Talkin’bout GOATS

someuv y’uns may remember this little pile of scrap I have.

Thats a mid60’s Craftsman Yard TRACTOR,,, not a mower, though it was capable of that too. No longer as the mowing deck is long gone ‘somewhere’,,, Long before I acquired it.

A few (several) years back, I welded up a snow plow front and center (sorta seen in the pic) and it did ‘ok’, but we don’t really see the sort of snow that warrants it. So its been put to use on occasion as a gravel pusher (and why the lower blade is warped to hell and back)

I stopped using it because the float doesn’t set the needle valve properly, so unless you are running hard and hot, she floods out. Usual routine is to run hot and hard, and just before parking in her stall (under the front porch where you see her) turn off the fuel valve and let her run hot till she starts sputtering before shutting her off proper.

Why the hell would a guy like me hang on to such a retro piece of junk? That engine is a 2013 B&S 14.5horse BEAST. The Transmission in this thing is HARD GEARED, three speed with a high low final drive. Put her in 1LO and she pushes rocks around, and I mean rocks as big as her. So long as those back tires can get a bite, they PUSH,,, (and its hard to see in that pick, but those back tires have chains on them, and are water filled, no air, for the extra weight)

She’s a GOAT!!!

Her job before I got her was pulling trees out of the woods, if that tells you what kind of power she has.

And I fired her up today (with fingers crossed and prayers sent on high. She hadn’t ran in 5 years) to pull that red-oak out of the woods. Fired up first pull with fresh gas in the tank. Smoked like a train from all the dust and pet hair and pollen and lord only knows what all that had settled on her, but she ran, and pulled that oak 5′ before things got jammed tight. Gonna need a few more horsies for this job, but damned if she didn’t try. (and those back tires left DEEP divots where they chewed in.)

And now, I am seriously considering another blade on the front, and a new carburator for her. Carbs are running around $30 through the Zon (and I can’t find one on the B&S site) and I’ll be making that front blade, again,, Stuff that needs done around the homestead and something that can push and pull like a mule is worth its weight.

Heck, this is something where I may even use one of these extra powersteering pumps from engine swaps, and make things Hydraulic up front. (but not right now,,, lets get some duckies flowing IN,,, not just OUT.)

More tomorrow, one already in the pipe near finished (too much time on my hands today) and looks like Im not gonna be doin’ the J.O.B. tomorrow.

LLLLL!
(, ‘)

Update!!! Someone beat me to it!!! Same tractor!!! (In much better condition, of course! LOL)