Got my tractor today!!!

[dieselfuelonly]

I'm so excited I had to take a bunch of pictures, sorry.

At first I ran into some trouble getting it off the trailer. Like I said in my earlier post the battery defiantly needs to be replaced and it either needs a new regular or a who new alternator.

Tried jumping it a couple times. Didn't let the battery charge for very long. It would maybe turn over once but just wasn't quick enough to fire.

Then I remembered that the thing had a compression release. Pulled that out, turned it over, let the release back in, she fired right up. It just runs great. There was someone over here visiting the horses and he brought his car over to help me jump it, he commented on how great it ran. I'm going to get a new battery tomorrow, and I need to fix the piece of leaky radiator hose, put a 70% water 30% antifreeze in there (for during the summer, correct??), and then I will start diagnosing the charging problem, though I will probably need some help from you guys!

On to the pics!! Sorry they are dark but the barn doesn't have any electricity yet!

I got everything including the hydraulic oil, manuals, diesel can, etc. with the tractor and the implements for $2,700. Did I do ok?

 

[Bill Barrett]

Don't know much about Yanmar, but always heard good things. I'd say you stole it for that money.

 

[Harvey7]

Diesel


That's an excellent deal, congrats.

 

[mark777]

DFO,

What a deal...probably couldn't go out and buy all the attachments for that.

Now, where are the two engine side covers? Really a non essential item but might be nice to have down the road.
You need a PTO shield too.
Maybe time to fill the lower dash with a few gauges LOL ???

Hey, I think you did great and I can't think of any reason to question your investment. Had it been me...I would have snatched it up while people were still talking about it .

Good luck and congratulations!

Mark

 

[dieselfuelonly]

The side covers came with the tractor. Not exactly sure why he took them off, but maybe it was so that it was easier for him to jumpstart the tractor?

Anyway, I will put them back on. What does a PTO shield look like?

And yes, it looks like the previous previous owner (I think I am the 3rd owner) had put gauges on the tractor judging by those holes. I will put some in there pretty soon because I like seeing what is happening more than that warning light telling me that I am already at the limit.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

[MJPetersen]

That looks to me to be a fantastic deal. May it give years and years of great service. Step by step you can work on the little things. You have one great workhorse.

Mike

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Update: Got to working on the tractor today!

I started out by going to WalMart and getting a battery. I got a battery that I thought was the right size with 750 CCAs. Well it was the wrong size, but then again, the one that was in there BEFORE was the wrong size too... so it looks like I'll have to make a mount myself! Just for today I had it held on there with a bungee cord .

Put the new battery on there, discovered it was a lot easier if I removed the hood first.

Next on to fixing the overheating issue.

I removed the little hose that runs from the bottom left of the radiator down into the drain plug, then removed the hose that runs from the drain plug to the engine block (after draining everything of course). Old hose was kinked and leaking, so I'm hoping that that was the problem.

Replaced the hose with new hose and new clamps. Everything was pretty simple there.

Filled it back up with water and antifreeze. Due to a stupid calculation (yeah, I do that some times), I ended up with a 25% antifreeze to 75% water mix. I will drain a little bit of the coolant and add some more antifreeze tomorrow. No wonder I didn't do good in math.

Next I hooked the battery up and went to start the tractor. Pulled the compression release but forgot to pull the throttle back. After realizing what I was doing I let the starter stop spinning and it sputtered to a stop. Pulled the throttle back, this time leaving the compression release in because I didn't want to get all tied up until I really knew what I was doing. Turned the key, heard a nasty grinding sound. Tried again. Same nasty sound.

Expecting the worse, I pulled the negative cable on the battery and I removed the starter preparing to see a nice flat spot with no teeth on the flywheel (the starter was actually really easy to remove). All the teeth on the flywheel are fine but I could tell that that the gear on the starter was scraping against it. Looked at the starter gear, noticed that it did show some wear, but it didn't seem so worn that it wouldn't engage the flywheel. Moved it with my fingers and the gear did pop out like it should.

Put it back on and tried again. Same sound. Tried bumping the starter. Ha! Saw the radiator fan turn. Tried it again and she fired right up. After that I haven't had any trouble, I guess I may need to put some some kind of grease or lubricant on that starter shaft if that happens again?

Anyway, drove it around some, no overheat light came on this time, but then again I was driving around in 1st gear at about 2000RPM with no load on the tractor.

So tomorrow I may try doing a little bit of work with the bucket tomorrowand see if it gets too hot again.

