Potential Project: Slant Dash JD A

Hey all! It has been a while since I have posted in any of the forums - school, work, and a new girlfriend are proving to keep me plenty busy.. I hope everyone is doing well.

The reason for my post today is I have been looking the last few months for a new project. Something to keep me busy for the long winter here in MN. I got to thinking, the last few years I have focused my skills on building motorcycles. Needless to say, I miss having a tractor to wrench on since I finished grandpa"s "41 Case SC.

Well, I just happened to be driving home this morning and came across a slant dash John Deere A. I have been looking at getting a Deere for a while - And would rather try to find something pre-1947. No one was home, but since the tractor was right along the road, I decided to give it a walk around. So here is the condition:

Seems to me the tractor is all complete with a magneto ignition. I couldn"t read the tag, as it was pretty corroded. The tires are decent tread, holding air, but weather checked. The shifter, and Hi/Lo range levers both are working. The brakes are not frozen, and the tractor rocks back and forth. Since no one was around, I took a picture of the sign, and figured I could give the guy a call tonight.

I talked to the gentleman, and he gave me a little history on the tractor. The last time he had it running was 6-7 years ago. He has a ton of projects going and is starting to get rid of some. It was parked because (as he stated), one of the rods was knocking pretty good. The sign on the tractor stated a priced of $650, but he made no mention of that on the phone and he told me straight out that he wanted $500 for it.

The question I have for you is, should I be looking for anything major? Deere"s are quite foreign to me as I have always been an Farmall/Case man. Is this a good price? It seems to me that it is compared to what I have been seeing on Craigslist around here. I may be able to get him down a little bit more on price, I was thinking of offering $400.00, but I don"t want to low-ball him. I talked to a friend of mine that said he saw the tractor there a month or so ago (so it has been for sale for a little while).

My ultimate goal is to have a tractor that my girlfriend can use for parades at shows, etc. She said that she would enjoy doing that together, which makes me want to pursue it even more. I have enclosed a picture of the tractor to help you all out.

The old slant dash A's are about as common as a Farmall H around here.
They're good tractors though, and parts are readily available.
If you have a good dealer around, they're probably on the shelf.
I'm in Michigan, $500 would be reasonable here even for a non-runner
if it was complete, not stuck and had usable tires on it.
It would be worth more than that if you parted it out.
People just don't want to gamble on a non-runner, and rightfully so.

As far as collecting a "hard to find" tractor goes, I've already got that with a center exhaust Case SC. Rarity really isn't an issue for me. I, personally, have always wanted an old A JD, and was always more taken back by the price of them. But, since I first got into tractors, the prices of the green machines has come down from what I have seen. I had an IH C, and M previously, and both were great tractors. I wish I still had the M, but I think I am going to hold off on that until I can convince my uncle to sell me his (which was my grandpa's) so that the Case SC and the IH M that grandpa had can be parked together again.

I'm more or less just looking for something that both her and I can enjoy together. I rarely give up on machinery, as I spent nearly 11 years restoring my Case SC. I think that both her and I could get plenty of enjoyment out of this - and if not, we can always sell it.

Looks like a good project. I have found it's not the big things that killed a project, but the little things. Everything needs to be there, and not been worked on by a slasher and hacker!

Should be worth $500, it looks complete and straight, doubt you'll find one any cheaper.

You cant really get hurt on it at that price. You could part it and scrap it and get close to double that out of it. I would buy it if it was close to me.

I would have to see a picture of the girlfriend too in order to tell you if they will go together so that it will be a good project for you.

The tin work looks good and for me that's the hard part. I can tear down an engine and rebuild it no problem, but a dent in the hood is just going to be there. LOL Where in Mn. are you? I'm by Pine City.

I am northwest of the cities, west of Anoka. I am the same. Although, I am getting the hang of bodywork. I have a friend that has been working in auto body for the better part of 15 years. He helped me with my Case SC project when it came time for bodywork and paint. The tractor turned out phenomenal. I did a lot of the mudding and sanding, but he guided me through - showed me imperfections and how to fix them. I'm sure grateful that he showed me that, as I learned a lot. My next thing to learn is to paint. He keeps telling me it is not as hard as it looks, but the only thing I would have to practice on would have been the project itself. I didn't want to risk it, so I let him finish the job.

your not far from my son's house then. He lives right off 10 just west of Anoka, right by the place that sells all the yard stuff.

Yup, I am just west of there, about a mile north of 10. Small world! I'm at the Nowthen show every year, if you are ever there.

