My John Deere

I was reared on a Wisconsin dairy/hog farm. When I was young my dad had a small Ford tractor, John Deere B, and horses. I was never allowed on the B since it was too big, but spent many hours riding on my dad's lap on the Ford.

I drove the Ford with my dad’s help when I was four years old. My dad would put the tractor in low gear and let me steer it. To stop the tractor, I had to depress the clutch, take the tractor out of gear, and then jump to the right side to depress the brakes. I planted my first oats field of 10 acres when I was five. He was so impressed with my job that he let me drive the tractor home while he followed with our truck.

At seven years old, my dad bought a complete line of new John Deere equipment. This included a model 630 tractor. To complete the deal, my dad traded the Ford. Since my parents had decided I was too small to drive the B, I had lost my tractor. I cried when the dealer loaded the Ford and drove off with it. However, a year later the need for me to help with the field work put me in the seat of the B. Over the next 30 years I became quite adept at working with tractors. I fell in love with the work they could do, and their durability.

Like so any youth on farms, I eventually left the farm and my dad retired. The one thing I missed the most was driving a John Deere two cylinder tractor. Even though, I owned a four-wheel drive compact tractor, it was just not the same. I needed to have another two-cylinder John Deere.

The purchase of my John Deere A started five years ago. One summer day my wife and I decided to visit a local art gallery. The location was no more than eight miles from where we lived. When we arrived, we found the building locked, and an old John Deere Model A sitting in weeds. Since the gallery wasn’t open, we assumed that it only opened on weekends. From then on, we would occasionally drive past the gallery to see if it was open, and if the tractor had moved. Neither ever happened.

Two years ago, at the prompting of my wife, I decided to ask the owner of the tractor if he was willing to sell it. We visited the place at least four more times over the next two years but never found the gallery open, nor the tractor moved. Finally one day last summer, my wife told me to stop driving by and walk to the front door. On the door I found a phone number. That afternoon I called the number and told an answering machine that I would like to purchase the tractor if the owner was inclined to sell it. I waited for a response from the owner, but it never came. Weeks went by and I figured that he probably didn't want to sell.

Then last October, from seemingly out of nowhere, the owner called and said that he indeed did wish to sell the tractor. We arranged a meeting time, and met on site. He told me how he enjoyed the tractor and was sorry to let it go, but he just didn't want it to sit out another winter. He also told me how he used to drive it a mile down the road to a gas station. I on the other hand noticed a flat rear tire, the oil filter sitting on the ground, the fact that it was free (i.e. the engine was not stuck), and that the sheet metal was still in reasonably good condition despite it being outside. He told me that some kids must have unscrewed the oil filter, and he hadn't bothered to put it back in. He also commented on how much oil it took. I knew it took eleven quarts, but I never thought of eleven quarts in a tractor as that much oil. I doubted the story about the filter, but new the problem was not major. I was more concerned about the magneto, but realized that it was fixable so a deal was made.

I paid my local tractor dealer to pick the tractor up the next Saturday. Since the tractor was in a location where it was not possible to directly load it. I drove my tractor to the site and told the dealer to meet me there. It was a beautiful late October day with the trees full of color. It was a bit chilly, but nothing that I hadn't already experienced working on the farm. I thought about the 630 and what a wonderful tractor it was and lamented how it went for only $2000 on a rainy day at our auction. But now I was only hours away from having one of its predecessor, the Model A.

Winter was closing in fast and I didn't have a shop, so I decided to park the tractor in my garage. I started working on it slowly replacing the flat tire with an old spare the previous owner had obtained, but never installed. Next, I went to work on the oil filter assembly. I unscrewed the center bolt, and ran a die on the stripped shaft, welded some metal on the rod, and cut new threads. The oil filter installed securely, and the tractor's first problem was fixed. I then tested the magneto and found that it didn't generate a spark. I knew then that the tractor wasn't going to start until spring, or next summer. The carburetor and steering wheel looked rough, so I sent all three items for rebuilds and a refinishing. I figured since I couldn't check it mechanically without the parts and since winter was setting in, I might as well tear apart the minor stuff and start the time-consuming job of cleaning and repainting. All winter, I had a wire in the 5 ft by 10 ft shop that stretched from one end it to the other with parts that I had removed, cleaned, and painted. 

When I took the hood off, I noted that it had a dark, black soot covering its inside. The disassembly of the air stack revealed the problem. The top of the stack was packed full of an oily dirt. A screw driver and some grease remover took care of the problem. In the process of removing the air stack, I also noted that the crankcase breather pipe was missing. Strange, I thought, I guess I would need to find another.

