[cobra2411]

Well I finally did it and joined team green... I did have an LT155 about 10 years ago. Drug it out from behind someone's shed for free. No hood and broken timed belt deck... Got it running, found a used deck and it worked impressively well, but all my garden tractors have been gear drive. A few power kinds, some cub cadets, etc...

Tractor was in the family and bounced from person to person till it got to the one who was simply going to sell it... Shows 2,500 hours but it started instantly with a touch of the key, no smoke, no hesitation, etc. Either the hobbs is wrong, it's very well cared for or it's been rebuilt or some combination thereof... Came with a 50" deck with a stiff center spindle and needing belts, blades and paint.

Of course now that I have one I'm going to look at a 300 this weekend with a blown K341 that I'm thinking of putting a v-twin on...

And a friend told me of an auction later in the month were there's a 318 or 316. So I'll have to go there... These things are like potato chips - can't have just one...

 

[UrbanTractor]

Very nice. Congrats!

 

[PA318Guy]

OK, don't you just love the power steering already?

 

[biker3777]

And you got tail lights,nearly impossible to find one with them,
Change the oil NOW and use straight 30 wt oil,John Deere torq gard is diesel oil but does a good job in this motor,add a second fuel filter to keep trash out of the carb,if it had belly screen ,take it off and clean it,in the back on the left is a t Handel that controls the height of the deck to stop.
Has a different rock shaft too,looks like it had some kind of lift at one time

 

[turboaudi80]

Are those brackets on the rock shaft to lift a tiller? It’s been a while since I had mine, but they look familiar. Might be worth asking if they have any other attachments.


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[cobra2411]

Power steering is... Interesting.

It's slow, so that takes some getting used to. Especially since I'm used to my Simplicity 6516 which feels like 1.5 turns lock to lock with a sharp steering angle. High effort but it turns quick....

This was all there was. The guy I bought it from said it was his wife's uncle's and he bought it new and put most of the hours on it. Then it went to the uncle's brother, then to an older cousin, then to him. The second owner used it for a few years, then the cousin used it for about a year and parked it - paying someone to cut the grass. Cousin apparently was older and recently went to a home.

So that's basically the entirety of the history that I know... He took the deck off to load it into his truck and it stayed off so I could load it into mine. Other than that no attachments and the only comment I got on the lift arms was "these are to lift something, maybe part of a 3-point or quick hitch or something?" There's no rear PTO or rear hydraulic outputs so who knows.

I plan on changing fluids, doing a tune up, etc. I want to get to a reliable mower that can haul a yard cart for now. Then I want to get a blade and a snowblower for the front. I'm also going to make a pin on loader for it. Nothing crazy, basically a power wheel barrow. It's tempting to do a full loader but I want this for mowing and versatility. I probably will make some kind of lift for the back though. Kind of a faux-point hitch probably where I just make what I have work.

 

[JDDottie]

[QUOTE="the only comment I got on the lift arms was "these are to lift something, maybe part of a 3-point or quick hitch or something?" [/QUOTE]

Those look to be part of the OEM mounting hardware for a 30 hydraulic tiller.

 

[PA318Guy]

Most of us put a spinner on the steering wheel and that makes it much easier to steer. @JDDotte is correct about the lift you have. The hydrostatic tiller ran off the front pto with the pump mounted under the machine where the mower deck mounts and it uses the mule drive from the mower to let the belt attach. So no rear PTO needed.

 

[Gage A]

Looks like a nice 318! Mine came with tail lights as well. Maybe the only ones Ive ever seen with working tail lights. I run 20-50 castrol oil in mine but was thinking of changing to 15-40 diesel (also castrol) Mine has 1030 hours and smokes a little and have found the 20-50 works better than 30 wheight. The rockshaft is for a 3 point. Mine came with the 3 point arms but you probly can find some used ones on e bay or somewhere. I highly recogmend getting the 3 point since thats all I use mine for. I have two box blades and a set of 3 point pallet forks I made and with the forks I can lift 400lbs easy until she gets light on the front end.

 

[turboaudi80]

I loved my 318. I bought a 3 point hitch kit from Ruegg Mfg and it was great. If you add other implements like a plow you will want the lockout valve from Auxhydraulics that locks out the rear rock shaft, otherwise you will have to wait for it to cycle every time you go to angle the plow since they are on the same circuit. I started planning to build my own loader for my 318, but I stumbled on a great deal on a 425 locally that I couldn't pass up. I think the 318 is a little short on hydraulic pressure to run a full FEL off the hydro, but it should run a pin on loader like the Little Buck or Beauford just fine. I almost built a copy of the Beauford because I like the design, and there are enough guys with them on here that you can get good pictures and probably some critical dimensions. You may also want to consider adding a shovel to your plow. That will be the cheapest and easiest, but of course least capable.

 

[cobra2411]

PA318Guy, that is an interesting setup. I saw a few pictures of the tillers and could see it was hydraulically powered but didn't know where it got the power from. It's very possible it had that setup at one point.

Gage A, they're not 3 point arms as the 3 point arms I've seen have a ball pilot of sorts in a yolk. Although I think these could easily be made to work as 3 point lift arms.

I've already been looking at Auxhydraulics... My thought with the pin on loader is that A) I don't have to dedicate a machine to a FEL and b) with a single lift and curl cylinder it should be faster than a full loader with 4 cylinders. I already ordered the plans from P.F. Engineering for the pin on loader. I'm pretty handy and I'm sure I could figure it out from looking at pictures and mocking stuff up but I don't have the time to do all that. So I get the plans, get out the metal hot glue gun and stick a bunch of stuff together and Poof! I have a loader...

Also, I'm not convinced the 425 has that much more in hydraulics. The 420/430 is the same as the 318. The 425 gets the K91 rear and I don't know how much different in hydraulic flow and pressure it is. I'm happy with the 318, but that said, I wouldn't turn away a good deal on a 425...

 

[biker3777]

Any oil other than 30 wt will cause it to smoke, with horizontal valves the oil has a pathway to the exhaust, o an recommends s 30 wt but multiple grade for cold weather and warns of oil usage

 

[Gage A]

Any oil other than 30 wt will cause it to smoke, with horizontal valves the oil has a pathway to the exhaust, o an recommends s 30 wt but multiple grade for cold weather and warns of oil usage

Ive always heard that a thicker oil is better for ussage. Also arnt there some additives in 15-40 diesel oil that can help older motors

 

[mopar65pa]

Nice!

 

[cobra2411]

One repaired ground wire and...

 

[JDDottie]

If\when ever interested in a tiller for that tractor - would be wise to start a new thread.
The 30 hydraulic could be operated on 316-332 L&G tractors from either the front via a mid-mount pump OR a rear PTO set-up.
[The larger, heavier 48 differs - has to have a rear PTO, the 2000 RPM gear\transfer case and a 3 point hitch.]

 

[biker3777]

Ive always heard that a thicker oil is better for ussage. Also arnt there some additives in 15-40 diesel oil that can help older motors

I have not heard that but it seems if the big diesel motors run wide open for years I think it would be fine for these small motors

 

[turboaudi80]

I had the model 30 tiller with the 12” extension for my 318. It worked great. Since I had a 3 point hitch already I used it to lift the tiller on the top and used the Deere arms and mounts on the bottom. If I had kept that tractor I would have built a full 3 point hitch mount for it. The Deere mount was a pain to attach as the pivot arms have no side to side play. Normal 3 point draft arms have a fair amount of sway and make attaching heavy implements much easier.


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