[Farmall] Questions and Parts? for Super A

[Dean Vinson]

Hello, Dale.  Wow, good for you for diving right in.  I have no Super A
experience but will offer a couple of cents worth of advice.

Battery box:  If you're keeping the 12V system I'd measure the battery and
make sure whatever you end up with will fit.  I don't know which battery box
would be historically accurate, but battery boxes frequently get rusted out,
lost, cobbled together, replaced with farmer-built trays and straps and
baling twine, etc.  Anything that looks good enough to please you and holds
the battery securely would in my view be just fine.

Bracket, Starting Crank:  I think that would likely attach to the chassis of
the tractor somewhere, like beneath the gas tank but above the clutch
housing, for the purpose of holding the starting crank securely in place
(and keeping it with the tractor) when not in use.  If you have electric
starting and don't intend to try using a hand crank, I'd say no reason to
bother with the bracket.

Pulling a trailer:  I think there are drawbar attachments made to fit
between the ends of the 3-point arms, which seem like they'd be fine for a
small trailer.  They're just simple flat heavy pieces of steel with a bunch
of holes drilled through them for clevis pins or trailer hitch mounting
bolts or whatever, and pins on the end that fit into the 3-point sockets.
For originality, better to find an actual drawbar assembly made for your
tractor.  (See "List of parts," below).

Cleaning the oil reservoirs:  Just draining and refilling will do a lot of
good, but if you're going that far I'd drain it, pour some diesel fuel in
and agitate everything around (perhaps towing the tractor), then drain that
too.  How far you go is a matter of preference--to truly get every last bit
of gunk out you'd likely need to disassemble the tractor enough so that you
can see/reach inside and get at the heavy sludgy stuff that might have built
up at the bottom.

List of parts:  If it's at all practical, I'd say start looking for a parts
tractor or two to be donors for a bunch of that stuff.  Very easy to spend
$20 for this part and $40 for that, and pretty soon you have a big pile of
money in the tractor (been there, done that), so you might come out way
ahead by picking up some parts tractors then reselling them after you've
swapped out the parts you need.  For little things like clips that might be
broken on a donor tractor or have lost their spring or whatever, OEM Tractor
Parts at http://www.oemtractorparts.com/ has a good selection.

Have fun--hope some of this is useful.

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
www.vinsonfarm.net


-----Original Message-----
From: farmall-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:farmall-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Dale
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 1:13 PM
To: farmall at lists.antique-tractor.com
Subject: [Farmall] Questions and Parts? for Super A


OK, I have had a weekend with my "new" '48 Super A (Bubba, brother to my '55
Cub, Bertha!) and have accomplished some preliminary work and cataloged some
work to be done and parts to be purchased/scavenged.  First I will address
some questions I have:

1. My SA (S/N 250323) was converted to 12v at some point, but there is no
battery box and the battery is just perched in position.  I have replaced a
bad ground wire, but need to find a battery box.  Is the box determined by
year (as in the manuals I just received), or by the 12v battery size?  I see
there are 2 boxes available: a true box with a top and one with 3 sides and
a top.  Which one should I be looking for?  I didn't see dimensions on them.
Anyone have a spare that would fit for a reasonable price?

2. On pg. 178 of the Parts Manual from Binder Books, there is item #12,
"Bracket, Starting Crank".  I am not sure what this part is...does it attach
to the grill?  Does it somehow hold the starting crank?  My grill is a bit
messed up down at the lower section (need a new one of those, too!?) so I
hadn't noticed this part, if it is there at all.

3. I see there are 3 front ends: Non-adjustable, Adjustable/"Special", and
"Heavy Duty".  I think I just have the Adjustable, since I do not have the
extra holes and attachments the parts book shows for the Heavy duty.
However, I saw a friends SA and he had a square (diamond) shaped front axle
(it had an "International" emblem).  Is that a heavy duty axle?  Is it a
different model? 

4. My SA came with a 3-point hitch conversion (on which I have some work to
do) with no drawbar.  I want to pull a trailer, and am not sure of the
simplest way to get a hitch on.  Do I need a Swinging Drawbar, Quick
Attachable Drawbar, a 3-pt Drawbar, or does someone have something else that
could be used?  Can I leave it attached with a cultivator attached to the
3-point?

5. I see a very small amount of oil around the PTO area, which doesn't
really worry me, but it is a bit milky, indicating moisture/water in it.
What is the best method for flushing the reservoirs?  Do I simply drain and
refill, operate and repeat, hoping to get the water out?  Or do I actually
use something else to flush it out?  Should I do the same for all
reservoirs: steering gear housing (which is the next question),
transmission, rear axle housings, belt pulley housing?

6.  The Cub simply had gear oil in the steering gear housing, and I see the
SA has gear oil as well, but when looking at it, I see there is a grease
fitting on top of the Steering Gear Reservoir.  What am I greasing?  Does it
simply go into the reservoir and mix with the gear oil?  Is it a separate
chamber?

WHEW!!  That's enough of that!  But before I go, I wanted to list some parts
that I was hoping you guys might have stashed in your sheds!  I am also
buying stuff from Clapp Bros, Steiners, etc, but was just hoping there might
be some good used parts floating among you!

1.  Drawbar
2.  4 Rockshift Clevis pins (pg 236, item 19)
3.  Misc clips for gov control rod, wiring, etc.
4.  Headlights (I have 2 mismatched ones, and will find out if either is
correct.)
5.  Taillight (if serial # 250323 should have one)
6.  Brake pedal guard (mine was rusted out) 
7.  Wheel rims (front and back perhaps...to be determined)
8. Touch Control stops
9.  Oil and Air cleaner caps (mine are squashed a bit)
10.  Tie Rod Ball seats (3 pieces) (pg. 178, items 27, 28, 29)
11.  RH Final drive housing (mine has been repaired, but I am a bit
suspicious of the quality)
12.  Seat assembly (mine has an aftermarket thingy!!)

I apologize for the length of this, but figured if I get a response on any
of this, it will save much research time, and maybe a few pennies!  Thanks
in advance,

Dale Finch (one of three crazy sisters playing with "new" toys...but I get
to twist the wrenches!)



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