Farmer VG's Iseki TX2160 Compact Tractor

[Vintage Grumble]

So because of my brain injuries, I talked myself into buying a tiny tractor. No shit, I've low key wanted a power pony since I was a lad, and this thing is even cooler than a power pony tbh. Its from somewhere between 1985-1991, 800cc 3 cylinder Mitsubishi diesel making a whopping 16hp. The internet says its got 6 forward and 2 reverse gears, but I think that's 3 forward, 1 reverse, but in high and low ratio. And its 4WD too. She's a bit rough around the edges, but seems to be in good nick mechanically. 

It was owned by a local papermill from new, and was used solely on concrete/tarmac in the paper machine basement and around site. Because of this, it has had a few modifications made to stop functions being used that were not needed, or would ruin something or someone. I knew when I purchased it that the cardan shaft had been removed so that it couldn't be put into 4WD (would not be happy on pavement) and that the 3-point linkage set up was gone (it was only used to tow a trailer) along with the lever that controls the 3-point up down. Its also had the front rims widened to take an industrial spec road tyre (the rims are only 5" wide standard) and it currently has flat, bald forklift looking industrial tyres on the rear. It was cheap enough that I took the gamble on finding the parts needed to reinstate the 4WD, and knew I'd need the correct sized tyres to keep the 4WD happy. 

What I only just realized is that because they wanted to fit road spec tyres, they have changed the back rims from 18" to 15" (possibly why the cardan shaft was deleted) which really screws up the plan of reinstating the 4WD. Turns out the 18" rims/tyres are not very common either. I was a bit "AWWW FUCK" about the back rim dilemma, but then found a place in Belgium that happens to stock full sets of rims tyres for this unit. But by the time I got them here, they would be the same price as what I paid for the tractor itself. drats. I emailed every tractor wrecker I could find in NZ, and they all came back with nothing. APART FROM ONE PLACE, THAT HAD A COMPLETE TRACTOR, THAT THEY WILL WRECK IF I TAKE ALL THE BITS I ENQUIRED ABOUT, THANK YOU SWEET EIGHT POUND SIX OUNCE BABY JESUS.      

So I have expressed interest in the following parts:

Full set of rims/tyres

Full set of 3-point linkage arms

Lever to control up/down of 3-point linkage

Cardan shaft, UJ's and cover tube thing

Ignition barrel and key

Front grill

Gear knob

RPM/hour gauge and cable that runs it

If I get all these bits, I'll have a complete fully functional tractor on my hands, and still for a lot less than what they seem to sell for.

Pics to come.

So far tractor ownership has been an emotional rollercoaster, but things are looking up, for now.

Regards, VG. 

 

[440bbm]

Keep an eye on the tard, they do pop up there semi regularly. problem only being they arent listed  with model number to refine your search.. just have to browse the under 50hp sections and some of the other areas LOL.

but so cool u got something to start from.

[Nominal]

Why not get the whole parts tractor?

[Vintage Grumble]

16 minutes ago, Nominal said:

Why not get the whole parts tractor?

That did cross my mind, once they give me a total cost of just the parts, I'll ask about the whole thing.

[440bbm]

they get pretty cagey doing that cost less income for them. weirdos LOL take some cash now and run or hold onto shit for a lifetime with less income. 

[johnnyfive]

Come do farming if you need more space

[johnnyfive]

More pics plz

[Vintage Grumble]

Had a quick fiddle/ruin this evening. 

The mill story checks out, no mud anywhere, but pulp in lots of nooks and crannies.

I've taken the tow bar bit off, will make a tow bar thing for the 3-point linkage.

High end rim widening job.

Big ass bull bar and relocated muffler.

Powerplant.

Gonna put the muffler back where it should be, after I panel beat the heat shield.

Looks better without the horrid wheels/tyres. The back tyres are unbelievablely heavy, pretty sure they are forklift spec.

Got rid of the yuck bumper. I've got the lights, just need to panel beat the mounts and bonnet.

I'll make up a few better mounts for the mudguards/foot rests, they are a bit cattywampus and need better support.

Also, I rang and talked to the wreckers, they will sell me the complete other tractor minus the engine (they want a grand just for that alone) and it just has one bung shaft in the gearbox (the old owner was running some huge bit of gear behind it and lunched the box)  and it looks to be rather tidy, the body work is way nicer than mine. But not sure I should invest that heavily. They also said they have an Iseki rotary hoe for this size tractor that they would throw in for $200. Dangerous. 

I think I'll just get the bits I need, and try tidy up the body work as best I can.

Regards, VG.

[440bbm]

sweet!  1k for all the parts you want seems pretty good to me. wait till you see that a CHEAP set of wheels and tyres are 500 easily. personally i would get the whole lot, and then you can sell the parts you dont need on fagbook or tm for cost recovery, you can sell your  steel body work etc.

