The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

I recently bought two more petrol Dexta tractors. One has a front end loader and the other has large turf tires. They had been parked for many years and I was told one "turns over" and the other they poured diesel into the spark plug holes a year ago. we haggled over the price and I assumed both were worn out and likely siezed. However they were both in MUCH nicer condition with the body panels and several other parts than my own petrol dexta. I figured at worst I take any usable parts off them for my tractor and scrap the rest. We aggreed on $800 canadian dollars and I trailered them home.
After getting them home I confirmed the turf tire one was locked up solid and under the valve cover was a huge amount of flaky rust from condensation. The front loader one spun over easily but had no compression in one cylinder and very low in another. I poured a liberal amount of transmission fluid into all cylinders and the compression came right up while the oil was in there. A new ignition, rebuilt carburetor and fresh engine oil and it sputtered to life running pretty rough and uneven with lots of smoke. Kept it running at a little higher than idle as it warmed up it gave a couple big sputters then smoothed out. I assume the rings were seized before. After the engine seemed ok now I decided to check the oil level in the transmission incase it was low or had water in it. I unscrewed the oil level plug and as I removed it a high pressure blast of oil shot out!!! Quickly put it back in and got a bucket to drain the overfill out.... Between the trans and diff I drained almost 6 GALLONS of extra oil
I had to empty my bucket part way thru draining it. The hydraulics on the loader seem to work great tho most of the hoses are really rotted out. The back tires are shot. One has a huge hole in it and the other is bald and dry rotted so I see new tires in its future. On the whole it is mechanically pretty good so a bunch of overdue maintenance and it should have many more years ahead of it. It was a risk but it seems to have paid off.
Next I'm going to start work on the turf tire tractor and see if it can be brought back from the dead

Looking forward to those pictures, Skipdow!!!

these are the pics of the craigslist ad for the tractors
pretty sad looking

https://photos.app.goo.gl/T2Viy2eEh3dzGVff6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/0bIxPkszgAu2V4rb2

It does'nt seem to show in the post... not sure what I did wrong , tho clicking the link shows the photo.
Here is what I found under the valve cover of the turf tire tractor.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AQkG0dbhZi0zwzB12

It is locked up solid. No movement at all.
But I'm not giving up on it.
The loader tractor tires were shot and the rims really rusting at the edges
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Aj6nv8U7obNyFHRw1

removing the old tires was not easy and I was greeted by even more rust
After grinding, primer and paint they looked like this
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1Ag5bMML30rvUdUy2

Oh lordy that doesn't look good. Unless the oil filler cap was missing and rain has got in then the only other way I can see for the rockers to get into this state is a cracked block that has let water in and it has travelled up the valves. My Dexta engine was stuck after a winter storm blew the exhaust flap cover open and water got into the exhaust valves but even then under the rocker was absolutely fine but I've wondered what would have been the outcome if it had lain there for a few more winters. It looks like you are going to need a new cylinder head at the very least.

Hope I'm wrong so let us know how you get on and good luck

Mike

The rust under the valve cover was EVERYWHERE on every surface. The only way I can think it could get there was condensation during very humid months. I'm going to pull the head and see whats underneath. I have started by spraying everything with penetrating oil and poured trans fluid into each spark plug hole. Also just to be curious I checked the oil level in this one as well. Trans and diff oil were also overfilled by 6 gallons. Not sure how they decided on how much to put in.
Since the front loader tractor is a runner I decided to spring for new tires on the back. Here is a pic of comparison between new and old...
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MusxPUhUjJcfULMB8

tractor seats will be on sale next week locally so I plan to get one as well

Well, I took the head off and it was a rusty mess in varying degrees in three of the cylinders. One was really bad while the other two were mostly just light surface rust.
I forgot to take pictures but this one is similar to what I saw
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xZb2VUKy8vFHQqrz2

