Tool advice

I am almost done with building the shop in my garage and I want to start acquiring tools to do tractor fix up (on my 52 Super M and my 41 Ford 9N -- not necessarily the body and paint work but gasket replacement, overhaul of critical components if necessary, tear apart and inspect -- that type of thing). I know this is kind of an open-ended question, but if a list of "must have" tools for this type of work were to be assembled, what would be on it? I have a vague idea but I'd like to hear what knowledgable folks have to say.

Tool sets are complex, they reflect many needs and specialties.
Having what you need ready at hand is the reality.
Craftsman
Mac
Snap On
Proto
Williams
SK Wayne
are all good.
I would see if you could either buy a mechanics chest from someone getting out of the business, or on line
Or get bids on new tools from sears an the others.
Expest to be into 3500$ to do it right!
Starter sets in the area of 500 will get it going.
Do not purchase tools from the east. European tools are Good, if not imported to there from marginal manufacturers.
Jim

Buy a complete set of 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 inch ratchets of at least Sears Craftsman quality, and a set of combination wrenches from 1/4 to at least 1 1/2 inches. Include a 1/2 inch breaker bar. Also pliers, vice grips and miscellaneous screwdrivers. I also have a partial set of 3/4 inch drive sockets/breaker bars. Also several pullers for pulleys, etc. A tap and die set is good for cleaning up threads. I have recently bought a cheap press, saves my sledge hammers and punches. Electric drills and angle grinders and their various attachments are good for removing rust and paint. You will need a bench grinder. I have two air compressors. Your tractor will tell you what else is needed. My tractors tell me almost daily, but I can't afford daily. I wish I had the $3500 worth of tools Jim mentioned. If you call air compressors tools, I probably do. I am probably in the $1000-$1500 range for hand tools and still buying after I started this hobby when I retired about 8 years ago. I hire out any welding I need done.

I "hire out" my welding as well, but a torch can be invaluable at times on these tractors. On more than one occasion a little heat goes a long way at getting stuck bolts freed up.

well as the must haves just to get started i would tell you to have good sockets from 1/4 thru 3/4 drive from 1/4 inch thru 2 1/2 inch shallow well thru deep well . two sets of wrenchs from 1/4 thru 2 1/2 inch . a good set of pry bars screw drivers punches chisels and HAMMERS good to have a good selections of HAMMERS . Tourches and a welder . a couple sets of heavy duty jack stands a drill press a cheery picker a good hyd. press a decent air compressor a really good 3/8th inpact a really good 1/2 impact and a 3/4 is nice . some good pullers . That would get you going pretty good . Now if ya got the bucks to INVEST then a 14x 60 engine lathe and a 9x48 Bridgeport Mill . And a nice supply of steel a super good selection of nuts bolts washer wire ends and a super godd selection of wire . Then you add as the need arises . Oh and a couple floor jacks and some bottle jacks . And what ou can't find you make as now you have the equipment to make the seal installers the splitting stands the slugs for pulling sleeves . You would have a top notch adult play room . Oh and LOTS OF LIGHTS and a good heat source .

Yup, I need a torch. Mapp gas and oxygen just don't do it.

What do you guys do for splitting your tractor and/or loader removal (in terms of a hoist)?

We will not go into how much i have in tools . And 3500 would not even make a good down payment . I had that much in tools back in 1964 . Had i lisen to the old Mac tool man back then it would have saved me lots of bucks as he wanted me to buy the master mechanic set way back then for 7800 and that set back then got you one of everything in the book. And back then they had a lot more of the big stuff . Where i worked i was put into a brand new Ford F350 4X4 that we set up as a service truck with welder tourches fuel &oil and a air compressor that would run two jack hammers . The boss also filled that truck with all Mac tools and a complete OTC puller set both screw type and Hyd up to 50 ton. plus a OTC track pin press . Now that was a real rolling tool box . You name it it was on that truck.

Splitting stands and hardwood cribbing for support, A 1000Lb capacity Cherry picker with steel wheels 2" wide,
2 Bottle jacks with 20 ton capacity.
A 20 ton hydraulic jack, a 8 ton and 2 or 3-3 ton jacks that will push laying down, Wedges (splitting steel wedges) and wooden wedges are handy.
And 300 pounds of patience tempered with safety.
Jim

I am in your category at home and am in charge of our well equipped technology Labs with plasma CNC, Inverter driven TIG, a foundry, Haas Mill, Grinders, and EDM to begin discussion. Jim

Go to Sears and join their Craftsman Club. Start with a 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch set of sockets -- 6-point are better for rusty bolts -- and buy additional as you need/can afford them.

Some Chinese tools now have a life-time warranty like Craftsman.

Big Lots is also a good source of name-brand tools.

From time to time, Menards has Allen tools & sets on sale at substantial savings. Allen may not be the top of the tool line, but they are lifetime guaranteed & I've never broken one. My $.02 worth.

I worked for several years at a Machine Shop and did a lot of farm repairs, We used Mapp gas and it worked great on everything I did,from cutting to brazing.It took different tips that a Acy does

Don't worry about splitting the M. I have worked with and on them for many years and have never had to split one. You can replace the clutch without spliting it.

(quoted from post at 05:37:37 03/07/10) I worked for several years at a Machine Shop and did a lot of farm repairs, We used Mapp gas and it worked great on everything I did,from cutting to brazing.It took different tips that a Acy does

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I think he was referring to the ones plumbers use. I believe you are talking about MAPP instead of Acy on a real torch.

