1942 Oliver 60 Standard Generator Upgrade, Radiator Shroud Install, Broken Bolts, and Oil Filter Error

This morning I thought I'd try to hook up the Motorcraft alternator that is on the tractor, just to see if it makes power. There are four connections, marked Bat, Fld, Sta, and Gnd. I did some checking online and it seems that if I hook the Sta terminal to the Bat terminal, then put 12 volts to the Fld terminal, I should be able to read something around 14.5 volts from the Bat terminal. I did just that, started the tractor, and read right around 15 volts. Cool, the alternator works. The next step was to semi-permanently run wiring to the Ammeter and battery.

1931 John Deere Model E 1-1/2 HP Hit and Miss Engine

Another new addition to the clutter followed me home last night. As the title states, it's a hit-n-miss engine. Right at the moment though, it's only a "miss" engine, as the magneto is kaput. I'll tell the story of the acquisition at the end. Here are some beauty shots.

It's Amazing What A Little Paint Can Do

My John Deere BN came adorned with some primer paint on the grill and a couple other spots from someone long ago starting a restoration but then moving out of state and abandoning the project. The brown paint makes the tractor look unsightly. The lichen growing on the thing in this photo doesn't help.

Four Tractors and a Mower Leave The Roost

I can fully appreciate the fact that I have acquired too many tractors. But you know what? I can also thin the herd from time to tome. The biggest problem is that I then have to deal with Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace flakes. You know the ones. They shoot a message asking, "Is it still available?", even though I've said in my ads that I won't respond to that inquiry. One guy asked that question and I didn't respond. He then pushed the subject and said, "Why won't you answer me?".... I then had to ask him if he had any questions, and that I said in the ad that I won't respond to "is it available". He came back with a very nasty remark and nothing else. I don't know why people like that get to me but they do. I think some folks are just plain mean, but I digress.

Ok, so I need to thin the tractor herd. Which ones can I most easily live without? Part of that is pretty simple. The Ford 9N and the Farmall C. The Ferguson TO-20 and TO-35 are next in line.

April 2, 2025 I put those four on FB Marketplace. Six days later, the 9N was the first to go. I just didn't have any attachment to it, so it was easy to watch it leave.

1942 Oliver 60 Standard - Miscellaneous Little Tasks

I'm sure I've said this before, but anytime someone gets a new project tractor, there are a myriad of piddly little things that need attention. For me, I start working on one thing, then something else catches my eye and I start on that too. At some point the several little things finally get done. Today was one of those days. I started by removing the beginnings of a home-built 3-point hitch the previous owner started. A lot of work went into the project up to this point but I don't see myself finishing it, so off it came. These first two photos show the thing still attached to the tractor, and the seat bracket bolted to the top of it. That's a 3" tall block of aluminum that was used for the main body, so the seat is sitting three inches higher than it should be.

1942 Oliver 60 Standard - Zenith Carburetor Cleaning

Yesterday I delved into the carburetor. In the title, I didn't say "carburetor rebuild" because I didn't buy any new parts for the project. I reused everything except the gasket between the two main halves. Usually a carburetor rebuild has new gaskets, new needle and seat, and maybe one or two other items.

The carburetor is not what came on the tractor. Oh, no, we can't be so fortunate to have the proper Marvel Schebler TSX-49. In fact, the more I work on this tractor, the more I think it was a parts tractor for someone's other Standard refurb. The tractor has wiring for lights, but there are no lights or brackets. The belt pulley is missing. The carburetor and linkage is wrong. There's no generator and an alternator that has never been hooked up is in its place. And the biggie, the radiator, radiator shell, and side panels are all missing. But in all fairness, this tractor was in this condition 30 or more years ago, when it was "only" a 50 year old tractor and probably not so desirable. Ok, so maybe it's still not that desirable but I'm sure it is more so now that it is 83 years old.

Whatever the case may be, I work with what I have. This Zenith carburetor, from what the all-knowing interweb says, is for a Towmotor Forklift with a Continental F-140 or F-162 flathead engine. Um, ok.

1942 Oliver 60 "Standard" Tractor - New Acquisition

I've actually pared down my hoard of tractors by three, so you know what that means. Buy more. Not really. I mean, it is always fun to look but my desire to thin the herd wasn't so I could buy more. It just so happened that we decided to get an Oliver tractor recently because we take care of a "church grandson" once a week named Oliver. It just seemed appropriate. This is one of the few times I've had an objective while looking for a tractor. Most of the tractors I buy just appear on my radar and I get tempted.

