Here's the TO-35 that my hunt club bought...

[kebo]

earlier this year. I just now got a look at it this weekend. We gave the man $1000 for it and it runs. It's a TO-35 with serial number SDM201207, which makes it a '59 model. It's got the standard 4cyl diesel with multipower clutch. It has "DELUXE" label on both sides of the hood.

The club president has had it at his house since March and he finally got it moved to the hunt club last week using my trailer. So far, the starter has been replaced, and he's fixed a couple small fuel leaks around the filters. Right now we are in the process of draining all the trans/hyd fluid because it had LOTS of water inside it. Both rubber shift lever boots were rotten and those got replaced yesterday with parts I got from my local MF dealer. Today they were going to try and replace the rear PTO seal, assuming the one I got for it at the dealer fits. I also bought an oil filter and some Shell Rotella T 15W-40 so we could change the engine but the filter didn't fit. Got to take it back this week and get the right one.

I'm back at home now myself but a couple of the guys were working on it today. They were going to put some diesel in the tranny and let it soak, then let that drain really good and fill it back with some used tranny fluid that came out of my JD 790. The plan was to crank it up and let the pump circulate the old fluid through the system a little while and then let that drain out really good. The last step is to fill it with new tractor/tans fluid and hope it looks ok after a few hours of run time.

Overall, it's what you would expect for $1000 tractor. The tractormeter doesn't work and it's stuck on 4500hrs. No telling how many hours it has really seen. The engine does smoke some (white smoke)when you first crank it but lessens after its run a little while. There are a number of oil leaks around the motor and it's covered with gunk. We're going to spray it down with simple green and then hose it off good and see if we can tell where the leaks are coming from and try and fix as many as we can without really tearing into it. The only other pressing thing is one of the rear tires has a slow leak, but they are both worn down to slick we'll have to try and save up some money to replace those asap.

Hopefully, next weekend we can start getting the bush hogging and discing done with the old girl! Here are some pic's:

(Yes, that is an outhouse in the background there!)

 

[WilliamBos]

It is actually an FE35, "Ferguson England". Take care of that 23c, and it will NEVER let you down. Ours has not yet!!

Smoothe running, quiet, and sips the fuel. Just take care to make sure the glow plugs are in good working order, and if need be, add a block heater. Cycle the glows, and she will fire right up.

Was the oil filter they gave you slightly too short? 1018121M91 is the one you are looking for. Went through the same thing.

 

[kebo]

Glow plugs was something I was going to ask about here.... Looks like the glow plugs are on the left side of the block. How do you check them? Being an electronics tech, I am familiar with using a meter. I think they are just resistive elements meaning they are like resistors and get hot when sufficient current flows through them. I would assume you can check the dc resistance, but how many ohms should it measure?? If it reads infinite resistance, I would assume that it would be open and thus no good, right?

Thanks for pointing out that it's an FE35, we were thinking it was a TO-35. Maybe that's why the oil filter didn't fit???

 

[WilliamBos]

I see newer wires on them so hopefully that is a good sign. Not to sure on how to test them in the block. Will have to ask around.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

What you have is a "multi-disc" clutch, more commonly referred to as a two-stage clutch, NOT a "Multipower clutch". MultiPower is a hydraulic actuated 2 speed hi/low shifter that'll have a shifter found on the dash.


Also....On your choice of tranny oil. Do NOT use "universal tractor hydraulic oil"/hy-tran, ect. That tractor will require a mineral base 90wt oil (NOT 90wt gear oil either) I'm having one of those dreaded "senior moments" right now and can't recall the spec (#) on the oil, but a manual (or surely someone here) will list the correct spec on that oil. Conventional hydraulic oil will cause long term damage.

 

[Skyco]

Interesting about the 90w oil needed that isn't gear oil.
I don't think I'd run the diesel mix through the trans, might attack old seals not meant for diesel. Diesel can actually be real aggresive on some materials. You can run the new oil drain it and if it is milky from water, let it sit quite awhile and see if the watter settles out, then siphon off the good oil and put it back in. Another way is to carefully heat the oil to about 220 deg in a big ol pot outdoors of course to boil off the water...then put the oil back in.
Glow plugs are normally pretty low resistance, maybe an ohm or two, disconnect them and check individually.
Do you know what oil was run in it? If it had a long life with low or no detergent oils a dose of Rotella, which is very high in detergent, might open a can of worms with leaks and suddenly using oil...

Re: the outhouse in the photo- knowing most hunt camp food I'd have put that outhouse much farther from the cabin

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Interesting about the 90w oil needed that isn't gear oil.
I don't think I'd run the diesel mix through the trans, might attack old seals not meant for diesel. Diesel can actually be real aggresive on some materials. You can run the new oil drain it and if it is milky from water, let it sit quite awhile and see if the watter settles out, then siphon off the good oil and put it back in. Another way is to carefully heat the oil to about 220 deg in a big ol pot outdoors of course to boil off the water...then put the oil back in.
Glow plugs are normally pretty low resistance, maybe an ohm or two, disconnect them and check individually.
Do you know what oil was run in it? If it had a long life with low or no detergent oils a dose of Rotella, which is very high in detergent, might open a can of worms with leaks and suddenly using oil...

Re: the outhouse in the photo- knowing most hunt camp food I'd have put that outhouse much farther from the cabin

I've cleaned out dozens of trannies/hydraulic systems on Fergies with diesel, including my own MF150. Never caused the first sign of an issue. Works good too!

 

[WilliamBos]

I've cleaned out dozens of trannies/hydraulic systems on Fergies with diesel, including my own MF150. Never caused the first sign of an issue. Works good too!

That is what we used when we did the hydraulic pump/pinion gears in our 35. I was told to NEVER use Kerosene for this because it is a cutting agent. (True or...)

As for Oil, If it is NOT Permatran, (unless it EXCEEDS Spec)I do not run it. The little cost difference is better than having trans issues caused by oil later on. Pay now or pay later.

 

[WilliamBos]

If the shifter booties have been replaced, should not get any water in the case. You could put in a good quality diesel fuel conditioner, something for LSD/ULSD, but NOT Methyl hydrate.

We did that once during the winter, when our booties were cracked. Changed the boots/oil when we did some work inside.

Interesting about the 90w oil needed that isn't gear oil.
I don't think I'd run the diesel mix through the trans, might attack old seals not meant for diesel. Diesel can actually be real aggresive on some materials. You can run the new oil drain it and if it is milky from water, let it sit quite awhile and see if the watter settles out, then siphon off the good oil and put it back in. Another way is to carefully heat the oil to about 220 deg in a big ol pot outdoors of course to boil off the water...then put the oil back in.
Glow plugs are normally pretty low resistance, maybe an ohm or two, disconnect them and check individually.
Do you know what oil was run in it? If it had a long life with low or no detergent oils a dose of Rotella, which is very high in detergent, might open a can of worms with leaks and suddenly using oil...

Re: the outhouse in the photo- knowing most hunt camp food I'd have put that outhouse much farther from the cabin

 

[kebo]

Thanks for the comments. FWJ, I did realize that the "M" in the serial number was for the multidisc clutch, which ours definitely does have. All the paperwork I had on it was left at the hunt cabin in case they needed it and for some reason my brain was just thinking multipower, not multidisc.

As for the trans/hyd fluid, we got a NAPA Heavy Duty tractor/hyd/trans fluid that says it meets the Permatran III spec. Shouldn't this be ok to use in it??

Thanks again.
Keith