How to Start 1946 WD-9 Mcormick Deering 

Thanks for the video. It brings back memories but I still don't know how it decompressed to start on gas. My dad had a WD9 on his farm. It was one of the first tractors I drove and I remember it was a real beast to steer for a young kid. Dad could start it with a hand crank because the 6 volt batteries didn't seem to last long. It usually started immediately once you got the knack of doing it . I remember more diesel rattles when it was switched over than when you switched your tractor to diesel. Also, I was told the opposite for shut down. Always shut it off in diesel mode to avoid burning the valves and cracking the head because diesel runs cooler than gas ignition. I recall not liking it because of all the waiting to let it warm up at starting and cooling down before shutting it off but now I would really like to see one up close again. It could pull a 10 ft cultivator and was considered a big tractor in its day.

Thanks for this video. We had a WD-9 when I was growing up, today I remembered my dad crank starting it and I wondered if there were videos about it. Sure enough! If I have to move that thing someday, your video will no doubt be very helpful. It was really neat to hear the same sound of the WD-9 running from many years ago, from wherever you are instead of northern Alberta, Canada where I was. Cheers!

Good video, very instructional. I am storing one of these for a friend, and they are a rare beast here in Ireland. The one I have also starts on petrol with the left handle down, and the right hand one about half way up. Good to know about running on petrol to cool down the engine after running. Will do this in future. Nigel in Ireland.

Great video! Very informative! The "Gasoline Start Diesel" was unique to IH tractors from the pre-war WD-40 through to the 650 Diesel which was built until 1958. It was used on many IH crawler models too, from the pre-war TD-40 to the early series TD-15 & TD-20 of the early 1960s

When I was young I was told to idle down any diesel for 10 min. before shutdown. Gas motors too.

glad to help! I might add though, im not sure if the wd6 is the exact same, but at least it will give you an idea. good luck to you, if you have any questions feel free to ask and ill try to help as much as i can.

thanks! i checked yours out and that is pretty cool.. i'm glad to see another one out there running as well!!.

You did your "Change over" properly. I HATE seeing people go to "full throttle" when changing to diesel. I used to always turn off the gasoline valve when the engine was warm enough so the engine was never stored with gasoline left in the carb. As soon as the gasoline ran out, I just switched to diesel and the transition was SEAMLESS and smooth!

Not sure the year they switched oldest one we have is a 51 and gas is up. Made supers and super wdr9's until 56 i wanna say then 600/650 I'm from ND also. Lots of these around. I guess they are more rare in the row crop states. Watch out for mice in the clutch housing. Biggest PITA about working on these. Every single one I've messed with has been full to the top.

nice tractor

ok thank you! just curiosity, but does the R stand for rice?

flat country ...sweet tractor

sound pretty sweet old girl and thanks lol yup I know about the cracking head on them

i would love to get a super wd9! and i'm from western nebraska it's mostly row crop here so i dont come across many dry landers. but i managed to get the w6 and w9 and wd9. two out of the three came from wyoming, i live right on the border of nebraska and wyoming lol. and yes i too have ran in to the mouse nests in the bell housing, and you are right, it's a pain

that is a cool toy you have there. So the lever is the compression release i take it and the gas motor turns the diesel all the time, that is there is not clutch to engage the two together? or does that handle do all of that in one motion? never been around one of these old girls

dad always switched back to gas as a shut down. one crack head. almost 9000 hours. 3 pilot et shafts.

Awesome video! You should check out my video of one of our WD-9s cold starting I think you'd enjoy it

Ya we would cooled her down then shut her down on gas. Watch the brass fuel filter. Can disintegrate on some models. ours was a super WD9 and blew the pilot shaft out of the clutch every 6 years or so. Would send ya right out of the seat to the muffler if it went when you where plowing. Saw Dad crank start this thing once in the 60's hell of thing and hell of a tough guy to do so. Crank laid in the cast belly pan. Nuts so 5 th gear for roading... you where really living high gear on that thing. Strong arm steer and black hands at the end of the day. Steer wheel just wore out to your hands. Dads was down to the steel in a lot of places. Just about 10 K hours with one head and 3 pilot shafts. Otherwise fine tractor for the era.

Funny what you said about the heads cracking. That happened to me on the WD9. I was 10 and I didn’t know any better when I smelled something funny (coolant) and didn’t shut it down. I felt horrible!!

Very few of these in our country. Iowa. Most of these were sold out west. Wheat farms mainly.

Love watching those old girls starts. That one seems yellow in color. Is it an industrial?

Man that brings back the good ole days with my granddad. Super video.

I have thé same traktour and l am looking for the séparé part

That video brought back some pretty good memories, my grandpa had a WD9 we didn't know what year it was but it did have factory hydraulics, In my opinion I think those had to been one of the best tractors ever built. Great video keep on posting!!!

You need to warm them up good before putting them to work. You need to let them cool off good on diesel for 5 minutes under no load before switching them on gas to shut them off and keep the radiator full. This will prevent head cracking. Make sure your temperature gauge is good.

My dad had 1. Wish i could find 1

Ya, it all depends on the year, im not sure when they changed it. All i know is mine is a 1946. Yours must be older cause they stopped making them in 1950 or 1951, and started in 1941 or so. So they must of had your style first.

Is the diesel injection pump then engaged by the lever when it is switched over to diesel or how does that work? That lever operates decompression valves to start on gas??

thank you for watching. glad you enjoyed it!! keep posted for more, and check out my other videos if you like, and ill be sure to put some more on here!

when switching over to diesel it immediately dropped two firing cylinders. I would suspect two of them are not spec.

you helped me! thanx for postnig this, i have just saved a wd6 from a field as well

The later tractors the levers go the opposite way. Make sure when you shut it off to leave it in high compression. Otherwise your starting valves may warp. We had to fix that before.

Is a TD9 crawler the same principle?

That sounds sweet!

WD-9 = Wheatland tractor WDR-9 = Rice Field Special

how do you remove the starter?

If you're gonna look keep an eye out for a Super WDR-9. They are harder to come by even up here. Worth more too. I think I was wrong on my years. 1953-54 was the last year for letter series tractors. 54 was when the number series began.