 

also, you can buy these normally for a couple hundy on tm, they pop up often. i got mine like this for 125 on fagbook market place 

 

 

 

[Vintage Grumble]

2 hours ago, 440bbm said:

sweet!  1k for all the parts you want seems pretty good to me. wait till you see that a CHEAP set of wheels and tyres are 500 easily. personally i would get the whole lot, and then you can sell the parts you dont need on fagbook or tm for cost recovery, you can sell your  steel body work etc.

 

also, you can buy these normally for a couple hundy on tm, they pop up often. i got mine like this for 125 on fagbook market place 

 

 

 

Nahhh nahanhanhanahan, JUST the motor was $1k, they want around $2.3K for the everything else excluding the motor. I'm waiting for them to price my full list, and then see if it makes more sense to buy everything.

I was just going to make one of those doofers pictured to suit the size of my tractor, seeing as its so adorably small.

[440bbm]

ahhhhhhhh gotcha. soz.  yep makes waaaay more sense.

 

lols they are designed to CAT 0 1 2 3 and 4 standards, all based on hp rating. yours should be a cat0 wihich you want to know when buying pins and balls etc etc.  so the 3pt hitch is a known thing always the same sizing.   

yes they are quite small.  but also depends how much you value your time. certainly super easy to make. i thought at 125bux i bought mine instead of making it since i didnt have any materials to start with and easily cost that to get stuff together.   even the pins and lynch pins will end up costing 50bux to buy

 

[Vintage Grumble]

So because of my brain injuries, I've agreed to purchase the complete (minus engine) parts tractor in palmy. There was so many bits I wanted, it ended up making more sense to buy the whole thing, plus Iseki parts are apparently a little hard to get and expensive, so yeh. So I should be able to create a fairly tidy unit out of the two, and still be a fair amount under the theoretical valve of one of these tractors. ALSO, the wreckers offered me a Iseki rotary tiller the correct size for my tractor at a very reasonable rate, so I'm getting that too. I can use it to chew up the dirt I need to move, to make it easier to grade out.

I can see how dudes end up with 20 tractors spread around their properties, it happens so easily.

Regards, VG.

[johnnyfive]

Fuck yeah, front wheel weights too, those tyres look good. 

First dibs on the Iseki collection when you're finished

[datlow]

Your welcome to plow my lawn anytime vg

[johnnyfive]

Thread update plz

[Vintage Grumble]

8 hours ago, johnnyfive said:

Thread update plz

Well due to the brain injuries I did a 1000km round trip to collect the parts tractor. Got pretty much everything apart from the core engine. It was a bit of kit set due to the motor being the mounting point for most of the front gubbins. Piled it all on the trailer, chucked heaps of tie downs and straps on it, and it was all still there when I got home which was nice.

Collection:

Then I pulled it apart as much as I could to lighten it up a bit, and then did a fairly dodgy lift from my probably not to code boat shed roof,

Then I harvested even more parts I want for the other one, and while I was there I split it in half to make it easier to move/store. Might split the box from the back end also.

This is why number 2 ended up at the wreckers, buggered gears,

And some of the harvested parts I'll swap over,

The top link was missing from the 3 point, got them to chuck in one, so have all the needed bits now, nice.

The body work is a fair bit nicer so will swap all that over. The foot plates still have the anti-vibration pads on them too, fancy.

The seats a bit rough, but the pan is rust free which is good, the other seat is rusted to fuck. Also had a new radiator cap, and a shiney fuel cap for the bling factor.

So when I get time I'll start the big swap over and clean up a few bits N bobs, and I'll be tractoring in no time.

There is a few minor differences between the two units, but only one bit I wanted to use (3 point up/down lever) wont work as far as I can tell, so not so bad.

Once the tractors done I'll give the rotor-tiller thing a bit of love.

Regards, VG.

[Vintage Grumble]

I've started working on this thing again, as I have tractor implements laying about that would be much easier to move with a tractor, and the fences are not getting any less falling overly.

The lever for the 3 point up/down was MIA, snapped off at the tensioner bolt, and was a bit of a bugger to get to being under the seat. So before I made up the lever I needed to mount the seat, as the gap between seat and guard is not a lot.

The seat mount thing on both tractors was a bit munted, and both are slightly different (turns out nearly everything is slightly different between the two tractors) and I wanted the seat from the second tractor on the first one, as its a lot less rusty, but the tube the seat bolts too is a bit wider. So I gave the base a bit of a panel beat, trimmed the tube down until the seat would fit, and then welded the seat base plate thing back on with some big grunty welds as it was all snapped off and munty.

Slapped some paint on it, and Roberts ya mothers brother.

SO now I could bolt that back on the tractor, fit the seat, and make a lever. There was bugger all gap between seat and guard, and as the lever went forward it would hit the guard before it got to full down position, but if I bent it back a bit, it would then hit the seat. SO I ended up spending several hours making a crazy shaped lever that gets the full travel, and clears the seat and guard, and doesn't stick into your arse, and that you can actually easily grab. I forgot to take a pic of it all welded/ground/painted, but you get the idea.

 

I also fitted the cardan shaft, so it should be 4WD again now.

