International Farmall H

I need to move an H. Will it hurt it to tow it about 20 miles?

Borrow/rent/steal or otherwise misappropriate a trailer and some chains to lash it down, NOT to tow it with!).

Towin' a tractor any distance is not advisable in the first place, and goin' that twenty miles will take you three hours or more and that's if everything goes smoothly. I'm guessin' this is a new to you tractor? Good chance the brakes are poor at best, non-existdent wouldn't be far-fetched, and all you'll do is bash up your tow vehicle. Who knows what shape the bearings are in or the lube in the tranny to be dragging it around at 8-10 mph for twenty miles?

Tow it or have it towed.

On a trailer or roll-back.

it runs and drives fine, however it has a slow leak in the radiator

Does the tractor run? Is the steering fairly tight? If so, drive it. The tractor will do 15MPH on its own, so it should only take about an hour and a half, considering intersections. Not sure why it would take 3 hours to cover 20 miles at 15MPH... Have someone following behind with the hazards flashing.

If you insist on towing the tractor, make sure the transmission lube is up to the proper level, and is something other than chocolate milk.

DO NOT use chains! You want a solid link between the tractor and tow vehicle. I've towed dead tractors out of the field by chain, and even that is scary on the downhill runs. Then again the crazy old man on the seat of the dead tractor might've had something to do with it... Seriously I was running out of gears trying to keep ahead of him.

Get a solid tongue, like a wagon tongue, to attach the tractor to the truck. For towing just the tractor down the road, I would even consider bolting it to the steering pedestal. There isn't that much force on the front end that it would break. Then the tractor will follow along and steer like a wagon, and nobody has to ride on the tractor.

If you do this, DO NOT go more than 15MPH. Slower at first just to see how it will tow.

I'm sure I'll get chewed out by some of the "safety nazis" on this forum for even telling you that it's possible to tow. It is possible, it is safe, but you need to "walk on eggshells" and make everything twice as heavy as you think it needs to be.

It's still best to either drive the tractor or trailer the tractor.

(quoted from post at 12:21:04 05/26/09) it runs and drives fine, however it has a slow leak in the radiator

Click to expand...

Then by all means, drive it. Ignore everything else I said earlier.

Get it warmed up and crack an egg into the radiator.

Have someone follow along with some water too.

If that's the case, driving it with somebody following you with a supply of jug water to keep the radiator up is still preferable in my book to wheels-down towing over a distance like that. You're not talking about dragging one home from a field a mile up the road. That's too great a distance with the potential for too many things to go wrong.

I agree with the others don't tow it. It's not safe to many thing to go wrong. Somebody has a trailer.

What does the egg do?

A "slow" leak should last 1-1/2 hr. It should be a nice trip.

It poaches the egg for lunch.

Gordo

It poaches the egg for lunch.

Gordo

Click to expand...

That's how "green eggs" are made. To go with the ham, of course.

You also need a hand full of pepper to properly season those
eggs. And pepper also seals some leaks.