Breaking in a New Engine and Proof I'm a Hoarder....

We usually roll logs off the trailer onto skids here by the woodshed, block them and toss directly into the shed....most of the time.



This time was an exception. Winter wasn't over and the section of the shed for the year was not yet burned through, so I hadta toss 'em to the side of the shed temporarily THEN stack after enough was extracted to tide us over for the remainder of the season. I hate to handle it that one extra time, but I also hate to not split it when time and weather allows. The other two 12' x 12' x 10 1/2' sections were stacked full so the splits had to go on the ground.



This is another of the Massey Harris 30's that live here. I'd just finished the engine assembly and this was the first run for a break in. Monitoring the temp, plastic had to go over the grill to get it up to temp and to maintain it for the duration. The single stage hydraulic pump with around a 40 gmp rating can really put a load on a 30 hp (roughly) engine...and that's what this new old gal needed.

For the life of me I can't remember what the overbore was on this particular one, but this block can safely go .120 over !!!! This is the exact Continental block used in engines of huge displacement variances...Same stroke, same valve train and only a different bore to go from 124 cu in to 162 cu in and beyond. This started out as a 162 and I wanna say it was taken .020 or .030 over....gotta go to my notes.



Its always a tenuous activity to monitor oil pressure and temp during a break in while listening for any tell tale noises that shouldn't be there. Anymore its impossible to rebuild these old dogs cheaply even doing all the work yourself (except for the bore job).

Continental parts = $$$$$. This one sports new pistons, rings, valves, valve springs, cam bearings, main and rod bearings, thrust bearings, gaskets and seals (of course). The crank was within tolerance though 60 years old. Lots of miscellaneous pieces too.



At any rate, I like to give them a half hour at half throttle under mild load, then a half hour to 45 minutes wide open throttle under heavy load, then another half hour or so at half throttle and light load maintaining 180 degrees....then I just run 'em like I stole 'em. May not be the right way, but luck has been on my side doing them as such.

After a couple hours run time AFTER the break in, oil and filter is changed and a close inspection of the oil is done in bright sunlight. If you have a problem, the oil will glint like a metalflake paint job on a hot rod. And that's something that's desireable ONLY on the outside !!!

So have I yet proved my worthiness to be considered within the ranks of hoarder-dom ??....I still have more proof, its somewhere in photobucket. Got some pictures from just last week too, but the pixies in the camera are holding them hostage....I don't know WHAT them pixies do inside there, but I think there's 16 mega-ones...... must be bigger than normal.

 

Yes, you are a firewood hoarder. Break in sounds good, with the new machining tolerances, break in seems less important than it used to be. I feel keeping it under load is the important part.

 

So about how many cord do you think you have there and about how many years ahead tractorman44 ?

I'm sure most of us already believed you were a hoarder even without pictures! But we DO love pictures!

 

A hoarder for sure and an old iron merit badge !

 

Show off! Preying on our, ok, my, tractor envy. I like the guys who join and don't even have a saw yet. It's not you. It's me

 

Tractor mechanic here. I had rebuilt an 8.3l cummins earlier this year for an IH 7110. I sat it out on the PTO dyno for an hour varying load. It always makes me a little nervous after that intricate rebuild to go right to the dyno. It is needed to break the rings in properly to avoid oil consumption. Idling is the worst thing on a new engine.

 

You are right on that for sure. With these 60 and 70 year old engines I always add Lucas oil additive to Rotella 15-40. May not be necessary, but I figure the cams may last a bit longer. The materials gotta be different now on new stuff and they're ok to run with the new oils refined under the new EPA regs but I'm thinking better safe than sorry with the money that goes into a rebuild now on these old dogs. I'm with you on the queazy feeling during break-in.

That's some funny stuff right there. I like it and still smiling.

Thanks for the old iron badge....will it come in the mail ?? I hope its rusty, cause that's the way I like old iron......

Ahhhhh...my first Official acknowledgement as being a fellow hoarder !!! I'm in great company.....

 

Well the shed is three compartment, each of the compartments are 12' x 12' x 10 1/2' average hgt. So that's approximately 12 cord per section. I usually start the winters with all three full and rotate the compartments on a yearly basis...well draw from a different one each year, keeping three years cut and split ahead. We were nearing the end of the winter in the last pic and was starting on the refill of that compartment.

Heating two houses and a condo out of the pile, we burn just over one compartment per season on average. I figure roughly 13 cord per year. Then my shop and the SIL's shop are both heated from a separate pile where we toss the chit wood. Chit wood does not go into the wood shed as its reserved for the good stuff. The chitwood pile is kept under sheets of tin, covering the top only. There's probably always a minimum of 2 to 4 cord of chit wood available for the shed as I turn no wood away. And a standing rule is no good wood is burned in the shed.

Sooo, thank you for asking....

 

cool tractor. i'm surprised continental parts are expensive as they were used in many different applications. i am afraid it is that everything is expensive to work on. looks to be running fine by the gauges. i bet it sounds good!