Another Loader Tractor Project

I've been shopping for a while for a loader tractor to use around the house. Being cheap there aren't many options, and the ones that are out there for under $3000 generally need a lot of work. After missing out on a few deals from marketplace I went to a farm auction yesterday. 

I was after an International 300 Utility with a backhoe that was said to run and operate in the listing, after getting there and looking it over I noticed it needed a lot of work. Evidence of most of the cylinder seals leaking and some farm repairs on the steering and other systems. 

I figured anything under $2000 would be decent but got caught up in the bidding and ended up winning it for $2500. 

I went back home to get my van and trailer. I knew the weight on this was going to be close or above the limit of my car hauler (dual 3500lb axles) but figured it would be doable. Looking at it next to the other larger tractors made it seem that it would fit lengthwise. 

Back at the auction location (35 miles from home) I got the tractor started and got a tiny bit of movement out of the loader but nothing on the backhoe. Ran to tractor supply for 4 gallons of hydraulic fluid, dumped in 2 gallons and nothing, added the other two and got both the loader and backhoe moving. Drove it across the field to my trailer and as I was lining it up it blew a hydraulic hose right between my legs dumping fluid all over the battery and my leg. I'm not sure what the line does (went to the steering column) but I clamped it off with vise grips and wrapped a towel around it. Got the tractor loaded up and started strapping it down and realized this was an incredibly stupid idea. 

It was a slow drive back on country roads, not wanting to go over 35mph with a few thousand pounds of backhoe hanging off the back of the trailer. The hydraulics leaked down by the time I got home (as I imagined) but the bucket stayed off the ground since I had strapped it. 

First up is going to be rebuilding all of the cylinders on the loader and backhoe as all of them are leaking, some are just pouring fluid. I don't want to add $30 of fluid every time I start it up to move it. A number of hoses will need to be replaced but I have a hydraulic hose crimper and access to cheap hose and fittings and free offcuts of hose if the right size is in the discard bin. Today will be pressure washing decades of built-up grease and getting it into the backyard where it can sit while I remove the cylinders to reseal. 

Also noticed in my quick look last night, the exhaust elbow is cracked and the muffler is too large, just sitting over it. I'm thinking of just making a flange and welding a 90° bend to it instead of buying a new $90 cast elbow. It also seems to be missing the oil cup for the air cleaner as well as the hose from the air cleaner to carb. 

That's a heck of a lot of tractor for the $$$. Now if you can get it functional without doubling your investment...

I've been sort of disappointed that my yard isn't big enough to rationalize even a tiny tractor. This points out to me that I'm also missing whole disciplines of repair skills for one. I mean, I guess I could learn more about hydraulics...

Anyhow, looking forward to enjoying your tractor from a distance.

In reply to Jesse Ransom :

With only 1.25 acres a tractor like this is definitely not necessary but I've always wanted to play with one. I borrowed my girlfriend's parents kubota compact tractor for a bit and that is a much better size for me but I'm not paying $15k for something like that.

The muffler isn't doing much muffling.

Still 6v but converted to negative ground. May do 12v in the future but it came with a fresh battery.

Didn't even think to check the hours before I bought it. Turns out it's a lot.

Today I pressure washed as much of the old grease and dirt off as I could without degreaser and parked it in the back yard. Then I was working in the back yard cutting up some dead trees and clearing brush and couldn't resist using it to haul wood and test out the backhoe. I got a few trips to the woodpile and some test digging with the backhoe before the hydraulics started to get weak from low fluid. At least I know now that everything works. I'll start pulling cylinders to rebuild in the next few weeks. 

Thankfully, all of the seals for those cylinders should be pretty simple/standard and easy to find. Hopefully, none of the rods/bores have been bent or scored to cause constant dripping.

That exhaust leak is just asking for a turbo.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Tractoring. Good one. 

The muffler almost ejected itself in that video!

The barn my wife always rode at used a teensy tiny old Ford tractor that I always lusted over. That one is way too big for me but it does make me want to look for a baby one. 

Can't help but notice that you have three vehicles that I have owned.  Volvo, Mazda, Chevy van, guess I need a tractor now.

hobiercr said:

Thankfully, all of the seals for those cylinders should be pretty simple/standard and easy to find. Hopefully, none of the rods/bores have been bent or scored to cause constant dripping.

That exhaust leak is just asking for a turbo.

I do have a few Volvo turbos that aren't doing any good sitting on the shelf...

I did find a receipt in the shop manual that was included for piston packing for the backhoe cylinders from 1969. I haven't tried to search the part numbers. 

According to the info written down the backhoe is a Wagner model 9016 and the loader is a Henry TS7. 

AxeHealey said:

The muffler almost ejected itself in that video!

