[Farmall] Another O-12 project, part 1

[Karl Olmstead]

A month or so ago, I told about hauling a couple more O-12s home.  One ran, the other wasn't stuck.  I sealed up the intake and exhaust on the not stuck tractor so that it would stay that way.  Today I finally found time to take a look at the running tractor.

Back when I bought it, I was impressed with how well it ran.  The fellow who sold it to me was fed up with it because he couldn't hand crank it, but it started almost instantly when pulled.  We got it going, and I drove it around his yard and lined it up with my trailer.  As it sat there idling, my friend warned me that it didn't have a fan belt installed.  The fuel lines were all cut up, mostly replaced with rubber tubing.  My friend had rigged a temporary fuel tank using a lawn mower gas tank sitting on top of the O-12's fuel tank.  As I  backed the tractor up my trailer ramps, the temporary tank slid off and fell on the trailer.  My friend disconnected it from the rubber fuel line to keep me from running over it.  I finished positioning the tractor on my trailer just as the engine sputtered and died.  Unloaded the tractor when I got home, and pushed it into my shop the next day.

I heated up my shop today and got out a pen and paper.  I've found that I do a better job of fixing old tractors if I make a list of what the tractor needs, and cross off items as I complete them.  Here's the list for OS 2680:

hand crank bushing broken  (as usual on O-12s)
air cleaner needs to be reinstalled and plumbed to carburetor
Wico magneto needs to be replaced with IHC unit
magneto bracket should be replaced; somebody wallowed out the mounting holes to fit the Wico
engine oil and filter undoubtedly need changing
hood needs to be reinstalled
fuel plumbing needs complete replacement
fuel pump needs to be rebuilt (always, on 12 series tractors)
cooling fan needs bearing cleanup and refill
fan belt is missing
front tires are way oversized, and leak down in a week
oil pressure gauge broken and disconnected
radiator empty, hoses need replacing (my fault; I cut the bottom hose to drain the radiator and prevent freeze damage)
spark plug wires draped over exhaust manifold, and melted
clutch covers on both sides missing
exhaust pipe extremely crude; needs replacement
fan belt adjustment bolt stuck

I started removing parts.  Took off the radiator, the magneto, spark plug wires and fuel tank and plumbing.

In the world of antique tractor collecting, there exist a number of people who are well-meaning, but should never be allowed to touch tools.  As I worked on 2680, I was reminded of this.  The fellow I bought it from, who I'll call Bill, is a wonderful guy. Enthusiastic and honest.  I've bought three or four tractors from him, and sooner or later, regretted every one.

There's no way to tell if all the work I saw was Bill's or not, but most of it was consistent with his methods.  As I mentioned, the fuel lines were butchered.  Little stubs left, with rubber hose slid over them.  When that didn't work, he stuck on a temporary tank instead of rebuilding the fuel pump, which was the real problem.  When he discovered the broken hand crank bushing, he tried to weld the ears on the cast iron bushing to the cast iron front frame of the tractor.  That lasted a week or two.  I had to grind off the weld on the machined surfaces of the tractor front frame.  The bushing was installed backwards on the hand crank.

The spark plug wires were cheap, stiff vinyl-covered wire, draped over the exhaust manifold.  At the plug end, the insulators had been sawed off the plug wires in order to fit under the exhaust manifold.  At least one spark plug was so loose that I unscrewed it by hand.

The original rear fenders were rough, so Bill cut them off and welded new rolled steel panels in their place.  Of course, the new fenders aren't ribbed like the originals.  The rear tires needed replacement, so Bill used a cold chisel to undo the big nuts that hold the rear wheels onto the axles.  The rubber steering wheel was pretty rough, so Bill goobered on some filler and painted it.  Never mind the lumps and remaining cracks.

But the thing that really irritated me was the crankshaft.  After I pulled the radiator, I decided to reinstall the hand crank, with a newly refurbished bushing.  As I looked at the nose of the engine's crankshaft, I was puzzled by how beat up the pin was that the hand crank engages.  The nose of the crankshaft extended all the way through the front motor mount, which looked wrong to me.  I checked another O-12, and then went back to Bill's tractor.  A flash of horror hit me.  Bill welded a two inch stub on the nose of the engine crankshaft.  Because he had installed the hand crank bushing backwards, the hand crank wouldn't reach the engine crankshaft.  So he extended the crankshaft!  In keeping with Bill's abilities, the extension is five or ten degrees out of alignment with the rest of the crankshaft.

At this point, I could rant some more, but I think my previous statement covers it all.  Some people should not  be allowed to use tools.  Tools simply increase the amount of damage that they can do.

If the engine hadn't run so well, I'd just give up.  But I think the best way to proceed is to support the front of the engine, pull the motor mount, and saw off Bill's extension.  Then I'll try and clean out the screw hole that normally would secure the pin that goes through the front of the crankshaft in order to engage the hand crank.  I just realized that I didn't see the hole the pin goes through.  I hope Bill didn't weld it shut!  I'd probably have to replace the crankshaft if the pin hole is ruined.  Cleaning up the crankshaft nose would be straightforward on a lathe, but doing it in place is a different story.

When I drove down to get the tractor, Bill told me that the reason the engine was so messy was because he had been running it with the rocker arm cover off.  I didn't ask why he felt the need to run the engine with the rocker arm cover off.  That's just the way Bill works.

This little O-12 needs a lot of work.  Ordinarily I'd seal up the intake and exhaust, park it and choose one that needs less attention.  But I'm thinking about challenging myself with this one.  I think what I'll do is try and get it ready for the Tulare, CA antique farm equipment show in mid-April.  Bill will be there; I could show him a little different approach to tractor restoration.  I'm probably just being silly.  If I do get the tractor fixed up, Bill will figure that he did most of the work.

Oh, yeah, one more thing... with the crankshaft extension in place, there's NO WAY to install a fan belt, short of removing radiator and front motor mount.

-Karl