JDAW3

My biggest relief coming back to this tractor after the excitment of last fall - the new tire, pulling the B, driving it around just for fun - was that the new tire was still round! I'm paranoid about blowing another tire and having to haul the wheel back out, find another used 36" tire, mount it, and haul it back in. I may have to do that process for the other side eventually anyway as that tire is at least 40 years old and ain't getting any younger!

But for the time being, I have four "good" tires and she runs. Runs really good so long as I don't mess around with things too much. What do I mean? Well...

The first trip out to the Cabin for the summer of 2001 happened this past May. The Cabin is in desperate need of a new roof, and we have settled on installing a metal one. The purpose of this trip was merely to haul out building supplies in preparation for the actual "work trip" which will occur at the end of July. My ulterior motives for going up are fishing, relaxing, and of course working on tractors!

Gramps had it in mind that we (Dad, Gramps, myself, and Uncle Jeff would spend half a day hauling all the roofing materials and associated "stuff" from the lake up to the Cabin. Well, I never really thought about how heavy a metal roof is, but after blowing two tires on our trailer and nearly sinking the boat we hauled it in with, I wasn't about to break my back (or a sweat, if I didn't have to) hauling that roof up a hill. That's what we have tractors for, right?

I took it upon myself to prepare the tractor for service. I drained water from the crankcase and differential, added oil where appropriate, and filled the radiator. She didn't fire up right away, but it wasn't long before the A was popping away. I gave her a quick test run and discovered that what little brakes I had last year had about disappeared completely. There is quite a steep hill down to the lake, so I suggested that Gramps take th reigns and drive it down. It IS his tractor after all.

Well, he would have nothing to do with that. He said something about all the hard work I'd done that I deserve to drive it...I couldn't really hear him over the sound of my beating heart.

My trip down the hill didn't turn out to be too hairy. I just idled 'er down, and she crept to the bottom of the incline. Brakes, who needs brakes? Well, the next step was to back down towards the lake, and I could have used them at this point. Good thing the clutch brake works great, or I may have gone fishing for Deere instead of Walleye later that day.

Turns out the A had a large hex-head bolt for a ball hitch, so we were required to "bungy" our little trailer to the tractor. It was work enough to transfer the roofing from the boat to the trailer; if the tractor never hauls anything ever again, it just paid for all the work in hauling the roof!

Two loads up the hill, and that job was finished. Our trip was short, so we were going to be heading out the next day. Before going to bed for the night, I intalled a cotter pin in the throttle linkage at the carburetor since we were running without one up to that point. Wouldn't want the throttle rod to pop off and allow the tractor to run wide open without a governor in control!

Next morning, I wanted to fire her up one more time to listen to the engine and then park it until the next trip.

Gramps did the honor of cranking for me. It took a few turns, but she finally wound up...and up, and up, and UP! What was going on?

In the process of putting things back together, I tore the shim that goes between the governor housing and its cover on the left side of the tractor. Then, in my most brilliant move of all time, I reinstalled the magneto when the impulse lugs weren't lined up correctly. I tightened it down and busted the lower mount of the mag casting clean off! More stuff to fix!

I rushed over to close the choke and bring the rpm's down before the flywheel rocketed off into Canada! I grabbed at the throttle in the steering column, but that made no difference. Gramps messed with the governor, and I fiddle with the throttle on the carb. Nothing but the choke would keep the speed in check. We concluded that something in the governor housing finally let loose after all these years.

I shut her down md tore into the governor housing, removing the magneto also. Everything looked good in there. I was stumped, and we were running late. I decided I'd best leave it for the next trip and try and figure something out in the meantime.

While packing up, it hit me. The new cotter pin! That was the last thing I had done to the tractor. It was running fine before, and was running eratic afterwards. I went to take a look and sure enough, the cotter pin I used was too fat. Sure it fit into the hole, but it brushed against the body of the carb and wouldn't allow the throttle move easily. The governor was trying to close the throttle, but that dumb pin was preventing any such action - so the tractor started up at full throttle! Oh, the problems I bring upon myself. What's that phrase? "Leave well-enough alone."

All's well that ends well. I searched some for a new mag casting, but came up empty handed. I opted to use JB weld, and Dad did a nice job with that. On the next trip up to the cabin, I reinstalled the mag and the repair held up nicely. The weld may vibrate loose someday, but the nature of the break will prevent the mag from moving around should that happen.

I've added a few pictures here to show the repair job that was done on the front pedestal of the wide frontend. This pedestal had been broken before Gramps bought the tractor. Evidently, the front end fell into a hole at some point and snapped it clean off. This casting was expertly repaired. Not only was the crack welded, but a piece of 1" square bar stock was added for strength. This repair has held up for 40+ years and on some very rugged, unforgiving trails!