Repairs on 601 series Ford with 134ci gas

I Just purchased a Ford 601 knowing that it has fuel issues. I knew that the gas tank has rust in it and that I would at least have to take it off and clean it and possibly treat it. I was also not too confident in the carburetor. After removing the tank and running it on a makeshift auxiliary tank I decided that the rusted out tank is not worth messing with and the tractor runs good with clean filters and clean gas. So, since I had the sheet metal and gas tank off I figured I would flush the cooling system out.
Now, lets just go back a bit in time. When I was looking into buying the tractor I went to look at it twice and both times I checked it out pretty good and it appeared to have clean water in the radiator. He started the motor and ran it both times but with the rust it the tank it would not run long before the filter would stop up.
Now when I was working on it and I proceeded to drain the radiator I could see that the water was slightly milky colored. From experience I know that this could be a blown head gasket or possibly a cracked head and I will have to pull the head off to find out.
Now here is the question that I would like to have advice on. If I were put off fixing it for a week or two and to continue to run it with the blown head gasket or cracked head could it cause any further damage to the motor or would it be ok? The oil is only in the coolant and not very much. There is no water in the oil. In fact the oil looks great. Any advice or shared experiences are welcomed. Thank you in advance.
RCA.

The first thing I would do is to determine if there is a head gasket leaking. You can feel the hose going from the water pump to the radiator. it should be pretty flexible. Start the tractor. if there is a head gasket blown your hose will immediately start getting hard due to the pressure. I would just drain and flush your radiator and put straight water in it and see if it is all okay. run it for a few days and if all is well then drain it down and add your antifreeze. sounds like you need to remove your fuel tank and clean it out. I would never pull a head unless I was positive it was bad. Other people may have comments or experiences and should post on here.

Thanks. I pulled the tank off and ordered a new one. It is pretty bad. I flushed the radiator and engine really good and will change the water pump and thermostat. I will run it for a while keeping a close eye on it. Hopefully it was just dirty neglected water/coolant but I am preparing for the worst.
Thank you, RCA.

Possibly what you are seeing in the coolant is remains from stop leak the previous owner may have used.

It is rare for a head gasket to leak oil into the coolant. About the only source of oil would be the passage that feeds the rockers, it happens but not that common.

Like you said, get it running and watch it. That will also give you a chance to find any other problems that may need to be addressed.

Usually a head gasket in the beginning stages of failure will cause mystery coolant loss, over heating, exhaust steam, and water condensation in the oil.

Continuing to run one will eventually cause the symptoms to get worse to the point it will blow the coolant out, overheat, crack the head, worse case it can liquid lock a cylinder or cut a trench in the head/block sealing surface.

But if you determine it is a head or head gasket problem, once it is parked it will need to be repaired and running again before the cylinders rust.

Thanks Steve. Waiting for parts now so it will probably be next week before I put it back together.

(reply to post at 15:09:59 06/03/18)

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I run a piece of brake line off the tank tap into a four inch long piece of rubber fuel line, then brake line down into the filter bowl. It goes right through the 2,000 degree exhaust manifold and I add no filter. Then I go and bale hay for six hours straight with the temperature at 100 degrees in the shade. It gets really bad vapor lock of course but I just keep going around and around pulling the baler with the wagon behind it. The tractor has SOS trans. so I shift down to 6th gear to go up hill. Once I get above 130 bales on the wagon it seems to pull a little hard up the hill so I switch to an empty wagon.

Update.
I installed a very new and clean gas tank, a new leak free shut off valve, a new fuel line routed clear of the exhaust manifold, new water pump, new upper and lower radiator hoses and thoroughly drained and flushed the coolant system. Put it all back together and no leaks in the coolant system or the fuel line. As for the concern of oil in the coolant, it looks good. When I checked after running there is only a minimal residue film on the top of the water. I will flush and then use antifreeze coolant once I am sure I don't have to pull it apart again.
The fuel line is working great delivering a good flow to the carb. It starts good and runs fine without a load. When working the bush hog on relative flat ground and relative short or medium high weeds it runs like a charm. As soon I get in a little thick stuff or going up an incline it looses power and starts popping through the carb. I know there are a lot of directions I could go with this so I would appreciate advice on wich way I should go instead of just throwing darts at it and changing parts. When I first tried to start it with the intake hose off it popped a couple of times then had gas coming out of the carb. With the hose on it is starting ok. Sometimes taking a few tries but starts and sounds fine until I put a load on it. I have not done anything to the carb except hit it with carb cleaner. It has a 12 volt system but the coil looks very old. I was thinking about getting a rebuild kit for the carb and doing a tune up (plugs, wires, points, distributor cap, rotor, condenser). And I haven't checked the timing.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you very much in advance.
RCA