TA reliability

chas036

Member
I have been looking for an older 4 or 6 cyl tractor between 50 to 70 HP and people have recommended farmall 400 or 460 as being go tractors. I have never had farmalls and all my experience is with JDs. I notice that all the farmalls seem to the TA option in the transmission. Is this something that is reliable and works well or does it brake down a lot? Is it difficult to repair if broken? Do you have to split the tractor to repair it?
 
This is a topic that gets beaten to death quite often, but generally speaking, TAs are as reliable as any other type of powershift system.

You will frequently see tractors with TA problems but you have to take into consideration that these tractors are OLD. They have thousands of hours of use on the TA, and it's just plum wore out.

Replacing the TA is a major job. The tractor must be split in two places to separate the TA housing from the tractor, and service it. TA units for the mechanical TA tractors like the smaller tractors you are looking at are generally <$1000 for the remanufactured unit itself. Labor is extra.
 
TAs are fine. as reliable and long lasting as any 'powershift'. they are often abused,that shortens the life considerably.If treated right,they often last the life of the tractor.But,a tractor from the '50s is now old,things are worn,includeing the engine,transhydralics,TA...... It is a major repair. As was said it is a split.So you will need splitting stands,jacks,other tools.And of coarse the book.And yes they can be pricey to fix.You just drop in a new/rebuilt TA unit,not try to 'fix' the old.But don't get scared off. An older IH tractor with a TA is a fine machine. So even if you have to do a TA job,dont worry,the repair will probably out last you.
 
well i never like telling a guy what tractor he needs , but i will say this i HAD a Farmall 460 gas and there were two days i was happy . Those were the day i bought it and the day it left the farm and we even delivered it the day after the Blizzard of 78 . Then five years later i was back down qat that farm working on it and again and again and again . And when he sold it i was happy once again . Now if you find a Farmall 460 gas with S/N 571 DON"T CALL ME i don't know you . I don't know that tractor . Now keep this in mind the 400 is around say 50 Hp. a 460 is around 50 Hp. and a 400 will drag a 460 around . What you should be looking for is a newer tractor that has a factory 3 PT and a diesel engine .
 
And oh sory got distracted by the War Dept and lost my train of thought Now as for the T/A's they work well and will work for a long time IF you play by the rules . (1) keeping the clutch linkage in adjustment (2) cgange your Hyd fluid and filter is equiped ,(3) NO FREE WHEELING OR TRYEN TO TOW START with the T/A lever pulled back on a mechanical T/A If it is slipping the replace since they don't heal thenselfs. If the tractor has the Hyd T/A the first steps apply as well then ya throw in NEVER USE THE T/A for a Jake brake , There is a little more to the adjustments on them that have to be done but it is not that big of a deal. One of the T/A i installed some twenty three years ago is just now headed south due to his kid usen the T/A as a braking force while pulling silage wagons that were well over 35000 lbs while going down our humps and bumps . He would not listen to us about several of the hills .
 
I was on our 350U on Friday last. The TA is working perfectly and is the original. The tractor has never been split. and was the main tillage tractor on 120 acres for 15 years. The TA was used every 10 to 15 minutes. We adjusted the linkage 3 times in the last 60 years. The 400 450 is a better tractor. Jim
 
We bought a well used 1959 Farmall 460 in 1967. That tractor was the main horse for years. It plowed the ground, it disced the ground, it chopped the silage, it hauled the wagons, it mowed the hay, it baled the hay, it hauled the hay wagons. In the fall of 2001, I sold the 460 . The original TA was still working like new. 42 years of hard use ain't too bad.
 
I think you will have trouble finding a 400 450 with a working TA. most farmers overloaed there tractors and ran the TA in low and burned them out. If you treat them right they last.

dad bought a 706 in 1978. The TA was out. Dad replaced it ans it's still working today. grandpa bought a used 4430 power shift in 1984. it has had the powershift worked on twice.
 

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