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Finally read to build my Z129 in disguise

J

Jason S.

Well-known Member
After looking for a couple of years now I finally found a set of the original 3 1/4" TO-30 Z129 pistons. My TO-20 had been rebuilt by a previous owner and it has the 3 1/4" sleeve and piston that they used to offer for the Z120 engines. They only used it to grade their driveway and there was very little wear on the sleeves when I checked them. Plus the top ring height on the Z129 piston is lower than the Z120 piston so the ring couldn't hit the ridge even if there was one. I have found a crank so the only other parts I need to gather is the intake valves for a Z129 since they were bigger and a Z129 camshaft since they were different than the Z120 camshaft. Then I will be able to install the pistons and crank in my Z120 block and I will have the head machined to install the bigger intake valve and then have it milled to get closer to the Z129 combustion chamber size since the Z129 combustion chamber was smaller. After that I will have my wolf in sheeps clothing...lol...because lets face it, as I've said before a TO-30 will pull the lungs out of a TO-20.

00A35EB1-ADB0-4F7C-A01F-50BAD782D6E3-20391-00001AFCDDBE6AFD_zps807b07c6.jpg


8783CB4F-1100-456A-9033-85355778883E-20391-00001AFCE21ACC36_zpsf839528b.jpg
 
(Cagney) Youu dirrty rat, Youuu dirrty rat. . .
I owned a '30 for a short time and the torque was
impresssive comparred to the '20.
Her '20 engine has been rebuilt and does have the
larger pistons.
Now you drop the other shoe on me. Looks like the
engine is coming back apart. . .
Next year or two.
 
It is hard to believe that 1/8" longer stroke can make that much difference in the tractors but that and a slightly different camshaft profile makes all the difference in the world. In one of my hayfields there is a hill that I have to put my TO-20 in 2nd gear to pull and I raked the same hill with the same rake for years with a TO-30 and it pulled it in 3rd gear fairly easily.
 
TO-20:
Drawbar: 20.70 HP
Belt: 25.41 HP

TO-30:
Drawbar: 24.37 HP
Belt: 29.32 HP

15.4% more horse power, the TO-30 should pull far better than a TO-20.
 
The biggest difference between the two which is because of the longer stroke is the torque. The maximum torque for a TO-20 is 88 pound feet at 1200 rpms. The TO-30 has 107 pound feet at 1100 rpms. That makes a big difference when plowing or anything that requires lugging power. Now if I can only get my axles and differential to live with the increased power.
 
And the camshaft was different too? I can see how the numbers climb with models.. I'd like to see the two blocks next to each other... since it seems the weakness of the 129's was the extra meat bored out the webs to get the cubic inches. But that wasn't all they did was it??
 
Same block because it says in the Ferguson manual it says the same block was used to service both engines. Just the one for the TO-30 was bored for the bigger sleeves. Yes the camshaft was different between the Z120 and Z129 engine. The Z129 cam had an earlier closing intake valve which builds more cylinder pressure and raises the dynamic compression ratio which is far more important than the static compression ratio. The later you close the intake valve the more compression it bleeds off as the piston is coming up on the compression stroke. They only sell one cam now to replace all of them so I assume it is the cam designed for the Z129 engines but I don't know. I need to do some research on that now I guess.
 
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