1951 Ferguson Loping problem

have a 1951 Ferguson TO-20. the problem is the loping or jerking when it is being driven. gets worse when up start up hill of pull.
Does it in all gears. including reverse.
govener does not move nor does the engine appear to rev up or down.
do not think it is gear related because if it was once the gear lag would tighten it should be smooth. Gets worse with higher rpm.
in fourth gear going up hill it almost bounces the front tires off the ground.[/u]

Well that tractor has a transmission that is gear to gear and it has to be an engine gov problem since there is no way it can speed up and slow down and lop because of the transmission. Bet you have a gov linkage problem or the carb is set to lean or the gov it self has a problem. Does choking it hurt or help?? When was the last time you checked the air cleaner and dumped the mud and water out of it and filled it with new oil.

Jack it up and put it in gear. See if you have a tire out of round.

engine just rebuilt. everything has been cleaned. even a new oil pump. thanks for your response.

engine a just rebuilt. everything has been cleaned with new oil and filters.

will check the choke. have not tried pulling it out during the process. Carb has been rebuilt.

Just because it has a rebuilt engine and rebuilt carb does not mean every thing is adjusted as it should be or the car to gov linkage isn't binding or other such problem. All it takes is something odd like the gov sticking or the advance in the distributor not working right or even a small piece of dirt or rust in the carb tha twas missed to cause a problem like your having.

I know of a Farmall Cub that when started up the engine surges up and down on RPM but once you choke it for a moment after start up it smooths out and runs just fine and will run fine for hours

An oil soaked clutch can do that. The oil can get onto the clutch from either the engine or transmission. I know that there is nothing wrong with your tractor but something has to be causing it. I had one hopping off the ground on a hard pull due to clutch pulling.

does it smell gassy or black smoke from the exhaust?

Have you pulled each plug wire to see if it is firing on all cylinders?

Sounds like it could be only firing on 2 cylinders, cross wired? Points closed? Valves out of adjustment?

Maybe run a compression test.

Also is good advice on the Ferguson Forum, just down the page a bit.

no not at all. It does not appear that the engine is changing RPMs. The carb linkage is not moving.

I have a TE-20 and if the engine loses gas, it will sputter and slow down immediately in gear. The governor mechanism will move also. Some tests. Does it idle and respond to the throttle with no load and not in gear? Can you hook a PTO driven implement to it and operate it with no hesitation from the motor without it being in gear? If it runs fine doing those things then it might have a problem with the drive train. Jack up one of the rear wheels, lock the clutch down and turn the rear wheel and see if everything turns okay in neutral and with it in all the gears. It should be smooth and the brake should not be binding. Try that on both rear wheels. Hopefully, you have no drive train problems. If you do then the best way to see what is going on is to take the top of the axle housing off. Taking the top off has to be done correctly or you will break the little hydraulic valve. If your problem is with the engine not running right, then do the complete check of the timing and point gap and timing order from the distributor to the plugs. Also, see if the distributor shaft is reasonably tight and not wallowing all around. If they have an engine miss, they sound like a two cylinder John Deere. They are nice little tractors and I hope you find the problem.