SPQ13 Phil

Still logging the Canadian hours...and still mainly services. Last Thursday I installed tote loaders on a 8000. They are a option for the 8000 blueberry pickers so instead of filling 50 lb flats you can use the 1050 lb totes. Yesterday I was working on a picker and the customer noticed the welder in my truck. He then started dragging out all kinds of broken farm equipment and wanting me to weld them back together. Its been really good to get back into the busy feel of things because As soon as June hits I'll be logging some crazy hours!

48 hours this week (school and work)
Quarter total: 309 hours

My new service truck

Logging a ton of Canadian hours on my new truck :)

SPQ13 Phil

This week I got a little brake this week from winter services to do some warranty work. It actually fit in quite well with school because it was hydraulic cylinders. Basically what it was is the front steer cylinders on the 7420 have always had a problem with toe in or out. In the past years there was a toe switch on the dash that controlled only on of the cylinders so you could line up the wheels again. Last year they changed it so that when you turn the wheels completely to one direction it would open a dump valve on the cylinder that would dead head first allowing the other cylinder to catch up to it so they would be correctly aligned. The problem that came up though is that some of the cylinders had a different stroke. To solve this OXBO gave us kits that we would replace the rod with one that had a thread on eye. We could then adjust the two cylinders like  a tie rod to make them line up true. 

Reflection on learning this week: This was the first time I had pulled apart a hydraulic cylinder and it was really cool to see how it worked.

46 hours this week (between work and school)

Quarter total: 261 hours

SPQ13 Phil

Another really busy week. I have been up in Canada Wed through Fri with no lunches or brakes :-/ It is nice to get back in the field and get back in the harvest mindset. Its been mainly services but I did have a few other calls. I had to swap out a pickers catcher rails, which is the catcher plates and the rail that they all attach to, on a older 1990's machine. The new rails that I installed were for a new picker so I had to do some modifications to the old mounting brackets and even build a new rear bracket for the rails. I had another machine that had a head weight brake off. It was just a simple weld job but while I was out there the customer complained that "the machine would sometimes not lift up". After a quick look I noticed that the hydraulic lift switch for the left side of the machine was running off switched power. I simply found a new power source and the problem was solved.

44 hours this week (between work and school)
Quarter total: 215 hours