[AJD] Mike's B - crankcase

Tue Dec 21 06:08:03 PST 2004

Very cool, I have spent lots of time in Germany, and we are planning trip
again this spring. In order to stay on Topic, I remember as a kid in Germany
seeing, Bulldogs "tractors" going thru the streets as the farmers where
heading out to the fields. If I am not mistaken the name Bulldog was the
name of a tractor brand or type in Germany. The Germanys used it as generic
name for Tractor.

My Grandmother was here on a visit a few years ago, and I recall when she
saw my little Ford 8n, she called it a Bulldog. There is a guy near hear
across the Mississippi from me in Davenport Iowa that has a John Deere/Letz
tractor it's just like the ones I saw in Germany.

One more thing that should be of interest to all on this list. My great
grand dad, had a very cool machine, I don't recall right now who made it,
but I know he bought is back before 1900 it was a drivable bandsaw, it had
four wheels and a big flat saw table that you sat on and drove it from one
farm to another and sawed firewood. It had a big single cylinder diesel.
When I was kid back in the mid 60's and early 70's I use to ride with my
great uncle Max, we went all over the country side sawing fire wood. The
machine was started by hand with a crank in the flywheel, Uncle Max would
open a little door on the side of the cylinder and he would place his lit
cigarette in the little hole and start to turn the crank, and off it would
pop and away we would go. This machine would only go as fast as an easy
walk, and the real wheels had a ridge in the middle of the steel wheel and
left tracks in the blacktop all over town, you could see where Uncle Max had
been. It's currently sits in a shed at a museum in Germany. It still belongs
to my family, my brother and I have talked about getting it over here and
take it to shows. But I don't see it happening. I will post so pictures of
it here for all to see.

J. Dave Mayfield
www.w9wrl.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert M. Massengale" <ltcmikem at ktc.com>
To: "Antique John Deere mailinglist"
<antique-johndeere at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2004 7:25 AM
Subject: Re: [AJD] Mike's B - crankcase

> Dave -
>
> Thanks for the well wishes on my B project.  First show she goes to we'll
have to put
> a sign at the front wheels that says "This project brought to you by Mike
& Meagen
> Massengale and the (ADJ) List".
>
> Fredericksburg is indeed a staunch German community.  I have three
neighbors I
> share fences with and all are old German... one has no English.  Until
three years
> ago, German was the only "foreign" language taught in our schools.
Spanish is also
> taught now... some say Spanish and English are now taught.  They've been
far
> more successful than many communities in maintaining their heritage and
> traditions.  A neat piece of Fredericksburg trivia... the main street and
the two side
> streets that parallel "Main" are all six lanes wide.  When the Germans
laid out the
> town in the 1840's they made the streets that wide so they could make a
U-turn in
> the middle of the street with a team of eight oxen.  You should see this
place at
> Christmas time... right out of a story book.
>
> Mike
>
> Robert M. Massengale
> Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
>
>
>
> > Mike, good luck the B is great tractor, I have been having lots of fun
> > with mine. Hope your turns out well. By the way I had a great Uncle
> > from Germany that use to go visit family and go hunting in
> > Fredericksburg, I understand it has lots of us Germans there. I see
> > also they have a great Oktoberfest. I do one here and do hay rack
> > rides pulled by my B or a 8n I have, goes over well.
> >
> > J. Dave Mayfield
> > www.w9wrl.com
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Robert M. Massengale" <ltcmikem at ktc.com>
> > To: "Antique John Deere mailinglist"
> > <antique-johndeere at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> > Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 10:01 AM
> > Subject: Re: [AJD] Mike's B - crankcase
> >
> >
> > > Duane, Bill, Ron, Don, Terry and Dave,
> > >
> > > Thank you all for your suggestions and guidance on flushing the
> > > crankcase.
> > I've
> > > trimmed your individual responses as the thread was getting too long
> > > to
> > get through
> > > Spencer's filters.  As anxious as I am to pour some gas in the tank
> > > and
> > turn that
> > > flywheel, I'm going to hold off and do a good cleaning of the
> > > crankcase.
> > >
> > > I was caught off guard when I finally realized the "crankcase cover"
> > everyone was
> > > talking about removing to get at the muck and sludge was on top of
> > > the
> > crankcase.
> > > I expected to be going at this from the bottom of the engine.  I had
> > tentatively
> > > identified my entry point as the round 6½" and 4½" covers (one on
> > > top of
> > the other)
> > > just forward of the drain plug and oil filter.  What's above these
> > > covers?
> > It looks like
> > > if I removed them it would make a much bigger hole to push the muck
> > through than
> > > the drain plug hole.
> > >
> > > Thanks again for all this great help.
> > >
> > > Mike
> > >
> > > Robert M. Masengale
> > > Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
> > >
> > > > As I work toward getting the B ready to start I figured it would
> > > > be a good idea to change the engine oil.  When I pulled the drain
> > > > plug I was horrified at the grey colored muck and at least a
> > > > gallon of water that came out of the crankcase. Then pulled the
> > > > oil filter and got volumes more of that nasty grey sludge and more
> > > > water.  The mess that came out filled a 5 gal paint bucket to
> > > > within 4" of the top.  Nothing came out that even resembled oil,
> > > > in texture or color.  I thought at first the block or head must be
> > > > cracked, but the water is clear and the water in the radiator is
> > > > antifreeze green.  Don advised me that it's not unusual for old
> > > > tractors to get water in the crankcase, so that eased my concern
> > > > some.  However, I've got to get that stuff out of the crankcase.
> > > > I sure can't run the engine with that mess in there.  I picked up
> > > > five gallons of diesel after church with the intention of putting
> > > > that in the crankcase and letting it sit/soak. Then after a day or
> > > > so rocking the B forward & back to get a sloshing action going to
> > > > help loosen and break up the sludge to help it drain out.
> > > >
> > > > Would appreciate any guidance the list can offer me on this.  What
> > > > about the transmission and differential fluids... should I
> > > > anticipate the same problem in those areas?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks in advance.
> > > > Mike
> > > > Robert M. Massengale
> > > > Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
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