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Cause of Tractor Damage

A

arsones

New User
I'm a writer working on a story involving some repairs to an Allis Chalmers 5050. Thing is, I don't know a whole lot about tractors! So I need some input:

What's a tiny part on a tractor that, if broken, loosened, etc, could cause a lot of damage? For instance, I've heard a broken valve stem on some John Deeres can cause the wheel to come loose, but I'm not sure if Allis Chalmers have the same setup with the uncovered valve stems.

Any suggestions welcome. Thanks!
 
It was not an Allis but.... A bolt head broke off of a keeper in the final drive of one of our MF tractors once. The bolt head fell down into the gears of the final drive and locked up one of the rear wheels.
We had to completely take apart the right side of the rear end and replace most of the final drive.
 


I can't imagine a broken valve stem causing anything to happen with a tire, But if an exhaust or intake valve in any 4 stroke engine "drops" because a tiny retainer gives up, it will pretty much ruin the motor. There are many other examples. There are small parts in timing chain tensioners that will cause catastrophic failure of the motor if broken. A small screw could be ingested by a turbo and do thousands in damage. Failure of soma small parts in a diesel injection pump could cause the motor to go to full self destruct RPMs
 
Arsones. If a person freshly did an oil change and loosely put the oil pan nut back on, it would slowly leak until the crankcase was empty of oil. Then of course
the engine would over heat and lock up. A small action causing a huge result. Wingnut
 
The valve stem is an internal part of the engine that wouldn't directly affect the wheels. It could shut the engine off but that is all. If you are looking for a word that is related to a wheel coming off then a Wheel Stud might work. It's the bolts like on a car
you put lug nuts on.
 
If you are talking about the tire valve stem, no it won't cause the wheel to come loose. Cause a flat, yes, just like any other tire.

The most common cause of loosing a wheel is the lug nuts run loose, the wheel clamp to the axle comes lose, or sudden unexpected failure when an axle breaks.

Any number of small things can cause expensive damage. Oil leaks, coolant leaks, fire from electrical shorts or fuel leaks (sometimes caused by mouse nests or chewing).

The most common disasters are nearly always operator error, neglect, or unsafe modifications.

Murphy never sleeps! Anything and everything that can go wrong, will eventually!
 
Failure to tighten one connecting rod cap during a engine repair. The cap could be partially tight and look OK but the tractor might run for a few
days until the cap came off. then the engine would fail with multi thousand dollar damage. All it takes is 10 seconds of distraction. the worst part
is that it seems fine for a few hours or even a day. Jim
what it is
 
Brother-in-Law had a big Allis Chalmers
that needed a major engine rebuild, so
during the winter it went to a
dealership's shop. A bunch of $$$ was
invested in a complete engine re-build.
Spring planting was nearly done when,
without a warning of any kind, a
connecting rod made an unauthorized exit
through the side of the engine block. It
less than 30 hours of use since a mother
major rebuild. Seems that rod cap bolts
were supposed to be reptaced, but rebuild
invoices did not show that they were. It
took all summer to locate a replacement
block as the engine was a one-of-a-kind
application in that particular front
wheel assist model tractor.
 
Some of the smallest parts in an engine are the valve keepers. It takes two of them to lock each valve in place. It doesn't happen often but if a valve keeper let's go the valve drops into the cylinder and will do serious damage to the piston, head or even the cylinder wall or liner as well.
 

I appreciate your answer, Wingnut. What would it look/feel like when the engine did start to overheat? And wouldn't you know, either from the signs or from the dashboard, that it was overheating in time to turn it off and take a look?
 
Thank you for this! What kind of damage are we talking? Damage to the engine? Would that damage be noticeable immediately?

This post was edited by arsones on 08/06/2021 at 07:39 pm.
 

Yep I definitely misheard/misremembered that thing about the valve stem--please ignore! :oops: :lol: I appreciate everyone's answers. And my condolences to all of you that have had the misfortune to live through one of these accidents!
 
(quoted from post at 18:38:59 08/06/21) Thank you for this! What kind of damage are we talking? Damage to the engine? Would that damage be noticeable immediately?

If an engine overheats due to no engine oil it's a matter of time in minutes or within an hour's time if it's at all performing work it will seize up from lack of lubrication, it will no longer be turning over. It's common that the engine starts knocking prior to seizing up. In the event of "dropping a valve" there will be a big bang, if it is still able to turn over the damage to the head will allow for coolant to get into the internals of the engine. Some engines become damaged beyond repair, others can be rescued but with extensive repair.
Click to expand...
 
(quoted from post at 22:13:54 08/06/21)
(quoted from post at 18:38:59 08/06/21) Thank you for this! What kind of damage are we talking? Damage to the engine? Would that damage be noticeable immediately?