The barn my wife always rode at used a teensy tiny old Ford tractor that I always lusted over. That one is way too big for me but it does make me want to look for a baby one. 

Yea, there is a piece of black iron pipe sitting on the manifold outlet that the muffler (loosely) slips over. That is going to be fixed soon. 

akylekoz said:

Can't help but notice that you have three vehicles that I have owned.  Volvo, Mazda, Chevy van, guess I need a tractor now.

It only makes sense to get a tractor. 

In reply to EvanB :

Yeah, you are most likely going to need to tear down the cylinders to really determine what you need. On old stuff like that your chance of finding a rebuild kit are slim to YFR?! If you find any leather packing in there, please swap it out for a good polyurethane equivalent. LMK if you need help identifying any of the parts. 

I think adding an old volvo turbo would be awesome! Don't connect the intake side, just spin the exhaust wheel.

Is this diesel or gas?

Yep, that's the plan, start from the front and pull the cylinders one at a time to tear apart and order seals. Mainly because the front ones are smaller and easier to lift. 

It's a 2.8L gas. It has the torque amplifier so live PTO but currently does not have a PTO or 3-point, that will likely be a parts tractor in the future if I need those parts. 

The current plan with the steering after looking at replacement parts and options is full hydraulic steering with an orbital/power steering valve and two cylinders. Should be much cheaper than used parts or available power assist kits. 

I was thinking no need for a turbo until you said gas, but even then the PTO + 3 point  and other things should come before more power. You have gearing to make up for that, anyway. And  backhoe.

A tractor with a bucket is like having 3 guys who will come over and work without drinking your beer. Backhoe adds another 3 guys.

In reply to paddygarcia :

It definitely doesn't need a turbo, the 40-ish HP will be plenty for what I use it for. 

I had been putting off cutting up a few downed trees since I didn't want to haul the wood across the yard. With the loader it was just a couple trips to dump it next to the wood pile and done, hours of work saved. 

Agreed, 40 is plenty.

Have you owned a tractor before? They offer many novel and exciting ways to maim and/or kill one's self, worth reading up on if you haven't. 

In reply to paddygarcia :

This is the first one I have personally owned. I have spent some time operating smaller tractors but nothing this old or large. Do you have any recommended resources for reading up on safe operating?

I bought my sub compact new. First time i ever drove a real tractor was when the new one was delivered to my house. 
 

They are neat in that it can kill you super easy and has no extra safeties. Even my new one has no safeties other than you have to be on the seat to operate the loader. Just be easy on it and learn how easy it is to flip, roll or dump somthing on yourself. 
 

a loader is like a big strong hammer. The backhoe is like a scalpel. The combo is fantastic. Backhoe to get things free'd up, loader to move big stuff. 

EvanB said:

In reply to paddygarcia :

This is the first one I have personally owned. I have spent some time operating smaller tractors but nothing this old or large. Do you have any recommended resources for reading up on safe operating?

It's been a while but TractorByNet forums were useful to me.

First cylinder off and seals removed, I measured everything and now need to search out replacements. 

The one broken looking seal is possibly a backup washer for the o-ring, but there was only one? 

Not sure how much scoring is acceptable for the rod but I'll see what happens when I get it together. 

For the piston cup seals I am finding some with the correct OD (2.5") and height (1/2") but not the correct ID (1"). The ones I am finding are either too small ID or not listed, is it alright to just get them with the correct ID and cut the center to fit the shaft since that isn't going to be doing any sealing?

not sure about hydraulic cylinders but they can't be much different from motorcycle forks and for that, i'd take some increasingly fine sandpaper and try to smooth that up a bit.   can't make it any worse at least!

Some progress has been made, I rebuilt both front cylinders with help from hobiercr for sourcing seals. I decided to leave the rods alone rather than possibly making them worse. I'm still waiting on a couple fittings before making new hoses for the front loader cylinder but was able to make a couple new hoses today. One to replace the power steering one that burst and one for the backhoe that had a leaking fitting.

I got the remaining fittings needed today and made the hoses for the loader. I'm trying to do JIC where possible to get rid of the pipe connections but the first pipe tee put up such a fight removing it that I left the second one and just did JIC on the cylinder end. The hose on the left is too long since I was roughly going off the old hose that didn't fit well in the first place. I should have taken more time to size it correctly but I can cut it down a put a new fitting on it later if it really bothers me. 

I also noticed that the one of the loader arms is a bit bent, which explains why it isn't sitting quite straight. 

I'm not sure if the power steering originally had hard lines or not but the hydraulic hoses for it are not ideal. I was able to clean up the routing of the new one I made a bit by using a 90 and 45, the old one had straight fittings and the hose was in hard contact with the fuel tank and stuck out well into the battery area. It still isn't great but better than before.