Now I know why you like the green machines

Last fall I brought home a 1939 b, non running. Went over it completely, mag. Carb, fuel lines, etc.

The other day the thermo said -4f. I thought I'd try the hand start beastey. Turning it over slowly she tried, and after a few revs it was up and running.

I had to choke the death out of the fords and open up the main jet to get the to start so that I could move hay and plow the drive.

The red machines did start hard, and took a while to warm up enough to move.

But not that old b. Had my chores done before the other tractors were warm enough to move them.

Congratulations Ron! You have discovered on the amazing facts of Deere Two-Cylinder operation. They can be alot of monkey-business at times, but the FUN over the years can far outweigh the trials and tribulations. I am a young 60 years old, but the old-timers that had once lived all around my neighborhood explained the fun facts of old tractors very well. And I am thankful for it.

Dad bought a 1940 B at an auction about 30 miles from home in December 1969. The 4-1/2 mph road gear required it to be towed home, NOT running it almost seven hours! Towing on a 2-wheel dolly the neighbors had required the engine to be running according to several Deere mechanics. Tractor was running at the auction, tractor brought $90. Yes, Ninety Dollars! Following Saturday Dad and I go to get it with the neighbor's dolly. Dad cranked on the flywheel till he couldn't stand up any longer, then I cranked on it, then we towed it with the pickup about two miles, turned around and towed it two miles back, not a single pop. We tried all variations of throttle and chock, pulled and cleaned and dried plugs, cranked on the flywheel some more! After over four hours it finally came to life. Tractor was the same way if we put it on the water wagon we hauled water to hog pastures with. If it wouldn't start by the time the centrifugal pump filled the 350 gallon tank we pushed it out of the way and hooked a Farmall on the water wagon. I had to run to the other farm for something, Dad had me stop and make sure it spun over, was afraid the block may have cracked during a cold spell. As usual, I disengaged the clutch, made sure it was in neutral, but gas OFF, choke off, spun it half azzed about twice and it started!

I cleaned all the rust and caked on grease off it, gave it a pretty coat of new green & yellow paint and it sold for $120 on Dad's sale. No hydraulics, no electricals, did not idle smooth enough to even run our 48 ft bale elevator. Too slow to rake hay with. We used it to haul 2-3 loads of manure a year. We put about 250 hours a year on my Stage 2 Super H, shows what a real 16 mph road gear and 6-1/2 mph field gear can do for productivity. Got three 5500# loads of hog feed from town 5 miles away every week in spring, summer, & fall, hauled water daily, mowed & raked hay, pulled corn planter every spring, seeder wagon for sowing oats, chopped corn stalks after picking with Brillion 6 ft rotary chopper. Pulled crop sprayer if we sprayed. And hauled in all our oats we combined and corn we picked. Had an Oliver/Electric Wheel 150 bushel flare box wagon with 2 foot tall sideboards, hauled 200 bushel of ear corn. Super H really wasn't big enough if the ground was soft to pull that wagon but We didn't tell the tractor that, had to drop to the 5mph 3rd gear sometimes.

A well tuned hand start John Deere is twice as reliable as an electric start John Deere in my opinion. My 37 B has yet to fail me in many conditions. My 51 A? I will chock some of that up to us still getting to know each other like how much choke is too much choke, optimal throttle position, let carb run out, leave carb full, etc. But once it warms up and I get the electrical system back up to snuff and everything tuned in after an overhaul last fall she will be as reliable as Grandpa's old B.

yes DR. EVIL, we get it, you hate john deeres and all that they are and they are the most miserable tractors you and your dad have every owned....every single one of them was junk when new, junk when you bought them, and junk when you sold them, and have never done anything but cost you money and make you realize how wonderful red tractors are....wont start, wont pull nothing, pure unadulterated junk....

let it go man....we have all read the 4 same "you hate deeres" stories 38 times.... :roll: :lol: :roll: :lol: :roll: :lol:

The best part is that I have a special needs son who is 22. He can't read nor write, and trying to operate stuff is mostly out of the question. However, the hand clutch system on the B works for him. For once in his life he can run the tractor safely without someone riding with him. He has burnt through severalntank fulls of gas with a big old grin on his face. I just wish reverse was much slower.

We have a 38D as the next project.

All I can say Is we had our fill of Red tractors on our WET farm. I've pulled out H's & M's on a daily basis with a 48 cyclone
A & a 49 B. We'd have to pull a wagon load of corn out of the field so our neighbors with IHC's. could pull them to the elevator.
I won't say a things about the gear selection of a IHC. H. Finally my grandfather said Just leave them things home, we'll use ours.