Acquired a Farmall 230

cjet69

cjet69

501 Club
Bought this Farmall 230 at auction a week ago. It was sold as a non-operable tractor with shot rear tires, bashed in oil pan, and a junker of a loader. The engine did turn over, so I took a chance on it. Brought it home last Monday and started checking things over. Pulled the pan and luckily there was no damage to the oil pump and pickup. Pulled the rocker cover to make sure all of the valves were operating. Pre-lubed the engine to make sure oil was getting where it should, beat the pan out and installed it, topped it off with oil and new filter. The starter wasn't working so I pulled it to check the brushes. They looked OK so I held each one down while I turned the starter by hand to get some contact. That got the starter working. Checked the points for continuity with the voltmeter and got nothing. A quick file and they were good. I disconnected the charging system, put on a 12v coil, and used a 12v battery to start it. I cleaned up the carb and filled the bowl with fuel, the tank needs some cleaning. I hit the starter and it fired right up.

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Today I swapped a set of tires from a Farmall C so I can test drive the 230 once I get the fuel tank cleaned and installed.

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Picked up a 6V battery today. Put it on the charger to top it off and will probably install it tomorrow along with the fuel tank. I'll put the 6v coil back on and see if it will drive around to check out the gears.
 
Pulled the front hubs off to check the front wheel bearings. I heard some clunking sound when we towed the tractor to its current location. Found what was making the noise. It was one of the outer wheel bearings so I stole one out of the Farmall C. Cleaned them all up in solvent and repacked them. They are turning freely and quietly now. Installed the Battery and fuel tank and made a few trips up and down the driveway. All of the gears are good with no noises in the rear end. The engine is running really good with 30 psi oil pressure at idle and 45 psi at full throttle. The only problem I found was when I tried the hydraulics on the fast hitch. Oil came shooting out of one of the steel lines that run past the seat base/tool box. I'll get the lines pulled off and see if I can make a repair. Also when I first fired it up with the 6v battery in and the charging system connected the amp gage fluctuated between + and - several time and then went to just the - side. After running it I put the hand crank in it and the 2 weaker cylinders have decent feeling compression now. I'll check them with a gage and do a leakage test but things are looking up. I forgot the camera at home again so I will shoot some video of it tomorrow.
 
Worked on the charging system today. Found a brush spring lever was rusted in place and the Voltage regulator needed the points filed. It is now charging the battery.

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Brazed up the hydraulic line. It had 4 holes and several more deeply pitted spots. Waiting for the primer to dry and then I will try it out.

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Got the hydraulic tubes installed, fired it up and the hitch lift works great but now I blew out one of the rubber hoses going to the lift cylinder. I'm slowly coating the whole tractor with hydraulic oil with all of these leaks.

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Took a road trip to get new hydraulic hoses made up. This is at Meridian Equipment which is the same place that runs the auction where I bought the tractor. They usually have the best prices on parts for all makes and they have the setup for making hoses. Its now back together and the hitch lift is working. The relief valve on the top of the cylinder in my previous pics was broken and we just happened to have another cylinder in the shop with a good relief valve. Got it swapped and that works like it should also. I also tried the light switch and found one light actually works. Even the bright and dim work.

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Gave the tractor another pressure wash to clean up all of the hydraulic oil. My Steiner order came in that had the new radiator hoses, so I pull the Rad to make it easier. Found a pile of rust on top of the thermostat and got that cleaned out. Put the hoses on and installed the rad and sheet metal. I think its ready to go to the tractor show which starts Wednesday and features Farmall tractors. I think my brother and his grandson are taking the Farmall H and Super C.

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Looks good! We have a 230, my dad's first tractor he bought used in the early 60s. They are nimble and have lots of power for their size!

Al
 
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