7-3-01: We brought Pat's Farmall M over for the Homer Township 4th of
July Parade. We drove down to the parade sign in area, and I stopped to
get the gas tank filled up. When I tried to start the tractor after
filling the tank, it wouldn't start. Pat gave it a turn or two, and that
is when I noticed that the magneto wasn't 'clicking' like it should from the
impulse drive. I asked a couple of guys to give me a push and the tractor
started up, but didn't run very well. The engine barley had power to move
in low gear. I drove up the road to a friend's farm and left it for after
the parade. I wound up walking behind Pat carrying a sign about our Will
County Thresherman's Association show.
7-04-01: I took the magneto apart and found that the impulse spring was
broken, along with one of the coil retaining springs. Also, one of the
coil retaining springs was missing, as was the felt wiper for the cam and the
cover gasket. I emailed Todd at Heritage Equipment with my parts
order. The tractor had been getting a little harder to start in the last
year, but I thought it was me just having a hard time. I now think the
problem was that the magneto coil wasn't in full contact with the frame, which
weakened the spark.
7-6-01: We spent the afternoon at Burn's Woods binding the wheat for
our Thresherman's Show.
7-7-01: We went to Crown Point Indiana for the Lake County
Agricultural Show. A friend of Carolyn's from where she works and her
husband were there, and we had a good time visiting with them. It is
starting to get hot, but we had a pretty good time.
7-13-01: We went to the 2 Cylinder Expo in Berrien Springs today. We
met up with some friends that we email via the ATIS John Deere email list.
Paul Ostrander, Ken Reese, Charlie Cook, Michael Ostrander and Duane Larson were
there, as well as Pat Noonan. Click here
for pictures of the group and Paul's GP tractor display.
7-14-01: We started working at the Burn's Woods show site for the
Thresherman's show, which is one week away. Lots to do, as the show site
is presently nothing more than a cow pasture.
7-19-01: The show started today. Everything was ready, and we
can take it easy for a while. Carolyn's brother David, and his two sons
Kyle and Garrett were able to visit us and come to the show. The boys had
a great time riding in the parade and watching the show. Both boys were
able to ride along and helped steer the tractors in the parade. The heat
index got up to 105 today.
7-20-01: Lanny Gray, a friend of ours and a Director at the North
Eastern Two Cylinder Club came to the show with his John Deere model A and his 2
bottom plow. It was awfully hot, but we both went out to the field to play
a little. Several of the guys came along with their tractors and plows,
and we had a dozen plowing at one time after an hour or so. We adjusted
the plow some, but the hitch needs to be brought over to the right quite a bit.
7-21-01: Lanny Gray and Ken Reese came today, and both headed out to
the field to plow, along with Dan and our tractor and plow. They all had a
great time, but the heat brought them in after a couple of hours. We put
the corn sheller in the auction today. I didn't realize it, but there are
quite a few folks who are looking for one of these things, and two of them were
there today. The corn sheller sold for $400! Still pretty hot, but I
hear that the parking lot got full before lunch time, the first time in quite a
few years, so the show will be a success in spite of the heat. I bet the
auction was a major contributor to the crowd.
7-22-01: After the show we loaded the tractors and everything else and
headed home. We ran into a pretty good thunderstorm on the way, and the
temperature dropped to a reasonable level by the time we got home.
here
to
go to August, 2001.