340 utility?

[malis1]

Hi I'm new to the sight. I just bought a 1960 340 utility, so I was told that's what it is. I found a tag on the left side of the clutch housing. It reads 9930 J. Is this the right tag? Thank you.

[Big Ed]

More info. Are you talking about a vehicle?

[malis1]

Sorry, I was refering to a tractor.ops

[BERMUDA KEN]

The 9930 J makes this tractor a 1961 year model. The "J" means it has a Rockford brand foot clutch. The Tractor should be a straight gear drive, no Torque Amplifier (T/A).

[malis1]

Thank you Bermuda. I've also found 3 identical tags on the motor,trans,&rear end. The look like screw on tags with a screw head between each#. Looks like this. 7-21-F. I thought I read that to be month-day-year. F meaning 1960. I'm new to this and really not sure.
Thank you for your help.

[Dr. EVIL]

Originally Posted by malis1

Thank you Bermuda. I've also found 3 identical tags on the motor,trans,&rear end. The look like screw on tags with a screw head between each#. Looks like this. 7-21-F. I thought I read that to be month-day-year. F meaning 1960. I'm new to this and really not sure.
Thank you for your help.

Those are casting date code tags. The castings would have been made anywhere from a couple days to a couple months before the actual build date of the tractor to allow for machining.

A 340 Untility used a lot of odd-ball castings compared to other models of tractors being built by IH at the time. They would have cast several months worth of castings and machined them in a single batch to save set-up time.

[malis1]

Ooohh. Thank you for all that info. How did you guys know the "9930" was a 1961? Amazing. 100% right about foot clutch and other info. I'm learning a lot, thank you.
On another note, what kind of hyd. Oil should I use for the rear 3 point cyl. & the powersteering. I think they are all part of the same system.

[Dr. EVIL]

Originally Posted by malis1

Ooohh. Thank you for all that info. How did you guys know the "9930" was a 1961? Amazing. 100% right about foot clutch and other info. I'm learning a lot, thank you.
On another note, what kind of hyd. Oil should I use for the rear 3 point cyl. & the powersteering. I think they are all part of the same system.

HA-HA.... KEN wrote "The BOOK" on what all the letters after the serial numbers mean. IH made options like fast and/or slow gear speeds in the transmission, and those would have a special suffix letter on the serial number plate, The Torque-Amplifier and live PTO were also options and noted on the plate, 5000 and 8000 ft altitude pistons were also noted, If no additional letters were on the plate, the tractor got standard equipment. Not ALL options were noted on the serial plate, just options that took special service parts or affected the fit of standard service parts.

IH kept track of the first tractor of each model off the finish line the first day of every fiscal month. This also allowed them to keep track of how many of each model was made every year. With just the number portion of the serial number you can pin down the exact month of production and estimate the week and maybe even the day of the month it was made.

[malis1]

Wow thank you all. So much great info.