Farmall H 5th gear flameout

My 1943 H seems to run and pull fine in gears 1-4, but when I engage the road gear the engine seems to just fade down to stall. Carb? governor? Thanks

1.) Carb main jet adjustment. "Open" it a quarter-turn at a time and see if there's any improvement. (Noting the starting point in case you need to set it back where it was.)

2.) Check ignition timing.

3.) Check for a fuel flow restriction.

If you are starting from zero speed, it might be normal. Use 4th and pause a little whileshifting to 5 on the fly. some do a double clutch, but it takes three hands to throttle down shift steer. Minor clashung is normal. Fifth is more than 2 times faster than 4th. JimN

That is normal, 5th is direct drive--no gear reduction. I have to "slip" the clutch, not good for the clutch, but I don't use 5th much. Starting in 4th to get it rolling and then shifting to 5th as Jim says helps. I have never tried to master double clutching. Going into 5th grinds more easily than the other gears, so you need to be careful.

4th to 5th- WOT in 4th to dead idle in 5th will minimize grinding, the RPMs will match going downhill.

Jim Isler,

Are you saying that you are having a hard time getting the tractor going in 5th?

OR

Are you saying that the tractor doesn't seem to have enough power to drive in 5th?

As the others have said, it is normal to have a tough time getting the tractor going in 5th. However, it should pick up and go once you get the hang of it.

An H in good running condition should be able to take off in 5th from a dead stop on level ground not pulling anything. It might require feathering the choke, starting with a bit of throttle, and slipping the clutch.

If you can't even get that, there are many things to look at...
1. Ignition timing.
2. Carburetor.
3. Governor.
4. Compression.

Your tractor may simply need a tuneup, or it may need a complete engine rebuild.

Mine was doing that this winter. It had some condensation in the distributor. Dry it out good and see what happens.

If all the other things that have been suggested here check out OK, it IS possible to start an H in fifth. I'll pass on a couple of comments. IH engineers saved a few gears (and dollars) by going to a direct-drive dog-clutch in fifth. This is identical in principle to the 3rd gear on
a traditional American 3-speed auto transmission, but without synchro. I always thought IH missed the boat on this one. JD and Oliver both had a fifth gear that was really useful (somewhere around 8 mph; throttled back a bit, you could have pulled a loaded wagon on a gravel road) and a sixth that would have been useful, too (somewhere around 12 mph; throttled back about 3/4, you could have gotten enough torque to pull a loaded wagon at a sensible speed on a paved road). When I was young and foolish (I think that line comes from an Irish song about a long-lost love), I loved ripping up and down the road in front of the farm, wide-open, wind-in-the-face, doing probably 18 mph no-load. In time, when some shimmy began to develop in the front end, I got more cautious (and older). In recent years, when I got a chance to drive an H or M on the road, I just pulled 'er back to about 10 mph and enjoyed the peaceful ride.
I remember painful attempts to pull a loaded wagon in fifth gear on a dirt road. No torque at 5 or 6 mph, so you had to use 4th, wide-open and noisy.
Without a load, an H in good shape WILL start in fifth, but, as the others have said here, you have to give it some throttle, then slip the clutch just enough not to stall the engine. I got onto double-clutching on our ton-and-a-half Chevvy when I was maybe 12, but it never seemed to work very well on the H, because of the enormous difference in ratios between 4th and 5th. Suppose it can be done, with practice.