M Diesel Engine

Considering purchase of a SMDTA not currently running on diesel. I’ve seen the engine overhaul price estimates. Not interested in that.
If one of these MD engines runs fine on gas, does that prove it will run on diesel? (obviously you could still need pump and injector work). Thanks

The valves that seat when u switch to diesel (raises the compression ratio) & their related mechanism etc. could have unknown issues. So
based on current information their is no certainty that it will run on diesel.

one of the problems with them is that the rack in the pump gets stuck from sitting. no guaranttee it will run on diesel.

The MD diesel has 248ci. The SMDTA has 264ci. They are the same in trouble shooting only and probably the most difficult engine to
get running properly. Typically that motor could sit for years and pull start rather eaisy had it ran right when parked, so more
than likely it has problems. The fuel pumps rebuilt run $750-$1000 if you can find someone to work on it and parts just about non-
existant. This is an awesome work tractor but the gas model would be many $$$ cheaper to buy and maintain and all the parts are
out there. Best, chuck.

Super mta diesel is a fairly rare and highly sought after tractor. Doubt it would need a full overhaul if it runs on gas. These tractors are
to be looked at played with and used for parades or light work. There is a cool guy in custer michigan that does pump work reasonable.
Keep a nice tractor like that out of the hands of scrappers.

Just because it sorta runs fine on the gas side this does not mean it will run fine on the diesel side . IF and again isaidf IF she does not have a cracked head and IF the block is not cracked between the cylinders and IF it is not plum wore out and you are only dealing with a stuck rack there great . BUT learning of the DO's and Don't of this engine can get expensive real fast . If taken care of learning how to warm the engine up before you put it to work and allowing it LOTS of cool down time before shut down they were great , easy on fuel and ran smooth . Myself i ran a 450 diesel for a number of years and learned a bunch about them . Learned early that sometimes even the EXPERTS don't know what is wrong with them . When i bought my 450 D it had a miss and i was young dumb but i could FIX stuff and what i did not know i went to the EXPERTS for advice . One Saturday afternoon i had and old I H mechanic come by and look at my problem as the tractor would miss , fart and back fire and yes a diesel can back fire . Well he wanted to check the starting valves and to do this we had to remove the power steering to remove the valve cover and he checked the valveset , checked the starting valves and messed with this and that and when done he looks at me and said you have a cracked head. Well back in 68 them heads were BIG money NEW . SOOOOOO the next weekend i pulled the head and took it to a machine shop that i knew and trusted . They cleaned all the dirt and old oil off the head due to a leaking valve cover gskt , they did a hyd. pressure test THE OLD WAY and FOUND NOTHING so to be sure they sent the head down to a place that did industrial X raying and had it checked there and NOTHING so they did a valve job with new guides and i put it back on the tractor . When i started the tractor it still missed , farted and back fired , so now what HUMMMMM lets check the injectors as my thinking was hey they are the SPARK PLUG of the diesel world , so we had them checked and yes they were not really up to par so we had them rebuilt . Put them in and yep still missed and farted and backfired BUT NOW HERE IS THE KICKER IF you put this tractor in the field under load it ran like a scaled dog . SO just for kicks we pulled the pump off my buddy's 450 D and put his pump on mine and mine on his and now mine ran great and his missed farted and back fired . Well now we know it is the injection pump so that will have to be rebuilt . SO i took it to the only place i knew of and dropped it off . Couple days later they callled me and said that it was JUNK and they had to order parts and it was going to cost 850 bucks and it would be two weeks before they got the parts. Well i had plans and told them to just put it back together as i needed the tractor and when the parts came in i would bring the pump back and then they could rebuild it . So they did i gave them a hundred bucks and went and di what i wanted to do and pulled the pump and was going to take it back to them. Well on the way to work Monday morning i was coming up on the old RISH equipment dealership and they were the I H industrial dealer in the area and thought HUMM wonder if they work on pumps here as this pump is the same pump as used on the T D 6 and 9 and come to find out the same pump as on a TD 14. So i pulled in and asked if they did injection pumps and they said yes go in the back and see Cal. So i went in the back and found CAL and asked him and he said ya got the pump with you i told him yes , he said bring it in and i did . He looked at the numbers on the pump and said take that one , my next question was HOW MUCH . Cal looked over the top of his glasses and said Don't know , well how am i going to pay for it if you don't know the price , he said well what ever it takes to fix your pump is what that pump costs so just take it and we will BILL you . Well that pump is YELLOW and a Yellow pump on a RED tractor will CLASH . He laughed an bit and said what is this pump on and i told himb it was on a 450D and that is when i found out that my p[ump came off a TD 14 . Then Cal asked me you FARm with this and i said yes and TRACTOR PULL ALSO and can we GET MORE out of this . When i said TRACTOR PULL old Cal's eyes looked like a slot machine and he said WELL YEA I CAN GET MORE OUT OF THIS PUMP , I'll call You and let you know what all is needed . I went on to work and at 11.30 i get a Call from Cal and he told me YOUR PUMP IS DONE , WHAT already fat Dave down at Diesel Injection told me it would take TWO weeks just to get the parts now how much do i OWE you and Cal say you owe the company 112 dollars and 78 cents , HUMM fat Dave was sticking it to me . Well i went after work and old Cal was still waiting on me as he still had my pump on the stand and we were going to have a PUMP TRAINING SESSION as how to set this pump for FARMING and for tractor pulling / Skeeter eradication . Cal had made marks on the SCREW for STOCK setting a mark for a WEEEE bit over stock setting and one for lets block out the sun and kill every Skeeter in three countys setting along with and increase of RPM's by 800 governor weight change to loader weights . He then told me that the only thing wrong with my pump was the cam bushings were GONE and the seals on the primary pump were out filling the crank case on the pump with fuel . Anw WHEN is the next tractor pull as he wanted to watch it pull . And pull she did . SO GUYS if anybody ever comes up with a Farmall 450 D narrow ft with fast hitch S/N 25806 that one was mine and in her day she was a runner and drag a set of I H 540 4x14's in heavy sod in high 3rd up hill and down . in Corn ground if you felt froggy she would run 4th at 8 inches deep if you could stay in the seat . BUT when you were done and letting her cool down you had best not be in a hurry for that hot date because it would take up to twenty min.s for her to bring the temp down to the COLD mark before you shut her down on the DIESEL SIDE NEVER ON THE GAS side .

Heres my super mta diesel. Started fine on
gas after setting over 15 years, seemed to
run ok on diesel no smoke ect. Noticed
slight drop in oil pressure pulled pan down
yesterday and found metal shavings. Pulled
center main cap (thrust) and found this. It
ruined all the bearings, and destroyed the
crank (cant be turned) and filled engine
with metal shavings. This was the result of
people not putting it back together
properly when the overhauled it. Long story
short, buy a non running diesel plan on
adding 6k on top of what you pay for it to
rebuild engine if needed. I can afford to
rebuild this because i bought the tractor
dirt cheap.

Now Tractor Vet that was a story!!! I loved it!!! Where was work then, an IH dealer in town?