Hour log

Week of 11/25
Work hours 32.67
Quarter total 400.18

Hour Log

Happy thanksgiving everyone! Well it has been more of the same stuff lately, just a bunch of winter services. I've been working on the 9120 which are the new machines and We have had the OXBO guys over a few times now to point out a few flaws in the design. Hopefully by next season the 9120 will be a much improved machine.

Week of 11/11
School hours 6 hours
Work hours 32.42 hours

Week of 11/18
Work hours 22.74
Quarter total 367.51

Replacing bearings

Been doing a bunch of these lately. These are the sprockets for the cup belts and these bearings on the new machines aren't lasting much longer than a full season.

Hour Log

Still been plugging away at winter services. Again I'll have to say its been the electrical part that has been really good this week. Work hours 27.48 School hours 7 Quarter total 306.35

I will not be happy till my truck can roll coal like this...

Hour Log

Well another week down... still working on winter services for the Korvans. I have been doing a lot of electrical work this fall and it has been really good to see improvements in that area. Its really cool to be able to take what we learned on the test boards and apply it to real world applications.

Week of 10/28/12
School hours 8
Work hours 28.72
Quarter total 271.87

Hour Log

Week of 10/14/12
School hours 9
Work hours 22.12

Week of 10/21/12
School hours 9
Work hours 25.77
Quarter total 235.15

Lethal Strike Video

I have been given quick safety lectures on hydraulic system safety but this video was really good at showing just how dangerous they can be. My coworker told me about a time that he was working with another guy on a 5000 psi and the other guy had this happen to him. So he is now very careful around hydraulic systems and is always pestering me to be watchful as well. I do a lot of work on hydraulic systems so it was good to have a refresher.

Why you should not use butt splices...

This machine is a 06 but I'm not sure when this "repair" was done but it can't be to old. All these wires has to be replaced.

Week Four

Last week I spent more time doing the winter services on more harvesters. One thing that has been really good the last few weeks is I have had a bunch of electrical problems and it has been really good to take what I have learned in school and cement it in on real problems.

School hour 9
Work hours 32.28
Quarter total hours 169.26

Hours - Week Three

I posted this one from my phone last week but it just saved it as a draft...stupid phone lol

Well this week was about the same as last week, worked primarily on two 7420s. Last Friday me and another mechanic went up to Canada and did the inventory on it parts shack up there. That ended up taking all day...but it was a nice little brake.
School 10 hours
Work 32.78 hours
Quarter total 127.98

Hour Log - Second week of school

This week at work I spent all my time on the one 7420 I started on last week. I ended up rewiring the right fan/inspection belt tower. Then pulled two of the main hydraulic hoses that were leaking and then changed one of the wheel drive hoses. Then I pulled the flight belts and replaced the bearings on the flight belt drive shafts.

School hours 12 hours
Work hours 28.38
Week total 40.38
Quarter total 85.16

Kewl DC motor video...

Cool video on how to make a simple DC motor.

First week back in school

Well the first week of school is over now. Its been good to go over the electrical stuff again because now a bunch of it makes more sense to me because I have been working with electrical on the harvesters all summer.

This week at work I finished a rebuild on a tractor transmission and then  put the tractor back together. Did some work on a old LP gas McCormick, mainly stopping oil leaks. And then started on a 7420 Oxbo harvester. This harvester is the prototype 7420 so it has been around for a bit and has a few problems...I'll be putting in a few hours on it.

School hours 9 hrs

Work hours 35.78 hrs

Quarter total 44.78

Tractor work...

Here is the first tractor ive split :) im trying to locate a knocking in the transmission.

Update

I know I have been slacking on my posting this quarter. Raspberry harvest is finally over and the big rush of blueberry harvest is mostly over as well. Today I started working on splitting my first tractor, I have a great teacher in a older mechanic who is walking me through the process. As we move further into fall I'll be working on mostly tractors until next spring when the Korvan rush starts again.

Reflections on the summer:
The past harvest is so much of a blur its not even funny. But I entered it at a intern and came out with a full time mechanic job =D I have really learned a ton over the past few months. My biggest weakness is definitely the electrical but I'm working on that. The number one problem I have worked on so far has been hydraulics. I have become increasingly comfortable with troubleshooting a problem and working towards a fix, which can be difficult when you have a angry farmer yell "warranty" constantly over your shoulder lol. But it has definitely been a good summer, I have learned a ton and had a lot of fun.

Hours

June 171.67 hours
July 341.53 hours

The joys of being a mechanic...

Well the other day i was using a prybar trying to straighten out a smashed up machine and the deal slipped on me...causing me to slam my hand into the sharp side of some sheet metal. Cut clean to the bone. Well i just wrapped it in duct tape and finished out the day. The next morning i got 7 stitches...along with a few shots. Lol all part of a days work as a mechanic.

Job update

Well harvest has started and we're keeping really busy. I was on overtime by wednesday this week. Been doing a bunch of service calls to, mostly in Canada. It's going good. This is my little service truck...its my office, and home :)

Hour Log

Week of 5/27/12
School 12 hrs
Work 22.43 hrs
Total 34.43 hrs
Quarter total 348.91

Week of 6/3/12
School 12 hrs
Work 31.15 hrs
Total 43.15
Quarter total 392.06

Wheel seal leaking on a Korvan 9000

So I was doing a PDI on a older machine that we took on a trade and I noticed gear oil on the inside of the tire. This is usually caused by the brake-to-wheel gasket going bad (I posted a little while back on that) but as I tore it apart I could tell it was actually leaking from the wheel seal instead. I was amazed as I pulled it apart how much it is actually like the truck wheel seals we did at school.

