1968 IH 2444 and Great Bend 330 FEL?

[river cottage]

We purchased 6.5 acres earlier this year in AR. We had planned to purchase a used tractor to help maintain the gravel driveway, dig pier holes for our planned cabin, move dirt when needed, help lift constuction materials and cut the small amout of hay and brush.

This weekend my wifes grandfather offered that if I help him get his old mid 60's car running he'll work a trade and give me his tractor. I've worked on many cars in the past so getting it running will not be too difficult plus I'll redo the brakes and anything else that needs sorting after sitting for the last 25 years.

The tractor he's talking about is a 1968 International 2444 with power steering which says industrial above the rad opening. It comes with a Great Bend 330 FEL and I'd have to purchase the hole digger and brush cutter as I needed them. Currently it's not running due to a dead battery and it's been sitting for about a year however I've helpded my father inlaw get it running in the past and it normally just requires filing the points and cleaning the carb. The tractor does leak down hydralic fluid over time and it appears to have done the same now however the only area I see a possible fluid leak is in a few lines on the side of the tractor and the pump and controls seem dry. It also needs one front tire as it has a cut in it. The tractor is an ex TX DOT unit painted yellow the grandfathter purchased at auction many years ago and it now has with 1200 hrs on it.

How do you fill the hydralic fluid on one of these? I see a plug on top and one at the bottom of the cast assembly under the seat so is this it?

Would this be a good tractor for use around the small acreage? I don't know about the International units.

 

[art]

The base tractor is the 444 international. They were about 35 pto horsepower or about 45 engine. They normally had a high and low range with four gears.

 

[slowrev]

Umm actually 2 places to fill with hydraulic fluid. If ours has an externally mounted fron pump bleow and in front of the radiator. It's sump is the tranny/diffierential which is filled thru the plug to the right of the gearshift.
If front zux pump fill to 6 inches below the top of the fill opening. If no front aux pump fill to the level of the plug just under the footboard in the side of the tranny housing.

If no front aux pump then the plug in the rear of the lift box is the hydraulic resivoir for the whole setup. fill to the bottom of the fill plug opening, approx 1 or 2 inches below the top of the lift box case.

Both the lift box and the tranny /differential use HYtran equivelent lube.

 

[river cottage]

The pump for the hydraulics is mounted to the front and right of the engine just behind the rad. Right side when sitting on tractor.

 

[slowrev]

OK so you do not have the Aux pump.
Your power steering is powered from that pump. if you follow the output line back from the pump right under the fuel tank on the right side you will see a priority flow divider in the line. This is where the hydrostatic steering gets it's hydraulic flow from. It provides about 900 psi of hydraulic flow to the hydrostatic steering system.
your hydraulic fluid sump is in the lift box behind your seat, and should be filled to the bottom of the filler tube on the right rear corner of your lift box.

There is also a suction screen in the right front corner of the lift box connected to the suction line going back up to the engine mounted pump.

The brakes are not too hard to do just disconnect the linkage in the bottom front of the drums. then remove the drums , clean em up, oput a bit of grease or antiseize on the balls and replace the discs.
A full set of aftermarket discs are under $80.

 

[river cottage]

Thanks for the help and I did see the two plugs under the seat so that confirms where to add the fluid and what the level should be.

I think it could be a very good tractor after a bit of TLC.

Know of a good source for a carb rebuild kit?

 

[slowrev]

Carb kit, I got one from Valubuilt , have not needed it yet, got it just in case.
I do need to order a shutoff Solenoid form IH though mine is bad an sort of of jammed open. The soleniods seem to be a dealer only item.

Got my brake discs from Valu-built also.

btw for almost all your 2444 parts get 444 parts with the C153 engine.
the lift box from a 424 is the same as a 2444. some other parts for the 424 are different though and the 424 has a C146 engine.

 

[river cottage]

Well I've decided to go ahead and work out the trade on the 2444 because it's been in the family for some time, seems reasonable easy to work on and should be able to do more than I'll ever need. Goal is to drag it up from Houston in the next few months.

 

[Stan Becker]

Has anyone had a problem with the coil burning up and puking oil out and not firing. put a new coil on it but still wouldn't fire. Need to know what the gap on the points are to see if they are OK...adjusted to about a 15. Dang thing just won't run and this isn't the first time that it's done this. Could the gas be the problem? Seems to be gummy.

 

[irwin]

Has anyone had a problem with the coil burning up and puking oil out and not firing. put a new coil on it but still wouldn't fire. Need to know what the gap on the points are to see if they are OK...adjusted to about a 15. Dang thing just won't run and this isn't the first time that it's done this. Could the gas be the problem? Seems to be gummy.

Hi Stan, might be a good idea to start a new thread, give us some more info, ie: a little about the tractor, how long you've owned it, approx hours etc. Do you have a repair manual?
This is a good site, but people respond better with more info.
BTW welcome to TBN..