Converting to two way hydraulics

The stock IH distributor drive pump will not fit an M made before 1950 unless you swap out the front engine cover and the timing gears.

M&W made a similar pump that fits the older tractors, but they're rare and hard to find.

Plumbing is easy. You need the pump, a reservoir, and OPEN CENTER control valve with pressure relief. Many people use the stock belly pump for a reservoir, others add an external tank.

Basic plumbing:
1. Run a hose from the pressure OUT of the pump to the IN on the valve.
2. Run a hose from the OUT on the valve to the IN on the reservoir. This is usually near the top of the tank, and would be the fill pipe on a belly pump.
3. Run a hose from the OUT on the tank to the suction IN of the pump.
4. Run hoses from the two work ports on the valve to quick-disconnect hydraulic couplers, often called "Pioneer couplers" at the rear of the tractor.

That's it. Basic instructions to plumb up a single two-way remote valve...

Anyway, is this the kind of pump that you have?

If so you have a couple options. First you can build a tank that will fit in the torque tube where the stock belly pump was like the one in this picture:

Or you can gut the belly pump and use it for the reservoir. The drain plug can be used as the input to the new pump, and the return can come in through one of the existing ports. You need the valve spool to control the fluid from the pump to the load.

It would be nice if you could get it a bit cheaper, but believe me even at that price if you want to put power steering and or a loader on the tractor it is WELL worth the price! On thing though, I have seen here on the board were there was a change made sometime in 1950 to the M to change the cam gear and front timing cover. These changes allow this pump to bolt right on and not have the cam gear breaking issue that the pre-1950 M’s have been known to have. The one in the picture is a 1950, but the cam gear did break once in it though…