Here's the path I took to acquire an Oliver. Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace were the two places I looked but Craigslist seems to have dropped off the face of the earth in terms of number of tractors for sale, so it was mainly FB that I looked. And I also talked to a couple of guys in my tractor club. One guy, Fred, has probably 10 or more Olivers but wasn't interested in selling. The other guy, Bob, happened to know of one. He had given an Oliver 60 Standard to his brother Jim, and Jim happens to go to the same church we do. One problem, the tractor was missing the grill and engine side panels, and they are difficult and/or expensive to come by, so that prospect wasn't too promising.

I'd like to briefly explain what a "Standard" tractor is. Most tractors used to plant and cultivate crops were called "row crop" tractors, and they usually had a tricycle front end, which was two tires close together in front, then an adjustable rear track width so farmers could plant/cultivate/harvest a variety of crop's row spacings. Tractors that were used for things like orchards didn't need adjustable wheel width so companies made fixed-track-width tractors that were low to the ground and stable on hilly terrain. These were called "Standard" tractors usually, and this is what the Oliver 60 is that Jim has.

Enter FB Marketplace. Some guy put up an ad that showed seven fully restored tractors, with a very generic title (Antique Tractors For Sale), and very minimal wording saying they were $4500 each, or offer. One of the tractors happened to be another Oliver 60 Standard (same as Jim's). I then happened to run across the same group of tractors on Craigslist with two separate listings, both just as cryptic as FB, with one asking $3500 or offer each and the other asking $4500 or offer each. To make matters more confusing, at some point the FB ad price was lowered from $4500 to $3900 (meaning in my mind that all tractors were $3900 or less). I finally caved and called the guy. I said I was confused by all the different pricing, so asked what he wanted for the Oliver. He said it was the nicest of the lot, so he wanted $4500. So he advertises a group of tractors for as low as $3500 each but then wants $4500 for this one. That put a damper on things pretty fast. I was willing to pay $3200 for the tractor but he said $4200 was his lowest. Maybe the tractor is worth that to someone, but not me, especially with no concrete evidence of what was done during the restoration beyond a nice paint job and new tires.

It was back to searching. But the 60 owned by Jim was still in the back of my mind and old Oliver tractors are few and far between, so I finally called Jim and asked if his was for sale. Yes, it could be, he said. He lived only 20 minutes away so it was time for a little trip across town to go look. When we arrived and saw the thing, it looked pretty pathetic. Not only the grill and side panels were gone, but the whole radiator shell and original radiator were also missing (and a too-wide Jeep or Toyota radiator was cobbled in).

Are you ready for a photo? Yes, this is the face only a mother (or I) could love. A diamond in the rough, you might say.

1923 Dain Hay Press Flat Belt Pulley Fabrication

A friend in my tractor club has a 100-year-old Dain hay press that makes bales of straw or hay. It's got a John Deere Model E 3hp hit-and-miss engine to run the press. A four-inch flat belt drives the press. One minor problem is, the 5-inch-diameter belt pulley on the engine is too small, so the press runs very slowly.

1950 John Deere BN Front Grill Repair

The ol' BN had a bit of a run-in with an immovable object at some point in its past, creating a hole in the mesh screen behind the left grill sheet metal.

1943 Dodge Weapon Carrier New Brake/Tail/Turn/Hazard Lights

This was way more of an ordeal than it should have been. I ordered a cheap turn signal switch and an LED brake light package to install on the ol' beast. Brake lights and turn signals would be a welcome addition that the truck currently doesn't have. Here's the first turn signal switch I bought from Amazon. Notice it says LED right in the title.

1943 Dodge WC51 Rebuilding Brake Wheel Cylinders

The ending photo in the Master Cylinder Repair blog kinda hinted that diving into brake wheel cylinder repair was a chore that needed to jump to the top of the Dodge's to-do list. Here's the photo again:

John Deere Clamshell Headlight AA3075R Refurbish

I was at a tractor show and swap meet yesterday and happened upon a vintage John Deere headlight mounted to a support. It looks like what is on my BN but the headlight assembly will also work on my JD LA, which is missing one headlight. I asked the vendor what he wanted for it and he said, "How about five bucks?" Um, yeah, I'll take that off your hands for $5. People on eBay are asking $30 for rusted out hulks of these things with missing parts, and $50 or more for one in this shape. Someone else is asking $150 for two of these headlamps and supports on eBay.

