Well I went out to plow some snow this morning. Made 1 pass down the driveway and when I shifted into reverse and drove backwards the tractor started vibrating. Huh? Never had that happen. Drove forward all was normal. Drove backwards and vibrated again.
Visual check and all looked normal.
Another visual check, still looked normal. Backed up a bit more, all of a sudden the tractor is not level. Huh? Visual check #3 and the rear tire has broken its bead and is dead flat. OK this sucks, at the far end of the driveway, snow mound in front of me, rear blade has snow tucked up tight and a flat tire.
OK now what? Well I used the hydraulic top link to put some down pressure on the rear blade to take a bit of pressure off the flat tire, scooped up a bunch of snow in the front bucket to add some weight to the front end and use the front tires as a fulcrum point to further reduce rear weight. Balanced well enough, I was able to drive back (more like creep) to the garage. Of course all my tools were in the workshop, not the garage. Damn.
Get the tools and get MOST of the studs off, but 2 are stuck. No pry bar/breaker bar. Try a hammer against the socket wrench. Of course its cold outside, hands are really cold, so every blow against the wrench also hurts like hell. 10 minutes later I'm sweating but the last to are free. Not sure what kind of pressure they had on the air hammer at the dealership but damn it was about 100# too high.
The wife got her car out. Mine is not, but I should be able to get out. Tire is in the rear so I can take it to the shop. Damn.
Why do breakdowns always happen on the days when the weather is bad?
Visual check and all looked normal.
OK note to self, don't drive backwards
Make another pass and all seemed normal until I got to the end and needed to do a 3 point turn. Again started to vibrate when backing up, but this time was even worse.
Another visual check, still looked normal. Backed up a bit more, all of a sudden the tractor is not level. Huh? Visual check #3 and the rear tire has broken its bead and is dead flat. OK this sucks, at the far end of the driveway, snow mound in front of me, rear blade has snow tucked up tight and a flat tire.
OK now what? Well I used the hydraulic top link to put some down pressure on the rear blade to take a bit of pressure off the flat tire, scooped up a bunch of snow in the front bucket to add some weight to the front end and use the front tires as a fulcrum point to further reduce rear weight. Balanced well enough, I was able to drive back (more like creep) to the garage. Of course all my tools were in the workshop, not the garage. Damn.
Get the tools and get MOST of the studs off, but 2 are stuck. No pry bar/breaker bar. Try a hammer against the socket wrench. Of course its cold outside, hands are really cold, so every blow against the wrench also hurts like hell. 10 minutes later I'm sweating but the last to are free. Not sure what kind of pressure they had on the air hammer at the dealership but damn it was about 100# too high.
The wife got her car out. Mine is not, but I should be able to get out. Tire is in the rear so I can take it to the shop. Damn.
Why do breakdowns always happen on the days when the weather is bad?