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Took my first drive

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Mike CA

04-04-2008 18:41:46




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I finally got my '44 H out to drive for the first time. I cranked it up, and quickly realized the idle was too fast. So, I got a screwdriver and turned it down. Then my gaze fell to under the tractor... oil was POURING out from underneath where the hydraulic pump access is. So I shut it down and tried to clean it up as best I could. Still left a bad stain on the driveway. :?
Anyway, I cranked it back up and let it drift to the street. I put it in 2nd gear and eased out on the clutch to find out where it engaged. It grabbed with a little jolt, but the tractor eased into it's speed. I kicked up the throttle and made my way down the road waving at a couple neighbors. I took it to a dirt area that had a very slight hill, so I know the govner worked. I ran the tractor back and forth a couple times playing with the throttle. I then stopped it, changed to 3rd, and let it out. I ran it back and forth a couple more times, then did the same for 4th gear. All of them worked, and I guess they seemed to work fine. I'm not really sure what a problem would sound or feel like, but I didn't feel or hear anything too bad. Did you know H's are pretty loud? Even with a muffler!

Anyway, I took it back out on the street, stopped it and put it in 5th. I eased it out and it groaned, so I gave it some throttle, and away we went! I was surprised how fast it went with half throttle! I took it to an open road by a farm and open it up! I must have been doing 20 miles an hour I'll bet! At some point I stopped it and checked reverse, which worked. So I took it home and put it to bed and got to work trying to clean up more of that oil mess. The "pour" subsided to a drip after the second start up, so that's good. But it's still dripping dark oil. The Mrs. is none too happy with me right now. Here are the problems I've found so far:

- Oil leak in the middle in front of the transmission.

- Oil leak in the front left of the engine. I can't tell if it's coming from the pan, but I think it's dribbling down from behind the govner.
- Oil pressure gauge AND water temp gauge didn't move. I checked the water pressure gauge before I installed it, so I know it reads temps. I pulled the back of the oil pressure gauge, and oil is flowing to the gauge.

- Carb is leaking fuel from the high speed screw on the bottom.

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Mike CA

04-05-2008 22:43:46




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-04-2008 18:41:46  

GA Dave said: 30+????? ????? Mike, this is 4/5/08 not 4/1. David.


Well, it sure felt like it! :lol:



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Idaho Ron

04-05-2008 19:01:56




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-04-2008 18:41:46  
Just driving it around will not be enough. You got the bug, now you will have to make her pull. You might say no now, but it won't be long. You will want to hitch her to something heavy and make her groan. Nothing like in the world. Good luck, Ron



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Mike CA

04-05-2008 08:25:13




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-04-2008 18:41:46  

LenH said: I have strong memories of these tractors developing shimmy on rough roads, especially after the steering gear developed some wear.


Maybe you missed previous posts about my front tires. I have a pair of Harley Davidson Dunlaps on the front. I think that's the reason I was able to get my H up to 30+ miles per hour! :D

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GA Dave

04-05-2008 19:32:38




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-05-2008 08:25:13  
30+????? ????? Mike, this is 4/5/08 not 4/1. David.



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LenH

04-05-2008 08:10:15




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-04-2008 18:41:46  
Don't mean to take away the fun of flying down the road. I know that roaring down a country road on an H or M is like being in a Ferrari at 100 in a road race. Anyway, the "official" speed in fifth gear for an H is 15-5/8 mph at 1650 rpm, and for the M, 16-1/4 at 1450 rpm. This speed depends a little on the size of the tires. I don't have the high-idle speeds in front of me, but remember once estimating that these tractors would approach 18 mph at high-idle. I have strong memories of these tractors developing shimmy on rough roads, especially after the steering gear developed some wear. I eventually "grew up" enough that I was content to throttle back so the shimmy wouldn't develop.
Fifth was never a very useful speed on a farm in the 40s and 50s. Our wagons were holdovers from the horse era, so they had steel tires. You couldn't do more than 5 mph on a gravel road without jolting everything to pieces and maybe even jouncing your load of hay enough to have some of it slide off. An H in fifth gear at 5 mph is running the engine at idle, and so it has no torque whatsoever. I vividly remember roaring along in 4th, wide open and doing somewhere between 5 and 6 mpm. I think IHC engineers saw an easy way to make a "gear" (a simple dog-clutch instead of a series of expensive gears). John Deere and Oliver had a better idea--put in a gear that would give about 8 mph full-throttle, and another that would give about 12, or maybe 7 or 8 throttled back part way, so there'd still be some torque available.

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Bob Kerr

04-05-2008 05:49:21




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-04-2008 18:41:46  
I took my GPS with me the other day on the M. I thought it flew, but the GPS said only 15MPH. Oh well, I say it still flys like the wind! I will have to take the GPS on the H and see what it does.



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Mike CA

04-04-2008 22:18:38




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-04-2008 18:41:46  

Steven f/AZ said: Pics? Video?

Gotta see this thing in action!


None. I was trying to sneak as much time as I could, and I didn't want my kids out there since it was my first time, and I wanted to get a feel for it before driving with them. Plus the grill and hood are off, so it isn't much to look at.

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Steven f/AZ

04-05-2008 02:15:37




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-04-2008 22:18:38  

Mike CA said: (quoted from post at 22:18:38 04/04/08)Plus the grill and hood are off, so it isn't much to look at.


But the sounds, Mike! The sounds! And the look of glee on your face!



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Steven f/AZ

04-04-2008 20:46:48




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-04-2008 18:41:46  
Pics? Video?

Gotta see this thing in action!



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Mike CA

04-04-2008 19:36:49




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-04-2008 18:41:46  

Curt W. said: What's next?


I'd "like" to get the grill fixed before I put it back on. But that's a low priority under these leaks. So, I think I'll concentrate on ways to get the leaks stopped up for now. Soon I'm going to drive it down to my friends (about a mile away) to put the new rear wheels on it. Then I've got to try to fix up the rear tires a bit.

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GA Dave

04-04-2008 19:12:23




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-04-2008 18:41:46  
Water temperature guage may not register without a thermostat in the system or hard pulling the tractor. I would make sure on the oil gauge though. As I said yesterday the black 90 wt leak is better than a milky leak. You'll find a few more leaks as it get's more use. David.



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Curt W.

04-04-2008 18:55:10




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Mike CA, 04-04-2008 18:41:46  
Mike, Your H was just marking its teritory on your driveway. All tractors do that. Been following your project, Congrats! What's next?



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MJ in the UK

04-05-2008 03:53:31




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 Re: Took my first drive in reply to Curt W., 04-04-2008 18:55:10  
Well done Mike I have been following your progress even on April fools day. I will be thinking of you tomorrow when a take my H on the first tractor drive of the year. I can clock up about 150 miles a year with it on tractor drives. MJ



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