New toy, and a few questions

docmirror

Well-known Member
I just picked up a Ford 961 with trip bucket loader for dirt cheap. It'll crank but not start. I've found the coil primary resistance about 3 ohms which is way too high and the secondary about 4k ohms which is low. Will repl that and clean carb see if it will start.

Questions;
1. My rear tires are filled almost completely with what appears to be water. It made it over the TX freeze in Feb without tearing a tire, so there's some air in there, but I'm wondering if there is a limit to the amount of water, or if I should drain some out? It's really heavy back there.

2. The loader is primitive. It appears there is only up-force on the lift arms, and just drain back going down. There is no hyd up to the bucket, and it just has the huge trip arm to release. However, I do have two hyd handles on the loader control below and in front of the seat. Only one has a hose on it. The other control piston has the hyd port blocked off. I'm assuming I can run a ram, and hose to that blocked off port and have bucket lift control, just like the loader arms? But, I won't have pressure down, and will just rely on the hyd to stay where it is in the down(forward) position until I hit the lever for it to go back up?

3. Power steering fluid recommendations? ATF? Hyd trans fluid? Actual Auto Zone 'power steering fluid'?

I will have a few picks later today.
 
A set of points can only survive a current flow of 5 amps, maximum, and with a system
voltage of 7.5 or so with the engine running and the generator charging properly, your
6V coil primary resistance should be around 1.5-2 ohms.

Forget measuring resistance. Very few ohmmeters are that accurate. Instead measure the
voltage at coil. You want 6v at coil and 6v across the ballast works for my Jubilee.

3 ohms you may have a 12v coil. no ballast needed.

Bottom line, measure the current. I think most primary currents are about 4 amps.

My Jubilee measures 4 amps, 6v on coil and 6v on ballast. Points last a very long
time. Excessive current and you will complain they don't make points like they used
to..
 
the proper fill level for fluid filled
tires, is fluid filled up to roughly
1 below the top of rim (when tire is
inflated). The remaining space filled
with air pressure. This allows the
fluid to roll over the top of rim in a
water fall manner when tractor is in
motion. If the level of fluid is not
right, either air or fluid will travel
around with wheel motion and create a
severe imbalance of the wheel in
motion.
Most fluid in fluid filled tire use is
calcium chloride (an additive to water
that eliminates freezing and adds even
more weight to the water). Kind of
looks like water, but will crystalize
if allowed to dry. Its very corrosive
to metal, so some people use
antifreeze and what not instead (but
way more expensive). In the extreme
south in the U.S., people may use
straight water, but where I'm at you
can't, because of freeze concerns in
winter.
 
Ford recommends hydraulic oil meeting CNH 134D (or later) specs but many folks do use Type F ATF fluid. No doubt the PS system is very badly contaminated with water. You will need to flush it with clean fluid
many times to clear it out. Don't forget to change the filter beneath the oil in the PS pump reservoir (Eaton pump). If the PS pump belt has been removed (not uncommon) either the system leaks badly, the pump
has failed, or both.

If your tractor has two hydraulic control handles beneath the seat and beside the lift control handle, it has a dual spool remote valve. There are various types but all allow operation of a remote cylinder
with either spool. Note, FEL operation will be slow using the tractor mounted 3-4 GPM pump but this is how it was done for decades.

961 tractors have become popular with Ford collectors in recent years.

Dean
 
(quoted from post at 06:41:53 09/22/21) A set of points can only survive a current flow of 5 amps, maximum, and with a system
voltage of 7.5 or so with the engine running and the generator charging properly, your
6V coil primary resistance should be around 1.5-2 ohms.

Forget measuring resistance. Very few ohmmeters are that accurate. Instead measure the
voltage at coil. You want 6v at coil and 6v across the ballast works for my Jubilee.

3 ohms you may have a 12v coil. no ballast needed.

Bottom line, measure the current. I think most primary currents are about 4 amps.

My Jubilee measures 4 amps, 6v on coil and 6v on ballast. Points last a very long
time. Excessive current and you will complain they don't make points like they used
to..

Wow, you make a lot of assumptions. The coil is junk, it was not a 12V coil, and there is/was no ballast. I have a Fluke model 87V with 0.1% +- accuracy, and four digits. So, I know what I know, and have tested the coil is junk. It was replaced, and the carb cleaned and the engine starts fine now, but I have some sediment in the tank, which is my next concern.
 
(quoted from post at 07:15:21 09/22/21) the proper fill level for fluid filled
tires, is fluid filled up to roughly
[b:ba92da37aa]1 below the top of rim[/b:ba92da37aa] (when tire is
inflated). The remaining space filled
with air pressure. This allows the
fluid to roll over the top of rim in a
water fall manner when tractor is in
motion. If the level of fluid is not
right, either air or fluid will travel
around with wheel motion and create a
severe imbalance of the wheel in
motion.
Most fluid in fluid filled tire use is
calcium chloride (an additive to water
that eliminates freezing and adds even
more weight to the water). Kind of
looks like water, but will crystalize
if allowed to dry. Its very corrosive
to metal, so some people use
antifreeze and what not instead (but
way more expensive). In the extreme
south in the U.S., people may use
straight water, but where I'm at you
can't, because of freeze concerns in
winter.

1 - what measure? I will test for CaCl2.
 
(quoted from post at 07:34:23 09/22/21) Ford recommends hydraulic oil meeting CNH 134D (or later) specs but many folks do use Type F ATF fluid. No doubt the PS system is very badly contaminated with water. You will need to flush it with clean fluid
many times to clear it out. Don't forget to change the filter beneath the oil in the PS pump reservoir (Eaton pump). If the PS pump belt has been removed (not uncommon) either the system leaks badly, the pump
has failed, or both.

If your tractor has two hydraulic control handles beneath the seat and beside the lift control handle, it has a dual spool remote valve. There are various types but all allow operation of a remote cylinder
with either spool. Note, FEL operation will be slow using the tractor mounted 3-4 GPM pump but this is how it was done for decades.

961 tractors have become popular with Ford collectors in recent years.

Dean

Yeah, I'm gonna flush the PS system. I don't know where the filter is but I have the book, so I'll find it and see if it can be replaced. See pics for the spool valve setup. I would like to add the ram to the bucket so it doesn't just slam dump, and I can be more gentle, and also retract it easy rather than bang it on the ground to latch.

I will likely use 134D Because I have a 5 gal bucket with some after I get it cleaned out.
 
few pics.

mvphoto82205.jpg
 
Spool with ports blocked. With two ports, this may have pressure up and down with two lines to the ram? That would be nice.
mvphoto82207.jpg
 
I spent a few hours getting the ign and fuel system sorted out somewhat. It starts and runs ok, but I'm fighting a fuel delivery issue now. The white pipe was used to measure the fuel flow over time, and it's not enough to keep the engine running at full throttle. It dies off around 1800 and sputters. I'm sure the petcock screen is clogged, and the inside of the tank is rusty. I'm getting red dust in the sediment bowl. Other than that, it's a nice running tractor for a few bucks. The prev owner gave up trying to keep it running.

mvphoto82208.jpg
 
I've discovered something that fits into the issue I'm having. The fuel petcock and fuel line was increased on the 901 series tractors from SN 126525 and newer. Clearly the original 1/4" fittings and lines was not supplying enough fuel in all conditions to the carb.

I currently have the smaller fuel fittings and I'm considering retrofitting up to the 5/16" line, and getting a new sediment bowl also. Plus, I still need to resolve the sediment in the system no matter the larger fuel line. Once that's resolved, I'm sure it'll run just fine all the way up to full throttle.
 

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