New member with Ford 861. Anyone in the area of Oxford, OH with one of these?

[nickfank]

Hi All-

Joined because I just acquired a 1957 (58?) Ford 861 Powermaster with an FEL, and figure I'll need some experienced friends as I fix up the rough spots.

First project is the carburetor. Right now, fuel drips from the carb onto the exhaust. Seems like any other project will be stressful until I've removed the chance of self-immolation ... Probably just a sticking float, but I'll rebuild the whole carb so I've got one "perfect" component.

Second project is power steering. The previous owner said it stopped working suddenly, so I'm hoping to find a blockage, broken linkage, or generally something less painful than having to replace the pump.

Third project is ballast. With the FEL, it's nose-heavy to the point of being dangerous. Unless I stumble onto a great deal on iron weights locally, I'll probably go with liquid. Hopefully I can find some good advice on that here.

Any of you have a similar tractor in my area?

-Nick Fankhauser, Oxford Ohio.

 

[Soundguy]

I'm in Florida, bit am familiar with your tractor.

Kit the carb and get that out of the way. Ballast is easy too, a tub ir drum with a draw at under it, and as toplink connection point, then fill with water, sand, concrete, etc. Put the weight on the drawbar so you don't need 3pt to hold it up, its just static counterweight.

On the Ps, check belt, then fluid and filter, next see if lines are attached to valve block at column, if yes, I'd break the feed line and see if it is making flow at least. If it has flow, then you need to see if the springs n nalm plungers see moving in valve block, last would be relief
. Might be hard to test till you know valves work

 

[Soundguy]

I'm in Florida, bit am familiar with your tractor.

Kit the carb and get that out of the way. Ballast is easy too, a tub ir drum with a draw at under it, and as toplink connection point, then fill with water, sand, concrete, etc. Put the weight on the drawbar so you don't need 3pt to hold it up, its just static counterweight.

On the Ps, check belt, then fluid and filter, next see if lines are attached to valve block at column, if yes, I'd break the feed line and see if it is making flow at least. If it has flow, then you need to see if the springs n nalm plungers see moving in valve block, last would be relief
. Might be hard to test till you know valves work

 

[deerseeker001]

Welcome from Wisconsin

 

[nickfank]

Thanks for the pointers

Ballast is easy too, a tub ir drum with a draw at under it, and as toplink connection point, then fill with water, sand, concrete, etc. Put the weight on the drawbar so you don't need 3pt to hold it up, its just static counterweight.

Do you have a picture of a setup like this? I think I understand, but pictures help.

I had been thinking of casting a chunk of concrete around a piece of rebar that I could attach to the 3 pt lift, but didn't like the idea of constant pressure on the system. Your approach sounds better.

 

[Soundguy]

something like this.

I made this one years back for a 660 so i could move hay on a loader.

drawbar UNDER the tub, so you can let hyds off and just rest on arms. scrap flat steel with holes for toplink, make sure angle is correct.

sand / rocks and concrete.

the bottom end of a 55g drum will do.. or a 35g grease keg, etc.


to get it off the tractor just set it on a concrete block.. etc..

I prefer the no weight on the hyds design..

http://www.tractorshed.com/gallery/iphotos/i2442.jpg

 

[Soundguy]

ps. i used a short cat 1 drawbar, not a full length one. the short one keeps the arms tucked in away from the tires nice and tidy.. plus is cheaper.

I put long carriage bolts.. like 7-8" long in the tub with 2 nuts and 2 washers, so only about 1.5" of bolts stuck out the bottom. this put the rest inside for the concrete to hold on to. use the 2 nuts and washers to lock the bolts into the tub bottom after drilling holes.

then slip the drawbar on. add another washer and nut and it's held. if you ever ditch the counterweight. run a couple nuts off and you got the drawbar back. so nothing lost.

way better than rebar thru the drum. rebar has no place for lynch pins.. so you'd have to rig something like hose clamps.. and the rebar may not be spaced close enough to the bottom to keep weight off the ground, OR it might break out of the bottom o fthe concrete.. so the drawbar is a win - win

 

[MitchellB]

Welcome Nickfank. I'm in NC, but just putting the finishing touches/testing on an engine rebuild/refub that I was forced to do on a new (to me) 1958 861 Diesel. Good luck with yours.

 

[nickfank]

Thanks! That's exactly what I needed to see. We're pouring concrete next week, so maybe I can put something similar together quickly.

 

[nickfank]

Thanks souNdguy! That's exactly what I needed to see. We're pouring concrete next week, so maybe I can put something similar together quickly.