Spring in NM is when the 100 does most of its work for the year. The late-winter and spring winds come from the West, depositing sand at the gates in the background. Sometimes the pile can be up to 2' high if I let it go long enough.
Yesterday was the first significant amount of exercise the 100 received since its refresh late last year. It took about 4 hours to put the sand back where it belongs.
Things I noticed after all the repairs and upgrades to the 100.
1. How much more enjoyable it is to drive with the rebuilt steering and heim joints.
2. Taking time to remove as much slop as possible from the 3 point lift system was well worth the extra effort, especially with the limited travel of the rear blade.
3. Replacing the ancient 30w oil in the transmission with Hytran seems like a mixed bag. It slips out of 2nd gear now under heavy use, which it didn't do before. Hytran may not be the cause, but I didn't do anything else to the transmission. It does go into gear much easier now which is extremely nice for the non-hydro gear changing nature of grading work.
4. I need to rebuild a portion of the K241 (rings, valves, not sure yet). It is burning some oil. I smell like Midland, TX after 30 minutes of seat time.
I'm going to start digging through old forum entries to see if I can stiffen up some springs or something to keep my freshly-lubricated transmission in 2nd gear where it belongs. There must be something that can be done.
