[64Tbird]

Hello everybody, just got my great grandpa's 1947 Model A home a couple of days ago and wanted to have a place to ask questions and post progress on my restoration! So in my introduction post I posted that this tractor hasn't been run since the 1980's, well come to find out the last time it actually ran was around 1974, so this thing hasn't ran in about 45 years, which explains why a lot of the things on this tractor are stuck. After getting it home, I immediately filled both the cylinders with a 50/50 acetone - ATF mix and let it sit. The next day I pulled the shroud off the flywheel in order to turn the flywheel more easily, and believe it or not the engine turned over! After removing the spark plugs I got it turning really good (resulting in my arm getting covered in my ATF/acetone mix). So as far as the engine is concerned, the Southern California climate spared it. The brakes on the other hand weren't so lucky. Both are near the point of being rock solid and made loading the tractor a real pain. I removed both of the bolts securing the brake assemblies on, and nothing. They are stuck on there real good, I got both of the assemblies to rotate about an inch, but other than that they are not budging off the tractor. I was wondering what methods you all use for pulling these assemblies off when they are stuck like this? I jacked the back up to where I could rotate the wheels, and every time I rotate the wheels (what little bit they move anyways) it causes the brake assembly to bounce up and down slightly, however even after doing that a bit it didn't seem to help loosen it at all. That is about all the progress I have made so far, soon me and my dad are going to be pouring a concrete slab for this to sit on that way I have a proper place to work on it! Here are a couple of photos of the tractor

 

[R.J.]

Great! Glad you got her home and the engine is turning for you.
You might be able to get the brakes freed up spraying them with brake cleaner. Someone else may have a better solution. are the brake pedals and linkage moving back and forth at all? And the brake locks are off? I have got a stuck brake to break loose with the brake cleaner, and after a while, pull the tractor around in neutral and then riding on the brakes some, working the pedals back and forth, as long as they don't look worn out. Maybe someone on here has another method you could try as well.
The owners manual, and service manual are both available for that tractor and will prove very valuable to you in getting her up and running.
There are several online sources for parts as well.
I am sure folks here will chime in and try to help you with it,
and try to answer questions. Also, is the hand clutch engaging and disengaging like it should would be another thing i would check, also the clutch pad that rides against the belt pulley when its disengaged and make sure it still has some meat on it. I had to replace one of those once before.

 

[64Tbird]

Hello RJ! I will try the brake cleaner, but yes both of the pedals are firmly stuck and the brake locks are off. The brake shafts are also locked and are preventing me from even turning the rear wheels, which is why I am trying to just remove the whole brake assembly. But of course, even removing the assembly is putting up a huge fight too, I can't get the brake assemblies to pull away from the tractor at all. The most movement I have got was rotating the whole assembly about an inch on both sides, but even that movement hasn't helped yet. I do have the owners manual printed up and will be looking for a service manual soon!
As for the hand clutch, the hand clutch engages and disengages perfectly. The clutch pad on the other hand is almost nonexistent at this point and will need to be replaced. The belt pulley is also badly worn with deep groves from where the worn pad was riding. I kinda wish this tractor had an odometer, I am curious how many miles were placed on it!

 

[64Tbird]

Well I guess all I needed was more persistence! I applied the brake cleaner in the vents on the brakes and well, the pedals remained stuck. In order to help them I started beating the pedals back and forth with a dead blow and soon enough the whole assembly started turning. After doing this a while on both sides, they finally became loose enough for me to start rocking them back and forth and slowly working them out. I finally got both out and now the back wheels finally turn! Unfortunately the brake pedals are still as stuck as can be, but I can worry about that later.

 

[R.J.]

Great. Glad they came loose for you. I would get me some kind of container and soak
those in kerosene for a few days and see if that would break the rust outta those moving parts where they would free up.
here's a link to the exploded drawing of that brake assembly.
https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sidebyside/equipment/75641/referrer/navigation/pgId/296378
Also, there's some youtube videos out there where they are showing step
by step rebuilding the brakes on 2 cylinder John Deere tractors.
You can find them Here
https://youtu.be/7SoVmLm5MNA
Hope this helps you with your brakes.

