300 utility fuel

[Dick Chapin]

Does 1956 300 Utility require lead additive mixed with gas?

 

[riverbend]

Good question. I bought a 350 a few years ago and have never run anything except plain E10 in it. Occasionally it gets worked hard but I have yet to see the valves tighten up. When it needs a valve job, I'll have hardened seats installed.

 

[pete 23]

hardened seats were standard equipment in mid production H & M
gasoline tractors and all gasoline models there after. IH sent out
many letters to dealers that a lead additive was not needed nor
was it desirable in any of those engines....

I showed one of the letters to a local distributor of gasoline but
he continued to sell the additive to his customers.

 

[Roger Tomfohrde]

With the newer seats and valves, run what you can buy. One thing though if your tractor is like mine and sits close to a year and then runs only a few hours. Put non ethanol in, it will save you
grief.
Back in the 70's and 80's we bought very good gas and had minor problems. Never really stuck per say but we tulip-ed a few sets and burned/ warped a couple also. But even then it was only the sixes
and when they were pulled hard 6-7 hours a day. Ah the old times when gas was a dollar or less. I can still see the 460 with the govenor pulled all the and the tractor tilted on the blower putting
haylage up.

 

[Janicholson]

As Pete indicates it is just fine to run normal E-10 regular. Jim

 

[old]

Simple answer is no you don't need that snake oil. And yes it is a type of snake oil and deosn't even have lead in it

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

The result of running unleaded fuel with NON-hardened valve seats is excessive valve seat erosion. That would cause the gap between the rocker arms and valve stems to close up, if that's what you mean by "tighten up" here.

A surprising number of tractors had hardened valve seats from the factory long before it was necessary. Soft valve seats were apparently used in automotive applications for the most part.

A friend of mine, now deceased, had a restored customized '76 Ford Econoline van. It was his baby, and every winter he would put it in and overhaul part of the van to keep it in tip-top shape.

It had non-hardened valve seats in it, and it took a while but the unleaded gas finally eroded them to the point where he had to pull the heads and have them overhauled with hardened valve seats. Took decades, though, and he used this thing to tow his travel trailer all summer.

 

[Dick Chapin]

(quoted from post at 11:31:34 07/08/22) Simple answer is no you don't need that snake oil. And yes it is a type of snake oil and deosn't even have lead in it

Thanks for the info

 

[Dick Chapin]

OK thanks

 

[DR. EVIL]

I run 91 octane recreational E-0 in my Farmall M & Super H because they both sit for months at a time or
longer and the ethanol in E-whatever gas is Hydroscopic, it attracts and absorbs water out of the air and
causes corrosion in the fuel system. I've used this recreational gas for over ten years, maybe more like 15
years. I never have gas problems.
The lead substitute additives are a complete waste of money. If you really have to use something, buy a
couple gallons of leaded Race gasoline, it still has the Tetraethyl lead used in gasoline 40-50 years ago, mix
about a gallon of race gas to every 5-6 gallons of no lead, and the inside of the muffler outlet will turn
that nice light gray color like your tractors back in the 1960's did when doing heavy tillage. I used to burn
a no-lead and race gas mix in my one Cub Cadet a lot and it would turn the inside of the muffler light grey.