pete23

I would say that capping off the lube like SD man said would be a good test to see if lube was part or all of the problem. Early 50 series were really tough to shift when cold and then the lube circuit was changed to reduce lube during total release of clutch. I would think a sticking or broken lube valve or spring could be your problem.

I worked on a lot of IH twine balers but I have never even seen a wire tie baler except pictures. Not that I want to work on one. As a kid I do remember dad buying some alfalfa that was wire tied, two wire of course. I still call mechanics wire, baling wire though.

You have the original style battery ignition unit made by IH for that tractor. It can be adapted to many different engines and different compression ratios, pistons, head etc used in IH tractors by changing the shaft and springs or modifying them to fit your own needs.

Actually I feel the Case guys talk a lot nastier about IH. I had to work on both but not long enough on the Case tractors to feel really comfortable. Being a mechanic at a dealership, you never saw either color just drive into the shop and the owner tells you it working great, I love it. He is usually there because of a problem and most of the time unhappy about having a problem.

Not much help here on the accurate dates of the switch to Tenaco, however, I remember coming to work one morning in late 1984 and the boss came back to shop and said, well, you are a case mechanic now. He had just received notice on the shop computer network of the pending buyout by Tennaco. Of course it had to pass the congressional anti-monoply smell test I understand so it was a while before it was official. My boss always went to Florida for a month or two and he was not present when the new Franchise agreement had to be signed and I actually proxy signed it for him. So, it had to be like Jan or Feb for that to take place. That is how I remember it.

Being a mechanic and not an owner operator puts me in a different perspective than others on this board. I never saw someone drive his tractor in to the shop or call us to have us come out and work on it or haul it in because it was working just great. He was having some kind of a problem or needed some maintenance performed. Funny how an 806 transmisson and final drive can be so good and a 66 series so bad when most of the parts are interchangable or an updated version. Just like the super m had a great reputation and the 400 was considered a dog, in its day, but now is great. Take off the hoods and hydraulics and they were the same tractor. Like I said before, some times one gets a bad taste in his mouth from a particular model, brand or even a dealership and it turns him off permanent. That is what makes the world go around. Different strokes for different folks. IH stuck to some ideas way to long, (like same ta in a 706 as 1486) and you don't have to be too smart to figure more problems will occur with all the additional horsepower. Then Case, well, 3 heads on one engine with one piece water header, intake manifold and exhaust manifolds that have to be all kept in alignment. O-rings in the block instead of on the sleeve so when they cavitate out you machine out the block, no job for an amateur. Jerking, jumping power shift that changes the way it shifts with the weather. Need a blinky box mounted permanently on those to adjust daily. John Deere has more parts in their power steering units on the 4010 and 20 models than some tractors have in the whole hydraulic system. The SCV that , yes do usually hold up a loaded cyl, but are one of the biggest money making repair jobs a dealer had. Could go on forever. One thing I did learn early on, company's were not very interested in hearing from mechanics, if customers kept buying, they kept making. When sales started slowing down they brought out the newest latest and greatest. Some times it was, usually it was just a makeover, all colors included.

I personally never liked the Case line of tractors, but, after the merger, all of a sudden I found myself to be a Case mechanic along with IH, then Steiger. Truth is , I got stretched too thin. Lot of case customers liked their tractors just fine. I found lot of problems with them in my rather short time working on them, about ten years. Their hitch hydraulics draft control mechanism was a total, well enough. Their later electric controled hitches weren't too bad. Engines flying apart, hydraulics, rear ends, that power shift. Mixed up parts , wern't supposed to be used in the model you found them in. That cab dog house over rear of engine made one quit cussing the fuel tank over the engine that IH had all those years. As far as going broke, well, fact is Case went belly up long before IH did, why do you suppose Tenaco owned the co. Seems co. was in hands of receivers for some time before that happened. In all honesty though, it is familiarity that really comes into play. I was just a lot more comfortable working on the IH line because I was familiar with them. Spent four years , just before retirement working on John Deere. Learned a lot about them, forgot most of it already. You know what. They go to heck big time also, but those boys who own those green machines are very, very loyal to that color. Much more than I found in Case or IH. That is one reason I really enjoy this site as it really brings out the RED in people. (most anyway)