Potential Value Parting the MH44?

SkyWil

Member
Well....in the process of attempting to sell the old girl i came across a potential buyer that conducted a very thorough inspection and brought to light problems that i was not only not aware of. It also decreases the overall value into a range i'm not willing to accept. What i thought was a dirty carburetor with worn jets causing a rough idle etc. Turns out its looking more like a cylinder that is misfiring or not firing at all from low compression.

I know its frowned upon but i need to recoup some loss on this one. What could one of these potentially be valued at parted out? I know parts like the wheel weights and hydraulic pump etc have value and are easier sales. What other parts would be the most desirable and easier to sell?
mvphoto36165.jpg
 
A lot of parts have some value....hood and grille if they are really good, the
manifold, steering box if it's tight, engine and or parts of it....but it could
take some time and effort to part it, and you will be left with the unsaleable
parts to dispose of as scrap. Too bad to see a complete running tractor parted out.

Ben
 
Why not give the poor thing at least a fair chance and figure out what's wrong with the "bad" cylinder before condemning it to butchery?

Look at the sparkplug, is it dry, or gas soaked, or all oily?

First thing I'd do is a compression test, followed by a leakdown test if the offending cylinder DOES have poor compression , to figure out why.
 
I've had someone pick apart what I was trying to sell and offer half price, only to have the next guy come along and hand over asking price.
 
I personally would find the source of low compression, and work from
there. Parting it out can bring some cash, but I would check and find
the issue first. Or maybe state in the ad it?s issues, and someone
might find a nice project out of it.
 
Centash, I agree. By the time he goes to the work of scraping it he could have got the valves ground and stuck some new rings in it. They may not have made a much easier tractor to work on. gm
 
(quoted from post at 04:33:22 05/16/19) Why not give the poor thing at least a fair chance and figure out what's wrong with the "bad" cylinder before condemning it to butchery?

Look at the sparkplug, is it dry, or gas soaked, or all oily?

First thing I'd do is a compression test, followed by a leakdown test if the offending cylinder DOES have poor compression , to figure out why.

3 good cylinders had a dry plug. Offending cylinder was either slightly oily or maybe it was fuel not 100% sure. 3 good cylinders each had 100-105 psi. Trouble cylinder after 5 tests: 42 - 40 - 48 - 40 - 49 psi. Last run I didn't clear the gauge and let it sit for 15 minutes, no psi drop holding pressure. Oil is clear on the dipstick and filler cap. If I pull the valve cover I'll check there too. I have a radiator cap style leakdown fluid tester I could try. Although even on cars with confirmed blown heads I have still never seen it change the color of the dye so I'm not a fan of that test. I have unplugged 2 good cylinders from the distributor and let it run on one good cylinder and the bad cylinder to observe exhaust. No unusual color or smoke coming from that cylinder.
 

Rings, valve job and a whole upper gasket set is a investment into a tractor I'm already backwards on. If I did all that it would just dig the margins deeper.
 
"Rings, valve job and a whole upper gasket set is a investment into a tractor I'm already backwards on."

As I read your post, I feel you made one major mistake when you purchased this tractor. You felt that you could buy it and flip it to make a profit.
I don't think that is reasonable in this trade. That being said, Reliance engine parts can still supply some intake and exhaust valves for your tractor, if truly needed.
Matter-of-fact, I'm going through a Massey Harris gasoline 44/Continental H260 engine overhaul right now and I received some intake and exhaust valves in the mail just today for my MH 44 project. We dont't know if you need valves for your engine, but the parts still are out there, if you look for them. (Reliance intake valve: C76020M1. Exhaust valve: Ch260I301) If a valve is truly needed, a couple of hundred dollars could get you back to a smooth running tractor again.
That being said, it's your tractor and only you know what you need to do. Somebody trying to get parts for a MH 44 might want you to scrap it. Good luck with your decision.
 
(quoted from post at 18:41:27 05/16/19) "Rings, valve job and a whole upper gasket set is a investment into a tractor I'm already backwards on."

