Need some advice and opinions on possible blown head gasket

I have a 1955 TO35. Last September I brush hogged the field for the last time of the season and ran perfectly. Put tractor in garage and started it up this past January and let it idle for about 5 minutes without any problems. I never saw any sign of smoke from the exhaust at all last year. This week I picked up some antifreeze and oil to get ready for the summer brush hogging. Before changing anything I checked the oil I noticed it has risen on the dip stick about 3 inches. I also checked the radiator fluid and it was about a gallon short also the fan belt was really loose which it wasn't all last season. I guess all this might mean a bad head gasket. I tightened the fan belt and then fan seems to be nice and firm and no play.
When I drained the oil about a 1/2 gallon of antifreeze came out first and funny it was nice and green and the rest was the merky oil.
So here is what I'm planning. I changed the oil and filter and antifreeze and picked up Bars Leak copper head gasket sealer and block sealer. I haven't put it in yet or started the engine. Instructions say to use a half the can for a 4 cylinder engine and idle it for 5 minutes, shut it off let it cool down top off with antifreeze if needed and leave bars leak in antifreeze. I'm looking for any thoughts and advice. I've read that this product works depending on how bad the gasket is.

Milky oil means the engine was run before the head gasket went out. Had
the gasket simply rusted out the bottom of the oil pan would be solid
green anti-freeze. It is also possible the milky junk sat long enough
that it started to separate again inside the oil pan. Will Bars-leak fix
it? Might be worth a try. Follow the directions and you might get lucky.

I've seen the stop leak work. What I've used say's to drain all antifreeze and run
just water with stop leak. After running for 5-10 minutes drain water and then add
antifreeze. It's worth trying for about $9.

read the directions. You might also need cardboard to block the radiator
air flow to ensure proper operational temperature that can be verified
with a non contact temperature gun. Read the directions.

Thanks guys, I'm gonna give it a try and I will let you how it works. Hope it does, not looking forward for a repair bill.

Hello, Mine done the same thing a couple of years ago, If you have a z134, may be same problem, Liner packing leaking on wet liners, Pull the pan, pressurize cooling system, look at liners
from underneath and you should see it leaking off the edge of a liner like in the pick, see the green leaking off liner, If so needs took down, I would buy a kit and overhaul it while it's
down, I did.- hope this helps- ED

Hi
I'm with the others on sealing rings,corroded o ring grooves, or maybe a porous sleeve. The $9 miracle fix might work for a short time or just slow
the leak, if it's the head gasket it may not work at all. the worst option is it seals the leak then lets go while you are working and you cook the
motor. I have lots of experience through my shop work with this problem and the $9 miracle fix. I don't see the logic of your fan belt statement
with the head gasket, unless you are saying the belt was so slack the fan belt was not driving the fan and water pump. in which case the temp gauge
should of been way hotter than normal before something happened.

If it was mine I would be removing the oil pan and doing the pressure test to find out. Fixing it now might be cheaper than destroying it later.
I have seen 2 tractors in the last year dump coolant in the pan, neither of them were pretty with what happened internally and neither was the
repair bills to fix them.
I'm not selling you the miracle fix or the time/parts fixing it, This is free advice, so i'm not making a cent giving it to you. Find out whats
wrong now, not wait until it maybe blows up completely and costs way more than the tractors worth to fix it. Plus you won't be without a
tractor/maybe trying to by another one when you desperately need it, and end up with someone elses problems

Regards Robert

Robert, I'm with you bud, I got 35 yrs. of work out of that tractor before it went down, I put everything in new while it was down, clutch, throw out berg.Complete over haul, Good for another 35 yrs. I was just putting back what i took out of it in 35 yrs. of use. A 60 yr. old liner rotting out is no sin, the tractor done great--Ed

The old 35 is still at work-lol

I think you may be onto something. I have TO30's that are prone to crack blocks, but the z134 block is stronger. I think tearing down and replacing the O ring may be the correct solution for May more years of service.

