Restorer Finds A Pair Of A's
February/March 1991
Michael A. Meyer
 |
#451256
|
29331 Co. Rd. 2, St. Joseph, Minnesota 56374.
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After reading stories for years I finally decided to send in one
of my own.
I got started in tractor restoration when I was fourteen or
fifteen. My best friend, Steve, purchased a 1940 John Deere B from
my uncle, which we then restored together. I learned a lot from
this project. Steve knew far more about tractors than I and he
taught me a great deal. Even though we both grew up on farms, my
knowledge about mechanical items was not as broad as his. After
restoring the 1940 B, I wanted a tractor of my own. After some
checking around I acquired a 1945 John Deere H. Again Steve and I
restored this tractor with great enthusiasm. When this project was
complete I realized the great cost involved when a tractor has
starter, lights, generator, and hydraulics, as did the H. I began
getting interested in the unstyled line of John Deere tractors.
They didn't have starters, lights, generators-I continued to
restore and work on seven unstyled John Deere A's and B's.
This is where I will begin my story:
Today I am nineteen years old. About a year and a half ago I was
with a few friends and our discussion drifted to John Deere
tractors. One girl in the group (who was a friend of a friend)
commented that a farm up north, which her father owns, had a couple
John Deeres on it yet. I got her father's name and other
necessary information so that I could contact him. The next few
days I spent trying to get hold of this man. Finally, I talked to
him. He said the tractors were John Deere but he did not know what
model or year. I asked several other questions, but he had no idea
what I was talking about. I asked him if they had spoked wheels, he
said yes! But, he continued to say, they are the ones that farmers
cut off and welded on rims for rubber tires. Well, cut offs or
factory round, this bit of information gave me a general idea of
vintage. I made an appointment to meet him at his work to go visit
this abandoned farm.
On the way to the farm, all I could think about was an unstyled
G. That's what I really wanted at the time, and still do. We
arrived at the farm and both tractors were sitting in the front
yard, out of sight of the road. My expectations were almost met.
They were both unstyled A's, but one had factory round spokes
on the rear! They were John Deere A; #451256 and #451139. I could
not believe the close range of serial numbers. Both tractors were
complete except for one magneto. The one had a stuck engine and the
other one ran, or at least that is what I was told. We settled on a
price and I agreed to pick them up the following weekend.
The next weekend my father and a friend of mine went to get the
tractors. We had a 7? by 16 foot trailer. I knew it would be a
tight fit as well as a heavy load, but that's life. We left
home at noon, and drove for about an hour and a half drive. My
intention was to get the tractor running that was supposed to run,
pull the second tractor onto the trailer, drive on the first, tie
everything down, and leave. Easy. Wrong! I started by getting the
first tractor running. I put in water, cleaned up the magneto,
added new plugs, checked the carburetor. Wait, the carburetor was
rust, lots of rust, too much rust. After removing the carburetor
from the non-running tractor I had enough parts to make a good one.
Put gas in, and started to crank. The exhaust was rusted off at the
manifold so I knew if and when it started it would be loud. After a
couple more cranks it was running. This was a major accomplishment.
The rest would be a piece of cake. Wrong!