Dump Trailer Winch Mount Fabrication

For several years now I've been using a Come-Along to drag old relics of tractors into my dump trailer. It gets old real fast, so I decided a couple of months ago that I need a winch. The one big downside of buying a winch is the task of fabricating a mounting location on the trailer for the winch. My first attempt was less than stellar. I thought I could weld a 1/4" steel plate to the top rail and bolt the winch to the plate. Sounds easy enough, so that's what I did.

1943 Dodge WC51 Windshield Wiper Repair

This will be a short posting. The driver's side wiper blade came off its arm when I was washing the truck several days ago. I took a look at things today and found that a small bracket on the end of the arm has rusted through. No problem, I can fix it. Yes, I'm cheap. Or maybe I don't want to take the time to try and find and order a replacement, pay an exorbitant amount for shipping, then have to wait a week or two for it to show up. But mostly it's that I just like the challenge.

1943 Dodge WC51 Charging System

So, the blog I did a couple days ago regarding brakes mentioned that brakes are usually a problem on old vehicles that will need serious attention. Another very normal problem is the charging system. This truck has a 12 volt generator and regulator. I think it came from the factory with a 6 volt system but somewhere along the way it was converted. At least it still has a generator. I don't like it when people put in one of them new-fangled alternators in old vehicles, but I digress.

With the charging system inoperative, my usual first step is to check if the regulator is working, so I pulled it off the truck and opened it up. After a few minutes of looking things over, I spotted what looked like a broken wire. It was quite difficult to see, but yes, there it was. A broken wire barely thicker than a human hair. Ok, so maybe it is several times thicker, but it's still whisper thin. The photo below is the repair I did to it. I soldered in a larger solid strand wire to splice between the end of the broken wire and its terminal. The two photos below show the white wire I added. If you look close at the blow-up photo and squint real good, you can kinda maybe see the thin wire soldered onto the end of the bigger wire.

Yes, most people would have just gone out and bought a new regulator, but where's the challenge in that? (sticker shock: I just looked online and the cheapest one on eBay is $135, NAPA is $190-$240)

1943 Dodge WC51 Fuel Tank, Gauge and Sender

The fuel tank was out of this truck when I purchased it. The previous owner had the tank cleaned and the inside coated with a sealer, which was a good thing, as I then didn't need to mess with it at all. Just slap the tank in and hook it up. Or so I thought...

1943 Dodge WC51 Master Cylinder Repair and 2025 Tractor Show

Ah yes, brakes. One of those systems on an old vehicle that usually needs a lot of work. And this truck's brake system falls into that "usually" category. I figured I'd try the easy three-step fix first. You know, the Dead Dodge Garage (youtube) method.

Step 1 - see if brake pedal goes to the floor

Step 2 - fill the master cylinder with brake fluid

Step 3 - pump the brake pedal until something changes - hopefully the pedal starts to get firm

With this plan in mind, I'll dive right in. The first order of business is to get access to the master cylinder (MC). On virtually all modern vehicles, it's under the hood and in easy reach to allow for servicing. This truck? Nope. It's under an access panel in the cab floor. Fortunately the panel was held in with just "a few" bolts. Eight to be precise...

1950 John Deere BN Valve Adjustment

John Deere manages to make things difficult. Even the most basic task of adjusting the valves was way more difficult than it had to be. The carburetor float bowl is in the way of getting the valve cover off, so I had to drop the bowl. The large stem poking down in the photo is what the bowl nut threads onto. That stem is still in the way to get the valve cover out all the way but there was just barely enough room to do the job. I suppose since the carburetor on this tractor is not the correct one, it just might have been easier if the right carb was in place, but I doubt it. Most of these DLTX carburetors are very similar in construction.

1950 John Deere BN Brakes - Can You Say Scope Creep?

The brakes on this tractor did work but not very well. Neither brake pedal would spring back like they're supposed to after releasing the brake pedals. Also, the right hand brake was adjusted too tight and was dragging some, so my first order of business was to try and loosen the right side adjuster. It was stuck and did not want to budge one little iota. Ok, so let's pull the brake drum off and see what's going on. That was the first level of scope creep, removing the drum, and it was an hour-long endeavor but the drum is finally off. Come to find out though, that's the least of my worries.

1950 John Deere BN First Wash and 3Pt Hitch Repairs

It was time to break out the pressure washer and get the growth off the BN today. Here's an after shot.