Just to flesh out some of the good lists of hand tools below, I'd say (again) pry bars of different lengths, and add scrapers (both single-edge razorblade holders, and those that more resemble a thin, long-shanked chisel). Torque wrenches of appropriate capacities.

For lifting and support, a chain fall can be nice if you have adequate meat above to hold it, but a little limiting. A regular one-ton engine hoist is a lot more versatile. A rolling floor jack can be handy, and bottle jacks and jack stands are a given.Plenty of 4x4 or 6x6 wood (not concrete!) blocking for cribbing things up, an assortment of jack stands and bottle jacks. As far as splitting stands, they can be exotic or simple, and I don't know of one that would work on both your Ford and your SuperM. Often, they are simply home built for the application. They need to be of heavy enough material to hold the load and designed/braced to that they can't fold up and collapse under a load.

Those lists below are pr3eety thorough for getting started. Depending what you get into for work, you'll add things (a LOT of things) as you go. You'll find some hard-to-get-to nuts and bolts here and there, and you'll need a stubby wrench or a crow-foot to get to them. A good dial caliper is handy and, if you start getting into pistons and cranks, a good set of micrometers and hole gauges. A compression gauge. Assorted picks and hooks. Valve spring and piston ring compressors. Don't forget the nut splitter.

On the pneumatic side, a simple blow gun is a given. In time, a 1/2" impact wrench, a 3/8" ratchet, an air hammer and straight and angle die grinders will find their way into your collection. And a compressor and tank big enough to run them. For electrical stuff, a simple test probe and a multimeter are handy. Then there's supplies. Penetrants, lubricants, filters, coolants, cleaners, nuts, bolts, cotter pins, sealers, Loctite, abrasives (emery, garnet, wet/dry paper, steel wool, Scotch-brite pads), electrical connectors . . .

It can all be very addicting. I worked for years out of what I could carry in an 8x10x20" handbox and stow in a 6-drawer chest. As I came to need more (metrics for the newer vehicles, bigger for bigger work, specialty tools . . .) I find my stuff taking up 45 drawers in rolling carts and stacked chests, and some of those drawers are quite full. And shelving and cabinets . . .

For $$$, it's probably a toss-up as to which is the most expensive drawer in my shop -- it's either the 3/4" socket drawer with ratchet and breaker bar, or the one with my calipers, micrometers and hole gauges. So you can spend a little or a lot. The basic lists will get you going. Craftsman grade is fine for the home shop, and it's hard to beat the pricing on their sets. I'm not a fan of their big comprehensive sets -- to fill them out, the cost of individual sockets and so on would exceed the cost of having bought a screwdriver set, socket and combination wrenches in different sizes and so on. Sometimes it works out better to buy a set to expand your range of sizes in sockets and wrenches, and in a lot of cases (like 1/2" and 9/16" wrenches that have an uncanny knack for diappearing, the bolts that have a nut on the other end that needs a wrench on both ends) duplicates aren't necessarily a bad thing.

All I have is the small propane-like (plumber)cylinders from Home Depot with the so-called minature "torch". The container of oxygen lasts about 30 minutes. I imagine with a real torch and large cylinders, Mapp gas is OK. I'm going to have to get a system like that or with acetylene because with my small "torch" I can't get anything hot enough to do much good.

I remember a post a couple weeks ago a guy was saying you just burn two or three of those little plumbers torch tanks and your hub bolts will come right out. NO. Cast is such a heat sink you don't really get any effect no matter how many tanks you burn. Maybe you would see more success with three torches at the same time, but not three in succession.
The point in heating an item is to heat/cool the two objects that are stuck at different rates. When all else fails, just torch the stuff clean off :twisted: Not disagreeing with anyone, just going on a rant

Menards has the Allen tools on now. 3/10/10

When I started my Farmall H hobby I just had a basic set of mechanics tools. Ended up buying a craftsman tool set on sale at Sears that has most everything I need except for the large sizes.
Stuff I added over the years, Gearwrench sets, very handy. Punches, prybars, air tools, gasket scrapers (the long handled one with razer blade is the best).

The following was all purchased at Harbor Freight (Hate buying Chinese stuff if I can help it, but for a hobby saving money was key for me).

Engine stand, engine hoist, jack stands, tool chest, hydraulic press, hydraulic jacks, 3/4 socket set, large set of open end wrenches, seal pullers, 3 jaw pullers, brass punches, dead blow hammers and more that I can't think of ; )

Randy

(quoted from post at 14:19:01 03/10/10) When I started my Farmall H hobby I just had a basic set of mechanics tools. Ended up buying a craftsman tool set on sale at Sears that has most everything I need except for the large sizes.
Stuff I added over the years, Gearwrench sets, very handy. Punches, prybars, air tools, gasket scrapers (the long handled one with razer blade is the best).

The following was all purchased at Harbor Freight (Hate buying Chinese stuff if I can help it, but for a hobby saving money was key for me).

Engine stand, engine hoist, jack stands, tool chest, hydraulic press, hydraulic jacks, 3/4 socket set, large set of open end wrenches, seal pullers, 3 jaw pullers, brass punches, dead blow hammers and more that I can't think of ; )

Randy

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Did you get the $25 seal puller/pusher set? How do you like it? I always end up using PVC or big sockets

That set is ok for smaller stuff, but most of the seals on the H need more persuasion to get out.

Randy