Another 982 refurbish

[jstorma]

I've been working on this 982 for over a year now. Last year was spent disassembling the tractor and cleaning bolts and parts. Over the winter I've been taking parts to a local powder coating shop. Had also been collecting parts that needed to be replaced due to damage.(from the previous owner) Spent quite a bit of time in the basement over winter pre-assembling parts.

Started by pulling the transmission from the back of the garage to install the new springs on the trunion. I've already taken the time last fall to clean, repair the trunion, painting, and replacing the hydro to transmission case and rear cover gasket.



I asked a few days ago on the main forum about the large spring floating in the assembly. Donald Tanner spoke up and said he put some washers between the spring guide pins and the spring on his to take up the slack so I went to the hardware store and bought some grade 8 washers. Having one washer still made the large spring loose so I added another on the opposite side. This put some compression on the large spring but left it, thinking a little tight is probably better than loose.



Installed the damper plate on the shaft and found the edges of the slot were hanging up on the repaired area of the arm. Ground the top of the repair down until the damper didn't catch on the repaired area in its full movement in both directions. Installed the cam pivot bracket leaving the two bolts loose for the time being. Put some grease on the damper shaft and installed the damper. Greased the control cam plate shaft and installed the plate along with the control rod which connects to the clutch pedal. Installed the two black brackets on each side leaving the 12 point headed bolts loose. I left these loose to help fold them in while I'm putting the frame back on the transmission assembly. Leaving the old filter on until later in case of an oops moment. Don't want to damage the new filter! Removed the top two bolts on each side of the axle carriers so they are not in the way for installing the frame. All ready to be installed in the frame.

 

[jstorma]

Did a lot of work today. Put the frame upside down on a piece of carpet. Installed clutch pedal, implement rock shaft and arms. I remember reading on here sometime ago about using an air hammer chisel to install the coil pins. I gave it a try and the pins where in no time. I would recommend if using this method to have a tool made for the end to keep the chisel from vibrating off the pins and also to cover the whole diameter of the pins. The 3/8" pins on the rock shaft only went in about a third of the way. Then I had to tap them in with an old drive shaft. Once I had this done, I flipped the frame over and installed the frame over the transmission keeping the control rod in the upright position so it did not get under a cross member of the frame. Started the bolts in the frame for the transmission. Then jacked the trans up with a floor jack and added the brake calipers, and the newly powder coated rims and Tru Powers, torquing everything. Once this was done I removed the floor jack and lifted the front of the frame and added jack stands with a piece of wood under the frame. Then I proceeded to tighten and torque per the manual all the bolts going though the frame and transmission. I did have a problem getting the wrench on the top right side 12 point bolt. But I found a thinner box end wrench and was able to slip it between the frame and bolt to tighten by hand.

 

[jstorma]

Next I worked on installing the hydraulic cylinder lift plate, hydraulic cylinder and pin. I also installed the rock shaft cam and cam knob on the side of the frame. Dry fit the control rod to the clutch pedal.

Installed the rear IPTO drive shaft and bearing housing. (Rebuilt the housing last fall with new bearings.) Greased the spline shaft on the transmission output and coupling. Greased the IPTO shaft and installed bearing housing torquing down the bolts per the manual. Note in picture 5, there is red paint on the breather. Prior to painting I put grease over the breather. I wiped it off before installing the IPTO bearing housing.



Then I installed the front axle with a new bolt. I found the castle nut was no where near the cotter pin hole. I installed the steering lever and a new pivot pin. The steering lever was badly worn, even though the engine constantly leaked oil all over it. I couldn't get a new one, so i had it bored out and a bronze bushing installed. I also added stainless grease zerks to the axle and components. I know this is expensive, but a lot of the zerks were froze up. This is because they were not greased as often as they should have been. I know I'll be greasing a lot, but wanted to make sure they were going to work and won't rust.



Inserted and greased the front axle spindles. Note the left spindle is for a power steering set up. This tractor came with a home made loader bucket. It was very hard to steer with the manual steering. (I have made plans for a loader and it will be another project in the near future.) I purchased a complete power steering set up and will be installing that as well. Since the front end components were wore badly I've purchased some upgraded heaver ball joints that I will be installing. The ball joints for the inner tie rods which connect to the steering lever are grease-able and have seals to keep foreign matter out. Only bad thing is the zerks do not have a check in them!