 

[johndeerefan]

If you need any pics or have questions along the way, just let me know. I completely rebuilt my 47 from the ground up about 10 years ago. My memory is a little foggy now, but I might be able to somewhat steer you in the right direction.

 

[James Howell]

Stuck Brakes

"the brake pedals are still as stuck as can be"

Take a look at the BRAKES diagram below.

Note the washer (Key 31), pinion (Key 32), washer (Key 33), nut (Key 34), and cotter pin (Key 35).

Remove the cotter pin, nut, washer, pinion, and washer.

Note the shoes (Key 5) and adjusting screw (Key 15).

Turn the adjusting screw clockwise to remove spring tension on the shoes.

Locate a solid block of wood.

Note the brake shaft (Key 2)

While holding the brake drum on the edges, gently drop the brake shaft on the block of wood.

The housing will come loose and slide off freeing the brake drum and brake shaft.

Hope this helps.

 

[64Tbird]

What to do

Thanks for all your helpful replies, it has been really helping me a lot! Now I have got myself a bit of a problem here. While taking the front sheet metal off the tractor, I discovered a bracket my great grandpa had attached to the top of the pedestal (I believe that is the proper term) where the steering shaft meets the pedestal shaft/axle unit. I did not know at the time what it was for, so I took it off. I later discovered a crack in the pedestal and decided that must of been what it was for. To make a long story short I went to turn the wheel of the tractor a few days later, and off flew part of the pedestal. Needless to say I know why that bracket was attached now, but now I got a question. What should I do about this pedestal? I am debating as to whether I should hire someone to try and repair this with a weld or if I should just replace the entire pedestal.
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[R.J.]

Ugh, yea. That's definitely a real problem, as it looks like cast iron rather than steel. Someone feel free to correct me if i am wrong. I am not saying that some talented welder couldn't patch that up but, if it was mine, I would be looking around for a replacement from a parts tractor somewhere. That's one heck of a spot for that to break in, and I would always be afraid that weld or braze would break back loose while I was driving it.

 

[64Tbird]

Thanks for the reply RJ, I was kinda thinking the same thing. I just wasn't sure if these pedestals were known for breaking like this and if a replacement could possibly do the same thing. On the other hand, I am not experienced with how welds in cast iron hold, I might have to do some research into the durability of a weld in cast iron. I did find a pedestal on Ebay from New York for $900 with free freight shipping, that may be the route I go. Unfortunately finding tractor parts around northern Nevada is quite difficult since there wasn't as many farms out here as compared to the midwest & east.

 

[R.J.]

That's the first one I have ever seen busted like that. It's definitely not common,
and I don't think a good replacement would do the same thing.
Looks like it was either flawed from the factory, with a crack that got worse over time, thus the repair that was made by your grandpa, or those bolts got torked too tight while someone was making repairs, cracked it, and fixed it best they could while it was still somewhat in one piece. Just a guess. There's always a chance someone will see your post that may know of a lead to one that is closer to your area and maybe cheaper than the one in New York. Maybe someone will chime in that knows some sources. I think Johndeere Fan mentioned a boneyard in Kansas
to the guy that has a recent post looking for Pistons, so that could be one lead for ya.

 

[Jim in NC]

I vote for a replacement part. The front section of a tractor can take a beating depending upon how it is used and the ground it covers. One has to think about the safety factor here too.

