Putting the tractors away for the winter

[BearCreek Majors]

Just putting things away for the winter and realized I’ve never had the four running units all together at the same time. Nor did I realize how much painting and body work I have to do this winter!

From right to left,The Selene power Major, the Super Major, The County Super Four, and the one that got me hooked….my Dads 58 Major.

Pat

[JohnnyBoy]

A very nice collection... Better to tackle them one at a time...

...I'd like to see the same picture with them all painted up.

[Bensdexta]

What about keeping one active with a snow plow - could come in handy?

[fergusont20]

Lovely photo. I like the look of you selene axled major the best.

I too, over the last month have started to prepare some of our tractors for the onset of winter, made sure their is plenty of antifreeze in them and that the batteries are well topped up.

Don't want to wake up one morning now I have put that 6 cylinder engine in my major and find a big crack down the side of block

[Kim]

JohnnyBoy has a great idea. The same pose with all of them painted would be wonderful. Something to look forward to!

[BearCreek Majors]

Thanks guys, I doubt that I’ll get them all painted this winter but I did just get new fenders for the County and I have 99% of the parts needed to finish up it and the Selene.

Sorry Ben, I do have a 8’ dozer blade that would look really neat on the front of the County but I have a nice warm truck with a snow plow on it.

The Selene will look even better with bigger tires on the front! When I got the County I was afraid I would lose interest in the Selene but I converted it over to live PTO and other than a rather uncomfortable placement of the clutch pedal the girl has really grown on me. She probably got more hours on her this summer than the other three combined. With the power steering, 4X4, live PTO and all fresh running gear it’s as handy as any new modern midsize tractor. The only drawback is that I haven’t got auxiliary hydraulic valves on it yet…. all in good time.

Pat

[Supermanuel]

I would drain the rear axle and take the oil in a tight drum. You can drain in the spring all condensed water from the rear axle and fill the rear axle with the oil again.

[Grani]

I would drain the rear axle and take the oil in a tight drum. You can drain in the spring all condensed water from the rear axle and fill the rear axle with the oil again.

I would not do that because the oil prevents the water from evaporating when it sinks down to the bottom beneath the oil. If the oil is drained the water evaporates and get condensed on all surfaces the whole time and everything gets corroded much more.
Leave the oil in place and just drain the small amount of water in the spring, that has separated from the oil during the winter.

[YorkshireDextaMan]

I would drain the rear axle and take the oil in a tight drum. You can drain in the spring all condensed water from the rear axle and fill the rear axle with the oil again.

I would not do that because the oil prevents the water from evaporating when it sinks down to the bottom beneath the oil. If the oil is drained the water evaporates and get condensed on all surfaces the whole time and everything gets corroded much more.
Leave the oil in place and just drain the small amount of water in the spring, that has separated from the oil during the winter.

But surely if you drain the oil out, you would leave the bung out.

[YorkshireDextaMan]

I don't recon there will be a mass draining of oil . must be hundreds of farmers out there with Valtra's , John Deeres' cant see why anyone would want to really.

[The Swanndri Guy]

YorkshireDextaMan, I like your thinking, always Valtra's before Deere's!! TSG.

[YorkshireDextaMan]

YorkshireDextaMan, I like your thinking, always Valtra's before Deere's!! TSG.

Valtra's for the guys in Finland.

[BearCreek Majors]

What the heck is a Valtra!!!
And while we are on the subject of tractors that we never see in the US, at our last pumpkin chuck I couldn’t help but to take a picture of one of our ammo boxes. My Uncle has had the box lying around in his shop for probably twenty years from some parts they had got for the 4X4 Lamborghini they had.

As far as condensation in the oil goes, yes it is a big issue for us. There are days in the spring when it warms up fast and everything in the barn looks like your glass of ice water on a hot and humid day. Everything from head to toe is solid condensation and I’m sure it looks about the same on the inside. The tractors upstairs don’t get it as bad not being on concrete, but still that chunk of cast iron takes a day or two to get up to the ambient air temp.
And I’m not sure what to do about it. I can loosen the drain plug and drain out the water but with the ribs in the front of housing it will be impossible to get it all, not to mention I don’t think it will get enough “settle” time as this time of the year I am starting to get the equipment out and do things.
I have even considered installing a couple of big exhaust fans to try to get the tractors up to the ambient air temp on the bad days, or maybe just one smaller fan and let it run continuously through the spring. I have even thought about running the oil through a heat exchanger to the engine coolant to get the hyd oil up to 180 and “burn” the moisture out, but I am so anal about “keeping it stock” that it would have to be mostly hidden and at the least a nice clean install. Maybe a loop of copper tubing inside the rear housing and coolant lines run behind the frame rails up to the motor. Or maybe I should stop obsessing and just dump the oil every spring, replace with new, let the old oil settle for a year, and then each spring rotate it.

Pat

[YorkshireDextaMan]

Valtra's are a real treat. Up there with the best,


I had'nt realised condensation was such a problem for you Guy's . Seen lot's of tractors over in the US ,many just left outside and they allways seem to stay in fair condition. Would just leaving them outside under a pole barn be ok. Jim

[The Swanndri Guy]

Pat, Valtra tractors are made in Finland and Brazil.The end result of combining Valmet/VolvoBM/Bolinders and Munktells, with their history dating back to 1832. There No1 sellers in Nordic countries and No2 in South America. Used from the Arctic to Antarctica and just about everywhere else in between. They use Sisu engines , noted for fuel efficiency, reliability( should be good for 20000+ hrs)and torque.TSG. Also used for deere recovery.[/img]

[YorkshireDextaMan]

And, and, wait for it, You can have one from the factory in any colour you want. Have'nt seen many Yellow ones though,
Or was that just in the Valmet, ? Jim

[The Swanndri Guy]

The only "yellow" Valtra's were sold by AGCO as Challenger WT380 and WT390 in North America, as an entry level wheel tractor, upto about 85 hp.TSG.Maybe we should get back to condensation in oil....

[Supermanuel]

If I recommend draining, it depends on facts what I didn't list.

Here we have to start with the question "Why" The whole problem starts from the quantity of condensed water. The quantity depends on the big area of free surfaces in rear axle. The whole upper part above oil level and axle tubes. Thats the difference and reason for high water content in Fordson.

Todays oils have emulgators to keep the water in oil and giving the creamy color to oil. The oils from Fordson era didn't mix with water. You could carefully drain the water on bottom, as it was not mixed with the oil. I have made it then and it was several liters water running out from the rear axle.

Lets look at the difference to leave the oil or drain it.

If you leave the oil in rear axle, I consider it as useless due to the high water content next year. The water condensation is subject to parts above oil level only. For these parts there is no difference. With no oil it is possible to drain the water before use and adding of oil again.

Maybe the water could be boiled out from oil, but at least a 200 liter drum is needed for 40 liters of oil.