Wheels done and installed on IH #9 mower

The wheels are currently installed on the mower.  Very exciting.  And I only made one mistake that may cost me to have to buy a new hub.  :S  Yikes!  I hate those kind of mistakes.  But ... before we get to any of that, here's the picture I took this morning:

Here she is!  So nice to see this mower with wheels holding it up instead of jack stands. 

I've said before that I sanded down the wheels and painted them.  I didn't paint the inside of the hubs, I just left them as is.

Once the paint was dried, I noticed that there were some holes in the shaft section of the wheels.  I figure these had to be for grease zerts.  I bought some grease zerts that you screw in, and noticed right away that you can't just screw a bolt into cast iron.  Those threads just spin and don't dig in and bite into it.  I was lucky and happened to have a tap the size of the zerts I got.  This also happened to be the same size as the hole in the first wheel.  I tapped it, and the zert screwed in no problem.  This was easy.  1 wheel down.

The first wheel after installation with a single grease zert.

The second wheel caused me a bit of a headache.  There were actually 2 holes.  It looked like the hole for the grease zert had been widened a bit.  I couldn't find a way to seat the zert in the original hole.  So, I drilled a new one.  This is where I learned that when you are going to tap something, you need to drill a hole SMALLER than the bolt size.  Yikes!  Now this wheel had 3 holes in it, and I couldn't use any of them.  No problem ... just drill another one.  This one tapped fine and a zert was installed.  Now, what to do with those open holes?  I knew if I leaved them, that rain could get down to my axle, as well as when I greased it up, grease would just shoot out of the holes.  I decided to use my good friend JB Weld.  :)  I used my long fingers to set masking tape on the inside of the axle hole on the wheel.  I then mixed the JB Weld and as I squoze it into those holes, I kept my finger in the axle shaft pressing up so that the JB weld did not push down at all into the axle shaft.  Once I was done spreading the JB Weld, I shoved a wad of newspaper down the axle shaft to make sure nothing happened while it dried.  I let this cure for 2 days and figured it was good enough to try.

The second wheel.  You can see the JB Weld sealing the 3 other holes.  This worked very well.

Last night, armed with my wheels, hubs, and grease, I decided it was time to install the wheels.  The wheels went on super easy.  I greased up the axle, and applied grease to the inside of the wheel and they both slid on with no effort.  The hubs slide on easy too.  I installed the left hub very easily.  You just press the tines in as you press the hub on and then thump a few more times with a rubber mallet till the axle pin holes line up and you're set.  Pound in that axle pin, and then drive in the key pin and  you're done.  Easy!

As I went to get the right hub, I realized that the hubs mattered what side they went on.  The hubs are designed to engage the axle when pulling forward, but when rolling backward, those tines just click on the wheel so the axle doesn't engage.  If you install them backwards, they mower would work the opposite, however, I believe the way the key pin and axle pin line up, you can't install them backwards.

All went well on the second wheel and then I pounded in the key pin.  THEN I MADE A MISTAKE!  :(  I pounded the key pin in one too many times.  As the hammer hit it, I heard a noise, and the cast iron hub had cracked.  :(  It's just a hairline crack, and the hub is still in place on the axle, but I have no idea if it's going to stay on.  This did not excite me.  Ugh!  So ... if you are doing this, DO NOT POUND THOSE KEY PINS IN TOO HARD!  I'm just going to continue using it till it breaks.  Macknair doesn't have a left hub at the time, but when he gets one in, it will be a 60 dollar part.

It's so nice to see this thing with the wheels on it.  I've been looking at a rust colored machine on jackstands for far too long.  It's awesome to see a shiny red mower with new white wheels and blue hubs.  Things are coming along nicely!

Up next I order a new gag lever hinge, and then I prep the sickle blade.  Getting exciting!!

UPDATE:  OK, so apparently I wasn't supposed to put grease zerts on the axles.  The holes there are supposed to be used twice a year to apply oil (assuming 90w gear oil).  In my mind, I saw some other grease zerts and thought the holes on the wheel had to be zert holes.  Wrong.  This answer came up because I noticed that the yoke and lift mechanism had holes in them.  I thought they were for some kind of zert, and asked the guys at Macknair if they had them.  That was when I was informed that those holes were meant to be open, and that twice a year you should oil the parts through there.  He was surprised I got a zert on the wheels.  Whoops.  I'm thinking I should be OK.  I'll post if the grease has any kind of bad effect on things.


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More paint and initial re-assembly of the IH #9 mower

Today was a great day.  Cool temps with sunshine, my favorite kind of day.  The first thing I did, was to finish prep on my 2nd wheel, and paint it.  YAY!  I currently have both wheels sitting in the garage, ready to be installed.  I drilled new holes, threaded them, and added grease zerts to the wheels since it looked like the old ones had fallen out.

