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Tractor top link

S

Stephen Newell

Well-known Member
Anyone have any luck breaking one free that has been rusted into place for years. I've been soaking one in penetrating oil for days and not getting anywhere with it. Don't have an oxyacetylene torch to heat it.
 
Lay it on something solid like an anvil when you whack it with a hammer. This will flex the tube just a twitch every time you hit it. Do it at your own discretion. How hard you hit it and how big of a hammer depends on the thickness and size of the top link.
 
your best bet is to heat it up till wax will melt. a heat gun and a tiger torch or even a fire and lay it in the coals. while hot stand it upright and hold a candle to the exposed threads till the wax starts running down. do this 2-5 times even all in one day. then use vibration or pipe wrenches and you WILL turn it. done this a few times already and it amazes me every time how easy it is.
 
OEM top link or TSC special? I don't know that a cheap top link will take a lot of pounding. If something like a JD New Generation top link then be careful where you hit it. Be sure to strike where the rod is into the tube versus an open spot. A few days of soaking is not a lot of time. Unless you need to press it into service right away keep soaking it. If you have a 24-30 inch adjustable wrench then apply some leverage that you may not have used up to this point. Just don't go for broke in one motion of the wrench. Back and forth gradually until the force required decreases. Heat would not be a bad thing if you can source a torch.
 
No, I'm not in a hurry. Last week or so I split the tractor and fixed the clutch and it's now turned into something of a restoration. Right now I've got all the sheetmetal off of it cleaning it to paint. It's just things I run across that need repairing I'm trying to tend to it. Today I was going to remove the ends of the top link to get it ready to paint. One end came off easily but the other is pretty stuck. After I posted last I got it to unscrew about 1/2" but stopped again. Maybe if I work it in and out it will free itself up. Sure is messy trying to work on it with oil coming out of it.
 
I looked at top links at tractor supply yesterday and I don't think any of them were small enough. Didn't have dimensions with me so all I could do is guess. Didn't want to spend forty bucks on another top link to rust if I don't have to.
 
Soak it in a drain pan of mineral spirits for a few days, - a week, maybe. Put it in the oven at 550 for a few hours (if the wife allows), then torch it pretty hot, then beat the threaded section on a vise with a heavy hammer. I'll bet it'll break loose.
 
I tried everything to free the one on my IH-3588 to no avail. Dug a fire pit loaded with aged oak logs and buried the top link in the middle of coals and piled another layer of logs on top. Let it burn for two days and pulled it out and let it cool. Worked like a charm and both ends were easy to unscrew. Keep it lubed up now and no problems. I had previously used heat, kroil, PB, acetone/ATF, etc and it wouldn't budge even with breakers and cheaters. JMHO
 
I had one I heated no go. I filled the inside with pb blaster through the vent hole and continued to use. About a year later I went to unhook and it was free. Maybe fill with oil stand in the corner or use and keep swamping direction thats up.
 
Dad soaked one with brake fluid after trying everything else. It was free two hours later.
 
I might have to do that. Thought I was making progress getting it to unscrew a little. Now it will no longer turn either direction.
 
I was going to suggest throwing it in a hot burn pit . I head of a guy doing that with the wide front off a IH 1066 to free it up. Pile of corn cobs I believe it was.
 
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