Buying Advice Looking at a Minneapolis Moline m5

[jgibbens]

I'm looking at buying my first *real* tractor. Its a 1961 gas m5 with a schwartz loader. Haven't seen it in person yet but the owner let me know that the block froze and has a hole somewhere in the water jacket. I have a couple welders but no experience on cast iron..

What kinds of defects should I look for in a tractor this age?

What damage could the freezing have caused besides the hole in the block?

How hard is is it going to be to find parts compared to the more popular brands?

What do you think its worth?

Thanks in advance

Joe

 

[jbooth]

Can't answer any of your questions but added a site with info on the M-5. Was only manufactured for 3 yrs so may not be many salvage parts. I would guess there may be some forums out there that deal scrictly with MM and you might find more info there.





http://www.************.com/specs/MinneapolisMoline/M-5.aspx

 

[Ordite]

The last tractor my father farmed with was a 1958 MM M5 diesel. When he quit farming he left it in a shed on our farm and it set unused for at least 15 years or longer. About five years ago, a neighbor put together a collectors' auction of older MM equipment and asked if I wanted to sell the tractor on the auction. I agreed to sell it and the neighbor was going to see if he could get it running again. He pulled the pan off and found that mice had got inside the engine and filled the crankcase with their nesting material. He said the engine would have to be disassembled and cleaned before it would be safe to try to run it. It was sold on the auction as "not running" and sold for $1600. The tires were still in fairly good condition and sheet metal was straight. No attachments or loader with tractor.

I visited with my cousin this weekend who has an early 50's MM "Z" from his father. I asked him about parts and he said there are parts out their for MM's but the prices are generally high.

In the 50's, we had a local dealer and MM's in our area ranked about third in sales and popularity, behind John Deere and Farmall. I liked to run the M5 as it had excellent power steering, a smooth clutch, a high/low range torque amplifier transmission and was a comfortable tractor to operate all day long.

 

[Ordite]

After posting, I remembered that the M5 was not a good tractor for winter work. The diesel engine did not have glow plugs and assisting with ether was about the only help in starting during cooler weather. In cold weather, anything below freezing, it would not start even with the help of ether. We did not have any block heater or coolant heater installed which would probably have helped the situtation, but used our gas burning tractors instead.

 

[whateg0]

I would do some research to find out where the hole is. If it is accessible, you might be able to find somebody to weld up a crack in the block. If it's a chunk missing, maybe a bit more difficult. If it's hard to get to, it might only be worth scrap price unless you know where to find a replacement block.

That goes for any tractor, car, whatever, that has a water cooled engine.

Dave

 

[flusher]

I'm looking at buying my first *real* tractor. Its a 1961 gas m5 with a schwartz loader. Haven't seen it in person yet but the owner let me know that the block froze and has a hole somewhere in the water jacket. I have a couple welders but no experience on cast iron..

What kinds of defects should I look for in a tractor this age?

What damage could the freezing have caused besides the hole in the block?

How hard is is it going to be to find parts compared to the more popular brands?

What do you think its worth?

Thanks in advance

Joe

Unless you really, really want that M5, you're taking a big risk that the engine is toast. I paid $1100 for a 1951 MM BF tractor a few years ago. The tractor wasn't running, no compression on 3 of 4 cylinders. When I pulled th head there was so much crud on the valves and pistons that the only way to go was a complete rebuild ($800 parts, $800 labor). I paid the price because a really, really wanted to add that particular tractor to my collection.

It needed a new manifold. The generator was junk so I replaced it with a 6V positive ground alternator. The water pump shaft was stuck (not rotating) and the casing cracked in two when pressing out the bearing. Fortunately, the machinist was able to braze it back together (I could find the rebuild kit for the water pump, but not the complete pump with casing). Carb rebuild. The 6V starter is OK.

First thing to do is to find out whether the motor is stuck. Try to turn the engine with the starter. If the starter doesn't work, pull the plugs, put the tranny in gear, and try to rock the tractor by pushing on the rear wheels.