The Rest Of The Story!! Berts Revenge

On the last day of the National Farm Machinery show at 6.00PM it is time to tear the booth down and load up to come home. Several years ago we decided to go and eat and let some of the other booths tear down and get out of the way so we could drive in and tear our boot down in and load it on the truck instead of carrying it out to the truck. We would have to carry about 1000 pounds of parts about 300 feet. It would take about 150 trips to get everything to the truck.
I had called Linda to get a current weather report and it was bad, a winter weather advisory down the I-75 corridor which is the way we come home. We elected to leave on Saturday night instead of Saturday morning. This put us ahead of the storm and all we saw was rain which made for easy traveling. The next day there were 10-15 wrecks about the Tennessee line where it had snowed and even created a whiteout on I-75 and the highway department closed the road because of condition and wrecks. We would have been in the middle of it !!
I drove the first 2 hours and CB drove the next 2 hours and we stopped in Canton NC at the Waffle House and got coffee and I got "Bert's Best Bowl of Chili". This was about 3:45 AM. It tasted ok but might have been a little off. We left there and got home about 7:30 AM. I went in and set down in the recliner and promptly went to sleep. I woke up about 1:00 PM and made me a peanut butter sandwich and really did not feel good. I spent from 2:00 PM until about 7:00PM in the bathroom and I must have thrown up everything I ate the previous week. I have not been that sick in a lot of years. I think they should rename the chili to "Bert's Revenge" cause it sure took revenge on me!!!!!

Moral of the story. Don't have chili at 3:45 AM and have to drive home!

Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, Should have left the Chili alone!!!

BUYING PARTS ON THE INTERNET!

Everyone today wants to buy on the Internet and we also are able to sell you parts online 24/7 .
I had a customer in here last Friday that had bought a BD 154 cylinder head from me and he went online to purchase an engine kit for the same tractor. I could have sold him a kit with an oil pump for around $500 to $550 and he found it cheaper online. However, the company he was buying it from was in England and the parts were priced in English Pounds not US dollars! Well the engine oil pump is wrong and will not fit his tractor and the freight to send it back is more than the part. His credit card bill was for a little over $800.00 due to converting from English Pounds to US dollars. So an extra 300 dollars and still does not have all the parts to fix his engine and it will cost him about another$145.00 to finish the job.
Just saying, Know who you are buying your parts from!!!

Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, Jefferson, South Carolina, USA

I'm not Tractor Pulling Today!!

Yesterday, I got the trailer loaded and ready to go. I was anticipating leaving about 7:30 am this morning to go to the tractor pull in St Matthews. This morning I cranked the truck up about 8 am and it ran about 5 minutes and cut off. It would not crank back up!!! It has a N14 Cummins engine in it with a computer on it . I flipped the hood up and started looking and the bulb in the water reservoir was not green so I took the cap off and sure enough it was a little low on fluid so I put 2-1/2 gallons of antifreeze in it and then it cranked just like it normally has before. This was the first time this has happened and I wondered "Where did the water go?" I let the truck run and heat up. The longer it ran, the hotter it got and the water was running out of the left hand side of the radiator. At 170 degrees it looked like a spigot. I decided to stay home. I guess it is good I caught it here instead of somewhere on the road with a to hot engine or worse and a towing bill. The radiator has plastic ends on it. I think the plastic part has split open.

Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, Tractor Pulling will have to wait to another day!

Yesterdays Bumper Sticker

Politicians should dress like Nascar drivers, then the public would know who the corporate sponsors are!!

Air Conditioning!!

Late yesterday our AC unit died and went to where dead AC units go when they pass. I don't where it went but I know it is cooler than it is here !!!!!! It is 95 on the outside and several degrees warmer in here. Tony, the AC reviver just drove up and is out looking at the dead unit. I hope he can work his magic and revive the cool air machine!

Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, It ain't hot as Hell here, but I can see the gates from here and they are open!

Perfect Tire

Last Tuesday night I had to deliver parts to a customer in Hartsville. As I was driving out I saw this perfectly flat tire on my Farmall Super MTA. I had not unloaded it yet. Today is Saturday and I have still not unloaded it. I hope it will pump up and stay up long enough for me to unload it. Some days are more perfect than others!!

Eric Benton, soon to be a tire repairman,

Southeast Tractor parts

The Perfect Pull!!!

Last Saturday I went to the tractor pull in Saluda SC put on by the Palmetto Tractor Club. They had a good turn out of tractors and pullers. The 6000, 6500 & 7000 Super Stock class had 8 to 12 tractors in them. Normally, there are only 3 to 6 tractors in these classes. I signed up to pull early and I was the first puller in each class. In the 6000 lb class I pulled 266 ft, 2nd place pulled 227 ft. In the 6500 lb class I pulled 293.2 ft 2nd place pulled 272 ft and 3rd place was 255.43 ft. In the 7000 lb class I pulled 292.55 ft, 2nd place was 270.89, 3rd place was 269.93.
I got 3 first place finishes. My tires hooked perfectly, my weights could not have been placed on the tractor any better, I could not have picked a better place on the track. Each pull was perfect. I have been beaten by both of the 2nd and 3rd place winners and Saturday they could not get close to me. It was a real good day!!!!


Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts,Perfect Day, Perfect Pulling, Perfect Parts for You!!

