Old Iron (1 Viewer)

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I can see myself in about 30 years, retired, working on my old Land Cruisers and tractors just like these.
 
Nice find! Looks like a cool addition to the farm. Next on the list overalls, straw hat, and a corn cob pipe! Have fun wrenching on it!
 
Nice find! Looks like a cool addition to the farm. Next on the list overalls, straw hat, and a corn cob pipe! Have fun wrenching on it!

Funny. When I had my photo-op on the tractor I asked where this Farmer Jon's straw hat was.
 
Very cool Jon. Thanks for the story and the pics.
 
We have a guy coming by on Sunday who knows old tractors. I want to have a knowledgeable person do a walk around with us.

Best to do without or get the generator rebuilt or find one for that engine.

Did it have a PTO system?

If it has a generator I can't find it.

We had a nice walk around the tractor. It does have a generator, but the belt is not hooked up. We also learned a bunch about maintenence and stuff. I've ordered a PTO cover to keep those pant legs safe. Also the PTO doesn't shut off and the guy thought the spring was either broken or stuck. We need to remove several bolts to install the cover, so the rest will come out and the cover will come off for a look inside.
 
As far as I know the 1939 Farmall M and the John Deere B are still there. I don't have a picture of the JD. The M is rougher than it looks in the picture, but did run. Tires are shot.
1939 Farmall M.JPG
 
A little follow-up. Without going into details, since it involves personnel that need to keep tools out of there hands ... the tractor has been down for some time. Finally, two weeks ago I was fed up with the whole thing and started wrenching on it as time allowed.

First thing, the guys had already pulled the gas tank presuming a problem. Since it was off I bought a gas tank seal kit from POR 15. The tank was in great shape inside and out. A little scale inside, but nothing a good bath couldn't clean up. I really didn't need to seal it, but since I already had the sealer I did. I pulled off the fuel sediment bowl and really cleaned it up. It sparkles now. I also bent and flared a new tank-to-carburetor hard line. The guys installed the tank last week and today we poured in gas.

Moment of truth ... and f*k it all we couldn't get the dang thing started. It had fuel. We even shot it with ether. At first it didn't seem to have spark, so we consulted the manual which suggested we need to oil up the magneto. We did, and finally had spark. But it still would not start. Keep in mind this is a crank start and if it doesn't turn over we get tired real fast.

Finally I pulled off the air hose and we sprayed ether directly into the carburetor. It started, but as soon as I hooked up the air hose it stalled. Crap. This tractor has an oil bath air cleaner so I pulled off the oil bath, dumped the oil, and cleaned up the bowl as best I could (it needs sand blasting). I noticed the air intake tube was full of crud inside as well so I cleaned that up too. The oil bath was installed dry, and we tried again.

Success. I took it for a putt up to the boss' office because she had been riding Linda about getting the Farmall running. I told the boss last week that I would have it running this week, so I needed to show her. Of course as it's standing there idling it stalls. Crap. After futzing around awhile I check the gas tank and it's empty. Easy fix, and I drive it back to the fabrication shop.

It has a monster coolant leak that needs to be addressed, and it's the next priority. We plan on doing tractor-drawn wagon rides for Harvest Festival this year so I need to get on it.

I also attempted to jump start the tractor. It has a starter (6V positive ground), but I heard a 12V battery will spin the starter, just faster. Nothing. Not even a burp from the starter. Add that to the rebuild list.

Right now in order to stop the tractor we need to dismount and ground the magneto. I'm going to install a "dash" switch to take care of that.
 
Oh, and stay tuned. There just might be another piece of old junk at the farm in the near future. A 1946 Ford 2N Ferguson tractor has been offered to us as a donation. They first approached us three years ago, but the family decided against it. It appears things might have changed. I want this tractor bad. I've already told Linda and her staff "hands off, it's mine."
Ford 2N.jpg
 
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Oh, and stay tuned. There just might be another piece of old junk at the farm in the near future. A 1946 Ford 2N Ferguson tractor has been offered to us as a donation...

holy crap! I learned to drive on that same type of tractor! a '46 Ferguson. My dad sold some tractors recently, so I don't know if he still has it, but it looks just like the one in the photo w/o the front ball and bracket and w/o headlights. my brother and I used to disc/till up the soil on our property for my mom's horse riding (softer on their feet).
 
