International 4130 - Another Chance at Life

[kb9tci]

I missed the original thread. I love reading posts like these. People definitely get attached to their older machines. That machine looks super, good attention to detail and anti-skid tape to keep your mom from slipping. Nice work, guys!

Probably too early to tell, but, how is the engine holding up so far?

The outfit that made the decals ought to have the program available to print out another set.

Thanks! It was a fun project. The engine has been holding up well, but there are a few things that we have found. The engine is not quite as peppy as I was hoping. I should have went with a few more horses, but it does work. The next issue we found was cold starting. When the engine cranks hard with cold hydros, the ignition system does not get enough voltage to fire. I need to sneak in a cap and a diode to make a start circuit to help with that. The engine does run pretty warm in the semi-confined area, so I am going to mount a fan with a thermostat on top of the engine area to cool the engine a bit better.

The v-twin seems to not run quite as smooth as the old opposed cylinder Onan. The gearbox chatters quite a bit more, but other than knocking the coupler loose a few times, it seems to do pretty good at high idle.

 

[axialscx717]

Hi I just bought a hydra mac 8c and it was re powered with a 28 horse john deere diesel, but the only thing was when I bought it the guy said the coupler between the engine and the gearbox that drives the hydraulic motors was bad. The coupler appears to be fine but the bolts that hold the gearbox to the frame backed out and I was wondering if there was any special seal around the splines of the shaft or the bracket in between the engine and gearbox or can I just put silicone there.

 

[kb9tci]

Hi I just bought a hydra mac 8c and it was re powered with a 28 horse john deere diesel, but the only thing was when I bought it the guy said the coupler between the engine and the gearbox that drives the hydraulic motors was bad. The coupler appears to be fine but the bolts that hold the gearbox to the frame backed out and I was wondering if there was any special seal around the splines of the shaft or the bracket in between the engine and gearbox or can I just put silicone there.

As far as I can remember, I think we siliconed the bolts that go into the gearbox. The shaft should have an oil seal on it.

 

[dave esterns]

what a sweet unit. we used to have one of those back in the day, for a very short time, because it was problematic. then it was all bobcat after that. another interesting unit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-ra...-arm-bandit-compact-skid-loader-/122419571853

 

[HydraMacDieHard79]

I have grown up with an old International 4130 skid steer on the dairy farm. My father picked it up years ago and it was a very handy machine. The skid steer was built by Hydra-Mac and re-badged as an International. The Hydra-Mac 8C was also rebadged as another brand or two.

This machine has only one major flaw. It was originally powered by a Onan NHCV Vacu-Flow. That was (as so I was told), a miserable engine that ended up in a class-action lawsuit.

http://leagle.com/decision/19901363450NW2d913_11305.xml/HYDRA-MAC, INC. v. ONAN CORP.

Well, the "fix" for that engine was another engine. It was pretty much the same, but they reversed the airflow to the standard airflow of any other engine. Intake ant the flywheel and exhaust at the crank (that makes for a warm ride). The rear gate was also changed to allow better airflow.

This second engine worked better, but was still very problematic and had the life expectancy of a fruit fly. Third engine lasted a little longer, and the fourth engine has now gave up the ghost.

We have always talked about a re-power, but it has never happened. The dairy shut its doors about 15 years ago, but the machine still has been used quite a bit. After my father passed away, but mother relied on this old machine to work on quite a variety of projects. We have a larger model Hydra-Mac, but we can never keep the hydrostats together...

So that brings me to what I have up my sleeve. I am going to try and get this dolled up by Christmas with a new heart. I picked up a Robin-Subaru that I am going to try and stuff in the compartment. I thought I would post the process on here as I go through it.

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Awesome machines & Restore!! Just letting you know... I'm trying my best & giving my all to get the word out there these machines and the Hydra-macs are still out there so if you have facebook please consider joining my Group and let your other IH/Hydra-Mac skid steer guys know to join it too, Parts contacts, Guys with Manuals etc. Almost 100 members!! https://www.facebook.com/groups/HydraMac/

 

[HydraMacDieHard79]

WOW! Very nice job! I did not know that those old IH skid steers were HydroMac.

Yup... The 4130 - 4155 Where Hydra-Mac made, the 3200/3300s IHs where made by NMC-Wollard & the 4120/4125 One Arms where Husler.

 

[HydraMacDieHard79]

Good Evening, I just picked up an old IH4130. I am in need of decals and noted the superb job you did. Mainly the actuator decal for the two joysticks. Having issues finding anything.

Can you give me any leads to land these?

Thanks, Mike, Middle of da Mitten, Michigan

Hi Mike, If you on Facebook I have a group for them IH/Hydra-Mac skid steers. https://www.facebook.com/groups/HydraMac/

 

[kb9tci]

After a few years on the repower, we decided to roll back the “upgrade” to the old Onan. The v-twin just didn’t have enough umph and rattled the poor power divider a little too hard.

We found a Onan generator that had the same block as the old engine. We pulled it down and swapped parts around to get a good engine again.

 

[kb9tci]

Before and after

 

[Carlos Rios]

Before and after
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Good afternoon, I am new in this forum and I don't know if you are still hanging around in the forum or not, I noticed that the last post was on April of 2020, but I am going to try my best. I need your help and advise on this similar unit IH4130 that I am also going to try and restore it back to its glory days, and I will be needing your help with rebuilding the gearboxes for parts research or online locations for parts. Also I will be needing the original fuel tank, I'm using an external which unless is not secure it will bounce everywhere, paint code you used to paint yours, and also where to find the location to have all IH labels made including all small warning labels as well. Any help I will really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. I really believe that we have to maintain antique little machines like this rolling for generations to come. Cheers brother, and just to let you know that your finished product really made me think it over to completely rebuild mine close to factory look. Hope to hear from you soon!