[AT] Yet another 'nother UPDATE on the Long-over-due Update (STEVE ALLEN) (STEVE ALLEN)

Tue Jul 8 12:04:55 PDT 2025

The Old John B Saga continues!  (Are you tired of it, out there in A.T.I.S. Land?  If so, let me knwo, and I'll spare you any more installments.  I my emails are worth the reading, but I am not too proud to hear they are not.)

We left off with Son needing to make a gasket for the upper water pipe, procure and sediment bowl, and repair or replace the oil pressure gauge line.  While I was off teaching Civil War cannoneers, he was industriously doing all those tasks and prepping for our second run. His (second) hand-made gasket was a success--the first suffered an inadvertent and ruinous slice across one long side), and the cooling system is tight!  The new sediment bowl assembly not only doesn't leak, but the valve works as intended.  He had to replace the oil line--we may be able to shorten it and provide a new fitting and keep it as a spare.

After having declared our Independence from Britain for the 249th time (I do hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable time), we made the final prep.  A new battery found its way under the seat--he bought a 12v marine starting battery.  I know, I know:  don't burn out the 6v starter with a 12v battery.  Our family has never actually had a 6v battery in the tractor.  The generator stopped working ling before Dad bought him, so we have never worried about it, and we have never cranked more than, say, 10 seconds at a time.  Son does intend to fix the generator/voltage regulator and, at that time, acquire a 6v battery.  (The 12v marine jobbie will then either end up in another tractor or in the boat for the trolling motor after Son decides to replace the transom.)

We notice something odd:  there is a black spot like a scorch on the gauge panel.  Son puts his and on the wire from the starter--the one that carries the current from the battery to the ammeter--and it just falls down, the end obviously melted.  Uh-oh.  What the heck?  The other side of the gauge wasn't hocked up to anything (no generator yet).  My guess:  a short somewhere from pulling that panel off and refitting it four times.  The wiring harness was brand new, so I suspect a pinch.  As the gauges are also news, I don't think the gauge is faulty, but we will test.  Make a new list of things to do. . . .

Gas?  Check.  Coolant?  Check.  Oil?  (Re)check.  Cans off the stacks?  Check.  (Dontcha hate it when one hits you on the head to remind you to remove them *before* cranking?)

The old boy started on the second revolution--we need to remember to give him a little more throttle next time.  Still some smoke coming out of the stack at first, but he was running even weller!

Son looks at me; I look at Son:  "Climb on," I said.  "Back him out and see how he likes it."

Eagerly he does, and, for the first time in almost two years, Old John B moves.  I told son to put him in gear and take a little circle around the upper part of the field.  Some noise around the base of the clutch pulley:  I'll bet the bearing in there is going bad.  Add it to the new list of things to do. . . .

As he moves along in 1st gear, I walk along side fiddling with the carb jets.  both were too rich, but we're int he ball park after about a minute or so.  then I tell him to move to a higher gear, and he goes to 2 for the next little circle.  OK, so far, let's go to 4, I suggest, and he takes a run around the whole north field.  I grab my camera for a pic or two and 33 seconds of video:  the first time Ol' John B has run this far and this well in donkey's years.  (Where the heck did *that* phrase come from, anyway?)

Back at the shed, I tell him to try 3rd which is on the high side of the transmission.  In the gate, let out the clutch . . . nothing.  Uhhhhh.  Try 5th.  Nadda.  6th?  Nuthin' doin'.  Whelp, it seems that my repairs to the transmission about ten years ago freed up the shifter, but somewhere in the rail that goes from the low side to the high, Sum Ting Wong.  *sigh*  Add that to the list.

When he finished driving around a little more--oil pressure was great, by the way, and the temp was coming up to prove that the temp gauge is working--he parked Old John, and we shut him down.  Son was grinning from ear to ear.  Despite the new list of problems, he was both energized by the ride and proud of his progress--justifiably, I think.

In order of priority:
1)  Pull the clutch pulley and lube/replace the bearing.  Well check the dogs and toggles while we're there.  That pulley is a replacement we put on it before Son was born,  so who knows what kind of wear the bearing had--though it was pretty quiet when parked--over 25 years ago.  The noise did go almost completely away as the tractor ran, reinforcing my theory that the bearing was at least dry.

