Ferguson TO 35 Instrument Cluster ????

   / Ferguson TO 35 Instrument Cluster ???? #1  

tmajor

Platinum Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
704
Location
NE PA
Tractor
2010 MF 1529, Woods ZTR MZ1952, National Mower sickle bar circa 1963
A friend, just got a '59 Ferguson TO 35, which doesn't have a TACH or TEMP gauge. Has anybody tried to add either? I couldn't see any hole in the engine block for a temp probe to be installed, nor any place on the engine with a place to insert the tach drive cable. The only hole in the water jacket is the drain cock, which is fairly small.
 
   / Ferguson TO 35 Instrument Cluster ????
  • Thread Starter
#2  
It looks like there is a "TACH/Proof-meter drive assembly" available to attach to the generator, P/N 1751295M91. If you were to convert to an alternator, this option would most likely go out the window.
 
   / Ferguson TO 35 Instrument Cluster ???? #3  
A friend, just got a '59 Ferguson TO 35, which doesn't have a TACH or TEMP gauge. Has anybody tried to add either? I couldn't see any hole in the engine block for a temp probe to be installed, nor any place on the engine with a place to insert the tach drive cable. The only hole in the water jacket is the drain cock, which is fairly small.

A lot of the Fergusons of this vintage had a boss on the cylinder head coolant discharge gooseneck for a capillary tube thermometer. As the previous poster said, you need the generator to be able to hook up a tach and there are kits available for this (try yesterdays tractors.com). You can also find digital tachs that take their readings off an inductance pickup on a spark plug wire.
 
   / Ferguson TO 35 Instrument Cluster ????
  • Thread Starter
#4  
A lot of the Fergusons of this vintage had a boss on the cylinder head coolant discharge gooseneck for a capillary tube thermometer. As the previous poster said, you need the generator to be able to hook up a tach and there are kits available for this (try yesterdays tractors.com). You can also find digital tachs that take their readings off an inductance pickup on a spark plug wire.

Thanks! I'll present this information to him. He's still working on some of the basics ... he has a Ford 601, which he removing some things from, before he takes it to an up-coming auction. Pretty decent tractor, but it wouldn't go slow enough for him to chop corn in his food plots.
 
   / Ferguson TO 35 Instrument Cluster ???? #5  
An electronic automotive tachometer would work also. Most have a switch for 4,6,or 8 cylinder and connect to the battery and ignition coil. They also have a wire that connects to a light switch to illuminate the dial.
 
   / Ferguson TO 35 Instrument Cluster ????
  • Thread Starter
#6  
A lot of the Fergusons of this vintage had a boss on the cylinder head coolant discharge gooseneck for a capillary tube thermometer.

Jerry, you were right on the money! There is a boss on the goose neck and it even has the remains of the original capillary tube hanging out of it, with the clips from the front, all the way to the dash.

I don't know, what instruments were in the original configuration, as there is an amp gauge on the left and oil pressure on the right .. in the only 2" holes in the panel. ??
 
   / Ferguson TO 35 Instrument Cluster ????
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#7  
I pulled the little sheet metal plate off the back of the generator "again". After closer inspection and a little scraping, I found the screwdriver slot, to remove the plug in the end of the armature shaft. At first inspection, it looked like a solid shaft, which would have meant a different generator or different armature, in order to install a tach/proof meter. "All is good, that ends well"! :thumbsup:
 
   / Ferguson TO 35 Instrument Cluster ????
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#8  
We are waiting on parts ... only the gauges, at this point. We've installed the tach drive and cut the holes for the addition of the tach and new water temp gauge.

generator.JPG Tach Drive.JPG Instrument holes.JPG

I might add, in order to pull the steering wheel, we used a muffler clamp underneath and 3 jaw puller, which worked great!
 
   / Ferguson TO 35 Instrument Cluster ????
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#9  
Here is the panel with the instruments installed. To be truthful, it turned out to be a fairly time consuming project. ... the oil pressure fitting was tight against the firewall, so was difficult to get re-threaded, the mounting bolts for the tach were not straight across from each other, so it was a bit of a project to get the instrument straight. There were 2 mounting holes in the firewall, which had to be elongated and enlarged, in order to use the provided clamp and get a socket in there. The ammeter had no lights, due to lack of a good ground to the panel. ... we finally ran a ground wire to the mounting terminal to obtain a good ground, rather than removing the meter and cleaning up the paint covered panel.


instruments.JPG

Now, I have an electrical question: If the battery is fully charged, should I see a charge on the ammeter, after starting the tractor and turning the lights on? The ammeter seems to go toward "discharge" with the lights on (tractor running). After checking the generator and all of the connections, I'm guessing the regulator might be bad. ?? The generator reads 20 - 40 volts @ the A terminal, with the Field terminal grounded. The ammeter does seem to go toward discharge, when cranking.
 
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   / Ferguson TO 35 Instrument Cluster ????
  • Thread Starter
#10  
New voltage regulator cured the charging problem!
 
 
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