# Being offered a free Belarus 310 Diesel 36 horse tractor with ground issue. Should I?



## riverdrum (8 mo ago)

Greetings!

An acquaintance is offering me a Belarus 310 36 horse diesel 4wd with loader tractor for free. He said everything worked on it the last time he drove it (8-9 years ago!) but that it had some kind of a ground issue. It has been outside for a good while and looks it. I have a local guy who does all the mechanical work for all the equipment at a local farm and nursery who says he's happy to take a look and is familiar with positive ground machines. I am pretty handy having spent the last 10 years managing a farm with lots of equipment that I did all the maintenance on, but I'm good with having someone more qualified than I to take a look as I am in the midst of homesteading 5 acres and I'm busy! Everyone says parts will be hard to find. It seems silly to pass this up, even if I throw 1-2k at it and it comes to nothing it's work the risk I think, but I'm curious to hear what others say. On a practical note if I release the hydraulics for the loader, can I raise the loader (excavator on site) to make it possible to load this on a trailer, and what is the best way to pull it onto a trailer?

Thanks,

Peter.


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## HarveyW (Sep 15, 2014)

Has the exhaust been covered for all the years it has been outside? If not, rainwater gets into the engine and it will be seized up.


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## riverdrum (8 mo ago)

HarveyW said:


> Has the exhaust been covered for all the years it has been outside? If not, rainwater gets into the engine and it will be seized up.


Great hought. Does the exhaust path matter? I don't recall on this tractor but I know some exhaust paths have enough turns that water would be less likely to get there, but from what I recall of this 310 the path is pretty direct. Would it be safe to try and pull it in a higher gear to see if it moves, or should I attempt to get some oil in the there first or is there a recourse?


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## ovrszd (12 mo ago)

I would definitely accept your friend's offer. Go get this tractor. He's tired of looking at it and might offer it to someone else if he thinks you aren't interested.

Place the FEL lift lever in the "float" position. Raise the bucket to whatever height you want. Place the lever back in the neutral position. The boom should stay up.

Whether you tackle this or hire someone is your choice. There's a long list of things the tractor might need before you get it running.

Once you get it home and start digging in come back and post your questions or issues. A lot of experience/talent here that will help you.

Welcome to TF.


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## riverdrum (8 mo ago)

ovrszd said:


> I would definitely accept your friend's offer. Go get this tractor. He's tired of looking at it and might offer it to someone else if he thinks you aren't interested.
> 
> Place the FEL lift lever in the "float" position. Raise the bucket to whatever height you want. Place the lever back in the neutral position. The boom should stay up.
> 
> ...


Thanks Richard! I’ve already committed to getting the tractor at the end of May. I forgot about the float setting on the loader being some thing I could use here! You would think after 4000 hours on Kabota‘s for the last 10 years I would’ve thought of that! I imagine it will be a combination of me doing some work and someone else doing some work but either way at this point it’s a free tractor that I need to weigh in and give it a good shot. I’ll be back! Thanks for the welcome. Peter.


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## HarveyW (Sep 15, 2014)

Use a come-along (with cable/chain under the bucket to lift it up) to pull it up onto your trailer.


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## BinVa (Sep 21, 2020)

As a Belarus owner myself. Just understand what you're getting into. Electrical system and charge/overcharge issues are well documented. The PTO if not properly adjusted will cause slip and glazing of the bands and render it useless. Part availability is good(internet)but qualified mechanics with knowledge of a Belarus are few and far between. A shop manual is invaluable. I've been happy with my 8345 but it has not been trouble free. I'd check out WWW.MTZTractortalk.com forum for a lot of valuable information on the MTZ/Belarus tractor and most manuals are available to view or download. B.


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## BinVa (Sep 21, 2020)

Don’t take for granted the belarus 310 is positive ground. They had gone to negative ground on all(?) models by early 80’s. Your tractor should be late 80’s - early 90’s. Free manual’s also available on mtzbelarusparts.com. And Welcome to the forum… B.


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## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

It's most likely a money pit. Keep this in mind before you get too deep into this project.


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## riverdrum (8 mo ago)

HarveyW said:


> Has the exhaust been covered for all the years it has been outside? If not, rainwater gets into the engine and it will be seized up.


Fortunately the exhaust has a 90° turn at the top that makes it aim parallel to the ground so I would expect not too much water to have gotten down in there.


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## riverdrum (8 mo ago)

BigT said:


> It's most likely a money pit. Keep this in mind before you get too deep into this project.


This could easily be and if it turns out to be such I will not go into deep and I will walk away.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

riverdrum said:


> This could easily be and if it turns out to be such I will not go into deep and I will walk away.


