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starting a diesel barn find

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Tomorrow I will be attempting to start a Ford 3000 tractor, it has been parked up for the past 4-5 years, the oil is nice & black, there is water in the radiator and there is half a tank of diesel in it.
Can I start the tractor as is, or is there anything I should do first ie, drain the fuel first or just give it a go?
 
I'd rock the engine by hand or with a bar to first make sure it's free... but otherwise I'd just try it as is. Be a good idea to pull the nose cap off the air breather first and have a steel plate or thick hard cover book.. or plywood to choke it off should things get out of hand. Otherwise, just try it out. If there's no smoke from it fairly quickly then I'd start looking at the fuel system to see if/where it's getting fuel too...

Rod
 
Might want to suck out the diesel in tank and replace it with fresh, diesel stores much better than gasoline but more than a year could have some molds/fungus/bacteria growing. Oil change would be usefull to see if anything in bottom of pan. Fuel and oil Filters would be changed after a short run perhaps. Check for mouse nest, etc in airfilter. Transmission and clutch you"ll find out quick- if you can check tranny plug or short drain to see if water condensed in tranny , might be good idea. Look at wiring to see if squirrels or mice have been chewing anything. Bring a couple spare batteries and long jumper cables. RN
 

I'm impatient.... I'd start it as is after checking coolant, oil level, and at least drain the fuel filter/s if possible. If it starts, just let it warm up easy and watch things. If no obvious noise or leaks, put it to work. If it's OK, I'd change the oil, coolant (at least test) and fluids if necessary.

Couple years ago, folks in the next town were cleaning out a barn that just had loose hay and straw blown in for the last 50 years or so. They found a tractor about halfway thru and no idea how long it had been there other than it was a 1959 model and looked like new when washed off except for some faded spots. They checked levels and got a set of jumper cables and it started right up.

Dave
 
(quoted from post at 14:20:21 10/16/10) Tomorrow I will be attempting to start a Ford 3000 tractor, it has been parked up for the past 4-5 years, the oil is nice & black, there is water in the radiator and there is half a tank of diesel in it.
Can I start the tractor as is, or is there anything I should do first ie, drain the fuel first or just give it a go?
Click to expand...

I wouldnt start it as is. While the unit will very likely crank up without much work, there are a few things inside the engine that you dont want to happen.

I would evacuate the fuel system for sure. Diesel fuel is nasty, even when its new.

Also, (and im not sure how easy this will be to get to) id drop the oil pan.
You wouldnt believe the gunk that will settle over years of sitting. Engine oil of yesterdays was not what we have today.
We recently picked up a JD420 with only 1,000hrs on it. But the oil pan had about 2inches of gunk that was about as thick as peanut butter. You DONT want that circulating through a engine.

Also, id pop the valve cover and roll the engine over to ensure the valves are not stuck.
 
Thanks for the replies, The guy selling it said that it was parked up because the battery was goosed, but, if the engine knocks, how obvious would it be and at what revs?
 

If it looks good, I'd doubt his battery story and walk away...... I'm not real trusting though.........

Dave
 
You'd likely have to get it under some load before you'd notice much knocking. If it was parked because of a 'bad battery'... it may be a bad starter too. Who knows...
Personally I'd not want to open the fuel system on something like that or you could spend a lot of time and a fair bit of money before you ever get it running.
Like most modern engines it does have full flow filtration so I wouldn't worry too much about the oil if it looks flowable... Do change the fluids after you get it warmed up and working a little bit.

Rod
 
"Parked because of a bad battery" or "Just needs a battery to run" is USUALLY a cover for much larger problems. If a tractor looks good and useable, why would someone park it for the cost of an $80 or $100 battery? And if they are trying to sell it, spending a little extra and getting the tractor running, even if in poor condition, makes the tractor worth that much more IMO.
 
I started a barn tractor that had sat for eight years,we checked the oil level,put a new battery in it and rolled it over,gave it a whiff of ether and it fired up,drove it out and loaded it. When I got it home I drained some of the fuel and put in fresh.I pulled the pan and cleaned it up with a new gasket, filled with fresh oil and filter. There isn't much to hurt if it was driven to the spot you found it in and it had dry storage. Old fuel won't hurt anything other than making a hard start.There is no contamination by water or dirt if it was dry storage.
The tractor was treated with a fuel treatment that was an injector cleaner/pump lube/water remover.After some usage the tractor started easier and easier as the injectors became clean.
I wouldn't hesitate to fire it up, let it warm up, then change the oil and use it a bit,then pull the pan and clean everthing up. I wouldn't worry about fuel other than adding some fresh.
 
I started a barn tractor that had sat for eight years,we checked the oil level,put a new battery in it and rolled it over,gave it a whiff of ether and it fired up,drove it out and loaded it. When I got it home I drained some of the fuel and put in fresh.I pulled the pan and cleaned it up with a new gasket, filled with fresh oil and filter. There isn't much to hurt if it was driven to the spot you found it in and it had dry storage. Old fuel won't hurt anything other than making a hard start.There is no contamination by water or dirt if it was dry storage.
The tractor was treated with a fuel treatment that was an injector cleaner/pump lube/water remover.After some usage the tractor started easier and easier as the injectors became clean.
I wouldn't hesitate to fire it up, let it warm up, then change the oil and use it a bit,then pull the pan and clean everthing up. I wouldn't worry about fuel other than adding some fresh.
 
Dave I think woody allen did the same thing in the movie "Sleeper" with a 200 year old volkswagon. bill m.
 
I bought a parts tractor that had sat for 15+ years had a full tank of fuel.I drained (siphined)off the top left the bottom 3 inches and poured it in my other tractor.Had absalutly no problems with old deisel
 
My neighbors parked THREE tractors for want of tires. A 430 Case, an international 300 and a Farmall 544 Hydro. They always intended to put tires on them and get them going but never did. Twenty years in the weather did a number on them though.
 
I would try and get as much new fuel into it as you can. Then spin the engine over to let it oil the bearings. Have the stop lever out so it does not start. If there are any real bad knocks you will here them as soon as it starts. Others will show up under load. Keep the RPMs low give it time to warm up.

I started a backup generator at the old MKT railroad building in Dallas. Had been sitting since 1976 and this was in 1995. Just added a battery spun it over. Then cranked it up. Ran fine after about 15 minutes.
 
I bought an F150 for $400 that sat for six years outside. I got it home, poured some gas in the intake and cranked if over and it started and ran just fine. I ended up putting a new gas tank and fuel pump in it. I ended up with $1,400.00 in it. It has a 300 cid and a five speed in it and it runs just fine. I don't worry about scratching the paint on it.
 
Once started a 955 Cat that had set for years. The oil pump drive promptly sheared a pin. Watch the oil pressure like a hawk.
 
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