Getting the governor on Farmall 140 to work

I have just started working on a 1962 Farmall 140. I had trouble getting it started. It had set under a shelter for 15 years. I got it started but you have to hold the governor rod (from the carb to the front of the motor) or it will rev up too high. Does it just need to be run a little bit?

Maybe that is why it was parked 15 years ago. Pull the governor, the thrust bearing is probubly gone.

I'm with Teddy up to a point. That rod that you're having to hold is normally adjusted so that it doesn't float as it's doing to you. Any adjustment to it during normal running with normal rare would me small and very infrequent. If it went out of adjustment that radically and did it quickly, likely it's the thrust bearing in the governor or the spring in the spindle it surrounds.

That said, if somebody replaced the carb and didn't know about adjusting that rod, they might have just parked it not knowing what to do.

Adjustment is fairly straightforward. With the motor off, move the throttle lever at the seat to wide open, full speed. The front end of the rod in question has a clevis adjustment to connect it to the governor arm. Pull the pin and remove the clevis from the governor arm. Adjust the clevis some toward the end of the rod, so that you're lengthening the whole affair. Hold the governor arm toward the rear to the point that you feel just a bit of spring tension. Then while pushing the rod as far to the rear as it will go, adjust the clevis so that it lines up allowing you to reinsert the pin.

If that doesn't give you normal operation, then the governor is definitely suspect.