The 9880i Gets A New Cab

We found a donor for some parts for the combine and John Deere provided us with the remaining pieces required to make it fit on the combine. Nathan spent some time moving parts from one cab to the other and on Friday it moved under its own power to the other shop. We also put new steps and the ladder landing on it to make it easier to get in and out. It looks like there may be a few electrical challenges and a little AC work left. Click on the post to see before and after pictures.
John Deere Tech

Summer Classes Are Going Fast

Power Trains class is just over so now it's on to Hydraulics II and AC. We have been working on many different transmissions from syncro-ranges to IVTs and main engine gear cases to MFWD axles. Here are a few pics.
John Deere Tech

Graduation 2013

In August of 2011 we started with 40 anxious students who were just waiting for this day so they could go out to put their mark on the world. During the course of the first year 3 of them decided that pulling wrenches  on John Deere equipment may not be how they wanted to accomplish that.  However, 35 of the 40 have completed all of the requirements of NICC and John Deere so we  honored them with a banquet on May 15th. Hopefully by the end of the summer semester we can add two more to that list. Here are some pictures. Congratulations gentlemen! It has been a fun ride.
John Deere Tech

Click for a slideshow.

Dustin and Tyler 466

This is a 466 from a 4240 and we have only had this one apart a few times. It has a rotary distributor pump and is the only one without a turbo.

 

 

 

 

Brent and Mike 6.8L

This is a 6.8L with a rotary pump as well. It has been around for a long time but it still runs good. Mike looks a little shy in this picture but he isn't.
 

 

 

Kyle's Turbocharged 3020 Engine

Kyle took on the challenge of a 270 Cu. In. four cylinder engine. We have dreams of putting this engine in our 3010 but it has been modified extensively. The injection pump has been moved from an upright position to the front of the engine and it has a turbocharger. There were several other modifications that are going to make it a real challenge to get it to fit the tractor. It is running but the timing seems to be an issue and the flywheel and front pulley are going to need some modification. We will have to see if it fits.

 

 

 

 

Brenden and Kyle 6.8L

Brenden and Kyle took on the biggest challenge this year. This 6.8L HPCR is a 24-valve version from a combine. The controller we had available was for a R450 Windrower and it required just a little bit of wiring. With a few wiring harnesses, many electrical connectors and extensive manual research the project came together. Of course they weren’t satisfied without throttle control so they connected and additional controller to communicate with the ECU so they could get the engine to go to fast idle.

 

 

 

 

 

Josh and Dallas 8.1L

Josh and Dallas had a show engine that looked pretty from the outside but that proved to be a little more work. Many internal parts of the engine had a very thick coat of paint on them and what wasn’t painted was rusty. They spent quite a bit of time cleaning and replacing parts from other scrapped engines. In the end it all worked out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tracy and Jared 6.8L

Tracy and Jared had a 9400 combine engine. It is a turbocharged 6.8L with a rotary pump. This engine needs to be timed with a timing light after its running.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brad and Justin 8.1L

Brad and Justin had a little challenge. This was the first time we had the engine running and the injectors were bad. After a few hours of torment the problem was fixed so it was a little smoky. You can see a little excess fuel in the exhaust outlet in the second picture.