Old tractor exhaust

[Al Smith]

It used to be a common practice to use pipe threaded exhaust manifolds some many years ago on tractors .I've seen them up to 2.5" .My old Ollie OC 6 crawler is 2" .The female treads in the cast iron manifolds last forever but after a while the male threads on the steel pipe rust out .
So yesterday for the first time in over 40 years I had the pleasure of threading a 2" pipe by hand like they did in 1940 because that's all they had .A combination 1 to 2" Ridgid pipe die only has an 18" handle which is fine for a 30 year old 300 pound pipe fitter .It isn't worth a damned for an old retired 210 pound electrician .Never say die,4 foot cheater pipe to the rescue .Don't force it, get a bigger hammer .

 

[Xr650jkallen]

And lots of cutting oil. Most of the pipe you get nowadays is cheap China metal and the threads don't cut to smoothly. Most people thread with power threaders now.

 

[Al Smith]

Two periods in my life time by hand .In my teens working for a small non union plumbing shop .Later as a second year union electricians apprentice with a stubborn old coot for a foreman who loved to see apprentices work their behinds off . I've cranked threads on 4 inch by hand which takes forever .Damned compound 2.5 to 4" die must weigh 80 pounds .I've only got from about 1/8" to 2" pipe dies plus thread rod sizes I've acquired over the years ,no big die .

 

[Bilge Rat]

Threaded a lot of pipe by hand in my 50 years in the drycleaning business. Black iron up to 2".
Up to 1" is doable but anything bigger just drag out the Ridged 300 and let it sweat.
Running 1 1/2 to 2" overhead was a chore, thank god for aluminum pipe wrenches.

I did enjoy piping in new or moved equipment. One person yelling lengths of pipe with a tee or elbow on one end and the other person at the threader making it up. We could get a press ready to operate as fast as 3 other guys could set the next press in place.
If i was 30 years younger i could still do it.
Now it takes a little longer but when i finish i can work on the press without moving any pipe or cussing about putting that pipe 2" too close.
That is the only plus to getting old.

Thread chips will ruin shoe soles quick too.

 

[Al Smith]

After spending something like 46 years as a construction /industrial electrician I had literally installed miles of threaded heavy wall conduit and very very little of it was hand threaded .The saving grace was most of it 3" and above was aluminum .I have installed some 5" and in one refinery job, only one time in my life was 6 " steel .We had no means to thread that stuff and I did the bending with a segment bender at 2 degrees at a time .Figured it out with a pocket calculator .It took myself and an apprentice 4 hours to bend a 90 degree sweep .That job was a story in itself .
Rambling on I own a Greenlee bender that will "one shot" 5" and segment bend 6" which is also a story .It's rated at 80 ton and will bend sced. 80 pipe .

 

[Bilge Rat]

Bending pipe is an art in itself.
Conduit is softer than sch 40 black iron steam pipe but the math is the same.
Ran a little ridgid conduit mostly 1" and less and a few mastheads for 200amp 3ph panels.
Bending offsets to clear the roof eves in 4" was a pain to get it to look pretty.
That Greenlee is nice once you figure out how much bend to put in and where.
Longtime friend/hunting buddy did 25 years as an elecrtician mostly commercial and my first paying job was pulling wire by hand.
I keep my machinery going at my business which is 240/3ph. Motor control is a pain but i have been around these machines all my life so i somewhat understand what is going on. I know when to call a friend when i need to before i let the smoke out anyway.

 

[Al Smith]

It's diverse .I've done everything from wiring apartments with romex to programing robots .The motor control part has evolved from hard wired relays to programable controllers .While I did it all it's nearly impossible to keep up with the technology . I wish I could remember it all but honestly can't .
As far as bending any kind of tubing it's merely an application of geometry .I've got the charts but it can be figured out using the formulas which is seldom done and most people don't really know how to do it .The method these days can be "Googled " as can most subjects .

 

[Al Smith]

Taking up bandwidth ,here's the story on the big Greenlee .Many years ago working for a contractor we had a 4" Greenlee on the job site .The in plant people had no way to bend large conduit and as kind of a "P R " thing I let them use it .The engineering people thought it was neat so they ordered one but got the numbers confused and what they got was a Greenlee 785 I think which is huge and not designed to be mobile and not easiest machine to operate .
Fast forward 20 years .I later worked directly for that company and retired from same a year ago .In that time they had upgraded and had a nice Greenlee 4" with a bending table .I got this monster from a scrap pass and have not one thin dime in it .The last one I saw on flea bay went for over 12 grand .A case of being in the right place at the right time . I have used it some but very seldom .Once was bending the boom support for a bucket truck from a 21 foot section of 4" gas pipe which was very time consuming and I had to handle the pipe with overhead tram rails and chain falls I have in my shop . I don't think they even make this model any more .
That thing has 10,000 PSI hydraulics and one of those idiots wanted to make log splitter out of it .They knew I would not and the plant manager himself signed the scrap pass and I have it in my safe as proof of ownership . --and that's the long and short of that subject .

 

[Al Smith]

I borrowed a 2" pipe tap from my old bud Ron who has more junk than I do to chase the threads on the manifold .A new aftermarket water pump and a Chevy one wire alternator to replace the generator ."Purests " would have kept the original generator, I'm not a purest .I want function .This is a big heavy old tool not a fully restored model A Ford .
I've used Chevy alternators on the two Fergusons,a Jeep CJ5 and now this old crawler .The hardest part is hill billy engineering the brackets to hold them .Once installed you never have to fool with them again .A new one is about 50 bucks ,flea bay .

 

[Junk Meister]

Thread chips will ruin shoe soles quick too.

