More info on the weird tractor

From FarmerTom:

My dad had a 4020 propane. I hated that thing too. Not because it was
a bad tractor, but because I was still a kid then, and I was scared of
the refueling process.

You hook up a line from the liquid valve of a standard propane tank,
to the liquid intake valve on the tractor, then you hook up a return
line from the vapor side of the tracor to the propane barrel,

One gallon of liquid propane expands to 13 gallons of propane vapor.
When you bleed the vapor away from the tractor into the propane barrel
the differential in pressure allows the liquid to flow into the
tractor tank. As the liquid takes the place of the vapor the tank is
filled from bottom to top with liquid.

The tractor runs on both vapor and liquid, you start it on the vapor,
then when it is running well you switch it over to the liquid.
Obviously there is much more energy in the liquid than in the vapor.


My dad was plowing with his, running on liquid, when it got hot
enough that it melted the pistons.

We bought a diesel engine to replace the propane one. Best thing that
ever happened to that tractor. We still have it, use it most every
day, on the home farm. Has a Buhler loader on it.

This fella has a workaround of some sort.

Just makin' sure I had your attention, Farmer Tom.

The wife and I saw this propane tractor on our recent trip through Mississippi. It's the wrong color, but still interesting.

While we are on the subject of ugly tractors, a friend of mine just bought an early 70's 4010 for $10K with a 10 foot Woods bushhog. Sounds a bit privey to me, but he says it has 1300 hours on a rebuid and a new transmission. What do you think, FT? He seems to think it's been only used for mowing.

JACmail From an Old Friend

So, I commence to googling and discover you're a motorcycle
expert farrier mechanic blogger. Well done.

Me, I'm a standard re-treaded programmer waiting for my
job to eventually end up in India, and living in the outer
suburbs, repleat with minivan.

But before I dribble any catch-up email, I've got a question
about how to avoid junking my 1989 Ford Ranger. Seems the
brake line has cracked behind the fuel tank. The shop here says
it's horribly difficult to remove the tank 'coz the bolts are all
corroded over with 18 years of rust, and the tank might break,
and this and that and it's not much in parts unless they destroy
the tank, and yada yada, don't I just want to junk the truck.

The answer is no, I want to keep the truck and not go broke.
Can't they just run a separate brake line from the master
cylinder all the way back to the rear proportioning valve, and
leave the gas tank alone?

They won't do it, so I'm going to coast it on home tomorrow
and replace the line myself (well, with some help of a real mechanic).

Waddya think? New truck isn't in the budget. This is just a toy
for occassional messy stuff.

Carl

How's it goin'!

A good old beater truck is worth a lot for its utility function as well as a backup transportation source. I have my doubts about the fuel tank falling apart. Those bolts will come out with some penetrating oil maybe. It's the hangers/straps you might rip apart. All of this is easily replaced/ fabricated by the son of a man who possessed every issue of Popular Mechanics from 1950 to date.

I would unhook the fuel lines and empty the tank. No smoking! Flush some H2O through it or maybe even leave a few gallons of water in it for safety's sake and commence to working on those fasteners. I know you have a dremel tool with a cutoff wheel. Male sure you have hosed off any fuel you spill from the driveway before gettin' nasty with heat and sparks. Worse comes to worse, there's a new fuel tank on ebay for $79.00. Get everything out of the way, fix the brakes properly (you don't want to deal with unforseen wear on a brake line routed to hell and gone) and then start worrying about how to put it back together. You might have to tear shit up to make the repair. Get over it.

Good to hear from you, old man!

JACIII

The Folks You Run Into

We ran into this fella with an ADV sticker on his BMW F650 Dakar. He's a professional balloon twister. What a world.

Finally! The New Kawasaki Concours and The New SwampThing

Based on the ZX14!!!

200mph with Hard bags! Biker cocaine, man. Pure biker dope.


Swampy is not quite as rugged lookin' but the new brakes and swingarm with (I assume) modernized components should make up for it.