Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux

[m3a1]

I received a text from Doc, who was at work.

"Waddya want for Christmas," she asked me.

"I know exactly what I want," I replied, "but it would be easier if I show you."

Doc came home in the morning and fell straight into bed, unconscious. No show & tell.

While she snoozed, I got on the computer, really dug in and sought out some brake linings for the M715, so I could get myself over the hump which, until that time, had not shown a whole lot of progress (ZERO progress, in fact) and, WooHOO, a Christmas Miracle! One of the better known suppliers, whose initials are - Memphis Equipment, claimed to have them, along with complete new shoes if one wanted them. So, I called, we chatted, and I bought and was treated very nicely, I might add. Not only did I buy several relining kits, I also bought a complete new set of shoes for all four corners.

Doc woke up eventually and I informed her what I had done.

"Congratulations, Dear," I exclaimed, "your Christmas shopping for me is complete."

When the box came I had to peek and the contents are absolutely GLORIOUS. Doc wasn't impressed.

Girls...

...what do they know about the joy of receiving lovely new parts that are unusually tough to find, much less get for Christmas.

But, she knows when her husband is happy because he's grinning like a dog passing a peach pit.

Feliz Navidad!

[m3a1]

Yet ANOTHER mouth to feed!

This is one of the problems associated with being a true gear head. Anything with a motor interests us. And that Little Voice... You know, the one that tells you to STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW. Well, my Little Voice's volume setting is set so low as to be negligible. But, before we delve into this, let's back up just a bit.

First, I swear wasn't looking for another vintage tractor. But, because vintage tractors usually have motors (running or otherwise)...well...I just can't be expected to NOT look right?

RIGHT?!

Back me up here, will ya?

With the advent of our annual Christmas party, I am (also annually) forced to confront the contents of my storage unit(s) which almost inevitably forces me to also confront the fact that I have WAY too much stuff. And, by happy coincidence, I am a guy who occasionally finds himself in the mood to send some of said 'stuff' down the road, particularly if its ATOS has been exceeded. (ATOS - Allowable Time On Shelf) So, this year, I did the right thing. I conducted a series of minor purges which took me over to one of my favorite rummage places; a faith-based concern and one with a (usually) open donation station.

There, out front and on a trailer, was what I thought was a 9N tractor which turned out to be a Ford 2N (essentially a late-production series of 9N, renamed 2N so that ol' Henry Ford could avoid wartime price controls on already established products) and it was out front without a For Sale sign or any sort of information.

By the way, I've learned that if your start any olde tyme tractor conversations with the model "2N" people will look at you with either a completely vacant expression or they will look at you like you have lobsters crawling out of your ears (kind of like saying you own a Gama Goat in polite company).

Dail tone.

Naturally, I looked it over every time I was there but, because I am nearly the King of Projects Not Yet Dealt With, I did nothing about it. Isn't that almost the saddest thing you've ever heard?

However, after multiple trips to drop stuff off and after multiple looky-loos, I began doing the sizing this situation up. What I call, "doing the math."
1 - It was parked in front of a rummage place without any signage
1a - At this time, most people are so financially involved with Christmas most are not looking to spend money on an old tractor
2 - One obviously roached right rear tire, looking mighty shabby
3 - Three other tires so badly in need of air they may just as well have been flat
4 - An older, faded, brush paint restoration
5 - A lot of evidence that it had been running... not recently, but HAD been running, but recognizable only if you looked closely

All of that added up to this might be a decent little tractor that, for some reason, had fallen out of use and had developed little or no interest for potential buyers who didn't even know it was for sale (owing to the lack of a sign stating that it was). Maybe the seller was anxious to sell. With all that 'math' done in my noggin, my curiosity got the best of me and I just had to ask someone what the hell was up with the darned thing. So, I went inside dreading this moment and asked el Jefé Maximo what the story was. His reply, "Something is wrong with it," and he handed me a post-it note with a name and phone number. "You should call," he said in such a deadpan way that it sounded like a triple dog dare. Well, that sounded like a mandate to me and who am I to argue? So, I called. Bill gave me the side-eye when he saw me dialing. He knows better than to get between me and my food.