1940s Blue Diamond Generator AKA Gas-O-Lectric Plant AKA Pioneer Gen-E-Motor

I'm not sure what the official name for this generator is, but I'll call it a Blue Diamond Generator since that is the name at the top of the tag. All three names in the title are on the tag in various places, so I guess folks can take their pick as to which one to use.

Seagull ST3601 Manual Wind Watch "Kit" from AliExpress

This is a first for me. I ordered parts from AliExpress to build a watch. I know everything is made in China, but I wanted to see what the quality was like for things that are so very cheap. I bought a Seagull ST3601 hand-wind movement with a swan neck regulator (cool!), a stainless steel case with sapphire crystal and mineral glass display back, a black dial, two sets of hands (black and white) so I could have an option if I didn't like one set, and a brown leather watch strap.

1950 John Deere BN - Narrowing Rear Wheel Width

This tractor's rear wheel width is 74 inches, outside to outside. My little dump trailer is 72 inches in width between the sides. The more astute may see a problem there. I measured the wheel width before I bought the tractor, so I knew what I was getting myself into, although this job ended up being a huge endeavor. As I mentioned in the first blog posting of this tractor, the previous owner graciously offered to deliver the tractor to me, so I didn't have to do this painful job away from home. That would have been horrible, now that I know what it took to get the job done.

This first photo is of the left side. If you look closely at the nuts relative to the round opening, the nuts barely (if at all) have room to rotate, and there's a small lip that makes it so a socket can't get all the way onto the lug nuts. This may be a problem. [I later found out that this small inner lip is actually a register for the center splined hub to fit into - more on that later.]

1950 John Deere BN - Cleaning the Gas Tank, Fixing an Oil Leak, Repairing the Voltage Regulator, Finding and Fixing A Hydraulic Leak, and a New Ammeter

The gas tank on this tractor is filthy with rust and crud. It won't run more than a few minutes before the tank's outlet is silted over with junk, so it's time to take off the tank and do some deep cleaning. It's not as easy as it sounds though. The tank is bolted to the hood as a unit and the steering shaft also goes through the hood so the shaft has to come out. The steering wheel needs to come off to get the shaft out. A woodruff key is in the end of the steering shaft to key the shaft to the steering wheel. The woodruff key was so rusted in the shaft slot that I ended up shearing off the key with a hammer and cold chisel. Normally these woodruff keys slide out of their slots fairly easily.

Changing A Tire The Hard Way (and Replacing the PTO Shaft and Cut-Out Relay, and Fixing the Carburetor) - 1941 Ford 9N

The day I showed up to buy this 9N, the previous owner told me he was filling one of the rear tires with air on the tractor and the rim let go. As in, a section of the rim flange blew out. See it there? Kinda hard to miss. That was back 4-1/2 months ago. I figure it's time to tackle this little problem, as the tire obviously won't hold air the way it is and I can't move the tractor very easily.

When Will The Madness End - Several New Projects: Wisconsin, Briggs & Stratton and Other Engines

I have tractor projects coming out of my ears and what do I do? Buy two new projects (update - there are more, read to the end). Oh boy. At least they're small projects, and they were too cheap to pass up. Ten bucks for two Wisconsin single cylinder engines.

First Time Fiddling With The 1950 John Deere BN - First Issues: Water in Oil and Gas Tank, Corroded Magneto Points, Stuck Throttle Lever, Stuck Choke, Broken Carburetor (and Float Repair), and Stuck Clutch

My newly acquired tractor made it home yesterday afternoon. The person I got it from owns a tractor rental company and he kindly delivered the tractor to me on his mighty-nice roll-back hauler. It was a big rig to fit down my cramped driveway. As you may or may not have noticed, the Massey Harris Pony hasn't been unloaded from my dump trailer yet. I got that tractor a month ago, although Christmas goings-on were in there also.

1957 Greenerd 3 Ton Arbor Press No. 3

When glancing through random online Craigslist/FB Marketplace ads, I occasionally run across something I need. Yes, you read that right, "need." This time probably wasn't one of those times, but this new addition is something I've wanted. It's a Greenerd 3-ton arbor press. What's an arbor press, you say? When these things were invented over 100 years ago, they were used to press arbors into things, like pulleys or whatever. An arbor is just a round rod like an axle or spindle, and it gets pressed into something like a hub or pulley. Thus the name "arbor press." You can probably guess these presses are used for a multitude of jobs besides just arbors.

