I do have a few questions about the tractor I was hoping someone or someones on the forum could help me with.   First, where is the hydralic control located?  There is a black knob under the steering wheel that is a pull / push type rod, I assume this is the hydro controler?  Secondly there is a adjustment on the stearing column next to the three point lever that says something about "traction booster"  I wonder what this lever does and the proper way to operate it.  Finally the brake pedals seem so far from the opertors seat that a 7' tall man would need to reach for them, I wonder if there is a way to adjust the pedals back closer to the operator. 

 

Thanks guys in advance for your time and responses-  Rob

The push/pull is the brake lock to set the brakes together when parked.

The hydraulic lever is on the left side of the column closest to the steering wheel and the one underneath that that says traction booster and has the notches controls the draft of the load when plowing and discing and anything else hooked to the hydraulics or drawbar or lift arms. This lever needs to be all the way down in order to lower the arms as low as possible.

Next, the seat: lift the back of it up and see if it will pivot forward or back. Sounds like it is in the "back" position to allow you to stand. If it's forward, the gearshift lever next to the front edge of it, or within a few inches or so. HTH. Jim

BTW, Where in Kansas are you? I lived in Coffeyville from 77 to 88.

I forgot to ask if it is a wide front or narrow front? Don't know if you've used a spinner knob or not on the others, but it is very useful to help steer when you use the power director to feather a movement and need to steer at the same time.

I ran a D17 for years mowing, raking and baling hay, plowing and discing and planting ground.

Like Charlie said, a very good all around tractor.

I remember adjusting the TB lever up a notch or two to set it while discing so that when I came to the headland, all I had to do was to flip the lower lever out of the bottom hole to let it "float" in the middle and the disc would raise just enough to lighten the draft while making the turn and then pull it back down in the hole to lower the disc at the preset depth.

Ahhhh.......them were the days following dad on the XT with 5 16's and lapping the plowed ground half and have the field disced twice when done. Talk about a sweet sound of the 17 pulling a 16' finishing disc.

 

Also thanks for the info on the hydro control.  The lever was labeled traction control and I guessed it had to do with some sort of positrac rearend, the draft hydro makes much more sense. 

 

Again, thanks fellas for your help.  One more question for you'll for now.  Anybody pull a rotary mower or bush hog with a D17 much.  I thought of pulling both, but was curious if a rotary type mower would continue to drive the tractor ahead after engaging the clutch.  I have ran both a farmall H and M that would continue to drive ahead quite a ways after clutching from the torque of the mower.  Just wondered if the D17, being a bigger tractor will have that issue.

 

Thanks - Rob

It would be a lot safer to have the overriding clutch than to think that you wouldn't have to have it on there if you ever needed to hit the foot clutch and brakes at the same time only to find out that you should've had one.

John Donaldson uses his without one as he pays attention and just grabs the power director,(big stick), and yanks back to neutral and hits the brakes and says that he can stop without the momentum carrying him like in a WD or Wd45.

Yes and if you can test drive the tractor, drive down hill in all gears at high idle and throttle it back to make sure it doesn't pop out of gear. 3rd and 4th were the most common because they get used the most. Always stop your wheels completely before shifting and if it is in neutral, push the clutch in and let the flywheel stop before shifting into gear. Check the back rims for rust around the valve stems. rear rims are pricey but not as bad as rear tires.

1750 for that tractor looks like a good deal if it doesn't pop out of gear.

Bob

 I'm confidant that I could run a 6 footer without a problem with the D-17.

I find that the overrunning clutch makes things a little easier altho, as has been said, it is not an absolute necessity if you use the power director clutch to stop and go.

Interestingly, as someone else also said, the quickest and easiest way to shift gears is to use the power director (hand) clutch.

If you don't "tarry" while shifting, it works very well.

Altho others have said they shift gears using the hand clutch on their WDs and WD-45s, I was never able to make it work well on either my WD or WD-45.