TO-35 in disguise

aarolar

Member
Yall will have to bare with me as I am horrible at putting my thoughts down on the interwebs. :p

I am the proud owner of a 1955 TO-35 deluxe with the Continental motor painted to look like a MF35, even had the decals. The steering is tight, all the lift and PTO work and the ol' Continental purrs like a kitten with 140+ compression on all cylinders. Overall I am very pleased with my purchase and intend to use it to help upkeep my 50 acre homestead.

Now down to the issues in order of severity I may in the future be using this old tractor to grow 3 acres of vegetables but for now its main use will be rough mowing roughly 6 acres.

1. The oil pressure while cold is on the upper end of the green section of the gauge, once it warms up it is in the first 1/4 while it's at operating speed but what scares me is when you idle it down it just barely in the green area almost in the edge of the low area. Is this acceptable or do I need to address the issue?

2. The hydraulic/gear case oil is milky indicating water contamination and I have done my research on proper oil to use but the other issue is the PTO shaft. There are not any leaks that have found but the splines on the shaft are pretty worn and I would like to replace the shaft at the same time I change the oil. Should I plan on changing anything else while I have the shaft out like the seal and/or bearings? The shaft also moves in and out about a 1/2" is this normal or another issue to address. Considering I plan on mostly using a rotary mower behind this tractor I want to get this all straightened out.

3. Someone along the lines cut the copper fuel line and used hose clamps and rubber lines to insert a inline fuel filter. I would like to eliminate all that and go back to copper line all the way, is there anywhere they sell a pre bent hose or am I stuck making one myself?

I am sure I will come up with more questions as I get to using this tractor and one day I plan to do a full on restoration but for now she has to earn her keep for a while longer. :)
 
like you i do not like a full rubber fuel line,

I would replace the fuel line with copper or steel fuel line, but still leave a space for a metal inline fuel filter.

dirty fuel will ruin your day in these old tractors, the tanks are full of junk, the transfer tanks can become contaminated. Buy the best metal fuel filter you can, it must be a free flow filter.

i have never had problems with my pto (1957 model TO35) but i would not think 1/2" play can be doing anything inside the differential any good. I would get that fixed soon.

change the oil in the lift, use 90 weight mineral oil or motor oil.

I still use the 90 weight mineral oil as called for in the manual, but the lift is a little slow on a cold morning.

check the radiator, it must be clean inside and outside, thermostat, cooling system in general, these old tractors cannot withstand getting hot!!!!!!!!!!!!

one other item to check: crawl under the tractor and look up, around the gearshift area,
there should be a upside down cotter key stuck in a drain hole: the legs of the cotter key will be sticking down and spread out. The key is to catch on grass and turn as you drive around the fields.

This action keeps the drain hole open. most of these old tractors will seap a bit of trans/hyd oil and this drain hole keeps the oil from building up in your trans case and ruining your clutch.

ask me how i know this can happen, and i had a cotter key in place but it was stuck with mud (i got the little tractor stuck so bad all you could see was the upright exhaust pipe, I did not check the drain hole after i got the tractor unstuck. clutches are expensive.

good luck with your tractor, show us some pictures of your tractor.
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First order of business is to swap out that oil gauge as I had one purchased off ebay from "over yonder" in 25 cents and hour land that soon fell below the green and that sent me inspecting the pump, replacing gaskets when I put a good gauge on all was well. It starts out at 30 and drops to 15 after workout.57 to35 with rebuilt engine and pump.If that hyd. oil is milky and it freezes you'll have a busted pump.
 
Just my opinions-
#3. An inline filter is a good thing. Leave it there, just get an new one with new hoses and little clamps, unless you are doing a 100% showroom restore, this is a good thing they didn't invent in 1955...
#2. Drain that milshake out of the back end and pour in 8 US gallons of 10w30... is that the stuff we are gong with guys? You don't want to avoid changing that fluid. If there is a bronze filter in there, clean that too.
#1. I think of gauges on a tractor like an Italian thinks of rear view mirrors on a race car. Shessa no good to me, so I no look at her. Make sure you have enough oil pressure to get up to the valve cover and judge it has pressure other than a dodgey gauge. To elaberate, I refer back to 2 tractors....
 

I run Rotella T 15w40 everywhere in my 55 TO-35. Seems to like it. Lift doesn't get to sluggish in the winter, and once it's warmed up the hydraulics work just fine. Engine seems to like it too. Pressure holds up much nicer now in the summer. Used to work down to around 15 once it got warmed up, but now stays closer to 25 even after running the hog for 3 hrs..

Middle of NY for weather comparison...
 
Thanks for the advice guys I picked up a oil filter and 5qts of 15w-40 and a qt of lucas oil stabilizer to try out, first chance Ill confirm oil by pulling the valve cover how hard is it to get to the cover?

So yall are running motor oil for hyd oil? I was going to order 90weight mineral oil through NAPA I should mention I am in the heart of the south and it stays hot 8 months out of the year.

As requested here are some pictures of the ol girl.

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Now that we know where you are, let some of the southerners chime in on what they use in the hydraulics. But yes, motor oil is what a lot of us use in the hydraulics. DO NOT use hydraulic oil back there, as it's also the transmission oil.

Not to hard to get to the valve cover, just have to take off the hood, and the gas tank to get to it. And the tank is heavier than it looks. Especially if you don't take all the gas out first.
 
Ok my governor seemed to be working initially but now it has started surging I could really use those instructions on adjusting the governor but I have a question as well. What is this little tab for looks like it should have a spring on it but it's just dangling.

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That... is what's wrong with your governor... refer back a few weeks ago in archives about governor springs, was about Inno's 35 I think..
 
Could anyone snap a picture of what the governor linkage is supposed to look like? I assume a spring is supposed to go between that tab and somewhere but where is somewhere?

Ok never mind I found where it hooks up back behind the thermostat housing under the fuel tank seems like an odd angle. I would still like to see a picture any ideas what poundage spring I require?
 

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