Lead additive

[46chief]

I have been told that the lead additive was not necessary on these old boys and other people says that it difinitely is. Can anyone enlighten me on this.

 

[rrlund]

What ''old boys'' are you talking about? I don't use an additive in any of my gas tractors. Some are
daily users. I use E10.

 

[MarkB_MI]

So-called lead additives don't contain lead, so why use them?

 

[old]

#1 that stuff is a snake oil.
#2 it doesn't even have lead in it.
If you think you need to add something put 1 quart of ATF into 5gal of gas and it will do as much or more

 

[46chief]

(quoted from post at 14:16:31 11/22/23) I have been told that the lead additive was not necessary on these old boys and other people says that it difinitely is. Can anyone enlighten me on this.

I have two 1936 john deere. One A and one B

 

[old]

I have a 1935 JD B that has been in the family since 1940 and it has not had a lead additive used since they took the lead out of the gas and it runs just fine

 

[used red MN]

What do you do with your Deeres? You ever take either
of them out in the field and work it 8-10 hours a day
and multiple days of the week? If not whatever you
burn in there is not going to do a thing to it. Pour it in
start it up and be happy!

 

[504]

My dad likes to point out that when the first started
adding lead the gas companies charged more,then they
took it out, and raised the price of gas again. When
you start burning valves, then you can spend a ton of
money replacing valves and hardened seats. It will not
happen in your lifetime.

 

[Stephen Newell]

The lead additive can be helpful in older engines not designed for the modern gas. It cuts down on engine knocking and helps prevent valves from sticking into the heads. I've never used it but I do use an ethanol fuel conditioner.

 

[tractorguy2]

Complete snake oil. Lead was never added to gasoline for a lubricate. lead wore the engines out faster.

 

[JMOR]

If you really want real leaded fuel, it is still available.

 

[Stephen Newell]

It's only about twenty bucks a gallon. Wouldn't take long to pay for a valve job.

 

[hd6gtom]

Do not put ATF in your gasoline. It has abrasive additives in it to make the automatic clutch packs stick together
That's not the right explanation, but it's as close as I can get without digging out a lot of my old books from petroleum schools I attended in the 1970's.

 

[Dave G9N]

Lead additive or lead substitute? One increased octane number and the other was supposed to protect non-hardened valve seats. Without knowing enough about the specific circumstances, you can't say whether a particular engine will need a lead substitute of not.
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/will-unleaded-gas-burn-exhaust-valves-in-muscle-car-engine/

Original engines in cars built before the early 1970s generally don't have hardened exhaust seats that are resistant to unleaded gas. Nevertheless, tests conducted in the mid-1970s by the U.S. Army, the Postal Service, and other large fleet operators showed unleaded gas-induced exhaust valve seat recession isn't a significant problem unless the vehicle operates continuously over 3,500 rpm and/or under heavy-load conditions. In other words, if you don't do a lot of towing, don't have really steep gears, and/or don't frequently run your car at the track, you should be good to go. On the other hand, if your vehicle does operate under such "heavy-duty" conditions (or you'd like it to be able to), various protective additives are available from aftermarket sources. Of course, if you are rebuilding a numbers-matching car with the original heads, it can't hurt to have the machine-shop install hardened insert valve seats during the normal reconditioning process. And don't forget that even on later production cast-iron heads that originally came with induction-hardened seats, repeated valve jobs may eventually break through into the softer materialso they, too, could become a candidate for insert seats.

Each internet expert's results results will vary depending on his engine and how he used it. So while they know from their experience what happens under their circumstances, they don't know what will happen to anyone else under different circumstances. So one man's snake oil may be another man's solution.

As for the history lesson on greed and prices, you have to remember that the early engines had low compression because the available fuel had a low octane number. When the market created a demand for more octane and higher compression, the least expensive additive was tetraethyl lead. It was still an expensive additive, and it cost more to add it. Not corporate greed, just plain market economics. When lead was banned, the industry was forced to find more effective additives, and those were more expensive than lead. So the price went up.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Both of yours are common enough tractors its not like it much
of a problem to get the pieces even if they do wear out. My
1938 b got a new cylinder head a few years ago when they
started making them again. Now I can switch when its time
for a valve job and have the other one ready to go. It took me
an hour and a half. Thank you Yesterdays tractor by the way! I
use e85 mostly and switch to e10 when its cold. Its my only
mower at the moment so it got used a lot over the 3 acres
more then most tractors its age. I used to dump staybil in but
dont do that anymore either since this one gets used so much
and they are pretty easy to drain. As long as you drain it for
winter if stored. So this post might get long but a bit of math
as they are talking. At their 20 bucks for race fuel its an 11
gallon tank thats 4 mowings much better than the super c it
gets 2.5 by the way! So 220 a month in a year it rains. Vs 30
bucks for e 85. 190 bucks a month pays for a second head in
one summer...I expect to completely tear it down and inspect
do valve surfacing and seats at year 4. I certainly dont expect
head replacement to be necessary as it wasnt last time with
the old head. So if I dont have trouble and use it like that who
is going to? A lot of these only get a tank through them a year
maybe. Most bottles of kerosene ketchup are only about 20
bucks so if its worth your peace of mind by all means ignore
my piece of mind and pour away.

 

[buickanddeere]

(quoted from post at 17:16:31 11/22/23) I have been told that the lead additive was not necessary on these old boys and other people says that it difinitely is. Can anyone enlighten me on this.

The tractors started on gasoline and then switched to kerosene . How much lead in the kerosene ?
Ask the "old boys" . Why did vehicles running on leaded fuel need a rebuild before 100,000 miles yet unleaded vehicles go 300,000 miles without being oil burners .

 

[Factotum]

I don't think lead has anything to do with how long the engine lasts. Carburated engines by nature wash the oil off the cylinder walls, as they can't atomize the fuel as effectively as fuel injection. The oil on the cylinder doesn't get washed off as muchwith fuel injection so the engine lasts longer.