What's your hoe doing?

[NH575E]

Someday I may investigate why mine doesnt hold a charge. When I purchased it, the seller told me it didnt work. I charged it, it worked beautifully. Not long afterwords it went flat, and has been for years now.

You are lucky to have a shop that can make up the hoses for you. Hard to find a shop that will do that in my area

My whole system is generic except the cab controls are factory. I found a new set of those on eBay. I bought a factory style expansion valve also. The compressor was missing and the mount looks like something somebody welded together in their back yard. Bruce at Alma Tractor found me a NOS mount for $800. I used what was on the tractor and shimmed it to get it as straight as I could. I used a generic Sanyo compressor. I broke the mounting ear off the first one by not having the funky mount shimmed good enough. Buying a second compressor off the auction site was still way cheaper than buying anything from NH. It has an idler off a Mustang. I pulled the evaporator and heater box out from under the seat and cleaned it all up. It has a thermostat from and old Ford vehicle of some type. Get the picture?

When I first renovated the AC I had leaks I couldn't find. My old expensive leak detector came back from a loan not working. I bought one of the cheap ones off eBay and it seems to work way better than my "professional" unit ever did.

Turned out the long hoses running to the expansion valve were seeping through the sides. I ended up replacing ALL the hoses. I re-routed the long hoses to be a shorter path and easier to install when I had them made. Anything to do at the expansion valve is a certified pain in the ass. Larger hands may not fit in that area at all. My skinny hands got severely beat up working on it. It remained leak free until yesterday.

I expect this leak to be the result of a careless operator. I was backing up through vegetation I hadn't pushed down. The driveshaft had weeds wrapped all around it. There were signs of something being dragged along the ground but I didn't find it when I followed the trench and it isn't hanging under the tractor. My driveshaft is all shiny and polished now.

As far as I can see nothing is pulled loose or cut. I hope it didn't crack a fitting at the expansion valve.

In hindsight I should have jumped out as soon as I heard the hissing sound to see where it was coming from but I didn't.

 

[T-town]

My driveshaft is all shiny and polished now.

..."so I got that going for me..... which is good "

 

[NH575E]

I just pressurized the system and found the leak under the tractor along with a broken end of a hose. I didn't see the other end so I looked out where the hissing started and found about 5 foot of AC hose on the ground. I will have to pull the homemade grill to locate the other end. I should be able to splice in a piece of hose, evacuate, and recharge. I will try to tuck it up better than it was. Looks like it got cut by the emergency brake and the loose end got caught in the rotating mass. I guess it could have ripped out something more critical.

 

[aighead]

Air conditioning? In a backhoe? Sounds delightful!

I think mine had A/C at one point in it's life but if it works now it's like a mouse breath. The heat is about the same. The blower seems just strong enough to blow some dust and leaf debris or something out of the vents but not much more. If I had infinite resources or knowledge I'd worry about it but for now I just don't work when it's too hot and the machine doesn't start when it's too cold, so that problem also solves itself.

 

[Swetz]

Air conditioning? In a backhoe? Sounds delightful!

I think mine had A/C at one point in it's life but if it works now it's like a mouse breath. The heat is about the same. The blower seems just strong enough to blow some dust and leaf debris or something out of the vents but not much more. If I had infinite resources or knowledge I'd worry about it but for now I just don't work when it's too hot and the machine doesn't start when it's too cold, so that problem also solves itself.

LOL!!

I am with you aighead, I just will not work when it is too hot. My heat works great, so that is not an issue. Perhaps someday I will look into what is leaking, but for now, I open the windows and throw on the fan and go to work.

That said, if I lived in the climate that NH575E lives in, it would be one of my top priorities.

 

[Willie B]

LOL!!

I am with you aighead, I just will not work when it is too hot. My heat works great, so that is not an issue. Perhaps someday I will look into what is leaking, but for now, I open the windows and throw on the fan and go to work.

That said, if I lived in the climate that NH575E lives in, it would be one of my top priorities.

Mine has weak AC. I rarely find time on a hot day to use the hoe. Heat is nice 10 months of the year.

 

[aighead]

Yeah, if I was hoeing in Florida I think I'd be more worried about A/C.

Hopefully, this weekend, I can finish adding dirt to the barn floor (I've got to stop sometime! Though it seems like I could still add yards and yards) then start blading it out flat, to then add geotextile, then gravel. It'd be lovely if I could have a layer of gravel on this weekend but we'll see.

 

[NH575E]

Picked up some hose and splices. It snatched the drier out of the clamp and pulled it down to the oil cooler before the hose gave way. Doesn't look like it damaged the cooler.

We'll see if it pulls and holds a vacuum.

 

[Swetz]

We'll see if it pulls and holds a vacuum.

 

[NH575E]

Got the AC fixed. I just spliced in a 7' section of hose using brass hose barbs and clamps. The hose I bought was smaller OD so I was able to use fuel injection style band clamps on it. The hose on the tractor was larger so I wrapped about 3 rounds of electrical tape on that to protect from the screw clamp slots. It held the vacuum fine. Hope it holds the pressure. It's blowing colder than ever.

I moved on from that project to a 7' finish mower I have been rebuilding for the little tractor. I have about 30 minutes work left on that but at 100 degrees outside I didn't have another 30 minutes left in me.

In between I put the grapple on the little tractor and cut and moved a downed limb to the burn pile.

