Washing an old tractor

[Jstpssng]

Those that degrease with pressure washing, aren't you concerned of the grease to contaminate the soil or even seep into your water well?

I wondered the same thing. I need to flush the cooling system on the TO35 but don’t know how to deal with all of the crud which has built up over the last 68 years.

 

[Thomas]

May want to cover intake air filter and less pressure around wiring harness.

 

[SmallChange]

I always figured that if a tractor design allowed lots of heavy rain to do damage, they would have fixed the design quickly, so it's safe spraying things the way a hard driven rain would do it. But hard spraying with an upward component has no such guarantee, so that's the situation to be careful of.

 

[RalphVa]

I used to regularly give the 1983 240D Benz a bath underneath the hood. Even on the alternator, never was a problem. Had that Benz for 25 years.

Cannot see that you can hurt anything on any tractor except for underneath/behind the instrument panel.

If REALLY dirty, I've wetted and sprinkled Tide over the engine. Let sit and spray off. Never use a pressure washer. Gaskets and stuff on engines aren't good for those kinds of pressure. Now, with liquid Tide/detergent, could just spray on. Would still help to wet a bit first.

 

[California]

On an old tractor with mechanical regulator don't make the mistake I did. There was a mud-dauber nest beneath the regulator that I hosed off. Bad mistake, there are openings under there, up into the relays. The regulator then alternator let out their smoke.

Luckily this old Yanmar used the same alternator and regulator as Nissan back then. Under $50 from Autozone to replace both.

 

[RalphVa]

I used to regularly give the 1983 240D Benz a bath underneath the hood. Even on the alternator, never was a problem. Had that Benz for 25 years.

Cannot see that you can hurt anything on any tractor except for underneath/behind the instrument panel.

May want to cover intake air filter and less pressure around wiring harness.

Just don't spray into the air intake. On ONE car, I had water get under the distributor cap. Of course, with diesels, no worries about this!

 

[kenlip]

Those that degrease with pressure washing, aren't you concerned of the grease to contaminate the soil or even seep into your water well?

You raise a good and valid point. However, grease is lost from bearings and bushings all the time. It might just gradually fall to the ground over time. The fact that grease needs to be added to fittings means that grease is being lost. Does it really make a difference if one deposits the grease all over one's property or confines it to one small area? In fact, one might be able to dedicate a specific area for the washing.