Farmall 560 repaired

I posted a couple months ago about my new 560 that had no hydraulics or PTO. Traced that back to the PTO shaft and/or pressure plate splines being stripped out. Finally got her into the shop and split. Found that both splines were shot. BTW, splitting is easy when you have a set of old IH stands close at hand. Replaced the rear main seal and redid the flywheel and clutch. Tractor works great now and, as a bonus, the wicked shimmy in the front end when I drove her home w/ no PS is now totally gone.

Also, I'm not sure what these engines came with stock but mine has high-dome pistons just like IH firecraters. The tractor does have an M&W pistons sticker on the sheetmetal. I wonder what the HP improvement might be?

Rear tires may be in the near future for this old girl. I do believe the tractor is worth the expense.

Chris B.

Nice looking Rig and well deserving of new tires and maybe more. The 60 series is one of my favorites and I have 3 560 gas and 1 diesel and a 460 Puller and 2 parts tractors. That 263 motor can be tuned to pull against some good tough foes and hold its own just fine Good Job. Migraine

Good job, Chris, glad you got it up to par. That's some really nice, straight sheetmetal on that girl, too. I think she deserves (and I highly recommend) a can or two of International Harvester Red spray paint to hold you over until you get a real paint job. A nice, bright coat of fresh paint will draw the eyes and attention away from many faults and provide nearly instant gratification for you! A good method, aside from a little surface prep if needed, is to go by the John Deere dealership and pick up several pamphlets on whatever icky green stuff they're pushing so you can hold them with your non-spraying hand to shield parts that you don't want to paint; you can get good coverage very close to things this way without having to do alot of taping and masking. Heck, I bet for the price of a couple of cans of spray paint, you could forego the expensive tires and no one would notice the older tires, because they'd be drooling over all that fine, straight sheetmetal and wonderfully shiney I/H Red! And even though you have those hot rod pistons hiding in there, I'd try to resist the temptation to paint flames on the hood- just let her stay a "sleeper".

Just a thought, you know.

Rad

P.S. I really do envy all that straight sheetmetal and grill- very nice.

Too late for the sleeper status--already has an M&W sticker at the grille! Seriously though, I doubt I'll ever paint another tractor as long as I live. Did my little Cub once, took me forever, tons of nooks and crannies. This 560 is, at least, a lot cleaner to begin with.

As far as the sheetmetal, I got lucky. Tractor went cheap because the PS was out. I was eyeballing a 400 WF that was beat to heck, but had an auction day paintjob. I'm glad the 560 sold first, or else I might have a beater 400 instead. I guess whoever had the 560 before, did want to invest the money or time to fix it. Well worth it to me.

Chris B.

Aw, come on, Chris, don't you get a rush just hearing that "pshhhhhht" from a can of spray paint? And "touching up" a spot or part with new paint is like those potato chips: you can't stop with just one!

I bought a Massey Ferguson 285 with one of those "auction day paint jobs" (I went for a Super A, but they were going way too high. Hey, at least the MF is red, huh?) I got it "cheap" because a water hose busted on the way to the auction block. The sheet metal is straight, but I found out that the remote hydraulics don't work. Auction "bargains" can really be a pain, can't they? At least you knew about the PS going in, and you just can't buy straight sheet metal like that for an old tractor anymore. Um...well, actually you can, but it really costs you when (and if) you can find it.

Rad