The shutter system was used mostly for burning distillate to maintain higher operating temperatures. When it was longer economical to use distillate most shutter systems were taken off or just not maintained.

 

Some tractors had them some did not. As mentioned above the reasons for having them. Tractors that have them these days for the most part have stopped functioning. It is an accessory that many do not bother to use anymore. Only people that have them are what is known in many hobbies as the "rivet counters". These are people whom live and breathe the complete originality of something to the minute disgusting detail. As you may realize I find rivet counters irritating.

The 60 I had, still had its shutters (non functioning). They didnt hinder the operation nor did it help it. I left them there as there was no point really to remove them. Quite some time ago I did have a styled B with functioning shutters. I used it in the winter and yes the engine warmed up quicker with the shutters closed (manual to operate). Yet there was no real gain using them. If anything it cut down on the heat that the engine would blow back on the operator on a chilly day. So I left them open all the time. Having shutters or not doesnt really affect the value of these tractors.

Overlooked by many yes, except maybe a rivet counter. Available maybe. You might find them with some one like McGrew Tractors whom has a junkyard that could possibly find you some. Spendy? Apparently you missed the previous post about getting a tractor for the love of it and not the dollars vested in it. Any hobby will require money to be spent on it. Tractors, trains, autos, whatever. Dont get into this hobby if you are thinking about how much it is going to cost. Get into this hobby if you have an affection for that tractor and you want to show it off or use it.

 

I am not trying to be mean here. I am however trying to point out if you are looking at this hobby as something you can get into then jump out of later with out losing your shirt in the process, your in for a nasty surprise with any hobby.

3 tractors ago for me was a John Deere 420 crawler. I bought it for 1500 and it needed alot of work to make it right. I am including before and after pictures below.

then after 3 years of making it over with a 6 way blade and redoing much of the mechanical like new brakes for the steering and other issues. I eventually had this after $4500 total investment.

The biggest problem with a crawler is that they cant be used in parades or tractor pulls. Great for slow races! lol

So I moved on. I went to a John Deere 60 that I traded flat out. It was supposed to only need a fan clutch. HAHA! Riiiiiiiiiiiiight. NOT. Fan clutch, drive clutch, seat, battery, front tires, head needed to be planed for trueness, manifold also had to be planed, wiring, charging system, and all sorts of other heartaches. Another 2 grand would disappear into it.

Eventually it turned out to become this.

I sold this to a gentleman in NJ for $2700. Its a losing game that money will disappear into.
Well now I am changing gears once again. Now I feel I need something more practical that I can actually work. No longer a deere. A Ford 461. Here we go again. I love to tinker. A $1300 purchase and just to be able to get it right for use with out falling apart there will be about $700 more in parts alone. At least it is inside and out of the open air now.

 

I am not familiar with Deeres and their shutter system and don't want to hijack the topic, but I do have two Farmalls, an H and Super A, that were originally distillate fueled tractors. They still have some distillate related parts. They both have some of the controls that adjusted the shutters. They both have distillate manifolds on the engines. The H has the gasoline tank which holds about a gallon of fuel. The one for the Super A is missing. These tractors started on gas and ran a short time till the engine warmed enough to properly burn the distillate fuel, a form of kerosene. My Super also has gauges not usually found on a "gas only" tractor. As stated before my knowledge of distillate Deeres is non-existent, but my point is that they may have had other features other than just shutters.

 

Thanks Oldman and Lovesthedrive for your responses. My fascination with John Deere twins goes back to the early-mid sixties. One of our neighbors at the time had a 60 and a B. I was lucky enough to be trusted to drive them when making or transporting hay. Other neighbors had various makes of tractors, which are worthy in their own rights, but the John Deere twins were at the top of my shelf. Years later I would think about owning one. Well... I have just recently moved back to the sticks and am yearning to get back on one of these cool machines. Hence my questions. Just trying to figure out what or what not to buy. Some sellers say their tractors, for sale, are in excellent shape but neglect to say what is missing, that the engine is spitting oil out the exhaust or the wheels have beads welded around the rim for reenforcement. You drive a hundred miles to find that out? I am not, looking to make money from this endeavor. It's a hobby not a business. At this point I am just a little cautious because of the unknowns to me. I will probably still ask some ignorant questions from time to time but better ask than not and be made a fool. Again, thanks for your info. Now I know more on this subject...

 

You might tell us where you are. Who knows, some one on the board here might be able to point you to a sweet deal. You threw me when you were expressing concerns about cost with out the history of above. Thankyou for that. I suggest if you want to know more about what you have questions on, I suggest posting pictures. We love to drool over other tractors. We may even see something that you were not aware of with the pictures that you post. Another item is to find out if there are any clubs in your area. They may have a member that is weeding out some extras or may have some good leads on others?

As to the engine that spat out the black oil. If you notice in my tractor vid where I drove my 60 uphill here in Sorrento, Maine. There is a rain cap (flapper) on the exhaust. Having been a live steam train enthusiast I full well have had my fun in black showers from wet starts. The flapper helps stop the condensate in the exhaust.

