Likelihood of a SMTA engine being seized

Lucas0522

Member
I am looking at buying a Farmall SMTA but the owner doesn't know if the engine is seized or the last time it ran. The muffler has a can on it but there is a couple small openings at the base of the muffler where it mets the exhaust manifold, what's the likelihood of the engine being seized? Could enough rain and snow water have gotten in through a couple quarter inch openings in the side of the muffler to seize the engine? If so would penetrating oil do the job or would a whole engine overhaul be recommended?
 
If it's not free,
I'd fill the cylinders with ATF and penetrant oil. Before you do, shine a light in the spark plug holes and see if it looks rusty. If it's real rusty in the just save time and tear it down.
If you pour the fluid in, just rock it in fifth gear and see if it breaks free. You should let the fluid sit in there at least a few days first, the longer the better. Don't get stupid and try to tow it in gear.
 

How much are you gonna pay, I'd love to get a SMTA. If it's been outside for a while, covered or not it's likely got a stuck engine. Not uncommon at all.
 
A farmall M is a small low compression engine it does not take much to turn it over if you want to find out on the right side of the tractor push on the fan belt so as to increase tension on it and turn the fan with the other hand. You should be able to get some crankshaft movement like this. It wont really roll over but you will figure out if its seized. I have unstuck a few of these with exellent results. Fill it up with atf let it sit for about a month and see what happens. Use the starter and a battery charger the first time. Alot of People will tell you to tear it down and give you a whole list of what if's but long story short it'll be fine because as long as you're not pulling it down the road and jamming it into gear the starter isn't capable of generating enough torque to hurt anything. Oh and I forgot to mention crank it without the spark plugs in it.
 
What would be a good price to offer for this tractor? I was thinking about $1200. Would that be a low offer? The owner doesn't know if the engine is seized up or if the torque amplifier works or not. The guy who owns it has no idea what it is, he just bought it for a decoration for his store.
Picture:
http://tinypic.com/r/2q16wxv/8
 
Doesn't even know what it is? That's even better. I'd start at $500 in such a case.
I've seen a 1066 that sat on a farm for years get sold by the inherited owner for $1000 because he was just that stupid.
 
He bought the SMTA, a crawler, and a couple Fordsons to
decorate in from of his antique stores. He said he didn't want
to sell it but if I made him a good offer he would take it.
 
Unfortunately any tractor with a TA can not be rocked back and forth to turn the engine. On the mechanical ones if TA is in direct it will lock up when turned backwards. If in the TA position it will free wheel going forward. You would have to shift the TA each time the tractor changed directions. On the hydraulic ones it will freewheel in both directions.
 
(quoted from post at 21:03:15 11/13/14) He bought the SMTA, a crawler, and a couple Fordsons to
decorate in from of his antique stores. He said he didn't want
to sell it but if I made him a good offer he would take it.

Hmm, not a good sign if you ask me. He's a businessman, an antique dealer to boot. Those guys think anything old is worth its weight in gold when they're selling. If they're buying, your junk is worthless and they're doing you a favor to take it off your hands.

He's not going to let it go for less than he paid for it. He's also played the, "I really don't want to sell it, but if you make me the right offer," card. You can try but IMHO $500 will be laughed at.

It's not a junk non-running tractor, it's an ANTIQUE. He's an "ex-spurt" after all. Odds are in his cluelessness, he paid way too much for it, thinking he got a smoking deal.
 
Agreed. Even if you showed him the engine was locked up tight and the transmission was full of water from years of sitting outside he'll probably still want just as much (or more) than the typical running MTA you can find on CL.

Something about those "antique dealers".
 
Assume it's stuck and assume the TA does not work.
You can see the tires are bad. I'd be offering
$400 or less if I thought I could get away with
it. Scrap is down now and you have to figure
hauling too. I'd say $400 as-is where-is would be
a reasonable offer.
 
If he don't want to sell it there is not much chance you will get it reasonable. I'd keep looking. You are ALWAYS further ahead buying a good running tractor. Repairs will EAT YOU UP.
 
The pipe from the manifold goes up into the muffler and holes along the outside bottom typically will be ok. I've bought stuff like that before and were still ok. I'm saying this sight un-seen though.

As another guy posted, you have to pull on the fan blades to see if the motor moves or not. It may be very lightly stuck or stiff if it hasn't run in a while. You have to forcefully push/pull on one of the blades. If the belt slips you'll have to put some tension on the slack side with your other hand.

All that said I've seen ads before where people were trying to re-sell yard art tractors and they were way overpriced. If you can't hear it run or try it out it's worth what it weighs in your area. The exception is if it's something rare or unusual or you can do an advanced pre-buy inspection (not likely).
 
Look between the frame rails, at the bottom of the radiator. You will see the crank extension rod, hooked to the hand crank hardware. Put a small pipe wrench on that to see if the engine is stuck.
 
I would negotiate a price while it is in the locked up condition and assume the worst. If you free it up or get it running before agreeing on the price, the price might go up.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice, it was very helpful! I'm going to go see the tractor in a week or two and see what the guy wants for it. Thanks again God bless.
 

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