Why wouldn't it fit?

This is a service step that the previous owner of the 1855 added; it gives the farmer a place to stand and access the top of the tractor.  Otherwise, you'd need a ladder.  The tractor didn't come from the factory with this addition, but Cliff likes the looks of it, and it's practical.  That heavy step came off this tractor two years ago; but today when Cliff wanted to put it back on, the bolt-holes don't quite line up.  We had a similar problem with that canopy the boys helped him with. 

He tried pulling the two sides together with a cable winch.  Nothing doing.  Once the winch was loosened, the metal sprang right back to where it was.  

He tried again.  He gained 1/8 inch this time, but he needed more.  (Notice my dog, obsessing over shadows as usual.)
There's another set of holes in line with the ones Cliff was aiming for, and at one point he convinced himself that perhaps he should be hooking the step up to those.  I suggested that before he started drilling and messing up his beautiful paint job, I should find a picture I took of the tractor when we first bought it.  We'd make the picture full-screen and see if we could tell which holes we were supposed to use.  

This is the picture, which showed us he had been using the right holes all along; for some reason, they just wouldn't line up.  


He brought out the big guns:  drills and acetylene torches.  Finally, he was able to match up the holes, and not too much damage was done.  

Success is sweet, but what on earth is it that causes these big, heavy pieces of metal change sizes between the time they are removed and the time to put them back on the tractor?  
I blame Obama.

Putting the canopy back on the 1855 Oliver

This task turned out to be more difficult than anybody imagined.  The canopy had been off the tractor for a long time, stored away where the fresh, new paint wouldn't get scratched.  For some reason, the bolt-holes absolutely would not line up.  In fact, the slideshow/video I made of it doesn't show the final success because I wasn't there to watch.  
You see, one of Cliff's helpers, my grandson's buddy, had his baby, Kinsey, along: 

My grandson's girl friend tended to her for awhile.  
When she started getting sleepy (the baby, not the girl friend), I took over and sang her to sleep; then I brought her into the house and of course, stayed inside while she slept on the couch.

  
Cliff is still asleep as I do this entry, so I can't ask him for details; but from what I heard last night, getting that canopy bolted up involved torches and drilling and some damage to paint in certain places (also some graphic language).  Another one of my grandson's friends showed up after I came inside, so there were plenty of helpers.  
I had the easy job:  Watching a sweet baby and cooking hamburgers for all the helpers when they were finished with the impossible job they had to do.  
Try to ignore my grandson's T-shirt.  Redneck young men will be redneck young men.  I asked what the shirt was about.  It seems Arick and his girl friend went to some female full-contact game... football?... (shuddering) and that's where they bought the shirt.  I was going to remove the photos that actually showed the words, but then I decided against that.     
As of right now, the slideshow has a soundtrack.  However, Youtube might remove it before long due to copyright laws.  "Joy to the World" isn't really how the guys were feeling anyhow, so it's no biggie.   

Men who love tractors (and their relatives)

Cliff's brother was here today, and also his sister's son.  They decided to tackle a hub on the Oliver that was "froze up", whatever that means.  Here's a slideshow of some of the action.



And here's a brief video that will show you how noisy this sort of activity can be.

Progress on the 1855

One of my blogger and message-board buddies, a fellow who has a particular liking for Oliver tractors, left a comment to notify me he'd like to see an Oliver update. Here it is, hopefully with no misinformation; Cliff is holed up in the shop, so I can't run it past him. But if he sees something that needs correction later, I'll come back and fix it.

Cliff had to buy a new Handyman Jack; the old one wasn't up to the task all by itself.

He built a solid block of wood to hold Ollie up safely.

I think these are some part of the fuel tank fenders.

Various parts, sandblasted.

Wheel and weight that have been sandblasted.

Cliff is going to try and make a new tank insulator out of that gray thing (and others like it).

This is the Electrolysis vat Cliff made to clean parts.

Here are some parts that were cleaned in said vat.

Wheels have been sandblasted.

Right there was a hydraulic leak that almost drove Cliff crazy; his brother Phil helped him find the source and fix it.

Weights, sandblasted.

It required a $23 rubber to fix this leak.

Here are the fuel-tank fenders Cliff picked up at a junk yard, painted and ready.

And there you have it, a tour of Cliff's shop while he's fixing up the Oliver.

If anyone would like to go look at the pictures on Flickr where you can enlarge them or watch as a slideshow, click HERE.

Video... Cliff plowing

Cliff's plowing the biggest piece of ground we have available for such a huge tractor to plow. This is supposed to break in the overhauled engine. His local brother is riding with him in the video. They fixed several small leaks today in various places. I posted this on Youtube, which automatically puts it on Facebook; also on Tractor Tales. But I figured I'd share it here too, since many of you don't go to those sites.
Don't judge the poor Oliver by how naked it is; Cliff won't be putting all the tin on until he paints it.

This gave me the opportunity to work with my Mac Iphoto and Imovie, splicing two videos together. My daughter was right: we tend to try and make things too hard on a Mac. Some of the programs are so simple that if you'll let it, it will practically do things by itself!