1950 John Deere BN "High Clearance" and State of the Collection

The tractor situation is pretty normal. A week goes by and Yet Another Tractor (YAT) shows up at my doorstep. Ok so this one isn't exactly here yet but I have paid for it and the place that has it will deliver it in a few days. Incoming is a 1950 John Deere BN. The "N" in BN signifies a narrow front, also called High Clearance because it sits a little higher than a normal John Deere B. JD accomplished that by putting on larger wheels/tires. The regular B had 38 inch wheels in the back and the BN got 42 inch wheels (although 38 inch wheels were an option). The BN also got a single front wheel rather than the normal tricycle front with two close-together wheels.

1951 Massey Harris Pony

I could go on and on about how I need to stop looking at want ads for tractors, but we all know how that goes. So, without further ado, may I present the newest addition to the herd, a 1951 Massey Harris Pony.

1943 Dodge WC51 Hood and Transfer Case Linkage Repairs

There's a central hinge on the hood of this truck. Each side can open up to work on that side of the engine bay. Problem is, the hinge pivot on the back edge of the hood had broken off at some point and the hood halves no longer stay propped up. It's no wonder the pivot broke, as it's just the end of the sheet metal hinge that had been formed into a round peg. Here's a photo of the front hinge pivot for context.

1943 Dodge WC51 Map Table

When first looking at this truck at the previous owner's place, he mentioned, "It even has a map table." He tried to pull out a piece of wood from under the glove compartment but it was stuck. Well isn't that cool though, I thought to myself. With the truck at home, I finally did get the piece of wood to budge, I found out it was pressed board, not an original piece, so it was time to make a replacement. I found a piece of 1x6 pine in the basement and set about cutting it up into strips. I decided to make the strips two different widths just to make things interesting.

1943 Dodge WC51 Starter Pedal Repair

This truck has a unique starting system. You don't just turn the key to the start position and have the starter motor happily crank away. Oh, no. You push on a long rod or pedal with the tip of your right foot, press down firmly, and then the starter motor comes to life. With your foot on the pedal, it will take some coordination to use the heel of your foot to apply some throttle from the gas pedal while still  pressing the starter pedal. It takes a bit of practice. The truck is supposed to have a manual throttle cable in the cab so as to allow application of some throttle without having to get your foot onto the gas pedal, but mine is missing. It's only $35 (!) to get a new throttle cable. Someday.

1943 Dodge WC51 Speedometer/Odometer Repair and Battery Tray

I really should work on something like the Farmall C that needs a lot more help than this truck does. I actually did move the Farmall off the lawn and into the garage today though (I'm sure to the delight of my wife), so it will be easier to work on it. I got a couple large bearings for the front pedestal so I might have enough parts to get the front wheel assembly put together and mounted on the tractor. That will make it so much easier to move it around in the shop. But enough of that, back to the truck. 

The speedometer cable had been disconnected from the speedometer when I got this truck. I took a look at the end of the cable and the square drive piece was missing, like it had been twisted off. I felt up behind the dash and found the stub still in the speedometer. I tried to turn the spinny part of the speedometer (not sure what else to call it, the part that is driven by the cable) but it wouldn't budge, which is precisely why the square drive had been twisted off. I pulled the speedometer out of the dash and decided to delve into it. Without too much difficulty, I got the spinny part of the speedometer to turn so I chucked up the stub of square shaft from the cable into a drill motor and started things spinning. The speedometer worked but the odometer and trip meter did not.

1943 Dodge WC-51 Repairs and Updates

A couple of weeks ago I was happily working on my "new" Farmall C kit (basket case, really) project, but then the brakes were put on it when this WC showed up out of the blue. Of course I had to do some fiddling with the new-new project, since the Farmall is merely an old-new project now. I got several things done today on the truck. The first thing I worked on was to oil the flapper doors on the little heater cube under the glove compartment. The heater isn't hooked up under the hood so I don't know if the heater core leaks, but I did get all the flappers working. Do you see it under the map table in the photo below? No? It is peaking out there. And that map table is made from particle board, so obviously it's not original. I'll make one from solid wood at some point.

1942 License Plate Restoration

I picked up a vintage license plate on eBay for the 1943 Dodge WC51. The plate is 1942 and the truck is 1943. In Washington state, and many other states during WWII, steel was in short supply, so the normal yearly issuance of license plates was curtailed for 1943 and most of 1944. That means a 1942 license plate is correct for my truck. I was fortunate to find a plate specifically for a truck, as all other 1942 plates on eBay were for cars. In fact, doing an online search, I couldn't find a photo of any other 1942 Washington truck plates other than this one. These first two photos are the condition of the license plate I got. It's not ideal by any stretch of the imagination, but I think I can work with it.

