Strange TO-35?

phil(va)

Well-known Member
Found TO-35 for sale on Craigslist for $1500. Drove an hour with trailer to see it. Strange beast. Loader brackets still on front axle and under rear fenders, but loader gone. Gear lever cocked to the left; all gears work well, in both high and low, but shift lever is sideways. Tractor starts and runs well, steers well, brakes so-so. Tires ok. Has genny, but no wiring. No harness, nothing hooked up except battery, which of course doesn't charge and can't test genny. No gages, but seller has new gages to go with it. Hydraulic oil has lots of water in it, and lift chatters some. Now here are the kickers: distributor is not delco and I can't figure out what it is. Points are like nothing i've seen. Carb is not M-S and I can't figure out what it is either. Seller bought tractor cheap and with no hood, which he has installed and got cold feet on fixing it up. He does not know any history. Serial on dash is screwed on, not riveted, which leads me to believe it was moved. It shows serial 154,000+ which should be a '55 I think, but I don't trust it. Maybe an industrial model? Any thoughts?
 
Sounds like a good $500 deal.
I wonder if the carb isn't a Zenith that bolts right up easily?
I wonder if the dist could be a Lucas or auto-lite off a Pinto or something they cobble up on there?
And I bet they created a home made loader frame that needed the gear lever bent out of the way. Wonder what they did with their shins and knee caps???
Yeah, even 500 seems too high....
 
Well, I can help with a couple items...

Water in the transmission is normal when left outside. It gets in around the shifter boots and the top link behind the seat. The jumpy hydraulics is caused by bad valves in the hyd pump. Common problem and repairable.

The fact that it still has a generator is a plus. Even if it's not working, it can be repaired. You'll need the generator in place to drive the tach.

The wiring is easy, buy a harness or build your own.

The serial tag came factory with screws.

Since it starts and goes through the motions, sounds like it's restorable. The price is a little high though, I'd offer $1000, see if he'll negotiate.
 
I don't think the dist. is a Lucas, but not sure.
Tell me about using a Pinto distributor? What
model? The point assembly and rotor on this dist.
were huge, not like on Fergie delcos. One of the
things that bothers me the most is finding
replacement parts for it if I bought it. I was
thinking if I had some idea what to ask for at
NAPA I would recognize the points when I saw them.
Yes I should have taken a camera.
 
The owner had replaced the shifter boots. I'm sure that's where most of the water got in (before he replaced). He said they were cracked. Do you know if the shift lever can be removed and re-positioned?
 
That's a Continental engine, they made engines for a lot of applications. That distributor may have come from another piece of equipment using a Continental engine. Or it may be aftermarket.

If parts are not available, the original equipment distributor could be installed in it's place.
 
Tony's right about $500. I see this tractor as a parts tractor price. You never know what you will invest. Has a lot wrong. Serial tags were screwed on with small screws on the TO 35 & 40's dash.
 
My 55 TO35 has an Autolite distributor and a Carter carb. I paid $600 for mine but it hadn't been running in 5 years. Fergusons and 2,8,9ns around here in running condition go for $1000-3000 depending on condition. I would buy it....but not for $1500. My GF wants one now and if I find another one for $800 or less I'll probably buy it.
 
I have a 1957 TO35, I replaced the worn our distributor on it with a new distributor.

The new distributor is not a Delco Remy, but a Ford distributor made for an 8N. The gears and mount fit perfect.

For tuneup, I ask for Ford 8N parts.

Not my first choice, but I could not find a new Delco Remy distributor, the rebuild one I ordered first came with what appeared to be cracks in the casting, I did not want it, so ordered a new one.
 
Was your tractor 6 volts originally? This one has
a strip like it was converted. I can't read the
writing on the coil. I thought they were all 12
volts, but maybe not?
 
Steve, were any of the early 35's six volts? This one has the ceramic strip in the ignition circuit like it was converted. Can't read the coil writing.
 
(quoted from post at 06:40:13 03/19/15) Steve, were any of the early 35's six volts? This one has the ceramic strip in the ignition circuit like it was converted. Can't read the coil writing.
ine was converted to 12 neg ground.
 
Last update for those who might be interested: After putting in sed. bowl, i rebuilt carb and tractor started, but next time didn't start. Went back to distributor and found insulator at primary connection from coil was bad. Jury rigged it by cutting end off gas line hose and using it as insulating washer and also replaced condensor and tractor fired and ran smooth. So it was a combination of things.
 

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