Well we finally had some time this afternoon to give the auction M some work and see how she does. Sunny and warm today but their calling for 3 days of rain so I figured it was a good time to plow our garden spot for fall. I waited till son got home from school and we traded places, today hes the camera man for me! He not quite ready to operate yet. The M ran really good no noises, no sputtering it seemed to pull great! The quick hitch I put on seem to be fine hooking up was pretty easy. We did notice a couple of item that will need attention. We have a hydraulic leak at one of the cylinders. Looks like its at the fitting for the hose so hopefully that wont be a big deal. The radiator sprung a leak just as I was finishing up. I guess it could just be over full and boiled out a little. I could see it dripping out but I just checked and it still full so not sure on that one. Im pretty aggravated at these last 2 items. The brand new temperature gauge we put in doesnt work!! We ran it for about an hour ( plenty of time to come up to operating temp) nothing on the gauge. The tractor ran fine it didnt overheat or anything but it would sure be nice if a brand new gauge could tell me that! Not sure what we will do with that yet. The last problem I have no idea how to set this plow up!!! I got the ground turned over but its about the worst plow job Ive ever seen! Im going to add a new post on that so if you can help please look for that above this post. Other than these little item Im very pleased at how the tractor performed. We couldnt have gotten to this point without all of you! Me and son thank you, and as always we appreciate you thoughts and help! To be continued.

Glad the tractor is working. As for the plow everything in the ground should be shinny. Stan

For the temp gauge put it in some water and heat on the stove as the heat rises check temp with a candy thermometer watch what happens on your gauge. I don't see the temperature gauge move on our H and it is the original from new. Some of our other IH tractors don't move either on the temp gauge when running. This is why I say put the bulb in some water and heat on the stove while reading candy thermometer and watching gauge.
Plowing never is smoth with first turned sod. Also if you have build up on the moldboards it will not turn over good so will leave it rough and sloppy looking. Nothing a good disking will not cure.

Stan,
Good point. We just pick up this plow a couple of months ago and its definitely not shiny! I wish I had some sand ground to pull it through and scour it.

Caterpillar guy,
Im probably going to have to test the temp gauge as you suggest. As for the plowing this is the second year that we have had a garden in this spot but our weather was so crazy this year the weeds and grass took over so it might as well be first turned sod! I did have build up on the moldboards I should have stopped and and cleaned them off. I had the same thought about discing the snot out of it in the spring!

Does the tractor have a thermostat? Without one it will run cold and the temp gauge may not register.

A plow will scour in any dirt it just needs time to wear the rust off. We never sand grind or anything else on them. They also will scour better in dryer conditions as it doesn't tend to stick to the moldboard like when wet. Just scrape the plow off a few times as you go or wait till it drys out more to plow it.

I am with DRussel I do not remember the degree you had taken the tractor apart. If I remember right you did not open up the cooling system so the missing or stuck open thermostat is a good possibility. I see you have a light jacket on while plowing. If the temp was low enough for that the above mentioned would likely keep the gauge from coming up.

Used red MN , DRussel

Thats a good point. You are correct. I did not take the cooling system apart. I had originally planned to open it up to check the thermostat, but when we got the tractor it came full to the brim with really clean good looking antifreeze. Also once we got it running I took the radiator cap off on start up with a cold engine, and I could see the antifreeze was circulating through the radiator. At this point Im thinking the best course is to not tear it apart just run it and keep an eye on it. Thank you.