This 1949 John Deere B has been sitting for "a few years". Can we get it running and driving again? Send us a postcard: Watch Wes Work P.O. Box 106 Fulton, IL 61252 Send us an email: mail@watchweswork.com
@@TheFool2cool true, but there is equipment that could be profitable and yet simple enough the common man can work on. Unfortunately that technology is 40 to 60 years old and has been regulated out of production.
I’m sure you figured it out Wes, but for those who are watching and don’t know, that “hammering” noise he’s referring to from 9:54 to 10:14 is the magneto tripping (rotating).
That’s what I was wondering; did they put impulse couplers in tractor mags back then? I knew they did in at least one of the two aircraft magnetos. Cool video
It's actually an impulse magneto. When the shaft reaches a certain point the shaft is spun quickly by the impulse mechanism which results in a hotter spark. The faster a magneto spins the hotter the spark produced.
There’s a simple solution for those who don’t want the commentary - mute their RU-vid video player. I enjoy the commentary, as well as your sense of humor.
That belt pulley was most often used to power workplace hazards. There was an amazing selection of hazards available back then and most came as standard equipment. The aftermarket hazards that were available would amaze you, but the most incredible inventions of all were the hazards that a farmer built himself.
My grandpa had a firewood chopsaw made out of wood and spit that could be driven by sucha pulley and in deed was using a belt made out of a discarded fire hose.
Running a 2020 John Deere in 2093 would be quite a thing, with having to scrounge up replacement computer parts, programming the proprietary firmware, and then getting sued by JD's immortal lawyers for daring to touch their IP. Definitely seeing the appeal of these old tractors :) Our 1960s International back on the farm was a great tractor too, never missed a beat and super easy to maintain by ourselves.
I think that everyone needs a Wes in their circle of friends. Someone who can troubleshoot and fix almost everything, has the patience of a Saint, is a gentlemen who's word is their bond and can entertain you with their knowledge and whit.
These old tractors were about as complicated as a nail. They were made with the expectation that the farmer would work on them. My late father told me about the time he was using his Farmall "H" and it started to knock. He pulled the oil pan and found a loose rod bearing. He went to the local IH dealer and bought a new rod bearing insert, put it on and went back to farming!
Been there done that-it works fine. Just clean up the scuffed crank journal with emery cloth, check your clearance with plasti- gauge, good to go. Used the leather belt trick for emergency repair, make sure to soak leather in oil before installing it. Repair will get you through 1 hay cutting (small farm).🙂
I'd rather find a old abandoned piece of equipment on the side of the road and haul it home than to buy a new fancy pants rig that will cost me my life savings.
Because of that we repaired everything right where it broke. Between the service truck and set up tables we had an entire shop setting in the middle of fields at times. The only time one was loaded and hauled to town was when the rear differential housing broke, everything else on our older and new equipment was repaired/replaced where it stopped.
I have a B and 630. There is a small mesh screen in the sediment bowl originally, use NAPA Part 3039 to replace it. NAPA Screen and filter combo will keep the crude out 👍If everything is right, you do not need to choke the carb, it will fire right up even in cold weather. A repair business here in Ohio will gun drill all the passages back to spec. The cheap carb repair kits only scratch the surface.
@@edwardmyers1746 Farm boys will be like that... I have seen Wes turn to his father for parts and advice. I've also seen him tearing his hair out over a carb in a pickup. Wasn't meant to be any kind of criticism. He is an _excellent_ mechanic from what I've watched over the years.
Hey Wes, you appeared to be smiling a lot during the video, I guess having a break from the electronic diagnosis work to back to basics mechanical repairs has its rewards in these modern times. Enjoyed the video.
My grandfather had 2 JD Bs. They had a compression release on both sides. Open them to start it. Then when it started you closed them. No battery. Coast it down a hill or crank it by hand. Great to see you working on one. I want to thank you for sharing. It brought back many happy times.
Mine didn’t have a crank. You opened the petcocks and spun the exposed flywheel by hand through the compression stroke. If it started, shut the petcocks, and when it warmed up, switch over to fuel oil and adjust the radiator lovers for proper temp. No water pump.
