Hi Joe and John,

Joe, thanks for the warm welcome and I'm glad to have joined a group that share the same interest in keeping these tractors alive, especially MH, Wallis etc. I will admit up until I bought the 55, I had heard about MH, but didn't know much about the machines or the company. But after working on it, it has peaked my interest in MH tractors, especially the tractors (and implements) from the era my 55 is from.

John, I totally agree with you. Like I had mentioned, I went back and forth about painting it, but the more and more I think about it, I'm going to leave it alone. As someone once told me, "they are original only once" and that is true. I do enjoy seeing tractors restored to museum quality and the amount of work that went into them. But in my opinion, the ones that have been revived are the true storytellers of a bygone era and sad to say it, a forgotten one in my opinion. But yes I do fully intend to enjoy this machine and showing it off at shows or the county fair.

  Cheers,
               Dakota

Had a little spare time this afternoon so I pulled the oil pump and rod bearing out of the Styled 25. Just as I suspected the shaft was twisted off.

This tractor had several problems that caused the melted bearing. First I don't believe there was enough oil if any in the pan to begin with as the way the melted babbit was stuck to the bottom of the pan. Second the intake suction pipe was 99% pinched off so it would be almost impossible to even get any oil to the pump. Third the pump was locked up and twisted the shaft off.

for some reason this oil system has played a rough game in the past, the oil pump mounting ears were broken off and welded up, never seen this before. I'm thinking the only way this could have happened would be the if the engine was out and possibly tipped over and broke it? Don't know how else to explain this as I've never seen or even heard of one being broken before.

Who ever worked on this oil system last must have gotten frustrated with the copper lines as they were all bent up and kinked and even pinched off the suction pipe.

The oil pump shaft was fixed once before but instead of welding it up they cut a grove in it and riveted a new shear link into the shaft.

Joe

Joe,

Sorry to see that happened, hopefully you get her fixed!


I took my 55 down to Gibson Co. to an event that was wanting to basically show people (mainly local grade school kids) the types of equipment that farmers used back in the day. They had talked about doing a plowing demo, but unfortunately that didn't work out. Anyhow, out of the 5 other tractors that ended up being there, mine was the only MH there and the biggest! Many people liked my 55 and thought it was neat.

 Cheers,
             Dakota

That 55 really does stand out in the crowd Dakota.

It has so much original patina, just give it a good clean, light sanding with fine discs on the hood rust, then give the entire tractor a spray with oil mix, I use half hydraulic oil, half diesel, then wipe off the excess. You will be amazed how it brings the old paint back to life with enriched character of an original / working tractor of its era.

Then post us more photo's.

Hi Malcolm,

Thank you and interesting, I will have to try that. The fenders are in the same shape as the hood, so I will do that on those too. What kind of discs do you recommend for the sanding?

 Cheers,
           Dakota

Any fine disc or emery paper but ensure it's almost worn out, do not use new it will be too aggressive.
Basically your just taking off the top of the rust by hand (not machine) to leave a lighter brown finish, once treated with the oil it will blend in better with the remaining original red paint. 

Do NOT keep sanding until the metal is bare
I would suggest you find an old piece of rusty scrap metal and have an experiment first to get the idea how it works before you start on the 55 fenders and hood.
Once you get the hang of it, you will never look back in preserving history and patina, far better than caring for glossy new paint jobs and being frightened to use the tractor.

Good Luck.
Malcolm.

I will have to look in the garage and see if I have any worn out emery paper, I don't think I do. But I will remember not to throw any away.

Thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate it.


           Cheers,
                    Dakota

John,

I thought it was interesting in your email earlier today that you mentioned never seeing someone combining with snow on the ground. I guess I never even thought about it before as it is quite common here in Minnesota. It really worked good today as it only got up to about 20 degrees today so most of the snow just shook off when it hit the head.

As a kid I remember combining many times in the snow, it works pretty good if it is cold out but if it warms up too much it can be quite a challenge to keep the combine from sliding down the hill and running over the next rows. If you get too much snow in the combine and it is too warm out it really makes a mess when it gums up in the shaker screens.

Here are some pics and a link to a quick video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aK71W5H-_I&feature=youtu.be

Joe

Joe,

That video has really educated me.  Being this side of the pond I have never witnessed corn being harvested for grain.  We only grow it for fodder over here.

I was fascinated to see the cobs popping off and up apparently so easily.  I guess combines don't work nearly as hard in corn as they do in a heavy crop of wheat - especially if it is damp.

John

John, Joe Some years ago now we combine some maize (corn ) in February with an ordinary combine. We waited for some hard frosts and then went in. I was worried how it was going to work but it worked very well. The corn would have been over 30% moisture but we dried it down on a ventilated floor to 15% moisture without too much trouble. Alan