So I did a thing... Agria 8900D

[ptsg]

Finally got around to make the video I said I would do a long time ago. It has lots of pictures, some machining clips and some tilling action.

 

[ning]

Really looks fantastic - great job!
Just curious... how much is it worth now... and how much is overseas shipping?

 

[ptsg]

Really looks fantastic - great job!
Just curious... how much is it worth now... and how much is overseas shipping?

Thank you ning!

I think I could sell it for maybe €3,500 to €4,500 or $3,800 to $4,300. If it had title and license plate, I could add another €1000 on top of that easily.

Shipping? Ha! With my luck, the shipper would lose it in the middle of the ocean!!

Currently, no plans on selling it, unless another project shows up, preferably with power steering and rigid frame as in front axle steering instead of articulated. Same low profile style though.

I did miss on a very nice 35hp Antonio Carraro, needed some engine and cosmetic work but the price was just a touch high.

 

[2manyrocks]

That is a stunning restoration.

 

[ptsg]

This little bast@rd did me dirty yesterday. Decided to blow the hydraulic hose going the 3 pt cylinders, but the one in the articulation area, right in between my legs. Needless to say, got a nice oil shower from the waist down pretty much.

Anyway, went to the hydraulic store today, Monday morning, 10 min and $12 later, I got a new hose. To be fair, the old one was probably the original 40 or 50-ish year old one.

Fun fact: A bit before this happened, I was just staring at the hose and telling to myself: Man, wouldn't it suck if that were to blow in middle of your legs? Yep!

As far as the tractor goes, 20 hours on it so far and it's been rock solid. Only adjusted the brakes twice as they wear in. Also, I made a hitch for it so I can hook my trailer. I have been moving the trailer around with it.

 

[arto98607]

Thank you ning!

I think I could sell it for maybe €3,500 to €4,500 or $3,800 to $4,300. If it had title and license plate, I could add another €1000 on top of that easily.

Shipping? Ha! With my luck, the shipper would lose it in the middle of the ocean!!

Currently, no plans on selling it, unless another project shows up, preferably with power steering and rigid frame as in front axle steering instead of articulated. Same low profile style though.

I did miss on a very nice 35hp Antonio Carraro, needed some engine and cosmetic work but the price was just a touch high.

It looks great now - the workmanship and the amount of work you have done is impressive!

Your Agria 8900D has a very low profile style which is understandable due to type of work it was designed for.

Wouldn't rigid frame tractor likely mean lot smaller front wheels and less traction?


Looks like Antonio Carraro has similar style tractors, but the operator seating is little higher.
The rollover protection kind of defeats the idea of low profile tractor...

 

[ptsg]

It looks great now - the workmanship and the amount of work you have done is impressive!

Your Agria 8900D has a very low profile style which is understandable due to type of work it was designed for.

Wouldn't rigid frame tractor likely mean lot smaller front wheels and less traction?


Looks like Antonio Carraro has similar style tractors, but the operator seating is little higher.
The rollover protection kind of defeats the idea of low profile tractor...



View attachment 1523826 View attachment 1523827

Thank you Arto!

These type of tractors are called isodiametric tractors because of the equal sized wheels.

Yes a conventional tractor would have less traction at the front, however the bigger rear wheels may make up for it. A conventional tractor has around 40% of the weight at the front axle and 60% at the back.

These isodiametric tractors it's 60% in the front and 40% in the back, so the front wheels do some work along with the rear as the implement puts weight on the rear axle. These are typically a bit lighter than a conventional tractor though, even after wheel weights, but they all have front and rear axle locks, which makes them great pullers as well.

Antonio Carraro was pretty much the inventor of this style of tractor. Up to this day, they're still the best isodiametric tractor out there, it does come with an hefty price though.

After them, Goldoni, Pasquali, Ferrari, Agria, and others started to build their own isodiametric tractors. All based on areas with hills and mountains.

Nowadays, most of these brands offer a reversible operators platoform which is a great feature to have, since you're now facing the attachment lets say mowing brush for instance.

You're correct on the roll over protection. The rear mounted one, pretty much defeats the purporse of these tractors. That's why most have mid mounted ROPS because it folds forward and makes a low profile tractor again.

