[AT] JD B resurrection contemplation

[John Hall]

If the cylinders are stuck because they are full of water, then nothing, 
you are going to have to take it apart and remove the gunk. VERIFY that 
the valves are not stuck or you WILL break something (been there done 
that)---ever notice how many hit-and-miss engines have the rocker arm 
post welded back to the head? The problem with trying to soak a Deere is 
the amount of fluid it takes to fill up the cylinder, of course if there 
is a valve open you are going to be filling up something else as well. 
When we were working on my Titan 10-20 (also a 2 cylinder horizontal 
engine), I just went to Lowes and bought a gallon of wd-40 and poured 
half in each cylinder and let it soak until we ever got it in the shop, 
somewhere between a week and 2 months, I don't remember. I've heard good 
things about diesel and ATF, besides its cheap. If this turns out to be 
a worst case scenario of frozen solid, Then pull the engine and safely 
secure it with the bores upright so you can resort to better penetrating 
oils such as PB-Blaster or Kroil. I had one so bad once we poured in 
diesel fuel and set it on fire. Obviously there are many dangers with 
that and you need to think ahead and have at least one other person 
around for help. Know before you decide to beat the crap out of the 
pistons to remove them, you need to make something that has a little bit 
of clearance in the bore and has a relieved center--remember the center 
of the piston isn't stuck so you don't need to hit it--you need to hit 
the skirt/sides, thats the reason for the relieved face. I've heard of 
using wood but I prefer metal myself. For really bad engines I've heard 
of dry ice, boiling water,lots of ideas. Lets hope yours is rather 
"boring" and comes apart easily.

Well I got long winded on that, keep us posted please, been a LOOOOOOONG 
time since anyone here actually took on a restoration like this (if they 
did I don't recall any posts about it).

John Hall

On 4/2/2017 5:52 PM, Al Jones wrote:
> Now, I know it's been discussed a million times, and everyone has their favorite, but what do you think would be the best "julip" to start soaking it with?  My notion is to fill the spark plug holes as well as fill the main case....I fear there's rust in the crankcase/tranny because the gear shift lever is stuck.
>
> Al
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>