Well, it's been a while, so I guess an update is in order. With the help of thepumpguysc and the parts he sent me I finally got the fuel issue all taken care of. I spent a couple hours chasing other leaks but in the end all is well. With the new muffler, radiator cap, and air filter cleanup it now runs like it should.
Now, for the next chapter in this never-ending saga. I was about to put it on the trailer to take it back to the club house when I remembered I still had not checked all the other fluids. I removed the fill level plug and out pored this white milky looking fluid. This usually means water has somehow gotten in somehow. I went to the back to check the rear and that fill level plug would not move. I put everything I had on that wrench and all it would do was flex. I put heat on it and with the help of a big adjustable wrench I finally got it out. The problem there was someone had put a metric plug in the hole. With that done I took the fill cap off and there was no oil visible at all. I found a long piece of wire and stuck it into the hole to see just how low it was and there was only about 4" on the stick. That means it was well over 1/2 way down. After looking around I could see that the PTO shaft seal was leaking so now I get to fix that too. I don't know what else I'll run into when I remove the bearing housing to replace that seal.
I don't know how long they have been running it like that but there are some pretty nasty looking wear marks on what gears I can see. In the time I have run this tractor I never heard any strange noises, and everything shifted like it should so I'm hoping that once I get this leak fixed and with fresh oil it will last awhile. I'm not as worried about the wear marks on the gears as I am about the possibility of a bearing somewhere may be toast. I have all my fingers and my legs crossed in hopes I can get away with it like it is. The tractor doesn't get used much maybe an hour a month in general but then once a year when we put on our fund-raising Mud Bog, we have to cut the big field for parking and that takes a while longer. I'll probably take my tractor over there to cut that field and work the show. If I ever get this thing running, I'll be keeping a close eye on the fluid levels from now on.