I started by vacuuming any loose bits then gently scraped the walls and sprayed a liberal amount of penetrating oil then wiped it clean. Repeat, repeat repeat till most of it was gone. In the bad cylinder I was left with a stubborn ring at piston level. I resorted to using a flat screwdriver with some more force and tapping it with a hammer gently. That seemed to remove the rest. I finished with a scotch brite disc on my right angle die grinder to remove anything else. I then did the same to the lifters and poured a coating of trans fluid on everything. Looking up from the inspection cover of the oil pan I could see no signs of rust inside below and decided I had nothing to lose by trying to bar it over by hand Either it was scrap/ rebuild it or if I get it spinning I may have a chance at getting it going.
Using a two foot long crescent wrench I tried to move it... No go.
using a small sledge hammer I tapped the wrench one way then the other. Back and forth with no movement for two mins then.... It moved... just a bit
so I tapped it back then a bit more forward and slowly I got it to do a full rotation and until it was rotating rather easy.
Now with lots of oil over everything I used the starter to spin it over many times and paused occasionally to wipe away residue.
The liters I had to tap down repeatedly to get them moving easily.
Looking closely on the bad cylinder I could see and feel a slight rust ring going a quarter of the way around the cylinder about 3/4 way down the sleeve.
not sure yet what I will do about that
I have decided to clean up the head next

skipdow wrote:Well, I took the head off and it was a rusty mess in varying degrees in three of the cylinders. One was really bad while the other two were mostly just light surface rust.
I forgot to take pictures but this one is similar to what I saw
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xZb2VUKy8vFHQqrz2
I started by vacuuming any loose bits then gently scraped the walls and sprayed a liberal amount of penetrating oil then wiped it clean. Repeat, repeat repeat till most of it was gone. In the bad cylinder I was left with a stubborn ring at piston level. I resorted to using a flat screwdriver with some more force and tapping it with a hammer gently. That seemed to remove the rest. I finished with a scotch brite disc on my right angle die grinder to remove anything else. I then did the same to the lifters and poured a coating of trans fluid on everything. Looking up from the inspection cover of the oil pan I could see no signs of rust inside below and decided I had nothing to lose by trying to bar it over by hand Either it was scrap/ rebuild it or if I get it spinning I may have a chance at getting it going.
Using a two foot long crescent wrench I tried to move it... No go.
using a small sledge hammer I tapped the wrench one way then the other. Back and forth with no movement for two mins then.... It moved... just a bit
so I tapped it back then a bit more forward and slowly I got it to do a full rotation and until it was rotating rather easy.
Now with lots of oil over everything I used the starter to spin it over many times and paused occasionally to wipe away residue.
The liters I had to tap down repeatedly to get them moving easily.
Looking closely on the bad cylinder I could see and feel a slight rust ring going a quarter of the way around the cylinder about 3/4 way down the sleeve.
not sure yet what I will do about that
I have decided to clean up the head next

skipdow,

Seems like your engine will need a lot of TLC. But it's already a good thing it freed up.

Well, the head for the turf tractor is soaking to hopefully release its valves without damage so I switched back to the loader tractor for now.
The tractor seat went on sale early so I grabbed one while they still had them. here it is installed
https://photos.app.goo.gl/lLKavSCSyzzL0SGM2

Also the fuel tank leaked whenever I put more than an inch of fuel in the tank so I stripped the paint off at the leak expecting a rust hole but found the tank is made up of overlapping metal which is soldered together with lead and my lead joint separated in one spot.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rB0z6z2L2xPxVaRC2

I washed out the tank and filled it with CO2 which I have in great supply for my work and then soldered the joint with more lead using a propane torch.
After grinding the excess off and a coat of paint it holds fuel up to the top now.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/W8MN1OVgefACGVNy1

My repairs are more for function than restoration as I need to work these tractors on my farm so I didn't strip all paint and redo.
Next on my list is the oil bath air cleaner, as you can see in the pic it doesnt hold oil anymore with all the rust holes.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7Xq7xJsEcnChxhid9

I'm going to see what I can find to redo that. You would think that something filled with oil would be the last place to rust....

