After looking at the bent frame on our Degelman dozer frame on the FWA tractor it was making us kind of sick to our stomachs. Our local welding shop guru guy even said 'oh my'! !!!!
They fabricated a new mounting plate for the front of the tractor because ours was collapsed badly. We had some problems with that before as it used to come loose. We redrilled the holes in the front of the tractor frame a few years ago using a big magnetic drill - I think we went from 3/4 inch to 7/8 and retapped or maybe I am off on the sizes. We then made some pieces to tie back down along the side frame rails like they use on big 4x4 tractors. Everything was done so it looked factory. On the big bolts on the front of the tractor we used grade 8 with red loctite and took it one step further and used a two piece friction lock washer called a Norlock ( not sure if anyone has used these but it you ever have something that wont stay tight this it the Shhidthz!).
After about a day of heating with the rosebud and jacking, pulling, pushing, drinking coffee and playing with the dog we have it straight! I am going to push a bit then once everything relaxes and fatigues it will get a final tweak and some fishplating and gusseting will get done (symmetrical both sides so it looks good) and in the summer get stripped down and repainted. It will be like new. We are absolutely and positively **** about equipment not being in pristine condition.

 

nice to hear. i don't want your welders bill!!!

 

You had to bring that up didnt you!!!
Actually he is very reasonable with the work he does and is also a close personal friend and neighbor. We do lots of bartering back and forth on some things - he has a few cows and often my brother or I will be the guys he calls when he needs a hand so it goes both ways. We have a group of half a dozen neighbors here who will work together in a manner that has been called amazing by others in our area. A bit of communication, planning, and a genuine care about having a few people in your area who will be around as opposed to the competitive environment you find in other areas is the key to making this work. Nobody keeps too close a score and business transactions are still that; however, nobody in the group has any reluctance or hesitation to call because they feel like they may be annoying or inconveniencing someone else. The rule is that if you feel you are giving more than you are taking then speak up!
This really works well when doing things like processing cattle - a few extra guys sure makes the day go better. Dad and some of his friends call it 'just like old times' amd it really impresses the old boys when they see some of us 'young' fellas enter into the fourth generation of good neighborly relations!
Heck, we just usually use it as a reason to choke down some pizza and chase it with a few beers.

 

Great to hear it`s done, keeping up expensive equipment is the only way.
Good neighbourly relations mean alot and help to ease the burden.

 

thats awesome!! i work that way with my neighbor too... he was our landlord until we bought the place and there's a pile of perks to it for both of us.

 

Cant beat that

 

I like the way you guys do your dealing out there man, good to hear you go tit all fixed up too.

 

thats a good saying Prep...

 

Gotta love it when typo works out your way!!

 

Evil typo....

 

lol...it was funny anyway. cool how my 5:30 eyes could pick that up...

 

Maybe we all have evil minds....

 

i'm afraid so... as humans we lose the innocent capacity by about 12 or sooner. after that its a very special person who thinks, does, and sees absolutely no evil.

 

Lol that is funny