So I'll be remove those and installing stainless ones with the checks.



The power steering spindle has too much end play. I made a trip to the local hardware store and purchased some machine bushings to take the play out. Also purchased a machine bushing and bronze thrust washer for the axle bolt. Re-installed the axle bolt with the machine bushing and thrust plate. Tightened the castle nut, squeezing the channel plate together until all lateral play was removed and the axle still teetered easily. This moved the castle nut properly over the cotter pin hole. Cotter pin was installed.

When I get the heavy duty bearings for the front wheels I'll be installing them next along with the tie rods and power steering cylinder and brackets.

 

[jchamberlin]

Nice work, Jim. I'm enjoying your write-ups, you've given my lots of ideas to use when I get my 782 apart for painting.

 

[jstorma]

Thanks Jeremiah, If you or anyone else out there following have any questions or tips, please speak up!

Tonight I went back out in the garage to work on installing the new heavy duty wheel bearings I bought from a local industrial supply place. They are shielded on both sides and greased for life. To install them I put the tires on an old piece of carpet just in case the edge of the rim would to come into contact with the concrete so I wouldn't chip my new powder coated rims. Started by greasing the bearing OD's with a film of grease. I used a wooden mallet and a socket to insert the bearings. The socket needs be in contact with the OD of the bearing and nothing else, otherwise you will damage the seals/shield or damaging the bearings and races themselves. The technical proper way to do this is to use an arbor press and press them in, but the average home owner like myself doesn't have this kind of equipment.

While striking the socket with just enough force to move the bearing in the bore of the rim. I found it goes easier and faster to rotate the rim about 180 degrees after each strike with a few 90 degree turns in between. When you strike the socket you are doing it at an arc/angle. So by rotating the rim at each strike the bearing is going to be pushed straighter to the rim bore and will not distort the parts as badly.

Once I had both wheels done I greased the OD of the spindles and installed the tires with the washers and bolts. I want to point out the bolts holding the rims on the spindles have a slot cut in them. There is also some kind of material inside them. I believe this maybe a nylon insert so the bolts do not thread out. The inserts on these bolts were mostly gone. There was still some holding power but decided to put some medium strength thread locker for an added safety measure. (sorry the picture is blurried)

Next I installed the tie rod ends. The outside tie rods I purchased are a heavy duty ball joint. As you can see from the below picture #11 the grease zerk will hit the frame. I knew this was going to happen from the get go, but was going to pull it out, plug the hole, re-drill the other side and pop a new one in. I turned the wheels the opposite way and found the ball joint hits the axle before the spindle arm hits the stop on the axle. Picture 12. Doh!

Moving on, I thought maybe once I install the power steering cylinder The minimum and full stroke of the cylinder might not allow the ball joints to come close to the axle so I can still use them. After doing this and playing around with the toe in and adjusting the power steering cylinder rod ends I noticed when the wheels were turned all the way to one extreme and then to the other, the tie rods going from the spindle to the steering lever seemed to be at such a bad angle so when turning in the the opposite direction, the tie rod could bend in half because it would try and rotate the steering lever in the wrong direction. I don't know if I did something wrong here but will have to get the proper tie rod ends for the spindles and try again another day.

Adjusting the tie rods, steering cylinder, hydro, and brakes are going to be the most time consuming steps of this re-assembly.

 

[jchamberlin]

Jim, sorry to learn about the issues with the HD Heim joints. If you're interested, McMaster-Carr carries self-locking Grade 8 bolts similar to the ones you pictured, check out McMaster-Carr Catalog Page. The parts are expensive, $0.50 ea for 1/4"-20 and $1.00 ea for 1/2"-13 . . ..

 

[jstorma]

Back at it last night. Jeremiah, I did see those but thought I'd give the loctite a chance. If I have problems I'll be getting those.

Got the correct tie rod ends for the spindles. It was a lot easier the second time around setting up the toe in. Also installed the power steering cylinder. Pulled out the non-check zerks and installed the stainless check zerks and greased them. Everything is looking good with the steering now. One thing I need to address at some point; with the power steering cylinder; there is suppose to be some small pieces of metal welded to the front cross member with some bolts and nuts that allow the front axle to have a shorter pivot. Without these, the1/2" bolt head on the spline spindle steering arm will hit the underside of the frame and will damage the frame and might even break the steering arm at some point. I've got a way figured out to fix this. I might only have to fix it in the one direction but will need to play around with it some more to find the limits of the steering cylinder ball joints.

