Anyone got a MH self propelled picker for parts??

Ok, so.. since the weather has been nice here in Michigan this week, I decided it would be a good time to once again try to get my picker going.

Got her to spark.. Carb cleaned up.. dump fuel into tank... and watch it pour onto the ground..

Hmm... appears there's a problem...

Pulled the fuel tank.. all rotted out where it sat on the cradle.. *shake shake* I hear a rattle... Roll the tank upside down.. WOW... about 7 million pinholes..

How did I not see all this upon previous inspection? I guess when I rolled it over, the rust took some of the bottom with it ..

Now that you've read my comic relief.. (was almost like watching the 3 stooges work on this thing today).. Is there anyone that knows where I might be able to find a tank? I'm sure I know someone who could doctor this one up, but I'd much rather have one that needs a little less repair.

But to finish out the day of wrenching.. Found a small plastic tank, zip tied it on.. "plumbed" it up.. poured gas in.. contact... *crank crank crank* Hmm... nothing.. *crank crank crank* nothing... adjust timing... *crank crank crank* BANG!! Fire!.. adjust timing... *crank crank crank* cough cough.. Little ether.. *crank crank* spit sputter... revs up a little.. stalls out.. Getting dark, time to call it a day..

I kinda feel silly giving the play by play.. but it was so good to hear it run.. even if only for 30 seconds or so, and I bet the first time it's ran on it's own in a lot of years. Still have a carb issue, as well as some other problems that I hope will somewhat correct once it runs a few.. (I know some rust and crud is on the valve seats in a cylinder or 2, likely causing what seems to be a weak draft through the carb)..

So, again, Needing a fuel tank for my treasure.. anyone got any ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Brad

Got a picture of it? I have a spare from a 35SP combine in great shape if it would fit, it is one of those oval tanks, thinking around 10-15 gallons maybe.

This is just to get it going for actual use right? Run her with whatever you have lying around that will hold fuel. Picking corn in her work clothes, sounds great.

No, but have a used parts book, one for 4 cyl,
one for 6 cyl. $10 incl postage. Chuck

It's a square tank.. but if I can't come up with something better, a oval one would suffice.. I'm not super picky at the second, I just know I'll have a little bit of money in it to fix it.. I don't plan to make expo quality restore on her, just hit a few local shows and hopefully plant a acre or so of wide row corn to cultivate and pick

Chuck, is it $10 for both, or each? Either way I surely would like to get the 6cyl one, provided it's in at least usable shape (Don't need to be mint or anything, just as long as pages are intact and readable, as I'll photocopy it for shop use as needed)

Send me a email at gydefamilyfarm (at) hotmail (dot) com with your address and such and I'll get a postal money order headed your way.

OH and UPDATE: Today we played with it some more.. got her started up.. she decided to finally run on her own.. ran it for near a hour off and on.. She still starts hard, but I think we got most the crud blown out of the manifold.. the transmission and drive seems to be working.. and we kicked the unit into gear, most everything wants to turn, but got one chain needs attention..

Brad

Something else I did once on my MH 72SP combine was coat the outside of the tank with that fiberglass mesh and epoxy, then seal the inside with "Red-Kote" tank sealer.

We did something similar on a 410 combine.. worked out well (so far...)

I have a neighbor guy that welds up anything.. he has a "system" he uses and he claims he can weld gas tanks safely.. I'm going to see what he says about it this afternoon.. but I'm sure I'll be looking at $100 or more if I go that route.. (I know, in the business it's hard to put a price on saving something, but sometimes you got to justify it a bit)..

Brad