@@vmitchinson Oh, my. What a recipe for a fire! We found an ancient buzz saw on a type of platform that a long belt powered from the side can. Half twist to keep it on. No safety guards of any sort. Shudder. Cut a lot of firewood with it, and nobody died.
thank you.always glad to see the old ones come back. the B was a good little tractor.i cultivated corn with them. was great handling tractor.i was 18 then.86
You fix their cars. You fix their trucks. You fix their 50+ year old farm equipment. You fix their snow plows in the middle of winter. Seriously Wes, you are a huge asset to your community...I hope they appreciate you!
Meanwhile, they bring all the easy, moneymaking stuff to the other mechanics, leaving Wes with all the hard stuff, which he can't bill 12 hours per working day for, like they do.
When I grew up on a farm in Southern Illinois in the 40's and 50's there were a lot of farmers that owned the Farmall F20s and F30s. Many of the big farmers in Northern Illinois owned these tractors. I have driven a lot of them doing farm work. They were slow but work horses when you wanted to pull a big harrow or disc. Some of the farmers used the belt pulleys to grind grain for their livestock. The steering wheel caused the brakes to work on each back wheel according to which way you turned the steering wheel so the tractor could do a sharp turn. My father owned a F20 from the day he started farming until he died which was probably 40 years. My brother bought and restored several of them until he died. His son still has them in a storage building along with a lot of old cars. Thanks for the great video. It brings back lots of memories.
This video brings back a lot of memories. We have a family farm and we used to have Deere 600, 620, & 630. They are all setup virtually the same as this one. The sound of the engine and exhaust, the whine of the transmission and such as you drive. Those were the good old days lol back before cabs and AC and radios lol
The JD claim to fame with the crank driven integral clutch and belt pulley was no mechanical losses as the case with most it's competitors that had some type of gear driven belt pulley accessory. Spent many a 60s summer filling the barn with loose hay using a '48 JD A and a belt driven auger feed JD forage blower of the same era. It was hot dirty work but I smile now. Thanks.
Thanks for the memories Wes!! I appreciate the work you let us in on. And needing an exterminator skill set to start / finish a repair is entertaining to say the least. We lived 200 miles from Grandma and Grandpa. We got to visit a couple times a year. Mom and Dad would load us up in the 65 Wildcat and we'd make book. Grandpa was always busy, and if he had field work to do, he'd go out to fire up his old JD (may have been a B). He'd leave the can on the exhaust for us and shoot it off when he started the tractor just to entertain us. I rode with him some, but it wasn't very far. I remember white knuckling him to hold on. I guess potentially mashing a young grandson into paste wasn't on his to do list. That long skinny hood and the feeling of balancing on a tightrope was VERY familiar. Those were simpler times... I did get to "help" with chores: feeding cotton seed cake to the cows, letting the chickens out and scattering feed for them, trying to rob a few nests of their eggs. The outhouse was the weirdest place. That's the first time I ever heard a cat purr and it scared the life out of me. It's a wonder I didn't fall in... She had a few kittens behind the paper goods bucket. Strange what you remember when you let the memories unfold....
Had a good friend who passed away. He had 1 g model, 2 a models, a styled a and an unstyled a model. Rode them in many parades. All of his were handcrank and multi fuel. The simplicity us amazing and they still run and work. Great work as always Wes!!!
My dad bought a farm in central Indiana when I was 8 years old (1964). My uncle always came from his farm and planted for us using, I am fairly certain, a JD 'B' just like this one. Brought back some sweet memories. Thank you for bringing it back to life!
When I was 8 the old man plopped me in the seat of a B. First machine I ever piloted. Pulled a New Holland rake around the Okiehomie bottomland until I got the nod to run the Allis when I was tall enough to reach the pedals. Your video looking out over the nose sure took me back. Only thing missing was ours had a straight pipe with a flapper that percolated in time to the two banger.
I have a 1953 Farmall Super H that I use with a brush hog weekly. All original in Prescott Az. It sits all what we have of winter, and it starts immediately in spring. Amazing how a simple design performs so well decade after decade without out any problems. Nothing built today will be running 70 years from now. They are designed for failure so they will need repairs and replacement. Sad times lacking pride. Originally from the Southside of Chicago. Nice to be able to visit Illinois without having to be there, Great and best You tuber.
IDENTICAL model to what my grandpa had on his Ohio farm! This instantly brought a flood of wonderful memories back of growing up on that farm & driving his John Deere before I even was in school. Sure wish I could find one like this today !!!!! Many thanks for posting this, Wes !!
