Very neat. Y'all definitely won't regret getting it back into the family. Looks like it's in good shape.

My grandfather also had a model B that dad remembers working on, sadly he sold that a long time ago so it's not coming back, but dad still does have grandpa's model 60 and plans on getting it restored.

Centerpole90 said:

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That's awesome. I agree with your message and I'm glad the tractor made it back into the family.

Years ago I restored a 1940 G that belonged to my Grandfather.



Since you have a family tractor - if you'd like to know the specific history of when it was built, where it was originally shipped, and what special or wheel equipment it was shipped with, you can do that for $35 through the 2 Cylinder Club. John Deere used to do this for free but as collecting became popular the archives were overwhelmed and they farmed it out the the dominant enthusiast organization. This might be a nice surprise gift for your wife someday.

https://two-cylinder.com/product/tractor-serial-number-research/

This was what I received from JD on my family tractor - that set me in motion finding the right, and very rare, wheel equipment for it, because somewhere along the line it had been converted to rubber.

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wow! nice job on the G. No telling how many of the skeleton steel wheels were scrapped through the years. They are definitely hard to come by these days.

I plan on getting the origional info on this tractor. I knew my wife's grandad before he passed, and he reminded me of my grandad on my moms side. They both were both farmers from first generation German immigrants who grew up in the depression and lived their entire lives like they were on their last dollar. This tractor is a pretty basic model. Its a flatback without electric start or lights. It would be interesting to know what running gear it was born with. Her uncles all remember it with rubber tires. The guy that restored it didn't have to do much work to it. The metal work is all original Somehow it survived without getting all banged up. He did the valves, put a few seals in it and painted it.

I was surprised how easy it starts. I turned the gas on, opened the petcocks, closed the choke, and was rolling the engine over to get it on the compression stroke before i gave the flywheel a big pull to start. All of the sudden it started popping at me!

Dad has a couple unstyled Ds that are a good workout to start.

This is a stupid question but I did not grow up around tractors...are the front wheels angled to help with turning? Or what is the purpose of that?

We have the first tractor in the family- a '37 F-20 that belonged to my great-grandfather and a '50 farmall cub that belonged to a different great-grandfather.

So my Grandpa's early 50's model John Deere broke down in the late 80's, and has been parked in a pasture ever since. I have been wanting to pull it out and restore it for decades. Is something that has been parked that long worth messing with, or best to just consider it a pasture ornament?

SunrayAg said:

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So my Grandpa's early 50's model John Deere broke down in the late 80's, and has been parked in a pasture ever since. I have been wanting to pull it out and restore it for decades. Is something that has been parked that long worth messing with, or best to just consider it a pasture ornament?

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if you have the time, go for it! 2 cylinder deeres are quite simple

EskimoJoe said:

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AgBQ-00 said:

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This is a stupid question but I did not grow up around tractors...are the front wheels angled to help with turning? Or what is the purpose of that?

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its to fit between the rows when cultivating.

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I'm going to argue with you a little bit. It's not so much to fit, as it is to go straight. Being angled like that keeps the front end in the bottom of the furrow better, and helps you steer straight.

Don't think the early Bs had the feature, but a lot of the later 2-cylinders had "roll-o-matic" front ends. Each front wheel was on a trailing arm assembly that was geared together. If one went up, it pushed the other down. Made for smoother ride, less steering wheel jerking.

SunrayAg said:

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So my Grandpa's early 50's model John Deere broke down in the late 80's, and has been parked in a pasture ever since. I have been wanting to pull it out and restore it for decades. Is something that has been parked that long worth messing with, or best to just consider it a pasture ornament?

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I'm with the others, a family tractor is worth saving. And are you sure it broke down, or did it just fall out of use?

I'd be happy to come up sometime and look at it with you. And I'd be happy to take pics and post them here.

The biggest worry is if water got into the cylinders. If there is not a can or bucket over the exhaust pipe, prepare for woe. Doesn't mean it can't be fixed, it just means you went from a quick fix to a PROJECT.

If the exhaust is covered, go grab the flywheel and see if you can rock the engine back and forth a little. If you can, things are looking up.

As others have said, the 2-cylinders are dead simple and incredibly durable. I steered one as dad drug it 3 miles to his barn, from where it had set for decades. Not a squeak or a rattle, every bearing turned as smooth as glass. We rebuilt the carb, and it fired up almost immediately.

CanyonAg77 said:

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EskimoJoe said:

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AgBQ-00 said:

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This is a stupid question but I did not grow up around tractors...are the front wheels angled to help with turning? Or what is the purpose of that?

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its to fit between the rows when cultivating.

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I'm going to argue with you a little bit. It's not so much to fit, as it is to go straight. Being angled like that keeps the front end in the bottom of the furrow better, and helps you steer straight.

