New M

[Plywud]

Gentleman, I have been on the Cub board for about 6 months, and have just now found a sweet little M, of which I am a proud new owner. She's in great shape overall, have some battery & starter cables I would like to shorten up and organize, but other than that she will need rear tires in the not too distant future.

1st question: Would I benefit from either taller or wider tires? I'm thinking they are currently standard 38. We have a lot of dirt to move, this will be mostly with a box blade. A lot of dirt. Later maybe less than 5 acre plowing, disk, mowing, bailing.
2nd question: She has, I think, a saginaw three point after market hitch, with a single hydraulic controller, up motion only when the clutch is not engaged, down is gravity. Does not have a top link, do I need one, anyone know what length? How would I convert this to multiple controllers that would add front depth control to the existing lift?

Looking forward to hearing from you

Thank You

RJ

[MiCarl]

Tires: There are only a few (or even just one) tire that will have the proper profile on your current rim. I think you'd be better off sticking with the correct tire and thinking about adding weight.

You need a top link, otherwise you just have a variable height hitch. There is a lot of geometry involved in 3 point hitches. If you're going to plow with a 3 point plow the link and attachment position need to be configured so the nose of the plow angles up as the plow goes deeper into the ground, that's how depth is controlled. For things like disks and back blades you want them to stay level through their travel. You could need more than one top link and the eyes need to be sized for the hitch system you have (likely category 1).

With a 3 point hitch depth is controlled by the top link. What you seem to be thinking of is the way IH varied the angle of the hitch itself to control depth with their proprietary FastHitch system and isn't needed with a 3 point hitch.

Hydraulically you have what IH called "Lift All". It's got some difference to a modern hydraulic system. You've already noticed that it only does lift, down is done by implement weight. It's also relatively low pressure so you need more cylinder area to lift a given weight (your hitch probably has 2 cylinders rather than 1). It is possible to convert to a 2 way system but that requires a lot of plumbing and might require new cylinders on your hitch. It really isn't necessary for the uses you've described.

[Plywud]

Thank You

[v w]

Original tires for the 51 M were 11-38s. When dad ordered an M he asked that it be put on 12-38s due to his experience with an H which was changed from 10-38s to 11-38s. The M had no real issues with the slightly larger tire. It still had plenty of power to spin them. Vern