Working on hydraulic plumbing with the wrong kind of shoe soles with Hyd. oil from the leak can get slick .. the millings don't help enough with traction.

 

[Al Smith]

After 29 years in an automobile engine plant I worked around a vast amount of oil soaked floors and machinery. Some were installed as used equipped from Studebaker ,believe it or not .Leaked like a sieve .The Red Wings have a pretty good toe hold but Skechers were better .We didn't have to wear safety toed shoes .No matter what you wore you learned to do the "meat packers shuffle " .That concrete is hard as a rock if you slip .

 

[Al Smith]

Most of that old stuff was hydraulic drive, clamping ,power to the machining heads etc .I've seen some with 2" feed lines with 50 HP or larger pumps and some staged .Moved gallons and gallons of oil per minute .It's mostly been replaced with digital computer servo drives etc .Not nearly as messy to deal with .Out with the old and in with the new

 

[Bilge Rat]

Things are changing very fast . By the time you learn how to do something well new tech comes along making your hard earned knowledge almost useless. A kid on a computer now has all the answers but let something break and need actual manual hands on labor they are lost.
Kids today think hand tools are disposable, they buy them cheap when needed then are left wherever they were last used.
I can build a Holley or a Q jet for most any application but who needs that now.

One wire alternators and one wire HEI distrubitors from Chevy were great.
Replaced the generator with alternator on my 165 MF tractor many years ago. That was a good advancement in tech.

Redwings are/were great, have a pair that are 20 years old and still in good shape resoled at least once.

Old guys will take a lot of knowledge with us when we are gone. New tech will replace us as long as the batteries are charged in their smart phones

 

[Junk Meister]

Most of that old stuff was hydraulic drive, clamping ,power to the machining heads etc .I've seen some with 2" feed lines with 50 HP or larger pumps and some staged .Moved gallons and gallons of oil per minute .It's mostly been replaced with digital computer servo drives etc .Not nearly as messy to deal with .Out with the old and in with the new

Motor starter technology has left me in the dark ages. Reduced voltage starters to soft start to now what? I haven't a clue. And the advances in plasma cutters in 20 years is amazing ..

 

[Al Smith]

Things are changing very fast . By the time you learn how to do something well new tech comes along making your hard earned knowledge almost useless. A kid on a computer now has all the answers but let something break and need actual manual hands on labor they are lost.
.

One wire alternators and one wire HEI distrubitors from Chevy were great.
Replaced the generator with alternator on my 165 MF tractor many years ago.










Old guys will take a lot of knowledge with us when we are gone. New tech will replace us as long as the batteries are charged in their smart phones

True story about the technology which is nearly impossible to keep up with .
Regarding Chevy "one wires" as I type I'm fitting one to my 1954 Oliver OC-6 crawler and have already to two Ferguson TO-20's .
In the electrical industry I've seen it go from hard wired relay control to CNC and PLC operation in 50 years .If I never see another robot it will be too soon .They drove me bonkers but I always figured them out .I got paid real well to be frustrated .
The saving grace has been the internet on some of this stuff .I've got a library full on manuals from any thing like a Bridgeport milling machine or model A Ford to modern PLC control systems .However I still refer to things like You Tube some times .It's out there if you can find it .
I'm an old fart too although I know when I buy the farm somebody will pick up the slack .It won't die on the vine .

 

[Al Smith]

In my life time I've met a lot of who could be considered geniuses .Two who stick out are Art Arfons and Kenny Burden both were in the same navy I was although mine was the submarine service which is a story in itself .
Of late because of the "throw away " mind set very few are interested in repairing anything ,just replace it .Some of us have went through hard times and we didn't have that option .Weather we are better off for it who is to say .Just the way we roll I guess .

 

[FergusonTO35]

I borrowed a 2" pipe tap from my old bud Ron who has more junk than I do to chase the threads on the manifold .A new aftermarket water pump and a Chevy one wire alternator to replace the generator ."Purests " would have kept the original generator, I'm not a purest .I want function .This is a big heavy old tool not a fully restored model A Ford .
I've used Chevy alternators on the two Fergusons,a Jeep CJ5 and now this old crawler .The hardest part is hill billy engineering the brackets to hold them .Once installed you never have to fool with them again .A new one is about 50 bucks ,flea bay .

Yep, my TO-35 has a Delco one wire on it. It was that way when I got it so I didn't have to experiment with making brackets. Interestingly, you can now buy a complete one wire setup with brackets for the TO-20 and 30, but not the 35.

 

[Al Smith]

I made the brackets for one of the TO-20's and for the Ollie .It wasn't that big of a deal .I had a couple of one wires but elected to buy probably an aftermarket for the Ollie .I've got a 60 amp gauge that should be here by weeks end as it's a 100 amp alternator .The 30 amp gauge was shot any way ,needed a new one .BTW I hung a 63 amp on my 1965 Jeep CJ5 also ,I had that one in my junk pile already .
The Ollie will never rev high enough to be able to reach 100 amps as it's governed at 1600 RPM .The Chevy version of that engine could probably run near 4,000 or higher .

 

[Beavis331]

Yep, my TO-35 has a Delco one wire on it. It was that way when I got it so I didn't have to experiment with making brackets. Interestingly, you can now buy a complete one wire setup with brackets for the TO-20 and 30, but not the 35.

That’s because the 35 has a tach drive on the generator. There is a way around that though. I found an alternator with the tach drive for the TO35 I restored last winter. Also had to find a longer cable because the alternator is shorter than the generator. Turned out pretty sweet.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Ok, I see. I just use an aftermarket electronic tach on mine. Got any pics of your TO-35?