Ayo Wes, I don't comment on your vids a lot, but seriously, dude, I love your content. It's educational and entertaining. When I first came across your channel, you were rebuilding and painting a brake lathe I believe. Each of your uploads brings joy to my Saturdays.
The emulsion tube as you called it is the nozzle and definitely needed pulled out and cleaned, would have never ran well. To get the brass screws out of the carb, it helps to hit them with a handheld propane torch until you get a green flash. Let them cool, then use a well fitting screwdriver and they'll come right out (usually). Loving this video!
I have a '44 B and did that exact thing to get those brass plugs out. It's a good idea to run drills through those passages to clean them out. One of the antique parts suppliers had a kit with the 3 drills you need. (Sharps maybe). There is also a rebuild kit that has new plugs with it. The pivot screws in the bowl I had to get out by the hammer and punch method.
@@merrittderr9708 I've used the torch on the pivot screws too. An impact hammer works good on them too. I got my drills from Roberts Carb back in the day but I have heard their service has gone downhill since the original owner retired
Literally fist pumping right now. Wes you literally make my day when you post a new video. Thank you for keeping all of us wrenchers happy with your content.
I've got a 1947 BN John Deere, still runs good, everything works well on it, pulls a two bottom trip plow very well, I'm slowly going through it taking one peace at a time cleaning it up and painting it in my small shop, hope to have it done by next spring so I can plow the garden and drive it in the 4th of July Parade as well, Love your show, like to see you working on old stuff like tractors and pickups, I grew up riding my horse and a John Deere B.
Mr Wess you have brought back so many memories. I can remember driving one of those bicycle tires tractor tractor's Down the road. In the fields. A lot of years. I don't know how many young people today could get up every morning at 4:30am Ready to go to the fields. Great content keep up the great work.
Great video it,s good to see the vintage machinery still has a life and no where to plug a computer or diagnostic machine into just straight forward mechanics ,
My last experience with a John Deere "B" was about 45 years ago, helping a couple of friends load one on a trailer, and haul it, don't even remember where we took it, but I remember being very tired, that darned thing was heavy, even when I was young and strong.
I'd say she's held up pretty well! My dad had a '38 "B". Hand started by spinning the flywheel. Same hand clutch you have there. Only other difference is that it had 2 fuel tanks. The small one at the back was for gas for starting the engine. The 2nd, larger tank, was filled with kerosene. Once the engine warmed up, we'd switch it over to the kerosene which was cheaper than gas back then.
Thanks for the video Wes. Takes me back many, many years to working the farm with my grandfather. He only let me drive the International A or B as a preteen. That is where I learned to drive standard transmission. Keep up the great work and thank you for sharing!
Finished the video, great stuff and running good! For future reference, if you can get the ALL little plugs out with the tip I gave earlier, they really run a lot better if you carefully clean those passages, they control all the fuel flow for the idle circuit going to the needle adjustment
This is one reason I watch your channel, you’re not afraid to take much of anything on, makes you interesting to watch. I grew up on a farm with a B model and a G model Deere, good tractors, but like anything else, it all comes down to maintenance and care of equipment. Thanks Wes, great video from my stand point sir.
Gotta love these old Johnny poppers. Rebuilt a 39A for my uncle when I was 16 years old. That’s when I discovered that these engines were a lot like the Harley Davidson engine where one piston fired a few degrees behind the other. I sure miss the time when you could open your window on a night in may and hear the spring frogs, whippoorwills and someone working ground in the distance on an ole Johnny counting them off.
73 years ago machines were built to last. Now they are built to last only so long before we have to say, "so long" to them. I enjoyed your video. Might watch another one in a day or so.
I have restored about a dozen 2 cylinder JD's from the 30's through the 50's. I prefer working on the vertical engines...usually the 20 series from Dubuque. Currently have a 420U torn apart. I do all our tedding and raking with 420's. Loved this video.
