In 1992, a small village owner became the richest man in the village by owning a car.

Chapter 120 Repairing a Hand-held Tractor, Borrowing Oxygen and Acetylene

Yu Dawei's face darkened. You really are my dad!

When you have no money at all, you help me for free, support me unconditionally, and take care of me.

Now that I've saved up a little money, you're starting to rip me off?! Dad, you really live up to your name, Old Man Yu, you've practically shattered the abacus beads.

Yu Dawei was also helpless, suddenly feeling that their simple father-son relationship had now been mixed with a hint of money.

He needed to calm himself down. The old man had definitely invested in him in the early stages, and now he was preparing to take control of him.

This is a classic angel investor tactic!

However, after the old man's calculations, Yu Dawei became even more determined to get the car repaired.

However, it wasn't like the old man said, that we would repair the car and then sell it, because that would be ridiculously cheap.

Clothes make the man, and saddles make the horse.

Yu Dawei plans to not only revitalize the old hand tractor in terms of performance, but also to modify its appearance so that it looks no different from the new generation of hand tractors.

In particular, rusty areas should be sanded down, and Yu Dawei will try his best to decorate the features of some new hand-held tractors.

If you make it look like it's in a semi-new state, based on the market price of a new hand tractor, if Yu Dawei successfully refurbishes the hand tractor, he should be able to add at least another two thousand yuan to the original two thousand yuan.

That's not even considering the bucket itself. If Yu Dawei were to weld the bucket properly, use thicker iron plates, and then give it a good paint job, the price would probably go up even further!
Yu Dawei clearly remembered in his past life how profitable it was to refurbish old cars. Even outside the engineering equipment sector, just in the automotive industry, you could sell a scrapped car worth a couple thousand yuan for ten or twenty thousand yuan after some modifications.

What's more, this is a field where laymen are completely blind. Didn't they see how badly the original owner of that small wheeled excavator was scammed?

"Should we fix it?" the old man asked again.

"Repair it." Yu Dawei glanced at Yu Laonian. "But how much do I have to pay you for a day?"

“Sigh, talking about money hurts the relationship between father and son.” Old Man Yu patted Yu Dawei’s shoulder with some sadness, then changed the subject and said lightly, “Let’s split the profits directly. If it’s sold, you get nine and I get one.”

"So particular?" Yu Dawei frowned slightly, somewhat surprised.

Old Yu smiled knowingly: "Judging from your confident demeanor just now, I could roughly guess that with a little modification, this car should fetch a good price, and taking a 10% cut should be fine."

Yu Dawei was truly defeated by his own father.

Alright, enough talk, let's get started!

The father and son began to separate the rear cargo bed from the front of the truck, and then started to remove the fuel tank and water tank from the engine.

There should be a float inside the water tank, but I don't know where it went. Anyway, I don't need it anymore, so I'll just dismantle it and sell it for scrap metal.

After disassembling the water tank and fuel tank, the two began to disassemble the muffler, air filter, fuel pump, fuel lines, and so on...

When they finally disassembled the engine, both father and son were a little nervous.

Whether you spend 500 or 50 on the accessories depends on this moment.

The two opened the outer cover and were delighted to find that the crankshaft, cylinder, and connecting rod were all in good working order.

It's just a little rust, no problem, we can figure out how to remove it later.

The engine broke down because a gear inside broke; this large gear was next to the crank handle gear.

The single-cylinder engine in a hand-held tractor is similar in principle to the four-cylinder and eight-cylinder engines.

There are some slight differences, one of which is this broken gear.

Normal four- or six-cylinder engines, including eight-cylinder engines, also have gears inside, but the gears are connected to one side of the camshaft.

The point where this single-cylinder engine is connected is the internal location where you crank the car with a handle when starting it.

Fortunately, although replacing this gear is not cheap, it is still much cheaper than a complete set of parts such as pistons and connecting rods, and more importantly, it is easier to repair.

After the engine was disassembled, Yu Dawei began to disassemble the clutch, armrests, and frame with the old man.

This also includes some larger, exposed accessories.

Finally, there's the wheel and the bed. Wheel maintenance is also very important; all four tires need to be replaced. After all, it's been stored for too long, and the tires can't withstand the test of time. Many places have developed numerous tiny cracks.

After a long day of work, the old man saw that the disassembly was almost complete, so he went back into the house, took out paper and pen, and began to record the parts that needed to be replaced.

After making the notes, he handed the list to Yu Dawei: "Go to Boss Liang's place in town tomorrow and buy these parts. These are all basic parts. If you want to tinker with the car a bit more, then figure out what decorations to buy and modify it yourself."

The old man could probably guess what Yu Dawei was thinking, and naturally reminded him not to forget to buy some refurbished items.

The two of them had been working on the dismantling all day and hadn't had a chance to catch their breath. The old man's back pain seemed to be flaring up again; he was the weakest and sickest of the elders in the Yu family, and he was doing the heaviest work.

I need to rest; I'm willing but unable to continue.

Yu Dawei also stopped what he was doing, tidied up his tools, and the repair process came to an end.

