Tractors didn't always have dipsticks!

mkirsch · Oct 11, 2012

Why do people get their shorts in such a bunch over this?

Somebody buys an M and discovers there's no dipstick...

Their reaction is something like, "That's STOOOOOPID!"

Open your mind a little. Appreciate the engineering of the day. It's different not stupid. Actually, it's pretty clever when you know the whole purpose behind the petcocks.

wisbaker · Oct 11, 2012

Wasn't the purpose primarily for distillate engines
to allow the operator to drain about a quart of oil
out of the engine? IIRC the owner's manual for my H
advised draining a quart of oil out of the distillate tractors and refilling it with fresh oil
every day. Seems distillate would accumulate in the crankcase and dilute the motor oil.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 11, 2012

I had never heard of that for the distillates, but
I'm still a novice at some of this older equipment.
That might get expensive if you use the tractor
every few days.

MisterT · Oct 11, 2012

(quoted from post at 20:10:41 10/11/12) Wasn't the purpose primarily for distillate engines
to allow the operator to drain about a quart of oil
out of the engine? IIRC the owner's manual for my H
advised draining a quart of oil out of the distillate tractors and refilling it with fresh oil
every day. Seems distillate would accumulate in the crankcase and dilute the motor oil.

Exactly. That distillate fuel was kind of nasty stuff and it would contaminate the engine oil, so the solution was to provide the petcocks which provided the opportunity to drain off the top quart of oil, which WOULD be the most contaminated after setting all night, and the top it off with a fresh quart of oil.

rustred · Oct 11, 2012

thats right. dont believe it then some add diesel to your pickup gas tank and you will see the oil level raise on dipstick after some driving. it dont all get burnt cause operating temp or gas engine is not hot enough to burn diesel or disstillate.it goes past rings and into pan.

Super-H-Mike · Oct 11, 2012

Yes, that is correct. It says pretty much just that in the Regulars operator manual, drain to the lower test petcock every ten hours of work and replenish with new oil. I think it was sound engineering for the times. You can also check the oil with the engine running using the petcocks, or at least I did sometimes when I used to disc with an oil burning H .

LenND · Oct 11, 2012

Got a question! By draining a quart aren't they draining mostly distillate from the crankcase, not too much of the oil? Never worked with distillate engines.

mike1972chev · Oct 11, 2012

My petcocks have been working well for 60 years now.

sflem849 · Oct 11, 2012

(quoted from post at 12:37:00 10/11/12) I had never heard of that for the distillates, but
I'm still a novice at some of this older equipment.
That might get expensive if you use the tractor
every few days.

Read your manual

uncle henry · Oct 11, 2012

i like the pet cocks better even more when a come across a tractor that is stuck i can fill it up to the valve cover with oil and let it set

Tractors didn't always have dipsticks!

mkirsch

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wisbaker

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Anonymous-0

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MisterT

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rustred

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Super-H-Mike

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LenND

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mike1972chev

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sflem849

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uncle henry

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