 

[ning]

Could you put that hydraulic hose though some sort of flexible coil cover that allows flex, protects the hose, but would contain or at least deflect a leak in the future?
Or, do you just figure it's a new hose now so it's good for another 30 years?

 

[ptsg]

Could you put that hydraulic hose though some sort of flexible coil cover that allows flex, protects the hose, but would contain or at least deflect a leak in the future?
Or, do you just figure it's a new hose now so it's good for another 30 years?

That's a great idea ning! It should also protect it from the sun and what not.

This new hose is a double wire braided while I'm pretty sure the original one was single layer. The new one is good up to 4800 PSI and the tractor only puts out 1800 PSI or so. I expect it to last a long time as well.

I'll see what I have that will slide over the hose. It's raining now and the next 2 or 3 days, so that will postpone anymore wood splitting activities, might as well take care of that.

 

[ning]

This is expensive, won't help contain leaks and may not deflect pinhole leaks but may help avoid impact damage. It may also cause wear damage when the hose moves with the flexing though, you may want to consider if the cost of protecting it outweighs the cost of simply replacing the hose more often.
Looks like there's also "hydraulic hose wrap" which may cause less scuffing to the paint.
I suppose the ultimate would be a swiveled hydraulic coupler mounted directly over the axis of articulation, then you could use a hard line?

 

[mark in portugal]

This is a terrible thread; it cost me most of the day. I should have been working on my tractor, and instead I was reading 19 pages, gooning out on pictures and video...

I thought my tractor had been badly treated (never greased, repair attempts that caused damage, etc.), but whoever perpetrated those crimes on that poor Agria really should be reported for cruelty to machines.

Great coverage of an amazing save, bringing the dead back to life.

I hope you can come up with a way to live with the steering, it seems a terrible shame to let all that work walk away for one little problem.
Ok, maybe not so little.

 

[arto98607]

Just curious if any of Antonio Carraro, Goldoni, Pasquali or Ferrari etc. same style tractor models have power steering and if those ideas or parts could be adapted?

 

[ning]

How does the steering work?

 

[ptsg]

This is expensive, won't help contain leaks and may not deflect pinhole leaks but may help avoid impact damage. It may also cause wear damage when the hose moves with the flexing though, you may want to consider if the cost of protecting it outweighs the cost of simply replacing the hose more often.
Looks like there's also "hydraulic hose wrap" which may cause less scuffing to the paint.
I suppose the ultimate would be a swiveled hydraulic coupler mounted directly over the axis of articulation, then you could use a hard line?

It really needs the hose. There is a lot going on as not only it steers left/right, but it also pivots/tilts left and right, just like a front axle on a conventional tractor, but in this case, the entire front half twists in relation to the back half. So the hose ends up having to move quite a bit. They do made so it runs as little hose as possible, the rest is hard lines.

This is a terrible thread; it cost me most of the day. I should have been working on my tractor, and instead I was reading 19 pages, gooning out on pictures and video...

I thought my tractor had been badly treated (never greased, repair attempts that caused damage, etc.), but whoever perpetrated those crimes on that poor Agria really should be reported for cruelty to machines.

Great coverage of an amazing save, bringing the dead back to life.

I hope you can come up with a way to live with the steering, it seems a terrible shame to let all that work walk away for one little problem.
Ok, maybe not so little.

Sorry Mark!!!

This poor thing has had indeed a very rough life. I mean, it was literally about to be broken in half. I don't even understand how they managed to use it that way. Must be so frustrating having to turn at least 1 full turn before it actually started steering, plus the front half just flopping around like crazy.

I'm just glad it didn't have any broken gears or damaged/stripped splined shafts. Having to buy or have those made would just blow the budget in every way possible.

As I've been getting the feel for the tractor, I'm doing better with the steering situation. I now know work with it, instead against it. As you start turning the steering wheel, there is this sweet spot as it starts turning that will help you steer and not being too hard on the arms.

I think I'll still put the steering wheel from my backhoe on the Agria and move the one from the Agria to the backhoe. It bigger, so it should make it easier.

