IH 1190, Ford 538 MOCO

[Texasmark1]

Duplicating what I posted on the Ford Forum:

Just acquired a 9' Ford 538 MOCO. This is a 1980-82 year model and I can't believe that I got the Owner's and Repair manuals with it....also the draw bar adapter, and 2 spare sickles in usable shape, rollers are 98% with good bearings and new tires.

Having had JD and NH, this is a different machine and I like the design. Had the selling aftermarket dealer run it up and it is smooth and quiet. Wobble box is leaking a little oil which I will fix with Lubriplate 105 but is rugged and no slop in the drive. Seems the only thing I need to do is flush out the oil in the hyd. line, put new packing in the lift cylinders and replace the wobble box drive belt. The belt on the other side is 75%.
The lift cylinder parts list shows a Kit at the bottom of the list (H389270R1). I want to redo the "packing" and wonder if this Kit contains all the O rings and fabric packing that wears out needing replacing. Does the kit contain what is needed to do the job? The manuals show me how to get the cylinder out....was wondering that at the sellers place before I had time to look in the manuals.

Next the (drive ?) belt coming off the wobble box, or near it...haven't gotten too far into it yet, needs replacing (H567947R2). Seems that if I remove the chains and disconnect the wobble box from the sickle and frame bolts below, I can slip the belt under it to get it on. Yes no? Easier way?

In surfing this AM it seems the two are identical except for paint. That should expand the list of potential folks who have had one and have done the belt replacement.

As usual, comments appreciated. Mark

 

[NY 986]

I can't address the repair work but there were a couple IH 1190's around and I don't recall the owners having anything bad to say about them. Should be a satisfactory unit if kept in good repair. I don't think that I have seen one in Ford colors.

 

[tomstractorsandtoys]

There were lots of 1190 IH's in my area. Not a bad machine but heard one or two farmers say they liked the 990's that they traded in better. Never say a blue one but have seen several New Idea ones. At that same time Ford also sold forage harvesters made by IH. Tom

 

[NY 986]

I've seen several of the IH "blue" choppers back in the day and suspect a few are still around if I went looking for them. Didn't IH also supply a small square baler to Ford at the same time?

 

[tomstractorsandtoys]

I have never seen an IH blue square baler but there were a few New Idea orange IH's. Ford had a round baler at one time was it theirs or an IH 2400? I thought at one time the Ford baler was an Allis Chalmers. Ford sold the Allis 782 chopper as a Ford 480 or 680 back in the late 60's to early 70's. Tom

 

[Texasmark1]

Was going through it today oil/grease, checking bearings and had a close look at the belt. The roller drive chain will easily come off. to expose that sheave. There is a piece of sheet metal protecting the wobble box from incoming debris......no biggie to take that off. That exposes 4 mounting bolts for the box. Remove them and pull the box out about half an inch and the belt will slide between it's sheave and the sheetmetal wall......looks like a walk in the park after all.
Thanks for your interest.

 

[Texasmark1]

Update: Solved the cylinder problem with a variable valve in the good cylinder hyd. line. Lift and fall are now balanced with a level platform. Maybe one day I will find the need (doubt it) and get around to changing out the packing...maybe, since the cylinder is only used in going from mow to transport positions and seems to now have a lot of life left.

The belt removal wasn't a problem, just unbolted the wobble box after removing a skid plate and yesterday finished installing that, tightening up the slack in the chains and gave it a shake down test. Passed. Ready to go to the field.

One thing neat about this machine is that on the end of the lower roller, the gear is bolted to the shaft and the gear is slotted making tightening the existing chain and keeping the rollers in sync is a piece of cake.