The tractor was nearly 60 years old, and it contained 60 years worth of grime and dirt from farming. I can imagine during the tractor's last days on the farm how it must have gasped for air, blew black smoke, and lacked power. The farmer was probably frustrated because of its drop in power and concerned that an overhaul of the engine was in order. But this tractor was just too old, and outdated for modern farming to pay for such an expensive procedure. So he parted with his old friend, sold it, and bought a newer model. When I found the clogged air stack, I knew I was looking at one of its main problems. I would have never uncovered this problem had I not taken the time to disassemble the tractor, and do a thorough repainting. I felt both lucky and happy about the find. This was an easy problem to fix.

Also during the disassembly of the hood, I noted the most of the original screws were replaced by hex bolts. Searching the web, I found a supplier of the original screws, and ordered a complete hood kit for the tractor. I figured if I was going to do this, I should probably do it right. The kit not only included the proper screws, but also new webbing that Deere had used as cushions between the hood components. I cut patches for the seven holes that someone had drilled in the hood and welded these into place. I also order a tank-lining kit, so that I could clean and reline the two tanks on this duel-fuel tractor. Although the tanks looked sound, I figured this would protect and extend the life of the tanks.

I also removed the seat assembly and floor pan during the winter. The center of the seat assembly had been packed solid with the same dirt and grime that was on every part of the tractor. Unfortunately this area was exposed to the elements, and over the years of sitting outside rust had eaten away the center of the floor pan. This patch required more tools and experience than I had, so I took it to a welding shop and had a patch welded in place. After receiving it, I placed a few coats of paint on it, and it was as good as  new. 

As winter began to break, it was time to start painting in earnest. I wire brushed and degreased the tractor entire tractor in preparation for painting. During this process many of the original locations of the decals revealed themselves under a previous repainting job. These locations were noted for later location of the decals I had ordered. It also became apparent that the previous painter had simply painted over the dirt and grime. In fact the front pedestal of the tractor looked to be at least 50% larger than it really was! 

Since I had so many smaller parts removed from the tractor, I decided to hang them from the garage door for repainting. This included the hood, tanks and any other removed parts that had not been painted in my shop. The progress I was making on the tractors exciting. Finally, the restoration of the old John Deere was making some visible progress. A week later, the tractor was pushed outside for a final brushing and pressure washing. I then covered the garage floor with a tarp to catch any over-spray, and painted the tractor. 

Finally, it was time for reassembly. This process took two weeks, working a few hours during the evening and on Saturdays. The days were warm again, and now I began to think of all the things I needed to do in my yard, put up a retaining wall, bury a drain pipe, and build a wood shed. I needed to finish these projects before midsummer, but I was so close...

During the reassembly, I noted that the governor was from a later model. This explained the missing breather pipe. I obtained both styles of breather pipes for the tractor. In fact, I needed both to remanufacture and fit a new pipe to this hybrid arrangement. I cut, the pipes welded them together, and refinished the surface. The tractor was finally repainted and reassembled. The time of refiring the engine was fast approaching. I hoped that it would start.

With the help of my wife I static timed the magneto. After this, I put some gas into the main tank. Well wouldn't you know it, a leak and on my new paint job. Not a real problem, I could still start the tractor. I choked the carburetor, and hand-cranked the flywheel. It sounded like it wanted to start, but didn't. I tried over and over again. No luck. Finally I had my wife pull start me. At last it barked to life, but then died. We did it again, but this time I left the throttle open. It ran. I fiddled with the idle and load needles on the carburetor, and checked the oil pressure. What! Nothing!

I immediately shut it down and pondered why I had no oil pressure. During the static timing, I lifted the governor, to properly time the magneto. Could it be that I had dissembled the oil pump from the governor? I had only lifted it 1/4 in. so I really doubted this, but I wasn’t sure. Was it possible, that like the breather pipe, the oil lines in the crankcase did not fit the governor? During the restart, I noted that the number two cylinder was pumping oil out of the petcock. Not good, did it need an overhaul? How as oil getting to the cylinder anyway without pressure? The only way to tell was to open the tractor.