A little follow-up.

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We also need follow-up on the chick. I'm now more interested than I was back when you first posted in Nov '09. Use it or lose it. :flipoff2:

-Mike-
 
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Like I said Jon boy, Use it or lose it. It seems to me that a year is plenty of time for you to make your move... assuming you even *have* a move. :D
-Mike-
 
Like I said Jon boy, Use it or lose it. It seems to me that a year is plenty of time for you to make your move... assuming you even *have* a move. :D
-Mike-

I'm so happy to see that you are in a healthy recovery mode, Mike!
Fun, eh? Being a teenage again...
 
I'm so happy to see that you are in a healthy recovery mode, Mike!
Fun, eh? Being a teenage again...

I wish Linda would let me be a teenager again :grinpimp:
 
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I'm so happy to see that you are in a healthy recovery mode, Mike!
Fun, eh? Being a teenage again...

I wish Linda would let me be a teenager again

Yes, there is a possibility that recovery will happen for me. Jon's already there and acting like a teenager but he won't tell anyone. The 'Wulf knows all though. :clap:

-Mike-
 
The Woof don't know squat. :meh:
 
Yes, there is a possibility that recovery will happen for me. Jon's already there and acting like a teenager but he won't tell anyone. The 'Wulf knows all though. :clap:

Yes I do recall some dodging of questions about large unexplained gaps in John's trail riding schedule at the last meeting...:hmm:
 
...... [sigh]
 
Yesterday I came to work and had an email from my boss. I took off Friday and the weekend, and Linda decided we really needed to be in the State Fair parade. We use a wagon for rides and they, of course, want to pull it with the Farmall. Well, it pukes coolent. I doubt it would finish the course before it melted.

Problem. I'm gone next week, leaving this Friday. Parade is Sept 11th. That gives me four days this week to have the tractor as close to 100% as possible.

We all wrench so if I said one thing leads to another you would understand. The objective? Replace the radiator. Sounds simple. But shoot, those hoses and clamps really look crappy too, and I'll need to pull the thermostat housing to get one of them off. Then there is the loose fan belt that adjusts with a big nut, but the lock screw is seized. It's currently soaking in PB Blaster.

In order to pull the radiator I needed to remove the steering shaft because it runs through a hole in the top tank of the radiator. After removing the shaft I discovered the worm gear bearing was toast, as was the seal (seal, what seal?). Plus, a stupid PO had pounded on the end of the shaft and mushroomed it enough where the nut was very difficult to get off and impossible to get back on. Time spent with the triangle file cleaned up the threads where I could get the nut back on.

And the hardware holding it all together? Ya, right.

Keep in mind this is 70 year old junk and I don't have part numbers. I went to a Case dealer in the south valley and he quoted me $90 for the bearing, and about $15 for the seal. Nope, not today. So we went to NAPA on 2nd street. As luck would have it the counter guy was a wizard. I handed him the bearing and he asked "what's the vehicle." I chuckled and said "1939 Farmall tractor." He gave me the blankest stare. It was classic. Anyway, he looked at the bearing and said it looked familiar. Might be a 6205, and went into the back and pulled one out. Perfect match.

Next the seal. I give him the IH number off the seal, and pretty much it was a worthless number to him. I told him it was 1.5" OD with a 1" shaft. That also sounded familiar, and again, he pulls out the correct seal. The bill for four clamps, a 6" piece of coolant hose, one seal, and one bearing ... $24. I really need to buy a lottery ticket.

Next the puking radiator. I took the radiator to J&B on Edith. I walk in and Paul says "old tractor." Uh, damn he's good. I ask how much to repair. He says about $150. I said that's better than the $400 I saw online for a new one. He says "$400? Not from us." OK, how much? "$253." No thinking about that, get me a new one. How long will it take to get the radiator in? "Oh," Paul says, "about a hour." No kidding. In stock, in town. A radiator for a 70 year old tractor.

Dang. I just might pull this off and have the tractor going in time for the parade. I'm lobbying the boss to let me drive. :steer:

There is a lottery ticket in my future.
 
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