[AT] Diamonds in the rough?

[Mike Sloane]

Yesterday was interesting, if uneventful.

After a county government meeting, I met my friend Kirk to look at a 
tractor. He is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon and limping pretty 
badly with a hefty boot/brace, but he can't sit still. So he is looking 
for more old tractors to buy and fix up (note that he buys them, but he 
never seems to get around to fixing them).

The tractor is a Massey Ferguson 202 or 2002 (I am not sure which, and 
it isn't clear from looking at the tractor). This is an early 60s 
machine with a somewhat integrated loader and detachable backhoe. The 
backhoe is sitting in a field by itself and appears to be whole but not 
exactly ready for work. The biggest problem appears to be the crowd 
piston whose rod is rusted beyond saving. It also uses what looks like a 
huge hydraulic motor for swinging the boom, unlike every other backhoe I 
have ever seen that uses two opposed cylinders for swing. That is the 
big unknown. On the plus side, there doesn't appear to be much wear and 
tear  that I could see - nobody used to to break rocks - no cracks, no 
welds. It also has a spare large "muck" bucket.

The tractor had been pushed back into the woods on the other side of the 
property and appears to have had a plastic tarp over it until recently. 
It has a 4 cyl gas engine, presumably a Continental like the one used on 
most similar MF tractors. While the tractor is mostly all there, it is 
pretty tired. The tach has about 3500 hours on it, but the generator 
that had a tach drive has been replaced by a GM alternator some time in 
the distant past, so the tractor could have 7000 hours on it for all I 
know. The engine does turn easily when I pulled on the fan, and I could 
feel compression. The transmission appears to be a three speed with 
Hi-Lo and a shuttle shift. The owner died some years back, and the widow 
said that she had turned down an offer of $500 a few years ago. Nobody 
seems to know why the tractor was abandoned. One plus is that the 
tractor has a PTO and three point hitch with draft control, although the 
lower arms and lift pieces are missing (and there is paint on the lower 
pins, suggesting that they were never installed). One front tire looks 
like it is junk, and the other three are bald and tired, but they are 
holding air.

After we left, Kirk said that he had another one to look at nearby. This 
machine is sitting along the road, and I had passed it several times in 
the past and wondered what the story is. It is a Case W-3 
backhoe/loader, apparently a little older than my Case 430CK but earlier 
than the famous Case 580 series that is still very popular. While we 
were "kicking the tires", a woman drove up and asked us if we were 
interested in buying the machine. She apparently either inherited it or 
somehow came to own it and was asking $800. She said that all she knows 
is that it runs and has a hydraulic leak. The fact that it runs makes it 
much more desirable than the MF in my book, and the tires were much 
better. If I was really in the market, I would jump on the Case - it is 
a real construction machine with a diesel engine, not a converted gas 
farm tractor like the MF. The leak appears to be in one of the swing 
cylinders, which makes it a very simple repair - it is easy to get at 
and likely relatively easy to repair or have repaired. The tires are 
decent R-4 "industrial" tires and look to be fine.

I put images of both machines up on my Fotki album. 
<http://public.fotki.com/mikesloane/babes-in-the-woods/> Any thoughts 
folks might have about either or both machines would be appreciated - 
While neither of the will cost much to buy, I suspect that bringing them 
up to working condition might require some time and money.

Mike