Tough to recall this without a great deal of remorse..........
In the late 1990's I went to Cental Ill. to purchase a 'field ready' 720.....seller was very old, gave the impression that he was retired JD dealer. The small field full of shabby 2cyls must have been the trade ins he accumulated as his 'collection'......The one I had dealt on over the phone was far from 'field ready'. It did start, ran on one cyl only. But I wanted a 720 Gas & this was going to be it!!!! I knew engine repair was relatively easy compared to trans/rear/ps/pto/hyd.pump etc., all of which seemed to be OK. Worst thing was that the front axle cast iron had been split open like a clam shell at one end & 'brazed' back (now properly repaired). He did give me another front axle housing that was also broken but at a different place.
At home, I was going to check the compression to determine if it needed a valve job. First plug I took out was gapped at about .125, other one somewhat closer at about .080. Once I corrected the gap, all was well with the running. First trips to the mail box, 1200ft driveway, resulted in flooding. Gas tank full of rust deposits. Still dealing with that.
Now the tragedy.....I made a wooden box from a good solid pallet, put 16" high 3/4 plywood sides all around, same for floor & a couple 2x4 cross braces which also held our 5gal buckets of tools & trinkets in place along the side. Chain-saw. T posts, driver, shovel, wire, etc went into the center of the box which fitted nicely on the rear mount double round bale fork. On Oct 25, '011, we set out to add a couple strands to a fence that proved to be too high. She rode in the box.....along the way, she shouted for me to stop. I lowered the box & she got out of the box & went toward a fence line with a long handled pruner to cut a multifloral rose bush as was her habit. When I went to go on down the hill she shouted again telling me that the box had slid the wrong way on the forks........I went to back up the hill to reposition the box, stalled the engine which had been idling, I restarted the engine, kicked up the throttle a bit & engaged the clutch again.....without looking back. When I got the clutch fully forward & looked back, she was going under the right rear wheel. The tire spun on her legs before I could get back to the clutch, it threw her off the the right about 8ft, her left foot was turned backwards, all her heavy fall clothes were ripped off, there was blood seeping through what was left of her clothes on both legs. She was conscious the whole time, we agreed I had to go get the truck. You cant believe how slow a 2cyl is in full throttle 6gear. Once I got to the house I called the 911 people who I was worried wouldnt be able to find us that far from the highway & house. Once I returned to her with the truck, a county water meter reader was coming across a closed portion of an old road & I was able to get there in time to stop him. He helped me load her flat down in the back of the truck where he rode with her. I stopped at the mailbox that the 911 folks had the number of. She didnt want to wait so we headed for the hospital. About one mile I encountered 2 ambulances & 3 fire trucks. They took her another 2 miles to a school playground where they met a helicopter that took her to Columbus.
I had to button things up around the farm before I could even start up the road. Two & half hrs later I was in her room. They had put her foot back on correctly.........hope??? Didnt last.....5 days later they amputated 6" below the knee & told me that her right leg was in grave condition & may have to come off at the thigh. They quickly transferred her to another hospital where they saved her right leg but had to remove all the layers of skin & fatty tissue under that. She is now 75% graft on the right leg which has limited range of motion & constant swelling that has to be dealt with every day. The swelling also causes the grafted skin to break open, seep a clear fluid & many times bleeds. The shower floor looks like it is covered with fish scales. The left leg is grafted from just below the knee. Grafted skin is not very strong compared, so she has constant issues with her prosthetic. To this day, she cant remember why she walked in behind the tractor.........when disposing of the tractor came up, she said no, wasnt the tractors fault.
Needless to say, nothing will ever be normal again........she cant walk in the corral, feed the calves, work the garden, walk to her tree stand, check the fence, gather walnuts.........all of the things that make the outdoor life so appealing are gone to her. I am 75, have had 4bypasses & then stents & have asbestos lung disease. I have to help her with almost every facet of everyday living plus tend everything we used to do together. She spends as many hours with the prosthesis off as on. I am 13 years her senior.........she faces a difficult & tragic future as it is & if my health leaves me lingering, so much the worse.
Not a very auspicious beginning on this site........but I need to know how to fix some things on this tractor so she can sell it in the future if she chooses. She operated it with rake & square baler, but with this problematic prosthesis, she cant even get up on it anymore.........
