Old Winch, Old Tractor

admin

Long story.......If ya got a little patience, it'll all come together.Back in the day(I'm 52, so I can legitimately say that). when I used to enjoy hittin' the odd happy hour, I ran onto this dude.Guy was sort of a travelin' doctor.  Here we got small hospitals.  Lot of the specialists come in from Tulsa and OKC on a weekly basis.  Sort of like the old time "circuit riders".  Travelin' preachers, travelin' doctors.  Same same.Well anyhow, this ol' boy liked his mixed drinks.  At the time, I was hangin' in the beer joint pretty regular. 'Bout the time of the divorce.Guy liked to talk, and so do I, as y'all know.  Got to be buddies over a coupla months.  Guy'd see my truck out front of the bar, and stop fer a few on the way back to Tulsa.One night, the conversation shifted to a backhoe he had bought to do foundation work.  Yeah, the guy bought a backhoe to do some work on his house.  I guess anything's possible when ya make good money.By now, the guy knew what I did for a living.So, anyhow, he tells me that the backhoe's broken down.  It's too expensive to repair, and he'd be ok if somebody just came and got it outta his back yard.  Probably too much to hire a company to remove it.  Haul it off, and it's yours.  Lot of bull**** gets said over drinks at the bar.  Take it for what it's worth, and have another.I was interested, damn sure I was. We swapped numbers, and I figured that was the end of it.  Never called the guy, figured it was bull****.About a week later I got this call on the answering machine.  Do I still want the backhoe?Well, hell, goddamn right I do!Called back, got the address (fancy part of Tulsa, not too far from the river), and went to check it out.Goddamn backhoe was sittin' around a foot from a stone wall, paralel to it.  No way to winch it onto a trailer because the front end was up against the house, and there were trees behind it.I wanted that backhoe!Remembered this half assed winch I bught at a farm sale a few tears back.  It was just a drum, frame, and the axles.  No cable, hooks, or mount.  Got it for $35.  Sat out back of the house for years.Told the guy OK.Got home, and figured a way to mount the winch so it would work anywhere.The back end can be secured to anything you can get a chain around.  The front is set up to be able to use a snatch block on a double line pull.  Cable is 5/16 US made, same with the hook.  Snatch block is foreign made.  I welded the big nut on where the original hand crank had been.  It was a pretty big gamble.  I had no idea whether this thing was up to what it had to do.  Bought around 140 feet of grade 70 binder chain at Tulsa Rigging, and got after it.  Hooked the chin between 2 trees, and put a clevis in the middle, and started to pull off the front end of the backhoe.  The cable was so tight it lifted the winch off the ground with the line of pull.We had to stop, lift the front end of the backhoe every 3 feet with a high lift jack in order to take the stress offa the front tires.  They tried to fold under as the thing was bein' dragged sideways.The bucket, and hoe, were lifted with come alongs becaquse the motor was toast.  Lots of fun.Finally got it swung around so I could get a straight line pull onto the trailer.  Had to keep stopping to jack up the front end to turn the wheels to keep it goin' straight up the ramp.Finally got the damn thing loaded.  The hoe was stickin' over the back edge of the trailer.  (You've seen my gooseneck, it has set back axles, so the load has to be pretty far back to keep it off the truck).Cool, we're on the way!!The guy's back yard was on the down side of a pretty good hill.  I got the whole stinkin' mess movin' just below the hill, and turned hard left to climb the hill.  All hell broke loose.The goddamn come alongs holdin' the hoe snapped.  The entire hoe hit the ground just behind the trailer.  End of story, and probably a good thing.  If it had snapped on the highway, someone might have been killed.The ol' Dodge stalled, and said NO NO NO NO.  I unhooked the trailer, and went home for some serious thinkin'.Went back the next day, and noodled, and scratched my ***.  Multi tasking.Decided to drop the hoe, and come back for it later.  Easy said.  Tomorrow's another day.Next day.Knocked the pin out of the cylinder, disconnected the lines, then started lookin' at the bottom pin holdin' the whole thing to the tractor.  Not real good.Which way will it fall??  Lot of weight there.Took the retainer ring offa the pin, and hit it.  Nothing.Hooked the truck back up to the trailer, and sorta jogged it back and forth.Got out and started whackin' the pin again.  Pin started movin'. Great, but what's gonna happen when it falls out??The last whack on the drift was real scary.  You're standin' on the ground with a pretty big piece of iron over your head.  Which way is it gonna fall??  It's half on the ground, and half on the trailer.It didn't move a goddamn inch.  It just stood there.Got back in the truck, and pulled forward,  It goddamn for sure dropped then.Brought the tractor home, and went back for the hoe the next day.  The winch was stout enough to to lift, and drag, the hoe up over the edge of the trailer and onto the deck.  No ramp, or rollers.End of story is that the machine is still sittin' in the pasture until I can get the money, and time, to get it runnin'.ABOUT THE TRACTOR:  The guy pulled the pan, and caps, and left them sittin' in the mud.  2 spun bearings.I ran onto the guy a couple of months later, and he asked me if I had it runnin' yet.  I didn't have the heart to give him a straight answer.He had had a bad stroke in the interim.  Bad paralysis.  Speech problems.I'd like to get it goin' just to say to the guy, if I should meet him again, that I did it.  Makes me feel guilty every time I walk past it on the way down to the lower pasture.  It's been quite a few years. Attached Images"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:The backhoe that's part of the story Attached Images"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:And a coupla' more Attached Images"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Good luck Sam! I'm still lmao, good story. Sounded like a real f-show tryin to get that thing home
Reply:Eyeball Engineer got me to thinkin' about it.  Forgot about the stuff I had layin' in the yard.  Didn't wanna post something at the same time as someone else."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Cosmetically it doesn't look all that bad, spun bearings are a bitch tho.Back in the day(I'm 52, so I can legitimately say that).
