There's some good info in this thread!
Like adding lubricating additive to the diesel fuel (which now-a-days ultra low sulpher) to protect the valves and injectors.
One thing I would advise is, while your excitement and enthusiasm about your tractor purchase is high, go ahead and do a COMPLETE fluid and filter service on the tractor!
It might take you two days and cost you $500, but you will likely never do it 100% if you don't do it now. And keep service records of everything you do (alongside any records you get from the previous owner).
It likely would cost you $1000 to $1500 to have a tractor dealership service it, and based on my experience they won't do it as well as you would.
And by doing it yourself you will have crawled over just about every nook and cranny on your tractor and will find worn belts, cracked hoses, cracked castings, loose or broken bolts, etc that you would not notice otherwise.
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 77931824 Yep... Have warmer weather on the way and that's the plan at a minimum.
So far it looks to have been fairly well maintained aside from the salt exposure. It was originally a municipal/city tractor. I can tell just by looking that they greased everything regularly which is def a positive sign.
Gonna be fun figuring out what the hell to do with all that oil etc. Gallons! Not exactly set up like a heavy equipment mechanic here.
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Yer gonna buy two or three (or more?) 5 gallon pails of tractor oil ... make sure you know exactly what kind is required. I found my oil at Sam's Club for close to one-half the cost at Tractor Supply. To catch the large amount of used hyd/gear oil I bought a mortar/concrete mixing pan from Home Depot ... it is black plastic "about" 18 inches by 24 inches (from memory) ) and "about" 8 inches high. It is low enough to go under the tractor yet has some serious capacity. While draining used hyd/gear oil out of the tractor, be prepared to re-insert the drain plug before the pan overfills.
Before you start, make sure you have some empty 5 gallon plastic buckets with lids, to use for holding old oil.
Cut down a couple of empty 1 gallon milk/vinegear jugs to act as scoops ... use these to scoop old oil from the plastic pan to the plastic buckets.
a pile of rags/paper towels, and a variety of plastic jugs, bottles, hoses/tubes etc ... you can cut these down to be funnels with shapes specific for the task at hand ... like catching the power steering fluid ... which otherwise would splash all over the side of the engine and frame and loader bracket arms and hoses and make a gigantic mess.
(I think the dealerships let it all hang out with dripping then power wash the tractor before you pick it up.)
You're likely gonna find a couple of frozen zerk fittings ... either replace them outright or buy a zerk "punch" tool you fill with grease then hit with hammer. The front end loaders have lots of zerks, and they tend to
clog up because dust mixes with the grease in the joints and solidifies. One more reason to do this yourself ... it's likely previous owners just gave up getting grease in these fittings and that particular joint is in desperate need of grease ... what are the odds a dealership monkey would take the time to replace/clear the zerk?
Also you need to check bolt torques in critical locations ... like engine/bellhousing to transmission, loader brackets to tractor frame/engine ... it's too easy to break a tractor is these are loose.
Etc etc etc.
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