John Deere A

Cjet

Member
Just picked up this 1952 John Deere A. Its not running, but is loose. The clutch was torn apart so I need to clean that up and see what I find. Has great rear tires, live pump, and came with a tag along JD plow and harrow/cultivator that attaches to the hitch setup on back. Anyone know what that hitch is?
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(quoted from post at 18:46:55 10/28/17) Just picked up this 1952 John Deere A. Its not running, but is loose. The clutch was torn apart so I need to clean that up and see what I find. Has great rear tires, live pump, and came with a tag along JD plow and harrow/cultivator that attaches to the hitch setup on back. Anyone know what that hitch is?
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I could be mistaken, but that looks like the Yakima factory ABG integral toolbar attachment on the back.
 

Checked the engine, trans, and rear axle for water. I found around 5 gallons in the trans and rear end drains. The engine oil was already drained, but the filter canister was still in so I dropped it out and found some nice creamy goo. I looked in several of the fill plug holes and everything looks nice and shiny still so I don't think the water has been it very long. I'll see if I can spend a little time looking at the clutch parts tomorrow.

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Can't really go by shiny aspect as the milky goo doesn't rust as you may be thinking it obviously would/could. It just sits there instead causing no harm that I can find. Without the oil it might be a completely different story of course, but with a large percentage of oil around, the water can't get to the steel it seems. It only becomes milky after it's been through the oil pump or otherwise mixed in very well, so my counter suggestion is the engine was running with a crankcase full of that white filter goo and there may be a massive leak as the source of the water for that filter goo. Unless you've had it running yourself, that means it's a very old previous problem that still needs fixed. Mine was a cracked block for example. You may have some additional goo in the first gear reduction cover and you may even have a drain plug for it too. I had to add one to my 44, but Deere started doing that at a later date.

Yakima seems to make kayak rooftop carriers but ABG 2000 has some good hits on it - I've never seen one or the toolbar style chisel so thanks for the look at it. Only bad part about it is now I want one for myself...
 

Checked out the clutch today. Looks like I will need a new crankshaft and clutch drive disc for starters. The drive disc must have loosened up and wore both the drive disc and crank. I guess I will get the rest of the tractor evaluated before going any further.

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Those sad sights are WAY too familiar to me ! lol.

Is the cooling system full of antifreeze ? I had a lot of those with cracked heads and blocks.
 
(quoted from post at 11:08:42 10/31/17) Those sad sights are WAY too familiar to me ! lol.

Is the cooling system full of antifreeze ? I had a lot of those with cracked heads and blocks.

That's next on the list to check.
 
(quoted from post at 11:08:42 10/31/17) Those sad sights are WAY too familiar to me ! lol.

Is the cooling system full of antifreeze ? I had a lot of those with cracked heads and blocks.

Checked the antifreeze and it good down to +3*
 

Any recommendations on a good salvage yard to buy a good used crankshaft? What do good used cranks cost (price range)?
 

It wasn't raining today so I pulled the cover off of the crankcase to get a look inside. Looks good inside. I also wanted to confirm the crankshaft casting number #A3322R which is what is shown in the parts book for this serial # tractor. After rolling things over I got a better look at the clutch splines and found someone has already tried brazing it.

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I welded up and ground down the clutch splines on a late A once and got away with it but it was 90 percent luck and possibly 10 percent skill if even that much. It took a full day of sitting on a stool with a grinder, grinding a little and measuring. I removed the rear wheel to give me more room. Very tedious. The splines weren’t beat up as bad as yours are though.
 

This tractor was missing the radiator shutter when I bought it. Found a used one in good shape on Ebay and it just arrived today. I figured I better get the shutter while its available and it will work for either of my John Deere A's.

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I think I found a good used crankshaft for the A. If all goes well I should have it in a week or two.
 

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