Dang I love my MF50. Best shovel and wheelbarrow I've ever owned.
Best antique vehicle I've ever owned too!
I've had it trucked to several sites where I've needed it. If you are not pressed for time many truckers will cut a deal if I can wait until they have an empty return run. Deal is I have to be ready when they are. No excuses.
Latest job was a rocky road leveling. Photo kind of illustrates how and what had to be cut down.
These remaining outcrops are bedrock, which the MF50 will not touch.
I graded around them and broke them out the hard way:
Drilling holes and cracking the rock with wedges.
Anyway, about the hoe, problems with loose pins.
She was plenty loose when I bought her, and I try to keep her lubed up.
Some of the grease fitting were missing or not flowing, so I replaced them, usually having to drill out the old hardened grease and counterbore a bit to tap new threads.
I tried to drill and tap some new grease fitting for pins that did not have them, but found the pin bushings are hardened and you cannot drill through them. These pins must be removed every so often and coated with grease. When grease stops oozing out of these I pull them and coat them in grease again.
I also replaced the pins, which really tightened the old girl up. Used cold rolled mild steel shafting, I believe 1.25" diameter by 11" long if I remember right. A couple of the non-rotating holes had gone oversize so I built them up with weld and ground them true again with a 1" stone and die grinder.
The swing cylinder is loose, so that will be the next job. I lifted it up and had a look at it, the spline looks worn, both external and internal. I suspect it will be a weld and grind job on the male spline. If I was willing to take the rotating cylinder apart a local machine shop could do an excellent job on welding and cutting a new spline.
The female spline, I am not sure. I've heard suggestions of Loktite or JB-Weld. Again the local machine shop could machine a new spline to weld in after drilling out the old one, but this will be $$$ and lots of heavy work getting it there. Suggestions?
