What on earth is this?

[JonR]

There is this contraption attached to the exhaust manifold that has a valve inside to redirect the exhaust gasses to something on the other side of the engine mounted just behind the oil filter but I have no idea what this is for. The control was a pull rod so the driver could open and close the valve to redirect the exhaust gasses. I assume that some bits are missing as the device the gasses are redirected too looks like it should have more things attached to it.

My question is what on earth is this thing?

 

[indy61]

Pneumatic Lift-All control valve.

http://farmallcub.info/other_tractors/a_b/TC-26E%20Parts%20Catalog/Page%20144.jpg

 

[Jim Becker]

Yes, you have at least some of a Pneumatic Lift-All, sometimes called an exhaust lift. The part on your exhaust manifold is the pressure valve and the other the control valve. You can find several discussions from the past by searching for "pneumatic". Here are a couple to get you started:

https://farmallcub.com/community/threads/and-so-it-begins.113184/
https://farmallcub.com/community/threads/pneumatic-lift-leather-seal.109219/