Getting the Super A ready for work

Honeyhaus

Member
Hey folks I am new to Farmalls, This is my first Vintage tractor but I bought Her for working my property. I have 7 acres and am planning on a small truck garden as well as growing grain and hops for beer. She will also be responsible for mowing if I can find a deck for her. I am a certified shade tree welder and mechanic.

I bought he r for $1700 in "Restored" condition. Ha that is funny, she has a crappy paint job and new decals but restored she is not. The seller told me she was a 1948 but the castings indicate she is a 1951 or 1950. the serial number is missing. Here is some pictures I have taken as I have been working on it. I will post more about the condition and plans in my next reply
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anyone know what the extra hole in the bottom of the grill is for?

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engine serial number appears to be from a 123 c

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The tractor Ran when I bought it but then Died. Turns out it had some wiring gremlins. So I rewired it and then it ran better but not great. Next step was to rebuild the Carburetor. I was surprised to find no adjustments for the air fuel mixture on it. After the carb rebuild it runs like a top.

I wired the Alternator like a one wire alternator because I think that it is a modified GM 10si. I tried to wire it with a dummy light like the 3 wire GM alternator that it is and it got screaming hot. [u:9c2bf9defe]I am still not convinced that the alternator is good. It will run the tractor by it self if I disconnect the battery but only at full throttle. When I put a meter on it it intermittently reads 14.7 volts -7 volts. [/u:9c2bf9defe]

When I wired the Coil there was an external resistor on it. I kept it but I don't think that i need it because the coil says for "12V for use without external Resistor" [u:9c2bf9defe]Do I need to keep the resistor or get rid of it?[/u:9c2bf9defe]

I pulled the air breather and found it overflowing with milky white oil, I am in the process of restoring that. It has a hole that someone patched with JB weld so I am going to grind that off an weld it closed, smooth, sand, and paint.

[u:9c2bf9defe]I am planning on changing the oil with motorcraft 15-30 diesel oil because that is what I have on hand. Any problems with that?[/u:9c2bf9defe]

I want to drop the pan this weekend and make sure it is clean. I don't have a gasket for it so Permetex gasket maker it is.

the touch control spool valves are leaking so i plan on pulling them and replacing the O-rings. [u:9c2bf9defe]Anyone know where I can get just the 2 o-rings and what size they are?
[/u:9c2bf9defe]
I also plan on draining and replacing all the other fluids.

As far as fabrication goes, I am not seeing a lot of Farmall parts for sale in central Texas. so I plan on Fabricating a 3 point hitch and a set of cultivators for it. Also the linkage for the front touch control is missing so i will have to come up with something for that.

[u:9c2bf9defe]Let me know what yall think and please answer any questions if you can. Also I would like any suggestions that you might have.[/u:9c2bf9defe]
 
If the alternator is putting out 14.7v, it's charging ok. I would check to make sure it isn't drawing current with the engine and ignition off (pull a battery cable and put a 12v light bulb between it and it's connection point - if the bulb glows, there is a load). it is possible to fry an alternator and still have it seem to work.

The touch control is a separate manual than any tractor they were put on. I had an electronic copy saved somewhere (maybe a couple computers ago). I may have a spare rebuild kit instruction sheet too that gives the O-ring sizes. Best bet is to just pull the old ones and go to an auto supply (like NAPA) that sells them individually. Or bite the bullet and get a kit; you can get them on-line.

When I rebuilt my TC with the official kit, the spool rods still leaked. I ended up adding a slightly smaller and thinner O-ring behind the new replacement. It helped a lot. YMMV
 
Hole below the crank hole is for a grill mounting bolt. Should be a threaded bracket behind it.
I use straps to tie my A down. Axle straps around the front axle tube and axle straps at the corners of the draw bar. Sorry, no pics
Have fun with it.
Dennis
 
(quoted from post at 09:46:39 02/23/17) Hole below the crank hole is for a grill mounting bolt. Should be a threaded bracket behind it.
I use straps to tie my A down. Axle straps around the front axle tube and axle straps at the corners of the draw bar. Sorry, no pics
Have fun with it.
Dennis

Thanks I plan on fabbing a 3 point hitch and will add some tie down brackets at the mounting it plate. If the grill does not need that bottom hole it will probably get welded up and smoothed out.
 