Don't think the early Bs had the feature, but a lot of the later 2-cylinders had "roll-o-matic" front ends. Each front wheel was on a trailing arm assembly that was geared together. If one went up, it pushed the other down. Made for smoother ride, less steering wheel jerking.

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yes, the tapered front end helped you stay centered in the bottom of the furrow between the rows. the b got the rollomatic front end in 1949. I had a model 60 with it, and have seen it listed in the parts book as an option clear up to the sound guard tractors (at least the 4240)

Thanks for the education... by the time I came around my grandad was no longer farming. I had a great uncle who owned the Massey Ferguson house in DeLeon but I never had any experience using them.

My Grandpa had a Farmall - he started to get Alzheimer's - my father and uncle knee jerked and sold it. This was probably in the mid 90's. How on earth would a person track the tractor down if one wanted to buy it back?

This is awesome btw - I'm sure your previous generations are thrilled it's back where it belongs.

gonemaroon said:

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My Grandpa had a Farmall - he started to get Alzheimer's - my father and uncle knee jerked and sold it. This was probably in the mid 90's. How on earth would a person track the tractor down if one wanted to buy it back?

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Might be rough. In the OP's case, it went to a collector they knew.

Start with your family. See if they remember anything about the buyer. See if they remember anything specific about the tractor. Model and serial number at minimum. Unless there was some unique modification your grandpa did, and the new owner left it alone, it would be a trick to identify the tractor without the S/N.

If you can't ID the buyer, but do know his hometown, go there and ask around at the local coffee shop or co-op.

Get on Facebook and look for local antique tractor clubs or a national collector's association. Join the groups and post the query. For example, the Gibson Tractor group I mentioned is at

https://www.facebook.com/groups/249328985181814/

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Dad has a couple unstyled Ds that are a good workout to start.

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Dad and I had one, a '35, that we foolishly let go in a wad of old tractors we sold many years ago. The collection was overwhelming and when my kids came our interests changed so we sold some tractors to follow other pursuits (no family tractors, I kept them and the rare/hard to find models). That D and an Oliver/Hart Parr 80 are the two I wish I had back. The D had tiny grooves in the front axle, just like little saw teeth, hundreds of them - all the way across it - from wheat stubble. Imagine that - so many years plowing in wheat stubble that it eroded the casting like that.

We are in an antique tractor renaissance around here now that the nest will be empty this fall. The carburetor is for my '29 GP in being repaired by an old fellow in Iowa who's trying to work a deal with my Dad on another unstyled D.

Centerpole90 said:

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Quote:

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Dad has a couple unstyled Ds that are a good workout to start.

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Dad and I had one, a '35, that we foolishly let go in a wad of old tractors we sold many years ago. The collection was overwhelming and when my kids came our interests changed so we sold some tractors to follow other pursuits (no family tractors, I kept them and the rare/hard to find models). That D and an Oliver/Hart Parr 80 are the two I wish I had back. The D had tiny grooves in the front axle, just like little saw teeth, hundreds of them - all the way across it - from wheat stubble. Imagine that - so many years plowing in wheat stubble that it eroded the casting like that.

We are in an antique tractor renaissance around here now that the nest will be empty this fall. The carburetor is for my '29 GP in being repaired by an old fellow in Iowa who's trying to work a deal with my Dad on another unstyled D.

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i bet that is the same guy that did dads carb on one of his. those brass carbs are not for amateurs. those 2 tractors of his are over 90 years old now. crazy to think about.

Thank You CanyonAg77!
Enjoyed so much looking at the pictures
I gave our old JD 40 bought brand new by my grandmother, to a family of good friends who rebuild and get to see it at parades and such. They have done a great job.
Our Ag teacher here is also into this big time and I have helped sponsor some for his students. A few years back he won the big prize for best in nation.
Wish I had more patience in this area.
Thanks again for sharing.

You're welcome. If you didn't click on the photos, you may have missed the captions. The Fairbanks-Morse 15-25 oil tractor on the bottom of the second page, sold for $375,000.

CanyonAg77 said:

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SunrayAg said:

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So my Grandpa's early 50's model John Deere broke down in the late 80's, and has been parked in a pasture ever since. I have been wanting to pull it out and restore it for decades. Is something that has been parked that long worth messing with, or best to just consider it a pasture ornament?

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I'm with the others, a family tractor is worth saving. And are you sure it broke down, or did it just fall out of use?

I'd be happy to come up sometime and look at it with you. And I'd be happy to take pics and post them here.

The biggest worry is if water got into the cylinders. If there is not a can or bucket over the exhaust pipe, prepare for woe. Doesn't mean it can't be fixed, it just means you went from a quick fix to a PROJECT.