In the evening, Yu Laonian had a couple of sips of wine to relax. These days, he doesn't care much about many things at home, and he always tells Dawei in advance about anything so the two of them can discuss it together.

During the time that Yu Dawei grew up, he became more and more composed, his thinking gradually opened up, and he became more and more pleasing to the old man.

In his early years, Yu Laonian had no choice but to work hard to support his family, but now he is almost at the point where he can enjoy his retirement.

He now hopes that his second son will graduate, settle down, and have a skill like his eldest brother, or even better, a stable job.

Otherwise, you won't even have a job, and then you've really wasted your college education.

The eldest daughter is now living with her aunt, and she should be doing well. As for Er Yan and Xiao Fang... well, never mind, they will all find their own place in the future.

After downing another glass of baijiu, Yu Laonian was somewhat tipsy.

Yu Dawei accompanied the old man, and the father and son drank together while discussing their experiences in car repair, especially when they talked about the modified wheel excavator.

The old man couldn't help but clap his hands and praise the unknown expert who had managed to set a haphazard vehicle on fire with a bunch of broken parts, and even make it move and do some work.

If we apply this to the medical field, it's like putting a pig's heart, a monkey's eyes, and a bear's limbs into a dying person, and not only does that person survive, they can even walk a few steps?!
This is not just impressive, it's monstrous!

Therefore, even Yu Laonian, who has a high opinion of himself in the field of car repair, had to admire the genius of this person.

Yu Dawei felt that this kind of person was probably similar to Master Lü. He clearly had the skills, but he went down a crooked path and made some dirty money.

I reckon he'll definitely be disgraced in the future, and might even face imprisonment.

In short, talking about other people's affairs is just something to do after a meal.

The father and son talked until very late, and the half-burnt candle on the table was almost extinguished before they finally went to sleep.

Han Jingfan didn't go home tonight either; she slept on the kang (heated brick bed) in the inner room with the child and Er Yan.

The only people who could listen to the father and son's incessant chatter were the father's wife and the son's mother.

The next day, Yu Dawei went to Boss Liang's parts shop in town early in the morning. Boss Liang's shelves were now completely divided into three sections: three rows on the left were agricultural machinery parts, and two rows on the right were excavator parts.

As for other parts for construction vehicles, Mr. Liang said to wait a bit longer, as the other party wanted to figure out how to use excavator parts before making any decisions.

We started with various small parts, and then reproduced custom parts based on the various needs of excavator owners.

Yu Dawei thought this was a very feasible idea. The parts in the house were just for decoration. After all, excavator parts were not cheap. If someone knowledgeable broke in and robbed the house, they would definitely take all the parts from the two rows on the right.

As for the three rows of accessories next to them, the other party definitely wouldn't even glance at them; their value is simply not on the same level.

Better safe than sorry. Keeping some relatively inexpensive accessories on the shelf is a safe way to protect your personal property.

When Boss Liang learned that Yu Dawei was repairing a hand-held tractor, he couldn't help but tease him, "A master mechanic who repairs imported excavators is actually repairing an old, broken hand-held tractor? You're really lowering your standards."

Yu Dawei rolled his eyes and chuckled self-deprecatingly: "You haven't seen it yet. I was fixing my sister's bicycle the other day."

"Impressive! A true man knows when to yield and when to stand firm!" Boss Liang couldn't help but laugh, especially when he saw Yu Dawei's resentful and helpless little eyes, which he found hilarious.

The two chatted for a while, and then Boss Liang prepared all the parts on the list for Yu Dawei and put them in the back of the four-wheeled truck.

Yu Dawei also borrowed a diesel generator and a welding machine, and bought two sheets of sheet metal from Brother Duan at a low price; both were six millimeters thick. (Author's note: "thick" refers to millimeter thickness; six millimeters thick means six millimeters.)
The main material of that hand-held tractor's bucket was basically five or six layers thick. Yu Dawei thought of making some of the auxiliary materials six layers thick as well, especially those that were corroded on the sides and those that needed to be repaired. They would be re-welded with electric welding.

After finishing these tasks, Yu Dawei rented two more tanks of oxygen and acetylene to refit some unnecessary parts of the truck's cab and cargo bed.

When oxygen and acetylene are used together, it becomes the legendary wind welding.

Yu Dawei was very familiar with this stuff. When he opened his first repair shop in his previous life, he started buying two canisters of oxygen and acetylene.

Basically, the two cans, when stood upright, reach about 1.6 meters up to Yu Dawei's chest. It was quite a struggle for Yu Dawei to move them by himself.

However, the other repair shop staff were very helpful. They must have heard of Master Yu Dawei's reputation, because they offered to help carry it into the car.

Even the cost of renting oxygen and acetylene was only the cost price of the gases inside.

That's incredibly meticulous!
Yu Dawei gave the other party a big thumbs up, then turned around and bought some paint of various colors, which is also essential for renovation.

After acquiring all the equipment and parts, Yu Dawei prepared to return to the village and begin his plan to refurbish his hand tractor!

(End of this chapter)