[Farmall] Winterizing Farmall H

[Matthew Dickinson]

I agree with Mike (just to carry on the whole agreeing thing!),

My IH330U is used regularly through the winter to feed hay bales, and i've
got an old feed sack in front of the grill secured by a length of bale
twine to the headlights. It all fits nicely over the old window screen
which is zip-tied to the grille itself as a fine screen when mowing!

I too switch from the SAE30 to a 10W40 in winter, here in mid-MO it gets a
little cold, and sometimes she can be a hard-cranker - make sure the
battery terminals and connectors are clean. I use grease over them to stop
the oxidizing process, haven't had much luck with the red spray stuff
that's designed to protect them. Interestingly, the battery cables go bad:
after changing battery, cable connectors it was still hard to start, until
i actually measured the resistance down the battery cable and found 2 ohms!

If you're having real problems starting, there are 8volt batteries around
that will give that extra little help when starting, and shouldn't cause
problems with the electrics.

Of course, if you're just parking it for the winter, you probably won't
need to play with the fun stuff like this - just make sure she's like a
freshly changed happy baby - cleaned off, dry and full of the right fluids!
It wouldn't hurt to grease the fittings to help stop as much moisture
entering.

Matthew



On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:34:59 -0400, Mike Sloane <mikesloane at verizon.net>
wrote:
> I agree with Dean. The reason you need to partially block the flow is
> that, without it, your engine will not come up to proper operating
> temperature and run poorly. I have had good luck with placing an old
> piece of cloth in front of the grill and securing it temporarily with
> cheap magnets - the suction from the fan holds it in place while the
> engine is running. The older the rag the better, as the worn out
> material allows some air to get through. It may look funny, but it works.
> 
> If your tractor came to you with something like 30W non detergent oil,
> you might want to consider changing the oil and filter and putting in a
> multiweight detergent oil, something like 10W40. That will make starting
> in cold weather much easier, but still provide full lubrication as the
> engine warms up. On the down side, you will find that the oil does get
> "dirty" and will have to be changed, as the old non detergent oil leaves
> a LOT of dirt in the pan that the detergent oil will pick up and suspend
> and end up in the filter.
> 
> While it does get below freezing in MD, it rarely gets down to sub-zero
> temperatures, so you can probably get away with a lesser anti-freeze
> concentration than the usual 50/50 mix. But it won't hurt to use the
> regular mix.
> 
> If your tractor sits outside, put a plastic garbage bag over the seat -
> there is nothing quite like the feeling of sitting on a seat that has
> accumulated moisture, frozen, and then get thawed by your warm butt. :-0
> 
> Mike
> 
> Dean Vinson wrote:
>> Hi Keith.  I'd say #1 make sure you have a good antifreeze mixture, and
> then
>> #2 make sure you have a good battery and good (heavy) battery cables.
>>
>> Only other thing that comes to mind is to put a piece of cardboard in
> front
>> of the radiator, maybe 2/3 the radiator height, to help the engine warm
> up
>> to normal operating temperature.  I have one like that on my M.  Spray
>> painted it with some red primer and stuck it in there in between the
>> radiator and the steering bolster, and it just sits there.  With the
> grille
>> back on you can't hardly see it even if you know to look for it.
>>
>> Dean Vinson
>> Dayton, Ohio
>> www.vinsonfarm.net
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: farmall-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
>> [mailto:farmall-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of KEITH
>> LIPSCOMB
>> Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 11:09 PM
>> To: farmall at lists.antique-tractor.com
>> Subject: [Farmall] Winterizing Farmall H
>>
>> I need some advice regarding winterizing my '48 Farmall H.  I purchased
> the
>> tractor in the summer and am slowly working to restore it.  It runs
> fine, so
>> that's not an issue.  However, I want it to run throughout the winter! 
> I
>> live in Maryland, where temperatures will frequently drop below freezing
>> during the Winter months.
>>
>> Keith
> _______________________________________________
> Farmall mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/farmall