New member with question about Ford NAA

[SteveD55]

Good morning,
This is my first post. I live near Waterville NY and have a 1954 Ford NAA that I have owned since 1983. It came with a heavy plow on the front that I use for snow plowing. It raises and lowers with a cable going back to the hydraulic arms for the 3pt hitch. It started giving me problems a few weeks ago and it would not raise the plow during some very cold weather. Actually, the arms did not move at all. I jacked the plow up and hooked it so I could move it from it's spot in my barn to my workshop. At this time the weather was getting above freezing and I ran a small electric unit heater to warm it up more. The Hydraulic oil had not been changed for many years but it was reading full on the dipstick. Thinking there might have been moisture buildup and ice had formed I drained the oil and replaced with new. Since then we have been having mostly below freezing weather along with a couple of very warm days. I have needed to do some plowing a couple of times and still have a problem. The arms will raise the plow all the way up after it has been started and I can do some plowing, raising and lowering like normal, for about 15-20 minutes before it starts struggling again and can't raise the plow much or at all. This keeps happening. Yesterday I needed to plow and had the same thing happen. I waited about 6 hours, went to plow some more and the same thing happened again. The temperature was in the 20's yesterday. I am looking for advice on how to find the problem and fix it.
Thank you,
Steve

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To TBN Steve. We are glad that you joined us here and someone with Ford experience will be along shortly to help.

 

[TBN Support]

Hi Steve.

Welcome to the forum! :wave: :tractor:

I'm going to move this thread over to our vintage Ford section to see if we can find you some answers.

 

[SteveD55]

I went out and did some more plowing this afternoon. A beautiful, calm, sunny day with temp around 30F. I plowed longer than the last few times before it started getting weak. When I increased the rpm's more than I normally would it was able to lift the rest of the way. Increasing the rpm's previously did not make it lift the rest of the way.

 

[mddorange]

Sounds like the pump may be weakening from wear.

 

[SteveD55]

Sounds like the pump may be weakening from wear.

Thanks. I got my hands on an old shop manual and am going to remove the PTO shift cover to look for turbulence around the relief valve or leaks. Next step will be to check the hydraulics pressure at the lift cover plug. Already borrowed a 10,000 PSI gauge and fittings. Should be around 2000 and if it drops within 10 seconds will need to replace pump.

 

[SteveD55]

What are the best sources for a replacement hydraulic pump? I am assuming mine is the original vane pump but I am not sure how to tell without taking it apart.

 

[Michford]

The vane style hydraulic pump has a square shaped housing. The later piston style pump has a cylindrical shaped housing. There are rebuild kits avaialble for the piston style pump. A website called yesterdays tractors sells parts, steiner tractor parts sells parts, or if you have a local New Holland dealer they should be able to sell a rebuild kit for the piston style pump. There are many vendors that sell Ford tractor parts with a google search. If you have a vane pump, a gent that goes by the handle TOH (the old hokie) makes and sells an alternative pump that mounts in place of the vane pump.

 

[SteveD55]

The vane style hydraulic pump has a square shaped housing. The later piston style pump has a cylindrical shaped housing. There are rebuild kits avaialble for the piston style pump. A website called yesterdays tractors sells parts, steiner tractor parts sells parts, or if you have a local New Holland dealer they should be able to sell a rebuild kit for the piston style pump. There are many vendors that sell Ford tractor parts with a google search. If you have a vane pump, a gent that goes by the handle TOH (the old hokie) makes and sells an alternative pump that mounts in place of the vane pump.

Thank you. I have done more research since my last post and know that my pump is the vane type with the original 5/8" thick vane assembly. I decided to order a vane replacement kit from Yesterday's Tractor which is supposed to arrive in about a week. It is the most economical choice for me and it looks like it should be reasonably easy to do. I expect it should last me for as long as I will be using the tractor since I am turning 64 in another couple of weeks.