They’re called field-improvised solutions and tools (FISTs). Sometimes it’s necessary to do things that aren’t factory-approved or by-the-book to get crippled machinery moving again.
I’ve used FISTs that involve a come-along and a log chain to get a wing-fold planter into transport position for a trip to the shop. Log chains have played roles several times when dealing with crippled walking tandem axles on field cultivators.
Spare change from my pocket saved the day on another service call.
A hydraulic cylinder had failed on a folding spray boom. The customer happened to have a similar-sized cylinder in his shop, but it didn’t have machined orifices in its ports to control oil flow through the ¾-inch hoses that fed the cylinder. The uncontrolled oil flow made the wing flop like a turkey vulture trying to take off from a dead ‘coon in front of an oncoming Peterbilt.
I took a dime and a penny and drilled tiny holes in their centers. I clamped them in a vise and carefully used a portable grinder to reduce their diameter so they’d fit inside the flat-face hydraulic fittings where the hoses attached to the cylinder.
The repair worked so well the customer finished the spray season with the FIST orifices in place. When he finally installed the correct cylinder with orifices machined in the ports, he returned my 11 cents.
