International 175B year model

[pkingsley]

New to this forum and just bought a 175B track loader. I'm trying to find out what year it is. The serial number is L-175B 9678. Under that number is 2615. I've tried searching for these numbers on the nenernet but can't find a year model. Does anyone know somewhere I could find this. I may also need some parts. I've gotten it running now and started to move it around a little. I found that the big spring to tension the track on one side is broken so I know that will have to be replaced at some point. Is there any place that sells parts for these old machines or an old machine junk yard I might find some stuff for it?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Matt Kirsch]

You're not likely to find the exact serial number online if that's what you're searching on. Any serial number lists usually only show the first serial number produced each year. Unfortunately I am not aware of any references for construction equipment. They don't have the same kind of avid following as farm tractors.

Long story short, it's an orphan. IH sold the construction division to Dresser in the early 1980's. Dresser was only interested in the bulldozers so they quickly dropped everything else, including parts support. Dresser eventually sold out to Komatsu, not that it makes any difference because by then any parts dealers had were long gone.

Your only hope of finding parts is finding a parts machine in a scrapyard somewhere.

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

There is a list of places to call for parts pinned to the top of the construction forum. I believe there is also a serial number list on there as well, but is somewhat difficult to navigate. IH sold to Dresser, then it was Komatsu/Dresser and is now Dressta which is owned by a Chinese company. There is almost no new parts available for these old machines. The 175 track loader was manufactured for quite some time after IH sold out, so you may have some luck. Undercarriage parts are nearly impossible to find. I have bought some parts for my 250B loader from Brown International in Canada. They are very knowledgeable, but there are just very few good parts left, which is a shame. 

[louie figone]

pkingsley,  go to the construction forum, at the top is the link to take you to serial numbers, according to the info there your tractor is a 1965

[pkingsley]

Thanks for the info guys. Louie I did find a site with serial numbers for different model IH machines and it agrees with what you found, it's a 65 model. Also found a thread on another forum and learned the broken giant spring isn't for tension but in case of a big shock. Tension is controlled by the tensioner in front of the big spring by pumping grease into a cylinder that pushes the idler forward. UC doesn't look bad although I have to look a little closer now that I know more about what to look for. Just bought it to do a little work at a hunting club and got it pretty cheap. Getting ready to move it out to my land and find out how it does. It cranks up and runs good. Have moved it a little but couldn't run it much because of some really bad hydraulic hoses on the bucket shooting oil across the yard, but I've got new hoses made now so I'll find out more this weekend. Kind of fun to mess around with an old machine like this. Will probably end up with more questions at some point.

Thanks for the help

[Matt Kirsch]

Good looking machine there.

It's great to know that someone took the time to compile all those serial numbers over in the construction forum.

[Rawleigh99]

The spring on the left side by the operator is to buffer the hydraulic system when you are carrying a load in the bucket.  Most I have seen, including a 175C I once had were broken and had been blocked out of the system.  In the later 175C's they did away with that feature.  Where are you located?  Buddy on here just bought a 175B in Virginia.

[pkingsley]

Thanks Matt. Hope it will be alright. Guy who owned it had the motor rebuilt about 4 yrs ago and then had a stroke so he couldn't use it anymore. It's just been sitting where he had parked it for about three years. Some body else who claimed to be a mechanic had messed with it for a couple of days back over the summer and told him the injector pump was bad. I did a little cleaning and made some new gaskets for the fuel filters and got it started but it would only run for a about 30 seconds. Talked to a friend who knows these tractors pretty well. He had me remove a check valve in the top of the injector pump where the return lines are from the injectors and that did the trick. Cranks up and runs fine now. Replacing some hydraulic lines this weekend and start moving it around some more. Should know then more about the shape it's in.

Rawleigh my buddy that helped with the injector pump said the same thing about that spring. He said don't worry about it until I have to. Probably won't ever be a problem. I'm in South Carolina up near the NC border. Soon as I've got this machine moving around it's going down to Fairfield county SC. Probably gonna do a little work on our hunting club with it to see how it does then see if someone wants to buy it. This is really a lot more machine than I need for most of what I need to do. Kind of having fun with it just piddleing to get it working though.