What colleges have you attended?

College is a waste of time and money. I’d rather throw my hard-earned cash down a toilet, rather than listen to some dipshit who doesn’t know what the hell they’re talking about.

The only thing colleges care about these days is indoctrinating the youth into becoming good little commies, which is why this country is so fucked right now, and it was done by design.

Read “Rules for Radicals”, the 1970 book by commie Saul Alinsky. He lays out the steps to dismantle our Constitutional Republic, and indoctrinating students is in there.

What is one thing you would change about yourself?

The grass is always greener on the other side, and I don’t think that changing something is going to make someone happier.

I’m flawed…in some areas terribly…but those flaws have made me who I am today.

Sometimes that guy we look at and think, “Man, I wish I had his life”, might be looking at us and thinking the same thing.

Be happy with who you are, it’s what makes you you.

What public figure do you disagree with the most?

Any public figure, regardless of party affiliation, who divides us as Americans, by applying labels to groups and telling them that they are unique, special and victims of oppression, which does nothing but foment jealousy and hatred. Gone is the pride in or the care about their country and fellow countrymen, leading to the chaos we have today.

If you truly want to understand the “Who/What/When/Where/Why/How” of this happening, there are two books that are must-reads. The first is the blueprint used by the counterculture in the 70’s, to slowly transform America into a Socialist country, and it’s called “Rules for Radicals”, by communist Saul Alinsky.

The second is “The Art of War”, by Sun Tzu. This book was written by one of history’s best tacticians and was mandatory reading for all West Point cadets. Sun Tzu’s rules apply not just for the battlefield, but for every day life as well.

My favorite passage is, “If you know yourself and your enemy, you need not fear the result of 100 battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory, you will suffer one defeat. If you know, neither yourself nor your enemy, you will suffer defeat each time.”

Describe something you learned in high school.

I learned that the catholic church is rife with pedophiles; I was repeatedly raped by two priests from 7th until 10th grade.

I also learned that $1400 literally went down the toilet, when I flushed my 12th grade Trigonometry & Analytical Geometry teacher’s 4-dram (1/2-oz./14-gram) vial of coke that I found in the center console of his car, when he sent me out to get his briefcase. Needless to say I dropped Analytic Geometry, failing soon thereafter.

You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?

Each has its own merits, but since I like to pace my own stops and don’t like being beholden to schedules, my favorite preference would be going on a cross-country trip by car.

The Little Feller That Could

When I was in the military and stationed in San Angelo, Texas, we owned a home with two acres. 

We maintained our property with our New Holland TC-35DA tractor. It served us very well, however we were unable to bring it and its many implements to Idaho. 

It was already necessary to make a second trip back to Texas, to get our boat and Jeep CJ-5; a third trip would have been economic suicide, given the price of diesel and the lack of MPGs our F350 King Ranch gets, so we sold the New Holland to a family friend.

Now that we’re in Idaho, and we again have acreage and horses, my father-in-law’s 1953 Ferguson TO-30 wasn’t up to the task of maintaining the property the way we needed it to, so the hunt began for a new tractor, one with 4×4 and a Front End Loader.

As it happens, my wife’s friend is getting ready to move from the country into town and no longer had need of her tractor, which her father purchased new. $1200 later, we were the happy owners of a 1981 International Harvester 284 30hp diesel tractor with a DuAl 105 Front End Loader.

I should back up a bit and say that my wife was the happy owner; I, being the wheeler dealer that I am, understand full well that there’s no such thing as a $1200 tractor that doesn’t have issues. We were told all it needed was a new starter. Right…

You’ll notice in the picture the incredibly massive bucket. Our friend’s father wanted to be able to haul more dirt with fewer trips, so he welded this monstocity on to the original bucket.

The bucket, as it turns out, is way too big for a 30hp tractor…surprise surprise. After I gave my wife’s friend the money, we loaded it on the trailer, which is when I noticed that the hydraulics weren’t working properly….expensive repair #1 & #2.

When we got home, it literally took me 15 minutes to start the tractor and another 15 minutes to get it off the trailer. The first 15 minutes was because the glowplugs were non-operational. 

The second 15 minutes was because the hydraulics were non-operational. I could already see the dollars flying away, and I had just finished paying off my platinum card…

The answer to problem #1 was shear persistence; the answer to problem #2 was dismantling the Front End Loader. Once it was started and free to unload off of the trailer, I made a mad dash with it to the garage. It was during this time, that the tractor drew first blood.

Once I made it to the garage, I drew up my battle plan. Given problems #1 & #2, I surmised there were going to be a litany of ensuing issues, so I started taking the tractor apart, with the intention of a semi-full restoration.

Did I forget to mention problem #3? When you connected the battery cables, the tractor was in a state of constant on, key or no key, so a problem existed somewhere in the wiring harness. The Motorhome is going to have to wait for its new engine this year…

Once the tractor sheet metal was removed, I was able to assess the neglect; this tractor had never been maintained. It was used and used and used and used. 

