as the dirt turns....(or the 140 is alive again!)

Posted by Mitch in NC on April 25, 2003 at 14:01:24 from (209.215.45.88):

Just over a year ago, I became the proud owner of my first tractor, a 1962 140. I was in Farmall heaven. I commenced t'breaking ground and planting veggies. Soon after that, due to my ignorance (which is a whole 'nother story), an old crack in the block reopened and left me with an acre of vegetable seed in the ground and no tractor. Now, an acre don't seem like much, but it's a whole lot more than I wanted to do with a tiller and 5hp mule plow.

Anyhow, I studied you guys' forum for a year while I anxiously awaited this years income tax refund. What a wealth of information!

Now, keep in mind that I'm not a collector or restorer....I just needed a good veggie tractor. As grace would have it, I met a local guy with a 140 that had been driven into a canal 4 years ago, busting off the front end. My new friend sold me his complete engine for $500. So, never having worked on a Farmall before, but reading from this forum, my son and I had a wonderful time switching engines, replacing the clutch package and rebuilding the steering box (which had over 1/2 turn of slop initially). Now, all my land is planted, and I can hardly wait to begin cultivating and side-dressing.

I just wanted to share with you guys a few things learned from this experience. Maybe someone else might benefit from it.

1 - As anxious as you may be to get your tractor running, take your time and think repairs through first. Be safe, price things from several places, and be sure that you actually need what you think you need.

2 - If you aren't sure how to do whatever it is that you're fixin' to do, ASK QUESTIONS! You can do a lot more damage sometimes if you don't know what you're doing. I learned a long time ago that pride is a costly item and humility is cheap, if not free.

3 - There are at least 3 plates on the C-123 engine that are not flat and need sanding to seal properly. I found that the rear crankshaft oil seal retainer halves and the oil pump bottom plate had to be sanded. Place a piece of 100 grit paper face up on a hard flat surface, and sand the flat side of those parts down, working your way up in grit until you get a true surface. You can true these surfaces up with not too much trouble, but I believe they will eventually leak again if you don't. Doing the pump bottom alone brought my oil pressure up from 25 to 60 psi.

4 - And most importantly. Fuel, Fire (at the right time) and Compression! I could not get that 6 volt Farmall to crank and run good for 2 whole days. I would come back and re-read what I had already read. Fuel, Fire and Compression. Ended up setting/checking timing over and over, replacing the plugs, points, condenser, rotor and cap, removing/switching carbs 6,000 times, cleaning out tank and installing an inline filter, but it sure was satisfying when she revived! All that stuff didn't cost alot anyhow, and would've needed changing soon anyhow. I ended up rebuilding the Zenith and replacing the coil to get the soot out of the exhaust, but that was after the tractor had been working for a couple of weeks.

I know this was long, but there it is. And it didn't cost ya a dime. Come see us.

Mitch

Follow Ups:

• Re: as the dirt turns....(or the 140 is alive again!) Tom Coughlin 06:51:55 04/26/03 (1)
  • Re: Re: as the dirt turns....(or the 140 is alive again!) Mitch in NC 12:01:35 04/27/03 (0)
• Re: as the dirt turns....(or the 140 is alive again!) Hugh MacKay 03:37:57 04/26/03 (1)
  • Re: Re: as the dirt turns....(or the 140 is alive again!) Mitch in NC 12:05:18 04/27/03 (0)

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