Will it run? Stuck 1926 John Deere D 

You are lucky to still have these old tractors around to restore. Shows how well made they were, nice to see them running again!

I have never seen a homemade air connector and compressor used to unstick an engine! I have never seen a homemade device for power lapping valves! I have never seen a tractor started using a belt from another tractor! You are a legend!

The gearbox sounds angry, but the engine sounds good. A little more love and you'll have a cool old machine that works well, too. I'm glad you saved it.

A lot of work. Nice job!!

What a lovely old Deere !👍.

Usually the magnetos need the magnets re-forming and new points and capacitor, Then with some marine two stroke oil in the first half gallon of gas, they are often good to go as long as the valves are not stuck.

Back in the 60's my dad bought an identical tractor. After removing the head and hitting a stuck valve with a sawed off baseball bat and a sledgehammer it worked just fine. Never was a big fan of the steel wheels tho.

Damn it runs good.

if you are serious about breaking it loose fill the cylinders with a 50 50 mix of diesel fuel and motor oil and then heat the cylinders up with a weed burner torch..not only will the heat expand the cylinders , once hot the detergents in the oil will clean the shit out where its stuck

Excelente amigo una verdadera Reliquias

Enjoyed your content on the '26 JD D. Keep it rolling.

My '29 D is getting a much-needed valve job. The best torque spec i can find is 205 ft.lbs. for the head nuts. I've got new lead washers and a copper gasket from Olson's. Did you have to retorque the head nuts after initial warm-up? Did you use any sealant on the head gasket? Thank you, sir.

We always used to use air to help with getting them free, and our flywheel cheater was about 3ft longer than yours. 😄

There is an easier way ti lap those valves, put the drill on the stem end , protruding from the outside of the head. Voila.

Congratulations on getting it to run again, I just love the sound of a johnny popper.

Outstanding, congratulations on a job well done!

Excellent!! Glad to see that you got it running. Out of curiosity, what is smeared on the side of the engine, grease? I couldn't quite tell and I had a hard time hearing your commentary. You may have explained it in the video. Thanks!

So cool I love seeing them old tractors up and running!

Have my dads 1952 JD D i have to do the same to it

Well done. I like the saving of historical Deere's

Had a similar problem with my 1930 GP, it would turn about 3/4 of a turn then stop. Took the head off and discovered mice had gotten into the engine and had gotten through an open valve into the cylinder and eventually built up enough crud that it couldn't come to top dead center, cleaned everything out, installed a new head gasket and she fired up ( had to have the magneto rebuilt first)

You'd get less "jello" in the video if you didn't mount the camera on the mcahines.

Do they call you Mumbling Mike ?

JA

Another Popping Johnny lives!...and will never have a flat tire.

I've always wanted a early model John Deere D for my collection, but that model is scarce here in PA. Currently I have a John Deere Ll and model 40, and I'm currently working on a 1940 Model H

As basic and clunky as those tractors were in their day they were still 50x better than owning their equivalent working power in horses.

Made 50 years before transistors were invented. So no electronic check engine light ..ehh..?

Very good machine 👍🏻👍🏻... Very good job 🛠️👌👌👏👏👏...

Ruling.

Hi there, Just a suggestion, when you lap valves using a drill, attach the chuck to the shaft at the collet end rather than the seat end, much easier and consistent, you only need to be able to lift it enough to allow grinding paste to fit and to allow the paste to centralise on the seat every so often. I understand you just wanted it to run, but as an experienced mechanic, if I was going that far I'd rebuild the head properly. Do it once and never need to touch it again. 👍 Glad you got this amazing old JD running against, love these old machines, they'll outlast many lifetimes.

She was stubborn , but you prevailed and got er' goin'

Thank you gentlemen for saving another piece of history !

Nice.

We'd love to have you and your D at the 2023 National Thrashers Association Wauseon, OH in June to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the D.

Can you imagine 8 hours a day on that?

I love hearing that old iron purr. Thanks.

Tell us what your doing

Can bring the camera closeer

You don't say !!

Excellent job

Built to last.

Man , those old tractors were reliable just want to run. Even after all those years.

Nice little D. I have a 1935 D that I have yet to start up. I like your idea of using the belt pulley from another tractor to get her big flywheel spinning.