Farmtrac

[Tap]

Hello,
I'm new to this forum and not very computer savvy so please bear with me. I have some problems with my Farmtrac 545DTC. This machine blew a head gasket at 42 hours, and now at 117 hours it has some of the same symptoms. I'm not sure it's another blown gasket yet. I am not much of a mechanic so I rely on others for repair and hauling of the machine.
I've owned it since just before Farmtrac went bankrupt 2 years ago and have been overwhelmed by this whole mess with them and LS.
Is anyone else having major mechanical problems with their Farmtracs?
I'm trying to figure out if I should unload this thing. Are they good tractors?

 

[Tom W]

I have a Farmtrac 545 with 110 hours and have not had major problems. I have had smaller items, starter solenoid, thermostat, seat that have failed. If it blows head gaskets it should be checked for flatness of the block and head surfaces. The engine is a 20 year old Ford design engine.

 

[Tap]

The shop said they always check for head warpage, and found none. Is Mitsubishi a Ford design engine?
How about leaks? This tractor is not exactly "tight". There is no drips, but I have fluid dampness around several gaskets and fittings.
Does anyone have any opinions on LS tractors?

 

[trac]

Hello Tap, A few years back, I had a head gasket blow on a Farmtrac 45 (early 545). I don't believe the head bolts were retorqued on this new machine after a few hundred hours as things seated in. I replaced it with NH 3930 gasket .( Farmtrac at the time, didn't stock a gasket and only half the head bolts.) That gasket didn't last 50 hours and blew again. After rechecking the head and not finding anything wrong, a friend told me of a problem he had on a Ford 3900 doing the same. He replaced it with a Napa head gasket, so I did the same. Years later, tractor is still running on same gasket. Seemed to be a better quality gasket with different kind of sealant on it. Also make sure the tractor is not overheating. The gasket won't last long without failure. Good luck, trac

 

[Tap]

Hello Tap, A few years back, I had a head gasket blow on a Farmtrac 45 (early 545). I don't believe the head bolts were retorqued on this new machine after a few hundred hours as things seated in. I replaced it with NH 3930 gasket .( Farmtrac at the time, didn't stock a gasket and only half the head bolts.) That gasket didn't last 50 hours and blew again. After rechecking the head and not finding anything wrong, a friend told me of a problem he had on a Ford 3900 doing the same. He replaced it with a Napa head gasket, so I did the same. Years later, tractor is still running on same gasket. Seemed to be a better quality gasket with different kind of sealant on it. Also make sure the tractor is not overheating. The gasket won't last long without failure. Good luck, trac

Thanks trac,
The machine is now at the shop and I'm waiting to hear the diagnosis. I'll figure-out what to do from there. But right now, my feelings about Farmtrac are not good. Anyone out there interested in buying it? I'm near Pittsburgh.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

The shop said they always check for head warpage, and found none. Is Mitsubishi a Ford design engine?
How about leaks? This tractor is not exactly "tight". There is no drips, but I have fluid dampness around several gaskets and fittings.
Does anyone have any opinions on LS tractors?

I thought that the model that you have was made by Escort not LS, and I did'nt think that the Escort tractors had Mitsubishi engines but I could be mistaken.

 

[Tap]

I thought that the model that you have was made by Escort not LS, and I did'nt think that the Escort tractors had Mitsubishi engines but I could be mistaken.

It is made by Escort. I asked about LS because my shop sells LS and offered to possibly take mine on a trade, and I was wondering what you folks knew about them.
Everyone tells me it's a Mitsi engine...Or am I the one that's mistaken?

 

[Charolais]

The engine for that model should be a 3 cylinder from the old Ford design and not a Mitsubishi. Lots of them in this area and very few problems with them.

 

[Tap]

The verdict is in... another blown head gasket. I'm unsure what to do... I could trade it, but the numbers don't look very good, I'll lose a lot of money. Or I can fix it (again) and give it another try. At this point, I really don't trust this machine, but the several FT dealers that I've talked to, say they are good tractors.
Is it possible that I'm doing something that is causing the failure?

 

[Tom W]

Have them check both the head and block for flatness. Use a good quanity gasket, I would not use one from Farmtrac. Torque the head bolts per spec. and re-torque them after some use. Do not use ether for starting.
Tom

 

[Tap]

Have them check both the head and block for flatness. Use a good quanity gasket, I would not use one from Farmtrac. Torque the head bolts per spec. and re-torque them after some use. Do not use ether for starting.
Tom

The only time ether was used, and used very sparingly, was AFTER the gaskets were blown when we were trying to get it started.
The shop swears that they checked for flatness and warpage of the block and head, and they torqued to the accepted method. I believe them. Once I got the machine back after the first repair, I never re-torqued them. Is that a problem? Should I do re-torque periodically?
Maybe they are using inferior gaskets. What is the best brand gasket for this machine...FT? Ford? NAPA?

 

[Tom W]

The Farmtrac manual says to re-torque after 50 hours of use. I was surprised on mine when I did it that the bolts to the sides of the head were almost to spec but the ones down the center of the head took over 1/2 turn of the bolts to get tight. I don't know what is the best brand of gasket. A previous post said NAPA. Fel Pro generally makes good gaskets and one would think New Holland would supply good ones. I am not sure which Ford interchanges, but I believe the 2910 has the same displacement. The particular gasket brand may say whether to use a sealer or not.
Tom

 

[Tap]

The Farmtrac manual says to re-torque after 50 hours of use. I was surprised on mine when I did it that the bolts to the sides of the head were almost to spec but the ones down the center of the head took over 1/2 turn of the bolts to get tight. I don't know what is the best brand of gasket. A previous post said NAPA. Fel Pro generally makes good gaskets and one would think New Holland would supply good ones. I am not sure which Ford interchanges, but I believe the 2910 has the same displacement. The particular gasket brand may say whether to use a sealer or not.
Tom

My shop says that the FT book gives a torque/pounds figure for the initial torquing, but then refers to degrees of bolt rotation, for retightening. Seems crazy to me. Why not just stick with pounds of torque for all maintenance?
Someone on the QDMA forum suggested that there could be some stretch of the bolt threads and maybe replace them. The shop says that could be possible. Another friend suggested installing a head-temp gauge.
I don't want to take ANY short-cuts in this repair. I pray this is the last head gasket for this machine.
Thanks for all of your input!
Tom

 

[Tap]

The tractor is fixed. The shop discovered that the solenoid that advances the timing for cold weather starting was sticking. My valves were a bit pitted too. The shop says that the bad solenoid could have the tractor running with the timing advanced which could have caused all of my problems. They went to swap it with one from a new FT and that one was sicking too. We decided to use it manually. I'll pull the wire unless I need it to start it.
Any one out there with a FT might want to check their solenoid, too.