1975 Model 235 diesel tractor with < 700 hrs, assuming hour meter is correct (still tracks time), was my dad's and still runs just fine, but has two mechanical issues that I'm currently aware of:
1) Power steering is completely inoperable. No "odd" noises, but there is significant leakage where the right pitman arm connects to the steering box. I've ordered new seals, new power steering pump filter (and gasket), but is there anything else I need to look into that might be the cause?
2) Bigger issue is the rear hydraulics. They've been SUPER slow (both up and down) for awhile now. After trying to lift a medium sized tree that fell on a car last year, and having to "help it" up, I found myself saying "I *know* this thing could lift more when I was kid" We cleaned up hundreds of downed trees with just this tractor, a boom pole, and a chainsaw after Hugo came through in '89. The tree I was trying to move recently was small in comparison.
This got me to experimenting. In wanting to "reboot" the old farm, I've purchased some new equipment - one of which is a set of 3pt pallet forks. Using a pallet I knew the approximate weight of (~800lbs), it wouldn't budge it. Further experimentation needed - I ordered a 6klb capacity crane scale off Amazon and did a few tests. With a standard boom pole, it was only able to max out around 250 lbs of lift at the tip. With the pallet forks, a little better with ~350 lbs at the end (48" forks) and ~700 lbs at the closest point to the tractor. Which leads me to the "weird" part. When I put a standard drawbar in the 3pt arms (no top link attachment), it was able to lift >2,000 lbs before front tires left the ground. All testing was done at idle and 540 PTO RPMs, with draft control in multiple positions, the drop speed control in both positions as well.
Long question short, is there something I should be looking at that may be causing the slowness and completely anemic lifting capacity when there's something connected to the top link? I've changed out the hydraulic oil and filter.
1) Power steering is completely inoperable. No "odd" noises, but there is significant leakage where the right pitman arm connects to the steering box. I've ordered new seals, new power steering pump filter (and gasket), but is there anything else I need to look into that might be the cause?
2) Bigger issue is the rear hydraulics. They've been SUPER slow (both up and down) for awhile now. After trying to lift a medium sized tree that fell on a car last year, and having to "help it" up, I found myself saying "I *know* this thing could lift more when I was kid" We cleaned up hundreds of downed trees with just this tractor, a boom pole, and a chainsaw after Hugo came through in '89. The tree I was trying to move recently was small in comparison.
This got me to experimenting. In wanting to "reboot" the old farm, I've purchased some new equipment - one of which is a set of 3pt pallet forks. Using a pallet I knew the approximate weight of (~800lbs), it wouldn't budge it. Further experimentation needed - I ordered a 6klb capacity crane scale off Amazon and did a few tests. With a standard boom pole, it was only able to max out around 250 lbs of lift at the tip. With the pallet forks, a little better with ~350 lbs at the end (48" forks) and ~700 lbs at the closest point to the tractor. Which leads me to the "weird" part. When I put a standard drawbar in the 3pt arms (no top link attachment), it was able to lift >2,000 lbs before front tires left the ground. All testing was done at idle and 540 PTO RPMs, with draft control in multiple positions, the drop speed control in both positions as well.
Long question short, is there something I should be looking at that may be causing the slowness and completely anemic lifting capacity when there's something connected to the top link? I've changed out the hydraulic oil and filter.