# I wasn't prepared for this



## aguysmiley (Jul 2, 2004)

I never thought we would get much snow where I live now. I was wrong. We got dumped on. I'm not sure how much we got here. I'd say 15" to 20". It's hard for me to say with the drifting. 

The tractor that I was planning to use to clear snow with isn't ready yet. So I put the blade and my ag tires on old smokey. No wheel weights or chains, but I was able to get some old automotive flywheels on the homemade hitch. 

I took off out the garage door with the blade down and made it about six feet. It didn't take me long to realize I wasn't going to be able to clear all the way down the hill to the house, so I decided to get my truck out before I had a snow bank to deal with. 

The truck made it up the hill before it got stuck. We dug it out and I backed up for another run at it. Well I couldn't see to well backing up due to the winter clothes I was wearing. About the time I realized I was about fifteen feet off the driveway, I heard a big thump and I was stuck again. I couldn't think of anything in the yard that I could have hit, so I got the truck moving again and back on the driveway. This is when I realized we had a small tree in the yard. The tree didn't survive. But the second run at the driveway was succesfull and the truck was out.

So I spent the rest of the day trying to clear a path from the garage to the road. It wasn't going well, the sun was going down and I was about to give up and get the shovel. This is when my girlfriend came out to make sure I hadn't frozen to death. With the help of her and the boy, we made quick work out of the rest of the driveway. I pushed as far as I could and the would skim the top of the pile with shovels.

We had the drive cleared enough to get a vehicle through, but I wanted it a little wider. So I worked on that a while. The tractor seemed to be running better than it ever had. I knew this engine was in sad shape and in need of a rebuild. I really didn't want to use the tractor until I had time and money to do that, but I had no choice. When I was done with the driveway and heading back to the garage, the rod let go. The sound and the smell told me right away that it was really bad. This morning I picked up the pieces of the block and rod out of the driveway. 

Heres a couple picks. One of my stuck truck and one of the tractor before it died.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v511/aguysmiley/SC00167.jpg">

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v511/aguysmiley/SC00153.jpg">


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## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

Ahhhhh yes, now I remember why I moved south!

Just hold on , spring is right around the corner 

Sorry to hear about the motor.


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## guest2 (Dec 27, 2003)

Ken
I know you feel bad about the engine but from looking at that snow I don't think you had much of a choice.

Is that the 853? If it is a used engine should be cheap enough. Only thing, just get the engine or else it means another tractor to fix! 

What were the signs the engine was going? Was it smoking, knockong or both?


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

I don't know why, but they always seem to run really great just before the "THUMP".


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## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

> _Originally posted by bontai Joe _
> *I don't know why, but they always seem to run really great just before the "THUMP". *


Ain't that the truth.........my old Crapsman vac cart with 8hp tec was running like a champ when it let go........same for my log splitter.


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## aguysmiley (Jul 2, 2004)

She was definately running strong right there at the end. I'm really not that upset that it blew. It's just a briggs. It always smoked pretty bad. I topped off the oil every time I filled the gas. 
I would have come up with something else if this was one of my Wisconsins. I don't want to lose any of those.

Yes that was my 853. I'm going to use the 650 now. It has a real good briggs 8 horse in it. It has a broken axle, so I think the 850 is going to donate a transaxle. This way I'll have the controlled differential. The 853 doesn't have that. 

I haven't landed a job yet, so I'm trying to do what I can without spending money. Hopefully I'll have better luck after the holidays are over.


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