TO30 has no power

KsPete

New User
I think I got taken. I bought a 1952 TO30 today. While looking it over at the
seller's, everything seem to start up fine and work as it should for an old
tractor. After I got it home, it still started up and ran fine until I actually
tried to put it work. It doesn't seem to have much power at all! I have on old 7'
homemade back blade that I hooked up to blade a sandy driveway. It bogged it down
to the point of stalling. Is the blade too heavy for it and I'm expecting too much
out of it? It came with a two-bottom MF plow and a MF cultivator. I would think if
it was designed to pull a plow, a back blade shouldn't be that much of an issue.
Should I be looking for 5' blade? Also, when I shut it down, a second or two later
it will backfire once... softly. Weird. What are my options?
 
Check the function of the governor.

Engine off, dash lever set for full speed, the carb should be in the wide open position. If not, something is out of adjustment.

The governor should hold the RPM at around 2000 max speed. You can watch the action of the governor, with the engine at idle, suddenly push the dash lever to fast, the carb should go wide open and modulate down as the speed comes up.

Also check the air cleaner. There is a wire mesh inside the canister that is often overlooked. If it is packed with dirt, it will need to come out and be replaced. Not easy, but necessary.

Check the general tune of the engine, points gap and condition, centrifugal advance(the rotor should turn a few degrees and spring back when released), check the distributor shaft for side play, it must be tight or the points will not stay set.

Check the spark quality at each plug. Should jump a 1/4" blue hot spark to ground at the plug end of the wire.

A compression test will give an idea of the general engine condition, should be around 85+ PSI, engine warm, throttle open. Look for a low cylinder, or adjoining cylinders. Put a squirt of oil in each cylinder, and run again. If substantial improvement, the rings are leaking, if little improvement, valve or head gasket problem. Check the valve lash.

There is a drain plug in the bottom of the carb, engine off, fuel valve open, pull the plug, catch the flow in a clean glass. It should flow a stream, not slow to a drip or stop. Look at what was caught, if dirty, rust chunks, cloudy with water, the same will be in the tank.

Keep in mind this is a nearly 70 year old machine. Unless it's been gone through recently, expect to find problems. Anything that can deteriorate, like wiring insulation, hoses, will need attention. Very common to find water in the gear cases.

If you decide to keep it, a shop manual will be a valuable investment.
 
Start with a compression test - hopefully you will find 90 pounds+ at each cylinder - if so, it's a tune-up matter - if not, then there are deeper problems -

David
 
"Very common to find water in the gear cases." When I checked the hydraulic oil level, it has a light brownish look, a lot like rusty water. Should it be a different color?
 
If the tractor hydraulics will lift the blade to the top of the tractors range of motion, the blade isn't too heavy. The material you are trying to blade with it may be the problem as soft sand can pile up in front of the blade until a much bigger tractor cannot pull it. Your TO30 has draft control. You can set the hydraulic lever to begin lifting the blade when it pulls too hard. It it doesn't, then you have something stuck in the hydraulic lift system.
 
The 7? blade is fine. I have a Ferguson blade that weighs a lot. I added extensions made from another Ferguson blade that brought it out to just over 8?. I move a lot of snow easily with it.

Your power problem, I think was answered well by others. Tune up, make sure the governor is set up correctly and carburetor is properly set. The IT manual is usually available at tractor supply. The original copy of the Ferguson manual can be had here on the parts site.

One more quick thing, take distributor cap off and make sure the rotor has some movement counterclockwise that snaps back when released. Occasionally these distributors advance gets stuck and then they won?t rev up correctly. It?s an easy repair.
 
Do you get Black smoke when it pulls down? If so try removing the carb to air filter hose to see if it is a pluged air cleaner
 
Hard to tell about the gear oil without seeing it.

Try cracking loose the drain plugs after it sits a while. If there is water, it will settle to the bottom.

If the shifter boot is not in place, water will get in there.

While under there, you will see a large square "cover" on the bottom. Don't be tempted to drop that cover to clean out the cases. That is not a cover, it is the bottom of the pump. It won't come down without further disassembly from above.

The cases can be drained and flushed with diesel if desired. They don't have to be totally water free and sanitary.

It uses GL-1 90w mineral oil (NOT 90w gear oil) or 15w40 engine oil. Holds about 6 gallons or up to the bottom bolt hole on the side covers.

If pouring it in the fill hole on top of the transmission, add oil vert slowly. It has to transfer from the trans back to the rear cases. The passages are small, if poured in too fast oil will flood the clutch through the (likely bad) front shaft seal. I prefer to fill through the side covers.
 

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