[AT] Farmall 656

Moseley, Richard rickmoseley at mail.utexas.edu
Fri Oct 23 09:23:34 PDT 2009


Once again I've crawled out of lurk mode to post a question to the list.  I've recently acquired a Farmall 656 diesel (1964-65?)at practically no cost.  It wasn't (and still isn't) running.  All the seller said was that his late father in law used to use it but 'something quit working' and the fil parked it while he tried to fix it.  Other than some cosmetic items it appears complete and has good tires.  The only thing missing  was the starter and maybe the fuel sediment bowl (if it came with one).  The starter bolts were screwed back into the tractor, so I'm hoping that's what the fil was trying to repair.  The main thing I've learned so far is that it's a LOT larger and much more complex than my older farmall A,B,C,H.  I've found a few manuals, but most of them have details particular to the Hydro model rather than the gear drive models like mine.  I will be placing an order with Binder Books in the near future. (pretty expensive manuals)

As far as getting it running I've got a starter (not installed yet), both fuel filters, an oil filter and plan to flush the fuel system before trying to start it. I haven't yet found the hydraulic oil filter, and am just presuming that it has one somewhere.  I'm reluctant to change 17 gallons of Hy-Tran on the chance that it will run OK.  My question is this:  Does anyone know anything about this tractor either from reading or personal experience that they would be willing to share?  I'm basically starting from zero here.  The engine is a D-282 (German-made I've read), transmission will shift into all gears.  Is there anything I should look out for?  Anything I should NOT do?  It looks like it could be a pretty strong and useful machine or a potential money pit.

Thanks in advance for any and all replies.  Any sort of information will be very much appreciated.

Rick Moseley
Smithville, TX




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