PJHeck, Ohio.
In the late 1990's I went to Cental Ill. to purchase a 'field ready' 720.....seller was very old, gave the impression that he was retired JD dealer. The small field full of shabby 2cyls must have been the trade ins he accumulated as his 'collection'......The one I had dealt on over the phone was far from 'field ready'. It did start, ran on one cyl only. But I wanted a 720 Gas & this was going to be it!!!! I knew engine repair was relatively easy compared to trans/rear/ps/pto/hyd.pump etc., all of which seemed to be OK. Worst thing was that the front axle cast iron had been split open like a clam shell at one end & 'brazed' back (now properly repaired). He did give me another front axle housing that was also broken but at a different place.
At home, I was going to check the compression to determine if it needed a valve job. First plug I took out was gapped at about .125, other one somewhat closer at about .080. Once I corrected the gap, all was well with the running. First trips to the mail box, 1200ft driveway, resulted in flooding. Gas tank full of rust deposits. Still dealing with that.
Now the tragedy.....I made a wooden box from a good solid pallet, put 16" high 3/4 plywood sides all around, same for floor & a couple 2x4 cross braces which also held our 5gal buckets of tools & trinkets in place along the side. Chain-saw. T posts, driver, shovel, wire, etc went into the center of the box which fitted nicely on the rear mount double round bale fork. On Oct 25, '011, we set out to add a couple strands to a fence that proved to be too high. She rode in the box.....along the way, she shouted for me to stop. I lowered the box & she got out of the box & went toward a fence line with a long handled pruner to cut a multifloral rose bush as was her habit. When I went to go on down the hill she shouted again telling me that the box had slid the wrong way on the forks........I went to back up the hill to reposition the box, stalled the engine which had been idling, I restarted the engine, kicked up the throttle a bit & engaged the clutch again.....without looking back. When I got the clutch fully forward & looked back, she was going under the right rear wheel. The tire spun on her legs before I could get back to the clutch, it threw her off the the right about 8ft, her left foot was turned backwards, all her heavy fall clothes were ripped off, there was blood seeping through what was left of her clothes on both legs. She was conscious the whole time, we agreed I had to go get the truck. You cant believe how slow a 2cyl is in full throttle 6gear. Once I got to the house I called the 911 people who I was worried wouldnt be able to find us that far from the highway & house. Once I returned to her with the truck, a county water meter reader was coming across a closed portion of an old road & I was able to get there in time to stop him. He helped me load her flat down in the back of the truck where he rode with her. I stopped at the mailbox that the 911 folks had the number of. She didnt want to wait so we headed for the hospital. About one mile I encountered 2 ambulances & 3 fire trucks. They took her another 2 miles to a school playground where they met a helicopter that took her to Columbus.
I had to button things up around the farm before I could even start up the road. Two & half hrs later I was in her room. They had put her foot back on correctly.........hope??? Didnt last.....5 days later they amputated 6" below the knee & told me that her right leg was in grave condition & may have to come off at the thigh. They quickly transferred her to another hospital where they saved her right leg but had to remove all the layers of skin & fatty tissue under that. She is now 75% graft on the right leg which has limited range of motion & constant swelling that has to be dealt with every day. The swelling also causes the grafted skin to break open, seep a clear fluid & many times bleeds. The shower floor looks like it is covered with fish scales. The left leg is grafted from just below the knee. Grafted skin is not very strong compared, so she has constant issues with her prosthetic. To this day, she cant remember why she walked in behind the tractor.........when disposing of the tractor came up, she said no, wasnt the tractors fault.
Needless to say, nothing will ever be normal again........she cant walk in the corral, feed the calves, work the garden, walk to her tree stand, check the fence, gather walnuts.........all of the things that make the outdoor life so appealing are gone to her. I am 75, have had 4bypasses & then stents & have asbestos lung disease. I have to help her with almost every facet of everyday living plus tend everything we used to do together. She spends as many hours with the prosthesis off as on. I am 13 years her senior.........she faces a difficult & tragic future as it is & if my health leaves me lingering, so much the worse.
Not a very auspicious beginning on this site........but I need to know how to fix some things on this tractor so she can sell it in the future if she chooses. She operated it with rake & square baler, but with this problematic prosthesis, she cant even get up on it anymore.........
PJHeck, Ohio.