Tom,I agree, A tractor isn't like a car that decreases in value buy the year, You can buy one, use it for a lifetime and sell it for more than you payed for it if you keep it up, That's the only cost to you is the upkeep. I wish cars were that cost effective lol. My block was not cracked at all, yes they are stronger, But will still crack if you overheat them bad, I bought mine off a friend and he warned me not to overheat it.I spent a thousand bucks, But i know what i have and that ol tractor will out live me, lol, It's 61, and still slinging dirt.-Ed

What radiator stop leak products do .

Hi Was thinking about this again last night, the other possibility with your problem could be there is a frost plug under the valve cover someplace
thats corroded out and let the antifreeze run down in the oil pan. I never worked on 35's but some of the 20's I have worked on had frost plugs on the
heads. Might be worth checking that idea out to.
Regards Robert

Well I gave it a shot and so far The Bars Leak is working. Didn't get a chance to read the other posts before I went ahead and added the sealant. So Far oil stays clean and antifreeze level doesn't drop. No smoke coming out of the tail pipe. Going to bush hog soon and I will keep and close eye on it. I have a feeling the cause of all this is a faulty thermostat and temp gauge. The temp gauge isn't working at all now. Before I do anything else I will change those things first. As for the mechanical work posted before I think thats out of my league. Is that an expensive fix if I need it?

Armand, Hello from Ohio, I hope your sealer works,The down side is it plugs up the radiator and can cut down the cooling ability. My suggestion to you is watch the fluid levels close. The best
way to check and see if you have coolant seeping into the oil is after it sets overnight, Loosen the oil drain plug and drain a little into a cup and see if there is coolant in it, Coolant
goes to the bottom of the oil when it sets.When you have glycol coolant in the oil It eats the Babbitt out of the main and rod bearings and it will get to where it wont have any oil pressure,
If you continue to run it it will spin a bearing and junk the crank. I'm a career heavy truck mechanic-46 yrs. and have seen a lot of engines go down, and repaired them. Have a shop at home to
and work on tractors for many years. If you can keep the coolant out of the oil it's safe to run. I really doubt your problem is over but hope i'm wrong.. I spent a thousand bucks in parts on
mine and done the work myself, but its good for many yrs. now. That tractor is like and old friend to me and would have fixed it if it cost more than it was worth, lol, That's one bad little
tractor and i have done a lot of work with it. -Hope my info. was helpful- ED

Ed you have been very helpful and thanks for the info. I'm skeptical about the sealer but 'Im trying to save a few dollars but as you say it will probably cost more in the long run. This is my first year with a tractor so I'm learning as I go and I really like this little baby and would like to keep it running. My best bet is to find a good repair shop near me and go from there. Thanks again.

You've used it and I am glad it worked for you

It does clog up things and at best it is a short term fix , but a useful one in any case . If faced with a cylinder liner gasket job I would use it too .
To make the best of it flush the radiator out again , this will at least get rid of all the sealer that has congealed around small bits of debris and created the core plugging blobs shown in the photo I posted .

Armand,You may be new to tractors, But a man of integrity, Thanks you for your reply, So many don't :-( .Welcome to the Ferguson board!! I was very pleased i could be of help ....ED

Thanks for the compliment. Replying is at least the decent thing to do for the time and effort everyone here puts into the posting of questions. Thanks again.

I found a dealer repair about an hour from me and I am waiting for the service manager to call back. I figure its better safe than sorry. Its still early in the season. Beats buying another and starting all over again. Dont burn oil, lift works perfectly and never overheated ( got lucky there) and has 5385 hrs on it. Here's what she looks like after a good clean up and Turtle wax

Just wanted to say thanks to all for the replys. Reading your answers made me do more research and I found another repair and parts place only 1/2 hour from me. They have free online parts book and a large selection of parts. Also a fine slide show of a TO35 restoration from start to finish they did as part of their business. Don't know how to insert links so here it is manually....

www.external_link.com

Just wanted to say thanks for all the replies. I'm not going to rely on the sealant. I was looking for a cheap way out and that usually turns sour. Might as well spend the money now than pay triple the amount later . I found a repair/restoration shop about a 1/2 hr from me. They have a pretty decent web site also. Its very similar to this one. they have an extensive parts department for a large variety of antique tractors and an online parts book also. They have a nice slide show of a 1957 TO35 that they fully restored from start to finish. Once again thanks for all the help.
Not sure how to insert links but here is the website if interested

www.external_link.com