Thanks for the interest.
Tractor use to run, was my stepfathers, who used it for reforestation purposes (pulled tree planter with it etc). As stated hydraulics were always an issue (tree planter and or bushog would not stay in a "level" position... hydraulics would cycle and it would jump up and down, which caused problems keeping a consistent depth etc.
My stepfather was very good at "getting the goodie" out of everything and was "cheap" when it came to giving up on something for something new. So he put up with the tractor.
Steering is kind of whacked out (hydraulic related also). You kind of have to anticipate when you need to compensate for turning ahead of time so you're always turning left when you need to go right and vice versa (slow response time is a part of it)... very quirky, but fun in sort of a painful way.
Anyway, he had a mechanic Coolie who did all of his tractor work and he had concerns about the hydraulics on the tractor and basically kept it running.
Tractor was RUNNING when it was put up and I was out in the woods bushogging some trails, frankly probably abusing the tractor somewhat, got back up in some low limbs and I heard psssssssss. Sounded like radiator, but the hydraulics quit working so I just thought it was hydraulics.
Looked for leaks but couldn't find any, but it could be oversight. If I'm remembering right, I checked the transmission fluid (which I think is the same fluid reservoir as the hydraulic fluid?) and it was basically non existent. I refilled that and crossed my fingers. Never was able to get any of the hydraulics to work however. Remember thinking at the time that maybe I needed to bleed something but wasn't sure. That's when I realized I was in over my head without manuals or someone to talk to about it. Got manuals from step father a year or two later, and by that time my to do list had kind of changed.
In the grand scheme of things I doubt that the tractor has that many hours on it, that being said, it's been rode hard and put up wet. That's not to say that my step father didn't take care of normal maintenance however (at least fluids, filters etc).
Tractor definitely has some sentimental value to me, but it will take some money and time to get it STARTED. It's been sitting up for 3 or 4 years now.
Probably needs new battery, will need to drain all the old diesel, starter has issues but can probably work that out. Nothing huge to get it started (probably).
Getting it useful is another story. Needs tires, unless very dry rotted tires will hold out for some more time. And whatever it takes to get hydraulics up and running (assuming parts are available).
Guess what I would need to do first is figure out if the hydraulic pump is operational somehow (don't know how to do that). Then, if it is or is not, figure out if I'm going to be able to get parts for the worst case scenario hydraulics and how much that will cost.
Assuming I have to tear down the hydraulics, what am I up against worst case scenario? A lot of heavy lifting? Automatic Transmission type work? I have all the service manuals, so that's a plus.
What do you think?
Eddie
