Hood Repair Tool For Deere Tractors

2008 - Volume #32, Issue #5, Page #38

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If you've got a Deere 3010-3020 or 4000-4020 tractor with a damaged hood, you'll like this new hood repair tool that helps you accurately re-form the hood nose back to its original factory shape.
  The tool consists of an L-shaped steel die that's machined to the original shape of the factory hood. It's made from 1-in. thick steel and measures 4 in. long by 3 in. wide and 1 in. deep. A body hammer is used to re-form the hood nose into the die. Once you complete a section you move the die and repeat the process.
  "It returns your tractor hood nose to exactly the right radius and angle," says inventor Dick Sunsdahl, Faribault, Minn. "You can pound any place on the inside of the hood as long as the hammer hits the die. The tool actually has two functions. It's a die to form the hood sheet metal into place, and also serves as a gauge that lets you know when you've got the hood nose back to its original factory geometry.
  "It works fast. It takes only about a half hour to completely re-form a hood back to its original condition."
  Sunsdahl and his tool and die-maker son, Thad, say they looked at a lot of Deere tractors and collected a lot of data before making the die. "It's a fairly expensive tool because of the technology we had to use, which included use of a CNC machining center. We spent a lot of time taking dimensions from as many tractors as we could find in our area, and entered the data into a CAD/CAM. The CAD/CAM made slight corrections on our radii and angle measurements which produced the correct dimensions for the prototype. We have a lot of confidence in the tool we came up with."
  They did most of their research on the 3010 and 4010 series because they're so popular, but say the tool can also be used on Deere models all the way up to the 7020's. It can even be used on some early 30 series models like the 6030.
  Sells for $115 plus $10 S&H.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Sunsdahls' Restoration Tooling, 1703 Greenwood Place, Faribault, Minn. (ph 507 334-8966; info@sunsdahltooling.com; www.sunsdahltooling.com).

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Hood Repair Tool For Deere Tractors TRACTORS Modifications 32-5-38 If you've got a Deere 3010-3020 or 4000-4020 tractor with a damaged hood, you'll like this new hood repair tool that helps you accurately re-form the hood nose back to its original factory shape. The tool consists of an L-shaped steel die that's machined to the original shape of the factory hood. It's made from 1-in. thick steel and measures 4 in. long by 3 in. wide and 1 in. deep. A body hammer is used to re-form the hood nose into the die. Once you complete a section you move the die and repeat the process. "It returns your tractor hood nose to exactly the right radius and angle," says inventor Dick Sunsdahl, Faribault, Minn. "You can pound any place on the inside of the hood as long as the hammer hits the die. The tool actually has two functions. It's a die to form the hood sheet metal into place, and also serves as a gauge that lets you know when you've got the hood nose back to its original factory geometry. "It works fast. It takes only about a half hour to completely re-form a hood back to its original condition." Sunsdahl and his tool and die-maker son, Thad, say they looked at a lot of Deere tractors and collected a lot of data before making the die. "It's a fairly expensive tool because of the technology we had to use, which included use of a CNC machining center. We spent a lot of time taking dimensions from as many tractors as we could find in our area, and entered the data into a CAD/CAM. The CAD/CAM made slight corrections on our radii and angle measurements which produced the correct dimensions for the prototype. We have a lot of confidence in the tool we came up with." They did most of their research on the 3010 and 4010 series because they're so popular, but say the tool can also be used on Deere models all the way up to the 7020's. It can even be used on some early 30 series models like the 6030. Sells for $115 plus $10 S&H. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Sunsdahls' Restoration Tooling, 1703 Greenwood Place, Faribault, Minn. (ph 507 334-8966; info@sunsdahltooling.com; www.sunsdahltooling.com).

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