Reviving grandfather's WD

Hockeyman

New User
My grandfather's WD has been sitting in the garage for the last 20-25 years or so since it last ran... Now that I've purchased my acreage I would love to get it operational.

From what I remember, it was converted to 12v and the hydraulics weren't working 100%. I was able to crank the engine by hand about 10 years ago when I last visited their farm. If the engine is seized, what would be my options?

If engine isn't seized I'm assuming the basics of ensuring clean fuel system, working/reliable ignition, and engine cooling system would be starting points...

Any advice is greatly appreciated before I have it and all implements trailered to my place!
 
No matter if you find it locked up or if it is free to turn fill the cylinders with ATF before you load it up and that way on its ride home the cylinders can be soaking and the stuck rings will be lubed up so they free up and the rust will be broken down. Then once home pull the plugs out and spin it over. Always put the plugs back in to keep dirt etc out.

As for the hyd that could be as simple as low fluid. And yes good chance you will have to replace the points and plugs. Now days I use NGK3112 plugs in that engine
 
(quoted from post at 09:37:17 08/25/16) No matter if you find it locked up or if it is free to turn fill the cylinders with ATF before you load it up and that way on its ride home the cylinders can be soaking and the stuck rings will be lubed up so they free up and the rust will be broken down. Then once home pull the plugs out and spin it over. Always put the plugs back in to keep dirt etc out.

As for the hyd that could be as simple as low fluid. And yes good chance you will have to replace the points and plugs. Now days I use NGK3112 plugs in that engine

Thanks for the tips... Always loved driving the tractor as a kid, hopefully with a bit of tlc and elbow grease I can get it running and working in my garden. Some implements papa had were cultivators, tow type 2 bottom plow, discs, potato planter, potato digger, rotary mower, and a tow scoop for moving gravel when he had a load dumped for the driveway. He also had an ac 'b' that was sold by my uncle which papa used to hill up the potatoes.
 
Make sure the shift lever boot is good especially if it will ever be rained on, water gets into the
transmission if the boot is cracked or gone. Have a look at the trans. differential oil, change it
if it isn't nice. And don't forget the final drives, many have never been changed and the oil in
them can be sick looking. Seems folks forget about them. If it has distributor ignition there is a
grease filled gear box that drives the distributor, look in that too, it is probably dried out
solid grease. It is behind the drive usually with the coil mounted over it. Cover plate easy to
remove.
 
friend of mine says to chain tractor loosely onto trailer/truck, so that it will rock a small amount; put tractor in gear and surge, back and forth
will tend to loosen motor.
 
Reviving my old thread...

Brought home my grandfather's WD a few weekends ago. Was hoping to free up the stuck engine with ATF & acetone mixture in cylinders. Not much luck soaking, but there has been some leakage through a couple of the cylinders so that tells me to be more patient and let the mixture do its thing...

Also, found that the tractor was left with water in it when it was parked... So there's the typical freeze crack in the block behind the carb. After much internet sleuthing I decided to drill out the ends of the crack and had applied a few coats of JB weld to the crack. The rad was also cracked on the tank ends, so since the JB weld was out I figured why not try...

So as the WD sits in my garage with the head off and cylinders full of ATF & acetone, my next thoughts are to drop the pan and disconnect Pistons from the crank and see if the crank will move and find out which pistons are stuck...

The cylinders don't look all that bad, some light surface rust in them but nothing some fine sandpaper couldn't remove before I refilled with ATF mixture.

Seems this old WD just wants me to tear her apart. Wasn't wanting to get this deep into her, but since this tractor has been in the family since new... I feel obligated to get her running again.

Any other thoughts and tips are appreciated. Will post some pictures when I have a chance.
 
I am just going through the same thing and it's really normal. In my case, the tractor was running perfectly and nice and tight. I started what should have been a cosmetic restore this week. But the muffler was shot. Removing the muffler broke a stud and one of the mount points on the thermostat housing, so now there is no choice but to go further in, if the housing requires drilling, then the head has to come off, when it comes off, there is the possibility that I'll realize it should be re-ringed or even sleeved, when you pull the pistons to do that, you see the bearings look tired.... and on and on. It's part of bringing these machines back to life. When you are done, it feels accomplished, especially with a machine like yours which has family history.

One thing I'd suggest, especially on what is a private heirloom, is take your measurements carefully and don't cut corners, the machine may be in the family forever now and making it like new will be a lifetime investment. I'm feeling pretty good about the recent restore I completed, and in my case, my son has already stated that he'll be keeping all our tractors through his lifetime.

Sounds like you're on the path, don't let the frustrations slow you down because mechanical work is full of them, especially on something this old.
 
Made some progress today...

Got the oil pan off, disconnected the connecting rods, spun the crank backwards and found the two middle pistons stuck.

The two end pistons came out quite easily, but the center two needed a bit of persuasion. I've now got all the pistons out, rings are stuck/seized on the two pistons. They're both soaking in my ATF & acetone mixture hoping the rings loosen up.

I had ordered new rings earlier in the week as I knew I'd either break them or they would be seized on. So if they loosen up I may just reuse them and save the rings for when I do a full tear down restoration.

Feels like I hit the half way point and now reassembly can begin once all the new parts arrive and I get the old ones all cleaned up.
 
You probably know this, but keep the rings in the exact order and orientation (top vs bottom) they came off.
 
Does anyone happen to know the dimensions of this drawbar mount?

wdwd45crosspieceondrawbarlg.jpg.jpg
 
Well I'm glad to report that I've finally got the WD running...

Purrs like a kitten with the new rings.

Only issue I now have is the hydraulics... I have a leak at the top of where the discharge valve threads into the pump as well as one of the cylinders packing is leaking.

I can find the packing gasket sets but haven't came across any gaskets for the discharge valve. They are item 47 in the shop manual showing the WD hydraulic pump.
 
That isn't something we can get, but you should be able to go to AGCO and get them easily. I've always had good luck with them. Prices are always high and it takes awhile, but you normally will get the right stuff. It's amazing what they still have in their parts system.

I see you asked about the width of what looks like a rear three-point arm mount on a WD Snap Coupler Drawbar and no one answered. Were you just asking what width the rear arms should be at? One problem with asking another question is that many folks only use classic view, and it doesn't bump new posts in a thread back to the top. Since so many use Classic, they won't notice an ongoing thread as it's often on other pages than most of the current threads. Because of Classic, it's best to open a new thread to ask a question if time has passed on the old thread.
 

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