Re: tractor under water

Posted by Jim Allen on October 14, 2005 at 06:25:01 from (209.173.160.22):

In Reply to: tractor under water posted by Treg on October 13, 2005 at 07:47:54:

I'm sorry for your losses in the Katrina crisis.
I’m sure they extend beyond two tractors. You
got some fairly optimistic views here. I' m
going to take the other side. I've tried to
resurrect three vehicles that were under water
for extended periods and even after a lot of
work, they didn't work out very well. Mine were
in fresh water and that was bad enough. In
your case, they've been sitting in brackish
water for an extended period and that's much
worse. I was also involved in the salvage of a
boat engine that had been under salt water for
a few years and the corrosion was beyond
belief. In my opinion, you need to get these
tractors apart NOW and get everything cleaned
out if you hope to save them. I mean apart
down to a pile of parts. It’s just like pulling up
something from the sea. The salt water eats
at everything as soon as it hits the air. You're
probably going to have a lot of hard parts
etched or outright corroded that will need to be
replaced. Until you wash them in fresh water
and preserve them with oil, that corrosion will
continue. I can tell you from experience,
everything you don't tear down and rebuild will
be a problem later on. I bought two totalled
SUVs cheaply that were in a flood thinking I
could make one good one for myself. It was a
nightmare of Biblical proportions and I was a
professional mechanic at the time. I worked at
a dealership and was involved in another SUV
that was in a flood and it was totalled for good
reason and I watche it go happily away. After
my experience, if it were my tractors,
especially if they are insured, I'd be tempted to
write them off. There' s always sentimental
value to consider, but for the time and effort it's
probably going to take, you can buy a couple of
comparable used tractors and be using them
next week. I think if they'd have been under for
only a couple of days, you'd have a good
chance to save them cheaply. As it is, I don't
think so. Again, sorry to be the bearer of doom
and gloom... especially at a time like this.

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