Vintage Tractor Engineer

It’s about two years ago now that a customer bought an Engine Rebuild DVD, but not for his tractor.  Paul has a 1938 motor cruiser and has just completed a full restoration after spending 3 days a week working on the boat for the past 2 and a half years.  And here is Betsie Jane…

…and yes Paul, we spotted the Champaigne bottle on the first photo.  Well, why not.  Betsie Jane looks superb, and we can all imagine the purring of the twin Standard 23C engines as she cruises along.

During world war II the boat made two crossings in the Dunkirk evacuations, and the information on the National Ships Register says that Betsie Jane was able to tow two other boats because of her powerful engines.  However, the 23C engines were installed in 1952, so I wander what engines she had before that?

Congratulations Paul on a fine restoration and thanks for sending in the photos.  Not the usual thing for a tractor restoration website, but very interesting all the same.

Thanks, and we hope the engines give many more years of service.

Vintage Tractor Engineer.

Just a couple of photos from the first day of filming we did for the Ferguson TE 20 Hydraulics DVD.  In this shot the lighting and camera were focused on the work bench as we dismantled the pump.

Now take a look at the colour of the transmission oil that came out.

The oil clearly hadn’t been changed for years and water had emulsified with the oil to make this yellow creamy fluid.  There was also half an inch of corroded aluminium deposits and dirt in the bottom of the oil reservoir.

The mixture of oil and water is caused by condensation forming in the transmission housing and then dripping into the oil reservoir and mixing with the oil.  This is the reason for regularly changing the oil even if the tractor isn’t been used for many hours a year (like many Fergusons that are owned by enthusiasts).  In fact the less the tractor is used, there is an argument for changing the oil even more often (due to the increased likelihood of condensation forming).

Well it’s nearly 18 months since we bought a TEF 20 with a seized engine.  As soon as we got the tractor home we were eager to get started with stripping the engine and finding out where the problem was.  But the TEF is still sat in the corner of the shed, so why is this if we were so keen to get started?  Well I guess the problem is that the tractor belongs to us.  You see, well what I mean is, we always have a long list of repairs to do to customers’ tractors – and they have to take priority.  As a result the engine is still very much in one piece and still seized.

A few weeks ago one of our customers rang to say he had a TEF and the hydraulics weren’t working.  Could we go along and take a look.  So we did and after a quick initial assessment decided it was going to need a full strip-down of the hydraulics.  The next day we went back armed with a tool box and the video camera.  And that was it, the TE 20 Hydraulics DVD was now been filmed.

What about our TEF with the seized engine?  Well it’s still there and we intend to get to it as soon as we can, although we’ve got Joe’s TVO35 to work on first – it has a frosted block so Joe has found a second hand block to swap over.

In the mean time, the Hydraulics DVD is to finnish off which will take me a few weeks to edit all the footage and author the DVD onto disc.

If there’s one model of tractor that’s written most about on the internet it is probably the Ferguson TE 20.  That’s not really surprising in itself, as there were well over 500,000 tractors manufactured between 1946 and 1956.

Vintage Tractor Engineer has decided to take a minute to put some of these resources on this page for quick and easy navigation (not just to help you the visitor, but also so Vintage Tractor Engineer can find these sites quickly and easily).  One site, however, is a little favourite of Vintage Tractor Engineer – and that’s Tim Ray’s ploughmyfield site.  What we like about Tim’s site is that it’s regularly updated, things are researched in detail and really well inllustrated with photos and videos – just like this post on a 4WD TEA 20.

So here are some links to TE20 resources.  There are dozens and dozens on the web, so this is just a selection.  If you know of any more that are of interest then please leave the link in the comments.  Thanks.

Blogs and personal Ferguson sites…

Ferguson TEF20

GreyFergie

Ploughmyfield

Larger clubs and organisations…

Ferguson Enthusiasts of North America

Ferguson Family Museum

Friends of Ferguson Heritage

Harry Ferguson Tractor Club of Australia

Old Ferguson Tractors

The Ferguson Club

Parts, suppliers and restorers…

Agriline Products

Fergiland

Maine Surface Finnishing

Silver Fox Tractor Spares

Slinden Services (block repairs)

Smallholder Services

Southern Counties Tractor Spares

Rich from New York has sent in a question about his MF202. The hydraulic pump isn’t outputting any pressure. Rich has just bought the Hydraulics DVD and while it is in transit accross to The States he’s asked this question…

I have an MF 202 and Hydraulics do not work.

If I remove the standpipe cover oil flows out of the stand pipe but at no pressure what so ever (any position of the controls).Can you give me any hints to isolate the problem. Can I remove the side access cover and manually move the control lever ? Which way to rasie the lift ? How can I see if oil is blowing out of the pump releif valve. How can I check to control valves ?

Thanks
Rich
NY USA

Hi Rich,

You can remove the right hand side cover and take a look what is happening (DON’T PUT YOUR HANDS INSIDE WHILE ENGINE IS RUNNING), you can control the pump with the quadrant levers when you do this (for safety) and make sure the levers are moving the linkage and control valve. On occasions it is possible to see an obvious leak, usually just an o’ring on the stand pipe but I have seen a split stand pipe before as well.

You say there is no pressure coming from the top of the stand pipe so that starts to narrow down the search for the problem. If the control linkages are operating the control valve OK then it could be the control valve which is worn (these are a very, very precision fit in the housing and must be near perfect otherwise oil will leak past it).

Or, presuming nothing is physically broken on the pump such as a yoke, then the pistons and cylinders could be badly worn and producing no pressure. Or the relief valve stuck open/broken (quite possible if you have a distinct lack of oil volume and pressure). Or last (but not least) there could be a problem with one or more of the valves. Oh, also there is the filter to consider, but unlikely to be causing those symptoms I think.

If the problem isn’t obvious from looking through the side cover then don’t worry. Just remove the top cover and pump as by instructions on the DVD and fully strip the pump. Inspect all springs, valve seats, pistons, cylinders, etc. Look for scores and grooves, check all o’rings. Take your time and inspect the components with a careful and critical eye. The fault will probably be quite obvious. A full pump refurbishment kit is not all that expensive, and probably worth fitting while you are in there if there is some general wear accross all the components of the pump.

Good luck

Steve + Ian