Friday update on My Tractor acquisition

Today has been a busy one around here. I have moved a lot of dirt using my tractor, blade and root rake.   I have been laying sewer line and hope to complete the job today.
But now to continue with my acquisition of the International Tractor 384.  After meeting with the previous owner, Mr. Wilson and driving the tractor one more time I told him that I had a 4 wheeler that I would like to trade in on the tractor. I described the 4 wheeler to him and he said that he would take the 4 wheeler and $1500. for the tractor.  I told him deal.  I took delivery that same day.  He delivered it to my house and took away my 4 wheeler, which by the way was in very clean condition.

I began getting familiar with my new tractor.  I checked the fluid levels and drove it around my place. I will tell you up front that the tractor stopped smoking, so I guess the ring became unstuck.

Now I am making this tractor earn its keep.  I hooked my 5 foot bush hog behind it and finished the mowing job which I began with my 9N.  What a difference in performance between the two.  The 384 has more power and other features that make mowing and pulling the various implements that I have acquired much easier.  One drawback which is robbing me of pulling power is the turf tires which came on the tractor.  Here is a picture of them.

The tires are in very good condition as you can see, but they spin when a load is too heavy.  I like the fact that I can drive around my yard with the grass being destroyed.  I plan to buy regular AG tires as soon as I can locate some used ones.  New ones are pricey.
I will let you know when my tires are changed over and also post pictures of what I found.
Later.

Me and My International 384 Diesel Tractor Stuck in Gear

Yesterday while using my tractor to drag some brush to the burn pile, the tractor stuck in gear and would not go into any other gear. I could move the shifter into what appeared to be neutral and the tractor would move, when I moved the shifter into another gear it went dead and would not move. 

I tried moving the shifter to get this thing unstuck, but no luck.  It also would not go into reverse.  So what did I do?  Well I came inside and went to my computer and began to google for a tractor forum that would help me with my problem.  I was able to locate a forum where about ten other people who had the same problem, wrote in for help.
The solution was to remove the pin that holds the shifter onto the top of the housing and lift out the shifter and line up the three movable rails inside and put the shifter back on being careful to place the bottom piece of the shifter into the slot that was formed when the three rails were lined up.
After this the tractor worked fine.  I was also advised in the forum to not lift on the shifter when changing gears, but to move the shifter to neutral with the palm of my hand and then move the shifter to the gear that I wanted. 
I am now careful with my shifting. 
Bottom line, when a problem develops, before dragging your tractor to the shop go to a forum and see what fellow tractor owners did when they encountered the same problem. 
Later.