Actual tractor related post

I mowed leafs for about an hour, then backed farmall C in to pole barn. Noticed every 2 ft a large drop of oil. Then I noticed the front wheel had run over the oil too. Come to find out the 0-ring like gasket on the OEM oil filter was leaking. I tightened oil filter bolt. The filter has about 50 hours. I lost about a pint of oil in an hour. Got to thinking, if this old girl had been working in the field for 8 hours, it would have cost an engine.

Not to worry, my 1950 C only spends an hour or two in the yard mowing. Still the same, it's a little scary thinking just how fast this happened and how much oil leaked out.

My pole barn floor may not be the cleanest, but oil spots stand out. Good think I have a concrete floor. Oil drops may not have shown up as well on a dirt floor.

George

Previous owner of my Ford 7710 burned up the engine grinding feed. Oil sending unit let go and pumped the oil out while he was back minding the grinder. Thing happen fast

JDB, the same happened to me one day driving to work. I looked at the gauge and no pressure. Pulled into a station and checked the oil, still above add mark.Checking over the engine, the sending unit was leaking around the seam where the casing was put together.

Was mowing the lawn last month with my Cub Cadet when suddenly a cloud of blue smoke filled the air, shut it off quick and looked in and the sending unit was leaking around the crimp between metal and plastic and dripping onto the hot muffler.Pulled the sending unit and replaced with 1/8" pipe plug untill I was able to get a new one.

But, but George, you watch the oil pressure gauge all the time so you needn't worry, right? Not!

The oil pressure gauge on my 1086 is electric and about as eccentric as they get. Years ago when it first acted up I was plowing at night and tired as all get out, and when I did one of my once-every-30 minute checks of the oil pressure gauge it read ZERO! Of course I got real excited and shut her down hot. I forget how I figured out it was the gauge, maybe I tapped on it, but shortly after that I installed a manual gauge right in front of the lower right front cab window.

When I was dating Marilyn we were going to church in my 62 Rambler Classic and the oil light came on. I shut it down and coasted to the shoulder. The drain plug had fallen out. I thought back a bit and remembered a few days before when I'd had the oil changed at the local gas station. The attendant had screwed the plug in with his fingers when the bell rang and he went out to gas up a car. (remember full service?). When he came back to the car he let it down and put oil in it, forgetting to tighten the plug. No harm was done and we got a ride to church with some guy who stopped to help. Jim

My friend with a big vegetable operation has to put tractors on irrigation pumps in dry years. They get checked on every four hours or so. I don't believe that he has lost one yet. But that is just one use for many engines that sit and run hour after hour, day after day, week after week, getting checked on only at fueling time.

We put a Murphy (brand name) switch on the tractors that have pump duty, they stop the engine for low oil pressure, heat, lost prime on the pump etc, lot cheaper than an engine. A $20 fan belt can cost a lot of money if it goes at the wrong time.

Brookdale has an 8000 that they pump with! They have a low oil pressure shut off for it!

Edit: Probably the same as the "Murphy switch" mentioned below.
They had a 9600 prior to the 8000. That one burned up when on the pump! No one knew it was burning until the smoke got above the trees!

Not long after I'd bought a new Grasshopper mower, they had a special price on service and adjustment, so I took them up on it. They picked it up and brought it back, leaving it sitting on the carport. I fired it up and started mowing the yard. The second lap around the house I saw a stripe of oil crossing the sidewalk. I was too stupid to realize what was happening right then, but the third lap around the house I saw TWO stripes and switched it off immediately. The oil filter wasn't even finger tight and it was running a steady stream. I poured a quart in it to bring it back to full, so about half of it had pumped out. I worried about the bearings having poor lube due to low oil pressure, but it's been about 6 years ago and my worries are starting to subside.