pulling 1855's

[sandidge farm]

I have managed to get ahold of three 1855's in the last year one was my dad that he bought new in 1974 then sold in 1994. He has told me that he ran it around 145hp back in the day. can i push the 310 any harder than that without needing a new block. He ordered it with 18.4x38s so it has that going for it. Can iexpect to compete with the 4320's and 1066's in the 12000 class at the antique pull. dad tells me it will but would like to here from the guys that have done it .thanks

 

[Eric The Red]

You are pushing it with it at 145 if you do not do things to it. I would make sure that the crank is balanced and you have the one piece wrist pin bushings. This being a 74 might have all the updates they did but you will need to make sure you have a bigger oil pan for reservoir. I know there are more knowledgeable people on here but these are a few things that I would do to make sure it does not fly apart. My dad was always competitive with his 1950-T against the other models.

 

[Dick W.]

If you have the over/under 3 speed you won't have any compition in that area. I read somewhere that Oliver was installing 1955 engines for warrenty replacement in those 1855 tractors. If I remember correctly that engine had an oil coller or at least a better cooler.
Have fun pulling.

 

[sandidge farm]

The tractor lost oil pressure back in the eighties sometime. dad told me they balanced the crank and ground it .30 then. It does not have the external oil cooler. the 70 model he had did and it flew apart when i was a kid

 

[Anonymous-0]

First, lucky you!! Three 1855s - nice tractors. Second, I have been pondering over much the same issue for a few years. I pull with a 1950-T and pull in a lot of Farm Stock classes with it. Without knowing the exact tractors you're pulling with, I would be reluctant to say that you can keep up with those models unless you're willing to make some pretty extensive modifications to the 310 to get there. If they are running true "stock" versions of these tractors, then you should be able to hold your own with a 310 set at 145hp, which is pretty easy to do. But if they are turned up a bit too, they could very well be running a solid 200+hp and the "little" 310 will be out of its league without a lot of help. The old adage about there being no replacement for displacement holds pretty true in the world of tractor pulling. Now, let me just say for the record that for farming, there's no question that I would prefer the Oliver any day over either of those other two. But for pulling, a 1066 can make a lot of hp very easily and cheaply with its stock parts. A 310, in my opinion, is about maxed with stock parts at around 150-160, where your dad was pulling his. It seems that some of the guys at Maibach Tractor in Ohio have some experience building some 310s for pulling to put out something in the vicinity of 250, maybe 300 hp? But I think some of the mods needed to get there would be to increase injection pump displacement, use larger nozzles in the head, different head bolts/studs and gasket to keep the head gasket from blowing, ideally have motor balanced, do the one piece rod bushings and 12 point rod bolts, have rods hardened, use a block stiffener plate, and use a larger turbo. I know that the 1066s and 4320s that pull in some of the classes around here are putting out a solid 300-400hp and they spend very little $$ to get there. To get a 310 to that level is going to cost more money with lots of mods. You may want to try to pull in some of the lighter classes that the 1066s/4320s can't get into; that way you're pulling against 4020s, 4010s, IH 856s, etc that you're going to be quite competitive against in a stock class. It is a lot of fun to be able to humble a 4020 JD and really, that is the exact tractor that the 1855 was designed to compete against, and you can pretty easily beat on a pulling track in stock classes. So you'll want to "pick your battles" of sorts unless you really want to build up one of your 1855s.

 

[Oliver puller]

If you want to pull an 1855, you are going to have to keep it light. I would say you need to be in a 7500 lb class. If you are much heavier, the deeres and internationals will eat you alive and believe me I am an Oliver fan but the small 310 is no match for them. We had a 4630 John Deere the other night that tried to pull in road gear in the 12,000 lb class. He didn't have quite enough guts for that but he dropped a gear and went screaming down the track. I would say he putting out atleast 500 hp.

Now if you put a 478 hercules out of a 2150 in the 1855 then you will atleast have a prayer.

 

[sandidge farm]

Thanks for your information fellas. its good to hear from people that have had experience. From what i have heard i will be up against 2-1206s, maybe a 1256, 4320, 4520, maybe a 4020 with an m&w.

 

[Adam.rk]

hey you said that those 4320s were running high horse and cheap, what were they doing pumps? injectors?

 

[mkuhns]

We have a 1750 that has a 1950T engine in with oil cooler and bypass filter. It runs about 180hp with the pump turned up all the way with an M&W turbo. It's been that way for a number of years. It mainly gets used to haul wagons so it's not under heavy load most of the time. We pull 3.5 mph pace with it in 11,000 - 15,000. The classes we run are called "Off the Farm" and if you don't have at least 150Hp, you don't stand much of a chance. We have way too many red tractors around here. Mainly 1066's and such. The 1750 is fairly competitive with the rest. It's the little things that help you win, like being weighted properly, and tire pressure, not always power. If you want a lot more power, add the next size larger head in the injection pump, bigger nozzles and lines, and a good turbo. You can easily achieve around 300Hp. My stepdad L klingler had a 1655 with a 310T in. In 7500lbs class they could pull 6th overdrive. Wish I was around to see it back in the 80's.