Perkins Diesel

Perkins Diesel ENERGY Miscellaneous 14-5-15 "While visiting a relative in England bought three 6-cyl. Perkins engines and brought them back with me," says Bob Mattice, who farms and runs a repair shop near Morewood, Ontario. He installed the first of the diesel engines in an IH 656 gas tractor. "The old engine was worn out and burned too much fuel. But the tractor was ideal for the conversion because it has one shaft for the pto and hydraulics and one shaft for the wheels. To replace it with the Perkins we had to lengthen the frame and engine hood about 2 3/4 in. because the engine is that much longer. The most difficult part of the conversion was adapting the IH transmission and clutch to the new engine. We did it by machining the IH flywheel onto the Perkins flywheel, joining the two by machining in `steps' and bolting them together. Then we matched the Perkins bell housing up to the IH belhousing. Worked great," says Mattice. Most of the original equipment on the tractor is still in use, including the fuel tank, which is now used for diesel. Before the conversion, the 263 engine in the tractor always seemed to be straining when doing fieldwork or powering forage blowers and doing other chores. Now Mattice says it always has power to spare. "The converted tractor has been in use for two years. It uses just 3 gph under load," he says. Mattice installed one of the other Perkins engines in an Farmall M and sold the third engine to another farmer. He has been involved in other repowering jobs. "A neighbor of mine put a 466 IH diesel in a Chevy 3/4-ton pickup, replacing a V-8 350 engine. He needed the extra power to haul a cattle truck. It was a complicated job but it works great and has plenty of power." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bob Mattice, Box 81, Morewood, Ontario, Canada (ph 613 448-3450).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.