I’m a firm believer of, “Take care of your stuff and it will take care of you.” This thing had so much diesel and oil-soaked dirt on it, you literally couldn’t make out individual components. Power wash time.

Degreased engine looks much better, but why is the cylinder head blue? Side note:

The International Harvester 284 compact tractor was not made by International Harvester. It was produced in partnership by Komatsu, from 1976 until 1983.  

The gasoline versions of this tractor used a 1.3L Mazda four-cylinder engine; the diesel version was a 1.6L Nissan three-cylinder engine. Nissan painted all of their engines blue at the factory. 

Once Komatsu received all the parts from the different manufacturers, they slapped everything together on the tractor and painted it International Harvester Red.
Since the cylinder head on my engine is blue, a simple deduction is that it was replaced. The next question arises, why was it replaced?

Among the many things that I ordered was a new thermostat. When I went to install it, I found that there was no thermostat sitting in the thermostat housing. There’s only one reason why the thermostat would be missing, because the previous owner was having overheating issues, so he took it out. The engine overheating is why the cylinder head needed to be replaced.

Now that I knew that the tractor had overheating issues, the next question I had to ask myself was why was it overheating? So I had to trace the problem backwards to the radiator, which was the next thing I took out of the tractor.

Once I had the radiator removed, I held it up to the sunlight and couldn’t see a thing through it. I took my compressed air hose to it and spent a good 10 minutes blowing dirt out of the fins. Even when I was finished blowing air through it, it was still incredibly dirty, so I made the decision to have it rebuilt.

I received a phone call from the radiator shop a few days later telling me that three of the tubes in the core were completely rotted out and the radiator would need to be re-cored. My wallet was getting lighter by the minute.

Next, I focused my attention on the constant on issue that the tractor was having. I removed the wiring harness and took it to an auto electric shop in Boise, to have it rebuilt. I received a phone call the next day from the shop informing me that two wires had melted together, causing my constant on issue. This begged the question, what caused the wires to melt together?

The only answer to that question was staring right at me in the form of the voltage regulator. When I removed it and took it apart, I found that half of it had completely fried. Add one more part to the replacement list.

Fast forward three weeks and $6200 later. Here is a list of what I have replaced/repaired:

• Wiring harness
• Hydraulic hoses
• Hydraulic rams
• Fuel injectors
• Glow plugs
• Radiator
• Fenders
• All tractor lights
• All fluids
• Coolant hoses
• Fuel hoses
• Fan belt
• Fan shroud
• Masonite heat shields
• All gaskets
• All filters
• Temp sender
• Light switch
• Flasher switch
• Voltage regulator
• New seat

In retrospect, I should have gotten script decals that said “Little Bastard”, because it definitely didn’t go down without a fight and bit me a few more times before it was finished.

So how did this little project turn out? See for yourself.

https://youtu.be/yoi3xYZkNLM

The sheet metal is back on, but I still need to wet sand parts of it. I also need to finish adding the new decals and also finish up the other three wheels. You’ll notice in the video that the front right wheel was repainted. It was a real bugger to sand.

Groundhog Day

Phil saw his shadow today…six more weeks of winter, or six weeks until spring? I still don’t understand it, and I’m originally from PA. Pennsylvania, the one state you can call by its abbreviation and everyone knows which state you’re talking about.

Here in Idaho, we have a ton of snow on the ground, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to melt anytime soon. Last year my family indulged my love of old things, by going with me to McCall for the Antique and Classic Boat Society’s boat show. We entered “Sarah Jo”, our 1969 Evinrude Rogue II, in the show and had a blast. The show had so many beautiful classics that were brought back to life, and it made me want a woody. Our treasurer told me of a 1960 Mercury Sabre that needed a new home, and he gave me the contact info.

When we got home, I began working on the wife, in order to convince her that we needed a new boat. The classic go-to answer I received was that I was insane, that I wanted to buy everyone else’s junk, that our backyard is going to look like Sanford & Son. My wife loves me, and I adore her, but it always takes her a bit to realize that I’m right. In this case, she realized it when I got home with “Overboard”, purchased from the son of the 2nd owner.

This was “Overboard”, when I went to get her in Sparks, NV

I promised the seller that “Overboard” would have a good home, that I would take my time to bring her back, and that I would not change her name. Believe it or not, three years ago this boat did not look like this. Unfortunately, the seller’s father had Alzheimer’s, and he started stripping the boat. I have my work cut out for me, but I’m confident that I can do it. The only thing stopping me from starting is this snow. Until we get some warmer weather, “Overboard” patiently waits, with a cover to keep the elements out.

Covered for the winter. This was taken before we got hit with three feet of snow this winter.