Next I installed the brake cross shaft for the turning brakes, and the brake pedals. I used my air hammer chisel again to install the coiled pins in the slotted bracket and also to install the left brake pedal. Installed the tie rods and the return springs. Adjusted the brake pads within the correct clearance range of .030"- .035" I used hair pins for the connection of the tire rod to brake lever and used anti-seize on the threads of the clevis's. I found when I first got the tractor the brakes were not adjusted. It was a pain to get the cotter pins out and once I did, the rods were hard to turn because of the rust. I'm hoping this will make it much easier when the brakes need to be adjusted. Since the pedals were powder coated, I needed to remove the rivets holding the clutch lock and dual brake pedal lock. If I left them, the powder coat would "lock" the parts together and they won't move, so I use a 1/4" bolt, and nut with nylon insert for the clutch pedal lock. I also installed a plain washer and two wave washers between the pedal and lock. The washer helps keep the two parts from coming in contact with each other. Having the nylon nut was kinda pointless because the bolt is on the short side and didn't really lock well. I was also finding during the operation of the lock, the nut would un-thread. Next size longer bolt and I would hit the frame once it was tightened. So again, I used loctite on the bolt and nut. I'll find out tomorrow night if this will work. For the brake pedal lock I'm going to be doing the same except I will be using a machine screw and a nylon lock nut. The machine screw head will go under the rubber pad and shouldn't show through the pad like a sore thumb.

The small linkage which hooks the the clutch pedal to the brake shaft was always installed when the transmission was put in. I did not install the cotter pins or the clutch spring as of yet, because I will probably need to adjust the clevis for the control rod. Please note, the control rod end that fits in the cam of the hydrostatic pump is forged or stamped offset. It appears from the manual that the back of the offset should go towards the pump. I don't know if this will make a difference but it's what I noticed taking it apart and what the pictures in the manual show.

 

[jchamberlin]

Jim: Once more, a very detailed write-up which I shall fully appreciate only when I try to do the same job. Regarding the lock nut issues, I like the center lock nuts available from McMaster-Carr and not too much money; forum member and fellow North Carolinian Wayne Shytle likes the single-use stover lock nuts. Both solutions are effective with the same thread length as a standard nut, if locktite proves insufficient. I've always found that the light-duty "blue stuff" is good for "sealing" a nut to a bolt for static, torqued-down applications (like closure plates on a Kohler, or front covers to industrial water pumps); the heavier duty "red stuff" can virtually weld two parts together, given the right conditions. (I once encountered copious quantities of the red stuff on a motor shaft that should have received anti-seize instead --I'm not sure the parts were re-usable when we finally got the gearbox off.) It should be used sparingly. Curious to see how your solution works out, I'm staying tuned . . .

 

[jstorma]

Thanks you, I'm glad you are finding this helpful. I really appreciate your suggestions. I did put in a large order from Fastenal and McMaster over the winter. Just didn't add any center-locks because I thought for sure the few I would need I could get at the local hardware store. I was wrong though. But I was looking this last weekend at a large multi-state home improvement center and did find I could get 1/4" and 5/16" center locks. I purchased a 5/16" for the clamp on the steering arm. I had already used the loctite #242 ( blue, medium strength) on the threads for the clutch and the binding post I used for the brake pedal. Was going to use a 1/4" machine head but the binding post head was thinner. After about 24 hours I moved the locks about 20 times. Everything is working great. If it does give me any problems; you bet I'm going to get those center locks!

This weekend I started to install the new wire harness, and installed the battery box. The front right bolt for the battery box received an external toothed lock washer for the negative cable. I left the bolts on the loose side because the battery box is slotted and once the fender is installed the battery box might need adjusting after the bolts are installed in the fender for the foot rest.

Next I was going to install the pre-assembled pedestal and dash I worked on this winter, but after a little thinking; I decided to take the chance and adjust the control rod and install the clutch return spring. I decided to do this because once the pedestal is installed and the rest was assembled before I could run the tractor to adjust the cam stop for the neutral position of the hydro, it will probably be a bear to try and get the clutch spring on. It's much easier to do with everything out of the way and there is more room. So I did my best educated guess on adjusting the control rod. I made sure the side pins on the control rod did not bottom out in the area of the cam for the end of the stroke. It does mention this in the manual. I put a flat washer on both sides of the spring to help keep it on the linkage before retaining it with a cotter pin. Did the same thing with the other end of the linkage for the brakes. I hope it works out.



