see what surprises await. Lol

Looks like a very good day, other than the loader.

Rich

I bet you can straiten that cylinder.

I know you know this, but be careful to stay out of welding fumes from stainless. Chrome is really nasty to human life when inhaled or consumed Watch Erin Brockovich Good flick, and good thinking. Also look up what is in the yellow paint used on highway stripes. Jim

It may have been a CASE Spreader at one time, now it is a Minnesota Jon spreader. gobble

You do good work, Jon. Maybe you and ACG (sp?) could get together and start a fabrication shop!!

Forgot to add that I like the fact that you use what you have on hand. "Keep it, I might use it one day" is my motto, even at work!! Boss makes me hide my junk, then comes asking me, have you got a (fill in the blank?) in your junk!!

When cutting holes, or small squares with the plasma. I like to make templates with washers. Make the template large enough to include the radius of the plasma tip.

You have lots of experience and probably already knew this, but as I get older it is increasingly harder to keep a steady hand.

If Loren would become partners with Jon F ,,Jon F could name the shop,,,the KING and I

Good thing that DC has so much cast iron in it's construction. I'll bet all the twisting that the loader did when the pin came loose didn't do a thing to any of the DC's castings.

Great progress on all those projects. Can't wait to see finished spreader,think I have
same model Case spreader on my to do list. List is several years long,lol.
A question about your wife's illness and recovery, she was tested positive or just
assumed to be ? You're showing no signs of contracting virus, did you get any testing ?
Thanks for all the photos of your projects.

They won't test unless you need to be hospitalized here. They just said she has it and all the symptoms match so I believe it is correct. I have no symptoms now, but I believe I had it in February because I had the symptoms then, it's just that no one knew about it then.

I thought they?d be digging mile long graves and pushing dirt over the hole With cats buy now

Pretty easy to straighten a cylinder shaft. I've done a lot of them. They do not have to be as straight as you think. Main thing is to not jimmy the shaft with the press. Use wood blocks with the press.

I had a rod on a New Idea loader cylinder bend. those are hollow, so there wasn't any fix to it. a shop made a new rod out of solid stainless shaft. wasn't too painful$$.

(quoted from post at 16:52:56 04/11/20) I thought they?d be digging mile long graves and pushing dirt over the hole With cats buy now
<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto1085.png">

Click to expand...

https://www.npr.org/sections/corona...re-not-new-but-are-increasing-during-pandemic


https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mass-graves-nnalert-19-deaths/

That?s screwy! Buddy from Junkshow says his mom has a nagging winter cold that started early January. She goes to the doc to try to get something new to knock it out and because she has a temp they want to test. She keeps telling them it?s not what you think. And yet they won?t test your wife.
Well here?s to you and yours Jon. Maybe it?s your good living that?s bested what ailed her. Take care!

Coming right along with what looked to be an impossible job...interesting that you can find some bare steel to which you can attach a welded seam.

On the lockdown, Texas Governor said that he and his team are planning to undo the Texas lockdown this coming week. Said they are working out the details and seeing what can be returning to normal and what is too risky. Lucky to have this guy in office at a time like this.