IH 330 Utility, new to me

So this funny thing happened this week and i sold my IH scout plow truck and picked up a 330 Utility. I don't know much about tractors, but we have a property with 5 acres, about 1/2 wooded, live in NH, do a fair amount of chainsaw work, and move snow from the drive.


I didn't pay much, and got it delivered to my house. It runs happily but definitely needs from TLC. I'm a member of the OWWM forums and thats a great resource for old woodworking tools, so i thoght I'd happen on here and join this community.

I would love any advice/stories/motivations/cautions you would like to share.


Tires on their way out. I'm told the years are loaded.

One of the pistons is reasonably leaky.

I'm getting chains today.

Someone put this loader on there and seemed to give it some love a few years back. I bought it from a guy that cleaned the fuel lines and converted to 12V.

It has a clever plow mount attachment where the blade floats on a pin mounted in the bucket.

PTO seems to hook up to a hydraulic pump. I'm not sure what hitch type this is.

Probably a "Fast Hitch" using two sockets and 2 prongs to make the connection to an implement. sockets on the tractor and prongs on the implement.
Arguably the best design for attaching tools the the back of a small to medium tractor ever invented as the operator never needs to get off the seat to
attach or disconnect the tool. IHC failed in that the (stupidly) wanted sole posession of the sales of implements and did not license the mount design
so it failed to gain market share. There are plenty of tools remaining, in various states of repair, to use with it. The tractor is handy as sliced
bread. THis Forum and YT can assist in every direction. Welcome to our platform. Jim (I have over 32000 posts!!)

I have a IH factory loader for a 330 it for sale cheap still on tractor works very well

Congrats on your "new-to-you" tractor. Just a couple observations- Changing rear tires, especially loaded ones, is a job for the pros unless you are equipped for it. A tractor tire outfit can unload the tires, save the fluid, and put it back in the new tires- you'll end up running it out on the ground. And be sure to get new tubes, too.

As for the leaky piston, I'd run it as is, unless the blue cloud is stampeding the livestock or causing folks in neighboring counties to call the fire department. Those kinds of projects seem to get a life of their own as you get further into them, and pretty soon you've put 3 grand into a thousand dollar tractor.

I thought the leaky piston was a hydraulic cylinder. Probably could be either. We will find out I am sure. Jim

Nice tractors. You will get a lot of service from it.There is a lot of good onfo here,draw from it and learn. However,The very next thing to do is order a set of books. Owners;service; parts.They will answer questions you didn't even know to ask.At about 100 bucks for all,the cheapest,most useful thing you will ever buy for your new tractor.BinderBooks;JenSales; this site;Ebay are all good scources for books.Happy tractoring!

Most important thing you can do. Does your tractor have power steering?? If it
does go to the left side of the tractor and get down on your knees. Look at the
steering unit just in front of the battery. See that pipe plug, unscrew it and
pour some lite gear oil in there. So many of these steering units have been
destroyed because they run dry. If anyone in a manual says a different type of
oil please chime in.

I have a 300u that I grew up on; it is basically the same except for the engine. I thought the 330u s had their own live hydraulic pump, mounted in front of the distributer. But you don't have a rear hitch--so-- maybe not. With that weight box it is dedicated to being a loader only, you can't have a bush hog, or a rear blade, and maybe no drawbar. I would not worry about tires unless they are leaking. And if they are loaded, probably no chains, with all that weight box has in it, but, chains do help! Basically you have good tractor, the 340u is it's successor, and I think the 330u will serve you well. Mark.

Not a fast hitch, just a standard IH loop draw bar with a stone box (hopefully) bolted to it. Jim

Wow you guys are awesome. I'm gonna answer a few questions that were asked and ask a few more... I'm happy for any wisdom at all.

The leak i was referring to is one of the hydraulic cylinders for the loader arms. Loader works, it just drips a bit. I'm hoping that's a straight forward seals and wiper type thing.

I need to diagram out the hydraulics (and the electrical for that matter) . It seems like everything is running off that PTO pump.

No power steering.

None of the gauges are hooked up

Tires are holding air. We've got a couple shops locally that do this sort of thing, so, i'm happy leaving that to the pros.

