1267 died after 53 years of service

[sdhdcouple 133]

Well i know i don't get time to be on the forums much any more, but i wanted to chime in and pass on the bad news.  

 

After 53 years of fathfull service the 1267 lost her heart yesterday. I am not sure if it was a valve, broke rod or burnt piston, but it died.  Turns over and has no compression at all.  I am the 2nd owner of her and the 1st owner bought her new and mowed 2 acres with her when they lived in Indiana, then mowed 4 acres when they moved to North Dakota.  I then bought her and Mowed 3 acres in south Dakota, moved to Indiana and mowed 3 acres here.  She has not missed a year of service since new.  I think thats pretty good.

 

So now i not sure what i am going to do with her, not sure how i am going to get the yard mowed.  Just wanted to share her story with the group

[ebinmaine 67,269]

That's a great service life!

Easy enough to swap an engine and get it back to work.

 

 

 

[rjg854 11,349]

you can rebuild her or swap out another engine, and be good to go another 50 years

[sdhdcouple 133]

was thinking about one of these rebuild kits on Ebay, anyone ever used one of them?

 

[lynnmor 7,302]

45 minutes ago, sdhdcouple said:

was thinking about one of these rebuild kits on Ebay, anyone ever used one of them?

 

Until you open up the heart you won't know if it needs a bypass or a transplant.

[rmaynard 15,427]

Just remember that until the engine reaches about 600 RPM, there is very little compression due to the ACR (automatic compression release). Look for something simple like spark or fuel issues before tearing into open heart surgery.

[adsm08 2,022]

The heads on those old engines are easy enough to remove, might be worth it just to take a look.

 

As long as it was kept oiled and not run over-speed I see very little likely hood of a major failure. If it was running and just died I'd look at spark and fuel issues first. If it ran, was shut down, and wouldn't restart I'd look at spark and fuel issues first, then probably check that the ACR isn't just stuck open.

[D_Mac 8,593]

Side tracked by @ebinmaine new photo EBDundee

[ZXT 2,401]

Were you mowing when it quit or did it just not start when you went to mow one day? A little bit of information will allow us to make a much better guess as to what the cause of failure might have been. 

[sdhdcouple 133]

i was mowing and it just quit.  this tractor has always spun slow when starting.  now when you hit the key it spins very fast and when you let off the key it several seconds to stop 

[squonk 41,021]

Sounds major. Look for a another K321 or 341 and drop it in. Lots less work. You get your tractor working and then you can see about fixing the other engine. If it’s too far gone, leave it at @WHX24’s door. He needs more stuff. 

[Lee1977 6,642]

35 minutes ago, sdhdcouple said:

i was mowing and it just quit.  this tractor has always spun slow when starting.  now when you hit the key it spins very fast and when you let off the key it several seconds to stop 

It could be carbon holding the valve open.  Hope that all you find wrong.

[sdhdcouple 133]

dang i didn't think of that, going to go pull the head off

 

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by sdhdcouple

[sdhdcouple 133]

Guessing it's the connecting rod it will not let me load video but head is off, turns over and valves open and close but piston stays still. Was able to move the piston down with a one finger push. Didn't seam stuck at all.  I felt the cylinder walls, no scratches that i can see or feel.  

 

will try to upload the video

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by sdhdcouple

[richmondred01 2,237]

4 hours ago, sdhdcouple said:

 

 

[sdhdcouple 133]

 

 

There's the video

[richmondred01 2,237]

Far from dead.

bore, grind the crank, grind valve seats, new guides, piston, rod, rings, bearings and seals.

good to go another 50 years with proper maintenance.

I done hundreds of these engines that certainly looked worse.

 

just check the cylinder apron to make sure when the rod broke loose it didn’t crack it.

 

[Sam Pasch 449]

I think its safe to say that it is broken. I think a new rod should fix it though.

Edited May 10, 2020 by Sam Pasch

[Pullstart 62,787]

Just listen to the guidance of machining the crank at the very least!  It is very important that it is perfectly round before reassembly... ask me how I know!

 

 

[richmondred01 2,237]

Indeed, a set of rings or a new rod will fix nothing. The engine must be in spec or machined or the same issue will arise within a few hours of use. 

[sdhdcouple 133]

well i got lucky, farmer buddy seen me out door working on the tractor stopped by to BS.  He knew someone who collected old Gravely tractor, called him and he had a k301 block that had been rebuilt and with a turned crank, matching rod, new bearings but he had no piston.  or the rest the motor parts.  So he sold it to me cheap, i think.  i will get some pictures

[richmondred01 2,237]

Gravely has a different PTO bolt pattern and the crankshafts aren’t 1 and 1/8.

Gravely utilized and embossed lip machined into the pto side of the block.

1st photo gravely 

2nd wheel horse

Edited May 10, 2020 by richmondred01

[Pullstart 62,787]

You should be able to get a sleeve and cut it to length to take up the difference on your crank!

[richmondred01 2,237]

5 minutes ago, pullstart said:

You should be able to get a sleeve and cut it to length to take up the difference on your crank!

Thats true you can go that way and fabricate half moon shims for the lip issue and reposition the holes on the pto bracket.

 

 

[sdhdcouple 133]

i think i lost the battle while i was at work this week, came home and the yard was mowed.   you don't want to know the rest.