Looking for Super M with M&W live clutch

Was told a story by my Dad over the weekend. In the general Richland-Ashland-Wayne county areas of Ohio there used to be a Super M with an M&W hand clutch that the owner was taking to shows. There should be evidence of a weld repair to the engine block on the distributor side. We are curious to know where that tractor is today.


This tractor was owned by my dad for a short period. The story is remarkable.

Story goes that a nearby family owned the Super M, had a mounted picker on it. After harvest one fall, they and let water get down the exhaust over winter. They go out to get to work the next year and the engine wouldn't crank. They do the next logical thing and try to tow-start the tractor. Rod breaks, punches a hole in the distributor side of the block and cracks out one of the blocks main journals.

My dad buys the broken tractor and brings it home, broken parts in a box. He tears into the engine and checks things out. He measures the remaining crank journals and finds he has a heavy piece of round stock in the scrap pile that is clean and fits the journals perfectly.

The broken sections fit together well. so he V's out the cracks to prepare to weld. He uses the heavy round stock with a lot of external bracing to hold everything in location. Then he builds a fire under the engine block to get hot enough to be ready to weld.

He claims to have successfully welded everything back in place and patched the hold in the side of the block. As he went through the reassembly process, he claims that all tolerances checked out and was surprised even the original crank shaft had survived. Seems almost impossible to me, considering the crank had to have moved some to allow one of the journals to crack out.

Anyway, the story goes that that he rebuilt the engine, only new parts being bearings and a new piston and rod for one cylinder. He says he put the tractor to use and never had any issue with it. He eventually sold it and said he would see it sometimes at tractor shows and that it has been a few years since he's see it. He says you can always tell which tractor by the M&W hand clutch and the visible repair in the side of the block.

Anyhow, hoping someone on here knows of this tractor's whereabouts. It's possible that someone further away has bought the tractor.

Also, as a follow up, yes the story has a lot of details I need to follow up on after having a few more hours to think about it.

I'm curious what grade of rod he used to weld.

I also imagine there would have been a lot of soot on the block from the fire. So did he try to clean the weld area after the fire?

I'm also making a personal assumption that it was the center main that broke out of the block. But I don't think he said one way or another.

JK welcome to YT! Did your dad also have a chicken that laid Golden eggs and a cow that gives chocolate milk?
If the crank sprung enough to bust out a main journal which I suspect was the center one since they only have
three; and was still straight enough to run that is amazing. It could have been done as you have recited,
but.....as Mike Rose would say ...That’s the way I heard it.. I know I would hate to attempt such a repair without
a 4 in. grinder and a carbide burr tool, which are readily available now but back then not so much. Best of luck in your search for it, it definitely sounds like a tractor with a
story. By the way is 89 the year you were born? If so you are the same age as my son.

Darn wish we could edit posts here. Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame is who I was referring to. He has a podcast series he writes and narrates named ..That’s the way I heard it.. Most of the stories have coincidental antidotes in them that are most of the time nearly unbelievable. Very good listening!

I caught your drift. I'm betting this repair didn't happen until 1970's some time. Another detail I have to fill in.

I'm pretty sure the grinder used to do the job is still used in the shop today. Pretty beefy cast aluminum unit. Not small. But probably enough to do the job if you have a large diameter disc.

If it was anyone beside my dad telling the story I would call BS. But I've seen him weld other cast iron blocks before with success. Just never heard of anyone going so far as to weld back in a critically located feature with machined tolerances. Totally nuts.

I have *A* Farmall Super M with the M&W live clutch, but not the one you're talking about. At least I don't think it is. I'm here in Western NY, and the tractor came from even further East. There does not seem to be any sort of engine repair as was described.

I could be convinced to part with it.