[AT] Tractor play

[Jerry Rhodes]

Ani't life GREAT Kyle, enjoy
Jerry NW Ohio
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kyle Sands" <willys_46 at mail.com>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 9:32 AM
Subject: [AT] Tractor play


> Hi guys, just wanted to let everyone know how much fun I had last Friday
playing with tractors.  Some of you may remember vaguely the story of my
grandfather's 1939 John Deere AW and how it had been sitting up in the
remote northern MN wilderness for years, dormant, in disrepair until I
decided it would be fun to resurrect it.  We did so, then ice broke the
block and head and we were forced to make a true "shade tree" repair with
replacement parts.  Then we lost a tire (age) and it took a couple years to
locate a good used 36" tire and get that mounted on the tractor - it was an
interesting run getting the tractor driveable - the story is documented
here: http://oldtractors.homestead.com/home.html
>
> After all the fun we had in the wilderness, the JD was finally hauled out
and transported to Gramps tree farm in central MN.  There it has been
sitting basically unused for the last couple of years.  I have had very
little time to get up there and do any kind of work on it until this last
week.  The one problem that has cropped up is that the other rear tire has
deteriorated to the point where the sidewall is starting to crack.  I
noticed this last year and was fortunate enough to locate a good used 36"
tire at the Lesueur, MN swap meet this spring.  The rims are mismatched with
two different widths.  The first used tire we found a few years ago was not
quite wide enough to seat up against the rim all the way around.  This "new"
used tire was wider and my intention was to take the "old" used tire off,
mount this wider tire on the wider rim, and then take the narrower tire and
put it on the other side.  Well, I succeeded in getting part of the job
done.  I was able to demount
>  the "old" used tire and put the "new" one on.  However, I couldn't break
the bead on the original tire to finish the tire swap.  I really worked at
it for awhile and almost decided to take a saw and cut the tire off.  But
with my time running down before I had to leave, I decided to leave it on
and just air it up so I could drive the tractor around.
>
> That's where the real fun began - the tractor hasn't been running for at
least a year.  I checked oil, poured in fresh gas, and filled up the
radiator.  With full choke, I turned the flywheel over twice and she caught.
Choke off (or so I thought), two more cranks and the A was putting away!
What a great sound!  Gramps "farm" is 120 acres of pine and popple woodland
with a nice system of trails.  I drove out to his sawmill, drove down to the
lake, drove up and down the trails for an hour or so just having a great
time.  That is the most I have driven this tractor, and it never missed a
beat (I later discovered I had left the choke half on, which explained the
exta puff of exhaust I was seeing).  It was pure joy just to "cruise" with
this old iron - who else gets this kind of enjoyment just driving around
aimlessly?
>
> Just wanted to share that story with you.  Regards,
>
> Kyle Sands <>< Huntley, MN
> --
> ___________________________________________________________
> Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com
> http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at