At WMSTR we have a U Moline with a loader that is know as the Cadillac. Last summer the starter gave trouble and the ring gear was ruined. After the wood cutting weekend (see mbkerk's thread "it takes fire to make steam" in the boiler room) in November the Cadillac was hauled to Larson Welding in Fargo. A crew removed the loader, split the tractor and installed a new ring gear. On Jan 20 a group of Rollag volunteers gathered at the shop and went to work putting it back together. While one crew worked on the Cadillac, another crew put a rebuilt engine in to a Lull forklift and a third crew was working on a lumber transport. About 16 members were at the shop starting around 8:00am until 5:00pm. Through out the day others came and went, at any given time as many as 26 - 30 people could have been in the shop working.
Notice in the first picture the radiator, hood, air cleaner and exhaust are not in place. Vern is looking at the camera and Mark wisely shut his eyes to avoid the flash. The "ring gear" crew had gotten as far as putting the two halves together, but had not gotten any farther.
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Here we are, ready to start. The pump on the front has a short drive shaft that runs from the crankshaft so we can have live hydraulics for the loader. We put the short hose on so we could run the engine and keep oil circulating in the pump. For the initial start up we didn't bother to put on the muffler. As long as we were in a warm building and we could get close the tractor got new point, plugs and condensor.
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We are getting ready to put the loader back on. The loader was made by the Lull company and was painted the same color as another piece of Lull equipment we have on the grounds. Mark, wearing the sweatshirt, just finished taking the exhaust pipe off to get it out of the way. Vern's head is just visible between the tractor and the loader. Jerry M. and Jake can be seen through the loader.
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The loader is being slipped into place. We were fortunate to have two overhead cranes (notice the two control boxes). We could lift the front and lower the back to slip the loader frame under the rear axle. In the background the lumber hauler mentioned above can be seen. It has a Hercules six cylinder engine, the entire thing is up on "stilts". We were told it had headlights, brakelights and turn signals so it could go down the road at 40mph.
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Almost done. The loader is back in place and secured. The exhaust pipe is back on. Mark was building a bracket to help support the muffler. The wheel weights need to be put on and a large counter weight that isn't show still needs to be reinstalled in the back. We got everything done except the weights. That was finished up the next day.
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5:30 and quitting time. I didn't take any pictures of the "debriefing meeting". When we came this morning we had three non-running vehicles. When we left we had three machines that could be driven out under their own power.
Jerry
Notice in the first picture the radiator, hood, air cleaner and exhaust are not in place. Vern is looking at the camera and Mark wisely shut his eyes to avoid the flash. The "ring gear" crew had gotten as far as putting the two halves together, but had not gotten any farther.
Here we are, ready to start. The pump on the front has a short drive shaft that runs from the crankshaft so we can have live hydraulics for the loader. We put the short hose on so we could run the engine and keep oil circulating in the pump. For the initial start up we didn't bother to put on the muffler. As long as we were in a warm building and we could get close the tractor got new point, plugs and condensor.
We are getting ready to put the loader back on. The loader was made by the Lull company and was painted the same color as another piece of Lull equipment we have on the grounds. Mark, wearing the sweatshirt, just finished taking the exhaust pipe off to get it out of the way. Vern's head is just visible between the tractor and the loader. Jerry M. and Jake can be seen through the loader.
The loader is being slipped into place. We were fortunate to have two overhead cranes (notice the two control boxes). We could lift the front and lower the back to slip the loader frame under the rear axle. In the background the lumber hauler mentioned above can be seen. It has a Hercules six cylinder engine, the entire thing is up on "stilts". We were told it had headlights, brakelights and turn signals so it could go down the road at 40mph.
Almost done. The loader is back in place and secured. The exhaust pipe is back on. Mark was building a bracket to help support the muffler. The wheel weights need to be put on and a large counter weight that isn't show still needs to be reinstalled in the back. We got everything done except the weights. That was finished up the next day.
5:30 and quitting time. I didn't take any pictures of the "debriefing meeting". When we came this morning we had three non-running vehicles. When we left we had three machines that could be driven out under their own power.
Jerry
