Saturday, 20 January 2001, at 9:05 p.m. In Response To: Re: Manifold lift on an A (Tom)
I am not sure what you are refering to by a 2pt hitch. The IH-built mounted equipment was very common on the A.
Here are the comments I made last month on the Farmall mailing list about the Pneumatic lift:
The system works fairly well when it is maintained, but it does require some regular maintenance. Engine exhaust is both hot and full of corrosive combustion byproducts, thus the need for ongoing care.
The pressure valve (on top of the manifold) tends to have problems from rust and scale. The valve plate can be cleaned up with a file. The surface it mates to in the lower half of the housing is a little more difficult to clean up because it is recessed into the housing. Keeping rain out of the exhaust reduces the problems with this valve. There is a drain hole in the lower half that should be kept open, to reduce the chance of water collecting in the valve. By the way, the manifolds have a drain hole as well. These are usually filled with rust. But when new and a Lift-all was installed, there was a small plug to install in the manifold drain.
There is a piece of pipe that connects from the pressure valve to the control valve. Originally, this was one piece of pipe with 2 bends in it. There were no elbows, unions etc. that often are found on the tractors now. When the parts were new and the threads all free, it was possible to install these parts with the manifold in place. The control valve can also have problems from corrosion. Moisture likes to collect in it. The main maintenance items inside this valve are a metal disc and a neoprene seat. With time, the seat tends to swell up rather than dry and harden. There are 2 problems typically caused by this valve. One is that the system won't go down, the other is that it won't stay up. Either of these problems usually comes back to the disc and seat. When you work on this valve, clean it up and make sure that the entire inside has a coating of grease. Looking at the back side of this valve you will see 2 or 3 grease fittings (or at least things that look like fittings). 2 are grease fittings. If you see three, the middle one is really where a hose that is no longer present had been connected (more about that hose later). There is a difference of opinion as to whether those fittings should be greased. My opinion is to grease them but only very lightly, one squirt from the grease gun to do BOTH fittings. Heat is the major enemy of this valve. It is important to never leave the system with the large hose connection open. A continuous flow of exhaust through the valve will overheat it. So always keep the outlet capped or connected to a good lift cylinder.
From the control valve is a hose (garden hose size) that connects to the lift cylinder. Although a garden hose washer will fit the end of this hose, it won't work long before it swells up. The proper washer is neoprene.
The lift cylinder is 7 inches in diameter and uses a leather seal on the piston. The tube of the early cylinders was made of brass. Later on, they went to steel with a porcelain coating. I am sure that was a cost reduction change. Plain steel would have probably never held up in that use. These usually hold up pretty well. Failure is evident when exhaust can be seen coming out the vent at the top end of the cylinder. Again, much flow here will result in the exhaust overheating the control valve, hose etc. The lift package itself is an attachment of the tractor and includes this cylinder. However, the mounting brackets depend on what implement it is being used with. The ubiquitous bracket to the left of the radiator is for the cultivator. Plows mounted the cylinder to the side of the bell housing in a nearly horizontal position. Other equipment had other mounting arrangements.
The control handle came in 2 different styles. The earlier version was a straight rod with a ball on the end and some lugs welded to the sides of the rod for holding it in different positions. The guide for this handle was attached to the steering shaft support. On the support was a small pressure diaphragm unit with a latch. The latch would hold the control rod in the rearmost, lift position. A small rubber tube ran from the control valve back to the diaphragm unit. When pressure hit a certain level, the latch would release the rod allowing it to move forward to the neutral position. The diaphragm unit had an adjustment to set the pressure required for the release. The forward end of the small tube connected to the control valve between the 2 grease fittings. The forward end of the control rod connected to a rock shaft below the fuel tank and the rock shaft was linked to the lift valve. The link between the rock shaft and lift valve included a spring assembly so that the valve would be held shut when the control rod was latched back. When the control rod was pushed fully forward, linkage to the control valve released it so the pressure stored in the lift cylinder was released through the exhaust system. The pressure driven latch on the control rod must have worked when they were new, but I have never seen one that did.
The later style control handle eliminated the troublesome diaphragm unit and release mechanism. The control rod was replaced with one that came to the rear with 2 parallel rods. A handle stood vertically between them and continued upward to a ball on its end. The upper rod had a spring assembly that allowed it to stretch slightly when the handle was pulled back. A redesigned guide allowed the upper rod to be latched in the rear position. The handle had to be manually released when the cylinder was extended. Since this design had a spring built into the handle, the spring assembly between the rock shaft and pressure valve was eliminated. Quite a few of the early systems were backfitted with the later style handle.
Messages in This Thread
Manifold lift on an A (views: 72)
Tom -- Saturday, 20 January 2001, at 11:06 a.m. Re: Manifold lift on an A (views: 69)
Jim Becker -- Saturday, 20 January 2001, at 7:29 p.m. Re: Manifold lift on an A (views: 61)
Tom -- Saturday, 20 January 2001, at 8:32 p.m. Re: Manifold lift on an A (views: 62)
Jim Becker -- Saturday, 20 January 2001, at 9:05 p.m. Re: Manifold lift on an A (views: 43)
Tom -- Saturday, 20 January 2001, at 9:43 p.m. Re: Manifold lift on an A (views: 35)
Jim Becker -- Sunday, 21 January 2001, at 11:17 a.m. Re: Manifold lift on an A (views: 31)
Tom -- Sunday, 21 January 2001, at 11:50 p.m. Re: Manifold lift on an A (views: 31)
Jim Becker -- Tuesday, 23 January 2001, at 8:47 a.m. Re: Manifold lift on an A (views: 31)
Tom -- Tuesday, 23 January 2001, at 10:11 p.m. Re: Manifold lift on an A (views: 26)
Jim Becker -- Tuesday, 23 January 2001, at 11:05 p.m. Re: Manifold lift on an A (views: 21)
Tom -- Wednesday, 24 January 2001, at 11:04 p.m. Re: Manifold lift on an A (views: 26)
Jim Becker -- Thursday, 25 January 2001, at 1:09 a.m.