As a safety precaution; when installing extension springs always use a vise grips, channel locks or a good pliers. Keep your body away from the coils and hooks on the ends. This has not happened to me or anyone I know, but you can pinch your skin in the coils or rip your skin open by the hook if it ever slips and retracts.

Following this, I installed the new clutch safety switch, and connected the wiring for it and the small wire clip to the frame cross member. I installed the power steering bracket, power steering assembly leaving the bolts loose and installed the pedestal over the power steering column, bolting it down with the 4 required bolts. Then I tightened and torqued the two power steering bracket bolts going though the frame and the three top lock nuts and bell washers on top the power steering unit to the bracket. Then I proceeded to tighten down the carriage bolt on the dash bracket. Next I then started to thread the wiring thought the dash to there respective terminating areas. On all the connections I use die-electric grease. I purchased new PTO clutch switches and was a little upset I did not get the washers or the nut included. After looking at the parts look up I found you have to purchase them separate. Then I found they were no longer available. err.... So thankfully I still had the old ones, cleaned them, painted them and installed them.


A note on disassembling and re-assembling the dash. To take off the plastic dash, you need to remove pretty much everything from the dash pedestal. This includes the hydraulic lift handles. You can not remove the dash while the hydraulic handles and hydro control lever are still in the dash. The plastic dash should be one of the first things you install when you are putting it back together.

 

[jstorma]

On another side note with the power steering column and hand pump. I have to give thanks to Paul Rosessler and Steve Blunier for replying to my questions about rebuilding the power steering hand pump. I took the unit to a local Parker service center. They told me it was manufactured by Parker but they could not match all the numbers that were stamped on the side of the unit and it is probably proprietary for cub cadet. He did have a soft seal rebuild kit but would not guaranty it would be correct. So I'm taking Steve's advice and leave it alone until it leaks. I did spend time cleaning the column tube and painting it. I sure hope this unit works and does not leak.





At this point I was itching to test out the new wire harness, I installed the battery since it was charged. I used terminal protector on the battery post. Made sure the negative cable was tightened down to the frame/battery box and made sure all exposed wires were not touching the frame. I used my multimeter to check for power at the loose connections for the head lights, and checked to make sure the PTO and selector switch and relay were working correctly. Everything is good, but noticed my maintenance minder was not working. My old one was shot and had purchased this one from a Craig's list ad. We did test it out and I swear it worked at that time, but now it's not after sitting in my home office for eight months. Checked for voltage and the ground at the connector and everything is good. Checked for continuity between the two terminals on the maintenance minder and they are open. Tried tapping it with a screw driver handle hoping to jar something loose, but it just won't go.

Too bad, the lens and trim were in really nice shape. Guess I'll be getting an hour meter at some point.

 

[jchamberlin]

Jim: Sorry to hear about the Maintenance Minder. Your refurbish is moving into the restoration category in my book: before you know it, the tractor will be BETTER than new --great pics, too.

 

[kide]

Jim:
I'm amazed that Jeremiah didn't refer you to the thread he put in the Machine Shop section on taking a MM apart.. If the points are stuck open, you will not get continuity ..... I'd give it a look before giving up..

 

[jstorma]

Gerry, I checked out Jeremiah's MM in the machine shop section. Jeremiah, I take it you had to cut the trim piece with that die grinder in the picture? Did you send it somewhere to get repaired? Any idea on how to get the contact points to close without taking the meter apart?

This past week I installed the hydraulic valve and hydraulic hoses. I painted the metal lines. During installing the metal lines I found out my tightened down valve plate was not in the right spot for the metal lines. I had it all perfect so the handles did not run into the dash. I had to loosen the column and the valve plate and tweak everything to make the lines fit properly. I left this all loose until I could get the lines running from the transmission installed which I had to wait to paint. I installed the engine mount plate. At this point found out there are 3/8-16 bolts in the holes above the front axle. Now when the axle pivots it hits the bolt head and the bolt head on the steering arm does not hit the frame. So this takes care of that problem.