I found another part that I hadn't prepped for paint yet.  It's the Gag Lever Hinge.  When I instpected it, I found some pretty major cracks in it.  This must have happened when I was pounding out the pin from the hinge and the yoke.  Ugh!  Looks like I need to buy this from the Macknairs.  Luckily they have it listed as available and for $22.  Once I have this, I will be ready to install everything but the sickle bar.  Very cool!

If you look closely, you can see 3 cracks.  One where the pin goes, and 2 in each of the corners.  Good idea to replace this part and not try to reuse it.

I think this is a good place to mention something on this mower that I am not re-installing.  My mower was equipped with the vertical lift assembly.  What this is, is a rod that attaches from the lift assembly to the clutch.  This makes it so anytime you lift the sickle bar, it automatically engages the clutch (so the sickle bar isn't working while it is in the vertical position.  I would have had to replace a part to have it working good, and the guy at Macknairs told me that most people just don't put them back on.  This means I'll be responsible for engaging the clutch anytime I'm not cutting.  I'm fine with that.  :)

The assembly was kind of fun.  I was impressed that I actually remembered how it went.  I used the Lynn Miller book when needed to help me remember how the lift assembly all went together.  I took some closeup pics of how it is looking.  Enjoy!

Here is the lift assembly put back together.  Looks really good with it all painted.

This is the view of the lift assembly from the right.  The pin on the lower right is for the vertical lift stuff that I didn't put back on.

A rear view.  Here you can see the tension spring, and also the tilt lever and it's assembly.

Here's the clutch.  The hole that has nothing hooked up is for the vertical lift assembly that I am not installing.

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Changing the seals on my IH #9 Mower

Now that I have the frame all painted, I decided it would be a shame to not replace all the seals with the mower broken down this much.  I bought all the seals from Macknair and sons (www.macknair.com).  I have found them to be VERY knowledgeable and great to work with.

One word of advice ... when removing the old seal, BE CAREFUL NOT TO MAR UP THE area where the seal sits.  Make sure you only pry on the seal itself, not the housing around it.  When installing the new seals, BE CAREFULL TO APPLY PRESSURE EVENLY as you install.  Take your time and be nice and easy and the new seals will slowly tap right into place. 

Pitman Seal

To replace this one, remove the pitman shaft (I did it the way Lynn Miller suggests in his book).  Once the pitman shaft is removed, get a seal puller, and remove the seal.  This is easy to do with a seal puller.  The original type of seal will be thick with a metal housing on both sides.  Just pry at it with the seal puller till it is freed.  The new seal will be 2 seals, instead of one.  In order to accomodate the thickness of the seal, Macknair will send you 2 of the correct sized seal.  Install both carefully.  Then, reinstall the pitman.  This happens in the reverse from when you removed the pitman.  Be gentle sliding the shaft through the new seals.

NOTE:  One thing I struggled with, was getting the pitman shaft to slide through the bearing properly.  I struggled with this, then got it, only to realize that I didn't have the gear on.  SO ... here is how to put that thing together.  Gently slide the pitman shaft in.  Make sure it slides through the bearing, and then place the washer on, and put the gear into position.  Start turning the pitman clockwise (from the front), and watch through the gear to see if it is starting to thread.  If not, tap the pitman a few times with a rubber mallet.  As you push on the pitman, the gear will push against the big flywheel in the gear housing because of the angle of the teeth, this will hold things in place.  Once those threads start turning in the gear, just keep turning the pitman clockwise with the rod tool in place to keep the gears from turning.  Hope this helps. 

This is the rod tool.  I showed this before.  It's a broken tooth from an old hay rake.  Worked great!

Clutch Seal

The clutch seal is the smallest seal.  To remove this, many sources say you have to remove the gears from the gearbox to have an open hole in the seal.  I did NOT do it this way.  I worked gently to remove the seal while the meal clutch rod was still sticking through the seal.  To do this, I hammered a small flat head screwdriver into the side of the seal to make a hole.  I then used the seal puller to cut the metal all around the seal, releasing the center of the seal.  I then used a screwdriver to slowly work at, and pry at the seal till I was able to remove it.  To install, I used a piece of 1" PVC pipe to pound the seals in.  Once again, this will be 2 seals installed in the location of the one thicker original seal.

Axle Seal

The axle seal is removed the same way we did the Clutch Seal.  Use screwdrivers to break down the seal and pry it out.  This will destroy the seals.  Make sure you do not mar up the seal housing on the frame.  To install the new seals (1 seal each axle), I just used a hammer to gently tap all around the seal and knock it in.  A second hammer will help with this too, just use both to hit the opposite sides of the seal at the same time.

YAY!  Now that the seals were done on my mower, I reinstalled the pitman, removed the gear cover, and filled with oil.  I then put the lid back on with the new gasket that I bought from Macknair and sons.  I'm very excited to have this much done. 


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Painting my IH #9 Mower

With the machine broke down, and each individual part being prepped, the paint can start.  I'm using rattle cans and I'm very satisfied with how it is working.  The pictures below show most of what I have done at this point.

This is how I typically did it.  I prepped enough parts to fill a table top (all the same color), and then I painted them all at the same time.

