Alice Refinements

[KennyP]

Way back in January, I made another mount for the back part of the frame as I could feel some flex when I applied down pressure. I had tack welded this in an now need to take the rea mount of to finish welding it and do some paint touch up.


So yesterday I finally got Alice out and drove her around some. She welcomed the ride by firing right up. Hadn't ran her much so far this summer.


Here is where the welding will be done. Can't do it without removing the mount which means taking the whole rear end back out.


I got started with the tear down yesterday. I have a few other things I am looking at doing while I am this far into her, all improvements to her operational ease.


I am contemplating changing the lift cylinder to a Ford unit with 1/2" more stroke for the 3-point. If I do that, it will be before I take the tractor all apart. Another thing is adding 1" spacers to the fender mounts. This will give me more room for hydraulic hoses off the second spool of the valve. Stay tuned, this all may take a bit.

 

[KennyP]

Started the day on the lift cylinder exchange. Wanted that done before moving on. Here's the cylinders:


I just painted the 'new' one. It has a rod end with a hole instead of the clevis. Took the old cylinder out and stuck a piece of 3/4" round through the mount holes of both cylinders to see what length difference there was. The new one is about 3/8" longer when closed. So that meant a change in my 'fulcrum'.



Cut the old mount part off and made up a new one. It's really fun to weld a square cut piece to a round surface and keep your angle right. But I 'got-R-dun'.


Put the cylinder and fulcrum in and hooked the lines up. Worked the cylinder and found the rod end was hitting the frame. I'll address that when I pull the frame off. The cylinder is nearly at full stroke when it hits.

 

[KennyP]

I went out this morning and cut the spacers. Put them in the one side to see how much they would help. Got finger clearance with the tire, so I'm going for it.




Went back to the cylinder clearance issue. Got that taken care of.




Then tore the main frame out of the tractor.

 

[KennyP]

Here's the other pic!

 

[KennyP]

I'm waiting for paint to dry enough to turn parts over. Thought I'd post an update. First off this morning, I coated the 1" blocks for the fender spacers.


I'll probably attach these to the fender mount like I did the 1/4" spacers from before. I used Black weatherstripping glue on those. Then if I need to get them back apart, it's easier than cutting welds.
I painted the box early too. It's dry to the touch, but probably needs a day or more to cure up good.


Got all the welds done and cleaned up on the main frame work. Shot some primer where needed and let that dry.


Flipped that over so the bottom was up and put a coat of paint on it.


I needed a relief cut in the 3-point bracket to get the full stroke from the cylinder. I made 3 cuts and bent the metal out. Once I am sure this is enough bend +, I'll add some metal and weld the cuts back in.

 

[KennyP]

I just checked and the humidity is a 36%, so that should help the paint dry. Bad part is the feels like is 105° (41C).

 

[KennyP]

I was able to turn the frame over and apply new paint to it.


All the parts are out under the sun to dry.

 

[Bill56]

Looks very good. That's some nice work!

 

[larrybl]

Wow, Lots of work, but the upgrades will be worth it.

 

[KennyP]

Wow, Lots of work, but the upgrades will be worth it.

I think Alice will be happy!

 

[Cub 1650]

Alice is looking good!

 

[KennyP]

Alice is looking good!

That's a sweet looking machine! Tell us more!

 

[MH81]

I am sure Alice is enjoying the refinements and upgrades.
Thanks for sharing

 

[olcowhand]

I think Alice will be happy!

And Kenny happy as well!

 

[Shorty]

Alice will be looking good. Did she give permission to dissect her in public tho?

 

[MFDAC]

Yeah putting "stripped down" pictures of Alice out for everyone to see could cause her to be mad? Makes us that enjoy tractor porn happy though!

Thanks for detailing your modifications so well! Lots to learn from posts like this!

DAC

 

[KennyP]

Think I'm going to give the paint another 24 hrs. dry/cure time. Might help when putting it all back together. Have to find other things to do today!

 

[KennyP]

well, so much for drying time. We just got a small shower, humidity will stay up all day! Rain chances for today are now at 80%!

 

[MH81]

Even with the humid weather, the time you're giving the paint is still a good plan. Besides, who wants to work in the rain?

 

[KennyP]

I gave in! Got Steve to help put the main mount back on the rear end and then align the front section of the tractor. Once that was done, I could handle the rest.


Started attaching things back in.


I have right at 14" of lift at the end on the 3-point. Alice is all back together and took her out for a drive. Gonna Have to readjust neutral, though.


Got a good old OK thunderstorm moving in.


Lots of cloud to cloud lightning, very little rain though.