Pico’s Project: BCS 749 ready to go! (Part 2)
Welcome friends, this post continues on from when I purchased a used BCS 749 tractor. TL;DR totally worth it.
Final Maintenance
The BCS & Ferrari branded oil filter arrived early which allowed me to finish the maintenance on the tractor. It should be noted that the BCS tractor does not have an engine oil filter. The tractor has a heavy duty hydraulic and transmission fluid filter. The filter looks like it attaches to the engine, but it doesn’t. The heavy duty hydraulic transmission fluid was purchased from NAPA.
Extra time was available in the schedule because a COVID infection in the house cancelled my vacation plans to go to GenCon and nerd out. Most everything was non-refundable, but the worst part was missing time with friends. That was disappointing, however the extra time allowed me to get other things done.
My primary concern of this whole adventure was that the tractor sat for too long without being run. Old gasoline that varnishes in the carburetor can be a real PITA. The other concern is that the tractor was run a really long time without its initial transmission fluid change required after 30hrs. I panicked when I saw the 623 number on the hours meter.
Oh good! I’ve just got old eyes and didn’t see the decimal point without using the camera. The reading is 62.3 not 623! That is a big difference. So, the filter is only 30 hours over due and not 570 hours. The magnetic drain plug did catch a lot of very fine metal shavings and is doing its job well.
Checked the air filter and it was very clean. Still gave it a blast of air from the air compressor. Filled the tires with 17psi of air per the manual’s instruction and the tractor is ready to go.
The flair mower needed a little more attention as I wanted to change the gear oil as described in the maintenance manual. First, I needed to drain the existing oil. There were two small issues with this, the first being is that you have to turn it with the PTO receiver face down. It isn’t meant to be placed face down! How am I supposed to empty this? I need a crane. Using some blocks and a lot of man power, I tilted it up to about 80 degrees to drain out that used oil…. any time now… come on oil…flow on out…hmm. That was the second problem: there was no gear oil. I filled it up with SAE 80W-90 and hoped for the best.
There was a bit of wire twisted up in there, but I made short work of that with some wire cutters. You can take a look at the flails too.
Test Run
The tractor didn’t start at first with the automatic start, but I was able to get it started quickly with the pull start (thankfully). The intent was to try a small test spot in the lawn, but then I got excited and lost my mind. I drove it straight into the most visible spot in my yard for my neighbors and started mowing. After a couple of passes, I declare the test run to be successful!
After the test run, I decided to tighten the brake cables one more time. The tractor does not turn easily on the hill. When traversing the hill it wants to go with gravity, so you use the steering brake to turn uphill, but that means you’re using the brake a lot. Had to use the ‘oh $#@*’ release lever a couple of times as I was heading toward the tree as the inexperience with all the levers became apparent. Note that backing up is where you get in trouble. You can step into things, trip over roots and rocks, or back yourself into a tree while the tractor is very powerfully moving backwards still. Go forward when possible. Don’t forget to watch your knuckles when maneuvering near trees.
Impressions
So, what do I think of the tractor? That answer is that it is awesome. OMG! There was nothing but mulch left after tearing through all the undergrowth.
Getting the PTO inserted into the flail mower was a pain. The earth tools guy on YouTube showed a trick for helping with that, but I don’t think it will ever be easy.
There is a learning curve, but after a couple of hours of use I had the machine under control and didn’t need to use the ‘oh $#@*’ release lever. Another hard earned lesson was when I was hearing a squeak squeak… why is the brake squeaking? I don’’t want to service the brakes again. Oh @#$%, the parking brake was on. At least I know why the brakes were burnished before. The flail mower requires the controls to be swung 180 degrees to the other side, so the brakes are reversed along with the forward / reverse control. Quite a few times I went backward when I meant to go forward, and often I meant to zig but then zagged vigorously and unexpectedly.
I’m not sure what to do about the brakes. The brakes are ‘steering assist’ brakes, but they turn the tractor like the Titanic. A guy online said it is a tradeoff between easy turning and stability. I have a lot of slope to my property, so I am going to have to find a solution to traversing hills without riding the brake to keep it pointed in the correct direction.
Engaging the PTO with the lever seems to be a little sketchy too. There might be a trick to it, but I found myself letting out the clutch a little bit to get some rotation to get it to engage.
I have to admit that the excitement wasn’t quite as high the second day. That is probably that undiagnosed ADHD kicking in with the novelty wearing off, but it could also be the frustration of my 6 in 1 tool that I needed for some trim work wouldn’t start after using it for an hour. There is still excitement for all different attachments available (I just need to curb my enthusiasm and stick to what I need). The next hunt is for the snow thrower. Winter is coming.
