[AT] After 10 years it still runs

[Henry Miller]

This story starts about a dozen years before I was born, so I probably have some details wrong. I think you will enjoy anyway 

In 1962 my Grandpa was at an auction and saw a 1939 John Deere B with a cultivator that nobody was bidding on. He could use another tractor on the farm and wanted to try a John Deere cultivator so he bid on it and bought it for $200. My dad drove it home as an almost teenager. They used it on the farm for a few years, but the 8n and Ford 860 were the main work tractors. 

I have seen pictures of it running a threshing machine on the belt, judging by the age of my uncles in the pictures I was probably a baby at the time, but of course I don't remember it. I remember it sitting by the barn as a kid, sometimes I would climb in the seat, but as far as I know it was never used. Grandpa had rented out the land and quit farming by then 

Eventually my Grandpa retired, brought it up to the shed, painted it and got it running. I got to start and drive it 20 years ago, just for the fun of it. 

In the fall of 2005 grandpa put new tires on it, winterized it and parked it in the shed. He died that January and so it sat.

While cleaning up my uncles wondered how much they could get for it, and I said if they were to sell it I wanted it. At the time I was working a temporary job 100 miles from home and couldn't really do anything about it. 

5 years ago I got a job with John Deere, got married, bought a house, and had a couple kids. Somewhere along the way my uncles told me I should come get it. Last weekend I had a wedding to go to, so with a rented trailer up we went to get it. 

When I got up to the farm my uncles had pulled it out and put water in the radiator. Despite pulling it all over with a tractor they couldn't get it to start: no spark. So we pulled it on the trailer and after the wedding I am pulled it home. Monday night I got a friendly neighbor to help push it into the garage. 

Thursday I filed and gaped the points and got spark (this was my first experience with points instead of electronic ignition so I was nervous). Saturday it rained, so I did indoor work. Today dawned bright and clear, so I pushed it out of the garage, greased the zerks, put fuel in and set out to remember how to crank the flywheel over. 

It took a while to remember the tricks and figure out the right choke setting, but after a good workout it fired up and ran. Enough to make it 15 feet where I ran out of gas. fresh gas and it started right up. I had a great time driving around the front yard! I still have a silly grin on my face as I write this. 

I had to run at half choke, and oil drips out of the compression release valves, so there is work to do. That can wait a weekend or five to investigate. 

I figured you guys would enjoy the story. 

-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.