[AT] AC wd-45 - - what to look for?

[R Mull]

You have to use the foot clutch to engage the pto.

thanks,
Robert Mull
Woodstock, Georgia
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Henry Miller" <hank at millerfarm.com>
To: <AT at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 9:13 PM
Subject: [AT] AC wd-45 - - what to look for?


>A neighbor is selling a Alils Chalmers WD-45 for someone a few miles down 
>the
> road.  (the owner has had a couple heart attacks and can no longer handle 
> a
> tractor)  The seller knows nothing about tractors, but seems honest enough
> otherwise.  (As if I would know)    Make an offer.
>
> So far I have noted the following:
>
> Oil was a little low, but didn't look too bad.
>
> Starts right up and runs good (for about 10 seconds because we forgot to 
> turn
> the gas on).   A little rough at high RPMs, but doesn't seem like anything
> abnormal.  It was nearly out of gas so I only drove it 20 feet in low 
> gear.
>
> Tires are bad.   All are worn have have cracks.
>
> Paint is bad, but the iron is in good shape, so this is a trivial fix.
>
> No obvious oil leaks, though I think it was washed the day before.
>
> Was converted to 12 volts (by a local dealer).   I doubt I can get the 6 
> volt
> parts back.
>
> Breaks are good.
>
> The hand clutch isn't fully releasing. From a dead start with it released
> there is a slight grinding when I engaged the PTO.   Is this easily
> adjustable?   A sign of something bad?
>
> The foot clutch either lags or doesn't engage until the very top of the 
> throw.
> Thus there was a little jerking when I tried to move.   (my cars are all
> sticks so I know how to use a clutch in general, though it might just be a
> case of not being used to the quirks of this one)   I should have tried 
> the
> breaks on, release the clutch, stall the engine test, but I didn't.  (Will
> try that next time unless warned not to)
>
> The hydrolic fluid was well below the add mark, though the rams were
> partically extended so I'm not sure how bad this is (clearly it is low
> though, the rams cannot take as much fluid as it was low).   I could not
> figure out how to operate the rams, so I'm not sure.
>
> One of the snap couplers is missing.  (No 3 point, and no attachments. 
> This
> is a downside, though I'm not a farmer so I don't need most of the
> attachments I could get anyway)   Here I got the first useful information:
> the owner often hooked a chain to the arm and used that to pull fence 
> posts.
> I didn't see evidence of damage on that arm, so appearently it didn't 
> cause
> harm.
>
> My next task is to get some gas and a compression guage.  Check 
> compression,
> and then a test drive where I can get into road gear for a short time.
>
> I'm most concerned about the clutches.   I'm comfortable replacing them, 
> but I
> don't have a good place to split a tractor.   Anyone have advice on how to
> check these?   Anything else I should be looking at on this model?  Any 
> other
> advice for a young fool looking at old iron?
>
> If there is no problems I'm thinking about making a low offer and see if 
> they
> take it.   I'd prefer an older model, but this is a good first tractor, 
> and
> overall more useful.
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