Long lasting!!

Today, I had a customer in ordering parts for his well drilling rig. He need the arms and retainers in the over-center clutch that runs the mud pump. His grandfather started the well drilling business in 1911. He took it over from his father and the business is 101 years old and has been in operation continually since 1911. He said they several months of well drilling to do putting in center pivot irrigation units. He had also inherited his great uncle's cotton gin and is still running it today. As best that he can determine the cotton gin started in operation in 1900 and has been operating ever year for 112 years. I thought it was interesting that one man owned 2 business's that are over 100 years old.


Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, 17 years old and counting!!!

After hours work!

I am setting here waiting for the fiberglass on a fuel tank to set up and cure. I started this last Thursday night and I got a bad kit and the fiberglass set and started to jell in about 30 seconds. I have done a couple of hundred fuel tanks in 30 years and this was the first bad kit I have had.
Tonight, I had to remove the little bit of fiberglass I put on Thursday night before I could start tonight. Some of it came right off with acetone and some had to be chipped off to get back to a good surface. It should be ready in about a hour. I have just got the fiberglass off me and the tools cleaned up.
This was a gas tank for a JD 4020. They will hold water in the bottom of the tank and rust out around the drain plug. It should be ready for another 45 years.

Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, Fixing them one at a time!!!!!

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!!!

National Farm Machnery Show

Last week I was in Louisville Ky at the National Farm Machinery show! There is a lot of nice equipment scattered around in a number of halls and wings. My brother was there and he did not see all of it in 4 days . There was everything to do with Farming. Equipment, Tires, implements, Tractors, Combines, Headers, tools, Hay Equipment, Parts to fix your equipment, Safes to lock up your Money, good socks, paintings of farms and farm equipment, oil suppliers, toys for the kids, lawn mowers, wagons to haul the crop our of the field, trucks to haul the crop down the highway, tools to make parts to fix your equipment, and then there is the food! BBQ, Pork and Beef, fish, Pork Chop Sandwiches, Mini Donuts , Pizza, hot dogs, and then there is Ice Cream for dessert. All you need is good shoes, cause you are going to walk a long ways,a pocket full of money to buy toys, and a appetite and you have 4 full days of entertainment!!

I will tell you about the trip home the next time!!

Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, All showed out and glad to have made it home!!!!

Southern Farm Show

Last week I was displaying at the Southern Farm Show in Raleigh NC. It was also the 3rd anniversary of my blog. The show was busy on Wednesday and the second day was a little busier than the first day. The last day was really busy. I have had the best response from the show that I remember having in he last 7 or 8 years. Every day I have sold something to someone I talked to at the show, or someone has emailed me or called about parts. Maybe it is because of the weather. The weather was nice . No Snow, No rain, No cold and No wind blowing!!!!


Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, No Snow- No Rain-No Problem!!!

Larry Another one for you!!!

Last week I was in Oklahoma going to a meeting in Texas and we stopped for breakfast in Atoka. There was a sign on the wall that made me think of you! "Speak your Piece and Ride a Fast Horse"

There seems to be some truth in that!!
L & I will have you in our thoughts and prayers over the next couple of months!

Looking forward to tractor pulling!

Eric Benton Southeast Tractor Parts, The things we do for friends!!!!

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