The owner told me:
6 - There was nothing wrong with it other than the badly decompressed/decomposed RR tire
7 - It was indeed an older restoration that he had done for the benefit of his family
8 - The mechanicals that needed attention way back when had been sorted out by a reputable, old school mechanic (a guy who I knew and respected)
9 - The kids had outgrown the tractor and when he finally stopped using it to mow, he parked it and it hadn't been run for some time
10 - And would I like to have the rotary mower implement for free if I bought it?
11 - And then he quoted me a price one would have to be completely insane to say no to.

A giveaway price plus free stuff. Sure sounded like I was talking to the right guy.

*sigh* Here we go again...

We met at the tractor later in the day. He rolled up in a very unpretentious, 55 Ford pick'mup; a DIY restomod. We leaned on ancient iron and went over all the details again and naturally, I agreed to buy it (after Christmas) and he agreed to take it home and keep it from potentially being picked over. It would be a terrible shame to lose a carburetor or a radiator or whathaveyou at this point.

So, all is well. We are on track to close the deal. I went over to his place today to take some detailed pics of it so I could begin learning a bit about it and (Crazy Town!!) Doc asked me, "Shouldn't we keep it?" Glad she waited till I was sitting down before she said that.

Joyeux Noël and may all your dreams come true.

Cheers,
TJ

[rickf]

Don't EVER let that woman get away!!!!! Now, I hear they are closing down some of those monster 1,000,000 sq.ft. warehouses. Maybe snag one of them and have somewhere to keep and work on all of your crap indoors out of the weather. I am sure the Doc would agree to that plan since it would completely empty the yard.

[m3a1]

I have a yard?

[m3a1]

Two days ago I contacted the fellow who was selling me 'This ol' Tractor' and paid him cash on the barrel head. As the tractor was already on his trailer, and as his trailer was already hooked up to his truck, we made ready to take the Ford up to Dodgeman's ranch. I realized we were now making ready to transport what had just become MY tractor and I had to specify that the single, miserably small, ratchet strap wasn't enough load securement to suit my taste.

Some times ya gotta speak up.

With that done and with a 'box o' parts' and a bill of sale in hand, we set off toward the ranch with the seller bringing up the rear. Had to keep The Billmeister in check, since we were leading and I didn't want that fella to have to struggle to keep up...

...particularly with MY tractor on board!

So we meandered up into the hill country on a winding Farm To Market road and made it to the ranch without any difficulties. We even unloaded and plugged the old 2N into its temporary home without any difficulties. To say this movement phase was uneventful would be an understatement. The former owner reminded me that I still had a mower parked on his property and would I please tell him when it was time to move that out sooner than later?

You BET!

So, there is still another piece to be moved.

Today was just an exceptionally beautiful day. So, rather than move a mower, I elected to dig into the tractor just a little bit and get a better feel for its health. Dodgeman texted me a pic of his super early 9N (with cast aluminum hood!) on my new tow dolly. Seeing my tractor created an urge in him to go to the rustiest corner of the ranch and retrieve the poor old thing. So, I grabbed my Go Box of tools and a few other things and headed up there.

Once there, we pushed, pulled and nudged the 9N under the shed roof, nose-to-nose with my 2N. Well! Let me tell you something. I'm darned grateful for what I got. Putting it nicely, the 9N was not in a fit state and by comparison, made my rig look like it was gold plated. However, one might point out that his was free and mine wasn't.

Anyhoo, I tackled the right rear tire first, pulled the stem valve and found it to be completely shot. Replaced it, added air and up she went, very sweetly. But in the world of tractor tires, the same old rules apply; what goes up, must come down. The new valve helped but, alas, didn't save the day. So I made note of the tire/rim size. This will become something other than a quick fix.

Since I had the air hose out, I swooshed off all the little bits of detritus, particularly around the spark plugs, and along with all the other unidentifiable stuff, plenty of flaking paint went bye-bye. Pulled off one of the spark plugs and got out my ultra low-bid scope and had a little peak inside.

The valves were beautiful. The piston was beautiful. The piston wall (what I could see of it) looked beautiful. The spark plug looked like it had been running in a finely tuned machine and if things couldn't have gotten better, well...they amazingly did. I buttoned that back up and turned my attention to the battery. Remember, after the tractor served to entertain the kids and grandkids, it became the primary mowing machine so, it had not been completely out of use for very long. But how long is "not very long"?

