I’ve been looking for one for a long time and last weekend it happened....... Long story short original owner named it Walter and the name has stuck ever since. I brought it home yesterday and now the clean up and tune up begins. Going to have to see about finding a winch possibly and getting set up for log handling duty. I figured some of the FHC Fam might like to watch the fun! Also if anyone has or has experience with these sweet hunks of iron chime in! First up.... freeing the steering clutches!!!
NICE, NICE, NICE, # 1 find the oldest cat skinner you can, and have him ''school'' you on this machine. Let him be the ''boss'' all he wants and just listen, watch and learn
That is sure good advice, nothing better than learning from the master! I can’t wait to get it operating the way it should. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on one like this! Today everything is hydrostatic with fingertip controls!
Steering clutches, brakes and a head gasket are the main projects. Of course all the fluids and filters too. Other odds and ends will be arm rests, cutting the twisted hitch pin out, gauges and an exhaust stack.
Looks like a lot of fun! I had a JD 440 for a couple of years. It was one of the things that went in order to afford my Kubota. The guys at the Yesterday’s Tractors site were a lot of help when I had the dozer and also a Farmall 560. There is both an IH and a crawler/dozer group there.
First order of business of course was to get the old truck muffler off and fit up a 3 1/2” pipe. Oh and an hour with the pressure washer to clean off the mildew and pine needles from being parked in the pines for a while.
The original owner did I’m not sure why, but I like it! I think I’m going to have my wife use her decal maker machine and make a “Walter” decal for the back on the fuel tank.