My New TO-20

Hey everybody. Just wanted to post that I am the owner of a new to me TO-20. And even though I never came on here to ask about it, I sure did use a lot of your information and forum posts to at least get it running. I think every piece of wiring had shorts in it.

It was my grandfathers, he had it since around '80. 1950 SN 36847. I will have a lot of questions because it needs at least new rings, maybe more. Heavy blue smoke, oil is clear black, compression is 110,115,95, and 115. Starts real easy and hydraulics work fine. Transmission shifts good, too.

It doesn't look too good, but aside from some rusted out area on the front, the metal is all there and not too terribly dented. None of the lights work, and 3 tires are shot (already pulled off front left to get fixed). Rear rims are different widths. Its missing the fan belt in this picture because it was close to shredding.

He didn't use it real hard in the last 30 years, mostly just a little garden work. It was a city tractor. He probably never had anything hooked to the pto shaft ever.

So I'll be lurking and asking a lot of what will be to me anyway, silly questions. I hope sometime in the next 6 months to a year or so I can get the engine running better without all the smoke, and down the road maybe fix it up to look a bit nicer. I'm just going to use it in the near term to haul a trailer, and work a very small garden plot.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Here are some pictures of it.

Congratulations on your purchase,and welcome to the club! You
should think about joining FENA(Ferguson Enthusiasts of North
America) where you will meet a lot of like minded people who will
be glad to offer help and friendship.
Sam

It looks pretty complete and the metal looks pretty good.

Those compression numbers aren"t bad. Why do you think it needs rings? ~85psi at sea level type ambient pressures is when you start thinking about rings. Run it for a while and do some work with it and then recheck the compression(Remember to check compression with the engine at operating temperature and with the plugs removed, the air cleaner disconnected,and the throttle plate wide open.)

If it"s smoking under load, the rings may have lost oil control. Some folks say that putting 2-3 ounces of ATF in each cylinder and repeating several times over several days can help unstick the oil control rings.
If it only smokes at idle then that"s usually intake valve seals or worn valve guides.

How"s the oil pressure?

Welcome to the Ferguson Forum and don"t be afraid to take advantage of the bazilions of years of hands on experience with Fergusons that the members of this Forum can offer you.

Welcome to the trenches!
"Silly questions"? You haven"t been on this board long enough to have seen some of mine! (LOL)
Asking is no problem. Fire away!

(quoted from post at 21:03:32 12/12/10) It looks pretty complete and the metal looks pretty good.

Those compression numbers aren"t bad. Why do you think it needs rings? ~85psi at sea level type ambient pressures is when you start thinking about rings. Run it for a while and do some work with it and then recheck the compression(Remember to check compression with the engine at operating temperature and with the plugs removed, the air cleaner disconnected,and the throttle plate wide open.)

If it"s smoking under load, the rings may have lost oil control. Some folks say that putting 2-3 ounces of ATF in each cylinder and repeating several times over several days can help unstick the oil control rings.
If it only smokes at idle then that"s usually intake valve seals or worn valve guides.

How"s the oil pressure?

Welcome to the Ferguson Forum and don"t be afraid to take advantage of the bazilions of years of hands on experience with Fergusons that the members of this Forum can offer you.

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I will definitely try the atf, and hope that it works. It smokes all the time, although somewhat less under a load, it misses a little here and there. Plugs stay covered in wet oil. If I can't get the oil rings unstuck, what would be the next thing to do then? I guess I was thinking that was the same thing as needing new rings. I've done some repairs on trucks and lawnmowers (fuel pumps, starters, solenoids, etc), but never went that deep inside a motor before. I will do the compression test again after running it a while. I had already taken the fan belt off the day before I tried it this time. I was just curious to see what it had.

And this sounds bad, but the oil gauge is so rusty and hard to see that I've never thought to check it and see whether it is actually registering any pressure or not. I sure hope there is oil pressure. That's a good question. I'll check on that next time I run it after I get the tire fixed and the fan belt.

As for FENA, I should join. One of the first things I had to do was email them looking for a wiring diagram, because the 12 volt alternator diagram on their new site was missing. Robert Sybrandy (Ferguson Furrows, I believe) sent me a paper copy and it was very helpful in me getting this going. It had sat for about 5 years, and about 15 miles from home. Once I replaced about all the ignition wiring it fired right up. In fact, I doubt I have another vehicle or engine that starts as easy as this tractor does. I think the short wire from the coil to the distributor was the actual problem.

The dog dont look to impressed,but both the tractor adn dog look like keepers,I have a TO20 like that

The dog dont look to impressed,but both the tractor and dog look like keepers,I have a TO20 like that

Akwells, Nice tractor you have. are you going to restore it all ? You will get plenty of help on this foarm. The furggie lovers will answer all your questions in full and more. Good luck with your grandfathers old Tractor. Cant wait to see the finished product. Nice dog to, he looks impressed. Mark (Maine)

I want to for now at least (in the next 6 months or year) get it running good, get rid of the excessive smoke and get some of the little things fixed like the tires and fan belt and I need to find a couple implements, new battery cables. I got a budget of pretty much zero right now, though.

Then down the road a ways I want to fix it up with a better paint job, fix the lights, etc. Nothing too fancy, it'll be a work tractor. I wouldn't mind getting the Ferguson name back on the sides, even if they are reproductions. I would like to get the same size rear tires at some point. The right side is the original Goodyear it looks like. The left is some off brand.

It looks rough, but other than the oil smoke it seems to mechanically be pretty decent. I'll address more of the issues in other posts as I get to them.

Anybody seen a bumper like that one before? Just wondering if it was homebuilt or from the dealer.

The dog is Bruno, and he tends to bark at the tractor a lot (and the lawnmower, weedeater, chainsaw, etc) when its running. He found me a couple years ago as a stray that took up. He's useful for posing in pictures and that's about it.

Thants not a bad looking old tractor. When I got mine (its a 50 to-20 also) it looked much worse than yours!!
Welcome to the Fergy sight. The guys on here are great.

Irv*

Welcome aboard, ask away there are men on here I swear could take a part a fergy and put it back together blindfolded. I see you already have a work part

-BB