Fordson Major Backhoe

Grani · Post by **Grani** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 5:57 am

The orange can with the hoses clipped on was the thing i was talking about.
I guess the side force of the digging stresses the right wheel more and to prevent it from bending the "paddles" has been welded on. (but I am of course wrong again).

JC · Post by JC » Mon Apr 13, 2009 6:26 am

You're not wrong very often, Grani. It's a good thing that you didn't bet Dave his bottom dollar. He'd be in the poor house now

You're right, the thing on the side of the injector pump is a coolant heater. The breather is on the timing cover.
I'll bet that both of the back wheels were reinforced like that at one time. One has probably been replaced sometime in the last 50 years.

Grani · Post by **Grani** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 6:44 am

JC wrote:You're not wrong very often, Grani. It's a good thing that you didn't bet Dave his bottom dollar. He'd be in the poor house now You're right, the thing on the side of the injector pump is a coolant heater. The breather is on the timing cover.
I'll bet that both of the back wheels were reinforced like that at one time. One has probably been replaced sometime in the last 50 years.

I agree on all that.

henk · Post by **henk** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 7:42 pm

[quote="henk"]
These tractors were standard delivered with no lift and hydraulics. quote]

See this add from Dandy Dave in another topic, you will see it's an option.

R W · Post by **R W** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:07 pm

Viewing these pictures shows what a remarkable tractor the Fordson was and still is, try using that back hoe on a modern
tractor of 50 HP.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:13 am

I've finally gotten the old girl on pavement next to the barn where I can start work on her, but there is a problem I've never previously encountered. During the winter, I jacked up the front end and removed the wheels to paint the rims and put on new tires. I left the frame jacked up with the loader bucket down all the way and it sat like that for about 4 months. I put the new tires on and removed the jacks and the wheels stayed hanging in the air! Moving the control levers did nothing and neither did moving the in/out valve from the pressure side of the external pump. I unscrewed both feeds to the cylinders thinking this would release the pressure that seemed must be built up inside. No change at all. The front end of the tractor is being held up just like the loader was being powered downward to dig and picking the front wheels off the ground. I have a ways to go before I will be ready to try starting it and using the pump to see if it will move. Is a stuck hydraulic cylinder a common problem and do any of you folks have any suggestions? You can see the lift cylinders in the above pictures. Thanks to all.

JC · Post by JC » Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:04 am

Kim,
When hydraulic cylinders haven't been used for a while, sometimes moisture inside them will cause a little corrosion on the cylinder walls. If there's not much weight on the cylinders, the pistons may not be able to slide past the corrosion. You don't have much weight on the front of the tractor, since the hoe is acting as a big counter weight. When you get it running, the cylinders will probably work fine.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 11:59 am

Thank you JC, for the quick reply. What you are saying makes sense as I looked this morning at the small amount of hydraulic oil that came out when I loosened the pressure feeds and there is some light rust coloring that settled out(not water, but a light coloration of oil). I was thinking about backfeeding some pressure to the system through a hose from the remote hydraulic feed on another tractor to get the wheels down. If I have to get underneath to do anything, I'll be a lot more comfortable with its wheels on the ground instead of supported on jack stands. In any case, I can't do much for a while as I discovered four baby robins in a nest on top of the manifold this morning and won't disturb them until they fledge. Thanks again for the response.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:14 am

I finally was able to start work about 2 weeks ago on this project after being "held captive " by doctors and hospitals all spring and summer! With the head removed, it's obvious that water had been in there a LOOONG time. I think the 2 center pistons will come out, but I have SERIOUS doubts about #'s 1&4! I'd like to know what the members think about the various manufacturers of sleeve and engine sets. I know all are not of the same quality and I know the cheapest price can be the most expensive in the long run. Also. any suggestions on getting #1 and #4 out will be appreciated. I haven't got the pan off yet(hopefully in the next two days). There was about 2 quarts of very clean water that came out before about 8 quarts of very clean looking oil so I have hopes for the crankshaft. I got the loader up in the air by putting a tee in the hydraulic lines and feeding it off the live hydraulics on my Nuffield 4/65, but an 8x8 timber is now holding it up there because I know how much damage my body would do to that loader frame if a hose or seal let go. Thanks for any suggestions and information.

Chris Ivin · Post by **Chris Ivin** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:18 pm

If you take the crankshaft out you might stand more chance of pushing the piston and liner out together.

I had a lot of problems shifting one of the pistons in a Dexta engine, in the end I pushed it with a 30 t press. I doubt that you would shift the piston in the liner but you might push the liner and piston out together?

Dandy Dave · Post by **Dandy Dave** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:15 pm

I have removed rusted in pistons in a variety of ways. One of the best that I have found is by using a grease gun. First you need to be sure that the valves are good and will seal. It would be best if the crank was removed so that you would be pushing only down on each piston on at a time. Then you will need to make an addapter that will fit in the injector hole with a grease fitting on it. fill the cylinders with grease before you put the head on to reduce pumping with the grease gun. A grease gun is capable of putting out 10,000 PSI. You will be supprised at how easy the pistons move with this method.

Dandy Dave!

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