October/November 1996
Kurt G. Lueke
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The picture is my recently constructed Johnny Popper Jr. Hit &. Miss tractor.
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Rt. 11, Box 493 Poplar Bluff, Missouri 63901
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The Stover engine and the 1952 B series John Deere tractor were
purchased at a local farm auction in the spring of 1994. The
tractor had already been professionally restored and was in perfect
running condition. The Stover engine, on the other hand, was
mechanically free, had good compression and appeared to have been
well prepared for extended storage many years ago, although
hadn't been run in over a decade. The engine sat around in my
barn for a year before I figured out what to do with it. I
occasionally attempted to start it with ether but could only get it
to hit two or three times at best.
After learning of an old timer 20 miles north of my hometown,
the engine was loaded up on a trailer and delivered to him. His
excitement with old engines did not allow him to waste any time
before beginning 'operating' on the old one lunger.
Although I was aware that there was still some trash in the fuel
tank after many flushings, I was unaware of a check valve at the
end of the siphon tube in the fuel tank. After many years of
storage, the check valve was totally gunked up and sealed shut with
varnish. After a good soaking in carburetor cleaner and blowing out
with pressurized air, the parts were reassembled, installed and the
engine was successfully started. What a treat it was to hear this
massive conglomeration of cast iron come to life after a 10-plus
year hiatus! It was also the first hit and miss I've ever heard
run.
The next step involved a mild teardown to prepare for a new coat
of green paint. Although the original paint appeared to be a dark
green, I elected to use John Deere Green. The Wico magneto brass
housing had been painted black somewhere along the way, but it
seemed a shame to hide what could easily become a highly polished
brass finish, so off came the black paint and on went the new
luster.
The next stumbling block to deal with after reassembly was what
to do with the finished product. I had somewhat considered ordering
a kit to build a little hand truck to tote the engine around, but
the sheer weight and bulkiness of the engine voted against this
option. The intense craving to harness the mechanical energy of
this little fire exhausting monster was catalyst enough to round up
a pickup load of odds and ends parts and structural steel to
assemble a tractor. Since I already had the '52 B as sort of a
'blueprint,' I thought, well, why not build a Jr. sized
tractor modeled after the big one.