TO20 hood release

[RJfromGA]

Just curious, did all the TO20 and TO30's come from the factory with the hood release mechanism? Not talking about the one at the dash, but the one down in front of the radiator, that you have to push to close the hood.

 

[Dan S (NY)]

I don't think the front hood support was used on the TO20 or TO30. It was used on the TE20.

Dan

 

[RJfromGA]

I think you are right about the hood support on the TE20. But, I'm talking about the hood release that lets you close the hood. It's located in front of, and slightly below the radiator.

 

[Ark68SS]

Nothing like that on my TO20. Release the hood latch at the dash, pull it 'til it flops open, then just push it down to close it.
BillL

 

[Tom Bowman]

RJ, my 1950 TO-20 has the hood release, but it seems like it disappeared about then. Later TO-20s don't have it, and it doesn't show up in the "new" version of the Parts Book.

I have a few pages from the "old" parts book that show the hood release. My e-mail is open; drop me a note and I'll send them to you.

 

[RJfromGA]

Thanks for the responses. My 1950 TO20 has that release also, but our '51 TO30 does not. Was just wondering if some of them just rusted away, or if some didn't even have them. And yes Tom, my parts book doesn't show it either.

 

[RJfromGA]

Thanks Tom, am fairly new to the forum, not sure how to e-mail you.

 

[Tom Bowman]

RJ, log on in Modern View, and you'll see an "e-mail" button on the lower left corner of my reply box, right next to the "profile" button. (That e-mail button only shows up if the user has it enabled in their account.)

 

[Ark68SS]

(quoted from post at 12:48:07 09/16/15) RJ, my 1950 TO-20 has the hood release, but it seems like it disappeared about then. Later TO-20s don't have it.

Mine is a '51 model, I guess that's why it doesn't have the release.
BillL

 

[Orville Cox]

Have a 1951 TO 20 that is completely origional and it has the front hood release. Great Tractors.

 

[RJfromGA]

Thanks Tom for the e-mail and the pics. And thank you so much to all who responded. It was something I was curious about.

 

[Jason S.]

(quoted from post at 02:52:22 09/17/15) Thanks Tom for the e-mail and the pics. And thank you so much to all who responded. It was something I was curious about.

Both of my 1951 TO-20's have the latch. I have said before that I believe it was a supplier problem. I think if the factory had them on hand that day they installed them. If they did not they produced tractors without them. Why stop production for something that isn't really needed. That's kind of like the side hood emblems. One of my TO-20's has them,the other one does not. Once again I think it was a supplier keeping up problem. I posted in another thread on these latches the Massey number for the latch. So they existed after the 1953 buyout.

 

[Tom Bowman]

Hey, Jason! Long time, no see. Hope all is well,

Was the hood release dropped completely by the time the "new" (1972) version of the Parts Book came out?

 

[Jason S.]

(quoted from post at 13:45:15 09/18/15) Hey, Jason! Long time, no see. Hope all is well,

Was the hood release dropped completely by the time the "new" (1972) version of the Parts Book came out?

Yeah I would say it was gone by then. As far as I know the parts books from like 1949 or 1950 do not show the latch anymore. So that's where Mr. Robert Sybrandy got his notion that only early TO-20's got the latch. Well he is wrong!!! I can show the both latches on my 1951 TO-20's as well as the Massey cross reference manual from 1953 or 1954 that shows the current Massey part number for the latch. If the latch had been obsoleted by that time it wouldn't have appeared in the book. It was probably a service only part by that time as I have never seen or heard of a TO-30 that came with one. So I would say what latches was left were just used as service replacements for the tractors that did get them.