Can we talk about this oil filled air filter thing?! I've never heard of anything like this. I bought the tractor with the air filter off. I surprised as heck when i took it apart and found it packed with this steel wool type thing and stuffed. I filled it with degreaser and soaked over night, then sprayed with brake cleaner. It seems to be fairly free breathing now. Do we all still run these? Or should i figure out how to swap this for a pleated paper filter?

Chains went on yesterday. I did the best i could with 2 hands, seems to me with 4-6 hands you could probably get them tighter. But ladder chains over ag tires seems tricky. Huge improvement though. It did just fine without them except for the ice on the drive, which it now just purrs over.

I did a quick forum search and i have come across some different answers. The lube chart for this tractor suggests getting hydraulic fluid from the dealer. People seem to say that Hy-tran is the thing to use. I've got some AW32 on hand. Given i've got a leak, i'm sorta inclined to just keep her topped off with that and do a fluid swap on a warm day after i've repaired the hydraulic cylinder seals.

hi,those oil bath air cleaners are 10x better than dry filters,and all you have to do is change out the oil once or twice a year,and replace or clean the element every 25 years and you are good..as for the hydraulic/trans oil i would use travellar premium hy tran from tsc

Yes those air filters are very good only replaced with the other type beause the other was cheaper to make and people were too dunb to understand that you were to check the filter daily, same as the pleated paper, in very dirty dusty conditions. Working like that you droped the oil cannister and looked at the oil if it looked clean then you stuck your finger to bottom to see if and dirt down on the bottom. If none you put things back together. If dirt showing then change oil and washout bottom of cup. But in actuall use in very dirty working conditions and 12 hour working conditions it was unusual to need to clean things. But under some conditions it can suck the oil into the engine and burn it so check level when checking for dirt and keep it at the mark on side of cup. Over fill will draw the oil into the engine. The pleated paper filter did not start to show up untill the 60's and did not come popular untill the 70's. Untill that time on cars and trucks it was the oil bath filter. Even tho book says to use same oil as in engine just use cheapest motor oil you can find, no use in putting in the high priced oil when it does not need any of the aditives.

You did not mention it, but did you fill the cup on your air filter/breather with engine oil up to the mark? That oil is THE filter. And the 'steel wool' needs some oil soaked into it. The cup will accumulate dirt that settles to the bottom. I usually check/change this when I do an oil change.
I am very curious about if there was/is an engine mounted hydraulic pump. It would be in front of the distributer with 2 lines that would run back to the reservoir under the seat. I would use Hy tran or Shell spirex. Mark.

Super helpful thank you.

Well the oil breather seemed pretty stuffed up, but after some degreaser and brake cleaner it seems to be reasonably free blowing. I'll mount 'er up this week and see how it all runs. There seem to be holes drilled in the side marking the level.

Have not ordered my manuals yet, but that is next.

On a warm(er) day, i'll try to get some close ups and sketch up the hydraulic and electrical stuff.

hey all, so i noticed an issue. I've got my air filter off and i see fuel slowly dropping out of my carb where the air intake would go. The carb's got some RTV around it a bit, so i'm guessing its been rebuilt at some point.

I'm about to order the manuals from this site, but I'm thinking i might also like to order a rebuild kit (or even a new carb-- it is cold AF this week and it's not that fun to be out there before work in the early AM).

Question 1: how do i know what carb i have? Looks like zenith or marveL? Is there a PN stamped into this thing somewhere?

Question 2: any good suggestions for references for tuning the carb after rebuild/install? I've tuned chainsaw carbs, but never done anything like this. Maybe this is in the service manual?

OK, so i can just about barely read the "Zenith" and "made in USA" raised print.

Is this as easy as ordering any ol zenith rebuild kit and google/youtubing my way through?

What is meant be reversible linkage on these? Is that so we can move the throttle to linkage to the other side? I noticed mine looks backwards from the ones they sell on this site.

The air cleaner was likely removed because fuel is leaking past the float needle, causing the engine to flood. With the air cleaner removed the excess fuel can run out.

