Re: (ET) E15 with broken back. *sigh*

[Max Hall <mhall maxmatic com>]

I broke the back of one of my E15s a few years back hauling a boiler out of a neighbors basement. I limped it home, (my bother and I stood on the deck to maintain drive belt tension!) loosened the drive belts, straightened it up, wirebrushed (and kissed it with the angle grinder in a few places) and welded some 1" angle steel along the lower edge of both sides... not a continuous bead, but just a nice connection every 3" or so. Then applied some lovely rusty metal primer, snugged the belts back up, and got back to work.

The top of the tractor deck is likely strong enough... all you have to do is beef up the lower edges of that same stamped part... a few holes in the vertical surface, or even scallops out of the bottom edge, won't matter with fresh steel in place. Good for another 40 years.

Love those tractors. Love 'em.

-Max

On Wed, Sep 8, 2010 at 4:36 PM, Chris Zach <cz alembic crystel com> wrote:

This morning I went out and rescued an E15. Sad little thing, was parked under a tarp for about 4-5 years after all the main parts were removed. I did get all the parts as well.

So I trailered it home and used my E20 to pull it into the yard. Not a very happy tractor; the rear battery box had rusted to the point of collapse, the front panels were rusted, the electronics had all been cut out and was in a jumble.

All simple stuff to fix to be honest. New box and sides can be installed with rivets and ease. Elec-trak wiring is simple and since all wires are numbered re-assembling it would be a snap. Welding on side fenders should not be a big deal.

However stepping on the rear accessory bracket mount causes the mount to go *down* a bit. Which means the back/frame is probably rusted too far.

*sigh* Any thoughts?

Chris

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