My first track loader!

[boone]

Last Saturday I finished it up with the two plates that will hold the bolts to the weight. The remaining welds looked decent.







Sanded the rest of the metal and primed it.




Painted it with a Ford saftey red which turned out a little bright.

 

[boone]

Bolted down the weight. All total this should add around 200 lbs to the box.




Ready for work...

 

[OldandWorn]

Thanks for the pics boone. The first implement I bought was a box blade but I'm not sure how much use I will get out of it because of my rocky ground.

 

[boone]

Your welcome O&W. I get a little carried away with the pics sometimes. I know what you mean about some rocky ground. The section we're in now essentially has a rock floor. We're scraping off the surface rock with the loader, but it's just rock underneath. It's a challenging area.

 

[OldandWorn]

Watched several youtube videos and tried to pick up some tips.

Have you come across Jody at "WeldingTipsandTricks"? He is very watchable and has lots of great video's. His website has the videos grouped so if you just want to watch MIG or other processes they are easy to find.

 

[boone]

Yes, his was one of the many I watched. The main three I watched were Jody's "WeldingTips and Tricks", theprorancher's basic mig welding and miller's training videos mainly for horizontal fillet welding. Nothing beats experience which will come with time, but those videos gave me a start. It's funny, my twin brother did this same modification to his box about 6 months ago except with a slightly different setup because he used a different style weight. He did his with a big stick welder. Of course we had to compare welds. The winner will be whomever's weight stays on the longest.

 

[OldandWorn]

The winner will be whomever's weight stays on the longest.

I can't speak for your brother's, but yours will most likely end up as part of a Mars vacation shuttle or something before that would ever happen.

 

[boone]

I can't speak for your brother's, but yours will most likely end up as part of a Mars vacation shuttle or something before that would ever happen.

LOL! I hope you're right. That's one vacation ride I wouldn't want to take.

 

[boone]

Did a few maintenance items to the tractor I bought last year. So far it's been a decent machine for the money. Sharpened the bushhog blades on the 8' cutter to get it ready for the mowing season this spring.





We've been trimming low limbs on the trees that are within striking distance to the cab and canopy tops. Knocking off big dead limbs with the loader.

I took a chainsaw and cut some of the trees in our piles so they could be tightened up. They are super dry. Should make a great fire this spring when it's safe to burn. These are the last of my pictures for awhile.

 

[boone]

cont...

 

[gr79]

brought back a memory

Haha, you brought back a blast from the past. "Katy, a brave and untiring tractor, who pushes a bulldozer in the summer and a snowplow in the winter, makes it possible for the townspeople to do their jobs." Had to look it up as I don't remember it, but in the process of searching, I found a book written by the same author in 1939 that I had all but forgotten reading as a child. I loved to read "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel". Remember that one?

I recall doing this puzzle at a very young age many times in the 50's .
Probably what uncovered or started my fondness of mechanical machinery.

 

[boone]

Probably what uncovered or started my fondness of mechanical machinery.

Same here. At least in some small way. I still need to order those books before they go out of print.

 

[davis1676]

nice pics boone. looks like you got a nice place around there, plenty of room for all the man toys. Thats what my wife calls them.

 

[boone]

Thanks davis. Your wife has hit the nail on the head. The sandbox and toys just get bigger...along with the headaches when the toys break.

 

[boone]

Thorn tree eradication

I took this picture in 2010...



and we're still finding them...

 

[boone]

Sinkhole

Found this hole a few years ago at the base of one of the hills. The opening is about 18" in diameter and always looked deep but I never stuck my head in to have a look see...afraid of what might be looking back at me. The news stories here lately about sinkholes in Florida have renewed my interest as this isn't the only sinkhole we have on the place. Kinda makes us think twice about the loader's 16 tons crawling around some of these spots. Anyway, thought these pictures might be worth posting.

 

[boone]

Getting closer, the distinctive sound of rushing water...





Goes down about 4'.





This is the source of the water (upstream).





Here's where it's going. It's splits off into three channels.





Thankfully, this was the only living thing I saw...can you see it?

 

[Matthew]

Thats something to see right there.. thanks for posting... to bad there were not veins of gold running up the walls..

 

[boone]

to bad there were not veins of gold running up the walls..

Haha, no kidding! I would've jumped in that hole for that. :yup

This was the little guy I was referencing in the picture above.

 

[jms]

under carraige on your 175c

new to the forum, been lurking as others have said, we have been looking for a track loader, as have some of the others on the forum. Came across a International 175C this weekend by chance. Stopped and took serveral pics, but can not post them as of yet. Couldn't help but think about this thread when I was looking at it.
I've followed this thread for awhile, and was wondering what your undercarraige was like?