Ferguson 30 Update and newbie questions ( long )

Still waiting on my muffler to come in at the local MF dealer . Right now there is nothing past the manifold so it is LOUD .

Hydraulics seem to work good . Whew ! The tractor was not running when I bought it so I sweated that one out .

So far so good . Now for the questions .....

I am still getting some black smoke when I stoke her up . The smoke pretty much disapears as soon as it revs up . It backfires sometimes when I let off the throttle . If I choke the tractor down , it is a bit harder to restart and will blow out some black smoke and sometimes a SHORT puff of white smoke . Also blows out a few small sparks that look like carbon burning .There is only a little bit of faint smoke coming out of the blowby tube even at full throttle ( much less than my Ford so I am not worried about that ).

The tractor will drive fine in 1st. thru 3rd. gear but will choke down every time I try 4th.

What does this tell you guys ?

I suspect that the govenor needs adjustment but don't know for sure .

I am looking to put this tractor to work ASAP . I cannot take the time or money right now for a rebuild . That will have to come later .

Just need some help !

Now for the really stupid question ...

The manifold has a vertical crack all the way across where the last two bolts are on each end of the manifold . They look like they have been there for some time . Is it made that way !?!It is such a clean slot/crack that I am not sure .

Don't want to pay $150+ for a new manifold now . Anyone ever brazed one ? I work in a machine shop so I can do the work .

Thanks for listening ! I know my old Ford pretty well but am new to this Ferguson thing so I need all the help and patience you guys can give me !

Thanks !
Ford Man

I found the manifold thru CT. I got it cheaper then MF dealer wanted. I sprayed a product called Sea Foam (From NAPA parts store) on it to loosen up the bolts for about a week. The bolts came right off. Had to remove the gas tank to get at all the bolts. You will have to retorque the bolts after the tractor heats up as they seem to loosen when they cool.It wasn't too hard to do and I am not much of a mechanic.

Good luck

Frank

I do have an I & T manual for this tractor . I was quite dissapointed with it . The one that I have for my Ford is much , much more detailed . Between the two , I think I can make it work . Is there a better manual out there for a 30 ?

My muffler came in today at the local NH/MF dealer . It is one of the vertical stack jobs . I put it on and the tractor runs much differently . The black smoke is gone and I have to choke it to keep it going . I guess the added backpressure of a muffler changed the mix a bit . Will have to mess with it some more .

Thanks again for the help ! I will keep you guys posted on my progress .

Ford Man