2)  Open up the tranny to see what we can see.  I need to study up on the shift from low to high and find out what might be wrong.  It *may* be a simple as a fork out of its collar (please, please, please!)  but it may be a bad bearing in there.  ANY IDEAS APPRECIATED.

3)  Sort the wiring.  This will end up being part of the generator/regulator rehab job.  Son has a rebuild kit for the generator.

So, Old John B still needs work, but we have palpable progress, and Son is eager to get on with it.

This has gotten too long, so I'll zip through our little bit of work on the '49 A, a.k.a. Big John B:  Son applied a little extra Ummmphh to tightening the flywheel bolts.  I had to swipe a sediment bowl gasket from the old bowl off the B, and I poured what was left of our gas into the tank--not much at all.  I cleaned up the plugs, touched up the points, and hit the starter pedal.  Lot's o' craning, none o' putting.  But there just wasn't enough gas to really test, so I need to get some more gas and get back on him.

In the meantime, Son was working to pull the blades off his newly acquired No 2-7 Gyramor.  The bolt heads have been so worn down--I'll bet the blades have never been changed, given their eroded state--so he gave up working on the blade bolts and, brilliantly!--pulled the center bar off the hub so he could work on the blades on the bench.  By that time, I was available, so, after touching up the threads as best we could with a thread file, I held the bolt heads with a pipe wrench while Son employed the Ugga-Dugga machine.  Took over 10 minutes of ugga-dugga-ing, but the nuts finally, reluctantly, came off.  He is looking for replacement bolts.  I know blades aren't available (and have an idea or two about them), but I gotta believe that these bolts were common to more than just this one model of 'mor.  I told him to start with Mother Deere, who will likely price them Deerely, but we'd have to cobble together a left-hand thread bolt and spacer to replace the originals, so Deere is worth a shot.

Well, I'm gonna cut this off.

I hope that there is tractoring going on out there!  May your efforts be at least as successful as ours!

The "original"  Steve Allen
'47 B - 207862
'49 A - 641033
'51 A - 670397

On Mon, 23 Jun, 2025 at 3:01 PM, at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com <at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com> wrote:

  1. Yet another UPDATE on the Long-over-due Update (STEVE ALLEN)
     (STEVE ALLEN)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2025 15:33:43 -0700
From: STEVE ALLEN <steveallen855 at centurytel.net<mailto:steveallen855 at centurytel.net>>

Time gets away from me, gentlemen!  I coulda sworn I had sent an update since 6/9.  

I think I did last Monday?  Here's the gist of that episode:

When we got to mounting the mag and timing it, we could get the engine to roll about 300 degrees but not all the way through. Somehow, the governor throttle arm had moved enough during installation that one of the weights got free of the fingers again. AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH! 

I inspected the weights, and one had a tiny flak of lead gouged up, so I removed it to keep it from coming off while in operation and getting into the gears anywhere. I hope that the mass of the weights is not critical down to tiny fractions of an ounce [:rolleyes:<data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7>]

This time, we wired the arm to the governor case to keep it from moving, and we tested the rotation of the governor and then tested the whole tractor at each reassembly step, not just for movement but for being able to rotate several full revolutions each time. Older son much frustrated at the repeated tear-down/reassembly, but we learned yet more about working on governors, and he is learning a little more patience and the need to accept the fact that working on old iron will be frustrating. But he knows how to tear everything down to the top of the engine in about 30 minutes, now.

That was then; this is now:

We spent some time timing the mag--and we couldn't get it to trio when it should've.  We even moved the gear a tooth--which I knew was wrong but I wanted to see what would happen--and the impulse didn't trip until the crank was about 75 degrees off.  Well, that's no good.  So it occurred to me that the mag itself might be out of time.  The lag angle can be adjusted something like 50 degrees in either direction just by loosening the impulse hold-down screws and rotating.  A witness mark moves along a scale.  The manual lays the procedure out clearly enough.  So we pulled the mag back off and--lo! and behold!--the mag was set as far in one direction as it could go.  The proper lag angle is stamped on the case, and it was 'way off.  So we loosened the screws, set the angle properly, and tightened them down.  How the old boy ran at all two years ago *I* don't know.  When we remounted the mag, the impulse tripped exactly where it should.  A win!