1943 Dodge WC-51 Weapon Carrier 3/4 Ton Truck

When will the madness stop? Ok, I know that looking on Craigslist and FB Marketplace were the downfall of my last two tractor purchases, but this new acquisition didn't happen because of my perusing the want ads. No, this deal was thanks to a fellow tractor club member. I guess I never should have joined that club. See where it's gotten me? Four tractors bought from club members, five if you count one that's been sold. And now I have me a Weapon Carrier.

What's that, you say? Weapon Carrier? Uh, is that legal to own? Yes, it is. And little did I ever think I needed or wanted one. But there's a story here. "Yes, of course there is," you say. Well, sit back and have a listen. So I have to go back four years. I joined the tractor club in 2020, right smack in the middle of Covid. I joined because I'd bought an aluminum can crusher powered by a 1917 2-1/2hp Economy hit and miss engine. The gent I bought it from, Buck, said that the person who buys this can crusher should really be in the club, as it was kind of a mainstay of the club's shows. I told him, sure, I'll join, as I had a little Gibson tractor (yes, only one old tractor then) in the garage at home, and I was buying Buck's John Deere LA tractor also (another deal I couldn't pass up). I'd never been in a tractor club before. Should be fun. And now see where it's gotten me. But I digress.

Fast forward several years, and at one of the club shows, another member said to me he's always wanted a Gibson like mine. That planted the seed. I didn't have a real connection to the Gibson, so that thought of selling it to him began to percolate in the back of my mind. Fast forward to earlier this year (2024) and the same guy said he was going to sell his old WWII army truck. I innocently asked how much and he said, "I was thinking 35." Hmm, 35, 35... Thirty-five what? Hundred? Thousand? So I just had to ask, to which he said, "$3500". Wow, that seems cheap, I say to myself. I told him I was somewhat interested, and maybe we can work out a deal on my Gibson and cash. A little time went by and we came to an agreement. So now I'm down one Gibson and up one Weapon Carrier.

1941 Ford 9N Tractor First Start

This blog posting is an update on the Ford 9N that came home with the Farmall C recently. I worked on this tractor for a few hours and got it running. There were a couple of things going on. First, the starter didn't work when I put in a battery. Second, once I'd removed, tinkered, and reinstalled the starter a couple of times and got it going, there was no spark. I read online that the easiest way to fiddle with the points in the distributor is to pull the distributor..... What?! Ok, I kind of get it, as the distributor on the 9N, 2N, and early 8N is mounted on the front end of the engine, under the water pump. Yeah, Ford did not have a better idea that day, and they realized it and put the distributor on the side of the later 8N's engine. It's hard to see in the photo below but the distributor is in there somewhere. Super fun to get to. Yep.

You Know You Have A Problem When.....

Umm, how do I begin. After previously lamenting how many tractors I have, I go and get two more. Two, you say? Yes, two. Really though, it's not my fault. I said no. I did. But then the seller did the dastardly deed and said those magic words, "Package Deal". I won't waste anymore time in words. Here's a photo. Ain't it a sight to behold?

1955 Ferguson TO-35 Body Work - Part 2

Today I finished the second side panel on the TO-35 hood. It was almost as enjoyable as the first one... It did take less time, but then getting things all put together was a lot more difficult than I would have expected, but I'm getting ahead of myself. This first photo is the right-side panel before doing any work to it. I wonder, is it sacrilege to use a John Deere tractor as a table for a Ferguson tractor part?

1955 Ferguson TO-35 Body Work - Part 1

Oh how I love doing automotive body work. Not. Give me a wrench any day. But ya gots to do what ya gots to do if you're too cheap to pay someone to do it, and the TO-35 hood's side panels need some attention. And it's about time. This poor tractor has been relegated to the "back 40", i.e., behind the garage, for way too long. And I just looked when I posted anything about it - a year ago. Ok, I didn't need to know that. But it's actually not as bad as it sounds. It was a whole two months ago that I did start working on the hood. I got it pulled off and disassembled. Then other things came up. Like more tractors, but I digress. So, here's the problem to tackle. Someone in the distant past used a hot wrench (oxy-acetylene torch) to hack off the bottom inch or so of the hood's side panels, I presume to mount a front end loader, and I am going to attempt to rectify that blunder.