Hail, Lots of Hail

Last Saturday night I went to my High School Class Reunion. About 2 hours into the get together it started raining and storming. Lots of rain, lots of lightening, lots of thunder and then lots of Hail, Big Hail, the size of golf balls and it covered the ground 3 to 4 inches deep. I did not think alot about it damaging the pickup. I bet every vehicle in the parking lot was damaged. It looked like someone had been out there with a small ball peen hammer beating up the hood and the top and the sides of the truck. So now I have a one of a kind dimpled truck. Hope it makes it worth more!!! Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, Anyone want a special one of a kind truck!!!

Dawn of a New Day!

I went and voted this morning. I was the first one there and had to verify the vote box was empty and the seals were in place. It was the first time I have been the first to vote.
When I got home there was a beautiful sunrise lighting up the sky. If I believed in omens then I would be able to say that the beautiful sunrise would mean that things are going to change for the better because of how we vote. However, on the other hand I ran my pickup out of fuel on the way home. I had 5 gallons in a fuel can in the bed of the truck I had been hauling around for a week and I put it in the truck and got it cranked back up and drove it straight to the store. Seventy two dollars later I had a full tank. So I will let you figure out what these omens mean.
Maybe, someone is saying Good Luck!!!

Eric Benton

Observations

I was putting up parts this morning and the radio was off in the office and I kept hearing a beat and I could almost recognize the song but not quite. I am 7/10 s of a mile off of the highway. If I can hear your car radio through the building 7/10's of a mile away from you It IS TO LOUD!
Its no wonder so many people say Huh!
I don't want to listen to my radio most of the time and I sure don't want to listen to yours.
Turn it down and I won't make you listen to mine.

Eric Benton Southeast Tractor Parts, to much noise!!!!

I took pictures of the JD 3020 on the rollback so I could get the front end off of the tractor. My Kodak camera likes them better than I do and refuses to give them up!
I delivered the front end to my customer on Monday and picked up another JD 1020. This one runs good, has power steering, nice tires,straight metal,and 1 remote outlet. Either, the diff lock is hung on the differential or the differential has come apart on it. I will have to pull the rockshaft cover to check it out.
It was a difficult trip, I left home at 5:30 AM and as I was coming into Camden I lost the lights on the rear of the truck...one minute they were shining brightly and the next they were dark and did I mention it was drizzling rain also. I pulled over as I came into Camden and replaced the fuse and they lit up again. I made it to the other side of Camden and they went out again. I found a place to pull over where I could back up against a dumpster and check to see if my brake lights were working and they would work and my signal lights would work. So I pulled the emergency flashers on and down the road I went. I was on the far side of Columbia before it got light enough to cut the flashers off.
On the way home, As I was coming out of Camden I saw a guy standing by the road smoking a cigar wearing only a set of boxer briefs. The last two trips I have made have had guys on the side of the road smoking a cigar. Its just a little weird!!

Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, hauling tractors and weird guys!

Things you see on the road!

Last Friday, I went to Aiken SC to pick up a Ford 9N tractor I had bought about 6 months ago. It was setting at my customers shop so I did not have to get in a hurry for it. While I was there I bought a Ford 861 Diesel with a bad motor. The 2 tractors loaded my truck bed. I left the shop and worked my out to the interstate and headed home. This was about 10:30 in the morning. I was on I20 headed east and I pass a guy on the side of the road, running, not jogging but running. I was about 300 yards past an overpass that did not have access to the interstate. This is in the country, no houses on either side off the road. Nothing but woods and he is running wide open, no shirt on, about 6 inches of drawers showing above his pants. I did not know someone could run that fast with his pants slid halfway down his butt. As I came up level with him I could see he was smoking a big cigar and it would puff blueish smoke as he breathed out and in his right hand was his shirt balled up like he did not want to get it sweaty. I did not see any cars pulled over on the side of the road before or after I passed him.
Just a guy running on the Interstate.

Eric Benton Southeast Tractor Parts,Running around for Used parts!!

Local Blood Drive

Thursday, just before closing time my other half & I went to Jefferson to give blood. My other half got me started doing this about 3 years ago because I have totalled one pickup and turned a tractor over on top of me ( another story) . Both incidents put me the hospital and I did not need any blood then. But, the next one might be worse, so I figured I should donate in case I need blood in the future.
I sign in and read the booklet and then answer the questions on the computer and sit through the blood pressure checks and the hemoglobin test and finally get to the chair where they actually draw your blood out. Then they tie the rubber stretchy thingy around my arm so they can find somewhere to stick the needle. The nurse covers the spot for the needle with Betadine and sticks the needle in and releases the clamp off of the tube and blood runs down the tube instantly. She takes a step back and looks down and about 2 seconds later she is standing in a puddle of my blood that is running down a tube that looks like it is the size of a #2 pencil. Two seconds after that she has me clamped off and there are nurses running from everywhere to help clean up my blood off of the floor and off the nurse. The other 6 people who were getting their blood drawn (including my wife) got a show and some entertainment while sitting there with a needle in their arms. Then after all this trouble, they would not stick my other arm so I could give blood. Once you blood hits the bag if there are any problems they cannot start over. So I have to wait till next time. The tube had a small hole in it about a foot from the bag causing it to squirt and leak. The nurse said she had seen 1 other bag leak before so I guess I am just lucky.
Another good reason to have good tools!