Yanmar Tractor re-assembly

 "Every hour be firmly resolved... to accomplish the work at hand with fitting and unaffected dignity, goodwill, freedom, and justice.

Banish from your thoughts all other considerations.

This is possible if you perform each act as if it were your last, rejecting every frivolous distraction, every denial of the rule of reason, every pretentious gesture, vain show, and whining complaint against the decrees of fate.

Do you see what little is required of a man to live a well-tempered and god-fearing life?  Obey these precepts, and the gods will ask nothing more." - Marcus Aurelius

After replacing the Mercedes oxygen sensor and already pretty dirty, I decided to tackle the tractor again.  I previously posted about it HERE and HERE.  It's been split in two parts for several months now.  The plate just in front of the flywheel had come loose from the engine.  This allowed the front and rear of the tractor to become misaligned, which stalled the engine due to friction.  

Part of the delay with repairing it was waiting for parts to arrive at the vendor and then get shipped here.  Part of the delay was my heavy work schedule last year, and part of it was the holiday season.  

What I really wanted was to get the three jack stands back!  It took nearly an hour to fit the two halves of the tractor together.  The elevation had to be the same, as did the tilt of each half.  Difficult to slide them on jack stands, while keeping the alignment, all by myself.  Once the two halves got close, I was scared to death that one end or the other would slip off a stand and cut off a finger or two.  The whole arrangement was pretty wobbly until I got it together.

After getting it the two halves of the tractor back together, I was comfortable that it was now stable enough to get underneath and finish scraping off the remnants of the old oil pan gasket.  Then I reinstalled the oil pan and added 2.0l (2 US quarts) of oil.  We are getting close to having a tractor!

Below:  Looking like a tractor again!  I still need to connect hydraulics to the pump, connect some electrical, replace the battery, add fuel, and take a look at the far steering knuckle.  The knuckle has way too much slop in it - which is why it cracked the rim.  But hey, I got the jack stands back!

Once spring gets here, I'll wash it down with Simple green and hit it with the pressure washer.  Then hopefully do some landscaping and eventually sell this beast.  I've been pondering getting a cargo container.  This, and a few other items that are taking  up floor space would go well in one.  Part of a cargo container would probably make an awesome paint booth too!

Update 4 February 2022 - the tractor got a little more love today.  New battery, and o-rings for the hydraulic pump suction and discharge fittings.  Neither are connected just yet, although the battery is now on a trickle charger.