Bought my first Tractor

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
A man with land needs a tractor, just like a Wood worker needs a pickup truck and a trailer.

Here's my gently used 85 HP straight 6 1962 Allis-Chalmers D9 gasser. When I say gently used, I mean it still has the original front tires. At full throttle and in 1st gear, it hogs grass and brush in 6 foot widths that's as tall as the tractor. Built in Wisconsin as a general purpose row crop tractor. +1 for old American Iron.
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It's a hoot to operate but hogging tall grass and brush i'm still picking grass seed out of my ears.
 
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Dee2

Board of Directors, Vice President
Gene
Staff member
Corporate Member
Learned to tractor on Ford 8N and refined my skills on a pair AC WD45's, one diesel, one gas. The D19 is about 2X in hp. I miss those old AC's. Hope you have a long life with your AC.

FWIW, if you know AC'S you know the seat is offset to the right on the 45's. While bush hogging once, I hit a rock and a chunk went around my legs (maybe bounced off the fender) and took out approximate 3" of the radiator core right at the bottom tank. Always wished there was some sort of deflector on the front of that rotary mower.

Be safe!
 

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
Learned to tractor on Ford 8N and refined my skills on a pair AC WD45's, one diesel, one gas. The D19 is about 2X in hp. I miss those old AC's. Hope you have a long life with your AC.

FWIW, if you know AC'S you know the seat is offset to the right on the 45's. While bush hogging once, I hit a rock and a chunk went around my legs (maybe bounced off the fender) and took out approximate 3" of the radiator core right at the bottom tank. Always wished there was some sort of deflector on the front of that rotary mower.

Be safe!

Absolutely safety is #1 the old girl and I are developing a respectful relationship. She more tractor than I need, but sticking to my motto ""when I doubt double the stout" I think I'll be ok. However I am embarrassed to say, I ran the back axel of the old girl up on a stump. It lifted the drive wheel up just enough to get stuck. By the time I saw the stump and rammed the brakes and the power director clutch into nuteral it was to late. Crazy assed dumb people... Good Lord if your going to cut a tree down cut it down equal with the ground.

Also when hogging tall grass keep an eye in the temperature guage because the seed heads and fine shreds of brush will plug up the radiator in a heartbeat. Now I understand why there is 4 thumb screws holding the grill in place. They really thought about stuff when they engineered this traction.
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My attempt at a farm fix... Insect screen in front of the grill. I figured it would be easier to brush off the grill screen, than it would be to blow out the radiator. We'll see how it works or doesn't work... I still have about 12 acres to hog.

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Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
That will work in a pinch, But you might want to get 1/4" mesh, it is more robust and will not impair air flow,
 

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
5 more acres hogged today :) the way I figure... bush hogging with the old girl, she gets about 1 gallon per 1/2 acre and it takes us about an hour to hog an acre. I have to put her to full throttle and hog on first gear. 2nd gear leaves to much standing and I'm snapping too many drive shaft shear pins (grade 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" bolts) This field was last mowed for hay 2 years ago and it's tall and thick.

I put 10 gallons of gas in her, started at 1:00 and parked her in the barn right around 6:00. I checkd the gas with my handy hickory stick and she burnt right around 10 gallons. I would like to finish up tomorrow, because it's supposed to rain Monday.

What we hogged today, plus 6 passes around the perimeter that you can't see.
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What's left to hog
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Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
Just keep the fluids and filters changed and get a good grease gun if you don't already have one (you probably do what with the sawmill and all) and it'll last you a long time. One winter when you have the time you might pull her into the shop and get some paint and give her a "Georgia overhaul". Also, stay away from ethanol gas. Last week I got out an old welder I had and wanted to get it running. The gas had separated and water in the bowl of the carburetor froze and ruptured the casting. They wanted $400 for another OEM Walbro carb. Got a compatible replacement on Ebay for $30.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Enjoy!!

I purchased new, because these machines really seem to hold their value and I just could not find a good deal on an old one like yours.
 

sawman101

Bruce Swanson
Corporate Member
I'm jealous! That's a great score Jeff--the D 19 came out when I was a senior in high school--it was the largest tractor I had ever seen at that time, and I would have worked for free just to drive one. I worked on my Ag teacher's farms and an AC WD was the tractor I used, which wasn't too old back then. I had a fondness for AC tractors, right after the Farmalls that were on most area farms. I know you will cherish your BEAST for a long time to come.
 

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
I'm jealous! That's a great score Jeff--the D 19 came out when I was a senior in high school--it was the largest tractor I had ever seen at that time, and I would have worked for free just to drive one. I worked on my Ag teacher's farms and an AC WD was the tractor I used, which wasn't too old back then. I had a fondness for AC tractors, right after the Farmalls that were on most area farms. I know you will cherish your BEAST for a long time to come.

:Lol Both my youngest daughter and my daughter in law are afraid of it. They both said at separate times when I asked if the wanted to ride it. "i'm not getting on that tractor, the tires are taller than I am". Of course I had to say if your scared, say your scared. The both said I'm scared.

