This past week here in Central Missouri was mostly cool and damp. It was too wet to move dirt from the garden, and Nanner was busted again anyway, so I wasn’t able to make any progress on that project.
Last Wednesday Pops hauled the 30-days-new busted starter to the MF dealer and swapped it out for another one. I installed that on Nanner Thursday after work and the dang thing wouldn’t hit a lick. Pulled it off and bench tested - it liked to jump off the bench it spun so hard. OK, now what? I started methodically testing voltages and ground connections on the tractor and was getting some odd and inconsistent voltage readings on one of the two starting batteries. I disconnected that one and pulled it out. It checked a couple volts low... moved it again and it read 12.6v just like it should... that’s when my dim bulb came on... intermittent cell in one battery... the two batteries are connected in parallel so the second battery was holding the no-load voltage up to spec, but when the current demand came from the starter motor there was none available. $411 and change for two new batteries at the NAPA store solved that problem. The old batteries were almost five years old so I’d say I got the good out of them.
With conditions too wet to move dirt I decided to work on the driveway yesterday afternoon. I was making good progress and then had a front tire go flat. Pulled the wheel off and grabbed the little red Massey out of the shed at Pops’ and headed across the hay field to load the flat in the truck... AND then the front drive axle on that tractor started popping and crackling in the differential. 2nd time since Pops has owned that tractor for the front diff to crater. I stopped where it broke, rolled the flat tire/wheel out there and used the loader to put the tire in the truck bed, then hooked the flatbed trailer to the truck and loaded the tractor for a trip to either the fix-it place or the trade-in place. I think we’re both leaning towards trade-in but we’ll have to compare the cost of repairs with the cost of replacement before we make that decision.
Just one more of the joys of being a home owner...