Three point hitch question

[Recon Jim]

I have a 1947 Model A John Deere that I use only for hay rides. I would like to fix it up with a three point hitch system so I can pull my box blade road working attachment. Can my tractor accomidate such a system? If so, what should I do? Thanks.

 

[Christopher S.]

Does it have a power trol?

 

[Recon Jim]

Sorry, but I'm an ignoramous when it comes these things. I don't know what a power trol is. It does have this horizontal bar under and behind the seat (it looks pretty big) that appears to be controlled by two round foot pedals. It also has a PTO.

 

[alabamafrog]

Here is the homemade 3pt that was on my 47A. My A has the powerlift which is a foot pedal in the floor and the lift is either all up or all down, you can’t adjust position in between. My 48 A has powertrol which is a handle beside the seat and you can control position and speed with the handle.
It worked great for many years using it to move 5x6 round hay, front end was light and had to drive with the brakes sometimes but I could move hay in 5th gear with it. I guess we were lucky that the housing that the top link was bolted to didn’t break but at the time we didn’t care and the A wasn’t useful for anything else.
A store bought 3pt will be supported by the axles and probably be safer for the tractor.

 

[Christopher S.]

That would be the "power lift" You only have two choices with that system, up or down, There is no inbetween stopping. This may be fine for back blading. A three point hitch will easily mount on this setup.

 

[The JD Workmen]

Tony"s tractors sells a very nice 3 point set up.

http://www.tonystractors.com/jd3ph.htm
3 point hitch

 

[Recon Jim]

Thank you all. That #2 looks like the thing I'm looking for. I need to make sure my power lift actually works. I've never tried it or the PTO or anything else for that matter. Again, thanks.

 

[gtx1967jewison]

pto & clutch need to be engaged to move it up, this means either in neutral or driving.

 

[Recon Jim]

Well, I put her in neutral, moved the PTO arm to the on position and engaged the clutch. The PTO spins well, but I could not get the power lift to rotate the rock shaft. I pretty much had to stand on both trip pedals to get them to move down and had to “tough” the control shaft to get them back up. The rock shaft did not move.

I have a Shop Manual and a Parts Catalog, and they tell me what to do, but I don’t think I’m up for it (poor shop, poor tools, little time for the learning curve, etc). I’ll try to find a local guy or I’ll have to haul it. Maybe I should buy a used tractor?

Any comments?

 

[F-I-T]

Save folks the trouble of opening another browser tab.

 

[F-I-T]

Got oil?

 

[Recon Jim]

I don't know. I will grease the zerks on the rock shaft casing. I see some plugs but don't know how much oil or what type I should use. I usually use standard 30 wieght on everything else. Should this be hydrolic/tractor oil? And how much should I put in? My manual doesn't seem to say. Thanks.

 

[alabamafrog]

The operators manual should tell you all this info and more. IF I remember right mine takes like 4 qts in the power lift and the drain is on the bottom of the PTO housing. But check your owners manual to be sure.

 

[F-I-T]

There is a level c*ck that you open and fill until it runs out. The oil to use by the book, is the same weight and grade that you use in the engine. Old timers say to use non-detergent, but that was pretty much back in the day when non-detergent seemed to foam less when subjected to a gear pump. Today's multi-vis oils don;t seem to have that problem. Hytran or Hygard will also work. Re-read the book and you'll likely see what I mean about the level test c*ck.

 

[Recon Jim]

I’ve got a I & T Shop Service Shop Manual. It is not very comprehensive or easy to read. There is no reference to a level c*ck on the power lift housing or the power lift valve cover housing. Unless it's going by another name that is not apparent on it's face.

The book has 9 ¼ to 11 quarts for the crankcase (depending on serial number), 32 to 27 quarts for the Trans. & Differential (depending on serial number) and 1 ¾ quarts each for the final drive. That is all. There is no capacity listed for the power lift or the power lift valve housing.

Thus, by process of deduction (I don’t think we’re talking about the crankcase oil here, and the final drive is addressed in two parts), and by looking at some of the schematics, I assume the Transmission & Differential is the same area that provides all the oil for the power lift and the power lift valve housing (both of which look like they could have their own oil supply).

So, once I find out my serial number (easy enough), I guess I need 27 or 32 quarts of oil in the transmission/differential housing and my power lift should then be covered for oil?

It does not say what type of oil (hydraulic/tractor or 30 weight or ?).

All of the foregoing are meant to be read as questions, not statements. Am I right about the transmission/differential housing being the oil source for the power lift? And should I use hydrolic/tractor oil, or SAE?

