Farmall F-20 Cyllinder Head.

Have a 38 Farmall F20 that developed a hole on the exhaust port of #1 on the head and leaking antifreeze. I can see the hole (about the size of a match head). Can this be welded or patched? If not where can I find a replacement head? I ve searched the www with no luck. I live in central Texas area.
Thanks-

Can you post a picture of the failure?

I've never ran into that before. I'd
question how that came about. I'd be
wondering if this is really just a rusted
through hole, OR if it's a freeze crack
from no antifreeze or rain water standing
in the exhaust, and the match stick sized
hole is only PART of the damage that you
are seeing. And therefore, there would be
more damage there, that you are not seeing.
Or, ... if some previous owner before you
was a tractor puller, and thought it'd be a
smart idea to grind out the intake and
exhaust ports, and make them a little
bigger, and ground this port out a little
to far.
So there very well could be alot more going
on here, than just the hole that you are
seeing.

That said, if it is just a hole, it's not
something that a person would want to fix
yourself in a (do it yourself, fix it at
home) mode. Take it to a reputable machine
shop, or head shop, and let them do the
work and fix it. They can also tell you
whether or not it even can be fixed. And
while it's there, have them do a magniflux
test on it, before doing any repair work.
That test may also render the head not
salvageable.

I'm not sure how you were going about
searching the web for a different head. But
if you were searching the web for a new
head, you need to scratch that idea. F-20's
were very common though. And used parts can
be readily found in just about any tractor
salvage yard that deals in Farmall/IHC and
has inventory going back far enough and
into that era. I know of a few, but not in
the Texas area. I'm sure you can find
salvage yards yourself, closer to where you
are at.

(quoted from post at 07:16:39 12/12/22) Have a 38 Farmall F20 that developed a hole on the exhaust port of #1 on the head and leaking antifreeze. I can see the hole (about the size of a match head). Can this be welded or patched? If not where can I find a replacement head? I ve searched the www with no luck. I live in central Texas area.
Thanks-

Click to expand...

Hopefully the pic uploaded

It appears to be a rust hole. Soon as I figure out how to upload a photo things will be a little clearer. I would prefer to find another used head somewhere that s good.

Try posting a couple more times. I think you need 5 posts in order to post pics. And if you're not using modern view, switch to it.

Another pic attempt

Last attempt to upload photo.

Haven't seen the pictures yet, but a small hole in the exhaust passages most likely isn't a tiny hole thru some thick weldable
iron but a tiny hole in a region that has thinned, which makes welding tough. Would suck to go thru the tear down, time &
cost of welding, only to have it leak again. Good luck with your project, but I think another head may be in store for your
tractor.

Usually someone mentions it on here. Just e-mail the picture to one of us and we can post it for you. Send a private message to on
eof us and we can help you post it.

Thanks everyone for the input. After further inspection and probing the head is beyond repair. I m searching for a used replacement head 414 DA.
Thanks again!

Red,

I'll check my parts stash in the next few days as weather permits. I think I may have an extra head, but will have to look and if so, check valve condition.

(quoted from post at 14:45:40 12/13/22) Red,

I'll check my parts stash in the next few days as weather permits. I think I may have an extra head, but will have to look and if so, check valve condition.

Click to expand...

Thank you very much! I have two spare tractors for parts but both have bad heads. Called several places that deal with F-20s and no luck yet.