Universal tractors

RaulP

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Romania
Some pictures with my U445. My father bought it in 2001 and back then he was the first the have a mower in my village. He made "a lot" of money mowing lucerne and ploughing. Now we rarely use it.
 

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Amateur

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ireland

pycoed

Member
They were also badged as Allis-Chalmers in USA ( & sold as Olivers as well). The user guide I have for my late UTB445DT is for an Allis-Chalmers 5045.
You can often in see one in one of those Alaskan family progs on Blaze
 

RaulP

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Romania
That's amazing. I was born in 1991 and I now I feel sadness, from a country that exported agricultural machinery, cars, trucks and many others to a country that exports only labour force. When I go abroad and I tell them I am from Romania most look to me akward. Romania use to be an agricultura power, a proud country, yes, with sacrifice, but still! Sorry for the offtopic and a Happy New Year!
 
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Karliboy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Yorkshire
New water pump on my 640 yesterday
A38D3E96-154A-4486-AF6F-E67DC8506F42.jpeg

These water pipe clips were a bit of a pain to get loose so swaped to new normal jubilee type
3549C774-ADFE-4CBA-81A1-5E5326559A8C.jpeg

All sorted happy days no leaks
AE14CA26-AE46-41BE-A0DB-175E5F638147.jpeg

Old pump was still nice and smooth on bearings just seal was weeping.
I bet the new one doesn’t last 45 years though.
 

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Amateur

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ireland
New water pump on my 640 yesterday View attachment 930655
These water pipe clips were a bit of a pain to get loose so swaped to new normal jubilee type View attachment 930656
All sorted happy days no leaks View attachment 930657
Old pump was still nice and smooth on bearings just seal was weeping.
I bet the new one doesn’t last 45 years though.
Interesting. I am refurbishing my old UTB 445 and also put in a new water pump & reconditioned injector pump. The water pumps can be completely rebuilt if one has the time to do so. Here is the state of my 445.
 

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Amateur

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ireland
I want to respray the panels and I am looking for the best way of removing the old paint.
Most people do not recommend sand blasting for panels so I tested Oxalic acid but cannot easily remove
the yellow residue, it is recommended to use apple vinegar but it does not seem sufficient.
Does anyone know of an acid that will remove the paint without damaging the metal and leaving a clean paintable finish ?
 

Amateur

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ireland
Lye to me is caustic soda.
Have you successfully used this on tractor panels prior to undercoating or is there something else needed prior to undercoating?
 

Wisconsonian

Member
Trade
Yes, I have used this to remove paint many times. It will not remove modern two component paints. I assume this old Universal has paint that will dissolve fairly easily with lye, also known as sodium hydroxide.

Of course you have to thoroughly rinse the lye off, and dry without rusting before painting. I assume undercoating is what I think of as primer coat of paint? An acid on the bare metal is sometimes needed, if there are spots of rust left.

All of this is crude level painting, scuff sanding the original solid paint is usually what I do if most of the paint is still solid. If you're planning a showroom finish, you need better advice than I can give.
 

Amateur

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ireland
Undercoat is primer.
Its a summer job ,too damp here in winter without a heated spray booth which I dont have.
If the paint stays on then its good enough for me.
I prefer to avoid any sanding if possible.
I just want to be able to soak the panels in something that will remove ALL the paint, I have plenty of time to wait
as I am not dependent on this tractor.
 

jcwe

Member
Mixed Farmer
Alixander Duncan Cabs are still in or near Aberdeen not sure what they produce today. I spotted Fritzmere at Agritechnca, they also produced cabs in the 70s
Alexander and Duncan were agricultural dealers in Leominster who sold Universal Tractors with Duncan Cabs on. { was working on a farm nr Knighton as a student in 1977 and a Universal 4wd 550 arrived costing £4,000 and displacing an old Massey 165
 

jd24

Member
Yes a lot
2021 Our 550 dt did
-80acres of fertiliser spreading.
-about 20 acres of seed broadcasting
-20 acres pulling our gang of ring rollers. It's great for this because it doesn't create any impression in the soil.
-topping in areas big tractors won't go
-pulled trees out of the woods.

Sits on the sawbench and log splitter the rest of the time.

I know modern tractors offer a lot more comforts but we can flog this tractor all day and it not use more than two 20 litre drums of diesel.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 78 42.9%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 63 34.6%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.5%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 5 2.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,286
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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