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Farmall & IHC Tractors Discussion Forum
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Titan 10-20

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LenNH

11-16-2007 09:41:32




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Anybody out there in Tractorland ever actually drive a Titan 10-20? A neighbor had two of them when I was a pipsqueak back in the late 30s. By that time, the things were so obsolete that he used them only for disking cornstalks after harvest. He claimed the narrow wheels fit right on top of the corn rows and the angle cleats helped chop up the corn stalks. Don't know if that was true. One day I heard the old thing popping away nearby and got up the nerve to ask for a ride. I can still remember the open valve gear clacking away right in your face. There were only two gears, with "high" being maybe two-and-a-half miles an hour. The engine ran at about 575, I think, so you really could count the big pops coming out the exhaust. One of the interesting things about the engine is that the crank throws were not opposed, as on most two-cylinder in-line engines. The throws were on the same side, so you got one h...of a "throw" when both pistons came up and went down at the same time. At idle, the whole tractor would rock back and forth. Another thing I remember is that the wheels would turn right under the cooling-water tank (no radiator on this beast), so you could get a pretty short turn at the end of the field. These tractors probably go for $15 or $20K these days. About 1950, this neighbor announced to my father that he had sold the two Titans for junk, and actually bragged that he got $75.00 for them! If anybody has had the experience of driving a Titan 10-20, I would love to hear about it.

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LenNH

11-20-2007 13:20:45




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 Re: Titan 10-20 in reply to LenNH, 11-16-2007 09:41:32  
I think I know one reason guys love the old open-flywheel JD's. We just love to see machines, wheels, gears, chains, cams, rods, springs and rocker arms. The Titan had most all of that stuff out in the open, where you could smell the hot oil, see the flywheel turning in front of you, watch the valves click and clack (I know, I know--that's what the Tappet Brothers call themselves). Us oldtimers were lucky to see engines like this, along with the one lungers with the open-crankshaft flywheels, pushrods, valves, magnetos and what have you. I think I learned an enormous amount about how engines work just by watching these things as a kid. I was entranced.

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LenNH

11-16-2007 15:05:35




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 Re: Titan 10-20 in reply to LenNH, 11-16-2007 09:41:32  
Great stories. I do remember now about cranking the Titan. I saw my neighbor do it. He had to put the crank on (left side), raise it to the top and pull DOWN. I guess the compression was pretty low, because I remember the chuff-chuff as he pulled it through. I am wondering about the hard starting when hot. Maybe vapor lock?
My father bought a Case baler about 1941, with a Wisconsin VE-4 engine. A great little engine, that turned fast and smooth. But it was almost IMPOSSIBLE to start with the very short crank when the engine was hot. The carburetor and manifold were on top, and I now suspect that the problem was vapor lock. A cold rag on the intake pipe or around the carb might have solved this, but we had never heard of that problem.
Fuel-injected airplanes sometimes have this problem, because the pipes go over the top of the engine. The fuel probably turns to vapor in the pipes after the engine stops. It takes a lot of cold fuel pushing through to clear out the vapor. I don't remember any tractor having this problem, although it seems to me that a few weeks ago, somebody wrote about an F-12 that started hard when hot. Could be vapor lock. My father's F-12 did seem to start easily any time, as I remember.

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steveormary

11-16-2007 16:31:22




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 Re: Titan 10-20 in reply to LenNH, 11-16-2007 15:05:35  
LenNH

We had an F12 that would start good cold but was a hard starting machine when hot.

steveormary



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russ hamm

11-16-2007 15:04:53




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 Re: Titan 10-20 in reply to LenNH, 11-16-2007 09:41:32  
We are working on one right now. They fire on every revolution, so they sound different than a deere. I like the sound .



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moseed

11-16-2007 13:11:35




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 Re: Titan 10-20 in reply to Nat 2, 11-16-2007 09:41:32  
I was asked to start a 10-20 Titan awhile ago and, having never attempted it, asked for and received excellent information necessary to accomplich that task right here. Made me look pretty darn good.

Our local heritage museum has one that had not been started in several years. The two elderly gents they had depended on to do the starting duties had passed away and no one had bothered to learn.
To make a long story short it steered surprisingly easy. The Titan requiered much less of a turning radius and turns a whole lot easier than my McC D 15-30 and McC D 10-20's. Lots of fun to drive...and quite a task to start by the way.

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Janicholson

11-16-2007 12:55:33




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 Re: Titan 10-20 in reply to LenNH, 11-16-2007 09:41:32  
Grandpas Titan was being operated by my uncle. He got it into a marshy area and stopped. By the time he got it into reverse and began backing, he had killed the engine. They (my dad and uncle told me) were near impossible to start when hot. And it was August. Trying to start it had worn his arms off. He had a bright idea.
He went and got the haymow rope and came back to where the neighbor was working a team of morgans.
He got the neighbor to come help. They wrapped the rope around the belt pulley of the titan about 15 turns, with the first turns overlapping.
With the horses in position, the neighbor flicked the reins and said Gedup.
They stepped into the load, and the pulley spun up the engine. It started on the second TDC and started spitting rope. The rope tangled in the gizmoes and clutch arms on the pulley and began winding in!!!
The horses were taken by suprize and pulled backward off their feet and dragged for 4 yards in there harnesses. The rope broke, the horses leaped up and took off. They were not hurt, just wound to the mak with fright. The rope was whapping the grouns like a bull whip with authority. Well it took another three hours to get the tractor out with boards and shovels. It took three weeks to get the horses back into condition to pull tillage with any control. My uncle had to buy a new mow rope, and work for a month at both home and the neighbors!!
I hope this is what you had in mind for a story. JimN

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Karl Hamson

11-16-2007 17:19:54




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 Re: Titan 10-20 in reply to Janicholson, 11-16-2007 12:55:33  
Nothing to to with a Titan but that great story put me in mind of a kafuffule with a horse. My daughter had saddled up to go for a ride and was leading the horse under the clothsline full of laundry to go for a ride. The saddlehorn caught on the clothsline and the horse bolted, pulling down the stand, pole and everything else before charging down the road dragging the whole mess behind him. My wife was not amused.

I remember Dad's 22-36 stuck up to the wheel hubs for months in the Peace River gumbo. It got stuck in May and it was July before it was dry enought to pull it out with the TD18. That was in the middle of the road, by the way.
Karl

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richardinnz

11-16-2007 12:13:21




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 Re: Titan 10-20 in reply to LenNH, 11-16-2007 09:41:32  
My Grandfather used to tell me how he used to deliver Titans and Moguls when he worked as a mechanic for an I-H dealer in England. He said if he saw one of his mates at the side of the road he would jump off the tractor and have a natter with them while he left the tractor chugging off down the road on its own, he would then run after the tractor and jump back on it after they had finished talking! This would have been in the 1920s I guess.

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MN Dave 2

11-16-2007 17:34:01




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 Re: Titan 10-20 in reply to richardinnz, 11-16-2007 12:13:21  
GREAT STORYS!!!!!1



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