Operations

Startup

The key should have a position to the left of (off) that is the TS position, thermal start, you are suppose to hold it in that position for ~15 sec prior to starting. This pre-warms the fuel so that it fires cleanly.

Cold Startup

For easy starting in the cold, hold key on the TS position for 15 secs, pull out the decompression lever, turn key to START, and as soon as the engine reaches full spin-speed release the lever (this will happen fast), and you know the rest.

Here is the cold weather starting routine from the 186 operations manual.
1. Pull throttle lever fully rearward(off)
2. Pull decompression lever for easier engine cranking.
3. Crank engine 5 to 10 seconds until (low) oil pressure indicator lamp stop glowing.
4. Place throttle lever in fully forward position.
5. Turn key counterclockwise and hold it there for 10 to 15 seconds.(activates thermostart)
6. Pull decompression lever and depress clutch.
7. Quickly turn key clockwise and start (crank) engine.
8. As soon as engine starts turn key back to thermostart position and pull throttle lever about halfway back. Hold key in this position until engine runs smoothly and then turn (key) to on position.

Shutdown

Let idle 2-5 minutes after using to let if settle down.

4WD

Lever to left of gearbox. Forward for four on 1720 (back on 1510 and others).

Always block the clutch down when not in use.

The clutch may sieze together if its not blocked down. The newer tractors (at least mine does) have a latch to hold it in place.

PTO Speed

Almost always 540RPM (1st). 2nd is 700rpm and 3rd is 1000rpm, and should never be used unless the implement is specifically rated at that speed.

Oil Change - once per year or every 80-100 hrs. Hydraulics when low or if water gets in or 300-500 hrs.

Shell Rotella or other good diesel oil 15/40, 10/40 diesel rated oil. Some people recommend a single viscosity rather than a multigrade if oil is not changed real frequently. Also JD303 or j20a type trans-hydraulic (anti-foaming) oil for transmission. service/clean your trans screen when draining and before refilling the JD303. A diesel requires a high detergent oil. The diesel produces a lot more soot, which the oil has to clean off of the cylinder wall & hold in suspension. This why the oil gets dirty faster than gas engine.
Try putting ATF. fluid in the trans when its cold out.
Napa part #'s for 1310 (may be simular?) Air 2710 Fuel 3262 Oil 1064

Maintenance

Fuel Filter Change

Turn flow-valve off. Grab the transparent filter cover with a gloved hand or rubber strap wrench and unscrew it. When free of threads, pull it down. The filter element may be inside or may have to be pulled down too. Don't lose the O-ring at the top. Clean cover inside and out. Pop new filter in, a new O-ring if you happen to have one, screw back on, and bleed system. If you fill the bowl and turn on the fuel and let it run out as you are tightening the ring, sometimes you don't have to bleed.

Tire pressure

22 in rear and 17 in the fronts. Maybe up to 35 when carrying a heavy load (front or rear), but thats pretty high.

Coolant

70/30 or 50/50 (if cold weather) water/coolant mix

Gear Oil

Gear oil about 90-weight. When you refill a Yanmar front axle be sure to pull one of the upper outer axle bolts to allow an air bleed. Otherwise it takes forever to put the oil in.

Hydraulics

Buy a 5 gal. can and fill it to the full mark (aprox 4 gal).
The filter screen is on the left, lower, front of the rear axle housing. There are 3 small bolts in a triangle. Remove the bolts, the plate and then pull the screen out, clean and replace. Don't forget to drain the hydraulic fluid first. If you will look on the tranny, you will find an air pressure outlet and inlet. On the 1720 and 1810 (maybe others?) it's located on top of the tranny under the seat. It's a "U" shaped pipe open on the end. It's a good idea on occasion to run a fine wire through this outlet to be sure it's open. While you're changing the fluid is a good time to do this.

