DonO-MN

Great, thanks for the info, knew there had to be a better way than trying to reach up from underneath!

ihmadness or anyone else out there know where and how to drain the engine oil on that 4140 skid steer with the Chrysler 4 cylinder gas engine? I did buy a manual for servicing the skid steer, but we are in the middle of moving and all my books are packed away so far, it might be months before I can lay my hands on them. Thanks, DonO

Cubnamedoscar, what are the issues with the H105 engine I should be looking for? As mentioned, it is running a little bit rough, so now I'm concerned. DonO

Thanks ihmadness656, guess I'll just have to dig into it, but not till it gets a little warmer out! It's rough when the daily high is still below zero. I know you are having the same there in Iowa. DonO

ihmadness, I have a question for you. I recently picked up a 4140 with the Chrysler engine, but it is running a bit rough. I planned to start with new points, cap, plugs and plug wires. Also check the timing. Is there a way to get to the front of the engine (at the back of the machine) without draining and removing the entire radiator assembly, i.e. radiator swings to one side or the other? Thanks for any advice you or anyone else can provide! DonO-MN

frosty, I just stumbled across your thread just now. By coincidence, I am also restoring an O-12. I bought this tractor from Colin Beamish, also on this site. My wife liked the little tractor, but didn't want to have to hand crank it to start, so I'm rigging up an electric starter for her to use. As I'm sure you know, electric start could be ordered from the factory. The starter motor was tucked in between the oil pan and the left frame of the bathtub casting. The electric start bathtub casting has a offset frame and a bump-out to accommodate the starter motor nose. After a lot of measuring and testing, I determined a starter motor from an Oliver 77 would fit and work as a starter for the O-12. It turns in the correct counterclockwise direction and has a smaller than normal overall diameter. This tractor has a 1/4" round plate to attach the engine to the bathtub casting. The round plate worked ideal as a template to locate the starter close to the oil pan and align with the ring gear. The ring gear took some trial and error, but finally determined a ring gear from a Allis WD-45 was the perfect diameter. I had a machinist turn a notch into the flywheel to install the ring rear. My local starter/generator rebuilder guy, had to install a 10-tooth, counterclockwise starter drive, as the Oliver starter used the smaller 9-tooth drive. I though grinding out the bathtub casting would be a big challenge, but again using that 1/4" plate as a template (after the starter was mounted on the plate) made it easy to locate and hole saw a hole for the starter nose clearance. I did some grinding on the inside of the bathtub casting to be sure the front end of the starter didn't touch. Because this now creates an opening from the outside to the clutch area, I made a little metal box to close out the opening. The only other thing I had to do was drill four holes in the starter motor stout so the starter body could be rotated to make the electrical connection accessible. The other day I was walking thru the local tractor graveyard and eyeballed a F-12 tractor. It looks to me like the same starter modification might be possible (little more challenging) on an F-12. The clearance measured between the oil pan and the inside of the U-frame was about 4-1/4" and the starter motor is 3-7/8" diameter. This is about the same clearance measured when I started on the O-12! If this modification is of interest to you, I would be happy to help answer an addition questions or provide more pics. DonO