I didn't end up disassembling the hydraulic pump like I'd planned. It didn't really seem to need it after looking things over. I cleaned up the outside, made sure the control valve was free, installed a new relief valve, then slapped it back in the tractor. Prior to doing that though, I got sick and didn't feel like doing much of anything. I did manage to install a choke knob.....
... and some shifter boots I ordered online.
Ok, here's the pump all ready to reinstall.
I found a casting date on it that looks to read "3-30-5", which I'm assuming is March 30, 1955.
Everything is back together in the case.
The next rather large project was to get the draft spring assembly apart so I could put on a new rubber boot to keep water out of the assembly. I tried an acetylene torch several times but the threaded connection simply would not budge.
The next step was the nuclear option that I'd seen someone online do. I took a sawzall to the central rod/bolt and severed it, then the remains of the threaded end could be clamped in the vise and turned out of the yoke casting. Yep, it worked. The other guy opted to buy a new center bolt but I'm going to try and fix ol' Harry's original bolt. It seems a shame to throw away something that is still (?) usable.
Below shows the finished product. I think it will work fine. I did grind a large bevel on the mating parts before MIG welding it together.
Once all the parts were put back into the top cover housing and tightened down, the last step was to get the draft spring boot situated. There wasn't much room to work and I failed to get it in place using screwdrivers and fingers. Sleeping on it allowed me to think of something that hopefully would work. I made the hooked thing below the next morning. I drove the piece of wood onto 3 inches of wire, then cut it to length and bent a hook. It's very stiff wire so I actually had to grind it to length. Wire cutters didn't work.
And looky there, it did work. It was maybe a 5 minute struggle but I couldn't have done it without the hook tool. For those intimately knowledgeable on the Ferguson draft spring, you'll notice the hole in the end of the yoke is plugged in the photo below. That rubber plug was there when I took things apart. I just now looked it up in the parts manual and it is a factory plug. Prior to reinstalling the plug, I filled the void with grease just to make sure things wouldn't get rusted together again.
This next photo below shows the underside of the top cover. There's a hex bolt there in the middle of the photo that holds the 3pt lift quadrant secure in the top cover. I'd previously noticed that the quadrant could rotate front to back slightly, so I tightened up the hex bolt. It was several turns loose. It can't come out but can loosen over time.
Once things were all back together, I put 7.5 gallons of 15w-40 motor oil in the transmission and differential housings, as people online said you can use the motor oil in lieu of the 90wt mineral oil that is called out. Tractor Supply had both options but the motor oil was a little less expensive ($120 for 10 gallons vs. $132 for 8 gallons of the mineral oil), and I can use the motor oil in the engine also. The 3pt hitch worked just like it was supposed to when I tested it out. Now I just need to figure out where the parasitic draw on the battery is coming from. The battery was D-E-D ded when I tried to start the engine after sitting for a week or so.
I bought a 30" piece of brake line to use as a gas line from the sediment bowl to the carburetor. I don't know why people who own tractors throw away a perfectly good steel gas line and replace it with a piece of rubber hose. I guess I don't know the old line was perfectly good. I suppose it could have rusted out.
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