The old girl is a beast, no doubt about that. She's made to pull and she does that very well. I should have bought an 8 foot wide hog instead of 6' though.

I did have a slight problem with her at first. While hogging the governor would kick in and when that happens SNAP goes the drive shaft shear pin, I guess it puts out to much HP at the PTO. I added a bottle of seafoam to 10 gallons of gas and now she purrs like a kitten. My suspicion is this tractor wasn't ran for a while before I bought it and she just needed to be worked a little.
 

Dee2

Board of Directors, Vice President
Gene
Staff member
Corporate Member
My experience with both 45's was that fuel tanks were sized for about one full day of work in the field and enough to get back to the house where the fuel tanks were and still some reserve.
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
I did have a slight problem with her at first. While hogging the governor would kick in and when that happens SNAP goes the drive shaft shear pin, I guess it puts out to much HP at the PTO.

A brief anecdote about shear pins:
Some 30 years ago my Dad loaned his 3 point auger to a young college grad to drill some post holes. He warned him that if he hit something hard it would break the shear bolt, and if it did, he should get a standard grade bolt to replace it. When he returned it, the auger had a brand new PTO shaft. He had put a Grade 8 bolt in and instead of shearing it, it shattered the outer sleeve of the PTO. We teased him about going to college and being educated beyond his intelligence. Needless to say, Dad never had to worry about loaning out his auger again.
Having said that, you should see if you can get an inline clutch for your PTO. It is an option on Bush Hog brand mowers and should be available on other brands as well. It goes between the PTO shaft and the Gearbox and the PTO shaft is shortened, or may work okay on your larger tractor.
 

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
A brief anecdote about shear pins:
Some 30 years ago my Dad loaned his 3 point auger to a young college grad to drill some post holes. He warned him that if he hit something hard it would break the shear bolt, and if it did, he should get a standard grade bolt to replace it. When he returned it, the auger had a brand new PTO shaft. He had put a Grade 8 bolt in and instead of shearing it, it shattered the outer sleeve of the PTO. We teased him about going to college and being educated beyond his intelligence. Needless to say, Dad never had to worry about loaning out his auger again.
Having said that, you should see if you can get an inline clutch for your PTO. It is an option on Bush Hog brand mowers and should be available on other brands as well. It goes between the PTO shaft and the Gearbox and the PTO shaft is shortened, or may work okay on your larger tractor.

They sell 1/2" x 3 1/2" grade 2 bolts by the lb at the farm store. I must be getting better I hogged most of the day and didn't shear one pin. Now if my tractor did not have Live PTO, you bet your bippy I could get PTO clutch. My neighbors father in law told me a horrific story about a guy he knew hogging on a Ford 8N going down hill. The momentum from the hog was pushing him down the hill. He couldnt stop so he jumped off and when he did his foot hit the steering wheel and the 8N and bush hog ran over his feet and cut them clean off. Lots of stories about Ford 8N and bush hog accidents.

My tractor is high profile so even on a slight grade, the tip factor is amplified. I don't like that tippy feeling so I go up and down hill forward, not side to side. I feel it's safer that way. Also when going down hill I can feel the momentum of the hog trying to push me. That's usually when the governor kicks in to try and push back. I now know to push the clutch 1/2 way and mash the brakes which, disengages the transmission to the real wheel. Then slowly let the clutch up and the hog and tractor are playing nice together again. My first reaction was to push the clutch all the way down and this is how I was snapping sheer pins. When I let the clutch back up, snap there goes another sheer pin. I've also started just today using the power director clutch instead of pushing the clutch down 1/2 way. I believe that why I didn't bust a sheer pin today.

Here's how it works, no clutch needed.
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There's a lot going on when hogging, you got the PTO shaft spinning and big munching machine spinning behind you, you have to watch where you going, you have to be at the right speed, you have to make wide sweeping turns, your RPMs have to be in the sweet spot, you have to keep an eye on the temperature guage, watch out for animals and fallen tree branches, etc... all this requires your undevided attention. It's no time for day dreaming I'll tell you that. This is my first tractor and first time with a bush hog. so I'm extremely cautious and of course my land is not flat either. The old girl and I are developing a very respectfully relationship. She is strong and I know it and have great respect of her power. Unlike a horse though that has a mind of it's own, the old girl does everything, I tell he to do and exactly how I tell her to do it.
 

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
Just keep the fluids and filters changed and get a good grease gun if you don't already have one (you probably do what with the sawmill and all) and it'll last you a long time. One winter when you have the time you might pull her into the shop and get some paint and give her a "Georgia overhaul". Also, stay away from ethanol gas. Last week I got out an old welder I had and wanted to get it running. The gas had separated and water in the bowl of the carburetor froze and ruptured the casting. They wanted $400 for another OEM Walbro carb. Got a compatible replacement on Ebay for $30.

You know I love you but you forget i'm in the middle of corn country. There is no such thing as regular gas here. What they call regular contains up to 10% ethenol. I've not had any problems running older equipment on 10% ethenol. I run E15 in my 03 Silverado 203,000 miles and still on the original plugs. Wife runs E85 in her 12 suburban and again no problems.
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