Well, the schedules have changed around again.
The 49 COE that I had talked about as a future project, arrived today. The tractor project was put on hold.
The client removed the grain body before shipping it down.
I was able to identify the engine as a 283 with the stock 4 speed w/PTO.
The big supprise was that the frame rails are twisted.
The rear 5 feet of the frame look like a toy truck that someone stepped on.
The truck had been so over loaded that rivets holding the rear cross member to the lower frame flange had sheared. With the springs mounted to the outside of the frame, the force twisted the bottom of the frame rails out. The spring mounts are no longer horizontal , but angle upwards.
In typical barnyard repair, instead of trying too straighten the rails, they just welded the ends of the cross member to the rails where they were so they wouldn't bend any more.
Just more work!