Good work skipdow and thanks for posting the pictures.

My Dexta's (diesel) tank had many pin holes in the area where the drivers knees tend to rub the paint off, much as I tried soldering I couldn't cover the multitude of tiny holes. A tin of Slosh however did the job and now it holds fuel with no weeping.

Regards

Ian

Well, I gave up on the idea of welding up the holes in the oil bath air cleaner. There was nothing left to weld. I decided to cut the whole bottom off just below the oil level line and then searcvhed my shop for any container I could use to join to the bottom as a replacement. Several coffee cans were close but finally chose a drywall patch compound container.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/m8sOtBVbOzJFrCcB2

Surprisingly it fit very snug and after gluing it on just incase with a caulking we use that fastens almost anything I gave it a coat of paint. Almost looks original.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6fua10HOCrHnJprn2

https://photos.app.goo.gl/esKG82K7SSVIlH7m2
I found a bucket for the front loader and after mounting it decided to replace all the bushings as they were quite sloppy.
Here is a new bushing before welding it and after the old ones cut out.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/oUi1cBUysm75NH2d7

I also have been trying to release the turf tractors cylinder head from its rusty prison.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/oTZYpbiHYgkaNA9u6

It had been soaking for a week and after removing the rockers and springs I tried using a brass hammer to lightly tap the valve loose.
ummm nope no movement at all.
I slowly increased the force of the blows till I thought something might break and very slowly a valve started to open. I hammered it till the valve stem disappeared into the head then hammered it back. I was at the point of assuming the valves would be bent but still had to get them out to put new ones in. I was very careful to hit them square on without ANY sideways angle. Lots of penetrating fluid and moving the valves back and forth they gradually all came out.
Cleaned everything off with a wire wheel and not a single valve was bent. Once everything was cleaned the valves easily slid in and out and rotated with ease.
Since it was all apart I lapped the valves and oiled everything up. I think I am going to try annealing the copper head gasket and see if it will run. I am almost hoping it runs well after no purchased parts and just lots of TLC.
LOTS of TLC

Well I do admire your patience and tenacity! I hope it all works out for you

keep us posted

Mike

Well, I put fresh oil in it and changed the oil filter. The filter they used before was tightly fit into the canister and would not likely let any oil around it but that didnt matter since it was too short and had no spring or plate to keep it tight against the intake pipe so the oil came into the canister and straight back to the intake without ever touching a filter. I mkade up a new plate and found a spring that gave enough pressure to hold the filter snug against the intake tube. The local tractor dealer that carries fordson parts believes only diesel dextas were made so I went to my local auto parts store and went thru the cataloges until I found a canister filter that fit the sizes I needed. I settled on a Wixx 51183
The copper head gasket after annealing it I used a little copper RTV around the water and oil passages to insure against leaks and torqued the heads to 65 ft lbs in three stages.
Reinstalled the intake/exhaust etc and put some gas in the tank. I tried cranking it over after setting the distributor but got nothing but a few puffs out the exhaust and one or two backfires. adjusting the timing further from where it should be it got better, further and it finally started I ran it for a bit but whenever I accelerated it backfired. Driving it around whenever it bogged down and the governor tried to speed it up it backfired worse I was using the old cap and rotor and thought that might be the cause so I went to my other dexta and went to borrow that cap n rotor . I went to put the bad one on just to keep the wires in the rite place and counted in my head 1-4-3-2 firing order... It hit me rite then the running dexta was 1-3-4-2
I HAD THE WRONG FIRING ORDER!!! I rushed back to the turf tractor and switched the order around and reset the timing
It runs!!!
heres a video of how it sounds
https://youtu.be/GpJk3GwIQTM
No backfiring and lots of power

If the petrol Dexta uses the same engine as the Ferguson tractor [made by the Standard (Standard Triumph) Motor Company] , then it may be possible to find the correct filter by looking for cars also made by Standard, such as the Standard Vanguard, or Triumph TR2 sports car.

It sounds nice