1925 Economy Hit & Miss Engine Repairs/Tune-up and 1939 Turner Hay Press Tensioner Handle

A guy in my tractor club owns this 1925 Economy 1-3/4 hp hit & miss engine. It hasn't run right for a couple years now and at the recent county fair, we started smelling gas, and I speculated it might have a tank leak. I offered to take a look at the engine, brought it home after the fair and sure enough, the soldered outlet on the gas tank had failed. I pulled the tank and re-soldered the joint. Of course, to get the tank out, the wheels and wooden base had to come off. That meant enlisting the help of the engine hoist, as the engine is probably in the 300+ pound range.

1951 Baird Beaver "New" Carburetor

Yeah, the quotes on the word "new" means it's not a new carburetor, but it's new to me. The carburetor that came on this tractor is a Stromberg UR-3/4, which in and of itself is something a little unique. Someone on the Baird Beaver forum took one look at a photo of it and said it was probably from the late 20's/early 30's. Wow, a 90-year-old carburetor. Here's a photo of the Stromberg. If you'll note the air intake of the Stromberg, it is facing directly at the muffler, so an air cleaner won't even fit on it. This carburetor also has a small intake manifold between it and the engine block, which isn't a stock piece for the Wisconsin AKN engine on a Beaver.

1936 John Deere BO Welding Fuel Cap Shields

The B "Orchard" tractor came from the factory with small shields for the air intake and the two fuel caps on the hood, so low-hanging tree branches had less of an opportunity to snag on stuff. My tractor's hood had the air intake shield but the two fuel cap shields were not on the hood, which doesn't make much sense, as the BO hood always had all three shields and the BR hood always had none. Fortunately two proper shields came with the tractor.

Today would be the day I either ruin the hood or come away with a finished product that looks somewhat decent. This first photo below shows the shields. They look like small air inlet scoops but the openings will be facing rearward. The openings are a little dented up so the first job is to try and straighten them.

John Deere LA and BO Repairs

My 1941 JD LA has a battery but the only thing it is hooked to is the starter. Well, and the generator, but I'll get to that. The engine has a magneto so if I had a hand crank, I could start and run the tractor without a battery. The tractor did come from the factory with lights but the front one is currently missing and the rear one is not hooked up. The ammeter is also not hooked up, so yesterday (8/7) I remedied that. I wired up everything and installed a light switch. But it's not any ordinary light switch. Oh no no no no no. Let me explain.

Old tractors like this LA have a very rudimentary charging system. The generator has what's called a cut-out relay (not a voltage regulator), and its only job is to cut any voltage draw from the battery when the generator isn't charging, such as when the engine stops or the generator dies. Since the generator has the ability to put out 10 to 15 amps of current, with no regulator in the system it would boil a battery in short order if the engine ran, say, all day long.

Tractor manufacturers minimized excess current going to the battery by means of a resistor in the generator's field circuit, to lower output of the generator, and they decided to put the resistor on the light switch and they gave control of the resistor to the tractor operator. My LA's generator didn't have a light switch, and happened to be wired for full generator output all the time. Fortunately the engine doesn't run very well, so I think the battery isn't ruined....

The light switch has positions 1, 2, and 3. At the "1" position, the resistor is in the circuit so the generator puts out low current, maybe 4 or 5 amps. The "2" position takes the resistor out of the circuit so the generator puts out full power, maybe 10 to 15 amps. You'd use this if you were just running the tractor for a short time, so the battery could get recharged quickly. The "3" position turns the lights on, so whenever the lights are on, the generator is still putting out full power but some of it is powering the lights so the battery doesn't get full power..

Manufacturers in the mid- to latter-40s I believe started putting voltage regulators on tractors so the output from the generator was automated and more regulated than a system with only a cut-out relay and manually switched resistor.

I recently bought a resistor/light switch and installed it. This first photo is the switch I bought. The resistor sits on the top of the switch (white porcelain cylinder with resistor inside). There's also a fuse on the bottom to protect the light wiring.