So I pulled the hub assembly and started ripping it apart.

All the gears in here have to be timed perfectly...so that took me a bit of time.

Korvan, in all their wisdom, covers EVERYTHING in thick paint. I had to get the model so I could get the correct timing instructions.

The bearing on the inside of the hub

The hub just after I pulled the old seal.

Parts...

New seal just pounded in.

Putting it back together...

The inner gears.

Ready to install the inner gears.

Everything is all timed and ready to go.

Back on the machine!

Speed sensor

Just thought I would show you guys this since Jeff was talking about them the other day. Its the speed sensor from the beater head. And if you notice...it got a little too close to the gears...

Day Sheets

Sheets 15-17 completed
Sheet 18 completed EXCEPT for the actual alignments. I have only completed one string-and-tape alignment so far.

Job update...

So we have been really busy at work gearing up for harvest. So that means a lot of service calls (mainly in Canada) to check out machines and make sure they are ready to go.

Back at the shop I have been doing a bunch of PDIs (Pre-Delivery Inspections) on brand new harvesters. The big thing when doing a PDI is to, like Jeff has been talking about, always carry a flashlight and go over the entire machine. When you are checking the fluid levels, greasing the machine and such you always keep a eye out for anything that is out of the ordinary. It is amazing some of the stuff that makes it past the factory QC guys...

Just the other day I started a PDI on a older machine that we took on a trade. It was interesting to do so after working on new harvesters and now getting to see how all the ware parts look after several years in service. Those machines can really take a beating!

Alignment Reflection

As the alignment section comes to a close I have to say I really don't think I got nearly enough learning time in on this. The problem is I don't work on trucks so I leave early from school and then go work on harvesters...that have no connection to what we were learning in school. However I have done my best to follow along with everyone and do all the reading/watching videos and I believe that, if I had to, I could get a alignment done. I really want to thank Jeff for working with us guys who have jobs and can't get the training time that everyone else has.

Hour Log

Week of 4/29/12
School 12 hours
Work 26.4 hours
Total 38 hours
Quarter total 187.45

Week of 5/06/12
School 12 hours
Work 25.13 hours
Total 37.13 hours
Quarter total 224.58

Week of 5/13/12
School 12 hours
Work 32.35 hours
Total 44.35
Quarter hours 269.93

Week of 5/20/12
School 6 hours
Work 39.05 hours
Total 45.05
Quarter total 313.98

Wheel bearings

Make sure that before you start you have all the correct torque specs.

Ready to get started...

Removing the wheel

Removing the wheel end cap

Wheel end cap now gone, pull out the bearing and the hum will slide right off.

This wheel seal has seen better days...

Wheel seal now pulled, we then pulled the bearing out and inspected it.

Inspecting the brake shoes

Both brake shoes pulled...

Pulled the S-cam

 Ready to install wheel seal

Kieth pounding in wheel seal

Brakes reassembled

Torquing wheel bearings 

Reinstalling the wheel end cap

Ready to reinstall the wheel

Checking wheel bearing play. Different truck, same concept. 

Pounding wheel seal. Different truck, same concept.

Truck brake failure

My dad just sent me this...the truck driver is his boss's dad.

"According to OSP Trooper Mark Jubitz, on May 4, 2012 at approximately 2:00 p.m. a 1996 Kenworth truck pulling a 53-foot semi-trailer loaded with 35,000 lbs of mixed farm products was northbound on Highway 197 approaching the intersection with Highway 30 on the east end of The Dalles. According to the truck's driver, (name removed to protect person...my lawyers made me do it), age 77, from Dufur, the truck's brakes failed to work and as he tried to control the truck and trailer, narrowly missing a parked vehicle on the shoulder and flipped onto its side. The truck and trailer slid through the intersection hitting several street signs, a lamp post and damaged 140 feet of guardrail in a wide gravel area on the west side of the highway."

Farmers' shop

Pic of our main tractor shop. Both the harvesters in this picture are korvan 9000s.

North bound

So tomorrow (friday) I'm going to be heading up to canada for my job so I will not be in school. I'll try to get a post up after work tomorrow with some of the stuff I'll be doing.

Leaking wheel gasket on a Korvan 7420

So this was one of my projects at work the other day and I thought I would take a few pics to show all of you kinda what I deal with when it comes to brakes, wheel ends, and such. Sorry for the poor picture quality but I don't like taking pictures while on the clock so these are my top secret spy shots.

So this is the front left wheel bolster. Basically it has a hydraulic drive motor that bolts onto the hub...that is full of precisionly timed gear (I ripped one apart and got ripped apart for doing so lol). 

This is the Hydraulic drive motor that has been pulled off the wheel hub.

Here is the mating surface between the drive motor and the hub. There is a gasket that goes between the two and it was ripped and leaking. This is a quick and easy fix...and its really nice when its just this gasket leaking and nothing in the hub or drive motor.

Brake job on my Ranger

So last Thursday I started noticing my braking power was starting to feel a little weak and by Saturday it was almost completely gone. I noticed that the inside of the rear passenger side tire was covered in brake fluid so I pulled the tire and the drum and things didn't look so good.  

The retaining pin was gone as well as the auto adjuster. The brake cylinder was also shot.

The picture on the right is the adjustment tab deal...and as you can see compared to the good one in the left picture it has had better days.

The brake drum had several deep groves in it so it had to be replaced as well.

This ended up being my first brake job. I went ahead and rebuilt the left rear brake as well so they should be good for a while. Kinda crazy how I did this Sunday and then we started brakes on Monday.