Zenith made/makes dozens of different models of carburetor so no it is not as simple as just getting any old Zenith kit. It's only slightly less simple: You want a Zenith carburetor kit for the International 330. Don't worry about the "reversible" stuff as it is not relevant on this tractor. There is no reason or advantage to reverse anything on the carburetor.

(quoted from post at 06:31:48 01/22/20) The air cleaner was likely removed because fuel is leaking past the float needle, causing the engine to flood. With the air cleaner removed the excess fuel can run out.

Click to expand...

You might be totally right. This might sound foolish to some of you, but i think what I'd like to do is order a carb to drop in, and then rebuild the one that's in there at my leisure and keep as a spare.

I also noticed on the YT parts page under my tractor category they seem to offer a lot of filters. Apart from the glass ball, i don't see anything in line that would do much filtering.

Sorry for the dumb questions, my manuals should arrive in a few days...

(quoted from post at 06:31:48 01/22/20)
Zenith made/makes dozens of different models of carburetor so no it is not as simple as just getting any old Zenith kit. It's only slightly less simple: You want a Zenith carburetor kit for the International 330. Don't worry about the "reversible" stuff as it is not relevant on this tractor. There is no reason or advantage to reverse anything on the carburetor.

Click to expand...

Ok, so here's a question. YT has two zenith rebuild kits listed under the IH 330, and they look pretty different. Can anyone tell which kit aligns with my carb from the shape differences?

I can't find a model or SN on the carb.

https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/Farmall-330_Carburetor-Kit-Basic_K2119.html

and

https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/Farmall-330_Carburetor-Kit-Basic_BK44V.html

I think i got this... I punched the first of each zenith model number into google and found this site that has all sorts of carb info. https://www.carburetion.com/CarbNumber.asp?Number=13339

From a picture comparison, mine looks a lot more like the 13876 so i'll order the YT rebuild kit for that....

Seem right?

Not sure if anyone is reading this thread anymore, but i could really use some quick knowledge.

Replaced my oil filter and cannot get the freaking housing to seal on the new o-ring. It's leaking a lot. I'm losing my mind.

wisdom is great if you got it..

If people are using Classic View, the thread gets lost as the start date is old.

That looks to be the correct Zenith carb as the other one is a side draft.

For the oil filter, there is probably an old o-ring stuck in the groove that the housing fits in. Remove the filter and take a pick in the groove and there should be nothing but the base metal in there.

I agree. Probably a second gasket in the groove. Very common problem. The old gasket can be petrified, so it feels almost like you're down to the steel but if you take an ice pick or even a nail, and give it a little tap, it will drive into the old gasket.

(quoted from post at 06:32:07 02/06/20) I agree. Probably a second gasket in the groove. Very common problem. The old gasket can be petrified, so it feels almost like you're down to the steel but if you take an ice pick or even a nail, and give it a little tap, it will drive into the old gasket.

Click to expand...

Well done! I wouldn't believe it if i didn't see it with my own eyes. I got in there with a micro screw driver and solvent spray and dug for 20 minutes or so until this old o-ring magically peeled out!

OK, so that was a moment of elation for me. Next, i installed my filter, topped off my oil, plugged my coi leads and one of my spark plug leads back in (since they were more or less in the way for getting at the filter housing gasket). Then...i went to start the tractor, and instead of the usual wonderful fire up, i got a bit of a slow crank and some weird popping sounds from my battery leads as it boiled off some of the snow.

End result--- my ground battery lead melted in half, my tractor won't crank, and there is a 0.5kohm path from my positive terminal to my negative terminal with the battery removed from the circuit (but maybe that's high enough not to worry?)

All this from changing my oil filter. If we work back from things I've actually touched since yesterday when this fired up and purred like a jungle cat... i had to move some wires around to get at the filter housing. One is a small gauge wire going to my 12V-6V converter on my coil, one spark plug wire where it plugged into the distributor, and one wire of medium gauge with braided insulation that runs apparently from up near the ignition to something just up front on the top part of the engine near the radiator.

I've got a call into a local repair guy. I'm guessing i'm in over my head right now and something is either burnt out or seized.

Not a good last 24 hrs for me. Usually i'm smiling away moving snow on days like these.. ugh.