Sweet old tractor, simple and engineered to last. Planned obsolescence was still way off and manufacturers allowed for the fact that their products would need to be fixed using a few tools and basic knowledge! How have we allowed manufacturers like John Deere to dictate what we are 'allowed ' to fix. Guess thats progress? Great content as allways Wes! Best wishes from the UK 🇬🇧
It's why my grandpa refuses to buy modern John Deere's. He only uses the ones he has from the 60's and 70's. That's when they were most reliable and had a good reputation. He's a fix it yourself kind of guy. He simply has no time to deal with the John Deere HQ whenever something goes wrong.
Runs great and the top of the tank fix is something called Seal-All. It comes in a tube like tooth paste you may have to do it in several coats. The directions are on the packaging, my Dad used it all the time to "fix" gas tanks. Great video as always and Thanks.
Love it! That thing is only 3 years older than I am, so it's continued life is just the kind of encouragement I need! She's pretty, too! Thank you, Russ!
I just restored a 1941 9N fuel tank was also rust through on the top. Same issue, rodents and probably 80 years of dirt. Was not expecting that. Love your videos. Keep it up
Great video wes amazing after all they years it still functions that's when stuff was built to last great job on getting it running and with no major problems will run for many years to come I guess take care and all the best 🔧🔧🔧👍👌😀
Man does that bring back memories. My grandfather had one for his hobby farm. It was the first thing I ever drove. Miss 'em both. Thanks for the reminder Wes.
Electric start certainly makes things easier! I helped a friend get his hand-start Model B running again, and man if you don't have the carb set just right during start, it'll flood out. At that point you just have to heave the engine over and over with the throttle wide open and hope it clears out. Also, coolant level is very important on thermosiphon Model Bs. If the coolant level drops below the top of the radiator, no coolant will flow at all.
We always parked our tractors on a hill. Even the electric start 50 and 720. Give them a roll and bump the clutch in 5th gear. Easiest way to start one.
That folks, was classic "Wes", the ability to jump from today to long yesterday and not skip a beat. Thanks for that Wes, was a nice throw back to your previous "old school" successes.. Priceless. Cheers!
Impulse mag. A good practice with hand clutches is to leave them engaged. That way, you know that it is not in gear. More than one person has been run over by bumping the lever only to discover that it was in gear and it moved causing mayhem and injury. The throw-out bearing is not as critical on an over-center clutch because it's only really under pressure when moving from one position to the other. That said, the bushing between the crank and the driven plate does then take the relative motion so that's the other reason to keep it engaged. Nice original condition tractor - I would love to have one (and the acreage to put it on). There's supposed to be a gauze sitting on that fuel bowl intake, about an inch or so long
Thanks Wes, I have had a few of these over the years that have sat for long periods of time and the leaks was the worse repair. Easy to work on with the "big nut" carbs and babbit bearings for connecting rods but over all simple. The grease certs on the rear axle are a seal to keep the oil in the rear end. They was power houses for being such low hp. The only down side was no live power so brush cutting was interesting if ya didn't know how to run it.
Thanks for bringing back the sounds of the B model, spent many summers riding when the paint was green, they really require two hands to operate what with the hand clutch
Wes, the first tractor I drove was a jd “B”. I wasn’t strong enough to turn the steering wheel without stepping on the left or right brake also. Then I moved up to a 1954 jd 60 with power steering. That was in 1959 or 1960, 6 or 7 years old. Still farming with jd equipment that is a little bigger.
I spent many hours plowing fields and cultivating row crops on a JD B, but we didn’t have a fancy one like that with the electric starter and lights. I could ease it forward using my right foot to engage the clutch. I loved the tight turning radius. It was a good piece of equipment for a young fella like me. 👍 🌽
I plowed miles and miles of dry-land cotton in West Texas on a tractor like this. Got paid $22 a week for working six days a week, sunrise to sunset. Great job, Wes.
Wes, it looks like you enjoyed that old-school repair. No need for a scope or codes heck you didn’t even need the serial number. Very relaxing good job.
Ive worked at a JD dealer for 30 years but never had to work on a 2cyl. I do work on alot of 4020s though . We used to have a old guy that would work on them until he passed away . The main crank seal are actually reverse threads to auger the oil back into the engine not really a seal. Some had a valve on the fuel petcock that open using engine oil pressure .
How many tractors built today will be running in 73 years ? None ! Probably none in less than 20 years. The current generation of just out of technology collage can not keep them running now. I'll be dead and won't give a crap... oh wait I don't give a crap now. Wes you did a great job getting it running and thanks for sharing.
