45 Our Advertisers Appreciate Your Business Better Farming | July/August 2024 Tractors, Trucks & Growing Grain I SHOULD HAVE FIXED THAT! A summertime checklist to keep things rolling on your farm. By Ron Settler I’m sure we have all had breakdowns that were preventable if only we had looked a bit closer and taken more time on our maintenance. Here are a few forgotten items we should always check but are often neglected. Hoist hinge pins In the old days, a truck hoist was only a dream, and you would empty the truck with a shovel. Now, we take hoists on trucks for granted. What about the hinge pins on the hoist? Years ago, my father-in-law told us about a tandem truck that went into the grain elevator to unload. Unfortunately, one of the hoist hinge pins had fallen out. As the box was lifted, it slid sideways and the box with 500 bushels of grain in it destroyed the scale and several other items. Luckily no one was hurt. Make sure to check those pins. Some of them have grease fittings. Make sure the cotter pins or bolts that hold the pins in place are in good condition. Check the hinges for signs of cracking. While you’re at it, check the other parts under there and service as needed. Lube up the control cables, too, so they keep working well. Air cleaner ducting One of our 4690 Case tractors was really getting a bit wimpy. Everything was in good shape and it was only 35 years old. It should run fine! The air filter was clean, and the air filter indicator showed no problems. Our son Dan was checking things one morning and found that the air cleaner duct was three-quarters full of straw and miscellaneous debris. Once it was cleaned out, voila! It started running as it should. Make sure your air cleaner ducts are clean. Our other 4690 has a screen over the intake for the duct so it didn’t have that problem, but you still have to check that screen. Differential and gearbox levels We bought an SUV (new to us) and as I was reading about the issues this particular model had (after we bought it, of course), I learned that the transfer case was problematic. In my mind, part of the reason was the design. It only held three-quarters of a litre of automatic transmission fluid (ATF) and it sat right next to the exhaust system. The big problem, though, was that nowhere in the owner’s manual did it mention a transfer case or the fact that at some point it might be a good idea to see if it had any oil in it. Luckily, our guys in the shop managed to suck out the old ATF (there is no drain plug) and fill it with fresh oil. And it is working well … so far. Ron Settler photos This truck has a hoist pivot that's come out on one side. This debris was found in the air intake of our tractor. An ABC fire extinguisher filled with dry powder.
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