xp190
Bronze Member
Hi Everyone
First post on your forum, although I did do quite a bit of reading through it, I finally decided to join
I have just acquired my first tractor, a 1985 John Deere 750 with Mechanical front wheel drive (MFWD).
It's in really good condition, has about 3600 hours on the meter, no leaks, a few bangs and scratches, no rust.
As a brand new owner, I have no idea how to work this thing, I can drive it easy, but I'm not too sure of all the controls, here is what I figured out so far, please correct me if I'm wrong:
Levers with red knobs are for driving, gear shift - between legs, 4x4 off or on - by left foot, high-lo selector - by right foot. Yellow knobs are for PTO, by left foot PTO on/off, by right hand side PTO height adjustment, although this one is missing the knob. The ones I'm not sure about are the turn knob under the seat, I don't know what it does, and the knob-less lever/pedal by the right foot, I think it's a differential lock, but I haven't tried it yet.
The gear selector has multiple numbers listed in a single position, I'm guessing this is to mark the difference between hi/lo ranges, it moves fairly quick in 8th gear, I had to drive it home from the auction where I got it as my trailer was too light duty for this big machine.
Now for the technical issues
The wiring is a huge mess, I have a diagram of what it should be, so far I noticed that all the safeties have been cut out, I fixed that already, just the PTO neutral switch needed adjusting. There is a red wire that was cut by the alternator which runs up to the console, but I can't get the steering wheel off to see where it goes exactly, it looks like an extra, and if connected to anything causes relays to click and shorts out the system, so I left it out. The water temp sender is not connected, its wire is cut and left out, I'm working on fixing that. The 3 lights on the console which from what I can tell are charging system, water temp and oil pressure do not all seem to work, and if they do I can't tell if they are reliable.
The charging light seems to be fine, it stays on all the time, and that is most likely since the voltage regulator is dead, so once the battery runs out, nothing works as it is not being charged, new regulator is on it's way, so when I plug it in I'll know if the light works or not. The water temp light does not come on at all, and oil light only comes on with the key on.
One question here, with the key in the on position, should all the warning lights come on? Kind of like they do in cars so you know that they all work?
Glow plugs are not on a timer, you simply turn the key left and hold for a few seconds, then flip right over to crank the starter, is that all there is to it?
Implements, there are a few I'm looking for. From what I know, this is a category 1, 3 point hitch, so implements should be no bigger than 4'.
I'm looking for a snow blower, scraper blade, pole boom, flail mower, and if I ever find them, a FEL and backhoe attachment as well as any forestry attachments.
Are there any restrictions on these ie: This is a John Deere therefore you must use x y z. I can see this with the FEL, but what about the others?
And finally, maintenance, this is a big ticket item for me. I've been fixing cars and other machines for quite a few years, engine and transmission rebuilds are all on that list, so I'm not afraid to tackle anything, I just don't touch tires since I don't have the equipment for that. Are there downloadable maintenance manuals for this machine anywhere? It's not new at all, I hope someone can point me to something out there.
Overall I'm very happy with this purchase, I was going back and forth between multiple lawn mowers, snow blowers, renting etc etc, this, with a few attachments will solve all my issues, as long as it runs well. The highest priority item is snow removal during winter, so I hope it starts well in this cold Canadian climate. My dad who is now retired will be in charge when I'm not there to take care of the snow, but there is so much more you can do with one of these. One of my hobbies is managing a small forest close by, where no one has set foot in many years, I plan to use this tractor to help me haul some big logs out of there.
I appreciate any input, advice, suggestions you guys could share. I don't know why, but it feels like I wanted a tractor all my life, it's just now that I finally got my hands on one, it will have a good life in my hands, as all my machines do.
Cheers
xp
First post on your forum, although I did do quite a bit of reading through it, I finally decided to join
I have just acquired my first tractor, a 1985 John Deere 750 with Mechanical front wheel drive (MFWD).
It's in really good condition, has about 3600 hours on the meter, no leaks, a few bangs and scratches, no rust.
As a brand new owner, I have no idea how to work this thing, I can drive it easy, but I'm not too sure of all the controls, here is what I figured out so far, please correct me if I'm wrong:
Levers with red knobs are for driving, gear shift - between legs, 4x4 off or on - by left foot, high-lo selector - by right foot. Yellow knobs are for PTO, by left foot PTO on/off, by right hand side PTO height adjustment, although this one is missing the knob. The ones I'm not sure about are the turn knob under the seat, I don't know what it does, and the knob-less lever/pedal by the right foot, I think it's a differential lock, but I haven't tried it yet.
The gear selector has multiple numbers listed in a single position, I'm guessing this is to mark the difference between hi/lo ranges, it moves fairly quick in 8th gear, I had to drive it home from the auction where I got it as my trailer was too light duty for this big machine.
Now for the technical issues
The wiring is a huge mess, I have a diagram of what it should be, so far I noticed that all the safeties have been cut out, I fixed that already, just the PTO neutral switch needed adjusting. There is a red wire that was cut by the alternator which runs up to the console, but I can't get the steering wheel off to see where it goes exactly, it looks like an extra, and if connected to anything causes relays to click and shorts out the system, so I left it out. The water temp sender is not connected, its wire is cut and left out, I'm working on fixing that. The 3 lights on the console which from what I can tell are charging system, water temp and oil pressure do not all seem to work, and if they do I can't tell if they are reliable.
The charging light seems to be fine, it stays on all the time, and that is most likely since the voltage regulator is dead, so once the battery runs out, nothing works as it is not being charged, new regulator is on it's way, so when I plug it in I'll know if the light works or not. The water temp light does not come on at all, and oil light only comes on with the key on.
One question here, with the key in the on position, should all the warning lights come on? Kind of like they do in cars so you know that they all work?
Glow plugs are not on a timer, you simply turn the key left and hold for a few seconds, then flip right over to crank the starter, is that all there is to it?
Implements, there are a few I'm looking for. From what I know, this is a category 1, 3 point hitch, so implements should be no bigger than 4'.
I'm looking for a snow blower, scraper blade, pole boom, flail mower, and if I ever find them, a FEL and backhoe attachment as well as any forestry attachments.
Are there any restrictions on these ie: This is a John Deere therefore you must use x y z. I can see this with the FEL, but what about the others?
And finally, maintenance, this is a big ticket item for me. I've been fixing cars and other machines for quite a few years, engine and transmission rebuilds are all on that list, so I'm not afraid to tackle anything, I just don't touch tires since I don't have the equipment for that. Are there downloadable maintenance manuals for this machine anywhere? It's not new at all, I hope someone can point me to something out there.
Overall I'm very happy with this purchase, I was going back and forth between multiple lawn mowers, snow blowers, renting etc etc, this, with a few attachments will solve all my issues, as long as it runs well. The highest priority item is snow removal during winter, so I hope it starts well in this cold Canadian climate. My dad who is now retired will be in charge when I'm not there to take care of the snow, but there is so much more you can do with one of these. One of my hobbies is managing a small forest close by, where no one has set foot in many years, I plan to use this tractor to help me haul some big logs out of there.
I appreciate any input, advice, suggestions you guys could share. I don't know why, but it feels like I wanted a tractor all my life, it's just now that I finally got my hands on one, it will have a good life in my hands, as all my machines do.
Cheers
xp
