[AT] Farmer's question about aftermarket goodies

[Indiana Robinson]

On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 5:59 AM, Dean Vinson <dean at vinsonfarm.net> wrote:
> Hi Mike.   If the throttle on your H looks like that picture, it's
> aftermarket rather than factory.  The original IH throttle levers are just
> flat pieces of steel, with a tooth that engages a notched disk to hold
> whatever throttle position you select.  Very common for the tooth to get
> worn down so it doesn't hold well, so M&W and other companies made these
> aftermarket friction-plate throttle levers as replacements.
>
> I like the M&W version because it just somehow looks and feels right,
> proportion-wise, and the heft of the lever feels better to me than the
> flat-stock IH levers.  Aside from that, there's no real "advantage" to it
> over any comparable after-market lever (you can still buy new aftermarket
> levers at Tractor Supply).  I just like it.  :-)
>
> Dean Vinson
==========================================




Hi Dean:
It is kind of ironic that we bought two of those and installed one on
the Super M and the other on the S-MTA. After about two weeks we took
them off and put the originals back on.
We were farming pretty hard with them at that time. Both were running
(and still are) over-sized pistons and sleeves and a high performance
governor running at a little higher RPM than stock. Both ran duals
(wheels) for field work other than plowing. Both would easily
out-perform our 52 HP MF-165-D (New at the time). The problem with
those throttle levers for us was that when running full throttle (and
we usually were) doing hard work those governors "pushed back" hard
enough to overcome the friction disk on the throttle and slow the
engine down. In order to hold it we had to tighten the spring so tight
that you then could not move the lever by hand.
We also had several jobs (spraying was one of them) where going back
to the exact same speed was important after slowing down to turn at
the end of the field. It was far easier for us to just mark the
correct notch and put the tooth back in the marked notch each time.
BTW, that tooth cost $8 each to replace. I have a new one here now to
replace the one in the Super M. The 400 throttle used a washer for the
tooth and you could loosen a small cap screw and rotate the washer to
a fresh spot as it wore down.
We did raise the whole throttle assembly up about 3" and about 2" to
the right so it is easier to reach on both tractors.
-
Both of those tractors have after market brake locking controls on
them. The one from TSC (on the Super-M) was a kind of light weight
little lever that mounts just to the left of the brake latch and when
lifted by a thin rod that runs up to the light-bar pushes the nose of
the brake latch down while you are pushing the brake down with your
foot.
The second one is on the S-MTA and works similar but is one I designed
and built and it should last roughly 800 years. :-) Some of you may
have seen that latch on the S-MTA at Portland a few years ago. Both
really beat the dickens out of reaching down with a stiff back over as
big gut to work that latch with a fingertip.
-
I think power steering is my favorite after-market item, both of those
tractors have it. The Super M has a Charr-Lynn unit and the S-MTA has
a Behlen unit. Both operate off of the tractor pump with a flow
divider rather than a power steering pump off of the fan belt.
 Next is that great Spee-Co 3 point hitch. I believe it is far
superior to the one that Work Saver made for the M series.
-
Oh, yeah. I believe one of those throttle levers is hanging in the
shop "someplace" and the other we installed on a small broadcast
seeder to control the seed gate.



-- 
Have you hugged your horses today?

Francis Robinson
aka "farmer"
Central Indiana USA
robinson46176 at gmail.com