I also spent a while panel beating the muffler heat shield, it was pretty rough due to having been right at the front of the tractor previously, its still pretty wonky, but that's about as good as I can get it. Also gave it a buff with a SS wire wheel for a bit of bling. And fitted back in the OG position.

 

Oh, and I put the proper wheels on, much more tractory. I also swapped over the foot plate things and rear guards, as they were way minter than the original ones. I'm also swapping the dash, as that's also minterer. I'm changing all the wiring over too as the second tractors wiring is way less molested.

I fitted all the 3-point links/arms etc, and a few bits were quite bent and seized. This things thread was super seized, and I just couldn't get it to move, it kept shearing the roll pin in the little handle, so I had to weld a nut to the top of it, and then use a lot of heat, and all 1050nm of ugga dugas to get it loose. I then buffed it all up, greased it, fitted a new roll pin, and its good to go.

These little turn buckle things were also all bent to fuck and seized, but I managed to straighten and un-seize them without wrecking them. 

So the the 3-point is all ready to go now. Nice.

One slight kick in the balls is I went to put the bonnet from the second tractor onto the first, and realized it slightly shorter, and a slightly different shape. Turns out the whole front end is slightly different also. I did think about changing it all over, but its a lot of work and the radiator has the top hose on the opposite side, so the engine must have been slightly different also, so I don't have the bits, and I CBF, so it can keep its grotty bonnet.

Not much left to do now, excited about a good tractoring soon!

Regards, VG.

[Vintage Grumble]

SO I was refitting the wheel weights, and noticed some chalky white shit on one of them, thinking it was just dirt I started cleaning it off, but it turned out to be filler, as the casting had a bunch of holes in it. So I stupidly chipped all that out, and then filled all the holes with weld. I had no idea if you can just mig weld to cast, but by golly I did. It was very noisy and intense welding, but the welds have stayed in the holes so far.

  

Bit of a grind and a paint, bit rough but better than it was with all the holes I guess? (not that it really mattered, lols)

Then I got a couple of overnight parts from some NZ tractoring place, it was also cheaper then AliExpress somehow? Gearbox rubber boot and gear knob. The shaft on the tractor has no thread, but is 12mm OD, and I found a knob that's M14 thread, so a nice snug fit, I just epoxied that bitch on real good. 

Finished the wiring, mounted the dash, fitted the better of the two steering wheels, and then fitted my home made 3-point up down arm lever thing.

Made a simple battery bracket and fitted new terminals to suit a multipurpose battery.

Then my OCD kicked in, and I had to change most of the bolts that hold the front end onto the engine, as they had a range of different head styles and washer arrangements, this is when I noticed a bolt missing  from the side of the front diff. I slapped a new one in and discovered the other 3 were loose as a goose, so I better check there's oil in the diff. All the guts are still in there, as I checked that before fitting the cardan shaft, not sure why the bolts were all so loose though.

Then I fitted the "rustic" OG bonnet, she's nearly all ready to rock/roll through a fence into my neighbors back yard.

I just need to do a bolt check, a fluid check, grease everything up, along with a few small tidy up items, and then I can start dirt farming. Does diesel go off? It started first pop last night after not running for a good 6 months, so assume its OK? I did think about draining the diesel and putting fresh stuff in. 

Once its all go, I can start on giving the implements some love.

Regards, VG. 

 

[johnnyfive]

Draining the tank to get rid of any water or shit probably isn't a bad idea if it's history is questionable. 

But if it looks good in there, just dump new diesel on top and go for it.

[Vintage Grumble]

So I found a baby blade for my baby tractor, its 1.4m but still looks quite wide compared to the tractor, lols. The top-tier GC @sentra collected it for me, and I did a quick 600km round trip mission to collect it. 

SO I wanted to make some rippers, but then thought it would be a PITA to keep swapping between the rippers and the blade, so I had a million dollar idea to attach them to the back of the blade, but on pivots so when you're blading they just rock out of the way. Turns out its already a thing, lols.

I got some mild steel 50x10 flat bar and made up my rippers and mounts, not sure if the bar will be strong enough, but guess I'll find out soon. Made a prototype, didn't put a big flat on the ripper or an up turny bit, because small/light/16hp tractor. Just want to loosen thing up a bit.

Then went into full production,

The blade rotates, so if ripping in reverse doesn't work, it just takes a few secs to rotate the blade and can then rip forwards. It would have been nice to have them the whole width of the blade, but I can just do a few passes, not in a hurry. If they bend, I can always shorten them, or add on more steel or a strong back or something. 

I also got my AliExpress nut to hold the ignition barrel in, excellent.

And I randomly found some foam tape that was exactly right for the bonnet edge, to stop it rattling/rubbing on the dash, nice.

 

Cold start VID of the mighty 0.8L 3 pot mitsy,

https://i.imgur.com/FS7Cv8a.mp4

ALSO, OLD MATE @Thphantum had an adorable topping mower the right size for the tractor at an exceptional price, so I got that too, even though I have no use for it really, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW.

All ready to absolutely FUCKEN RUIN my back lawn now, excitement!

Regards, VG.