Lead additive to Gasoline Tractors

Anyone know where I can find a lead substitute CD-2 for my gasoline tractor? Is there another brand? I don't want to buy the small bottles that cost $6 and only good for 20 gallons.

Thanks

This has been posted many times, no need for it.

(quoted from post at 09:37:53 04/18/16) Anyone know where I can find a lead substitute CD-2 for my gasoline tractor? Is there another brand? I don't want to buy the small bottles that cost $6 and only good for 20 gallons.

Thanks

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Lead bungs up engines with deposits. In the bad old days of leaded gasoline. Somehting that wheezed to 100,000 miles was a knocking, smoke blowing clunk.
Now with unleaded gasoline, the gassers last longer than tier IV diesels with 300,000 miles being a normal.

The overwhelming consensus here is that it is a waste of money and helps nothing but the seller's income. Modern oils and modern gasoline (with alcohol) is fine and
dandy for old tractors and will make them last a long time. Jim

If your talking about Alemite CD-2 look up Turtle Wax CD-2. Alemite was bought out by Turtle Wax. I thought that Alemite CD-2 was an oil additive not fuel.

Without lead the soft valve seats of an old engine might wear down over 5000 hours. By then its time for a head rebuild anyhow, and with hardened seats put in the engine will be good to go for a long, long time. The cost of the additives over time will be more than the cost of the head rebuild; and the effectiveness of the additives is questionable anyhow.

Modern oils are leaving out the additive that helped the push rods float over the camshaft lobes? The EPA figures all gas engines by now have roller cams so no need for that additive. If one is worried about engine wear, this might be the type of additive to worry about. Its an oil issue, not a fuel issue.

Erhanol is a wonderful fuel system cleaner, so it will soften and clean out all the gunk and deposits you have in your tank, fuel line, carb. It will clog the heck out of things as it does so. Need to replace filters, clean carb. This is the fault of dirty fuel and gasoline over the years, the ethanol is actually doing a cleaning job. Ethanol also absorbs water. If your fuel is questionable, the exess water will become a problem and overload the ethanol, and create problems. Again, the ethanol is trying to help, but the fuel or your store age conditions are so bad its overwhelmed. Ethanol is hard on some older types of plastic/rubber, and it does not store for years and years - neither does gasoline, but anyhow one has to work with it a bit to make it work well. Basic maintainince issues.

Paul

Never used it. Always thought it was 'snake oil'. I guess it is,as my 'old' superM(and others) have had 35+ years and many
thousands of hrs of hard use with no adverse effects.

Most likely your tractor already has the hardened seats anyway. The "lead substitute" does nothing to help the seats as most are usually an "octane booster" of questionable quality.

Only thing I did was add a bottle of 2cy oil to like five gallons. Just a little lube to calm my nerves. Most likely not needed.

All that lead stuff is is a simple snake oil that is not worth the $$ you pay for it. The stuff doesn't even have any lead in it any how. Or in other words it is a waste of time and $$ and does not do any thing for the engine. Benn running all my tractors for decades on unleaded gas and not had one single problem

Wallaces Farmer and/or Hoards Dairyman had some research done on possible problems with unleaded fuels in older tractors, valve seat erosion was one concern. Engine speed was one consideration for possible valve seat erosion especially on exhaust valves- and 1300 RPM was the rough dividing line from no noticeable problem to need more maintenance, old JD 2 cylinders didn't have the problems, neither did the IHC F20s. IHC and Case, some AC and Oliver running 1650 to 2000 rpm had some noticeable wear, need for valve lash adjustment and early repairs. Ford Ns had stellite valve seats to begin with, no real problem. Cam timing/duration was another factor- short duration as common on slow movers helped heat transfer for exhaust valve. The Allis book recommended 100:1 2 stroke oil added to gasoline, IHC had one cup of engine oil- low ash straight weight IHC spec- to 5 gallons of gasoline for the M's, H's, 300, etc series. Valve guide/stem wear on some Olivers, Case- the engines that had valve stem seals had a minor wear problem, the older no seal designs had enough oil vapor from heads to handle lube needs for end of valve stem. 2 stroke oil, engine oil in gasoline handled that problem fairly well, repairs with knurled guides or the bottom only knurled or tapped would have a oil film retained, a bit of oil reservoir in grooves in guides--this was same type of minor work for air cooled engines like VW Beetles in desert racing, beat around town and some Harleys. Lead for higher octane and a secondary lubrication when using low octane base fuel was old protocol- newer gasoline base has higher octane already and the secondary lube requirements of some old tractors and cars can be handled with some 2 stroke oil or non detergent oil, Marvel Mystery oil, Ryslone. Aircooled engines operating at 3000 rpm as some of the old Brigges, Tecumsehs, Kohlers on some equipment had more problems with valve wear- but some had hard iron seats already- use 1/2-1/4 the Lawnboy recommended mix and the cheapest 4 stroke with seats ground into soft iron casting would last a bit longer- the aluminum cylinders and base head castings with soft iron seats on cheapest would get some help from the oil/fuel mix also- but most of those engines weren't meant for rebuilding anyway- disposables. The 1960s give or take a few/5 years engines with higher RPM use designed when lead was the standard were the most critical engines - the earliest engine were slower turning, the later engines had the harder seats and some had PCV that had oil vapor being burned instead of vented to outside air like the cars had by 1970. RN

In the most recent edition of Red Power Magazine, a very well-known and well-respected IH author went to great lengths to extoll the virtues of so-called "lead additive."

I put the magazine down and haven't picked it back up since. I may not renew.

save your money you dont need it been using it for over40yrs without any additives

I really doubt there are many original seats left in the engines anymore.

When was this article published?

Just another bottle of stuff that is not needed.

Back in the days before catalytic converters and unleaded fuel, there was a fair amount of engine repairing happening. I was there. Open up an engine that has been run for any length of time on leaded fuel, and you will see buildup of deposits. They will build up in the oil pan, any return passages in the block, the valley in a V-type engine, and every other little crack and crevice.
Today, if you open up an engine, you will find it CLEAN!! As a matter of fact, I noticed this by the time unleaded gasoline became mainstream. There may be some carbonization of the oil, and in some cases some sludge, but nothing like in the old days.

Bottom line: lead is BAD for an engine. Period. Take it from one who has done major engine and transmission work all of his life.

Also note that Amoco has been selling unleaded gasoline for a very long time. Like back into the 1930s if I am not mistaken.

I quit using the snake oil long ago. No more yearly Carb problems.

The snake oil in a bottle has ZERO tetraethyl lead. If you really think you need it, buy some 100LL avgas at your local airport.

There's been no lead in automotive gasoline for roughly 20 years now. If it was really needed by older engines, we would know by now.

I wonder why manufacturers went to hardened valve seats since we don't really need them? I seriously doubt that even a fourth of our old tractors have had the seats replaced with the hardened ones that we don't need anyhow. None of mine have.

Can't help with a source for the additive since I no longer work my gasser's hard enough to need it. Sounds to me like you are so I hope you can find a better source. I would try NAPA.

Thanks for all the help. I was a little concerned with my 1956 IH 300 Utility not using lead additive.