 

[aighead]

I didn't think to take a picture but I think my barn floor is as built up and flat as I have the patience for. I filled in some more spots and drove the tractor with blade around for a couple hours. It looks comparatively great. I'm pleased with the results but I'm sure some of you guys would probably do a lot better using much less energy than I did.

I didn't get any gravel in over the weekend I'd forgotten that I had other chores to do as well. My little mower keeps breaking deck belts, so the kids can't use it to mow, which means I'm on the tractor.

We've got great weather for several days so I should be able to accomplish some stuff. Woop!

 

[aighead]

Well, I think I made yet another mistake... I filled the barn with sand, in an effort to even out some of the dirt I'd put down, thinking it'd be good fill. It was not. It's like snow that doesn't melt, it just shoves around and ruts everywhere. I started adding big gravel last night hoping that it would give some bite to the floor to level things out and it's helped but I'll need to add much more gravel. Luckily, the pile of around 20-25 tons of big gravel that is sitting in the driveway is proving to be much more than I thought and it's going a long way.

Live and learn, huh?

 

[NH575E]

Well, I think I made yet another mistake... I filled the barn with sand, in an effort to even out some of the dirt I'd put down, thinking it'd be good fill. It was not. It's like snow that doesn't melt, it just shoves around and ruts everywhere. I started adding big gravel last night hoping that it would give some bite to the floor to level things out and it's helped but I'll need to add much more gravel. Luckily, the pile of around 20-25 tons of big gravel that is sitting in the driveway is proving to be much more than I thought and it's going a long way.

Live and learn, huh?

When I had my barn built I ordered a load of sand to level the area. It was pretty squishy and difficult to work with. The supplier listed it as a good filler with the best compaction of any other fill they sold. I covered the sand with a huge tarp and added 4 inches of crushed brick. It has remained stable but moisture seeps in and doesn't evaporate out well. I keep thinking I will poke holes around the inside so moisture can seep into the sand. It has got better on it's own for some reason so I'm reluctant to try the hole punching now. It has 28 anchors that punched through the tarp.

The good is the tarp and crushed brick made the surface stable.

 

[casey518]

My hoe only has heat. But whenever I turn it on I get showered with leaves, seed husks, dust, and mouse droppings. So I usually just throw on a hoodie.

 

[aighead]

@NH575E

I considered going out and watering the sand in so it sinks to the bottom a bit. I planned similarly, sand, then geotextile on top, then gravel. I'm not sure how it'll go now, sand mixed with big gravel, then spread about as thin as I can make it, I guess. When I try to blade it flat the front wheels of the tractor get no purchase and slide/plow sideways creating new ruts in the mix. Not ideal.

 

[Willie B]

@NH575E

I considered going out and watering the sand in so it sinks to the bottom a bit. I planned similarly, sand, then geotextile on top, then gravel. I'm not sure how it'll go now, sand mixed with big gravel, then spread about as thin as I can make it, I guess. When I try to blade it flat the front wheels of the tractor get no purchase and slide/plow sideways creating new ruts in the mix. Not ideal.

Do you have mineral sand with aggregate on the surface? Could you rake it flat? Put Portland cement on it & rototill it in 6" deep. I sprinkled it after mixing it up. Not quite smooth enough to sweep well with a broom, but hard enough to not rut.
If it were out in the open where you could drive on the whole surface, you could just add 1-3/4" stone to pack down into the sand & firm things up. Might approximate the result with a power tamper.

 

[aighead]

I considered adding some cement... "not enough to rut" would be lovely. I've put almost all the #2 gravel that I have in there and it's still squishy and not great. It seems I have about an hour and a half of moving gravel in me before I can't take it any more. I tried flattening with tractor and blade and it went just as poorly. It's OK I guess, but also thick and squishy. #57 gravel is next. I'm tired of the back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. For what it's worth I've only done about 3 days of back and forth.

 

[T-town]

...not all sand is created equal....!!

you just happened to get the "squishy" stuff maybe??
Sorry to hear of your dilemma.

 

[casey518]

iv had had a lot of what they call "bank run sand" delivered here. It appears to have a bit of clay in it I think as welll as small stones. It packs down nice, But not as solid as #2 mix. But I used some as a base to level out my barn floor before #2mix before i eventually poured a floor. We can get "screened" sand here too. It seems closer to beach sand and does not pack down. If you continue to be unhappy with it id say Either 1) mosten and run a compactor in layers with as much crusher run as you can get in there or 2)pull a bunch out and put down a thicker layer of crusher run mix.

 

[NH575E]

@NH575E

I considered going out and watering the sand in so it sinks to the bottom a bit. I planned similarly, sand, then geotextile on top, then gravel. I'm not sure how it'll go now, sand mixed with big gravel, then spread about as thin as I can make it, I guess. When I try to blade it flat the front wheels of the tractor get no purchase and slide/plow sideways creating new ruts in the mix. Not ideal.

Doing my final preparation before tarping it I had to use a piece of plywood to stand on and level with a garden rake. Each time I drove either tractor over it created ruts. I was able to get it close by back dragging with my little tractor. With the crushed brick on top the rutting problem was not bad and I could rake it out pretty easy until it got better packed.

My deal with condensation wouldn't have happened if the building was designed with larger eaves. Water comes off the roof too close to the edge of the building and seeps in through the gravel layer. Then with the tarp between the sand and crushed brick it sits in there and evaporates up in the barn. I have considered adding panels under the roof panels, gutters, or a gravel drain perimeter but haven't gone past thinking about it. In the meantime it has subsided some on it's own so I guess the edges are getting packed better or something.