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.