I just got my WD9 today I have a few ???

First of all does it have negitive or positive ground? Can anyone tell me what the fuel and oil filter numbers are? Is there any secrets to running these tractors?

First off, congrats on purchasing a McCormick-Deering Standard! In my opinion, they were the BEST that came off the IH line. Now, remember to switch over to diesel following the warmup. As for the oil filters, change them every 100 hours. As with most diesel tractors, cylinder sleeves are available. If you want more info, I suggest a parts and/or shop manual. You can get these right here on YTMAG or on ebay, Jensales is also good. One more thing, thanks for saving a WD-9 from a scrapper!

Be sure to give it a good warm up before working it - at least 5 minutes or more on the diesel side. And after working it, a good cool down - minimum of 5 minutes.

Cracked heads are caused by not warming up or cooling down properly.

ihstandardman, you sound like the right person to ask about my wd9 . my son and i bought one last summer that was stuck, turns out it needs a sleeve its oversized to a 350 but the bad thing is while it was torn apart some!@#$%^&*()(*&&^^%$%#@ theives dicided to steal our radiator along with the grille so now we need that to i felt like puking when i realized what they destroyed for a little brass if you know where i might find these please e-mail thank you mark.

[b:654c4848f0]please e-mail thank you mark.[/b:654c4848f0]

You will never get an email without an email address.

for the grille and rad, try bates corp in bourbon indiana, big i-h salvage yard, also mike at steel wheel ranch, for pistons, sleeves ect, try berkshire equipment in royal center indiana, they deal in nos i-h parts. pistons and sleeves are gonna get spendy to the 9 series, figure 1500 for the kit.

It won't be too tough for him to remember to switch it over to deisel after warmup....the gas in that little starting tank doesn't last too very long! Seems I have to refill mine after every two or three startups, holds a little less than a gallon....

If I don't turn my gas off while running on diesel I have to refil it before switching back! My valve must not be shutting all the way.

From what I have heard from old timers cooling down on diesel is not good enough. They said you have to switch it to gas and let it run AT LEAST five minutes. I don't mess around with my MD. They don't make these heads anymore...

(quoted from post at 19:17:22 02/26/09)From what I have heard from old timers cooling down on diesel is not good enough. They said you have to switch it to gas and let it run AT LEAST five minutes. I don't mess around with my MD. They don't make these heads anymore...

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It is my understanding that diesel fuel will burn cooler than gasoline, (and I may be wrong) I think that switching to gasoline at shut-down will burn out the residual diesel fuel and make it easier to start next time...

And, if you are shutting down on gas, make sure to flip the lever back to diesel to seat those little valves or they will be prone to warp since they are held off their seats. Valves do most of their cooling when they are closed, especially those little ones leading into the de-compression chambers.

I don't blame you for your caution.

The running on gas for the cool-down has got me a little curious on a couple of points.

Gas gas burns hotter than diesel, and I'd think burning gas would actually help keep it warm. But then maybe that's the point,that you might get a more gradual cool-down with the gas??? I know the Cummins in my Ram has a more complex injection system, but it runs under load with a coolant temp about 190*. If I leave it to idle, it will drop in a fairly short time to about 160*. On that engine, the cooldown is actually more critical to cooling down the turbo to keep the oil it uses as a bearing from coking up on the shaft.

Other thing that comes to mind is that maybe somebody in recommending switching back to gas was thinking of the distillate dual-fuel engines. On those you did want to switch back to gas and leave it run for a few minutes afterwards, to flush all the distillate out of the line and carb so that you'd have a bowlful of gas the next time you start. Saved draining the bowl to get it to start next time.

Mind, I'm not challenging anything, just curious. If the books or experience call for idling to cool it down, by all means that's the way to do it.

I just thought that I would also share some experience about warming up and cooling down engines in WD-9's. I have a great deal of experience with WD-9'S (just like many other people). My father started his farming career with them in 1953 and they have been in use until the present day. At the peak of the our farming we worked 550 acres of Souris River Valley gumbo with WD-9's. We treat the WD-9 engine as respectfully as any large modern, expensive diesel engine. Start and let it run on gas for a minute or two and then switch it over to diesel--let it idle for 15-20 minutes and go grease the implement behind it. Do not take any chances with the cooling system--make sure it is full of coolant, never try to run the engine if it is low on coolant as cylinder heads crack easily. The WD-9 engine is a hard worker--it can work all day under full load and still be quite economical in terms of fuel consumption. At the end of the day let it idle for 15-20 minutes and then shut it off. We have operated WD-9's for years using these simple rules. The operator's manuals tell you to switch back to gasoline before shutting the engine off--I have tried this a couple of times and frankly I see no benefit in it. This may have been advised to improve starting but our engines have always started well regardless of whether they were stopped on gasoline or not--no noticeable difference to me. I actually prefer not to shut the engine off by switching it to gas before stopping it for fear of leaving the gas lever up and therefore leaving the starting valves open, risking warping the starting valves.

My experience with WD-9 cylinder heads--I have 5 of them in my scrap iron pile unfortunately. I suspect a lot of cracked cylinder heads can be attributed to bad operating. I have seen many bad practices over the years. Such things as running tractors with clogged radiators--often from filling them with water which had high mineral content instead of good quality coolant or running the engines low on coolant. I have also speculated that over-greasing the water pump can put grease in the cooling system--operating manuals have warnings about this.

1. My brother (teenager at the time) cracked the first one of ours about 40 years ago by starting the engine in the spring and not realizing there was no coolant in it. He added cold water to the radiator which naturally cracked the head.

2. We purchased used ones and one repaired cylinder head. All proved to be cracked as well. WD-9's will often run well in the yard or in a parade with a cracked cylinder head with no sign of a problem. Put them in front of a cultivator or plow and the cracked head will come to light. I never consider a head to be good until I have had a chance to work the tractor for a day in the field.

3. Engine operating temperatures--I have monitored the coolant temperature closely with a digital thermometer and have compared the three WD-9's that we use regularly (I have seven 9-series tractors--this is becoming an addiction!). Presently we have one that will idle 20 degrees warmer than the other two--it also runs considerably hotter than the other two when worked in the field but never overheats. This tractor has cracked a cylinder head with no explanation and I now have a replacement head on it and it still runs warmer than the rest. It will not return to work in the field until this problem is resolved. I have replaced thermostats, replaced the radiator--basically addressed all the obvious things that could be a problem. No luck to date--it did receive new pistons and sleeves before this problem started. I intend to begin dismantling the engine to check things like piston ring gaps, water header plate condition, etc. Kind of "grasping at straws". I am open to suggestions on this one!

I will search for my records on the actual coolant temperatures if anyone wants them for reference. It may help prevent a cracked cylinder head on your tractor.