From what the picture shows it's about as complete and straight as they come. The only butchering I can see is the fuel line and that light added in front, both minor irritations. Go for it before it disappears. Jim

Buy it!Quick! I pd $1000 for my flywheel start A 2 weeks ago.....And it had a 'butchered' front end.

More than reasonable- I"ve seen some on craigslist for more money....complete, but, oh, the $$$ carb and $$$ mag are missing. re "that" light....I have some JD movies from the unstyled days- showing a bugeye like that on an A pulling a combine. Big enough, you only need one! Just to catch the windrow/standing crop on the right side. Left side, you"ve already been there, so who needs it again?

500 is almost scrap price. Looks complete, except for the seat is "wrong". The hood is not even cut around the exhaust! Looks like it still has the shutters.

You may be able to get by in the short term by re-shimming the rods as they don't have insert bearings. Later A (stamped frame) and 60 had insert bearings. Not too hard to get in there and check. Clutch could be loose too and causing a knock.

Me, I'd be on the way to an ATM....

The big thing is she used to that backwards hand clutch.

I am working on one as we speak. If I would have
found the one pictured I would have junked the
one I'm trying to save. 500.00 is a steal, as
long as it hold water & no cracks in the block
& head I think you had better Jump on it. A lot
of work & when your done it still won't be worth
much money, still can be a usefull tool or you
can just look at it.. Mine will get used, I
cannot just look at them.. They gotta earn their
keep.

If you look real close it does look like the hood is patched but it is a near perfect patch. All the more reason to buy it NOW. Jim

At $500 it is a suprise the scrapers have not yet bought it and shipped to China. Take off the tires and you still have enough weight there that it comes to less per pound than what it would bring over the scale.

That clutch isn't backwards, the other one is. When you want to stop a team you pull backwards on the reins the same as pulling a Deere clutch. And releasing the reins tells the horse to start moving the same as pushing the Deere clutch.

She said that she would enjoy doing that together!!! (Punctuation added by me)

I hope I don't sound like a lecherous old man, but I think I remember seeing a picture of your girlfriend in one of your old posts.

If I were you, I'd certainly buy it for her!!!

Looks like a nice catch. And the tractor don't look bad either.

Looks like it had a mounted 2-row corn picker. The rust on the front was from having debris trapped between a piece of screen or hardware cloth, and there are remote handles for the compression release petcocks. There might have been a clutch lever extension on it as well.

Well guys, after a second look, and seeing no cracks in the block and talking with the gentleman a little more, I ended up giving him the cash. I ended up giving $450 for it, as it sits. The tin is in good shape, a couple of dents on the right (clutch) side on the hood and lower portion of the grill. It has been cut around the muffler, but the patch job done was very nice. I may just use the patch to repair the cutting job.

He was gracious enough to show me most of his collection as well (which was pretty impressive!). He has tractors from nearly every major make! (Several JD's, Massey Harris, a BEAUTIFUL Farmall F-20 wide front on steel, Minneapolis Moline, Case). It was really quite amazing! Enclosed you will find pictures, and the serial number is barely legible (513955) which makes this a 1941. He estimated it to be a 47. It just happens to be the same year as Gramp's Case SC! How neat is that?!

Now for the big question: What is the trick to getting the wheel clamps loosened after X amount of years being in the same position. I am going to have to narrow them up when I get over there to pick it up, in order to get it on the car hauler. Any tips (other than lots of lube and a big wrench)?

I had a 46 slant dast that was knocking. It ended up just being a loose weight in the govenor. I would buy the A in a heart beat.

Good luck getting those wheels to move. Start praying now...

Looks pretty good. I had 41 slant that I kind of wish I would have held on to. It was a rough old machine when I got it. Same deal as yours, it had a rod knock when I bought it, but was missing some of the tin too. I tore it down and found one bad rod that was all beat up, but the crank was still half decent. I stuck a set of 60 rods in it with new bearings that were .002 under and off we went. Put the missing tin on it and thew a coat of paint on it and had fun with it for five years clearing snow and a little mowing in the summer and local parades. Neighbor down the road stopped one day and asked if was for sale. I ended up selling it to him. I can still hear it running now and then when he fires it up. All he uses it for is clearing snow or scraping his horse pens out. He has had it for 10 years now and still uses it regularly. Those things seem to go forever.

Greg

I dought it had a mounted picker as for that the rear wheels would have been reversed and that is not an easy job to do. They are in the position recemonded for cultivating 40" corn rows. And the 6 volt cystem was a bit weak to crank so that was an easy way of getting it to crank better without having to get off tractor and close them after getting it running and opening them before you got on the tractor.