Farmall Super A newcomer

Just bought a 1948 Farmall Super A, I m not a mechanic but looking to learn how to atleast work on this machine over time. Right now the unit is operational and runs, haven t stress test anything under work conditions but that s coming soon as I have a lot of projects around the farm. It should be noted I do not know the history on this tractor as the seller did not know either.

When I bought the tractor yesterday it started right over and sounded great. The hydraulics didn t work so the seller put fluid in the hydraulic and the hydraulics worked. Allegedly the touch control has been working no problem in the past. Continuing on.... the tractor started smoking and had a hard fine starting after the hydraulic fluid was poured into the resovoir. I got the tractor home and the seller told me to dump the oil for both the hydraulics and engine and leave the hydraulic resovoir empty as he believes the hydraulic fluid might be bypassing a gasket and leaking into my oil pan creating a cocktail of fluids. I dumped the hydraulic fluid and replaced the engine oil with 5Qt s of 10W-30.

The tractor seems to run fine for the short time I had it running after the oil change. I had my top petcock drip oil for an excessive amount of time, so I tightened it down and snapped the head off, however I was able to close it off from leaking. I ve heard conflicting stories about the petcocks... some people believe:

A.) your top petcock should leak oil consistently letting you know your oil level is at or around the top petcoc
Or
B.) your low petcock should be the only one leaking oil if in a healthy oil capacity

Not sure which is true; seems like everyone has a different answer.

All I know is if the tractor calls for 5 quarts of engine oil, and I empty all the oil out and dump fresh 5 quarts in... why would the top petcock leak for over 45 minutes and possibly longer if I didn t lock it down?

I m on a mission to replace the gasket for the hydraulic pump to see if that will mitigate the problem with fluid leaking down into the oil pan... I m not even sure if that can mechanically happen or if this mystical fluid mixing with my oil pan is a different issue altogether. Thoughts?
 
My thought is that the hydraulic fluid is flowing out the shaft seal and into the front cover and then into the crankcase (its driven by a gear under the front cover that's eventually crank-driven).

My Super A has the same issue, I believe. It had hydraulics and then lost them suddenly one day without any other sign or explanation. I just mow with it and not being able to raise the deck isn't a problem yet.
 
The correct oil level is filled up to the point of dripping from upper drain cock. The lower drain cock is for
lowering the oil level down past the upper drain cock and then oil refilled back up to dripping out the upper
drain cock. That way you can do this and know you don't have to much oil in it. Make sense?

5 quarts sounds like alot. Are you sure you didn't dump to much in? And also, you should be checking oil right
after an engine shut off, so you know your not counting any oil from filter that may drain back down to oil pan
after sitting for awhile.

Are you sure that hydraulic oil was not still making it's way to crankcase causing your to much oil problem to
continue?
 

I appreciate the replies

That petcock explanation helped. So essentially I should drain down my oil today then fill up til it leaks from the top petcock.

The hydraulic fluid was drained and never replaced yesterday. Granted I don t know how much was in there, but how much can stay in the system after you drain it? A quart or two? How do I fully remove all hydraulic fluid if there s still some in after I opened the screw drained it out?

Only reason why I know there was 5 quarts put in for engine oil was because I emptied one 5 quart jug and drained everything else out.
 
On engines that were operated every day on Tractor Fuel (distillate) which is not available anymore, the lower cock was used to drain out enough oil to lower it
to the petcock level. This was to remove a % of the oil that was contaminated by un burned distillate duel. Then refilled to the top petcock. Do not do that.
Check the oil at the top petcock only and fill till it drips. You will be wasting massive amounts of good oil if you do. Change the oil about once a year if
light duty or twice if used substantially. Change the filter as well. Using 10-30 modern oil is fine and dandy. Jim
 
Not sure where the hydraulic drain plug is, but oil could of been trapped in pump, lines, hoses, or a lower part
of the system. Didn't circulate back around to drain plug untill after tractor was started back up after drain
plug was put back in. Oil is kind of funny about being trapped into something that don't have air flow at the
other end. And alot of a hydraulic system is air free. Basicly only the reservoir part of a functional system
contains some air.
 