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Your Name: E-Mail Address: Subject: Message: > I am not sure what you are refering to by a 2pt hitch. The IH-built > mounted equipment was very common on the A.
> Here are the comments I made last month on the Farmall mailing list about > the Pneumatic lift:
> The system works fairly well when it is maintained, but it does require > some regular maintenance. Engine exhaust is both hot and full of corrosive > combustion byproducts, thus the need for ongoing care.
> The pressure valve (on top of the manifold) tends to have problems from > rust and scale. The valve plate can be cleaned up with a file. The surface > it mates to in the lower half of the housing is a little more difficult to > clean up because it is recessed into the housing. Keeping rain out of the > exhaust reduces the problems with this valve. There is a drain hole in the > lower half that should be kept open, to reduce the chance of water > collecting in the valve. By the way, the manifolds have a drain hole as > well. These are usually filled with rust. But when new and a Lift-all was > installed, there was a small plug to install in the manifold drain.
> There is a piece of pipe that connects from the pressure valve to the > control valve. Originally, this was one piece of pipe with 2 bends in it. > There were no elbows, unions etc. that often are found on the tractors > now. When the parts were new and the threads all free, it was possible to > install these parts with the manifold in place. The control valve can also > have problems from corrosion. Moisture likes to collect in it. The main > maintenance items inside this valve are a metal disc and a neoprene seat. > With time, the seat tends to swell up rather than dry and harden. There > are 2 problems typically caused by this valve. One is that the system > won't go down, the other is that it won't stay up. Either of these > problems usually comes back to the disc and seat. When you work on this > valve, clean it up and make sure that the entire inside has a coating of > grease. Looking at the back side of this valve you will see 2 or 3 grease > fittings (or at least things that look like fittings). 2 are grease > fittings. If you see three, the middle one is really where a hose that is > no longer present had been connected (more about that hose later). There > is a difference of opinion as to whether those fittings should be greased. > My opinion is to grease them but only very lightly, one squirt from the > grease gun to do BOTH fittings. Heat is the major enemy of this valve. It > is important to never leave the system with the large hose connection > open. A continuous flow of exhaust through the valve will overheat it. So > always keep the outlet capped or connected to a good lift cylinder.
> From the control valve is a hose (garden hose size) that connects to the > lift cylinder. Although a garden hose washer will fit the end of this > hose, it won't work long before it swells up. The proper washer is > neoprene.
> The lift cylinder is 7 inches in diameter and uses a leather seal on the > piston. The tube of the early cylinders was made of brass. Later on, they > went to steel with a porcelain coating. I am sure that was a cost > reduction change. Plain steel would have probably never held up in that > use. These usually hold up pretty well. Failure is evident when exhaust > can be seen coming out the vent at the top end of the cylinder. Again, > much flow here will result in the exhaust overheating the control valve, > hose etc. The lift package itself is an attachment of the tractor and > includes this cylinder. However, the mounting brackets depend on what > implement it is being used with. The ubiquitous bracket to the left of the > radiator is for the cultivator. Plows mounted the cylinder to the side of > the bell housing in a nearly horizontal position. Other equipment had > other mounting arrangements.
> The control handle came in 2 different styles. The earlier version was a > straight rod with a ball on the end and some lugs welded to the sides of > the rod for holding it in different positions. The guide for this handle > was attached to the steering shaft support. On the support was a small > pressure diaphragm unit with a latch. The latch would hold the control rod > in the rearmost, lift position. A small rubber tube ran from the control > valve back to the diaphragm unit. When pressure hit a certain level, the > latch would release the rod allowing it to move forward to the neutral > position. The diaphragm unit had an adjustment to set the pressure > required for the release. The forward end of the small tube connected to > the control valve between the 2 grease fittings. The forward end of the > control rod connected to a rock shaft below the fuel tank and the rock > shaft was linked to the lift valve. The link between the rock shaft and > lift valve included a spring assembly so that the valve would be held shut > when the control rod was latched back. When the control rod was pushed > fully forward, linkage to the control valve released it so the pressure > stored in the lift cylinder was released through the exhaust system. The > pressure driven latch on the control rod must have worked when they were > new, but I have never seen one that did.
> The later style control handle eliminated the troublesome diaphragm unit > and release mechanism. The control rod was replaced with one that came to > the rear with 2 parallel rods. A handle stood vertically between them and > continued upward to a ball on its end. The upper rod had a spring assembly > that allowed it to stretch slightly when the handle was pulled back. A > redesigned guide allowed the upper rod to be latched in the rear position. > The handle had to be manually released when the cylinder was extended. > Since this design had a spring built into the handle, the spring assembly > between the rock shaft and pressure valve was eliminated. Quite a few of > the early systems were backfitted with the later style handle.
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