If the exhaust is covered, go grab the flywheel and see if you can rock the engine back and forth a little. If you can, things are looking up.

As others have said, the 2-cylinders are dead simple and incredibly durable. I steered one as dad drug it 3 miles to his barn, from where it had set for decades. Not a squeak or a rattle, every bearing turned as smooth as glass. We rebuilt the carb, and it fired up almost immediately.

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I appreciate that, but it is actually in Leon county about 1 hour from BCS. My Dad knew what was wrong with it and was going to fix it when he had time. But we lived in Houston and he never had time. So he bought a newer tractor (early 70's 4020). By the time he retired he wasn't in good enough health to work on things like he used to. Now he's gone and I'm in the same boat, live too far away and never have time to mess with it. Maybe when I retire...

This is an awesome thread. Remember my granddad's old farmall sitting in a barn broken down for years. Dad ran it when he was a kid. I pretend farmed/played on it when I was little. No idea why they hauled it off and junk-piled it or sold it. I'd have loved to have had it today (and the 71 GMC green long bed). Thanks for posting all the photos.

This is my grandpa's Ford 5000 row crop (5200) with what I think is a home built front end loader on it. It's definitely been farmer engineered over the years. It sat for probably 10 years. Put a new battery and starter on it, and it fired right up and ran strong. I put probably 100 hours on it then took the time to replace the bucket with a skid steer quick attach, new hydraulic hoses, and changed the fluids. Now the clutch is frozen and the transmission is locked up. I should know better than to mess with stuff that's been sitting outside in the weather for years. She'll run again soon enough.

It, a visible gas pump, and some horse/mule drawn implements were some of the few things I was able to save when my folks sold our ranch 2 years ago.



If anyone has a source for a hydraulic steering column for one of these, I'm interested... The row crop version of the 5000 and 7000 used a saginaw steering column/power steering system. The pre 1973 Ford version is nearly impossible to find. I think Oliver used the same config, but I'm not sure if it's a direct swap.

Dad had quite a collection of antique tractors. But when he passed, we decided we couldn't keep them. I live an hour away, brother didn't care about them, and the barn was in a poor part of town and was already being broken into.

I made a web page with the tractors for sale, including lots of photos and some videos of an old fat guy driving some of them. Also made a wrap-up video after.

I kept the two shown in a previous post, we sold the rest. I know where some of them are, including the Gibson Model A, and I've asked the guy to give me first shot at it if he ever sells it.

Some of the extra stuff, like the boat and the pickups, weren't ours. Any link to a tractor with another last name attached wasn't ours, either.

So for more old tractor porn

http://www.troystractors.com/

Lol last time i drove a '40's era tractor i was amazed any of us are even here, with open flywheels and **** spinning all around your ass. Its like a wood chipper for humans in b**** clothes or have a momentary distraction!

Yeah, I used to gripe about all the shields and interlocks on the newer stuff. Then I started going to antique tractor shows with my dad, and noticing how many of the old guys were missing digits and limbs, or otherwise crippled.

And I used to let the open brake drums shine the bottom of my tennis shoes when I drove our 730.

I have the JD 1946 Model B that my grandfather had purchased. I've been slowly going through it mechanically, and am not that far off from having it all put back together. The parts that needed to be refurbished or replaced (carburetor, head, block, starter, fuel tank, etc.) have a fresh coat of paint, but I don't plan to totally repaint the whole tractor. I kind of like the "used" look.

It had been parked in the early 1980's and didn't move again until I pulled it out and started messing with it. In its later years it had been relegated to pulling a one-row corn puller and it was still attached when I acquired the tractor. I also have the two-row cultivator/planter set-up that it used, as well as the "bedder" that it pulled for making rows before planting.

Interestingly I was able to find the cancelled check from its purchase ($1000), along with the wrenches that came with it and the original manuals for it and the implements used with it.

Very nice.

I posted a while back in an automotive thread discussing the 'patina' thing - many years ago I saw a guy that had a 1934 open fan shaft A (he was from up north) that had spent a lot of its days in the barn and had a really nice patina. The owner had very diligently searched the country for NOS parts to replace anything required to get it running. A lot of those parts still had the cardboard parts tag wired to them and where possible he left those tags on the part; so the tractor was weathered and all but here and there had NOS parts bolted on and the Minnie Pearl parts tags hanging on them. It looked so cool and it was the greatest service the owner could have paid to a 'survivor' tractor. I like the approach. I have an 830 done the same way.

Did you go hunt down the old style wire radiator/intake hose clamps with the long screw and captured nut?

yes, I purchased new hose clamps in that same style. I wanted to use the old ones, but they all seemed to be a little under-sized - maybe today's rubber hose is a little larger diameter or something. I didn't want to use the modern worm gear clamps.