[Farmall] 1925 M/D 10-20

[Karl Olmstead]

James:

It needs to be dark out when you're trying to look in the cylinders.  And it 
helps if the light is fairly skinny so that it isn't blocking your view. 
Try a penlight, if you have one handy.

The sparkplugs will tell you a lot.  Normal appearance is black or gray. 
Any plug with a rusty tip almost certainly comes from a rusty, stuck 
cylinder.

Rodent housing material on the outside of the engine is OK; inside the 
bellhousing or manifold or cylinders is BAD.  Mice have been known to crawl 
right up the exhaust and into a cylinder.  If you live in an area where 
Hantavirus is known to be present, be careful handling rodent droppings.

Sounds to me like you had a successful first encounter.  If the tractor has 
to sit out in the weather, make sure you replace the hood, since you've now 
opened up the engine!

-Karl