Another tractor question

[H. Walker]

I learned every trick in the book on how to start the old 8/9N tractors on here, so here's another question. I rebuilt my old girl a couple of years ago and ever since I've tried to treat her with the respect that a 60 year old lady deserves. The old gas engines were ment to have lead in the gas to lubricate the valves, which can't be bought now. What I've been doing is putting in the lead substitute at $5 a pint. What i was wondering was, why wouldn't a little bit of 2-stroke oil do the same thing? It is ment to lube 2-stroke engins and wouldn't there be enough residual oil left over to do the job or would I be just fouling the plugs? Or should I just not be so thrifty and pay the price of $5 extra a tankfull of gas?

[Jim Brown]

H.Walker; i would pay the extra as the oil would also have tendence to gum up the carb as well.
my two cents
Jim

[HHM-07]

Walker

What works good is Marvel mystery oil, you can get it at any hardware store or auto parts store. about 3or 4 ounces to 5 gals, My brother still has an 8-n that my folks bought around 1955 he has rebuilt the engine and converted it to 12 volts other than that it still as we bought it.

Enjoy it

Dick @ hobby Hill Maples
170 taps 2x4 wood fired
all on line

[325abn]

Now I am getting concerned!! I have a 47 Ford and have never added any lead subsitute to the gas. Should I start?

[thenewguy]

I also enjoy playing with the old tractors, I have a 51' John Deere 40 rowcrop and I give her a little treat of dexron ATF fluid every now and then. Automatic tranny fluid contains alot of detergent which help cleans internal engine compents (ie remove sludge from valve stems, etc) and adds lubricity to the fuel as well. In canada now all the diesel fuels have changed to ultra-low sulphur fuels aslo. Sulphur in diesel does the same thing as lead did in gasoline, so anyone with a diesel tractor should run conditioner in with there diesel fuel now winter or summer regardless. ultra-low sulphur is harder on the older mechanical fuel pumps and injectors......to answer your question two stoke oil is fine, or ATF. Just a sniff to keep those old valves lubed, my father has a 30 model A ford which gets a treat of 2 stroke oil from time to time...

[H. Walker]

Thanks thenewguy, I never thought of automatic tranny fluid, it makes sense!

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

also remember you probaly not working it hard and not all day and not building a lot of heat. a little dextron will do the job.

RICH

[maplecrest]

hey new guy, what about the problem with this low sulfur fuel and the sickness the fuel gets. viral of something. they tell me to treat even my sugar house fuel with power service. any thoughts?

[Cardigan99]

Everything you ever wanted to know about ford Ns. http://www.ytmag.com/nboard/wwwboard1.html

[Russell Lampron]

I've got a 30 Model AA Ford that was cut down to make a tractor. I never put in anything to lube the valves because it seems like there is enough blowing past the piston rings. I have had it since 1976 and never had a problem with the valves. Wheels and tires, starters ( I changed it over to 12 volts) and steering boxes are another story though. I use it to get my wood out and it still runs very strong for something that is almost 80 years old.

Russ

[Bucket Head]

A little bit of any of the above mentioned oil's will do the trick. The higher priced lead additive's are not needed.

How "hard" do you plan on working this tractor? Most older tractor's see an an easy life these day's compared to when they were farming every day. If your going to work it, you might want to consider installing hardened valve's and seat's.

I have a couple Model T's and I have used both the two stroke oil and the Marvel Mystery oil in them they still run like Henry intended them to.

Steve

[H. Walker]

The most work my tractor gets is to rake hay in the summer and run my PTO wood-splitter for sugar-wood.
The other reason I would like to put some lube in the gas tank is an attempt to keep the tank from rusting. The quality of the gas anymore doesn't seem to do it.

[lpakiz]

I understood that the purpose of the lead in the gas was to deposit a layer of lead on the exhaust valve and seat to keep them from "pounding out" the seat.
If you overhauled it, the builder should have installed hardened seats in the exhaust port of the head, enabling you to use unleaded gas. I worked part time for an engine builder and we strongly recommended this to anyone who overhauled an old engine. The hard seats were not needed in the intake because of the cooler air temp they run at.
Larry

[thenewguy]

Maple Crest, kinda wierd they want you to run a conditioner even in your fuel oil. I've never heard of fuel getting the "sickness" you mentioned, maybe it is to prevent fuel gelling?? or perhaps the fuel pump on your burner needs extra lubricity? H. Walker- dexron would probably work fine in your tractor, to keep the tank from rusting its probably best to try and keep it full all the time and run a little dexron with your fuel. I'm big on running a little oil with
fuel in engines. My polaris xlt snowmobile with oil injection still gets alittle in the tank all the time. spark plugs are cheaper then motor jobs.....

[Mike]

I hear if you have a diesel tractor put automatic transmission oil in with the diesel !!!!! Would this work for a gas motor??

[Parker]

When I was buying diesel 500 gallons at a time and filling a big skid tank which I would fill the pick up truck tanks with my fuel "got the fungus" Had to put the power service "bioclean" to it,,equipment runs but with no power,,,lots of black smoke,,,like a turbo is gone,,,,

[maplecrest]

in the new d and g wish book is a fuel treatment, for better burning fuel less carbon ect. so i would think power service in my tank wont hurt.