Steering isnt too bad to deal with. On my 60 the steering was sloppy until I put a gasket in (where the steering shaft enters the gear box is a plate) under the plate made of brown paper bag. The owner before me thought it needed a gasket from a inner tube, this made the gears be too far apart and the steering was sloppy. Another item if the gasket is already thin is there is a screw with a nut on the outside of the threads to the screw. This is in the center of the aforementioned plate. Loosen the nut, and very lightly turn the screw in, DONT FORCE IT! This screw nudges the gears closer together. Usually it is better to have a friend with you to gently turn the steering wheel back and forth. The front wheel(s) should be off the ground. The friend wants to tell you when the steering starts to feel stiff. Back that screw off from stiff about a quarter turn, then tighten the outside nut. The steering should be ok now. If the tractor has a wide front end (like my 60 above), you should check the rod ends for play. Grab the steering arm (less than a inch in diameter) and see if it wiggles in a linear direction. If these are tight you should get a measuring tape and measure the distance between the forward and the rear of the front tires (applies to wide ends only), the distance should be the same. On some wide ends the width is adjustable, sometimes the owner will narrow the width or increase the width and not bother to adjust the drag links.

12 volt and 6 volt is up to you the owner. Alot of owners convert to 12 volt as it will start quicker. Dont change it just because it isnt original. Change it only if you want to and have the parts laying around. Are you looking at tractors that are manual start? Or are they with electric starters?

 

I hail from south eastern Minnesota. Just outside Winona. (Right on the Mississippi) I prefer hand starting but electrics are ok, too. I guess I am a little confused about temperature control. Without the Shutter system how do you bring the engine up to temp? I have read that condensation comes into play if operating temp is not maintained. Minnesota gets cold during the winter months. Is temperature control not a big deal for these tractors? There are other ways to restrict air flow if need be but the shutter system seemed like the easy way. Just trying to understand.

 

if ya follow hwy 54 strait east of ya about 3 hour you'll run into us over here lol our B don't have sgutters either. and like by you it gets cold here to and we've never had a problem with it get up to temp it just takes a few extra min. whitch give a lil more time to take in that 2cyl sound :lol:

 

I know that I have said this before, but I make sure the shutters work on our old deeres, An all fuel engine AR won't move the temp guage off the bottom pin after working for a couple of hours, in 65* temps, and needed the condensation drained out of the engine oil sump every time it sat for a few day to let it separate. We freed up the shutters , got it up to temp, it burned a lot less fuel, and the sump no longer had water in it.
An engine with Gas pistons will pull some temp, but 140 is not up to temperature in my books, our tractors work for there fuel so they see some hours every year.

I am fixing an AR that has the shutters removed, hobby owners that really don't understand the machine, I got at least a quart of water out of the sump before I tried to spin it. I have repaired a lot of oil pump drive couplers that have snapped from people trying to crank over an engine with ice in the pump, in fact that is the first thing I check on a "mystery" tractor.

 

Hello. We are talking about machinery from an era when operators used water as coolant, and if anti-freeze was used it was nowhere near as good as what we use today. Most tractors used water which would be drained to protect the engine when not being used.
In freezing weather it is not uncommon for the radiator water to freeze while the engine is in use, thus preventing circulation and causing overheating and boiling.
There were no temperature controlled fans then so freezing air would be blasting through the radiator.
The solution? Block off the airflow with a shutter. Some used a canvas panel simply clipped to the grille, folded down to increase airflow as necessary. If variable from the seat that is perfect!
That was the main reason, to prevent overheating, but with modern anti-freeze this risk no longer exists. It is worth buying the best from a tractor dealer like IH or JD.
Grizz is absolutely right in wanting to use shutters to get his engines up to temperature, in sub-freezing conditions shutters are as important as a steering wheel. It is up to the operator to alter the airflow to attain proper temperature, so it needs a good watch on the temperature gauge. Tractor manufacturers have always expected a good amount of knowledge in their operators.
John

 

Just a little cold weather observation, we used the styled AR (Gas pistons) for hauling the firewood trailer on 2 occasions , at about 0 degrees F, - 18 C , with the shutters fully closed, it would not warm up above 140-145, this is a small load short haul , followed by a fairly long period of idling at fairly low revs. without shutters, I am sure the needle wouldn't have moved at all, not good for the engine at all. but as Sailor John pointed out the manufacturers of this era expected the operator to have a lot of knowledge. Our 820 blackdash has no shutters and it has a water pump. with the grill covered it attains about the same temp 140-150. plowing snow also not that much of a load. we often take the fan belt off , and just run a shorter belt to the generator, this helps get the temp up and sometimes we can even uncover the grill.

 

sunday we used the B on the saw-rig to cut a load of wood. the temp outside was 28* and windy. the ol johnny warmed up to a nice 175* run about 1/4 throttle while we was cutting, no shutters. im shure if its close to zero degree's it wouldn't warm up that good but I'd never run the old iron in that cold anyway. instead I use a newer diesel powered tractor with a water pump and a thermostat

 

The AR would have warmed up with a bit of load, just not any more at idle, Our old iron works for its shed space, and everything even remotely modern is way too big for chores.

 

The AR got some exercise yesterday, the temp got up to 200, I opened the shutters and got side tracked for a few minutes, the temp dropped to about 145 with them open all the way (not really working mostly idling or pulling the forklift ). the ambient temp was about 7 C / 45 F .