You can always give it a shot, and if it doesn't work out, part it out! Parts are a rare commodity these days!


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

I feel by reading the posts, you are going to give it a go, so would I, especially if the freebee is a complete tractor, once you get the engine running, then that will enable you to check hydraulics, clutch and transmission, without outlaying money and from that, you will be able to decide to keep going or part the tractor out.

Let us know how things go later.


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## riverdrum (8 mo ago)

FredM said:


> I feel by reading the posts, you are going to give it a go, so would I, especially if the freebee is a complete tractor, once you get the engine running, then that will enable you to check hydraulics, clutch and transmission, without outlaying money and from that, you will be able to decide to keep going or part the tractor out.
> 
> Let us know how things go later.


Spot on! I will be picking it up at the end of May and as soon as I learn anything I will be checking back in here. Thank you to everyone for weighing into the conversation.


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## brian BSL (Jan 23, 2021)

Get a receipt from the present owner, just in case.

If he asks, you cannot scrap without receipt.

Wouldn't want any hard feelings after all of your hard work.


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## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

brian BSL said:


> Get a receipt from the present owner, just in case.
> 
> If he asks, you cannot scrap without receipt.
> 
> Wouldn't want any hard feelings after all of your hard work.



Brian is 100% correct on this......Make sure that you get something in writing that you are now the owner of this tractor before you do anything to it.......And, I will agree with Fred and the others that say take it.,.......About the only thing I would turn down right now if it was free is another damned horse.......LOL


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

unsquidly said:


> Brian is 100% correct on this......Make sure that you get something in writing that you are now the owner of this tractor before you do anything to it.......And, I will agree with Fred and the others that say take it.,.......About the only thing I would turn down right now if it was free is another damned horse.......LOL


Well, they only burn hay and keep the pasture cut!


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## BinVa (Sep 21, 2020)

pogobill said:


> Well, they only burn hay and keep the pasture cut!


If only it was that simple. For me...horses are like boats...there's only 2 good days in an owners life!! I have had the pleasure(?) to have owned both and can't say I really miss either!! 🤑


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## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

BinVa said:


> If only it was that simple. For me...horses are like boats...there's only 2 good days in an owners life!! I have had the pleasure(?) to have owned both and can't say I really miss either!! 🤑


I will drink to that.......I have had the pleasure of having both of those days with boats but only the first, so far, for horses......LOL......I need to come up with an acronym for horses like there are for Jeep and Boat.........

Jeep= Just empty every pocket
Boat= Bust out another thousand


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## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

I found an acronym for Horse................Horrendous, Outragious, & Rampant, Spending on Equines ..................LOL.....I like it......


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## ovrszd (12 mo ago)

unsquidly said:


> Brian is 100% correct on this......Make sure that you get something in writing that you are now the owner of this tractor before you do anything to it.......And, I will agree with Fred and the others that say take it.,.......About the only thing I would turn down right now if it was free is another damned horse.......LOL


I consider a horse as a "composter", nothing more.


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## riverdrum (8 mo ago)

The beautiful Belarus 310 came home from the tractor doctor today and I drove it off of the trailer. 36 horses of four-wheel-drive from some generosity, some effort, some faith, some good universal alignment and less than the cost of a set of tires! Unfortunately it has no drawbar nor top link but I'm sure I can find parts that will work. I'll be posting here more soon! Still busy building our house.

And, as an aside, we adopted the most beautiful Arab Mare I have ever seen 2 months ago, and the relationship that has developed between that horse and my 14 year old daughter is nothing short of miraculous.


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## BinVa (Sep 21, 2020)

Congratulations on getting it up and running.. you're just going to have to learn the idiosyncrasies of starting and maintaining a Belarus. If you can't source a drawbar..a local machine shop may have a piece of stock to make one cheaper than shipping costs from a salvage yard. B.


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

And some more congratulations riverdrum, that is great news and to make our day, how about some photos from front, sides and rear to get a look at your new joy.

You mention drawbar and top link, would you mean lower links instead of drawbar??.


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## riverdrum (8 mo ago)

FredM said:


> And some more congratulations riverdrum, that is great news and to make our day, how about some photos from front, sides and rear to get a look at your new joy.
> 
> You mention drawbar and top link, would you mean lower links instead of drawbar??.


Nope, the lower links are there, but no top link, which is cat 2 on this one, and no drawbar. You know it was left laying somewhere! Oh well. Looks like a Massey Fergusen bar will do the trick. I'll post some pics soon! Thanks.


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## riverdrum (8 mo ago)




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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

The old girl looks ok and looking at the bucket, hasn't had a lot of work, good to go and thanks for the photo.


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