I thought I’d introduce the latest time sink at casa Blough. I bought a used New Holland backhoe to use around the house while clearing trees and digging stumps. I knew it was going to need some work, but it turned into a larger project than I initially thought. What’s that saying – confidence is the feeling you have before you fully understand the situation.
Archives
Measuring the old tractor engine
With the old Iveco engine removed from the tractor, the first step in the re-engine process was measuring the old engine and transmission to determine the motor mount locations.
The New Engine Arrives
This is a brand new Perkins 1004-4T diesel engine. It was built by Perkins England in 2005 and sat in a warehouse somewhere for the last 8 years.
Flywheel Modifications
With the bellhousing finished, it was time to move on to the flywheel. This 76lb chunk of cast iron needed to be modified to maintain the same setback (bellhousing flange to flywheel face) dimension as the Iveco setup. The pilot bore needed to be changed to fit the transmission torque converter, and new mounting holes for the flex plate needed to be drilled and counterbored.
Fabricated Parts & Motor Mounts
SolidWorks 2014 Perkins Fabricated Parts (17.5M)
In addition to the bellhousing, quite a number of other parts needed to be fabricated before the engine was ready to be installed. The Perkins came without electrics, and the old Iveco starter would not fit the new engine. A new starter was purchased, but I was able to use the old alternator by fabricating a new mount.
Engine is Ready
The new engine is ready for installation, and the backhoe engine bay is ready to receive it. Both of the new front motor mounts are welded in, the old motor mounts have been removed, and new hose managers installed.
While waiting on the weather to cooperate so I can install the engine, I got started on the new exhaust system. On a car, this would be called the turbo “down”pipe . Here, it exits straight up and a 5” cherry-bomb muffler will slip over the end. Everything is tacked for the moment until I can verify the position once the engine is installed in the backhoe.
New thermostat housing
With the process of getting the new engine connected, I discovered one item that had been previously overlooked. The stock thermostat housing exited straight up and would have caused the upper radiator hose to interfere with the turbocharger air inlet hose. Obviously a solution was needed, and that solution turned out to be a custom thermostat housing that exited to the side.
Radiator Mods
Another big fabrication effort was due to the fact that the water pump on the Perkins sat about 2¾” higher than the previous IVECO pump. Luckily, both were on the crank centerline so all that needed to be done was raise the radiator cowling to match the new fan location.
The Backhoe gets a Claw
Millions of years ago, seeds of Petram immobilem var. murus were planted in New England. Since this is a hardy perennial here in Zones 4 & 5 we are blessed with a bumper crop each and every year.
In order to harvest our yearly crop of P. immobilem (Common name: New England wall stone) , I needed to add a grapple to my backhoe which involved a little reverse engineering for the attachment.