Then I let my son reassemble the rest while I did other necessary jobs  Then, we checked the oil--good--and the condensation in the bottom of the crankcase--negligible.  The fuel valve on the sediment bowl froze un place, so we had to cobble together a shut off to control fuel flow--and our cobble was only about 50% effective.  *sigh*

Poured in the antifreeze.  When the level climbed above the top of the block, it cam leaking out of the gasket under the upper water pipe.  Tightening it did not stop the leak though it did slow it down.  We'll have to find or make a gasket.  We didn't have a battery that fit the box, so I drove one of my Tahoes around and hocked up the jumper cables.  No gas--had to blow out the old rubber hose and fittings--I hate mud daubers.  Finally:  gas at the carb.  Hit the starter.  Second revolution--Pop!  Forgot the take the cans off.  Tried again.  Second revolution--pop-pop!  Once more around, and he was running, and running well!

Yeah, the coolant was still leaking, and then he started losing a little oil at the fitting where the gauge pipe is--got kinked in a previous step in the process.  But he was running well--near as we can figure not being able to move him--wanted to shut him down and save coolant and oil.

So I call today a Big Win.  The yonker is not so sure--still frustrated, and now needs to chase some more parts.  He quite doesn't understand that he is essentially bringing a "mostly dead" tractor back to life  He would also like to stop spending $$$$.  *chuckle*  I get it.  But we are so close after all the frustration.  

In related news, we have the new tire on the No 4b plow and I have done a little prep on the '49 A.

No tractor time this week alas, for I have to run our region's National Civil War Artillery Association b-annual School of the Piece next weekend, and I still have to do my coursework and prepare to preach this coming Sunday.  

So I should have another update after the holiday weekend--Lord willin' and the crick don't rise.  Hope someone out there is at least gettin' seat time!

The "original"  Steve Allen
'47 B - 207862
'49 A - 641033
'51 A - 670397

On Mon, 9 Jun, 2025 at 3:00 PM, at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com> <at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com>> wrote:

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2025 06:19:24 -0700
From: STEVE ALLEN <steveallen855 at centurytel.net<mailto:steveallen855 at centurytel.net><mailto:steveallen855 at centurytel.net<mailto:steveallen855 at centurytel.net>>>
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com><mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com>>
Subject: Re: [AT] UPDATE on the Long-over-due Update
Message-ID: <VWZ5U89LDQU4.HKY3T0DK4JWH2 at luweb02oc>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Gentlemen, We have had a good tractor repair day!

Over the course of a few previous days, we stripped Old John down again--not quite as far but far enough to let us unbolt the governor and turn it over. One of the weights had gotten wedged against the inside of the case when we put it on, not thinking about keeping them in place The thrust bearing--which is a three-piece unit--had slipped past the arm allowing the weights to get out of position.  Had no idea such a thing was possible, but we know NOW.  Please God, we will never have to take the governor off Old John (or the two As), but we are now forearmed.  An old JD service man would probably have known by instinct and experience.  One of those things that don't get into the manual because those old guys had each other to learn from.

Anyway, we had to pop off the side cover to get the weight loose without prying too hard on it--those are expensive to replace!--but all went back together fine. I held the weights and bearing in place as we flipped it over this time. bolted it back down and, with a great deal of relief, turned everything over.  When we put it down, it ended up one tooth off on the cam gear, so we had to loosen (but not remove) the bolts and turn the flywheel to get the marks lined back up, but that went easy-peasy.  We put it all back together to the point of installing the mag but were just too beat to do so--and it was supper time.

Lots of rain predicted for the coming weekend, unfortunately.  The next two weekends after that are committed to other activities, so it may be the Independence Day weekend before we can put the mag on and try to fire him up.  Quite the ordeal to get the manifold on, but we are looking forward to having two working tractors.  Then, we'll tighten down the flywheel on the '49 A, and maybe we'll have three!

