Turbo kit for farmall M

Tom.jones

Member
I need more power from my farmall M . I farm hay with this tractor a lot and need more power . I have been looking into a turbo kit for this tractor . Does any one know if it?s a good idea or am I asking for a headache ?
 
There are 2 issues that need to be addressed, the first is the final drives. When IH put a 6 cylinder in the M trans/final housing when it introduced the 560, it had high failure rate issues with bearings. It was so bad that they recalled them and rebuilt the finals then marked the ID plate with a triangle to show it had been upgraded. The bearings and procedure can be done to an M (IIRC). The second is the crankshaft. It is 3 main bearing and not a strong 5 bearing design. Will it last under pressure, or fail?? If you were a puller and wanted have a powerful stock appearing engine, (ad were OK with the funding of it) I would say take it to the 90 hp or more range. But you are doing field work with it pushing the engine for hours at a time. I recommend a 706 or 756 tractor to use the same money and effort you would put into the M, but now have 2 tractors and more utility as well as a modern PTO and hydraulics. Even a 450 Farmall will be cheaper than building a twitchy fussy M. Jim
 
friend put a turbo kit on his super M. Run it that way for a couple years and took it off. He already had oversized domed pistons and planed head so with the turbo had issues with head gaskets with that much compression. It was great power and used less fuel but just had to be so careful not to abuse it. He says he will use the turbo again when he finds good M with standard pistons and head.

His recommendation would be to spend that money on a different tractor if you want to farm with it. But if for a toy its great fun.
 
A "local" guy has a Super M ta with a turbo on it. He has cooling issues with it if he takes it to a plowday. I don't think they are suited for actually farm use.
if you don't mind spending your $$ on gasoline then find a cheap 706 or 806 gas and avoid all the grief of a making an M something it isn't
just my 2 cents
 
For 500 to 1000 more than a turbo kit,you could buy a nice 560 or 706 with Live pto;tA;power steering...?.Keep your M and have two tractors
 
A "local" guy has a Super M ta with a turbo on it. He has cooling issues with it if he takes it to a plowday. I don't think they are suited for actually farm use.
if you don't mind spending your $$ on gasoline then find a cheap 706 or 806 gas and avoid all the grief of a making an M something it isn't
just my 2 cents
 
Not to be flip, but get a bigger tractor, cheaper and more useful, as you will get live PTO and hydraulics.

This is from a guy that has a fuel injected MH 44.
 
What condition is your M currently in? 50+HP is easily obtainable from these engines, normally aspirated, with an overbore kit and a head shave.

Start with a compression test, but your engine might be getting tired. Your money would be better spent on a set of pistons and liners than a turbo.
 
Any horse that poops hard, or fast, doesn't poop long. Used tractors are cheap right now. Buy a little bigger one for what it will cost to hop up your M up. Al
 
And my question is WHY , You have and OLD M , yep neat OLD tractor put for what your doing they are a pain with no live PTO , no powerful steering , yep i am old and power steering to me is a must as long gone are the days of grabbing the steering knob and with one hand cranking the wheel at the head lands stabbing the brake pedal and making that turn. . Last time i spent a full long day on my S/MTA drilling 54 acres of beans let me know for four days after i was not as tough as i once was. Myself i am no fan of putting a hair drier on a three main bearing engine at all . And like said if the amount of pony power that one can get out of and old M with the parts one can install on a rebuild will get you into the 60-65 Hp. range . Then with the addition of a STOCK 450 GAS head and taking the M block out to take the 400-450 sleeves and use 450 high alt. pistons along with a blue printed 450 cam and a 450 intake and carb along with the dist. updates you will see lots of pony power out of 4 cylinders as my one friends S/MTA has . Go find a good 560 or 706 DIESEL and even better get and 806 DIESEL .
 
The kits I've seen, they're ok for a short run at a tractor pull but have basic design issues for long term field work. A turbo certainly can be made to work but you will be limited to 5-8 pounds of boost IMO. There will be a lot of time invested in tuning to make it work properly and you will want to do a lot of research on turbo setups to get the right size unit and help with the tuning.

As Jim was getting at, you'll want to go through the trans and rear and make sure all your bearings are upgraded and in good shape. You'll end up with broken parts and down time if you put a stout motor in front of tired rear end and clutch.

This is not to discourage you but rather make clear that a turbo mod is not going to be a quick or easy fix.

For hay work it really is nice to bump up to IPTO and live hydraulics. I've run a round baler and cut hay with an M and while it can be done, it's a whole more productive to have the newer features.
 

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