Here are some parts that are complete and ready to be put back on the mower.  Sickle bar, wheel hubs, pitman arm, sickle bar shoes, and more

One wheel done.  Wheels are a pain in the ass to prep.  They sure look good after they get painted though.

Painting the seat, yoke, clutch pedal, pitman shaft, and a few other parts

The stem of the seat will be painted blue, so I taped it to keep it from getting painted red

Another view of the first coat of paint

Complete.  These parts are now painted (besides the blue stem on the seat)

I painted the bottom of the frame first.  Here it is, looking so much better than before

Another view of the bottom of the frame

And here is the top of the frame.  Note that the axyles were taped to try and keep paint off them.

Another View of the top of the frame.

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Prepping the IH #9 Mower For Paint

Here are some pictures of what it looked like as I disassembled the mower and prepped it for paint.

To prep, I did a total breakdown of the machine.  Then I took each part individually and used a wire wheel brush on my drill, or used a sanding pad on my grinder and removed all the rust that had accumulated over the years.  This took a lot of time and effort.  After sanding/grinding, I then wiped each part down with Mineral Spirits in order to get them ready for paint.  This worked great, and made the paint stick great.

One idea you might try before total breakdown, is to take the entire machine to a sandblaster while it is all together.  That may do most of the work for you.

The pictures below are what the prep process was like:

It takes a lot of effort to sand down the frame of the mower.  A grinder with a sand-paper wheel was much quicker and easier than a wire wheel.  I still needed a wire wheel to get in some of those tight places

Another view of the now shiney top side of the frame

Yet another view of the top side of the frame after I cleaned it up.

The bottom of the frame, prepped and ready for paint

Another view of the bottom.

While upside down, take a look at the underside of the toolbox to see what year the mower was made.  This one was made in 1943.

 To really get the prep done right, I decided to remove the pitman shaft from the mower.  Here's how I did it.  I sat over the top of the mower with my right side towards the front of the mower, and my left side to the rear.  I grabbed an old wire/rod from a hay rake and a pipe wrench, and I removed it exactly how the Lynn Miller book says.  I took the lid off the gear box.  I then slid the hook part of the wire/rod tool between the gear teeth to hold it still.  This is where the book doesn't clarify.  Just so you know, the pitman come off in a counter-clockwise motion if looking at it from the front.  In order to do this, you have to hook the part of the rod on the UNDER SIDE of the gear.  Once the rod is in place, place your pipe wrench on the pitman shaft that is sticking out, and pull the pipe wrench towards you.  I was shocked at how each mine came out.  This was one of the few things on this mower to go easy.

The removed pitman shaft, prepped and cleaned

This is the rod/tool I used.  It is an old rod from a hay rake.  This worked perfectly

And this is a picture of some of the parts just sitting waiting for prep.

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Being the lead

I had an interesting experience that I figured I'd tell about.

There are sections of my fencing that have 2 strands of hotwire.  The horses know what these are, and they stay away from them.  We feed on one stretch of such fencing.  I got a call from my wife, telling me that Nellie (the lead mare), had somehow gotten out.  She explained that somehow she went over the low strand, and under the top strand.  She was leaving, and I wouldn't be home till late, so I had her just shut our front gate, and I'd take care of it when I got home.

Later that night, when it was dark, I arrived home to find a very content Nelly grazing down on the green grass, with 3 other horses very jealous of her freedom.  the fence was still intact, but the bottom line was stretched a good bit.  I figure Nellie decided to grace through it, and then when she got popped on the whithers from the top line, she jumped forward through the fence.

Now, when I arrived, and saw Nellie, she held her head high, and trotted away from me 5 feet due to the sound of my motorcycle engine.  Any one who has had horses knows how getting horses back inside their fence can cometimes be an ordeal, especially when the horse is a moody, pregnant, lead mare.  I suddenly had images of me chasing her down, or trying to use feed to sweet talk her back into her enclosure.  It was already late, and I sure didn't want to spend my time out chasing a horse.

What I experienced was completely different.  As the motorcycle was shut off, I walked towards Nellie and talked to her.  She turned her head to me, and I pet on her a bit.  We were near the gate, so I walked over to it, and to my surprise, Nelly followed.  I continued to talk to her.  I opened the gate, and had to get Pam out of that area.  Pam wanted out, and I wasn't about to let her.  I was careful not to clap or anything with her, as I didn't want Nellie to back off.  I simply talked in my firm voice, and walked forcefully towards Pam.  She reacted by trotting off and out of the area.

I then opened the gate, said sweetly, "Come on Nellie, let's come inside".  She walked right in and spun around for me to pet on her again.  How easy is that?

It's times like this that I am so grateful for the horses I have.  I feel like I know them, and they know me.  Being able to control a horse using vocal and body language is something that is amazing to me, and I am so greatful for what I know of it.  When it comes to me and my herd, I am the lead, they know it, and they respect it.  When you develope this kind of relationship with your horses, it makes all the other things so much easier to handle.