Tractor pull, or new to us old tractor

Cheryl in SD · #1 04/23/08, 07:32 PM

1942 John Deere Model A
Narrow front end.
Needs tires and carburetor work and paint.
Good compression
Hand crank

$600

Dh couldn't resist.

Dh plans to use it to help teach our boy about motors & mechanics. He would like to fix it up & by the time our now 9 yo is old enough to do tractor pulls, be able to do them together.

Shepherd · #2 04/23/08, 07:44 PM

Man I can't blame him - the price is right! Watch that narrow front end; easy to tip over. He's gonna have himself a prized possession.

Up North · #3 04/23/08, 11:09 PM

The value of what your son learns will exceed the cost of tractor. I have two brothers who make very good incomes as heavy equipment mechanics. Self taught, they got their start doing just what you propose.

Cheryl in SD · #4 04/23/08, 11:15 PM

Thank you. That's what we were thinking. And if it gives my ds (only boy with four sisters) "guy" time with dad, that isn't a bad thing either.

**fordson major** · #5 04/24/08, 06:38 AM

whats this guy thing?! my 2 girls are out there turning wrench just as well as i am!~! better i think, they have time while i am out working fields! congrtas on the tractor life time of memories and skill sets there! life time of tractor as well, those old deeres are great!

Wildwood Flower · #6 04/24/08, 06:45 AM

I so regret that I didn't realize how important this might have been to my (now grown) son. My dad was always messing with engines. I drove a tractor like you describe when I visited my aunt and uncle on their farm in Minnesota.

It was really easy to drive. What an ego-boost for a little kid.

ace admirer · #7 04/24/08, 07:01 AM

its a great price, its a great part of history, he'll never forget the experience.

stranger · #8 04/24/08, 07:06 AM

One thing about those old 2 bangers, do not pull the clutch lever back to stop the tractor, then leave it in gear while you get off to hook up a piece of machinery,.. alway take the transmission out of gear, push the clutch lever forward til it snaps locked engaged again, lock the brakes and get off.. there is a bearing, i think it's the duel reduction bearing that does not get any gear oil when the clutch is dis engaged and it will seize up eventually and the tractor will move it what ever gear it is in, many people were ran over in the 40-50s while hooking up to equiptment because the bearing decided to freeze up while they were standing between the tractor and a plow or some thing. I have a neighbor that is about 50 now, but when he was 12, a JD-A decided it was time to run over him, he's still crippled up today. I worked for JD yrs ago and used them a lot and it's still hard to convince people the dangers of the clutch bearing.

michiganfarmer · #9 04/24/08, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shepherd

Man I can't blame him - the price is right! Watch that narrow front end; easy to tip over. He's gonna have himself a prized possession.

yanno, wife front ends pivot in the middle...that pivot lets them tip....they will tip over just as easy as a narrow front end that pivots on the tires.

Up North · #10 04/24/08, 07:50 AM

Stranger makes a good point! They are also dangerous because when faced with an emergency situation(like you are about to back over the side of Dad's new car,LOL) people tend to panic and step on the left foot brake thinking it's a clutch when they should reach up and pull the hand clutch back to disengage tractor movement. By the time they realize their mistake, it's too late!

A whole generation has been raised using the foot clutch, and their brain does not instinctively tell their right hand to pull back the hand clutch to stop. I sold our JD 70 after my new bride dang near backed over me

.

michiganfarmer · #11 04/24/08, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stranger

One thing about those old 2 bangers, do not pull the clutch lever back to stop the tractor, then leave it in gear while you get off to hook up a piece of machinery,.. alway take the transmission out of gear, push the clutch lever forward til it snaps locked engaged again, lock the brakes and get off.. there is a bearing, i think it's the duel reduction bearing that does not get any gear oil when the clutch is dis engaged and it will seize up eventually and the tractor will move it what ever gear it is in, many people were ran over in the 40-50s while hooking up to equiptment because the bearing decided to freeze up while they were standing between the tractor and a plow or some thing. I have a neighbor that is about 50 now, but when he was 12, a JD-A decided it was time to run over him, he's still crippled up today. I worked for JD yrs ago and used them a lot and it's still hard to convince people the dangers of the clutch bearing.

My dad always chewed me out if I let the clutch run disengaged because he didnt want to have to repair it. We used ours for lots of loader work. We cleaned barn, dug silage out of our bunker silo, moved, and fed round bales. That clutch wasnt made for loader work.I had the clutch on my 720 apart a hundred times when dad owned it when I was a teenager, and we were milking cows. THere was a pin deep in the clutch housing that kept the throw out mechanism from turning. We had to peen the sides to keep it tight in the anchor hole that it sits in. Eventually dad brazed it in. I know that bearing you are talking about. I didnt know it was bathed in oil during operation. I know the race that it runs on came loose frrom the crank once. Dad took it apart, cleaned the crank with acetone, and put permanent locktite on the crank, put the race back on, and it never came loose again.

stranger · #12 04/24/08, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Up North

Stranger makes a good point! They are also dangerous because when faced with an emergency situation(like you are about to back over the side of Dad's new car,LOL) people tend to panic and step on the left foot brake thinking it's a clutch when they should reach up and pull the hand clutch back to disengage tractor movement. By the time they realize their mistake, it's too late!

A whole generation has been raised using the foot clutch, and their brain does not instinctively tell their right hand to pull back the hand clutch to stop. I sold our JD 70 after my new bride dang near backed over me

.

what was really confuzing, use the JD for a week then hop on the SC Case to culivate or something. the clutch handle was on the opposit side and if you forgot it was too late.

michiganfarmer · #13 04/24/08, 08:07 AM

Those "A"s have a lot of power. THey are only rated at 45 horse, but hey will lug down to a three or four hundred RPM, and keep right on pulling. A 4 cylinder with the same horse would stall.

We own an AO. I spread manure, and green chopped hay with a flail chopper with it when I was a kid. Lotsa pull

stranger · #14 04/24/08, 08:08 AM

the other thing i remember is hooking up to something, leaving the tractor in reverse, standing on the ground and slipping the clutch with one hand and holding the rake or some other tunge with the other while hooking up, talk about being stupid, that was before i worked for JD and seen all the accidents.

michiganfarmer · #15 04/24/08, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Up North

Stranger makes a good point! They are also dangerous because when faced with an emergency situation(like you are about to back over the side of Dad's new car,LOL) people tend to panic and step on the left foot brake thinking it's a clutch when they should reach up and pull the hand clutch back to disengage tractor movement. By the time they realize their mistake, it's too late!

not people who cut their teeth on the steering wheel of a JD.

Ive spent 10,000 hours in the seat of our 720. When I mon a tractor with no hand clutch, I instictively reach for the hand clutch

michiganfarmer · #16 04/24/08, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stranger

the other thing i remember is hooking up to something, leaving the tractor in reverse, standing on the ground and slipping the clutch with one hand and holding the rake or some other tunge with the other while hooking up, talk about being stupid, that was before i worked for JD and seen all the accidents.

OK. there is 4 feet, a seat, 2 hydrolic levers, 3 point hitch arms,and the 3 point control lever between the draw bar, and the clutch handle on our 720. Id like to see you try to reach the clutch handle while standing on the ground.

...unless you are talking about an orchard model. I could reach the clutch from the ground on our AO

michiganfarmer · #17 04/24/08, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stranger

what was really confuzing, use the JD for a week then hop on the SC Case to culivate or something. the clutch handle was on the opposit side and if you forgot it was too late.

or get off a JD with a hand clutch that you push to enage , and get on an alice chalmers WD45 with a hand clutch that you pull to engage.