Antique road grader, I believe. Well, part of one that is.
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I agree, the tongue/draw bar is far too heavy for a horse drawn implement. Iād guess this was something pulled by a crawler tractor and the business part of the implement was harvested for re-use. The significant arch in the draw bar would accommodate a blade.
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That looks like a match to me. Maybe a 1909 model. Maybe case or something similar.
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Not far from where I live the Acme Road Machinery Company in Frankfort, NY produced road machinery beginning around 1900. The family actually reincorporated in the 1950ās and I believe the last thing they produced was a glass crusher for the benefit of the local ARC in the 1970ās. They produced all sorts of heavy equipment for grading and rock crushing, their equipment was shipped worldwide. A google search will bring up some old catalogs of their range of equipment. I believe they had a second location in Vermont before going out of business in the 1930ās or 40ās. Part of Main Street in Frankfort, NY is referred to as Acme Road, but the production facility is gone.
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Eh, I think they could have pulled it with horses. Hereās a similar, maybe slightly lighter one, being pulled by just 2 horses Horse Drawn Grader - YouTube
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Right to repair for JD is now a reality.
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Subdood,
As you know the chain on the cover is to attach to the mower/tractor to keep the shield from spinning.
I know you already attached that chain.
Just food for thought, I never attach those chains. My reasoning is this. The plastic bearing inside the PTO shield rides on the steel PTO shaft. What happens is that over the years, the plastic bearing wears out (because itās not a very durable design) even though there is a generally grease zerk. When the bearing wears out, the shield doesnāt stay in place. So you have to find and buy a new bearing for the specific shield (sometimes easier said than done because different shields take different plastic bearings). Once you find a new plastic bearing, you have to take the shield apart and install it.
At this point, most people just live with a floppy plastic shield which slips up and down the PTO shaft, potentially exposing the steel PTO shaft to the operator. This ends up being a very dangerous PTO shield.
I prefer to just let the PTO shield spin along with the steel PTO shaft. Itās not quite as safe (but still very safe) as a PTO shield chained and not spinning, but much safer than a PTO shield with the plastic bearings worn out.
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Thanks. Iāve seen vids of fellows who donāt attach the chains for the reasons you gave. I guess Iāll leave them attached for now, but may unhook them later. I only use the bush hog 3-4 times a year anyway.
My bigger concern right now is that my radiator or hoses are leaking, as I have to add coolant about every time I use the tractor. I donāt know if you remember, but about 6 years ago my water pump bearing went out (see post 75 in this thread) , causing the fan to impale itself into the radiator. So I had to replace all of those. Well, now it seems I have a leak somewhere. I hope itās a hose and not my radiator. It was a bear of a repair to replace it the first time, I just hope I donāt have to replace it again.
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I do remember that. I too hope itās not your radiator. If you can see any dripping, you might see if itās a loose hose fitting on a hose (that would be easy). Sometimes a water pump will leak (sometimes they even have a weep hole). I know you have a new water pump, but sometimes they can be defective. Then of course there is the radiator. I hope thatās not it.
If it is the radiator, I think Iād try one of those āstop leakā products. Some are better than others, so do some online research. Donāt use too much of a stop leak product, or youāll liable to clog something up, which isnāt supposed to be clogged up. Iāve used the products before with some success. Once I had a freeze plug leaking in a in a pickup in a place which the freeze plug was really hard to get to (would have had to remove the transmission). I used the stop leak and never had a problem. Drove that pickup into the ground and never leaked. Donāt use it, if itās a bad hose or a loose hose. Better to replace the hose, or tighten the fitting, if itās loose.
You can also loosen the radiator cap as a temporary fix. If you loosen the cap (only loosen, donāt take it off) where it still stays on, but doesnāt hold pressure, when the engine gets hot, it wonāt force antifreeze out the leaky spot. You will still lose some antifreeze steaming out the loose cap, but you wonāt loose as much as the antifreeze being forced out the leaky spot, under pressure.
As a reminder, donāt loosen the radiator cap when the engine is hot, or your liable to scald some skin. Loosen it before you start the tractor, but make sure it still stays on. Generally about 1/4 of a turn or less, loosens it. Take the cap off and look at the cap and the radiator, and you will see how itās made to mate together, and see how you can just loosen the cap and it will still stay on.
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Thanks. Iāll try your radiator cap suggestion. There is a overflow line on the radiator fill neck, but I doubt itās coming out of there. Iām going to have to take the engine cowling off, fill it up with coolant, start it, and inspect it to see where it might be leaking.
