Pa's old New Major

low253 · Post by **low253** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 3:11 pm

As mentioned in my other thread about the exhaust manifold issue, I have just taken possession of a 1952 E1A New Major petrol/kerosene tractor which was bought new and been in our family ever since, so i thought i'd share some pics. My earliest memories involve my grandfather and this tractor. It was used on our properties in the northern New England region of New South Wales. It has been rebuilt once, and had a clutch replaced at some point (maybe in the 1970s?). I want to get it back to a more usable condition, fix a heap of little and not-so-little things (like the trunnion pin held in with a block of wood!? and some uncooperative brakes), and have some fun towing logs out of the scrub, and a bit of ploughing. Wish it had a 3 point linkage, but ya can't have everything I guess...

henk · Post by **henk** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 6:26 pm

Nice resque.
Those rear wheel weight are heavy.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 6:35 pm

Indeed they are henk! Thats a lovely old original tractor, id love one like that!
Does it run at present?

low253 · Post by **low253** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 12:52 am

it was running when parked in 2006, I have a feeling it should start with a battery and fuel and a lot of winding, but I don't want to attempt it until I have given it a new waterpump and found a good exhaust manifold.

ol'Blue · Post by **ol'Blue** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:41 am

Its a shame your not any closer to Ohio.... I know where there are several of those being dismantled. You could have lift arms, manifold, and such for not a lot of money.... but shipping would be outrageous...... Nice old tractor with good family history.....

Pavel · Post by **Pavel** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 2:44 pm

BareCo can supply a water pump for the early Majors.
Whilst they can only supply the later inline exhaust manifold, they stock the exhaust elbow, common to all, which is usually the part that rusts out.

Pavel

curtsat15 · Post by **curtsat15** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 12:32 pm

That's a nice tractor. As you're fixing those little and not so little things, be careful that "mission creep" doesn't set in. You know, when you're fixing a something and you say "might as well do something with this". Next thing you know the tractor is disassembled on your shop floor for full restoration.

Dandy Dave · Post by **Dandy Dave** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 12:40 pm

ol'Blue wrote:Its a shame your not any closer to Ohio.... I know where there are several of those being dismantled. You could have lift arms, manifold, and such for not a lot of money.... but shipping would be outrageous...... Nice old tractor with good family history.....

It would be well worth the shipping for a good petrol manifold no matter where it is in the world. Dandy Dave!

low253 · Post by **low253** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 7:50 am

Turns out from decoding the stamped casting/serial numbers that it is a November 1953 build. Good for me though, as I had concerns that if it was an early 52 that I would have to rebuild the existing water pump instead of being able to fit a repro one, but now I can be confident that a replacement will fit no worries. Thinking about trying to get it started this weekend too

Also, is it possible to retro-fit hydraulics (3pl) to these, or is the diff a different casting? I would consider doing it, but only if it isn't a nightmare proposition to undertake. Cheers, Ben

Dandy Dave · Post by **Dandy Dave** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 12:21 pm

You would need a whole different transmission top cover and pump in the transmission. Do you have a PTO? The three point hitch PTO runs the pump. And then you would have to find the lift arms and so. Dandy Dave!

henk · Post by **henk** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 5:38 pm

I have done this. It's an easy job, but the problem is the parts.
Also you need the pedestal from the pump. In your tractor, under the rear end there's just a cover plate underneath. But you need the one with the pedestal.
Read this topic. There are a lot of topic about the hydraulics and 3p hitch. Make search.

This is the cover without the pedestal. I have no picture from one, but with pedestal there's a round plate in the middle.

janus · Post by **janus** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 8:50 pm

hello here picture of pedestal what henk means ( this one is from a super major )

Dandy Dave · Post by **Dandy Dave** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 12:53 pm

Looks like it would be best for you to buy a parts Tractor with a bad engine, or bad tires,rims, clutch,???, for the hydaulic parts and swap stuff around rather than piece it all together. It would also be cheeper in the long run Dandy Dave!

henk · Post by **henk** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 8:38 pm

I think you are right DD.
Put the parts of your dad's major on the donor and you can sell it.

low253 · Post by **low253** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:30 am

funny you should suggest that- the day we picked it up the tow truck driver told me about another major a few kilometres down the road sitting in a paddock that the owner was willing to part with- haven't checked it out yet- so it begins....

Dandy Dave · Post by **Dandy Dave** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 12:47 pm

That is the way these things usually start. Word will get around and parts will be found in places that you have never imagined were so close to home. Good luck on your second tractor retrival adventure. May the Fordson Force be with you Fair Knight of Spanner Wrenches.

Dandy Dave!

low253 · Post by **low253** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 12:51 pm

UPDATE: It runs! A few days ago I hired another tilt tray truck to bring the new major back the last 220kms to our new house so I could work on it. When we went to get it off the truck into the driveway, it wouldn't budge, left wheel seemingly locked, so I used a large trolley jack to get it off the truck. However, the I had the problem of an immobile major in the driveway and a wife who wanted access to her carport.... I took the top cover off to assess the situation, and traced the issue back to the left hand brake being on just enough to inhibit movement. On the up side, the diff seemed to be in good order, no signs of water in the oil, but some condensation rust scale in the underside of the top cover. After draining the water from the tyres and reinflating, long suffering wife helped me to push it (slowly!) to the back yard. Next day I got it winding over, but no spark. Traced that back to a dead coil and sorted that issue. Happy that I now had spark, I could only get it to run by spraying aerostart down the carb while cranking it, so no fuel getting through despite me replacing the hoses and filter and the major having an electric pump fitted. After removing the bolt on the underside of the carby, a heap of silt and muck came out. That night, with the help of some 'square bear' (Aussies will know what this is)

I stripped and cleaned the carburettor and made new gaskets. This morning, it fired first go and idled perfectly (however the neighbours may not have appreciated the shot exhaust manifold

) and it undertook its maiden voyage around the back yard

even if I don't have a seat on it yet!

low253 · Post by **low253** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 1:37 pm

A few pictures:

Granite kitchen benchtops with LED downlights make an awesome work bench...

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