Not gonna say I won't send it down the road if another good project pops up at a good price, specially something with power steering, but for now, I'm keeping it.

I want to make some handrails for it as well.

Just curious if any of Antonio Carraro, Goldoni, Pasquali or Ferrari etc. same style tractor models have power steering and if those ideas or parts could be adapted?

They all have different parts made for their own models. Could be adapted for sure but it's also big money just to get the parts. Even Agria had the same model with power steering coming a couple years after mine.

It's the Agria 8900DE instead of just the "D" like mine. Had a tandem pump mounted on the engine, so the steering has its dedicated pump, a steering valve instead a steering box and a cylinder mounted just below it.

Main reason for me to not do anything about it so far, is cost. I really don't want to throw big money at it as it's not my main tractor. I only use occasionally, I can live with it as is.

How does the steering work?

On mine, there is this really big and heavy duty steering box (pic #1) mounted in the front half of the tractor. Inside, it's a worm drive and a big gear (pic #2). Then, out the output shaft where the pitman arm mounts. Two steering ball joints, welded back to back, connect the pitman arm to the rear half of the tractor. Hopefully the picture #3 makes it more clear than my explanation.

 

[mark in portugal]

Good solid massive mechanical stuff; maybe not so supple, but it's pretty much indestructible.
A bigger wheel should help, as long as there's room for it.

Americans might not appreciate the very high cost of used parts in Portugal; I'm continuously amused and disappointed at the prices demanded for things that could as easily be sent to the scrap yard.

Even at the scrap yard, they demand silly prices!

Of course it's worse for me, both as a foreigner and my location in the south where there is little industry. The old guys around here would rather watch an old machine rust into the ground than sell it 'cheap'.

I bought a used car engine from the Netherlands; it was cheaper to ship it from there (1,500 miles) than buy the same engine here.

 

[ptsg]

Good solid massive mechanical stuff; maybe not so supple, but it's pretty much indestructible.
A bigger wheel should help, as long as there's room for it.

Americans might not appreciate the very high cost of used parts in Portugal; I'm continuously amused and disappointed at the prices demanded for things that could as easily be sent to the scrap yard.

Even at the scrap yard, they demand silly prices!

Of course it's worse for me, both as a foreigner and my location in the south where there is little industry. The old guys around here would rather watch an old machine rust into the ground than sell it 'cheap'.

I bought a used car engine from the Netherlands; it was cheaper to ship it from there (1,500 miles) than buy the same engine here.

Tell me about it! There are so many cases like that all over the country. Real cool cars, trucks, tractors, machines, etc with lots of value just rusting away because the owners are too proud or stubborn on the prices.

Then, another thing that happens a lot is when the owners die, during the the inheritance sharing process, the titles and paper work for these vehicles are lost and then the vehicles are pretty much worthless without the paper work and pretty much impossible to get paperwork done.

I've been eyeing this very cool Same Puledro for years now. 2 cylinder air cooled Same diesel, one of the very first Same 4x4 tractors. The guy is asking 3500€. It's a crazy amount of money for it and that's why it's been sitting there for sale for years now.

I would really like to get my hands on it. I like those old tractor with round/curved hoods.

A better look at it:

Also, have you been getting any rain down there?

 

[mark in portugal]

I agree, those older round ones look much better than the 80's square hood like I have.
My wife says I need to fix the "face", it looks all beat up!
It's a tractor I tell her... it happens.

We've had 60mm of rain so far. Not much but a lot better than nothing.

 

[ptsg]

I agree, those older round ones look much better than the 80's square hood like I have.
My wife says I need to fix the "face", it looks all beat up!
It's a tractor I tell her... it happens.

We've had 60mm of rain so far. Not much but a lot better than nothing.

It's been raining almost non stop here for the past week or so. Had a day or two of mostly clear skies that allowed me to take a big tree down and haul the wood with the Agria.

 

[ning]

My wife says I need to fix the "face", it looks all beat up!

You're certain she's talking about the tractor?

 

[mark in portugal]

You're certain she's talking about the tractor?

Good point; I'm a gnarled up old machine too.