1941 John Deere Model HN - Replacing a Cracked Head and Block

Fair warning, this is going to be a long one.... I purchased a Model H "parts" tractor with hopefully a good head and engine block to put on my JD HN that has a freeze-cracked head and block. I won't know if the "new" head and block are usable until they are removed from the tractor and thoroughly inspected, but fair warning, I did notice a welded-up freeze crack in the parts tractor's engine block before I bought the tractor. I had driven my truck and trailer 2 hours to buy the tractor and when I first got there, I immediately looked on the side of the block for a crack or repairs. Yep, there was a repair. I told the seller and he said he didn't know about it. Before the trip, we had agreed on $700 for the tractor, but after seeing the welded crack, I offered $500. He countered with $550, which I accepted.

It was a gamble buying the parts tractor but I'm hopeful things will work out. I'm starting to write this blog 3/4 of the way through the project. I have both heads off and both engine blocks out of the tractor's frames. Let's start at the beginning though.

(For context, here are two links showing what I did initially to the HN's freeze-cracked head and block to try and repair them: (part 1 and part 2))

I'll start with the HN and its cracked head and block. This first photo shows both items out of the frame. The process would have been a lot easier if the hood and gas tank were removed first but that is a big job I'd rather not tackle.

1940 John Deere Model AR - New Acquisition

I guess my previous post let the cat out of the bag. And I forgot to make a blog entry for this new tractor. And this particular tractor put me over the edge, so to speak. My saying to folks when they've asked how many tractors I have, I could always say, "More than one and less than 10." I can't say that anymore (but only IF you count my H parts tractor). I never thought I'd have that many. I did have nine tractors three years ago but sold several, and I do have one for sale now and the parts tractor should come up for sale in the near future, if things go well, so there's that. Moving on, here is my new tractor, a 1940 John Deere AR.

1940 John Deere AR - New Rear Wheels and Tires

The title is a bit deceiving. These are not brand new tires and wheels, but they are new to me. You see, Frank, the guy I recently bought this tractor from (and who I've bought several other tractors from), bought a new tractor and wanted to sell this JD AR. He gave me a very good deal on it and I just couldn't pass it up. He said he would like the rear wheels/tires that are on this AR to put on his new-to-him JD AOS (yes, it is a very rare one). I did like the French & Hecht round spoked wheels but the tires were too small for my liking. The AR just needed bigger tires to fill out the massive rear fenders. Fortunately the AOS came with larger rear tires, and so I just swapped wheels/tires from one tractor to the other. This first photo is the "before" photo with the F&H wheels with 11.2-24 tires.

1942 John Deere H "Parts" Tractor - Cylinder Head and Cylinder Block Replacements

With my HN engine's freeze crack repairs not working, I did quite a bit of searching to find a good used cylinder head and block. I put out feelers to some guys in the tractor club, put a plea out to a Facebook JD H forum, and searched online.

1941 John Deere HN - Investigating Cylinder Head and Engine Block Issues Part 2 of 2

Two days ago is where I left off on the previous blog. Yesterday I ground out the engine block crack. I used a carbide burr on an ancient dremel-type drill motor.

1941 John Deere HN - Investigating Cylinder Head and Engine Block Issues Part 1 of 2

As was shown in the previous blog, the engine block has a serious crack in it. The previous owner advertised that the head was cracked, and when I got the tractor going in the last blog, the right cylinder was also not firing so there are at least a couple things going on with this tractor. My current job is to see if the head is serviceable, and just make a general assessment of the engine.

Getting the head off is fairly straightforward, but a bit time-consuming. The carb has to come off, and the exhaust pipe needs to be disconnected. Then the valve cover and breather are next.

1941 John Deere HN Tractor - New Acquisition

I recently sold two tractors, a 1949 Ferguson TO-20 and a 1950 John Deere BN. So what do I do? Why, I surf the net for tractors, of course. My eye came across several potential candidates, an Allis Chalmers B (which I eventually bought anyway - click here), Allis Chalmers WD, and a Case VAI (industrial). I went on vacation for a couple weeks during this episode of looking so I couldn't act on anything. While on vacation (floating around Norway on a cruise ship), an ad popped up on FB Marketplace for a John Deere. The ad had only a brief description, "John Deere H tractor has cracked head." Here's the one and only photo from the ad.

New Gas Cap for 1931 John Deere Model E 1-1/2hp Engine

John Deere model E engines have a special oil fill cap and gas cap. The two caps are identical and are basically a 3/4" pipe thread plug with a spade type handle instead of a square drive end. Below is what an original JD cap looks like (photo taken from Flywheel Supply website).

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.