Buying Advice Bought a farm, looking for a tractor...and help choosing!

[curdy]

Kyle, I never got back to you about your question on the salt and what that did to it. IMO the fact that it sat out more probably did more that the salt. But, there's some rust through on the fenders, left foot platform, and under the battery. Things I can't let bother me for the price I paid and what I'm using it for. The rust on some of the controls and hydraulic fittings bothers me a bit more since those are more important.

Can anyone recommend the best way to clean this thing off? There are some oil and hydraulic leaks that I want to work on and make sure I can tell where they're coming from. I'm going to scrape off the heavy dirt and oil and then a friend suggested running the engine and cleaning it off with a power washer...being mindful of keeping the spray away from the air intake. Suggestions?

 

[Soundguy]

on all my oldies, I manually scrape the heavy stuff with a gasket scraper or screwdriver, then hit it with a petro degreser like engine bright.. let set, then power wash, then hit it with a soap degreaser like purple stuff / simple green and power wash again.. then let dry. then you can work on it without getting dirt everywhere.

incedentally I do this again right before painting to get it clean from working on it, so the primer and paint will stick

soundguy

 

[curdy]

on all my oldies, I manually scrape the heavy stuff with a gasket scraper or screwdriver, then hit it with a petro degreser like engine bright.. let set, then power wash, then hit it with a soap degreaser like purple stuff / simple green and power wash again.. then let dry. then you can work on it without getting dirt everywhere.

incedentally I do this again right before painting to get it clean from working on it, so the primer and paint will stick

soundguy

Seriously, I'll have to use a garden spade in some spots its so heavy...they're some seedlings going in there too :laughing:

BTW, so all that suggested a bigger frame tractor, I wanted to once again confirm this was a good idea. The few areas that were left in grass are now ready for making hay on (since we don't have enough animals to graze it down yet). I have a neighbor coming soon to make it, and lending me his 3 pt spear to move the bales. Not sure I could move bales that big with a small tractor. Not sure if we'll be making large bales ongoing in the future, but for now, it'll be nice to have the larger tractor for it.

 

[Soundguy]

sounds great!

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Can anyone recommend the best way to clean this thing off? There are some oil and hydraulic leaks that I want to work on and make sure I can tell where they're coming from. I'm going to scrape off the heavy dirt and oil and then a friend suggested running the engine and cleaning it off with a power washer...being mindful of keeping the spray away from the air intake. Suggestions?

Ditto Soundguy. Get yourself a decent pressure washer. Purple power can ruin new paint so be careful.

 

[curdy]

I'll get some more pics posted as I get things cleaned up more. I did grab a new replacement seat at TSC today. My son is pretty excited to put that on.

 

[Soundguy]

yep.. eats paint like oven cleaner will.

soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

on all my oldies, I manually scrape the heavy stuff with a gasket scraper or screwdriver, then hit it with a petro degreser like engine bright.. let set, then power wash, then hit it with a soap degreaser like purple stuff / simple green and power wash again.. then let dry. then you can work on it without getting dirt everywhere.

incedentally I do this again right before painting to get it clean from working on it, so the primer and paint will stick

soundguy

Anything with a point or an edge.....Another handy item is one of those "5-in-1" painters tools. Various width putty knives, I've even got an old hunting knife in my clean-up tool pile! I like an assortment of wire brushes. The small round ones for cleaning I.D. of copper pipe can be invaluable.

I like to keep plenty of spray "brake cleaner" and "carb cleaner" on hand.

Nothing like having a steam jenny....wish I did. I'll have to get by with a big gas pressure washer and a little electric machine.

It's nice to have a variety of air "blow guns".

My favorite cleaner is good ol' "Mr Clean". I put it on liberally with a spray bottle, then scrub/hose off. (Liberally? Does that mean I expect someone else to do it for me?)

The #1 most valuable "tool" for cleaning up a dirty tractor? As always, a determined OWNER. There's nothing tricky about it, just a bit of hard, dirty work.

 

[Soundguy]

yep.. takes plenty of 'elbow grease' to get off many years of dirt oil and grease.

no way around it.

the more time you put in to cleaning it.. the better the paint prep and paint will be.

I remember a 951 I got out of texas.. it had been use on road work and have tar and gravel ont he bottom of it.. ( chipseal ).. took forever to get that asphalt off..

soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

yep.. takes plenty of 'elbow grease' to get off many years of dirt oil and grease.

no way around it.

the more time you put in to cleaning it.. the better the paint prep and paint will be.

I remember a 951 I got out of texas.. it had been use on road work and have tar and gravel ont he bottom of it.. ( chipseal ).. took forever to get that asphalt off..

soundguy

I've been wanting a nice Massey 165 for years now. I FINALLY bought one a couple weeks back. '67, gasser (Continental) w/MultiPower and VERY low hours. All it needs is tires, a seat, and some fresh paint. For the last 10 years, the previous owner has used it to pull wagons in and out of his cabinet shop. Those wagons were "drying racks" for laminate counter tops they made. The rear end and fenders have a nice thin coat of contact adhesive overspray..... This ain't gonna be all that much fun.