[AT] [External] The Saga Continues

[Gunnells, Brad R]

Great recap of your adventures. It is fun seeing these old machines put to good use. It’s been several years since I had a garden but I’m thinking of plowing up a spot for one. The worst part is that it’s such a small patch that you just get everything adjusted and working well and you're done.

Good to see a little traffic here as it has been very quiet lately. My dad recently picked up an early (1963 I believe) Ford 4000 (light) Industrial. It hadn’t been running in several years and needs a little work. It’s been fun working with him on getting it running and in operating shape.

Brad

From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> on behalf of STEVE ALLEN <steveallen855 at centurytel.net>
Date: Monday, November 3, 2025 at 8:12 AM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: [External] [AT] The Saga Continues

I can't believe it has been since July that I last updated.  Time does get away from one.
 Let's see:  The steering shaft on Old Reliable has been fixed.  If you get Green Magazine, you may have read a short article on it, but, to summarize:  I followed the procedure I outlined last time by cleaning up the ends of the tube, purchasing a steel rod that fits inside, and having my friend weld the whole thing back together.  When reassembled, everything seems to be in order.  So our '51A is back in service.
 I put the borrowed shaft back in Big John, the '49A.  In removing and reinstalling it, I found that both of the tapered bearings around the worm gear were trashed.  I have purchased replacements, but I haven't installed them yet.
 My son took the clutch apart on the '47B, we inspected it, and reassembled it.  Everything seemed to be in good shape, including the crankshaft splines.  The bearing felt good.  We readjusted it, and Old John awaits a test drive.  We have not yet gone into the transmission to find out why the overdrive side won't engage.  Given the way our temps went directly from August to November last month, that job may wait for Spring.  I don't like to get all greasy when it's cold if I don't have to.
 But we're doing another job on him:  my son bought a pair of fenders--pretty good shape.  But, to mount them, we have to remove the studs in the axle housings.  There were four that needed to come out.  The first came out just peachy.  The second snapped off:  we had to drill and retap.  The third snapped off, too, but we are having real trouble drilling and tapping it.  I am about ready to suggest a Helicoil.  The fourth is not coming out, either.  I need to get the tanks filled on my torch, but I have to scrape together some pennies for that.
 On a brighter note, we launched November by doing something we have wanted to do for years but have never gotten to:  we hitched up the 4B plow to Old Reliable, cleaned up the shares and moldboards, and went down to the bottom ground and plowed two patches, one for corn, one for veggies.  We'll disk the patches after the ground dries out a bit, and then we'll disk again in the spring.  I'd like to find a spike harrow for final prep.
 Now, understand:  neither of us had ever plowed before.  I have read the pow's manual, and we have watched some videos, but nowhere near us does anyone plow or hold a plow day.  so we were facing a steep learning curve.  Still, things went surprisingly well.  We had to make some adjustments early on, and, about a third of the way through, we had to raise the plow up a bit, but we are learning.
 We were busting sod, and the 4B plow is not really the best implement for that job, but we made some very nice furrows by the end.  The safety release tripped twice because of roots--it's good to know it works!  And we faced a LOT of roots, including Hedge Apple/Ozark Orange.  The trees are long gone, but nobody seems to have told the root systems.  Well, they got the update yesterday :-D  And, boy!  Did we ever make that tractor bark!  Eight inches deep in heavy soil and vine-laden sod with lots of roots!
 Tough sod in the best dirt in our neighborhood along our creek bottom--some of it pitch black.  It grows tough plants, and it remains moist even in dry times--like this past summer.  I can't wait to see how it grows for us!
Yesterday, we got out the B to do some disking with our old Case Model R disk.  Old John handled the disk just fine--would have been happier if we had remembered to push the choke all the way in after he warmed up.  The rich mixture made him stumble a bit, but that's just our inattention at work.  We did have to break off early, however, because the gas tank has begun leaking, and it started drip, drip, dripping, one drop at a time, onto the exhaust pipe.  Not gonna take *that* chance!  And a squeal showed up the mag for the first few minutes.  At least, we think it was the mag.  It sounded and *felt* like it was the mag.  But it went away.  Odd.  Anyway, since we have to pull off the steering shaft to get the hood off, it will be a good chance to pull the transmission cover off and see it what might be amiss there.
If it ain't one thing, it's another, as my mother used to say.  The really impressive thing is, given all the problems that keep cropping up, the tractor still runs and works better than we should expect.
 Anyway, that's it for now.  I'm a little late with these updates, but I just know everyone has been waiting for them with bated breath-lol!  Still things are slow on the list, so I thought it was high time.

The "original" Steve Allen
'47 B   207862 (eagerly anticipating more fixes)
'49 A   641033 (feeling cranky wanting his new bearings)
'51 A   670397 (feeling good!)


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