AC 5040 Questions

[nh8260]

I'm looking at buying a Allis Chalmers 5040 tractor and wanted to see the good and bad of it, its a early 1975 model, 6 speed tranny i think. I know
its basically a Long tractor painted orange, this one is 2wd with 4 brand new tires, runs but needs the starter repaired, 2 rear remotes, and overall
good condition. Are parts still available through Agco? He wants 1,500 for it, i offered 1,000 but still waiting to hear back on the offer. I'm not
going to use this everyday, thought it would be a good backup tractor to my New Holland, use it on smaller jobs and such. What do you guys think?

 

[gatz271]

the 5040 is a stout little tractor of 40hp. Good on fuel. At $1500, those 4 new tires make the tractor very reasonably priced.
If you've not driven it, you should. The PS is great on those, if so equipped.
No idea what a starter or repair would cost. The nose grill on those can be expensive to find. It's some kind of fiberglass, IIRC

The 6 speed can be a little irksome to shift. Seems I had to purposely hold the shift lever to the left once into the "range" to get it into those gears. Then getting it into the "range" can also be tricky. I was wanting to make a guide for it, but had sold it.

 

[nh8260]

It does have P/S, the nose looks good and not broken. From the way the man talked the starter is not engaging, i'm going to try some fresh fuel and see if it will start by pulling it off. He said it ran great when it was parked a year ago. Did yours start good in cold weather??

 

[gatz271]

The "bendix" on the starter may be hanging up and needs to be removed & lubed a little.
As for starting, there's a pre-heater on them. And I used that for a couple of years. Just got to have a strong battery.
I didn't have any trouble with it starting, but then I found an in-block heater that did a good job of keeping it warm in the winter. I live in southeast Nebr and it can get pretty cold here.

Surprisingly, CarQuest had the heater.

If they don't still carry it, look for a 36mm expansion block heater with a very short element, as the cylinder wall is close.

The biggest problem was getting the 36mm steel expansion plug out.

Be careful, that filter housing bottom that looks like steel, is actually glass. IIRC, there's a nut on top of the filter a'y, which has to be held from turning when removing it.

 

[nh8260]

I noticed it said there was a thermostart on it, several of my tractors have them and they do a good job in the winter, do you remember where the button is to activate it?? Does the 5040's do well with hydraulic pickup implements? This one has a set of plug in's

Thanks for all the info, do you still have a operators manual for it?

 

[gatz271]

The thermostart is one of the positions on the start switch.

The manual went with the tractor. I think it was a reprint, but very good and extremely thorough.
This might have been where I got it; https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/ACS5040_1110.htm

Well worth the money. Op manual is different; one source...
https://agmanuals.com/products/allis-chalmers-5040-diesel-tractor-operators-manual

The hydraulics are very good; although the system on mine had a high pitch squeal for a while, then went away.

Some settings are changed for what implement you might be using, i.e. plow, mower, etc

3-pt is well-built with nice adjustments.
The 5040 that I had also had a loader on it. It made use of the integral pump that is mounted on the rear.
The clutch is a two-stage; so the drive train is the 1st stage, and the hydraulics & PTO are the 2nd stage.
The PS is 1-finger easy.

 

[nh8260]

Thank you for the pictures, i did see that the PTO was continuous and/or independent, does that mean it has live power like a 4000 Ford would? Some older tractors would not raise the lift unless it was in gear and moving or in neutral with the clutch out

 

[rrlund]

Maybe this site will help. I have a thermostart on my Fiat built Oliver 1365, which I think is the same as a 5050. I've started that tractor at -18F with nothing but that heater. Best cold starting diesel I've ever owned.
Import buyers guide

 

[gatz271]

IIRC, the hyd pump is driven via the PTO shaft & gears inside the rear.
Whenever the PTO is disengaged by a separate lever on the transmission housing, so are the hydraulics.
Because the #400 loader was on mine, I always left the PTO engaged.

Here's a place to get a starter for it, in case you're wondering about the price of one
(it doesn't say if it's a rebuild/refurbished or what);

http://www.importtractorparts.net/fiatstarter.html

A nice feature of the 6-speed transmission is that the 2 higher gears in each "range" are synchronized;
making it real easy to shift on the go with the foot clutch.
IDK about the 8-speed and 12-speed, but would guess they would have synchros also.

I'd suggest googling the 5040........lots of info out there.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

5040 AC is basically the same tractor as the Long 445 and the Oliver 1255/65.I 2 of the 5040 and a 445 Long pretty good little tractors.Tough motors that will last a long time if taken care of.The 6 speed isn't as operator friendly as the later 8 speed in my opinion like in the Long 460,AC 5050,etc but at the price you're quoting its a good deal in good shape.Parts are everywhere,probably the easiest tractor that age to fine parts for these days.I have several parts tractors 5040 and Long 445.

 

[nh8260]

Farmer, can you open your e-mail or you can send me a message, if you are selling any 5040 parts i will need some, i have a verbal agreement to buy it for 1,500

 

[Bob Bancroft]

As I recall, some of them had a troublesome "Marelli" starter on them. I think it's a waste to put any money into one. About as dependable as the "Lucas" on the 200. Put a Bosch on there and the starter problems are fixed.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Best starters are the ones from DB electric off ebay cheap and work good,I'm running 3 of them now on Fiat tractors

 

[Traditional Farmer]

You can email me,I'm having DSL problems with the phone company so might be a day or 2 until I get back to you.