No not Crystal, Miguel’s other baby. Our John Deere 5320 tractor that we use every day on the farm. The clutch was out of adjustment and simply didn’t have any more to give. I loaded the old girl up and took it to the shop to have someone with heavier equipment than us work on it.
In talking to David at the shop, he said we were there in the nick of time. We’d run 99.9% of the clutch out of this thing. Any more wear, and we’d need to machine the fly wheel.
Step one was to remove the loader. Then they did the old magician’s trick of sawing the lady in half.
When I got there Monday to check on progress, they were already putting the clutch back in which was a good sign. But then they pointed out a leaking wheel bearing, and some rust that had to be repaired. Those were bad signs. Also our loader valve needed to be overhauled and they weren’t aware of it (why I’d stopped to make sure.) So it looks like our little lady will be in the hospital at least all of this week. Hopefully I can pick her up soon since we use this thing every day.
I think I’ll swing back by today and see if they have it back in one piece yet. Nothing like a customer who stops by constantly to check on progress to keep progress moving along.