New Farmall M

Gents,
I recently purchased a Farmall M at a local farm I've been working at for some time. Owner traded me for $800 in labor. The sheet metal looks good, and the tractor runs good. Getting a little bit of blue smoke, but....

I have a few questions for all of you, I'm too new to post pics, so if you need pics to answer my questions let me know.

Q1: The flat belt pulley on my tractor has been removed and replaced with a flat piece of metal. Is it a major pain to find the parts and hook this back up, for restoration?

Q2:I've noticed that it appeares to have the lift-all pump on the tractor, with two fittings on one side of the tractor and one fitting on the other side. The resevoir for fluid is completely empty, and judging by the way the dipstick looks, I'm guessing it has been empty for a long time. Should I assume that the Lift -all pump is "dead", for all practical purposes?

Q3: If the lift all pump works, is is capable of running a saginaw 3-point hitch?.......If Not, recommendations for hydraulics to run the hitch please"


Q3: On the guage panel, right under the headlight switch, there is a little lever. It appears to be designed similar to a little crank, so that you can turn it. It has a rod that connects to a lever up by where you put engine oil in the engine.....What is this for?

Q4: What can I expect to put in to tires on this , dollar wise.....It needs rear and fronts. All tires hold air, but if I want to make it look nice, I'm gonna have to replace them eventually, any idea on cost?



This tractor is in good shape overall. I've been working part time on a local farm for several years an this tractor was basically used as an auger tractor, for a long, long time. I have used the tractor many times, so its quite a pleasure for me to own it. I know it has ran flawlessly for the last 10 years that I've been around it. But, as I said, she is starting to smoke a little. Blue smoke, grrr. Sheet metal looks good, engine runs good, tires hold air and it has a twelve volt conversion. I want to restore it, but I want it to remain a practical, usable tractor. So I'll probly leave the 12 volt conversion.....Any feedback as to whether to re-install the belt pulley would be nice. Thanks for your input guys, I'm sure I'll have many more questions as this unfolds.

The belly pump is fully capable of running a 3 point hitch.

The little lever is for operating the radiator shutter, most likely no longer in place.

Not sure what you mean on the belt pulley?

I believe the reason for the two fittings on one side had to do with hooking up the cultivatora, and the one closest to the rear was hooked to the cyl that raised the rear plows to allow them a slight delay on coming up after the fronts were up. I havent priced any M tires but according to prices I have got for my H,I would think you are looking at A thousand bucks. Ed

Since you have a radiator shutter crank, you probably have a kerosene-distillate engine. Unless the manifold has been replaced with a "gasoline" (cold) manifold, it will have a fairly massive-looking manifold which has the capability of heating the manifold enough to keep kerosene or distillate hot enough to burn well. As I recall, there is a lever ON the manifold that can be adjusted from a full-cold position to a full-hot position, for use of different fuels. Kerosene or distillate knock like crazy in high-compression engines, so engines designed for those fuels had a fairly low compression ratio, somewhere in the 4 to 1 range. Of course, many manifolds burned out eventually, and farmers simply replaced the "hot" manifolds with "cold" ones. This could be done by buying directly from IHC, or by going through aftermarket suppliers. Back in the early days of tractors, K-D models were probably more common than gas models, due to the lower cost of the fuels (NOT true any more!). Many, many K-D tractors (like the 10-20 and F-20 I used for years)were in use up through the early 50s, at least. There was a busy aftermarket industry supplying manifolds for conversion to gasoline. Some of the suppliers also made variable governors to put on early-model tractors that had "throttling governors" (these didn't really govern unless the engine was running at full-speed). It WAS possible to fit higher-compression pistons in a K-D model, and I suppose that it would be reasonable also to buy a high-compression head. Beginning in the early 30s, manufacturers often made a tractor specifically for K-D or specifically for gas (F-12, for example, and the H and M). The Nebraska tests are great sources of information for gearheads who like to learn what their tractors can do. You will find that the K-D models always put out somewhat less power than the gas models. I can't prove the following, but I think that using gasoline in a K-D model would result in SOME improvement in power, but not as much as if the engine were equipped for gas (manifold, compression ratio). By the time I began driving tractors in the early 40s, there were still plenty of K-D models around (we used our 10-20 until about 1951, and the F-20 until 1952). I did not know anybody who wanted to use kerosene or distillate, because it has high nuisance-value: start on gas, warm up, switch fuels, keep the engine HOT or it won't run right, burn out fuel in carb to stop engine.
I prattle on, not knowing if any of this has anything at all to do with your tractor. Nostalgia, I guess.

belt pulley was an option. this tractor may not of ever had one. to install one the plate is removed and pulley gear box bolted on in it's place.

Between a decent gearbox and paper pulley, you'll probably put about $200 into the project. Easy parts to find.

Tires, another $1000-$1200. New tires are big $$$, and good used ones are scarce as hen's teeth.

Given that the belly pump is empty, you've got to assume that it needs work. Hopefully the previous owner removed the drive dog so the pump didn't run empty and totally destroy itself. Maybe there's a little oil left in the bottom of the reservior that's keeping the pump lubed. Figure on taking it out and fixing it regardless.

The very little delay there is will be going down and not up. To delay the lift a power lift delay valve is installed in to the hydraulic line itself. It triggers at around 425 to 475 psi when raising the cultivator. That way once the front is up the boost in pressure opens the delay lift valve and raises the rear section. All 3 ports have the same lifting pressure and volume on them. In other words, without the power lift delay valve front and rear sections will all raise at the same time.

Parts you're looking for are right now on ebay.
Belt pulley drives will go for a about 35 bucks.Paper pulley for about 60.I completed my MV with good original parts for mostly bargain prizes.You will have to wait only a few days before arrival.Good luck with your M.Great machines!

1. Nope, but as mentioned it was an option, so why fool woth it?
2. Put some oil in and see if it works, by simply pulling the control lever back. If the engine bogs a little, then its working, if not look under there and remove the cover, if it is still there, and see if the couple is there.
3.Yes, I have 2 with the Saginaw hitch.
3.(Again) Shutter control. Look in front of the radiator to see if the shutters are still there. Dont really need them, unless you are going to run on kerosene.
4. Shop around. I have right at 900 from and rear, but took some shopping to get them that cheap.(That wasnt including tubes)

Just to let you know, I have a 35 F12 and did a horsepower test on a dyno at the Elnora , IN tractor show a few years ago. Results were 13.5 hp on both kero and gasoline, but carb had to be leaned out when on kero so running on kero would be better HP hours to the gallon. The test may still be in the Archives. The F-12 and 29 and newer 10-20s were designed to run either fuel by changing a setting on the F-12 and by switching manifold baffels on the 10-20. 28 and Earlier 10-20s were all kero only.

The crank for the shutters does not mean that it was a dual fuel model. Our 49M came brand new with shutters. They worked good on cold winter mornings to get the engine warmed up.