TO 30 Hydraulic problems

I'm new to this tractor world, and have acquired a blue Dealer Shop manual, and owner's manual for my TO 30.

I have watched several you tubes of Rachel and others repairing hydraulics, and it is all starting to sink into head.

My lift does nothing, previous owner has the arms shimmed in the up position with a length of 2x4. I got this tractor four years ago after it sat unused in a damp garage since 1998. Got it running,and driving around dooryard. Now it's time to get the 3 point working.

25+ year old luid is up to correct level, and rather yellow/orange colored. I suspect it has some moisture contamination. Looking through fill hole atop transmission those gears look nice and shiny, no corrosion to be seen.

The control spring is snug and can be turned by hand, however its adjusting yoke is stuck from rust, and I did not force it. Plan is to cut plunger and replace with new plunger and yoke. I think I saw somewhere a Ford 9N matched plunger & yoke will fit the TO 30.

Before I remove the round inspection covers, will some of the hydraulic fluid need to be drained down below those openings?

From the You Tubes I gather the non-functioning hydraulic system could be fixed by simply replacing relief valve, or to performing a complete rebuild of pump and top lift piston.

The PTO turns, goes i and out of gear easily, however there was some nasty looking sludgy oil with shinny metal flake that came out when cover was removed. I haven't had the off since I first got the tractor. The shaft when turning looked to have a little run-out.

So what should I do first, look in through inspection holes and see what is or is not happening? Pull out relief valve, and control valve looking for crud plugging them, or what?

Why not drain everything, be ready for about 6-7 gallons then pull off the covers and inspect everything. Take off one bolt on the control yoke and pull
out the plunger, T-looking thing. If it is stuck try slowly working on it.

Before you start that did you make sure pto lever is engaged?

So when your ready to put everything back together use 10w-30 oil, a lot of other members recommend diesel 10-30, I?ve been using regular without a
problem.

Don?t hesitate to ask us for help

Tom

You can remove the side covers without draining the oil. The proper level is to the bottom bolt hole. If it's over full a little will come out, but not a flood.

Before draining the oil or disabling anything, remove the covers and take a look inside.

With the engine off, feel down to the control spool, be sure the arms are connected and the spool moves with the lever.

Have a flash light ready, get the PTO engaged, start it up and look in, (but do not reach in!!!). Tell the arms to raise, see what is happening.

If oil is streaming down from the cylinder, the piston seals are bad.

If oil is roiling up from the relief valve, the valve is bad.

If none of that reveals anything, drain the oil, remove the PTO shaft, disconnect the control fork, drop the pump. Be careful, it's heavy!

Once the pump is out and disassembled any problem should be obvious.

Thanks, I'll dig into this today.

before you pull cover remove the wish bone from the dog bone or you will brake the dog bone . the wish bones are the two long arms that go from the control leaver rod to the pump at the bottom of the rear end best is to drain the oil first could be someone pulled the cover and broke the dog bone fixed one today that was broke

If and when you remove the Top Lift Cover.....


Bob.. Owner Ferguson, MF 35..Ford 2-N...etc,etc,

My new books arrived several weeks ago; Dealer shop manual,Ferguson TO 30 owner's manual, Free Tuning Up Your Tractor, and that easy to read and locate stuff Ferguson TO 30 Tractor Parts catalog. These publications helped understand inner workings of the machine, in particular its hydraulics.

I just install a pair of new strut rods and ends, and set the toe. The old ones were bent, one even had a length of angle iron welded onto it making is some what straight.

When I started tractor, the drawbar lifted up. That was a first, previously I could not get it to move, and previous owner has shimmed it up with a length of 2x4 painted to match the tractor; very stylish it was. I did not take the time to see if it would respond to height control lever, had to move some dirt with Wagner Loader WM-4, and no extra time to play this afternoon with it.

Where would one dispose of water contaminated hydraulic oil? Around here auto part stores and Walmart take up to five gallons of clean used oil a day per person, but not contaminated oil.

Here we are 2 1/2 months later, and more use of tractor this summer than last four years combined. I have left hydraulic lift in gear so each time tractor is started the draw bar is activated lifting up to highest point. Back at end of June, the bar would stay raised while engine was running, and once shut down the bar would drop to the ground within a few minutes.

Now when the bar is in up position, and tractor shut down, the bar takes several days to drop down to the ground. Apparently the seals and or ram's cylinder has polished it self enough to renew its ability to seal.

June I replaced the oil and amp gauge, a month ago I replaced the voltage regulator because there was signs of battery boiling and no amp gauge movement. Now amp gauge moves, and battery has stayed charged without acid showing on top of battery.

Tractor smokes excessively, at first I though is was caused by all the automatic transmission fluid injected into each cylinder after it sat in a damp garage for 20 years, and its valve train was rusted tight. In other words engine was well on its way to becoming stuck. I have only run this machine for a 3 or four hours. Each time it runs is seems to be snapping out of it. However there is top end noise, and still smokes, not as bad as it once did.

This winter's plan is to replace valve seals, and inspect cylinder condition and replace rings as needed.

What oil pressures should one expect at warm idle, and running mid engine rpm with a Z-129?

you'd do well to start another thread for this - forum members using 'classic view' will not see this.

Take your head to a competent machine shop and let them work it over. New valve guides are likely needed. Replace the springs, they are cheap. New valves and needing seats installed is a possibility, you could wrap $500 up in the head, just be prepared for that possibility. Or maybe not with a bit of luck.

Oil pressure 25-30 psi hot at working rpm is very good. 15-20 psi hot is fine. Hot idle can get as low as 5 psi and not be a problem. You might consider checking your gauge for accuracy if there is concern. Running 15W-40 is commonly recommended.

Thanks Pomester for the tips.

I don't recall what weight oil I used four years ago when I got it running. After running engine for a while and all the smoking I did dump in a bottle of mechanic in a can promising to seal rings, looked to me like honey which probably increased the viscosity.

I can say that the first total hour of running consisting of five or so starts and running periods over a few years resulted in oily soaked plugs in particular #4. As I have added more and longer run times, the plugs have been staying cleaner. I suspect all of the WD-40 and automatic transmission oil used to free up engine's rotating mass has finally burned out of the rings, and cylinder walls have cleaned up a bit.


All summer she has been starting right up, and no plug cleaning has been performed.

I replaced the oil pressure gauge this summer, and it reads the same as the old one full of water droplets. So whatever the readings are, I suspect they are close to true. Is there one common bearing problem that these engines have that is usually the cause for low oil pressure?

A few years ago I had my slant six head out for a rebuild, so I'm familiar with machine work costs.

I'll be starting a new thread when engine work, and other freshening up takes place.

wide clearances and a marginal oil pump make for low oil pressures by modern standards. These engines are 70 year old tech and don't operate on the edge that modern engines do so low oil pressures (as long as there is some) don't bother the machine. Several here will brag on their low oil pressure, 'been using it that way for years!'.

You'll need to make a decision when you start tearing into it how deep to go. A freshened head will put more stress on rings and cylinders. You can check the condition and clearances of the rod bearings quite easily by dropping the pan. Are the front or rear main seals leaking at all?

Here's a link to a thread about a TO30/Z129 rebuild you might find interesting. https://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/viewtopic.php?t=1343049&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Interesting engine rebuild saga. Seems most of my projects turn into a can of worms. luckily parts are available for these TO-30's.

I found the denouement to the engine rebuild story - https://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/viewtopic.php?t=1351840 - if you're interested. Good luck with your project -