I had to put two new batteries in it last year, as the ones in there finally bit the dust. They were 8 years old, and were in it when I bought it, so it was time for them to go. That was a bear to replace them, they are in a very cramped compartment in front of the dash panel.
I seem to have an issue with leaking fluids with several of my stuff. I just repaired my riding mower, it had a bad oil leak, found out it was a bad drain valve that was leaking. Had to have my F150 repaired a few years ago as it was leaking tranny fluid. That was a bad o ring on the dipstick tube.
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It could be leaking out the radiator tube. That would indicate a bad radiator cap. Generally the caps donāt go bad, but itās possible. Good luck!
I bet. Sometimes the engineers who design these things, never have to take them apart, lol.
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Yeah, but these old tractors are tough. This one is over 40 years old. Thankfully I am able to work on it without dealing with those electronic systems in the newer tractors.
I used a trickle charger on the old batteries several times when I need to get it started, but eventually they just wouldnāt take a charge anymore. But, eight years is a good life span for any of those big batteries. Sitting in a barn for weeks on end in cold and hot weather without starting it and getting them recharged by the alternator takes a toll on them.
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For sure. I had to look back through the thread to see what model JD you had. 2040 was made in the 70s and early 80s. JD made some really good tractors in those days. The newer ones, not so much. Those old JD tractors never really wear out. They way overbuilt many of the parts.
That was actually what originally put JD tractors on the map. JD started out in plows and in the 1900s started making tractors. The big draw to the early tractors what that they were rugged and reliable. On top of that, they made them so any farmer could work on them, with the tools in his shed.
Ironic that in more recent years that until very recently JD fought to keep farmers from working on them, as Ryan posted.
I donāt think Iād want to own a new Deere tractor, but those old ones sure were good and solid.
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Yep, it was made sometime in 1981, from what I can gather based on its serial number. It was actually made in Mannheim, West Germany. I think they still make tractors there.
Iāve been fortunate enough to be able to do the repairs myself. If it was an engine or transmission issue, that might be above my paygrade. Before we moved here, I didnāt do any mechanical work on our vehicles, because I didnāt have the time nor the inclination to do so living in the big city. But Iām a diagnostic technician by trade, so I have a natural inclination to want to fix things. Since then, I do the oil changes on all our vehicles, and other mechanical work. I even have changed out a timing belt on my V6 Honda Accord. Not something you want to attempt unless youāre very careful and detail oriented. Did that about 4 years ago and itās still running like a sewing machine. Honda makes some great engines.
Or maybe I do it because Iām an old tightwad and donāt want or trust anyone else to do it for meā¦
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Fantastique!
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Our little Massey Ferguson 1428V had an unexpected catastrophic engine failure. Caught us off guard, me especially as I used this tractor to mow the orchard. Kubota is replacing their L2501 with a newer model, L2502, so they have clearance pricing on the '01ās and we picked one up to replace the MF. Really disappointed the MF (a rebadged Iseki) crapped out with just 1500+ hours and to make it worse we were unable to locate a new short block. We did get more for salvage on it than I expected. https://youtu.be/KM_mM5uhJAg
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I know itās been a while, but Iāve had a look at the problem and it seems like the leak is coming from the water pump. Itās dripping down from a small hose on it, so I donāt know for sure what the problem is until I remove the radiator to get a better view and access. The radiator is like 3-4 inches in front of the fan which is attached to the water pump pulley.
So, Iām going to have to drain the coolant out of the radiator and then remove it if I want to find the problem. Not looking forward to that.
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Sorry to hear that, how old was it? What exactly happened to it?
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Hmm, this makes me wonder if the something is leaking on the hose?
A water pump is pretty simple. It can basically leak in one of two places. One is the gasket where it connects to the housing and picks up the water. This is common in vehicles, but as much in tractors. In tractors, the water pump is fed by a hose and the output comes out a hose. Gears turn the water pump to pump the water from the intake hose to the output hose. The other is the water hose itself.
Sometimes the water comes from the engine block (not from an intake hose) as mentioned above. In that case there can be a leak where the water pump connects to the engine block (like in most vehicles). It just depends on how your tractor water pump is set up.
So itās either the water pump gasket or the connecting hose has a hole in it, or a bad connection. A third option is that the seals in the water pump bearing are bad and itās leaking around that seal. Thatās what I mentioned about some water pumps have a weep hole in case a little water gets past that seal. If you see some water leaking out the weep hole, itās best to replace the water pump as soon as you can, as it will just get worse.
This explanation may sound a bit confusing, but if you reflect on it, I think you will probably understand the three possible explanations for leakage, unless I am missing something.
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Spun a bearing on the #2 connector rod. It was a 2005 model.
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