Posted by Eric72 on June 29, 2011 at 21:02:53 from (69.183.55.16):
Hi, great forum here btw, lots of excellent advice from friendly folks.
I"m hoping for some guidance for a young couple who are just getting started in farming and who bought a Farmall A that unfortunately has some problems. They apparently jumped into buying the tractor without the benefit of having a mechanic check it out, and they also didn"t realize the significance of the lack of hydraulics, and were surprised that there seems to be few implements available for it.
It has a nice paint job, though, sheet metal in very good shape, starts easily, actually runs fairly well (except for the clouds of steam from rad after not running too long) and seems in pretty good shape overall. Electrical system seems in very good shape, and tires good. Very good oil pressure.
After the problems with the tractor became obvious, they contacted the seller about returning it, but he isn"t having any of it. They paid $2000.
They now have a case of buyers remorse and are looking to sell the tractor and get as much money out of it as they can.
The most obvious problem is that there is a significant leak from the radiator, near the top. There"s no way to continue running the tractor since it spits out most of its water before long. That would seem an obvious fix - take it to a radiator shop to be soldered. Am I missing anything on that?
Also, the cap fits very loosely on the radiator and doesn"t seal at all. Is it important to replace it?
A bigger concern is the results of a compression test I just ran for them. Dry compression numbers are, from front to back: 80, 88, 92, 97. From what I"ve read here, the normal range is 90 to 120, is that correct?
Wet compression numbers (after adding oil) seem to show that the rings are the main problem; again from front to back: 105, 105, 100, 101.
The plugs don"t look too bad and don"t show signs of head gasket troubles. They all show rich mixture, and the front cyl is passing some oil, but not too much.
Oh, and the Marvel Schebler carb is leaking fuel from the main bowl/body joint. I couldn"t see any signs of a gasket there, so that could be the problem (duh). They said the seller claimed the carb had been "rebuilt" recently, but I"m thinking the seller"s word is something less than trustworthy.
So a few questions, besides the advice on the rad leak and cap:
1. Are the front cyls are bad enough that they require replacement of sleeves and pistons/rings before the tractor can be worked? How much should they expect to pay to have that work done in Connecticut?
2. About how much would the tractor be worth as is vs after new sleeves/pistons and fixed radiator?
3. Is it possible/practical to add hydraulics? Cost of that if doable?
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