~'70 International 140 Hydraulic Whining

Several years ago, Dad bought a circa 1970 International 140 to cultivate tobacco (back when tobacco was still prolific in my part of the country). He did extensive work on it, including replacing the radiator, installing a side-dresser, and adding a custom-designed mount for a spray and 25-gallon tank (I can take pictures if anyone's interested). It was a tobacco-plowing machine. You could plow at least 10 acres of tobacco a day while side-dressing and spraying all in one pass (more once it got big enough to plow in 2nd gear).

I was in my early teens when he bought it, and I did the bulk of the plowing until we stopped growing tobacco around 2006. So I spent a lot of time on that old tractor. One thing that always puzzled me about that 140 was the hydraulics would whine almost constantly. They worked fine, but would produce this annoyingly loud buzzing sound. All. Day. Long.

Sometimes, you'd be plowing along, and it would make this sucking sound (almost like sucking a milkshake through a straw). Once it did that, the hydraulics would run quiet for a while, then the buzzing would gradually return.

Since everything seemed to work fine, Dad was never too interested in finding out if that was normal or not. So I just kept on plowing. Today, we don't raise tobacco, but the 140 is perfect for cultivating the garden and our small patch of Sorghum. It still whines.

Does anyone know what could be causing this? Is it okay to leave it alone, or should we try to fix it? Is it an easy fix (after working on old tractors for the short amount of time I have, I've learned there's rarely such a thing)?

I've owned a 1966 140 since new and it never whines unless it is really cold. You might start with a fluid change and filter cleaning. Do you know when it was lat done?

I would like to see a picture of the tank and mount. I want to rig something up on my 140 for liquid fert.

Thanks,

Scott

Scott, if I remember, I will snap a few pictures when I get home today.

The whine could be the relief valve blowing off due to a blockage in the system or a badly adjusted control.

If it is the relief valve, things would get very hot very quickly, though.

There is an IH Blue Ribbon service manual available online that goes through troubleshooting these touch control systems.

I just found out that a few days ago, Dad took off the side-cover on the hydraulic sump, checked the level, then replaced it. I ran it a bit today, and it still whines, but not *nearly* as loud as it did before...

Anyway, here's a bunch of pictures of the tank rig for you guys. The support that bends its way up from behind to hold up the front part of the platform used to extend back and bolt onto the rectangular piece that's part of the side-dresser assembly (I think it's for mounting a planter, if memory serves). However, that proved to be too weak once the 25 gallon tank (was taken off for the winter) got filled with water. To solve that, a thin sheet was brought out from behind the side dresser, then braced across to meet the existing frame, and it was cut off from there back.

I'd be interested in what you guys thought.



























The pump on the tank is 12V--Dad just uses alligator clamps to get power from the battery, and connects it to the switch conveniently mounted behind the steering wheel. When you got to the end of the tobacco row, you just flipped off the switch, headed down another row, flipped the switch again, and on you went.

Thanks for the pictures. Helps generate a few ideas for mine.

Scott

If you don't have a side-dresser, it's much simpler. You just come straight off the side-dresser mount, then turn up and make a platform. The front brace comes out of the holes behind the axle (belly mower mounts?), out around the cultivators (if you have them), and up to the platform.

That's the rig Dad had before he got the side-dresser. Had to move everything forward to accommodate the side-dresser, which complicated things hahaha!