Longevity of M Engine

Heifer Raiser · Jan 2, 2009

My 46 farmall M is rebuilt with a Super kit. Since the sleeves are thinner, does this affect the longevity of the sleeves and pistons? I used the tractor for brush hogging, raking hay, pulling hay wagons and snow plowing. I am also a fanatic about changing the oil and filter (every 60 hours). Thank you and Happy New Year.
Jake

littlefarmer · Jan 2, 2009

See my post below.

I last overhauled my M in 1984. It has been used to farm 160 acres of grain crops (mainly discing) and other pulling/feeding work on my farm over those years. It is just starting to use more oil then usual.

rustyfarmall · Jan 2, 2009

No, the thinner sleeves have no effect on the longevity of the engine.

Heifer Raiser · Jan 2, 2009

Hi Littlefarmer,

Is it burning oil? Is there oil on the plugs? My tractor appeared to be consuming oil last summer, only to find out that the bolts on the oil pan were loose. It seems that even with new gaskets, some oil pans still leak because of a small crinkle on the top of the oil pan, typically caused by over-tightening the bolts.

25 years of moderately hard work on the M between engine rebuilds is pretty good. Are you as much of a fanatic about changing the oil?

Thanks for the reponse. Jake.

Heifer Raiser · Jan 2, 2009

Thank you Rusty Farmall. Happy New Year. Jake.

Jason1Pa. · Jan 2, 2009

I think thinner or no sleeves help with the cooling process. If you think the thicker the sleeve the more metal there is to get hot. How far away is the sleeve from water? In my opinion wet sleeves are better because the water/antifreeze is right up against the sleeve its self. Cools better.

TractormanNC · Jan 2, 2009

I think you are going a little overboard on the 60 hr oil changes. The operators manual recommends 120 hr oil and filter changes and the oil back then was not nearly as good as it is now. Unless you are making a lot of short trips where the engine does not get warmed up, I think you can save some money, but its your money and your tractor.

the tractor vet · Jan 2, 2009

A wet sleeve engine will not last near as long as a dry sleeve engine case in point here a 1066 (wet sleeve engine) verses a dry sleeve engine like lets say a 806-1206, 856-1456 the 1066 will be hard pressed to make 6000 hrs while a good old D 361 or DT 361 or the D407 or the DT 407 can and have gone 20000 hrs. more common in the 10-12000 hr. With the dry sleeve ya don't the pin holes like the wet sleeve does thus you don't get coolant in the oil and whip out bearings and cranks . And her again i think i know what i am talking about with over 40 plus years twisten wrenches and working on engines . A sleeved engine is easier to rebuild at less cost and if DONE WRIGHT will last as long as as when it was new. where as a engine that has no sleeves and has to be bored will not last as long as it sis when new . DON'T CARE how you did it they just don't .

Anonymous-0 · Jan 2, 2009

The sleeves in the M are dry sleeves. You just dont know about these engines so you should not give out any info.

littlefarmer · Jan 2, 2009

I have started noticing "hard" carbon deposits on the plugs. I don't think there are any leaks at least real obvious ones.

What I have noticed is that after about maybe 6-8 hours pretty hard work pulling a tandem, I need to add a quart. I don't know if this is excessive but it is more then I used to put in years ago. Not really any blue smoke noticeable.

I change the oil twice during crop season (once in the spring before starting, and then again in June after discing and planting but before cultivating, then again in the late fall before winter.

I use straight 30 in the summer and 10-30 in the winter.

mattofvinings · Jan 2, 2009

In my opinion wet sleeves are better because the water/antifreeze is right up against the sleeve its self. Cools better.

I would disagree...if there were sleeve or bore cooling problems then pistons would end up as aluminum chunks down in the oil pan...and I haven't heard of many of these type of failures in stock HP form. My opinion is the original engineering & validation was first-class and works great even after all of these years.

It is true that if one is intending to make considerably more power, the surface-contact issues [which equate to heat-transfer issues] in a dry-sleeve design can be eliminated by using a wet sleeve.

steelfronts · Jan 2, 2009

Unless you are really young you'll not wear that engine out in your lifetime doing those jobs.

NDS · Jan 3, 2009

Back in the day that Hs and Ms were the main full time field tractors 3 or 4 years was about the life of an engine. We would run a tractor at least 1000 hrss./year and probaly 30 to 50% of that would be heavy tillage work.

Heifer Raiser · Jan 5, 2009

Sounds like you take very good care of your equipment. I feel that adding a quart every 6-8 hours of heavy work would justify an engine rebuild. Or, you can save time and money and just add oil. The hard carbon may be from using cooler igniting spark plugs. I apologize for the late response. Jake.

Longevity of M Engine

Heifer Raiser

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littlefarmer

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rustyfarmall

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Heifer Raiser

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Heifer Raiser

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Jason1Pa.

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TractormanNC

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the tractor vet

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Anonymous-0

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littlefarmer

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mattofvinings

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steelfronts

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NDS

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