1936 John Deere BO Radiator Curtain Fabrication

The very early model B tractors came with a canvas curtain on the front of the radiator to regulate airflow through the radiator. The main reason for this is because the cooling system didn't have a thermostat common to all internal combustion engines these days. This BO's engine is called "All-Fuel", and it runs on both gasoline and distillate (i.e., kerosene). You'd start the cold engine on gas from a small tank behind the main fuel tank, then when it was warmed up, you'd switch to distillate, which was a cheaper alternative to gasoline back then. Distillate needed a hot engine to burn well, and the curtain was the solution at the time. In order to get the engine to operating temperature quickly, the curtain would be pulled down over the radiator so the engine coolant would warm up quickly. There was then a roller at the top of the curtain to crank up the curtain to regulate coolant temperature. Later model John Deeres used steel shutters that were controlled by a rod back by the operator (then even later by thermostat), making it so the person didn't have to dismount the tractor to adjust the airflow. I don't know when shutters were discontinued but I'd guess sometime in the late 1950s, when they went to more conventional means of temperature control.

Today's project is to make a radiator curtain. My tractor fortunately came with most of the hardware. My previous 1937 BO didn't have this hardware. The main components for the curtain are a radiator guard (the mesh screen), upper curtain roller, lower curtain clips and spring, and guard spacers. I don't have the spacers so will need to make them, but they are just a standoff to hold the radiator guard 1/4" away from the radiator. Below are the components.

1941 John Deere Model LA - New Acquisition

It's been how long since I bought a tractor? Six days? Yup. And I just bought another one? Yup. But there were extenuating circumstances. Really, I'm not kidding. I got in touch with the previous owner of the 1936 BO tractor I'd just bought last week to line up a time to pick up a few spare parts he had. He said to come on over. I did, and after he showed me the parts, I asked if I could see his other tractors. He's got only John Deeres, a 1940s AR, a 1941 LA, and a 1936 B. He said he really needed to get rid of the LA, and he said these grave words, "It would make a great parts tractor for someone." Huh? Parts tractor? It's way too nice to be a parts tractor. So I asked what he wanted for it. Five hundred bucks. Huh?.... I'll take it! So I went home, hooked up the trailer, and went back to pick it up.... before he changed his mind.

1936 John Deere Model BO First Repairs

It never seems to take long for me to do some fiddling on a new-to-me tractor, even though I'm in the middle of fixing the hood on my Ferguson TO-35. That project has just got to wait, since I have a new favorite toy to play with.

Today's first job was to fix the clutch rod. Someone in the distant past thought it was a good idea to weld an iron pipe nipple onto the rod, I presume for strength. One big problem was that in doing so, they made the rod un-adjustable for length. They also welded the pipe to the cast steel clevis on the end of the rod. That's also not good. My job was to fix the mess... Oh yeah, and straighten the rod.

1936 John Deere Model BO - New Acquisition

By now I should know not to go to tractor shows. They're dangerous. Yes, I bought yet another tractor today (7/12/2024). But it was a good deal. The gentleman I bought the tractor from was a co-worker of mine from way back in the 80s and 90s. I'd bought a 1950 John Deere BN with a front loader from him around 1994. That tractor is long gone but in the last few years I'd reconnected with the gent through a local tractor club I'd joined several years ago. Recently he had been making comments occasionally that he wanted to sell this tractor and I took note.

Well, today was a tractor show and I noticed he had the tractor at the show when I got there. It had died shortly after he got it off the trailer at the show and it didn't want to start again (a couple experts were trying to get it going). I jokingly asked what the broken-down tractor was going for today. He said, "$2,500 show special." Later he threw out some other numbers. Sometime in the afternoon I told him I'd like to buy his tractor, and he seemed surprised that I was actually interested. So the deal was made (for less than the "show special" price). I came back home and picked up my trailer, then drove back to get the tractor. I put 180 miles on my truck in the four trips down and back from the show. Here's the first photo. Isn't it cute?

Sleep Number Bed FlexFit Smart Mattress Top Magnetic Cover Repair

Anyone who has one of these Sleep Number FlexFit Smart adjustable beds probably knows what this posting is about. The mattress cover has magnetic pucks that correspond to steel pucks fastened to the bed base. Since the base is adjustable, the mattress needs to somehow "adhere" to the base so it doesn't just slide around, so Sleep Number used these strong magnets embedded in the mattress cover to attach to the base pucks. Problem is, the mattress cover that the magnetic pucks are attached to is very flimsy, and over time the magnets pull out of the cover and leave gaping holes. I found multiple postings online of other folks having the same issue, and their recourse was to pay Sleep Number between $250 and $1000 to fix it. Sleep Number does not warranty this issue (shocking) and I'm cheap (also shocking), so I decided to try and fix the thing myself rather than buy a new mattress cover. Below is a photo of one of the blow-outs.