On another day, I pressed a new ball joint into the new coupling which fits over the splines on the transmission shaft. (Why doesn't MTD do this for you?) using a socket and a c-clamp. Painted the coupling and installed it on the shaft with grease. I used a c-clamp to install the pin though the coupling and shaft. I didn't use the air chisel because I didn't want the vibration to damage the bearings in the pump. It would probably cause fretting on the bearing races.

I also assembled and painted the drive shaft. I had the drive shaft made from 4140. The old shaft was badly bent and it wore the coupling I.D.'s larger and they were very loose. I checked the parts look up and had seen they were not available anymore, so I had a pair made. I didn't know it until after but I guess you can buy the ones for the 782/682 and have the bore drilled larger and the coil pin holes enlarged. Oh well. I set the drive shaft in the frame though the tunnel cover area.

Next I ran the steel hydraulic lines to the power steering and valve assembly. The old rubber cushions for the lines were in ok shape so I reused them with new ty-straps. Next I re-tightened the steering column and valve plate to the steering column after tweaking it so the handles don't touch the dash, At this point I figure there should not be any reason why I would dent the new transmission filter, so I installed it using motor oil on the gasket and filled the transmission with new Hy-tran. Then I installed the linkage the runs from the hydro pump speed control lever to the cam control plate. I used the heavy duty hemi joints on the ends of the linkage. I might have the linkage installed incorrectly, but with dry fitting the drive shaft and without having the engine installed it looks like the fan is going to hit the linkage. So I put the joint on the hydro speed lever on the opposite side. I'll look into this more once the engine goes in. I also had to carefully persuade the steel hydraulic lines above the frame, so they would clear the fan as well. I also installed the 3 point lift linkage to the hydraulic cylinder rock shaft assembly with a new pin, machine bushing, and cotter pin.

I really dislike the spring used for the QA bail on the 82 series. On my 782 the spring seems to always come off the bail if you catch something with the QA42 thrower or with the push blade. I actually lost the spring once with the push blade. I would really rather have the old style spring where the spring holds the bail open. The 82 series tries to keep the bail closed at all times. There's advantages and disadvantages to both when trying to finagle an implement in the catches. So I installed a stainless 10-32 machine screw through the frame where the attachment point is for the spring with a nut and then sandwiched the spring end with a nylon lock. (Jeremiah, I did look for a center lock, but could not find one at the store!) Then I pinched the other end around the bail.

Notes: I replaced the washer for the steering arm. The one I previously installed had less surface area and was soft. I changed it out with a grade 8 which is larger with more surface area and did not bend when I tightened it down. I had also painted it.

On the steel hydraulic lines; I had primed them with Case IH red oxide primer 1131655N I ran out of the IH red 2150 or 991012N paint so I purchased Rust-Oleum farm equipment paint that matched International red from a nearby store at half the price. It does not match, its darker, more like Case IH red. It might match if you machine faded to a darker color and you were touching it up. But then again, the IH tractors I've seen that fade dark are not glossy.

I'm sure this will cause some debate; I had purchased a 2.5 gallon jug of Hy-tran. I know guys like to bring there own container and have it filled from bulk drums. It's suppose to be cheaper that way. I was told a long time ago, the additives in the oil can separate out after sitting. I'm not a chemist, but this does make sense. So I always shake the container before pouring any out.

 

[jchamberlin]

Jim: Another fine write-up! I never got my Maintenance Minder working; I tore it apart to see what was inside. As I recall, I think I found some of the supporting structure broken and loose creating an alignment issue between key parts.

I'm not sure they make 10-32 center lock nuts; what you used will work fine for this application, I would think.

Again, fine work all around.

 

[jstorma]

It's been a month since my last post. I've been busy around the house doing some other projects and didn't have much time to work on the 982. During this past month I've been able to install the 3 point lift arm bracket, and installed the lift arm with the pin and new coil pin. In order to do this I had to dis-assemble the pin connection from the other end of the lift bar then near the lift cylinder and re-attached afterwords. I put some graphite and grease on the pin connections. I used an old drive shaft from the 1650 and a wooden hammer to install the coil pin.