Well, the battery was marked as the latter half of 2019 and it's of a size and style perfect for little tractors and not much else. Use fuzzy logic and one might conclude this little tractor probably had been parked for not much more than 4-5 years. But, of course, batteries can get moved around, so that's not all that conclusive. I wouldn't be the ranch on it. But, from what I can conclude solely from the cylinder health, I have some high hopes for this rig.

And now, a little test just to see where your head is. Observe the following photo.

IMG_1479.jpeg

What did you see first? A Ford tractor? A man with a gun? Or did you see a guy who is about the shoot an important part of his anatomy off?

Cheers and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
TJ

[m3a1]

Yesterday was a really good day, tractor-wise. Went up to the ranch with nothing in mind other than to remove all four plugs and introduce some oil into the cylinders. My Eagle oil can was found to be inadequate, owing to the lack of space above the head of the engine. So, Dodgeman came through with a funnel and some vinyl tubing into which we poured some motor oil and I controlled the volume of oil by crimping the tube. Easy peasy.

After that, I fell prey to wanting to jump ahead, rather than patiently waiting a day to allow the oil to sit and soak. So, I grabbed a handful of fan blade and pulled the engine over and it moved very sweetly. I was turning it over backwards and each cylinder noisily burped it's compression into the intake and out through the oil bath air cleaner.

Bloop....bloop....bloop....bloop. Houston, we have compression!

I stepped over to the other side of the tractor and pulled it through the OTHER way and the engine turned over nice and slick; each pull easier than the other. Well, heck. This project just jumped ahead a country mile. It's certainly gonna run. Now I have to find a battery for this rig.

Walmart offered the best price (by about $40 cheaper) and oddly, Walmart didn't come up AT ALL when I did a Google search on 26R batteries. So, off to Walmart I went where they had three, brand new 26Rs on the shelf. Walmart credited me with $12 on the battery return, but also charged me $3 for mandatory Texas disposal fee...which seemed like a cheat considering Texas would make money just because they can levy taxes, Walmart would sell the old battery to a recycler and make money over and above that $12, whomever would transport said battery would make money and the recycler would make money because they would sell the remnants to the highest bidder...all of this, just because I bought an old tractor that needed a battery.

...Food for thought.

And I didn't even get a Thank You for starting the money ball rolling downhill.

Cheers,
TJ

[m3a1]

Yesterday, while I was enjoying my morning cuppa and musing about what sort trouble I might get myself into, I received a call from the guy who sold me the tractor (and bonus mower). He was ready to move the mower which, for those of you who are curious, turned out to be a King Kutter 48" rotary mower and it is properly sized for the monumental horsepower of the Ford 2N (a rip-roaring 20hp). King Kutter is a price-leader type mower without a lot of frills; made in 'Merica by a company in Alabama which is still in business.

I rounded up Sir Billiam and a few bits of kit for rigging and a pair of gloves (which I put down for a moment and then I immediately forgot) and off we went, gloveless. We arrived there in short order and the seller was already in the midst of loading the mower on his trailer with a small Kubota bucket-loader...

...and he was kinda stuck.

Which is to say, the mower was about 1/5th of the way onto the trailer and the mower was not only cattywampus...

It was also cattycorner.

Now I don't know where else you're going to read about any situation described both by the the use of word 'cattywampus' and 'cattycorner' but using them both to describe a single event just might be worth remembering. Has to be some kind of record...at least for anno domini 2025.

Moving a rig designed to be towed on a three point hitch with a single wheel in the back is only easy when you USE the three point hitch. There he was, doing it the hard way with the bucket and a chain, rather than hooking it up to his three point hitch and simply backing it onto the trailer. But, I reckon 1/5th of the way on the trailer was better than nothing. Bill and I re-rigged everything and it went up pretty easy, providing me with some time to look over this mower.

Some loose bolts and a broken weld at a critical point; a missing rubber skirt on the approach end (meant to keep dust and flying debris from heading toward the tractor), some bumps and bruises here and there and a bit of rot on the top panel, all of which could be sorted out with a bit of cutting and welding. But, as long as the right angle gearbox is okay everything else will follow along nicely.

This purchase also came with a 5 gallon bucket of Super S 303 hydraulic oil. Alas, the bucket was so old it was about to come apart and it already had cracks in some critical places, suggesting to me that picking it up by the handle meant one was taking a helluva risk. Seller dude hauled it up onto the trailer by the handle and some oil spilled out through one of the cracks, onto the trailer deck and down onto his pristine, suburbanite, concrete driveway.

