Bought an old Ford 4500 TLB - how do I keep from breaking it?

[LD1]

Good advise given so far. The two weakest links IMO are the loader and swing chain. Its rare to see o e of them loaders that don't have several patches,welds, or other repairs. Don't use it like a bulldozer or ram into things. The swing chain is also a weak and expensive link. Try not to use it to swing the whole machine around. If you didn't line up right pull forward and try again. And minimize using swing to backfill.

 

[bigdeano]

If hard to reach hoses need replacing, possibly you could attach the new hose to the old one and pull it into place while you pull out the old hose. Just thinking out loud.

 

[Armymutt]

I'm finding 2 u-joints on the shaft from the crank to the hydraulic pump. One has a grease fitting, the other doesn't. That's not to say the other isn't missing one - the entire front end is caked in grease and dirt. Going to clean it out while we have the tractor apart. I've found a couple of fittings on the hoe to be non-functional. So far, the rest seem to be ok. Haven't hit them all. I do need to replace the bushings between the two main booms on the hoe (not sure of the technical terms). Right now, getting the engine back in working order is the priority.