Thanks again, all, for your help.

P.S. I think I need a better manual. I rebuilt a 49 Ford transmission once with a Haynes (sp?) manual once and it was much clearer than this.

Here's a picture I found on Google images. The top plug on the left is called Pipe Plug in my book, and the plug on the lower right is called a filler plug in my book. Should I fill through the pipe plug hole until oil comes out the filler plug hole?

This site won't allow me to post the photo. It says: "We are sorry, your post contained one or more words that are restricted due to either YT User Community standards or are common indicators of spamming, cracking, or spambot activity. This was most likely accidental but for obvious reasons, the list of such words cannot be published. Please press back arrow and remove any obvious words or unusual character sequences that would not normally occur in speech."

 

[alabamafrog]

<img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj235/alabamafrog/Tractors/Scanned Manuals n stuff/JDA007.jpg">

Darn pic posting problems are starting to tick me off, anyways, figure out how to go to that pic for a look at the page in the operators manual about the lift. The lift takes thin oil like motor oil or hydro oil, the tranny takes around 6 gallons of thick oil like 80-90 gear oil, completely separate systems. Operators manual is a very helpful thing to have, I don’t much like the I&T stuff, it is a good add-on to your library but shouldn’t be the only book.

 

[alabamafrog]

Take this you stupid website!

 

[Recon Jim]

Thanks, AlabamaFrog.

I quit using the I & T book and now I'm just looking at your photo and my John Deere Parts Catalog. It doesn't tell me what to do, but it does show me all the parts and their names.

Unfortunately, my power lift valve cover set up does not look like anything I find in your book OR my two books. But I *think* I see how it should be filled. I don't have the "nipple" and "cap" that angle away toward the rear, near the top. I only have the "Plug, Pipe" that sits right on the top/left. I'm going to assume that is where I fill it.

On the right hand side, below the "Shaft, Control" I have two possible oil level plugs (for checking oil level as I fill from above). One is lower down and bigger and my book calls it a "Plug, Screw." I don't *think* that is what I am looking for. Rather, just above that, is a smaller "Plug, Pipe" that I *think* is the oil level plug. I'm going to open that and see if oil comes out. If not, I'm going to open the big Plug, Pipe on top and start filling until I see oil come out the smaller Plug, Pipe on the side.

I'm going to use SAE 30.

One final comment/question. I *thought* the power lift would work off of a hydraulic principle and I *thought* hydraulics worked best without any air in the system (i.e. plum full). So I don't get why I would not fill her up. But I'm not a mechanic, either, so I'll just do what I'm told. :lol:

I won't be getting to this till this afternoon, so if anyone sees a major mistake I'm about to make, please stop me. I'll check back before I dive in.

Anyway, thanks again, all. I'll let you know how it works out. The thing I fear is that I'll get it working without a load, then buy that 3 point hitch outfit, put on my box blade, and not be able to lift it because I need to renew my piston piston cup or because I have leaking valves or gaskets, etc.

We'll see, I guess. Thanks again.

 

[Recon Jim]

Update: It did not work. I topped off my crank case oil, and filled the power lift valve cover housing till oil came out the plug that I think I was supposed to use for testing. All of that was SAE 30.


Then I saw this big plug to the upper right of the PTO shaft and figured that was the transmission/differential filler plug. I found I have the older A so it takes 32 quarts. I only had 20 quarts (hydraulic/tractor oil). It took all of it and would probably take the other 12 but I'll have to run to town for more.

I started her up, put her in neutral, engaged the PTO and the clutch and then tried to run the power lift. I had to stand on the pedals to get them to move, but the rock shaft did not move. I had to use a rubber mallet to get the pedals back up again. I tried moving the rock shaft with a big crescent wrench. It would not turn.

I think my valves or the leather deal are shot/dried out. I'm going to buy a tractor. I did get some decent manuals ordered for the A though.

Oh well, that's all she wrote.

Thanks again for all your help. I'll probably be back some day asking more questions. Semper Fi.

 

[alabamafrog]

The tranny is not supposed to have hydro oil in it, you are supposed to put gear dope in it, like 80-90 weight.

What I did on all of mine was drained all of the fluids (engine oil, tranny dope, PTO/lift oil), put kerosene back in each reservoir and then drove the tractors around for about 10 minutes making sure to make several sharp turns. Then drained all of them again and filled with proper oils.
The operators manuals showed me where all of the drain and fill plugs were and what types of oils to put back in and described the kerosene flushing procedure.