 

[64Tbird]

Here is the first restored part of the tractor. This is the battery cover which had lots of surface rust and some of the bolt holes had been cut out at one point (probably due to this part not fitting correctly at one point). So after welding patch panels where the holes had been cut out and re-drilling correct sized holes, I was able to fix some of the smaller dents and then sandblast these. Along with teaching myself how to weld on these parts, I also had to teach myself how to use and shoot with a paint gun. I'd say for my first paint job, these came out pretty good! Starting to restore the hood of the tractor now, which is damaged pretty bad so it is taking a bit, not gonna rush it though because I want it to be perfect View attachment DSC_1204.jpg View attachment DSC_1209.jpg View attachment DSC_1208.jpg

View attachment DSC_1210.jpg View attachment DSC_0168.jpg View attachment DSC_0170.jpg View attachment DSC_0171.jpg

 

[Jim in NC]

Imagine the joy when it is green all over! Looking good!

 

[BigDaveinKY]

:good:

 

[R.J.]

Looking good. Keep us posted

 

[johndeerefan]

You've got a good start. Mine took me a year to finish working on it everyday for 4 hours and 8 hours each day on the weekends. I was so ready to get it finished about 3 months into it.

 

[64Tbird]

I know its been a while since I posted, but I have been making slow progress these past months despite work and college. Probably the biggest accomplishment was moving the rear hubs towards the end of the axle, doesn't sound hard but believe me these things were seized to axle really bad! It took making a contraption out of Green Magazine which included putting a 20 Ton Hydraulic Bottle Jack on the end of the axle, putting a piece of 1/2 inch steel behind that with hooks where grade 8 bolts bolted on to the hub with 1/2 inch chain welded to their heads was hooked. Sounds complicated because it is ha. Even with the full 20 Ton Bottle Jack pressure against the hub, it still took tons of PB Blaster, 15 minutes of continuous heat from a plumbers torch and a sledgehammer to get them to move. Unfortunately, when I pulled the left wheel I had noticed a steel plate on either side of the cast inner rim where the bolt holes were, upon removing these plates I discovered the cast rim was totally destroyed on the inside where the bolt holes were, hence the steel plates. Earlier this year I got a good replacement pedestal replacement from a tractor junkyard in Minnesota, so I am going to check with them and see if I can get a replacement cast inner rim now.

Anyways, I am slowly getting there, after spending an entire day pressure washing all the layers of grease and grime on the outside off, finally got the tractor moved inside last week and began the last bits of disassembly. As of now I have got everything forward of the main case off and will be pulling the crankshaft and camshaft this afternoon. I am going to take the head, block, pistons and whatnot to a machine shop to have them inspected and rebuilt/resurfaced as needed. These next few weeks I will continue tearing the tractor down to nothing basically, then begins the repaint and repair/replace process of the restoration. Also a side-note, those pistons are HUGE, I never expected to pull those monsters out of the engine block, I can see now how this engine is a 5.3 L

 

[R.J.]

Looks like you've been working with it and making progress.
Thanks for the update and the pictures.

 

[64Tbird]

More things are starting to turn green on the tractor now! Recently I finished assembling the radiator, the original core was bad so my dad got me a new core as a birthday present. Fully assembled, the radiator weights about 125 pounds, so lets just say that working with it was a bit of a workout. A few weeks ago I also finished painting the control stand, this was so far the hardest part of the tractor. The bottom and top were connected together by a steel pipe, a pipe that corroded very bad over the past 70 years making the pieces virtually impossible to separate. After several hours one day with a propane torch, a hammer and lots of penetrant oil I finally got them apart and ready for paint. Unfortunately after laying the primer I found a broken bolt on the top part of the stand. Trying to be careful I got a screw extractor set and tried to remove the broken bolt, while it didn't succeed in removing the bolt, it did succeed in breaking the cast steel stand, which like anything cast would be tricky to repair. So, in an attempt to save the stand, I bought an oxy-acetylene torch from my local welding store the next day, watched several videos on using it and how to braze cast steel, and brazed in the section I broke off. I am very happy with the results, I would say not bad for my first braze job! Anyways, the rest of the tractor is completely disassembled now expect for the two rear wheels and rear axle, something that should prove to be interesting to work on as each wheel weighs about 500 pounds, expect more progress in the coming weeks!