My activities for the month of stardate 20488 are/is

[Smucky]

Man just spermed in the wife. Man don't know where she is at on cycle
But ah man felt good
But ah man

[Smucky]

Trying out the new burn barrel

[Smucky]

New burnt barrel

[Smucky]

Took down the Christmas tree today. Was hoping it would make it to March. They just don't make em like they used to

[Smucky]

Gay week

Anyway, I guess I am feeling about 90% of normal

Got a stack of bills that I usually handle at the beginning of the month, but didn't do it this month due to flu

And then need to get busy with IRS tax filing stuff.

Only brought in $12,000 last year

[Smucky]

Still screwed up from the flu. I guess I am running at about 95% now

Was going to spend a few days pulling the cylinder head off the old tractor. But never got around to it

And for now, I guess take a nap.

[Smucky]

Man I can't seem to ever get out of bed before noon. Really screws up the day

Anyway, taking a nap now

[NinjaPoodle]

Man I can't seem to ever get out of bed before noon. Really screws up the day

Anyway, taking a nap now

Cats sleep 16 hours per day. Cats are never wrong.

[Smucky]

I think I screw my wife too much. It is really starting to take up too much time

[Smucky]

Well didn't get out of bed until after noon again

Now it is after 6pm and still need to "start my day" and finish up some programming. Which now basically means review and bunch of AI slop since programmers aren't supposed to write code anymore

[Smucky]

Ran out of hay, even though I saved twice as much as I usually do from that last cutting. Random dude down the street selling some though.

[Smucky]

Going to try to fix the leaking head gasket on the old tractor for today and tomorrow and probably next weekend too

[Smucky]

Removed the air cleaner. Good enough for today

[NinjaPoodle]

Going to try to fix the leaking head gasket on the old tractor for today and tomorrow and probably next weekend too

PXL_20260221_214748069.jpg


PXL_20260221_230155307.jpg

Why not, it shouldn't be that hard. So when you at it, you should.

1. Remove the head
2. also remove pistons
3. Resurface the cylinders
4. buy new pistons rings
5. Buy new crankshaft bearings, and piston bearings.

Before you actually remove the head you should measure the compression in order know if any of the cylinder has a bad compression.

A complete rebuild.

[Smucky]

Pulled the exhaust manifold

[Smucky]

Pulled the water manifold. Never seen a motor with a water manifold

[Smucky]

And done for today

[NinjaPoodle]

Pulled the water manifold. Never seen a motor with a water manifold

PXL_20260222_224845849.jpg

The water manifold seems to connect to plugged holes.

You need to clean that, a lot of rust and carbon build up.

[NinjaPoodle]

And done for today

Better that coding with Claude

[NinjaPoodle]

Also, this is an engine out job. Doing this with the engine out is difficult. Do you have an engine maintenance stand, preferably a rotating one?

[NinjaPoodle]

Your engine rebuild will be the best series here at Mastabeta.

[Smucky]

Pulled the water manifold. Never seen a motor with a water manifold

PXL_20260222_224845849.jpg

The water manifold seems to connect to plugged holes.

You need to clean that, a lot of rust and carbon build up.

It is a diesel with iron head, so there will be rust. But they are not plugged, there is a slight gap before the "wall". Hard to get a pic. Also just a weird design

[Smucky]

Going to try to fix the leaking head gasket on the old tractor for today and tomorrow and probably next weekend too

PXL_20260221_214748069.jpg


PXL_20260221_230155307.jpg

Why not, it shouldn't be that hard. So when you at it, you should.

1. Remove the head
2. also remove pistons
3. Resurface the cylinders
4. buy new pistons rings
5. Buy new crankshaft bearings, and piston bearings.

Before you actually remove the head you should measure the compression in order know if any of the cylinder has a bad compression.

A complete rebuild.

The plan is, pull head.
Get it milled.
Put it back on with new gasket.
Hope water stops leaking into oil.
Lower sell price from $12k to $8k

[NinjaPoodle]

Going to try to fix the leaking head gasket on the old tractor for today and tomorrow and probably next weekend too

PXL_20260221_214748069.jpg


PXL_20260221_230155307.jpg

Why not, it shouldn't be that hard. So when you at it, you should.

1. Remove the head
2. also remove pistons
3. Resurface the cylinders
4. buy new pistons rings
5. Buy new crankshaft bearings, and piston bearings.

Before you actually remove the head you should measure the compression in order know if any of the cylinder has a bad compression.

A complete rebuild.

The plan is, pull head.
Get it milled.
Put it back on with new gasket.
Hope water stops leaking into oil.
Lower sell price from $12k to $8k

Why sell it when you restore it. Good to have second tractor. Real men have two tractors.

[Smucky]

Why sell it when you restore it. Good to have second tractor. Real men have two tractors.

Yes I have thought about that. A back up would be nice. Even thought that I could use it to help restore the relationship with my son. Like we could both work together to plow up the back field. Might be cool. But I hate that old tractor so much.
My grandpa found the front loader for it in the news paper like 20 years ago. Bought for like $1k and then had a neighbor weld it on. So there is no "taking it off" which makes any kind of engine work difficult. But the bigger issue is even without anything attached to the loader, it is probably 1500lbs, and is way too much weight for that size of tractor.
You have to run at least 45psi in the front tires (which say 40psi max) just to keep them from looking flat. So it rides like absolute hell. The new tractor only needs 15-20psi in the fronts, it feels like you ride on air in comparison ( ).
Also since the loader is welded on, the welds are constantly cracking so you have to take it back to the neighbor every few years for touch ups.

The old tractor just reminds me of my grandpa's complete unreasonable cheapness which is not how I want to remember him. He spent two months everyday screwing with that. First had to get it welded on, then had to find a shop to custom make the hoses which they constantly made them the wrong length or put the wrong fittings on them. Had to buy the control valves. Once it was all "working", realized the cylinders (all four of them) were all bad and leaking so had to get new cylinders. Also since all the hoses were custom made, there was no way to properly mount or route them, so they were left flopping around for the last 20 years and rubbing on stuff. Now several of them have been springing leaks.

So it was like two months of labor and probably $3k in 2005 money. He could have sold the tractor for $5k and took that $3k and probably bought a used john deere with a front loader for the same price. The whole thing is just dumb.

I dunno maybe I'll keep it, don't really have anywhere to put it. And I hate just having equipment laying around unused and rotting