Anyone own a New Holland TN55S 65, 70?

   / Anyone own a New Holland TN55S 65, 70? #1  

Gasifier

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
468
Location
St. Lawrence River Valley, N.Y.
Tractor
2014 KUBOTA L45 T.L.B. SERIES W/3-PT
Hello New Holland owners.
Does anyone here currently own, and/or have experience with a New Holland TN55, 65, or 70?
I just recently purchased a 1999 TN55S with 8X8 transmission and left hand power reverser.
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It just arrived last night after dark. I did get a chance to try it out for about 20 minutes this afternoon. Used the loader to move some material around. I have tons of stuff I want to do with it. BUT. Like just about everyone else, waiting for things to dry up.

Just have a small hobby farm here with horses and 81 acres of woods and some pasture. Use my tractor all year round for cleaning up downed trees, firewood, mowing with 6’ brush hog, snow removal, horse related chores, etc.

So I’m just wondering what people’s experience has been with these tractors. Things you have learned. What you do with your tractor. Etc.

I imagine the TN65 and 70 are very similar. ?

I thank you for your input.
 
   / Anyone own a New Holland TN55S 65, 70? #2  
FWIW, TN55S is helpful when mentioning the S.

Don't forget to grease the Supersteer bearing and the front drive shaft slip joint. No idea on your experience, but I just added 2 remotes, replaced the lift arm pivot seals and torsion rod (there are more correct terms, but close enough). I see you have the remote to the loader. Nice. The starter is a royal pain to get to for replacement. I added a couple of small hydraulic leaks under the hood doing it; to be repaired eventually. The quick connects are the automatic release kind (poor term), a lot more money than the lower model versions (pull the collar back to release the connector). I think I have one left of the auto release type. Water gets into the back and they get a little corrosion in there (how often do you take the hoses off for the loader - every 5 years?). I also have the first year. You will find some things are no longer available, or are a pain to identify parts wise. The loader joystick and the rubber mats for example. The earliest of that year have a different joystick. About when the hood/headlights changed they made some cab changes, the mats are not supposed to fit. The next to useless interior light is too much money. Eventually I'll stick an led strip in it. I put a wood strip across the headliner because mine was sagging (~1' in front of your head). A lot of parts are common across the Fiat line if you look hard enough. FWIW. This was the last year NH tractors had Ford on them, would have said TN55S New Holland, with Ford in small letters. Newer graphics sets don't say Ford (yours may have been repainted, not stickers. Mine has a plastic toolbox over the drivers rear fender. And I have front fenders. It had the under mount exhaust, but I converted it to the stack that you have. My tail pipe fell off (mower ate it) and I didn't like the exhaust down in the dry grass anyhow.

I have the other loader (not self leveling). I don't know about your loader mounts, but they were redesigned around 2003-4. One of mine was cracked, the other side had a broken bolt and a stripped bolt (on the frame/lower end). I welded extensions on the mounting plates to go forward to the next set of holes, as well as a welder opened the broken holes and welded in grade 5 coupling nuts in the stripped holes. No problems since. Someone had put a 3/4" bolt in the bellhousing end of the broken bolt mount. Their is a very close fit, but too loose common 3/4" size. Fortunately it hadn't damaged the bellhousing. Just adding that word of caution.

Oddly enough, there are a few fractional bolts on this tractor. And of course, being a European tractor (USA is just as bad) you need every size of metric wrench that's made (the Japs cut that down very nicely). You get to use your 'extra' 11, 13, etc, wrenches. The a/c line clamps, and the through bolts for the valve stacks are fractional. I think another clamp use (maybe one of the hydraulic pumps - formerly a USA owned brand, but now Bosch). Just to know that there can be fractional sizes on it, rare as they may be.

It has been a good tractor for me. TN55-70 are all the same engine, just have the injector pump tuned for the horsepower rating. The TN75 has a turbo (still the same displacement, but obviously adjusted for the turbocharging). The standard TN55 transmission (at least for the NA market) is the 4x2. I think all the S models have the electric shift shuttle transmission (orange shifter), and other premium features. The TN55 (mechanically) major distinction is that it has a lighter duty front axle than the other models. The other models had a 12 or 16 speed option (I assume a 2,3,4 speed shuttle box). Europe had an option for a 32 speed. There's a fellow on here by the name of Rick (one more letter I think, RickB?) that has been a wealth of knowledge (dealer and/or mechanic) on these. I did have a problem with the clutch once. I figured out it was one of 2 or 3 switches/relay/position indicators (been a very long time). I was going to shotgun them, as an older piece of equipment replacing a couple of $25 parts wasn't going to hurt in the long run (maybe avoid a future failure). Turned out I needed software to re-enable to the clutch. I took it to my then local service dealer because I had no choice in the long run; I'd see them to re-enable the clutch anyhow, here you go, call me when you're done.

I need to replace one of the front roof height lights. Haven't spent any time on it, as I would like to upgrade to a brighter light. Or even a curved light bar. Something to do this summer. Even though the 90% use will be for snow removal.

I wonder why your loader hoses have the elbows on them? Seems clunky and unnecessary. Oh, reminds me, one of my loader valves is a 'float' version, the other is not. The users manual isn't clear on that feature. 'May' have a float valve. I finally determined it had that, had to learn to 'push through' the resistance on the joy stick. I thought my joystick was damaged (or the valve). It was just a crusty 'push'. Duh.
 
   / Anyone own a New Holland TN55S 65, 70? #3  
Ditto to the lighter front axle. Don't worry about it, being that you are an owner operator, just don't abuse it. The Supersteer (SS) ball support, driveline slip joint and pivot pin need to be greased about once a month or so. The SS ball joint is a major job to replace; I've done a couple. Also, keep water from accumulating in the front bolster in front of the radiator as the cap for the SS ball joint is there and is sealed with a cap, but water can seep in to the joint. Not sure about all of the metric sized bolt heads, like 11mm. I've never used my 11mm and I find it has more standard metric sizes vs say JD.

As far as the year, yours appears to be a later version, at least the loader is, as when it became New Holland, the colored stripes were added to the logo. Anyway, whether early or later build, it is all Fiat on the tractor. Speaking of the loader, as @mojoinco said, check the loader frame just below the front of the cab for cracking. Over time, the bolts loosen slightly and put more strain on the corner of the frame with a potential for cracking.

Good little tractor as I sold one to a local camp 25 years ago and they have had to do very little in the way of repairs, having over 3500 hours on it.
 
   / Anyone own a New Holland TN55S 65, 70?
  • Thread Starter
#4  
@mojoinco and @TractorTech

Thank you, very much. I will have to reread your post several times, and refer back to them as time goes by I’ll check these things and do preventative maintenance. I will also print them and give to next owner when I sell it. It is a very nice machine, in very nice condition. 2260 hours. If anyone is interested in owning, send me a PM. I buy and sell occasionally and use them on our small hobby farm of 81 acres. Consisting of mostly trees with trails through them for horse riding, walking, etc., and 5-7 acres of pasture. Really appreciate your input.

 
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