# 1977 L245



## BIG T IN TN (May 13, 2008)

Found a 1977 L245, 700 miles away. Has rebuilt head and crankshaft. Needs sleeves, rings and a hood. Is it worth the trip for $450.00?


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## chrpmaster (May 5, 2004)

So you have the skills to do the work? If so and the rest of the tractor is in good condition I would say go for it. If all else fails you could scrap it and get your money back.

Andy


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

Welcome to Tractor Forum Charlie!

Sorry about the problems you had posting. For some reason your account was never activated. I approved it and sent the email with the link to activate your account but for some reason it never happened. We had some major problems with our server database last week the caused problems for everyone. That might be what happened. In any case I went in the database and manually activate your account last night.

I spent a half hour typing out a reply to your PM last night and about the time I was finished, it was lost due to my fat fingers on the keyboard. :argh: Needless to say I was kinda PO'd so I just took a breather until this morning to retype my reply. Glad to see you are posting now. 

Anyhow my reply was that driving the 700 miles is gonna have an over all cost of about a dollar a mile more or less with fuel prices what they are now and the other costs of a vehicle.

The hood you may luck out and find at a salvage yard but the hoods rusting out on the this L series was a VERY common problem..........read not likely to find a used hood although not impossible. 

Tractor Smart sells the hoods for $573.46 as well as several other commonly needed parts>

http://www.tractorsmart.com/mall/dynamic-results3.asp?Name=L245&D1=%%%&T1=&B1=Find+Parts

Below is a link to Tractor House and the L245's they have listed but these are dealer prices NOT private seller prices.

http://www.tractorhouse.com/listing...=L245DT&guid=41BACF14C8564D72B9021D98277B8F8C

Figure around $2500 give or take value for these tractors from a private seller.

If the engine needs liners and rings, I would just get the entire gasket rebuild kit and depending upon the condition of the pistons you may need them as well as the pins and retainer clips. These engines are real hard starters especially in cold weather without glow plugs and they must be used even in warm weather to start easily. At least that was the case with my L245 when I had it. If it needs rings, I would suspect heavy ether use and you will likely need pistons.

I would go through the entire engine while you have it apart and check the rest of it out. 

I would suggest you contact Ronnie Bowman at Tractor Smart. I am not sure if he still works there but hopefully he does. He was VERY helpful with parts, tips, manuals, and just great over all information.

http://www.tractorsmart.com/parts_contact.htm

The parts "ain't" cheap and I would not be surprised if the cost was in the $500 and above range for what you may need. Hopefully I am wrong.

When you figure the cost of the transportation to get the tractor, you cost of parts, I am presuming you will provide the labor yourself, you will likely have near $2500 in the tractor and possibly more and if the tractor is not running now, you have no idea what other problems may exist with the tractor once you get it running. 

You may want to look at a running tractor for sale that is closer that you can test drive and operate for at least a half hour or more preferably to make sure it does not over heat, leak, clutch slip, or other problems. 

Last night Tractor House had one listed for about $2900 in MO but it looks like it is gone already. 

Have you tried looking on Fastline?

http://www.fastline.com/

IF the tractor was closer and running I would definitely go for it. It still may be a good deal if you will provide the labor and can find some used parts. Just be careful. The fact that it needs rings worries me. 

If you do decide to buy this or another L245 tractor, let me know and I can email you a Kubota parts manual for the L245. 

Good luck with the tractor purchase, hope it works out for you. By the way, glad to have another fellow Tennessean on the board!


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