Winterize

You could mist areas that rust (like the wheel rims) with oil, or if you have any used hyraulic/transmission fluid, with that. You could put a few extra pounds in the tires, and/or jack-stands under the axels. Release any hydraulic pressure, by lowering the hitch or any implements. Fill the fuel tank to the brim. If the battery's old, you could toss it. If recent, you could get a good "on demand" trickle charger and leave it attached and plugged in, either all the time or alternate weeks or months.

Potential Problems

Overheating

First, make sure the radiator is clean and free of dirt, leaves, trash, etc. Spray it out from the inside and outside. Use distilled water in your radiator as well. Add "Water Wetter" by Redline (maybe 1 pint), some computer case modder's did some interesting tests that show its probably at least somewhat effective in preventing corrosion and increasing heat transfer.

Clutch is slow to engage

The clutch shaft drives drives the powershift pump, so the powershift clutches are not engaged until the pump has time to supply enough oil to engage them. Clean the hydraulic pickup screen to speed up the return fluid flow.

Steering wheel seals/packing/o-ring fail - frozen steering

You want to get gear lub onto the shaft bearings in the the gear box if the seals, packing, or O-ring fail, but it's a job to accesss.
(from forum post): Typically the "O" ring at the top of the steering column fails allowing water to enter the steering sector. Drizzling oil into this column will not help as water is heavier than oil and if enough water is allowed to enter the steering sector, the oil will be displaced and will eventually lead to bearing failure. The recirculating ball drive will be especially hard to replace. One guy attemped to repair his by replacing the o rings however, the fix (seven years ago) was to pack the steering sector full of grease. Still working fine and parked out of doors all the time. I suppose if one let the problem go too long, enough water could accumulate in the steering sector to freeze and burst the cast iron housing.

Ran out of fuel

10mm/phillips screws, 1 before (on top of), 1 after the filter, and 1 before the pump. Open each in that sequence and allow fuel to escape til bubbles quit. Attempt to start, if no go, repeat process. Last resort, crack fitting at injectors and crank til good fuel flow, (usually not necessary).

Bad or missing guages (oil pressue, water temp)

Autozone has 1 1/2" triplet gauges and fitting kits ( Auto Meter mini gauges). might need to get the metric adaptor kit. probably worth the few extra $ to dump the plastic line that comes with the oil pressure gauge and use 1/8" copper line. The same fittings work for both. Also guages from Harbor freight for about 15.00. The oil pressure screwed in and I got a 16 mm adapter for the water temp.

Oil bubbling out of the steering box

you probably have some water in it. Loosen the cover on the right side to drain the water. If there is water in it watch out for bearing failure in the future.

3pt quits working.

Under your seat there is 10 bolts that hold a cover plate down, change the O-Ring in the cylinder.

To remove the oil from the steering box and replace it with new

remove the adjusting plate from the right side. You'll have to readjust the ball/nut to sector shaft clearance when you put it back together.

Tire replacement

Tire size must be at least similar on the two rears, or driving might strain the differential. However, the size of the fronts doesn't matter in 2WD. But if you can and do put the rig in 4WD, and then operate on a no-slip surface, unless the front tires have the proper rolling ratio with the rears (as determined by the factory), you'll strain and possibly break gears (because there's no differential between front and rear). Here's a quick-and-dirty test. On a no-slip, flat road, engage 4WD. Drive forward 10-20' and stop. Then see if you can disengage the 4WD without having to reverse a bit. If you can, it suggests that the fronts and rears are in a properly matched ratio. If you can't, it suggests you have "lock-up" caused by the fronts and rears straining against each other.

Water warning light

Water is low in overflow, check radiator and coolign system for leaks, add fluid.

TS Light doesn't come on

Check the lamp. You can also locate the thermostart and find where the wire plugs in - that's the little heater coil (well it was on my 155d anyway)just under the little bottle that holds fuel(yours may be fed by a line from the main tank. Hold in the thermo start position for 10 seconds and then feel the coil it should be warm/hot. If not then it's not working. you can run 12v dc straight to it to make sure the coil/heater is working.