Reply:Samm,Try HyCapacity.  They have reasonable rebuild parts that are OEM quality.  It shouldn't take too much to fix this unit.  It looks like it was nearly new.  Turn the crank and a couple of rods.  Boil the block and "presto" you won't need that fancy tree piler.  In fact the $$ you spent on it for metal would have gone about half way to fixing the engine, I'm guessing.Esab Migmaster 250Lincoln SA 200Lincoln Ranger 8Smith Oxy Fuel setupEverlast PowerPlasma 80Everlast Power iMIG 160Everlast Power iMIG 205 Everlast Power iMIG 140EEverlast PowerARC 300Everlast PowerARC 140STEverlast PowerTIG 255EXT
Reply:I'd be interested in knowing how the backhoe controls work.  I've never ran anything set up like that.  Mostly just case 3 lever or 4 lever (extendahoe) with foot swing, and wobble sticks.
Reply:Originally Posted by handtpipelineI'd be interested in knowing how the backhoe controls work.  I've never ran anything set up like that.  Mostly just case 3 lever or 4 lever (extendahoe) with foot swing, and wobble sticks.
Reply:Originally Posted by lugweldSamm,Try HyCapacity.  They have reasonable rebuild parts that are OEM quality.  It shouldn't take too much to fix this unit.  It looks like it was nearly new.  Turn the crank and a couple of rods.  Boil the block and "presto" you won't need that fancy tree piler.  In fact the $$ you spent on it for metal would have gone about half way to fixing the engine, I'm guessing.
Reply:Don't give up on the crank. It can be turned and undersized if it it isn't broken. It also can be "metalized" and built up.Esab Migmaster 250Lincoln SA 200Lincoln Ranger 8Smith Oxy Fuel setupEverlast PowerPlasma 80Everlast Power iMIG 160Everlast Power iMIG 205 Everlast Power iMIG 140EEverlast PowerARC 300Everlast PowerARC 140STEverlast PowerTIG 255EXT
Reply:Interesting.... let us know what you decide to do.Miller Thunderbolt 225Millermatic 130 XPLincoln HD 100 Forney C-5bt Arc welderPlasma Cutter Gianteach Cut40ACent Machinery Bandsaw Cent Machinery 16Speed Drill PressChicago Electric 130amp tig/90 ArcHobart 190 Mig spoolgun ready
Reply:Cool story Sam,I'd say the winch paid for itself with that job.Mack
Reply:At 52 you are still a kid. I have a son almost as old as you. Now that winch, it's old. And the tractor ain't no spring chicken.
Reply:Sam, Just for your info a Major overhaul kit(sleeves,bearings, bushings, gaskets etc.) for that is about $775.00. Inframe kit is about a $100 less... I had an older MF 3165 hoe for awhile and I used that for everything, great for pushing brush piles, made a bale spear for( never had to wrry about counter weight). The best thing about those industrials is you can't hardly tear them up and usually the hydraulics are much better...C-ya, JimLincoln Power Mig 255Hobart Stickmate AC/DCMiller AEAD 200LECutmaster 81
Reply:looks like you need a winch to pull the lever of that winchI bet it works well thoughjust weld the crank up, I just did a bbc and had the #1 journal welded up, it was about 75 bucks extra on top of the machining and balacingLast edited by eyeball engineer; 12-10-2008 at 07:22 PM.