I ll run the tractor this afternoon then open the refill and the drain for the hydraulic system and see if anything else drains out...otherwise I might be doing another oil change in a couple days to make sure the hydraulic oil isn t mixing with the engine oil again... I ve got to see if there s an aftermarket hydraulic pump on the tractor and find out which o rings and gaskets fit mine and get that fixed
 
Just a bit of information, if you keep running the tractor with no hydraulic fluid in the system, it is going to eat the shaft in the pump. It sounds like the seal and bushing may already be gone, but if you want to fix it instead of buying a new pump, you may want to give it a break instead of running it without fluid in the pump. The seal and o-ring kit is what you want to fix the leaking, unless too muh damage has already been done by runnig it dry.

Pesco kit is IHS3506
Thompson kit is IHS3511
 
Do not run the tractor while the hydraulic reservoir is empty. The internal gears of the pump need
the oil for lubrication.
 

Good to know, the seller told me it wouldn t hurt the tractor to run it without the hydraulic fluid so long as you don t use the touch control without fluid in it.

How do I tell which gasket/O-Ring set I need, also can anyone point me to video tutorials on how to replace the gaskets, how involved is it?
 
The pump turns the entire time the engine is running. Actuating the touch control levers will have no effect on whether or not wear occurs to the pump. The hydraulic fluid serves as lubrication for the pump and with it, it's just metal on metal.

Locate the number on the pump and compare it to those below.

Thompson pump #'s 360945R91 and 360945R92

Pesco pump #'s 360689R91, 350707R96, 355007R94, 355370R93.
 
The number is stamped right on the side of the pump. On my Super A, the letters are actually upside down.
 

I found this video for a cub, is the super a the same concept for the pump?

Go to the 16 minute mark for the pump example.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TOZSwhOiSIk

When taking the pump off, is it okay to just remove just the pump without the entire unit? I ask because I took a mouthful of oil already. 8)
 
The cub pump is really similar. You can see a breakdown of the Super A pump on the caseih parts site.
You will probably need to take the lines off the run from the pump to the touch control unit to be able to remove the pump from the engine.
 


Good to know. If it s anything like the video then it shouldn t be too bad. I m gonna find out my pump number then overnight a gasket set. Hopefully that fixes it and I can finally put the tractor to work!!
 


Also in the video, she mentions she recommends 30w oil for both the engine and hydraulic pump to mitigate the mixing of oils if the gasket goes bad... is 10w-30 fine in both the engine and hydraulic ?
 
I have worked with lots of hydraulic systems (industrial and agricultural) and have written procedures on their maintenance/repair, and it has always been a no-no to use multi-viscosity (multi-weight) oils in a hydraulic system. So I would go with the 30wt in both if you want to use the same in both.
 
And I am not saying the hydraulics wouldn't work if you used multi-viscosity oil, I'm just saying that you're not supposed to and there a several reasons why you shouldn't.
 
(quoted from post at 03:15:06 04/30/19)

I was able to find this in my pump: "350707R94"

That number doesn t match any of the kits ?
That's a Pesco pump and you're just in luck. Here is a NOS IH rebuild kit for it for cheap https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223002129499
 


Damn, listing expired this morning.. can t buy it. $15.00 would ve been nice... any other thoughts? Kinda strange my model number isn t covered on this website s gasket kit.


Also, while inspecting the tractor I observed coolant leaks from an old crack on the exterior of the block.... :evil: block is going to cost about $400-$500 and for me to hire someone to put it in. Seems like I keep discovering issues. I ll have to take a picture of it and get everyone s thoughts... I m assuming I shouldn t use the tractor until the block is replaced?
 
(quoted from post at 14:10:43 04/30/19)

Damn, listing expired this morning.. can t buy it. $15.00 would ve been nice... any other thoughts? Kinda strange my model number isn t covered on this website s gasket kit.


Also, while inspecting the tractor I observed coolant leaks from an old crack on the exterior of the block.... :evil: block is going to cost about $400-$500 and for me to hire someone to put it in. Seems like I keep discovering issues. I ll have to take a picture of it and get everyone s thoughts... I m assuming I shouldn t use the tractor until the block is replaced?


A crack in the water jacket of a block isn't the end of the world. There are numerous products on the market that can be used to plug up the leak.
 


mvphoto35364.jpg


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Can anyone help me identify the gasket set I need?

Last picture is a picture of the crack. Looks like it was welded once...it s not a big leak and my coolant seems fine but I haven t run the tractor for hours on end either.[/img]
mvphoto35370.jpg
 

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