Gambles
Well-known Member
This event actually happened in the early '80s. My memory may have faded a little bit over the years on some subjects, but I'm pretty sure this is all accurate.
There was a post awhile back about a leaking IH "H" oil filter. I wanted to comment on it and how I "fixed" the oil filter on my dad's H, but was waiting for a photo. I finally got one today because the tractor is parked at mom's house. (Pardon the dirty engine. Maybe this year I'll take a power washer over to her house and clean it up) To begin this story, I'll say that when he started farming, my dad was a John Deere man. We had an old IH hay rake, but my dad got it used somewhere and I know it wasn't purchased new. Also, I grew up on a dairy farm and during the winter we had to cut wood to keep the feed wagon shed warm. Cutting wood was a job that I hated and I always knew that while I was in high school and my buddies were having fun on a weekend, I was probably putting up wood.
So I was fresh out of mechanic tech school and was helping dad put up wood at a fresh source. There in the middle of the field was an IH H sitting there with a flat tire. We knew the owner real well and his son had driven the H and it got a flat tire...about two years previous...and no can was put on the exhaust. Dad was always looking out for a bargain and with me knowing a little about turning wrenches, he drove a hard bargain and we pulled it home. (After getting the flat tire fixed)
The engine was seized and after pulling the head off, two cylinders were full of crud. I took a block of wood to pound the sleeves out, with the pistons stuck to them, and started with some overhaul parts. The first thing I ordered were a set of pistons. I remember getting them from Tractor Supply. (Remember when they actually sold tractor overhaul parts?) The sleeves came with the pistons and the pistons were some relabeled M@W high domers. For some reason, I had to get the piston rings elsewhere. I believed TSC put the wrong rings in with the pistons. After the engine all went back together, I just knew that a better oil filter was out there than the factory canister. There is nothing wrong with the canister, I just like spin-on filters better. So I searched the local salvage yard, found a filter mount for an H tractor and went to work. I hand-sanded the mount down to get rid of the depression on the mount that held the o-ring. I remember it was winter time and I sanded it down on the floor while watching TV during a cold night. The diameter of the now smooth base was the exact same size as a 1-quart or 1/2-quart filter that fit the small block Chevy. I remember, at the time, that the filter numbers were PER40 or PER49 Purolator filters. (Numbers have changed. Those are old numbers) I took the base and tapped it for the threads that fit the filter. The inside tube is a few inches tall so the air pocket inside the filter removes itself when the engine is pumping oil. I also put a restrictor inside these threads as this is a bypass filtration, not a full flow filter. Not doing so would probably have a loss in oil pressure.
I wouldn't recommend everybody going out and doing this to a perfectly good H filtration system, but it was worked flawlessly for about 40 years. This engine has always had good oil pressure and it still does today even though it doesn't get the use like it used to. It used to be dad's favorite tractor for going to bale alfalfa on a farm that we had about 10 miles away because it had such a better road gear then any of our two-cylinder John Deeres. Now it just gets some occasional use because it has a buzz saw on the front. Hopefully, you are still awake.
There was a post awhile back about a leaking IH "H" oil filter. I wanted to comment on it and how I "fixed" the oil filter on my dad's H, but was waiting for a photo. I finally got one today because the tractor is parked at mom's house. (Pardon the dirty engine. Maybe this year I'll take a power washer over to her house and clean it up) To begin this story, I'll say that when he started farming, my dad was a John Deere man. We had an old IH hay rake, but my dad got it used somewhere and I know it wasn't purchased new. Also, I grew up on a dairy farm and during the winter we had to cut wood to keep the feed wagon shed warm. Cutting wood was a job that I hated and I always knew that while I was in high school and my buddies were having fun on a weekend, I was probably putting up wood.
So I was fresh out of mechanic tech school and was helping dad put up wood at a fresh source. There in the middle of the field was an IH H sitting there with a flat tire. We knew the owner real well and his son had driven the H and it got a flat tire...about two years previous...and no can was put on the exhaust. Dad was always looking out for a bargain and with me knowing a little about turning wrenches, he drove a hard bargain and we pulled it home. (After getting the flat tire fixed)
The engine was seized and after pulling the head off, two cylinders were full of crud. I took a block of wood to pound the sleeves out, with the pistons stuck to them, and started with some overhaul parts. The first thing I ordered were a set of pistons. I remember getting them from Tractor Supply. (Remember when they actually sold tractor overhaul parts?) The sleeves came with the pistons and the pistons were some relabeled M@W high domers. For some reason, I had to get the piston rings elsewhere. I believed TSC put the wrong rings in with the pistons. After the engine all went back together, I just knew that a better oil filter was out there than the factory canister. There is nothing wrong with the canister, I just like spin-on filters better. So I searched the local salvage yard, found a filter mount for an H tractor and went to work. I hand-sanded the mount down to get rid of the depression on the mount that held the o-ring. I remember it was winter time and I sanded it down on the floor while watching TV during a cold night. The diameter of the now smooth base was the exact same size as a 1-quart or 1/2-quart filter that fit the small block Chevy. I remember, at the time, that the filter numbers were PER40 or PER49 Purolator filters. (Numbers have changed. Those are old numbers) I took the base and tapped it for the threads that fit the filter. The inside tube is a few inches tall so the air pocket inside the filter removes itself when the engine is pumping oil. I also put a restrictor inside these threads as this is a bypass filtration, not a full flow filter. Not doing so would probably have a loss in oil pressure.
I wouldn't recommend everybody going out and doing this to a perfectly good H filtration system, but it was worked flawlessly for about 40 years. This engine has always had good oil pressure and it still does today even though it doesn't get the use like it used to. It used to be dad's favorite tractor for going to bale alfalfa on a farm that we had about 10 miles away because it had such a better road gear then any of our two-cylinder John Deeres. Now it just gets some occasional use because it has a buzz saw on the front. Hopefully, you are still awake.