If an engine overheats due to no engine oil it's a matter of time in minutes or within an hour's time if it's at all performing work it will seize up from lack of lubrication, it will no longer be turning over. It's common that the engine starts knocking prior to seizing up. In the event of "dropping a valve" there will be a big bang, if it is still able to turn over the damage to the head will allow for coolant to get into the internals of the engine. Some engines become damaged beyond repair, others can be rescued but with extensive repair.
Click to expand...


Nordic, "tiny part on a tractor that, if broken, loosened, etc, could cause a lot of damage" appears to eliminate lack of oil. I think that Arsones was pretty clear.
Click to expand...
 
(quoted from post at 03:00:53 08/07/21)
(quoted from post at 22:13:54 08/06/21)
(quoted from post at 18:38:59 08/06/21) Thank you for this! What kind of damage are we talking? Damage to the engine? Would that damage be noticeable immediately?

If an engine overheats due to no engine oil it's a matter of time in minutes or within an hour's time if it's at all performing work it will seize up from lack of lubrication, it will no longer be turning over. It's common that the engine starts knocking prior to seizing up. In the event of "dropping a valve" there will be a big bang, if it is still able to turn over the damage to the head will allow for coolant to get into the internals of the engine. Some engines become damaged beyond repair, others can be rescued but with extensive repair.
Click to expand...


Nordic, "tiny part on a tractor that, if broken, loosened, etc, could cause a lot of damage" appears to eliminate lack of oil. I think that Arsones was pretty clear.
Click to expand...

showcrop: I get the point you are making, let me clarify, arsones expressed appreciation to wingnuttx for his point about losing the oil due to the plug missing with the consequence of engine damage. Further down arsones requests more detail about engine damage that may be incurred, this is what I was addressing in my above post. arsones stated that he is new to all this and wishes for some pointers on the subject. I was not purposely changing the subject.
Click to expand...
 

No worries here, I do appreciate the info. And allow me to rephrase the question slightly: What could a person with little strength, skill, or time (say, a child) do that might seem small but would end up causing real damage? Loosen a bolt somewhere? Or, more along the lines of draining the oil, what would happen if sand or mud was put in the air filter...?

Thanks for bearing with me, folks...
 
(quoted from post at 20:43:24 08/07/21)
No worries here, I do appreciate the info. And allow me to rephrase the question slightly: What could a person with little strength, skill, or time (say, a child) do that might seem small but would end up causing real damage? Loosen a bolt somewhere? Or, more along the lines of draining the oil, what would happen if sand or mud was put in the air filter...?

Thanks for bearing with me, folks...
Click to expand...

These are true stories, feel free to use if you please.

A friend has his 5 year old grandson over for a week, he loved going for rides on the side by side, quad, tractor etc but it seemed every time before he and his grandfather could go for a ride a jerry can of fuel was required to fill the fuel tank.

The next day when they were going to go check cattle the quad would not run right nor would the side by side, after a while the grandson said they should work I filled them all up this morning.
Problem was he used his grandma's flower watering can and water from the hydrant to fill the tanks.

Our own boys have done their share when they were young as well, I was about ready to replace the hydraulic pump on a Case garden tractor when I discovered several rocks in the hydraulic tank that were just the right size to block the oil flow when you hit a bump just right.

Another time sister in law and brother in law stopped by for a quick visit as they were passing by our area on their Harleys.
When they went to leave they discovered the keys to both bikes were missing and no matter how hard you tried the boys 3 and 4 years old at the time would not reveal where they put the keys, we had to hot wire both bikes.
 
Mud could plug the pickup screen on the oil pump and within an hour, bearings could be seized due to lack of oil. Sand would grind rod bearings and other parts
but would not result in an immediate engine failure. Another thing a child might do, on a gasoline tractor, is switch around the wires on the distributor cap.
While it wouldn't cause a major failure, it certainly would make the tractor not run.
 

Would any parts need to be replaced? I'm trying to get a good grasp on how sand damage effects the ability of the engine to function, even, say, after it's been cleaned out.
 

This is a hard question, especially as it relates to tractors.

In general, tractors are designed to last a long time due to their overall build quality. They are made to be heavy, rugged and handle a lot of "abuse" while not working that hard to do it.

I own 2 Allis-Chalmers and can't think of a part off the top of my head that if it fails, it would cause a lot of damage. There is a small tube on my WD45 Diesel that goes into each oil filter. It's only about 4 inches long but they are prone to clogging up sometimes. I suppose if this little tube fails you could not get proper oil filtration, which would then cause some serious engine wear.
 
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