None of my guesses were right. I decided to drain the crankcase before opening it from the top. I placed a 10 quart pan below the drain hole, and dropped the plug. In no short time, my pan was filling and not showing any sign of slowing down. I replaced the plug and emptied the pan into waiting empty milk containers. I repeated the procedure two more times before it finally stopped flowing. So this is what the previous owner meant by a lot of oil, twenty quarts! I guess he figured if eight quarts was good, five gallons was even better. In fact, this much oil might have taken care of the pesky no oil pressure problem and probably kept the engine free.

After I opened the crankcase, I noticed that the connector between the pump and governor was missing! I searched the bottom of the case with a magnetic locator searching for the part. In no time at all I was pulling out to halves. During the weekend, I went to get the $10 part at a local JD dealer. Imagine my surprise when they said they had it in stock! Since I had the crankcase open, I flushed and manually cleaned it. I needed to drop the oil pump to install the new connector. It takes about an inch of clearance to get the thing off, so I decided to completely remove it. This would allow me to reinstall a new gasket. During this time, I replaced the sediment bowl gasket and screen, and tightened the nut for the on/off value. Stopped the gas leak cold in its tracks. With 20 quarts of oil in the crankcase, I realized  that it was possible that the number two cylinder was pumping oil because it was drowning in the stuff! A later restart and long run on the engine confirmed this hunch.

Now I was back to starting it again, and again with no luck. A day later while watching a NASCAR race in my garage, I thought I would give it another whirl during a commercial. One small turn, and bang, it was running. It was then that I realized that I had forgot to give the carburetor any choke. It didn't need choke! Additionally, I had oil pressure, and an oil leak. The leak was coming from under a poor welding job on the governor that the previous owner had done near the pressure gauge pipe. I needed to fix this, but not right away. To convince myself that its starting wasn't a fluke, I started it twice more during the afternoon, and discovered that with so many prestart procedures, it was easy to miss one. Time and practice will take care of this. For now I am happy that my Deere is running!

A week later on a spin down my 100 yard road, I noted the flywheel walking itself of the shaft. This stumped me. I talked to my John Deere mechanic, and he said he had only seen this a few times before. He suggested I use some Devcon on it. This bothered me since this was not a minor problem. When  I purchased the tractor, I noted that the flywheel was at least 1/4 inch off the crankcase shaft. I began to wonder if this was correct. It didn't seem reasonable that John Deere would make the shaft short. I tried to pound the flywheel further on the shaft, but it resisted. So I decided to remove the flywheel, clean the shaft, and reinstall it. Using  scrapers, and acetone, I cleaned both the shaft and the center of the flywheel. When the flywheel was reinstalled, it slid on easily. I didn't have to hit it until the very end. I rigged up an dial gauge to check the endplay on the crankshaft. The manual says that it should be between 0.005 - 0.010 in. I checked and rechecked end play. Then with the help of a pipe, I cranked down on the two bolts that held it in place. I touched up the paint, and waited for it to dry.

A day later it was time to see whether a simple cleaning would work. I tried to start it. Again it sounded like it wanted to start, but didn't. Then I realized that I needed to open all the gas values. This tractor has three, (1) the throttle, (2) the sediment bowl, and (3) the duel-fuel valve. Miss one, and you will wish you hadn't. Eventually, I'll get the hang of this. After opening all the values, it started and the flywheel stayed in place! I ran the tractor up and down the driveway in all its gears several times. I tried to impress my wife with its spin in place ability. I had put a spinner knob on the steering wheel. On the farm, both the B and 630 had these knobs. Set a brake, crank the spinner knob, and bang, a perfect right corner cutting hay. I hadn't done this maneuver in at least 20 years. It felt good.

Now I brought the tractor up to temperature for the first time in at least six years. It smoked a little at first, but eventually this settled down. In fact near the end of it run, it started to have the long forgotten but familiar sound of our 630. Also uncovered a problem engaging the clutch. It wasn't engaging with the familiar clicking sound. At least it didn't until I hit sixth gear. Then on the second pass down the drive, something freed itself up from years of sitting in the grass. It clicked again. It clicked in all the gears! I know that in the future I will need to replace the clutch. I did this once on the farm with the 630. I don't remember all the steps, put I do remember it wasn't too hard.

Well, I still have the rear wheels to paint, the decals to put in place, and an oil leak to repair, but its doing something it hasn't done in a while. It's runnin'.

In the future (once I get a workshop built), I will probably rebuild the engine and clutch assembly, and replace the throttle linkage. In the meantime I will work on the latest addition to my collection, a John Deere Model B with a two-way, Model B3 plow. It runs, but needs some serious tender-loving-care, and restoration but it runs fine.