When I took the 3 point lift arm bracket off the tractor the rock shaft was almost rusted tight to the brackets. The grease zerks were badly rusted and never looked like they were greased. Of course I was able to loosen the brackets with some rust penetrate and a BHF, working them back and forth I was able to loosen them until they operated satisfactory. I installed new and tried to grease the new stainless zerks with my grease gun, but found the tip of the grease gun was too big and the weld was in the way of the gun tip to properly fit over the zerk. So this was the reason they were never greased. I had pulled the zerks out and used an air tool and a burring tool to grind the weld back away from the zerks. After this I got out my detail paint brushes and some paint and touched up these areas along with the bolt heads on the transmission. Next day I installed new stainless zerks and was able to finally grease the joints.



Sometime later on I installed the PTO Belt drive assembly. I found out you need to install the idler arm and assembly first. Then the electric PTO clutch. Finally the actual bearing/pulley assembly for the splined drive shaft. If you install the bearing/pulley assembly first, you will not be able to get the electric PTO clutch on the shaft. I installed the old belts because I don't have a tiller yet. Some day when I get a tiller, I'll put new belts on. After installing this I found the clutch pulleys did not line up well with the bearing/pulley and idler pulley. I had to take a few measurements and shim the PTO clutch pulley about 1/8". I had to dis-assemble everything and install the proper shim behind the rotor part of the clutch. This does push the rotor away from the field coil but found after re-assembly the clutch still operates as it should. Belts are now much better aligned at this point.

For some reason the old idler was badly pitted in the v-belt area and a chunk of steel was removed. Since I could not get a new replacement from cub cadet. I had one made. The bearing inside is special and is no longer made by the bearing manufacture. I spoke with a SKF engineer we use at work to find a replacement. I ended up using a different bearing with a larger I.D. and had a bushing machined with a shoulder and another spacer so it would work as previously designed.

I did paint the electric clutch without painting the two friction surfaces that mate together. But did clean them with an air tool and wire wheel. I did not paint the field coil at all. Just wiped it off best I could. I didn't want to use any mechanical or chemical means to clean it because I didn't want to damage the windings or the epoxy surface that looked all intact. The brake part of the coil was missing when I purchased the tractor.

Since the steering column grommet is NLA, I had some molded out of some weather resistant rubber. I did have an angle molded in them so they wrap around the column better. I also Installed the steering wheel.

I probably won't be able to get back to this for another month or two or maybe even three. I have plans on re-powering the tractor with a different engine which is the next step. The Onan engine that was in it needs a total overhaul and is expensive to do so. I have re-powered my 782 with a 20Hp Honda a few years ago and have been happy with it.



A few questions I have for people that are following this. Which center cap for the steering wheel is the correct one for an IH build 982? I would like to clean my grille, and was wondering what products I can use that won't damage the surfaces or paint?

 

[dday]

Jim - really enjoy your write ups and pictures. Looking very nice. I'm jealous of your rear PTO and 3 pt lift - wish I could find those for my 982. Concerning your question on the steering cap - no definitive info I can find, but I have two IH advertising brochures that show the steering wheel cap from a distance, and you can see it is not the IH style (your middle one in picture). However, you can't see it well enough to say its the left or right in your picture. I put the the one on the right (concentric circles) on my tractor. Can anyone else add anything to this?

As for the grille, I tried to clean the exhaust dirt off mine with paint thinner, but back soot didn't come off. So I sanded, primed, painted black, then masked the vert bars with drinking cup straws, then painted whole thing with silver paint. Turned out great - see my "982 refurb project" thread. Good luck.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Jim, I believe the steering wheel cap on the far right would be for the 982. The one on the far left would be for the 1x2/3 the one in the center would be for the later 100.

From an early 82 series brochure:

I'm jealous of you, Dennis M. and Mike M., three great 982 refurbs!

 

[jstorma]

Dennis,

I've been peeking now and then at your 982 thread. I do like your straw idea for painting the grille. You did a great job on that tractor. Hope mine turns out great too.

Kraig,

Thanks for posting the sales brochure photo.

I'm glad you guys seem to be on the same page as far as the steering wheel center cap. I've been doing some searching since I last posted and can't come up with anything. All photo's on the Internet are too far away to make anything out or is at the wrong angle.

Hopefully I'll be back at this in the next two or three months to finish this up.

 

[jstorma]

Was not able to get back to the 982 this fall but I did find this for it:

Can't wait to get the tractor going so I can use it!

 

[ksharpe]

Very nice looking tiller! Great find!

Thanks for posting all the pictures and detailed progress reports.