So far the tractor has been really easy to work on, which I really appreciate.

 

[Double Orange]

Diesel, you might want to keep the 2 seperated. That RED Devil is liable to EAT that grey one !! Good Deal Congrats.

 

[Ductape]

Great Deal ! I'll bet you a dollar your charging problem is the voltage regulator. Seems pretty common. I also put a larger-than-stock battery in my tractor. I had to modify my battery tray slightly. Congrats on yout new toy..... errrr.... i mean TOOL !

 

[robertk]

I'll say you got a great deal the implements alone are worth almost what you paid for the tractor. Enjoy.
Bob

 

[Jagmandave]

That engine looks like it has a water pump, you can run a 50/50 mix with that, only the ones that cool by thermosiphon need the lower mix rate.

Looks like a nice little tractor, you should really enjoy it!

 

[mark777]

The YM1401 has a water pump.

Mark

 

[LMTC]

Why on earth would you want a 50/50 mix unless your winter temps go down to -34*F? Anti-freeze is just that....it is not anti-heat. The higher the glycol concentration, the less the fluid dissipates heat, so the less effective it is at cooling your engine.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Is running a 30/70 antifreeze/water ratio OK for it though until it gets cold?

 

[Grrrr]

Is running a 30/70 antifreeze/water ratio OK for it though until it gets cold?

Thats what all our tractor run on

P.S. I think you got a great deal on your tractor.

Can you explain a bit mroe abotu the compression release. I know nothing about it? Never seen one before (at least I don't think I have)

 

[Grrrr]

Is running a 30/70 antifreeze/water ratio OK for it though until it gets cold?

Thats what all our tractor run on

P.S. I think you got a great deal on your tractor.

Can you explain a bit mroe abotu the compression release. I know nothing about it? Never seen one before (at least I don't think I have)

 

[California]

Can you explain a bit more about the compression release. Never seen one before (at least I don't think I have)

Take a look at an old British thumper (big single) motorcycle. They all had them. The release is a lever that pushes down on the exhaust valve when you actuate it, ie pull the lever or whatever. It allows the engine to turn over with no resistance from compression.

On the BSA and AJS singles I owned you had to begin the kickstart stroke from a certain point in the crankshaft rotation. The compression release made it possible to get to that point.

 

[Grrrr]

Take a look at an old British thumper (big single) motorcycle. They all had them. The release is a lever that pushes down on the exhaust valve when you actuate it, ie pull the lever or whatever. It allows the engine to turn over with no resistance from compression.

On the BSA and AJS singles I owned you had to begin the kickstart stroke from a certain point in the crankshaft rotation. The compression release made it possible to get to that point.

Thanks. I thought it was something like that but was not sure.

I still feel a bit stupid, why does it help with starting a tractor? I can see how it would help with a kickstart.

 

[California]

Thanks. I thought it was something like that but was not sure.

I still feel a bit stupid, why does it help with starting a tractor? I can see how it would help with a kickstart.

1) It allows oil to be circulated, and oil pressure built up, without any of the stress on the rod bearings that a dry start would cause.

2) It reduces the load that the starter sees. Beginning a start with the compression released means that the starter is facing only the inertia of the heavy flywheel. Then a moment later the release is closed and that flywheel inertia helps push the crank through its first compression stroke.

Listen to the audio recording of a start at the bottom of my sig photo page. First it spins easily, then I drop the compression release and it stumbles through a partial compression stroke that was too lean to fire, then it fires on the first proper compression stroke. (If you play that in slow motion the stages are more obvious.) The old battery I was using at the time might have struggled through a few slow compression strokes before getting the crankshaft fast enough to fire, if I hadn't used the release.

 

[Grrrr]

1) It allows oil to be circulated, and oil pressure built up, without any of the stress on the rod bearings that a dry start would cause.

2) It reduces the load that the starter sees. Beginning a start with the compression released means that the starter is facing only the inertia of the heavy flywheel. Then a moment later the release is closed and that flywheel inertia helps push the crank through its first compression stroke.

Listen to the audio recording of a start at the bottom of my sig photo page. First it spins easily, then I drop the compression release and it stumbles through a partial compression stroke that was too lean to fire, then it fires on the first proper compression stroke. (If you play that in slow motion the stages are more obvious.) The old battery I was using at the time might have struggled through a few slow compression strokes before getting the crankshaft fast enough to fire, if I hadn't used the release.

Thanks for that, now I totaly understand. I didn't realise you could let it out while the engine was spinning.