Welworn, the alternator will get hot when tractor is not running so I keep the battery unplugged. I some sure if it is getting hot when not running it is pulling a load from the battery. I will probably replace it and keep the old one to make a weldanator out of.
 

What about the spark plugs. It currently has champion D6 and I have read that both 386 and 3116 autolite are the right ones. Can I leave the D6 or should I replace with something else?
 
Funny what some people consider as
"restored", isn't it? Those are good tractor
either way. I like to use AC C87 spark plugs
in my stuff. Depending on the alternator, if
it is a GM style alternator, there is
usually an 8 or 10 gauge wire going to the
big terminal on the back. Also on that big
terminal, there is usually a smaller wire
that jumps over and is hooked onto one of
the spade terminals on the side, that's ok.
But, there should also be a different small
wire hooked to that other spade terminal on
the side/rear of the alternator. That is
your excite wire (as long as your alternator
is the GM 3 wire style), it should only have
power at it/to it when it us running. If it
has power after it is shut off, something is
probably amiss with the wiring.

Ross
 
Wonder where you are located? I have a Worksaver brand 3 point hitch kit that fits a superA or 140 tractor. All the parts are there, except
mounting bolts and maybe a pin or two. I will sell it cheaper than you could buy the materials to build one. I'm in eastern Tennessee. If you are
not near, shipping might be to expensive. If interested, post back, or send me an email.
 

Haas, I am in central Texas, if the price is good enough I will pay for shipping. If not my sister lives in Murfreesboro TN and is visiting me in a few weeks. How close are you to her? You can email me details to [email protected]
 

It is a wine wire GM alternator. It was hooked up as a 1 wire and did not work. So I tried hooking it up as a 3 wire and that did not work either. I think the voltage regulator is shot. I am going to get a new GM style. Does the GM style charge fine with the Super a low rpm? I was also looking at 35amp Hitachi alternator s for Kubota tractor s because they are designed for low rpm.
 
I have a 10si alternator with the self excite internal regulator ("one wire alternator") on my SA, and it works great. It will charge at any rpm above low idle. It will self excite if the rpm goes above half throttle, but does better with a wire and 3 amp diode from the ignition circuit to pin 1 of the alternator. NO OTHER CONNECTIONS ARE NECESSARY. The diode is required to keep the alternator from continuing to power the coil when the ignition switch is turned off. For those who are electrically challenged, then keep it to one wire. You'll just have to rev it up once to get it charging. After that, it will charge at anything above low idle, until you turn it off.

That is unless you regularly turn off your tractor by shutting off the fuel.
 
Well I picked up a rebuilt GM 10si alternator (3 wire) from advance Auto parts for $35. Not a bad deal. I will get it wires up this weekend hopefully. Need a new switch too I guess the ignition switch is leaking 4 volts in the off position. I have to return the radiator cap I bought from tractor supply. It was not for a super A even though they said it was. I will pick up some new AL 386 plugs while I am there.
 
I drained the oil today and noticed a small amount of bright green antifreeze in the oil. 2 or 3 oz. The tractor has a recent radiator repair and there is a small amount of oil residue on the right side of the headgasket when it meets the block.

My plan is to drop the oil pan and clean it, replace the oil and add stop leak to the radiator. Then put some hours on the tractor and check the oil again.

Is this a good plan? What are the risk I run by treating the problem this way. I would rather not change the headgasket until next next winter if at all possible
 
(quoted from post at 12:30:07 02/26/17) I drained the oil today and noticed a small amount of bright green antifreeze in the oil. 2 or 3 oz. The tractor has a recent radiator repair and there is a small amount of oil residue on the right side of the headgasket when it meets the block.

My plan is to drop the oil pan and clean it, replace the oil and add stop leak to the radiator. Then put some hours on the tractor and check the oil again.

Is this a good plan? What are the risk I run by treating the problem this way. I would rather not change the headgasket until next next winter if at all possible

Anyone?
 

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