oliver 310 turbo - connecting rod help

jasinpa

Member
anyone know of a web site or company that sells reconditioned con. rods for 310-T waukesha in an 1855 tractor, at this point even somewhere i can buy a good set of used rods ( no spun pin bushings) , machine shop is out of hand trying to charge me over 1,000 for recon on my rods , this just sounds like way to much for 6 rods being bushed & sized , so im looking elswhere , till im done with the 310 rebuild i could have repowered with a cummins, money wise, & had more power & a great engine.
 
Where in Pa do you live? I live in the central Pa area. I just had some ford 4000 rods recond for I think $35 a rod and I supplied the bushing. I would take my parts and leave. I have a local Mennonite that has been doing my machine work for a few years now and has treated me well and prices were reasonable. You are getting ripped off. Unfortunately no machining work is very cheap. Big machine shops know how to charge also, but they also mess up from time to time. If it's Rutt's machine, I've been taken by them for their mess up on a line bore on a C15 Cat on the next job they did for us. They can do good work though.
 
In todays bad economy and crashing oilfield, your machine shop is going to soon find itself looking for table scraps to eat at that price. I know we all need to earn a living but breaking your customers bank doesn't pay near as well in the end. Sorry to hear this one.
 
A couple hundred bucks should get you a set of rods sized. Unless your engine was a complete basket case and you replaced the turbo and injection pump, you shouldn't be coming that close to the cost of a repower.
 
yep it rutts , took a year to do these rods , told me 4 of mine are junk because of pin holes being worn but they could fix them , then a year later told me they couldnt fix them after boring pin holes for oversize bushing , but could get recon rods to replace them for $50 each , & fix 2 of mine , somehow the bill tuned into just over $1000 bucks , waiting for them to exsplain this one , the worse part is i worked for industrial motors for years till they closed up & know whats going on with machine work & there still trying to blow all kinds of smoke up my a@@ , they also told me my block was junk because of deck hieght being to low , but they say there now actual spec. ,& it ran fine , i said surface it i know how to make it work by cutting piston tops if need be , then they said lower bores where the worst the ever seen ,but never leaked a drop into oil , then the rods where the worst they ever seen , if this is all true in my years in a shop , they aint seen nothin then! but now i guess over a year later there going to hold my rods for ransom , im thiinking about letting them eat them! & just buy another set -- anyone here in PA BEWARE OF THIS SHOP they will jerk you around & rip you off ! ill find out monday how this turns out , but never in my life would ive thought 6 rods out of a running engine would take 1K to recon. if anyone els around here has had exsperiance with rutts please let me know
 
I have used spring garden repair in kinzers Pa before. They reconditioned Oliver rods for me before and I think it was around $50-$60 each. I have 6 out of a super 88 to take them this week.
Josh
 
I plastigauged the mains of a c15 that had spun a main after they repaired the line bore and the sizes went from small to big from one end of the block to the other. I measured the main bore diameter and was out of spec going from small to big one of the block to the other. We called them and they questioned my ability to put this engine together. I've put a couple hundred of Cat's together. Anyhow a guy from Rutts was coming up to our shop about 125 miles away from theirs. If we didn't measure right or was our fault this bill was gonna be ours. The line bore wasn't right according to the guy that come and took the block back with him. They fixed it and had it back in a day or two and didn't charge us. They next job we sent to them, they did the line bore. Anyhow with a c15 they have grommets that fit in the deck plate between the block and head. They erode the block over time. Rutts went and machined the block for inserts to repair the top of the block, and also sleeved the lower counterbores. We didn't even authorize these last two repairs. The bill I think was around $3000. They made their money back they lost due to human error. The grommet holes could have been repaired by decking the block, not doing inserts that it didn't need in the first place, or lower c-bores repaired. I overhauled this engine less than 1 year before and wouldn't have put it together if it needed machine work like this. The customer ran it low in oil and it spun multiple bearings. We could have bought a short block cheaper. We don't deal with them anymore and now Feesers gets most our work.
 
Mkuhns knows what he is talking about. Walked me through complicated 1750 tranny work on here like it was child's play. Great mechanic.
 
jkuhn , wheres the shop you use, if you dont mind me asking , name & number? would be interested in giving them some work
 
im guessing ill just end up paying the ransom , get the rods , get my tractor running again after a year , & spread the word on who not to go too for machine work , cant get money back , but can keep them from making as much & ripping off others , need to get my 1K worth somehow i guess , & just to add because im so P.O. ed with them , they charged me around 600 to tank a block , tell me its junk ( in short) , & surface the head , nothing els done to head because i have my own magnaflux & head tools & my so called junk block with no cracks id add ran like a champ , all this from a blown head gasket due to someone putting non turbo liner in engine at one time.
 
i wish industrial motors was still in business , even thow i worked there in the later years i take no credit , them old guys that worked in the shop there whole life knew what they where doing , had knowledge & drive to fix things other shops said couldnt be done ,they would find a way . i wish time would have left me learn more from them , this world needs more people to say "we can fix that" not its junk we'll sell you a new one
 
The machine shop I've been using is Zimmerman Diesel near Lewisburg, Pa 570 966 6924. They are just a small machine shop run by Mennonites . If the deck height of your block is too low, you could have your pistons shaved a little, but then the valve pockets may have to be milled. Cost me $500 to have a 3 cylinder ford block bored and sleeved, decked, and rods reconditioned. I had everything cleaned. Took a JD 70 diesel head to him bare cleaned and bead blasted had it checked for cracks and then planed. He also ground the seats and installed the valves. My bill was $90. They mostly bill by time for most things and flat rate other jobs. He doesn't do any crank work though that I'm aware of. His brother up the road will spray weld and grind cranks. There is also a HP engines in Mifflintown that I heard good about and also Wengers of Myerstown has a machine shop too for some other options. Machine shops anymore you have to watch. They think we are dumb farmers and not too intelligent. Everyone has had good stories and bad stories with about every machine shop.
 
Would of been better to drive half an hour East of Rutts to Obers Performance in Lititz. He has long turn around but does good work.
 
next time try CAM'd in Salunga (Landisville). third generation engine machine shop that has never advertised(word of mouth only), they are very affordable and very good. they machined my 310 turbo, they have a lot of work so be honest when you need it done by. I got their name from Diesel Works if that means anything to you . its just three guys who will make you feel like you are family. they are also an excellent source for finding obscure parts, I recommend giving them a call 717eight988393 or camdmachining.com
 
Wenger's is a big operation with a reputation to protect and have been around a long time as a Case/IH dealer and salvage yard. Spoke to their machine shop about a 283 overhaul, seemed reasonable.
 

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