Oh dear Lord! Please don't let that bucket fall apart! Averting disaster, I stepped in at that point and suggested that we simply put the bucket of oil aside and I would get another one, come back and transfer the contents out of the ailing bucket to one that was brand new. Then I picked it up with one hand underneath it to take the weight and carefully set it aside.

We drove up to Dodgeman's ranch where the unloading process was easy. We just threw a strap around a big tree, hooked onto the rear wheel and drove the trailer out from under it. If Dodgeman doesn't like where I put it, he'll pick it up with his Bobcat (I gotta get me one of those!) and move it. Afterwards, we did indeed transfer the oil to a new bucket (along with a bit of water that had worked its way in) so, I'll have to take the good oil off the top if it becomes necessary to use it.

With the delivery of the mower, the transfer of ownership was complete. A tractor found at a rummage store, along with a bonus mower, for a giveaway price; the whole kit and caboodle now in hand, including a now-rendered-harmless exploding bucket of hydraulic oil.

What a great way to start the year.

Hope everyone else has had an equally good beginning!

Cheers,
TJ

[m3a1]

Our neighbor just called. Turns out he's moving and would I like to come over and take some of the stuff that he was not taking with him and couldn't leave behind? Oh, you betcha.

The Billmeister and I swooped over and loaded up a small mountain of scrap steel (which went to a friend who did a lot of scrapping) and quite a bit of PVC pipe and plywood and 2x4s (all mostly new and unused) and a sweet little receiver hitch mounted tray (for the mother-in-law) and a drag harrow for my tractor.

MORE tractor stuff!

Yikes!

[rickf]

Ok, So now you are in the market for a warehouse located on a farm.

[m3a1]

Both my kid brother and my cousin have fallen prey to circumstance. My brother slipped on the ice, did the Scooby Doo bongo dance and, upon landing, tore up his knee's connective tissues rather severely. My cousin's rotator cuff has been repaired and according to him, hurts worse than ever.

It's cold here. It has snowed. And I am blissfully warm inside my little house with no reason to go outside other than to make snow angels (which ain't gonna happen) and put food out for the critters.

A week ago it was chilly, but beautiful out. Not quite tee shirt weather, but close to it. In order to make some progress on the 1947 Ford 2N, I drove out to the ranch and plucked the starter button off the tractor. It had been immobilized by years and years of paint (somebody REALLY liked to paint this rig). Eventually, someone abandoned the starter button circuit altogether (the button is a simple plunger that, when depressed, toggles a piece that completes a circuit by making an earth ground). The genius bit of the starter button is that it has a shoe up on the plunger's shank that won't allow it to be depressed if the transmission is in gear. So, naturally, I want to get back to that sensible design and away from the more modern, keyed switch.

After about 15 minutes of wire wheeling paint off and a light application of heat from the torch, the paint that had made it's way up between the starter button cap and the chassis of the switch finally gave up the ghost and all that remained was a lot of PB Blaster and a detailed cleaning while working the starter button up and down while bits of paint came out. Now, it works slicker'n cow slobber and all that remains to do is degrease the outside of it and apply a coat of paint.

Also made some inroads to the matter of the need for another rear tire and after a rather tiresome investigation it seems there will be no escaping the fact that the tire will be rust welded to the rim (as per normal) and will have to be cut (as per normal) and have it's bead bisected (as per normal) and then finally pealed off the rim to reveal whatever devilry lies within (also, as per normal). Old tractor tires are well known for being stubborn. I am well known for being equally stubborn and for cheating every chance I get and thus, I am willing to try new things. So, the plan is to cut away about 30 degrees of tire which will allow space to get in to cut the bead. With that, either end of the tire won't be able to the support of the other side (which is why old tractor tires are so resistant to coming away from the rim).

As they say, "Divide, and conquer."

At least that's the plan, anyway. But, in the meantime, I will stay warm inside and bask in the rosy glow of my laptop and a hot cuppa joe.

Cheers,
TJ

[rickf]

I was beginning to wonder if you move to Mexico or something since you have not been talking. It is 9 degrees out and windy as I type this. I ain't going out for anything today!!! Too many years of HAVING to be out in this weather, no more. Staying in by the fire!