I hope that all of you out there are getting in time on your old iron.  My son was super irritated about the whole thing, and the tough spots we hit yesterday aggravated his irritation, but he did admit, afterwards, to a degree of satisfaction  Me, I had fun!  Oh, I stepped carefully around his grumbling and furled brow, but wrenching on that tractor was very satisfying to me.  And not just getting to the end but the actual doing of it retains a kind of contentment and focus that I enjoy.  I think that is true for anybody who fiddles with old iron--whether it be a tractor, a car or truck, a boat, a steam locomotive (I know guys who have done that)--irritating as the details can be, it is really a kind of relaxation.  Despite my long academic career, and my new move into the seminary, I have always liked working with my hands.  

May we all have something to work on as long as it pleases us to do so, and thanks to all who gave any input, even just the delight at seeing ATIS traffic!

The "original"  Steve Allen
'47 B - 207862
'49 A - 641033
'51 A - 670397

On Mon, 2 Jun, 2025 at 3:00 PM, at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com><mailto:at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com>> <at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com><mailto:at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at-request at lists.antique-tractor.com>>> wrote:

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2025 15:25:45 -0700
From: STEVE ALLEN <steveallen855 at centurytel.net<mailto:steveallen855 at centurytel.net><mailto:steveallen855 at centurytel.net<mailto:steveallen855 at centurytel.net>><mailto:steveallen855 at centurytel.net<mailto:steveallen855 at centurytel.net><mailto:steveallen855 at centurytel.net<mailto:steveallen855 at centurytel.net>>>>
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com><mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com>><mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com><mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com>>>
Subject: [AT] Long-over-due Update
Message-ID: <D0A0DI89BQU4.T0XAUHQDMVGC at luweb03oc>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Gentlemen!

I hope this missive reaches folks who are doing well!  Lots of changes in my life in the last year and a half, but, before I get personal, I have a real-life tractor conundrum.

It has to do with my son's '47 B - 207862.  If you'll remember, we had to replace the manifold on it.  This took a while, partly because the cold and wet of winter caught us partway through getting ready to put the new manifold on (broken stud, but that's not the subject of the question, just a cause for delay).
Had just about everything off above the engine to replace the manifold  Took the governor/fan assembly off whole.  Everything moved just fine.
When going back together we timed it per book instructions.  Got to the point of putting the mag on, and the whole thing was locked up.  Went through the various possibilities until it was time to test the governor.  We unbolted it, pried it up, and everything turned EXCEPT the governor.  Now, everything needs to come back off.
While we're getting it apart, what should we expect inside the governor?It turned when we put it on so that we could put the gears in alignment.  What could have happened when we then set it down and put in the bolts that would have locked it?
Any thoughts welcome and appreciated.
Everything is going well with the '51 A--we used it a couple weeks ago to mow and pull a dead tree oughta the creek.  My son bought a 207 Gyramor that we're rehabbing, which really doesn't need much (though it'd be nice to have a set of blades).  The one thing that we'd love to have (but can live without) is an axle--someone buggered up one end of the original, and we can no longer reverse the wheel arms.  If anyone knows of an axle or a parts machine, please send up a flare.
No progress on the '49 EXCEPT that I have determined that the flywheel, which we thought was tight, ain't.  So we gotta get after tightening it down.  I think I will pull the bolts out one at a time and reclean the threads.  We'll have to reset the position, but I hope not by much.
We pulled the land wheel off the 4b plow, and I demounted the rotten tire.  Great use of a Hi-lift Jack and a tractor drawbar.  Cleaned up the inside of the bead--not really all that bad--in fact, the whole hub and guts are in durn nice shape--and need to get it to the tire shop for a new tire and tube.  Can't hurry about that, though:  need to put a power steering gear box on my '95 Tahoe first.  Priorities.
Always somethin', ain't it?

Anyway, I again hope everyone is doing well, and, as always, I would appreciate any advice or ideas you might have there is such a wealth of info here.
The "original"  Steve Allen
'47 B - 207862
'49 A - 641033
'51 A - 670397
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