Bought a 200 that was only supposed to need paint. Front seal was leaking so I just pulled the front casting off the block and got a bad surprise. On the left side the top of the bolt hole on the casting top bolt was broken. Then I took out the bottom bolt and the engine casting, where the bottom front casting bolts up, was also broken - a piece maybe 3" long or so just fell out.

I suppose on the bright side, if the front seal hadn't leaked I could have wound up with the front end falling off.

Any ideas would be appreciated. I assume maybe the casting could be welded and be OK as it's only the top part of the loop. But how about the casting that broke off of the engine? Do I need to look for another engine? Not sure if the tractor is worth trying to save. Wiring is shot (had a nail for a fuse). Does have new tires and hydraulics, two point hitch etc.

A good welder that knows how to weld cast can make an almost invisible repair. Since I don't weld, I have had cast parts welded, not a block, but it can be done by someone that knows what they are doing. Might be an opportunity to gut the block, get it hot tanked and rebuild the engine, will probably cost more than you intended to spend, though. Yours is a typical "only needs paint" situation. Those situations simply don't exist.

CNKS: I have a story about good welders of cast. When our 300 was still relatively new, someone wasn't quite careful enough about keeping rim tight on the cast wheel. The cast broke in two places, one side right in to bearing race. My dad and I discussed our possibilities and decided it could be welded. We knew a good welder, also knew he'd be cranky, and very likely under the influence of alcohol. I got elected to take the wheel in for welding, dad warned me I was in for a lecture, allowing wheel to come loose.

I arrived at his shop about 6pm, right he was cranky, right he was so drunk he couldn't get off the 5 gal. pail he was seated on, and right he did lecture me for 5 min. Then he said come back tomorrow evening about this time and the wheel will be welded. The next evening I went back, he was all smiles, not cranky, but still so drunk he couldn't get off the 5 gal. pail. The wheel was welded. The wheel was still on the 300 when I sold it 35 years later. Some of those years it had a loader on front. He was a pitiful man, drank himself to death, but he could always do good welding.

So, yes it definitely can be welded. Our neighbor had a 200 narrow front. Some kids playing on it, slipped the tractor out of gear. It rolled about 100'and on down grade and hit a concrete wall at roughly 10-12 mph, snapped the front end right off at the engine, tractor dropped down and oil pan hit the dirt. It broke cast out of both bolster and block. Our friend the welder on the 5 gallon pail welded that back up. Just before I moved here from NS 7 years ago, I passed that 200 on the road one day, driven by the guy that bought it new. The owner has since passed away at 92. Who would have ever thought a tractor he bought when he was 40, then had that happen, would have out lasted him.

Good story -- I got too close to that once. My dad hit hard times (lost land and equipment to foreclosure) in the late 40's. Before he got back on his feet he managed a farm, on salary, better than farming, for a non-farmer that had Moline equipment. I was driving a MM Z for the first time one day -- had a hand clutch, I was only used to Farmall. Was going to stop and turn next to a 2-3 ft irrigation ditch with vertical walls. Kept stomping on the clutch, it refused to work because it wasn't there. Finally remembered the hand clutch and stopped maybe 12 inches from the ditch. I would have broke that NF completely off, my dad would have been fired, and we would have all starved to death, and I would not be on this forum.

Story to add: In OHIO (I lived there to) my landlord's son was rotary howing with a Ford 4000. He turned late at the end of the field, and the FEL (single arm style) hit a concrete watering trough. The loader jerked a piece of transmission housing off the side of the tractor that was the size of a football. It went right into the gear case. He asked me to weld it. I did with serious grooving, slow 3/4" beade, cross peening the devil out of each little pass. (it was 3/4" thick) When it was done, we ground the weld flat to the cast. painted it, and put the loader back on! (I think his son still runs it (more carefully)) That was in 1971. Do the weld. JimN