Tractor this weekend

Now my first impression was what a piece of JUNK! I did my usual thing of looking for leaks and oil spots under the tractor. I did have a coolent leak, so the first thing I said was great the same thing as before...more leaking of anti-freeze form the motor, well it ended up being from the radiator..so grumbeled a little no biggie but I grumbeld..... ..... "Heck, if i buy it i got to replace radiator"

Then I go to start the tractor, well the starter missed the ring gear on the fly wheel and made this terreble grinding noise. I exclaimed in a bad mood..."What the Heck is that!!!!!" I tried it on a second and a third time, the third time starter engaged and the motor fired right up. I grumbeld more..... "dang now if I buy this its a new starter i have to get"..... ..."dang it its also 24 volt sytem got to convert it, i know how just don't want to do it" grumbeled to my self, I had driven 6 hours one way.

Oh yeah, i'm glad you bought it, because you have probably wasted at least $500 worth of fuel running around looking for one.

Oh while the tractor was running I jumed down to check the blow by, well Huhh no Blow by!! WOW!

Then the sales man came out and side anther guy who worked there used the tractor to cut a pasture and used a 20 foot batwing mower. He said it ran perfect while cutting that pasture. I haven't a Clue as to what a batwing mower is. Any way I was still skeptical as heck. The guy then said well lets put it on the Dyno and see what it does. I laughed to my self "This thing aint gone make 60 Horse Power at best!!" Oh well I thought I drove all this way might as well see the whole show I guess..
On the dyno it made between 95 horse power and 100 horse power. As it ran inspected the motor Very Very closly for leaks, smoke, ect....there was NONE! I put my hand under the vent tub again, still almost no blow by..huh...I scratched my head Surely something is going to screw up. I felt the block to see if it would over heat, NOPE! I could hold my hand on the block to some extent.
I kept scratching my head, surely there's going to be a foul up somewhere on this dyno...I looked at three other tractors and the dyno had always been the tall tale signs for problems.....Not this time!

From the sounds of things that tractor is a diamond in the rough. Neither the rad or the starter are hard to get at. Pull the rad and take it to a shop and get it fixed. Worst case is a recore. Price it out. Pull the starter and send it to a shop. Worst case is a rebuilt starter. Heck, call these shops and get prices on these worst case seanarios(sp?). Add it up and you will find it's not that expensive. If the 24V system is working, they work just fine unless you are hooking electrical loads to it. It can be fixed or switched over to 12V at a later time.

Anyone who has been around this old iron will always be more impressed by how well it runs and how well everything works rather than shiny new paint. Also if you find a tractor that vintage where everything works like new, they will want a premium price. Heck, if you don't buy it post it's location and price here on this board. Lots of people would probably jump at it.

John

SO I BROKE DOWN AND BOUGHT ONE!!!!! !

Mustang Vs corvet

Go Green! :>)

Allan

SWWWWEEEET!!

I was hoping you would come back and say that! I figured if you walked away from that one, then you MUST be pulling our legs.

Glad to here you finally got what you wanted. Are you going to post any pics?!?!

Ignore my previous post.

CONGRATS ON THE NEW TRACTOR!

John

That's an awfuly lot of money for a 4020, don't ya think? :>)

Allan

You aren't going to get a prefect condition tractor for the cheapest priced tractor you can find.

If you want a prefect tractor you better buy new or be prepared to pay above average price for the used one.

Gary