Farmall 230

I had a bad day, my 230 was parked on a small hill with the brake on and natually as I was off it, the tractor rolled backwards and the wide front got caught on a tree cracking the block through the timing cover and cracking the piece that bolts to the front of the block.

I have been reading through the posts here and searching the forums. I have found a C engine locally, possibly a super C too. I also found a 366204 block which should be a 230, but its farther away.

when the timing cover cracked the gear on the front of the cam shaft snapped off. the gear on the front of the distributor also was ruined. the tractor was running when it rolled so I am not sure whitch of these components I can keep, I may even have ruined the crank shaft.

what should I do?

thanks

Sounds of things, you're already headed the right direction in shopping for a new block, but all may not be lost.

Did the cam gear itself break, leaving the center on the shaft, or did it snap off the end of the cam? Cams and cam gears can be bought as salvage, as can the governor/distributor drive gear. If you can do that, great. But where the governor gear was probably bunged up by the cam gear being out of alignment (I'm guessing busted or chewed up teeth on the gears) you should suspect at least the potential of the crank gear being similarly damaged. A sudden stop of the motor, as I assume occurred can also bend a crank. If either is the case, a replacement crank would do the job, keeping in mind that you'd want to have it turned (or buy one that has been), which will mean new rod and main bearings for it.

All the notion of swapping in parts hinges on being able to weld the busted "ears" on the crankcase. There are a good many that have had those ears busted and welded back up and holding fine, though I don't know that I'd trust it too far with any heavy loader work, if that's a factor.

There will be unknowns with a replacement block or complete motor, so there's some risk there. But there's just as much unknown about what other, hard to detect damage was done to the one you have. It may take a machine shop to evaluate your crank, cam and block, a good welder, and some shopping and shipping to go that route.

Bummer on the mishap, but good luck with it!

Make sure to use to use a block for a 230 it is a 123 ci a C is a 113ci

Hey Forrest,
I stopped down and saw you tractor the other week,I work for Mike S.The guys are right to say you do need a 123 engine its a little taller than a c motor so you sheet metal will fit.Did you see the one in NH on ebay?If you need any help I have 3 farmalls and I'm right down the road let me know.
Doug P

Same size motor and block as far as bolting up-- it's the taller radiator that raises the tin, so you need to move the upper outlet for the hose from a SuperC or later so that the hose will line up with the radiator. Internals, like cam and fit of sleeves will differ.

when the tractor rolled backward it ended up in a bit of a steep position so I hope that the engine stopped running because of the fuel being low. I attempted to pull the tractor out of its stuck position before I saw that it had a broken block so the front of the cam shaft may have been cracked then. the pulley on the front of the crankshaft was basically holding the front of the tractor on. I do not think that the crank was bent but I can't trust it. I think that I need atleast a complete lower engine to put the head I have on.

Doug
thanks for the help, i will look at the one in NH.

Is the 123 engine block taller? I need a motor with enough power, the 230 motor struggled sometines with our mowing deck. would a super C engine be my easiest choice?
thanks
-Forrest

113 and 123 blocks are essentially the same, though the later ones were bored to take larger diameter sleeves. Externally, about the only difference is whether or not they have provision for the hydraulic pump. As far as the C vs the Super C motors, what made the grille taller, and thus the hood and gas tank ride higher was the taller radiator (15 vs 13 qts), not the size of the motor itself.

The basic Super C motor was a 123, just like your 230 was originally. A lot of them, at overhaul, were outfitted with sleeves to give them another 1/8" of bore, effectively making them 131s. A SuperC motor would work fine.

230s are not very common so you probably won't be able to find an actual 230 engine in a reasonable time frame.

Super Cs are common, though. I'd look for a complete running Super C engine to stuff in there like the other guys are suggesting. That would be your quickest way back to a running tractor.

thanks for the input guys, I have contcted a few people looking for motors