Saturday, June 24, 2017

My Very First Tractor

Commandment #10:  Thou shall not covet they neighbor's goods.  
No problem, unless you're talking about this:

Actually, the subject matter isn't Cole, it's what's behind him.  A vintage lawn tractor sprinkler.  A what?  you say. 
A sprinkler that propels itself forward with a water driven gear box. 
It's actually a +50 year old cast iron Nelson.  I have coveted it for four years.  This Mother's Day, it left its yard in Birmingham and cam home with me.

Firstly, the gearbox is shot.  I crack it open, spilling a colony of angry fire ants in the workshop.  Complete tear down, it is then.  The rust is so deep, that it takes many evenings of hand sanding to find the bare metal.

The rear and the front wheels' axles are so far gone that they need to be drilled out.  It's at this point that I wonder if driving back to Birmingham and tossing it in the wood line where I found it would put an end to this nightmare.

Once on the road to perdition, you may as well keep going.  After complete sanding, everything is treated to a preventative rust reactant.

Priming the body parts.

Original finish colors.

Doesn't matter how good looking it is if it doesn't perform its job?...

The new gearbox, initially wouldn't engage.  I was preparing to pitch it into the car for the haul back to Birmingham.  No yard art allowed.  If its not functional, Jamie considers it a pistol target.  At the umpteenth moment, she moves.  
It work!  My first tractor in motion πŸ’—πŸ’—πŸ’—πŸ’—πŸ’—πŸ’—