[MR Electrician]

ok i guess im the new guy.

please call me MR.
MR Electrician
ok 2 cents here goes

1 gas engine's
if you want to run it hot or clean out the crap in the engine add methel hydrate to the gas . this increases the temperature of the burn thus hotter exhaust cleaner engine.
as for fuel additives ask an old tractor mechanic .

ok as for diesel
why not buy dyed diesel (farm fuel) its cheaper(no road tax) and has a higher sulfer content than road diesel.
allso in winter you must add fuel conditioner as you wont get the fuel to flow in -20
and most important a clean fuel filter to keep the watter out of the engine
now if you top up yr tank everytime you use the tractor you will keep the moisture out of the tank.

hows that.

[gmcooper]

In the US anyway there is no more off road diesel. It is all low sulpher. You can buy "off Road" with out the fuel tax but now has low sulpher. Most dealers near us always sold #2 heating oil for off road. There is a huge fine now for dealers putting #2 heating oil in off road tank. Dad tried really hard with the companies we deal with to fill off road tank one more time with #2 and they wouldn't.
Mark

[MR Electrician]

ok so why not add a pump to yr home heating oil tank and fill the tractor with it .then when you need a fill just remove the pump that day.
this way the burden is yours not the oil companies.

[maplecrest]

ok for the worrlds record!!! i have a 1000 gallon fuel tank for my sugar house to fuel my evaporator as been stated all fuel oil is now low sulfur, and is prone to this fungus, so back to my question. but i have decided to put power service in my tank to keep fuel for my evap from getting fungus. figure can hurt.if d and g is selling it for evaps. i am not thinking about gelling.

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

I don't know what the exact #'s are, but why don't you use the power service for gelling also and not use kerosene because the kero will reduce your btu's? which btu's are what you want for the evaporator. unless i'm misunderstanding something?

[maplecrest]

i do not add kero to my sugar house tank. i add some directly to the tractors i use in winter along with the power service. yes i might loose some power but i do not need a lot to scrape the feed lot and move snow. nothing worse than a gelled tractor at 20 below with the wind chill at 50 below. been there and do not want to do it again.what you are missing is my point about the fungus that is developing in the fuel and how to prevent it then you will have a serious loss in power.

[thenewguy]

maplecrest, I'm a diesel mechanic by trade and work on Cummins diesel pretty well everyday. I've never heard of diesel growing "fungus". But I do know that diesel will turn black in colour, IF it is heated up. I know cummins ISX engines in highway trucks the fuel will turn black and cummins says its because it has something to do with the heat genterated with the engine and the volume of hot fuel returning to the tanks. almost like a bacterial growth happens.. I'm not excatley sure, but the hotter a fuel gets the more horsepower you loose. As because of heated expansion rates. The fuel flows around the injector nozzles allow it to achieve hotter temps then just the cylinder heads temps (212). Some trucks and equipent will run a fuel heater to keep the fuel from gelling in the tanks. As beause I work with trucks everyday I'm going to inquire into this further. I see quite often people who fill there tanks in the states come back here to canada, there fuel gels alot quicker and easier then the canadian fuel does. I think that's because some places only sell the #1 fuel and not #2 diesel. anyways I'm going to do some further research, I'm quite interested in this now

[gmcooper]

I was looking for the term that I have been hearing and it was called algae in the diesel fuel. Here is a link I found. http://www.dieselfueldoctor.com/fuel_solutions.html

This doesn't sound like quite the same problem that some have had with bulk tank storage.

Forgot: as for the heating oil we were not as concerned about the low sulfur as the price increase we were getting.

[MR Electrician]

yea ok i get it now sorry i missed yr point dinner smelled too good and was affecting my thoughts)
as for the fungus add a plastic see through fuel filter below the tank this will stop it from going through.
an other recomendation is bio deisel.when i had my deisel mercedes a lot of the boys would run a tank or two of bio fuel through theyre engine
this would flush out the crap in the fuel system.
usually clogges up the filter thats why they ran the cheap $2.00 type before the big filters,
is this a little more to yr liking:rolleyes: :confused:

[Brent]

I have had several years experience with diesels in fishing boats in the Florida keys. Micro-organisms will grow in both diesel and jet fuel. The latter has led to some catastrophic results in the early days of jet aircraft before they figured it out. Bio-cides are made by numerous people to prevent the growth of them. They will plug the fuel filters and starve the engine of fuel. Teh globs and even plug some in tank stainers or a small bore 90 degree fitting. I spent big fistfuls of cash getting a mobile service to come to the boat with a portable bank of Racor filters and a big pump that would agitate and circulate the fuel and gradually clear it. You could see the filters getting blacker as it ran. They went through several filters. All this because I forgot to put in ten bucks worth of bio-cide before coming back home for a few months. The more water moisture in the tank and the warmer it is, the faster the *&^% grows.

West Marine, John Deere and other tractor dealers have it on the shelf.

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

We have had LOTS of trouble with bacteria/algea plugging the fuel filter on our JD skid-steer at the farm, so YES algea can grow in diesel in the right conditions, but not always. I have also seen the Bio-Cide additive at Deere dealerships like Brent said.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I use the power service in my Kubota, will this work to prevent the gunk from growing as it keeping the wax in the fuel from clumping and gelling.