As I read your post, I feel you made one major mistake when you purchased this tractor. You felt that you could buy it and flip it to make a profit.
I don't think that is reasonable in this trade. That being said, Reliance engine parts can still supply some intake and exhaust valves for your tractor, if truly needed.
Matter-of-fact, I'm going through a Massey Harris gasoline 44/Continental H260 engine overhaul right now and I received some intake and exhaust valves in the mail just today for my MH 44 project. We dont't know if you need valves for your engine, but the parts still are out there, if you look for them. (Reliance intake valve: C76020M1. Exhaust valve: Ch260I301) If a valve is truly needed, a couple of hundred dollars could get you back to a smooth running tractor again.
That being said, it's your tractor and only you know what you need to do. Somebody trying to get parts for a MH 44 might want you to scrap it. Good luck with your decision.

I wouldn't say at all it was my intention to flip or turn a profit. I bought it maybe 4 years ago to pull logs and drag stuff when i moved out here to this piece of property. I knew even less about tractors at that time then i do now and clearly overpaid for it. At this point i would like to sell it and in its current condition its probably not worth more then 600-700$. If i put 200$ more into and it doesn't increase the value by more then 200$ then it doesn't make sense.

Plus like someone said its not desirable at all are they?. Someone might be sad if a row cropper was parted but how many of these standards did they even produce 100,000? To me its like parting out a mid 90s V6 Mustang....no ones gonna miss em.
 
I am willing to try what i can without sinking cash into it. Tonight i'm pulling the hood and valve cover. Maybe with a stroke of luck a lifter came apart. After that that concludes my diagnostic ability.
 
Where are you located and what were you looking to get out of the tractor? Have 22 and 30 standards, 44 might be a nice addition to the fleet. Thanks,
Mike
 
(quoted from post at 08:55:29 05/17/19) Where are you located and what were you looking to get out of the tractor? Have 22 and 30 standards, 44 might be a nice addition to the fleet. Thanks,
Mike

Sedro Woolley WA... I would like 1000$ and you can have all the other stuff that may or may not go to it. Hydraulic pump & bracket, couple cylinders and a directional valve. Or 900$ the way it sits without the other parts.

Side note here i have the the hood off and the valve cover removed. I'm not a expert here but a few valves have slop in them. I don't know if thats normal depending on what position the piston is in etc and maybe thats normal in w/e position. Anyone know procedure for valve lashing and gap this should be set for? I'll give it a shot and see if that does anything.
 

"Last run I didn't clear the gauge and let it sit for 15 minutes, no psi drop holding pressure."

All that proved was that the "Schrader valve" in the gauge is working as it should.

Pressure is held in the test gauge unit itself, NOT in the cylinder.


If you could put air pressure into the cylinder with a simple spark plug hole adapter at a crank position with the valves closed (a primitive leakdown test), you would then be able to note if air is hissing out the intake (intake valve burned or not seating), exhaust (exhaust valve burned or not seating), or going into the crankcase past the piston (indicating worn, damaged or broken rings and/or a scored piston.

With a failed gasket or cracked head, air will leak out past the gasket at the damaged area, or bubble into the cooling system.

You should be able to rent or borrow a "leakdown tester" from any auto parts store that rents out tools.

That test will prove if it's a valve that may be relatively easy/cheap to fix vs. a "bad" piston and or bore which is a bigger problem.

For a rough, initial appraisal, if it's leaking past a valve, simply very that the valve has at least some clearance at the rocker arm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCShoS0XkPM
 
For some reason I thought it didn't hold pressure on the gauge because I removed it from the extension hose and it dropped pressure. Overlooked the valve on the hose lol. Ok anyways after looking closer into the lifters I found on the bad cylinder one valve had 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch of up and down play in the push rod when the valve starts to close. I tightened it down until it had no up and down movement but would still spin freely. Then I checked the other valve on that cylinder and it was so tight it had no play and couldn't spin. I loosened that one up a bit and checked the compression again and now it's pushing 120 psi which is moderately more then the other cylinders....
 
(quoted from post at 19:09:07 05/17/19) Sounds like you fixed it. Add a couple hundred bucks to your price!
Ben

Any idea how that can possibly happen in the first place? I can wrap my head around a lifter having slop...It can rattle loose or the seat can wear or hammer out. But how does a lifter work its way to being over torqued to the point the valve no longer closes completely? The only thing i can think of is if that's how the previous owner adjusted it, i bought it that way and over the last 3 years i ran it maybe 10 running hrs and that's how long it took me to notice.
 

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