Gutschmidt’s Shop Tips

Gutschmidt’s Shop Tips Roger Gutschmidt, Gackle, N.D.: “My pickup tines on my baler get bent when they hit rocks or mole or gopher piles. I bend them straight with two simple tools. “One is a 12-in. long piece of 1/2-in. by 1/2-in. key stock with a 5/16-in. hole drilled at one end. The other is a piece of pipe a little bigger than the tine. “I slide the hole in the key stock over the bent tine and brace it against something solid. With the tine braced, I slide the pipe over it and bend it back in line with the others. “It only takes a minute and beats replacing bent tines or having them break off.” “Debris gets into the bearings on the front auger shafts that connect to the PTO. Dust and debris often cause them to fail. I’ve found some simple ways to protect them. “One method uses flanges inside solenoids on Delco starters. I’ve rebuilt hundreds of starters over the years in my on-farm repair business. I always cut the solenoid apart to save the copper. The flange is inside. Most people wouldn’t even know it was there. “Lots of companies use shields to protect bearings. Looking at the flanges, I realized they would work as shields for the bearings on many auger shafts. If the shaft and bearing are apart, you can just slip one on. If not, and you don’t want to take the shaft and bearing apart, use a cutting wheel to cut the flange in half. Slip it over the shaft and use a hose clamp to keep it in place. “On bigger augers with larger shafts, you can make a shield using a piece of pipe that fits over the shaft and a washer with the correct outside diameter to cover the bearing seal and the shaft. Weld the washer to the pipe, then cut it in half lengthwise. Center it on the hole and clamp it to the shaft. It’ll extend the life of your bearings.” “A plastic water bottle can save a lot of money when repairing a hydraulic cylinder. Seals for hydraulic cylinder barrels come in packs. You have to buy the pack, even if you only need one or two. Sliding the piston into the barrel can easily damage a seal, requiring you to buy another pack. “I drink a lot of water when working in the shop, and one day it occurred to me that the quart-sized water bottle was the right size to fit over the piston. I cut off the top and bottom with scissors and made a vertical cut along the length of the bottle, turning the bottle into a sleeve. “With the seals in place, I wrapped the plastic sleeve around the piston, lubricated it lightly and slid it into the barrel. “Once the piston was past the seals, I slid the plastic sleeve out. Not only were the seals undamaged, but I was able to reuse the sleeve for the next hydraulic cylinder repair.” “I picked up four old leg vises with plans to mount them on semi-truck brake drums. I decided to clean them up first. It was a simple process, but it really made them look great. “I took them apart to check for any damage. Then I sandblasted them and repainted the pieces. Once I sandblast and paint the brake drums, I’ll decide if I want to sell them or not.”

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