propane tractor question

[TnT]

I have a 1957 851 Ford tractor that runs on propane. It"s a factory propane engine. I don"t have a propane tank with a wet line and it"s a pain to load the tractor and take it to town to get it serviced. I have noticed forklifts that use propane and they have a quick change type tank. A coule of straps and a quick disconnect feed line and the tank is changed. How difficult would it be to modify my tractor fot that type of tank? What problems would I encounter? Thanks for the help.

 

[Anonymous-0]

It's real easy to put a wet line on a tank. I had a C 70 chevy that ran on lp talk to your supplier he can fix you up

 

[TnT]

I don't have a propane tank at the ranch.

 

[Allan in NE]

Still a thousand times easier to talk to your supplier and get a tank at the ranch.

Allan

 

[Greg_Ky]

Just remember a forklift #33 tank only holds 7.8gals. of gas and the #43 tank holds 10.1gals. of gas.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have that set up on my '55 850, the quick disconnect, with a 30 lb aluminum tank just like the ones you see on the forklifts.

You must have the following:

Yes, you can mount the tank straps/holders onto the tractors sheetmetal like they did to mine, it's not a problem, then just source the parts from a forklift repair place, not sure if the vaporizor is different on a factory set up, but it appears so in the above diagram. Mine has an Impco Model J on it, with the hose that has a quick disconnect to the tank. You can also get a 40 lb tank, little longer, but it will be heavier to lift up onto the tank holder.

I got mine as is, but if it were an original set up like yours, which I am of the opinion is not a common tractor to be found, I would be hesitant to drill the factory sheetmetal and make these kind of alterations to it, mine has been hacked already, and the tractor was well worn in when I got it. As a working tractor, this set up works well, can re-fuel quickly with a spare tank, I forget how long a full 30 lb tank lasts, but it's several hours + or - depending on how hard you are running, full throttle etc. I had recently put a rebuild kit in my vaporizor and it made a considerable difference on fuel consumption, I think it was leaking. Oil stays clean for a long time in this motor. For average use, a pair of 30 lb tanks is fine for the mowing and other things I do with the tractor, sometimes I take the extra full tank with me to the field, drop it off near where I'm working and everytime I need to change tanks it's always at the farthest point ! LOL

Those forklift 30 lb tanks are handy if you have a few spares, but hacking an original Ford LPG hundred series for one of these tank set ups would cross a grain for me, I don't think I'd do it unless I found some hammered sheet metal and was going to save all the original parts, not sure what the production on those were, but I have not seen very many of them around. I'd see about getting a nurse tank, I've often considered it even though I have those tanks, probably cheaper to fill if you buy a larger amount and fill a small nurse tank, I don't run it enough to warrant doing it though, couple of acres that I mow is the extent of what I do, would be a different story if the place was not overgrown and I was mowing all the fields like years past, fuel would be an issue then.

 

[Nebraska Cowman]

If you are just driving it around you could just run vapor off a 20 lb bottle mounted anywhere. But if you work it hard the bottle will ice up. Most tractors will already have a T plumbed in the line where you can hook the hose. That's what we do when we run a tractor out of fuel in the field.

 

[TnT]

This is a big help, thanks a lot! The tractor is a facotry orignal with propane.

 

[Anonymous-0]

The only thing I can add to this about that change over is to check the factory vaporizor, see if you could plumb what you need for a quick disconnect, the Impco Model J has what is needed, also has a coolant line through it for heating the fuel so it vaporizes when it's cold, before I rebuilt it, the cold weather starts were a real pain, just getting liquid, not vapor, run and stalled mostly, until that coolant got warm, keeping it in the garage solved that problem, which reminds me, about the factory set up, I'd see what the original cold weather starting procedure would be for one of these, or similar, basing my assumption on the factory 2 valve set up, someone here would know how the older ones were intended to cold weather start if that is an issue, but like I mentioned, I'd be hesitant to modify a factory LPG tractor, talk to a competent LPG supplier and see what you can do about getting a tank so you can re-fuel at your place and or in the field.