Front Axle Seal replacement

If you tear into it and disassemble the lower housing guts, watch for spacers and stuff falling out when you pull the inner vertical axle and be sure and lay out in order so you can reassemble properly.

To replace only the seal (ONLY IF YOURS IS LIKE A 1610D), jack up and remove the wheel, drain that side of axle, then remove the bolts holding the plate around the outer axle. Pry off the plate and axle assembly. There will be a gear held by a large nut and washer with one locking tab bent up into a notch on the nut. Bend the locking tab flat. If you know somebody with a special tool to remove this type of nut (a big spanner?) go find them. If not, sharpen a brass drift at an angle so it will catch in the nut notches without slipping, place assembly on padded surface (old carpet) and hammer the nut around. The nut is a soft metal so thats why i recommend a brass tool to bugger it up less. Be patient, one of my axles was impossibly tight (i really had to whack it and boogered up some of the notches and the other was loose. When you get it off, remove the gear and shim spacers behind it, tap the axle out and inspect the sealing surface (should be pretty smooth - no grooves a fingernail will catch in). Pry or knock the old seal out. Clean all parts and reassemble with new seal and new gasket on the plate. If the nut is boogered, install a new one if you can get it (Danny Parker didnt have any in stock) Or use a three cornered file to flatten the groove sides back out before reinstalling. Refill with fluid.

. The pin surface should be smooth so the seal can do its job. On my tractor, the pins came with a pressed on wear sleeve that can be replaced. Instead of paying big bucks to have them shipped from Japan, I just used Federal Mogul Speedi-sleeves. They're about 0.011" thick stainless steel sleeves that are typically used on damaged crank shaft journals. I had a local machine shop install them for me. Material cost is somewhere around $35.00-ea. from the local bearing supply shop and they do come in metric sizes. Beware that you check the length of these sleeves relative to the depth of the bushing in the casting that the pins fit into. On my tractor, the Speedi-sleeves were about 1/4-in. too long and interfered with full engagement of the pin into the sleeve. Just carefully measure the bushing depth and have the sleeves trimmed to proper length before you have them pressed into place.

Links and mods

Bob from ssbtractor forum http://home.hiwaay.net/~n4bk/index.htm performs extensive mods

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/boltpatt.jsp How to measure a tire bolt pattern

Block Heaters?

www.kimhotstart.com
http://www.usahardware.com/inet/shop/home/automotive/engine_heaters/8130/list.htm
1.25" in-line lower radiator hose heater from Tractor Supply Co. ($18.00 or so). The block heater Yanmar sells is 1" NPT, not 3/4" NPT threaded.
Above the starter on the engine block is a freeze plug. The heater replaces the plug
a magnetic 200watt heater that you can stick to the oil pan or block, intake to warm the engine?

Weights and tire water

1/3 of a 55 gal drum filled w/concrete, etc. with a hitch bar through it. Go anywhere plus makes a good brake when you park.
For filling the tires Liquid Calcium Chloride is the preferred liquid. It is non-corrosive and it doesn't freeze. Replace valves with non-corroding stems to avoid rot off...

Extra Keys

SILCA (HY 5)blank made in italy
John Deere dealer
Toyota Car key
Harley Davidson key blank

Diesel engine troubleshooting

http://www.dieselpage.com/tchart.htm

Rotary cutters, brush hogs, etc..

Adding an overrun clutch is HIGHLY recommended. May need to shorten PTO shaft. Slip clutches on tillers and brush hogs are a good idea as well. The overrun clutch stops the rotary cutter from trying to drive the tractor when you put in the clutch. The slip clutch is an option on a rotary cutter to protect the cutter if you hit something with the blade that it can't handle.

New key for "double cut" key (1702, 1720, ??)

JD part # CH12206 fits JD 850, 950, etc...

Steering box grease

Just take out the fill plug and tap a 90 degree zerk i.e. a grease fitting. Pump the sucker a few times every time you tinker it.

ROPS?

http://www.hstractor.com/ (rollover bar)