I bought a 1946 John Deere B tractor. It hasn't been started in years. Can we get it started and drive it home? #johndeere #antiquetractor #willitrun #barnfind
I believe you have a 1946 B, that may have been purchased in 1947 as a left over before JD switched to the late styled model. I have the exact same tractor but with the narrow front, which was my grandfather's. Good tractor. Mike.
g is small tank fr is big tank. be careful about fuelling with the engine running the fumes will be by the stack where they are easily ignited. open the drain on the bottom of the carb and check for flow. this will also remove trash from the bowl. the needles sby the way hould be about 1 and 3/4ths turn out. we have been running our family b for 84 years. good luck. any questions please reach out..
Dad traded our '39 Farmall H for the '54 Super H sitting out in my shop, my #1 snow mover, i pushed up piles 10 ft tall the year we had 108 inches of snow around here. We used the SH to mow & rake hay, made 2 or 3 five mile trips to town with the Heider auger wagon for ground hog feed, 6000# loads, plus hauled one or two 350 gallon loads of water out to the various hog pastures. We used it to haul loads of combined oats or picked ear corn up to our BIG corn crib, think it was one of the bigger ones around, held 8000 bushel of ear corn is we had a good enough crop to get that much. I only remember having to pile 500-600 bushel outside one ear, was probably special circumstances. It had a BIG KEWANEE inside bucket elevator, used a drag conveyor under the surface of the concrete floor to dump into and convey to the bucket elevator. It was ALL link chains, only remember the chain on the buckets jumping off the sprocket once when Grandpa was hauling in. Spent the better part of a day getting things fixed, Dad, Geandpa, and I was tool & parts GOFER climbing the 40 ft up into the cupola of the crib. Our BIG wagon was a 150 bu Electric Wheel flare box on an 8 ton gear, wagon had 2 feet of sideboards, when it was heaped up it was all the SH wanted to pull especially if the ground was soft & wet. The driveway of the crib had a wood platform scale in it, 8 ft wide by 16-18 ft long, we didn't trust it with such big loads so I backed everything from the barbyard to the middle of the crib. No power steering on the SH so I was really good at backing wagons. Dad bought a 1940 Deere B to pull our Deere R spreader thru our hog house, the '39 H was narrowed up special and we weren't going to mess up the Super H. The B came from a farm auction over 20 miles from home, in December. It was running when we got to the sale, it was shut off after it sold, Dad gave $90 for it. Dad and I cranked that stupid flywheel for 2 hours without a single pop. We pushed it back in a shed, told the guy selling it we'd get it next weekend with a neighbor's narrow front end dolly. The local DEERE dealer told Dad he needed to have the engine running to lube some bearings in the transmission or rearend. We screwed around 3-4 hours before the thing started, we pulled it with our pickup, barnyards were snowy & icy but roads were dry. The B's starting never improved, we tried putting it on the water wagon to haul water to the hog pastures, most times I'd unhook it and push it downhill out of the way. I raked hay with it one day, 20 acres at 4 mph made for a long slow boring day, the 6-1/2 mph 4th gear of the SH covered ground WAY faster. I did use a gallon of Deere green and letter series decal set to repaint the B the week before I started college, I towed it to a car wash, had wire brushed almost all the rust off, got most all the built up dirt & grease off with putty knife, Gunk, and car wash. The B didn't quite bring what we paid for it. Thing still didn't start worth a darn at Dad's sale, think he and a neighbor pulled it around the barnyard before people started showing up. Was an odd auction, the '40 B, a 1947 FARMALL M that had our IH 2M-E corn picker on it for 8-10 years. 12 ft Kewanee disk, Case 4 bottom pull type plow with a 5th bottom and a MIDWEST plow harrow. The 4010 Dad bought in '68 only pulled the 5 bottom plow and harrow in 2nd or 3rd gear and the 4 bottom in 4th or 5th. Dad hooked the 4010 to the 6 ft Brillion rotary cutter to cut some weeds and mowxgrass waterways. He needed something with live pto, only the 4010 had it. First day mowing 2+ ft tall grass in 5th gear he twisted the output shaft on the mower off flush with the grease seal. Not sure what that cost but I NEVER did anything like that mowing thit that mower & Super H. Next day I get home from work, mower is fixed and parked by the barn Tractor, 4010 is gone. The pto shaft hammering so hard on turns loosened the 4 capscrews holding the 540 pto stub shaft on and the pto tried shifting from 540 to 1000 rpm while running. That PTO design on 3010 & 4010's has to be the WORST design ever. I used to chop a LOT of haylage for a neighbor, used one of 2 '65 4020's, or a 71 4020 or 4320, and NEVER had a problem. Somebody ought to make some parts like's on the 4020's to replace those stupid bolt on stub shafts on 3010&4010's. Dad had Grade 8 cap screws, Red locktite on the capscrews, split lockwashers, and star-type lockwashers, plus like when he was combining oats with our #30 pull type combine he'd check all 4 bolts every load or two. I guess he under estimated how hard the harmonics of that long pto shaft were in tight turns. I mowed 60 acres of hay and 120+ acres of cornstalks every year with the Super H, and only problem was the cheap weak like Grade #1/8 instead of grade #8 shear bolts. I had to be careful how fast I let the clutch out so I didn't shear them.
I had one of these tractors mine was a 1949 model the way mine started is you put the throttle just about halfway pull the choke all the way out then press down on the starter once the engine catches and starts the run you push the choke all the way in
My Dad was a JD Parts man for many years. One day at the shop they drove a B in for repairs. One cylinder had a bad break and water was filling one of the two cylinders. So funny the B would hit on the good cylinder and on the next one it would push a gusher of water out the stack... I really liked those 2 Lungers
I haven’t heard the sound of a John Deere B in about 24 years I was 10 years old. My grandpa had one from the 40s that had the narrow front end. His also had the platform on the front with a big sawblade. We used to use it for cutting firewood to heat his house. Unfortunately, he sold that tractor when I was 11 now he has passed away and I would like to have one back.
It seems to crank too slowly. Check whether your primary wire is too small of a gauge. They often get replaced smaller gauge 12 volt system wires that can't handle the higher amperage necessary to provide the proper wattage to the starter. I've owned a number of six volt system tractors, cars and trucks over about 60 years and have a lot of experience with 6 volt systems. Nice BW! Great find!
It is a BW. If it's 47 it's an early 47. Deere change to the late style A's and B's I'd year changing from a pan seat like yours to a square pedistle seat with a thick seat cushion. The late styled tra tors also had a pressed steel frame instead of iron and a larger 196 cu in gasoline only engi e was also available. The all fuel engine displacement t was also increased as well.
I had a 39 B with a wide front. I should not of sold that tractor. The reason i sold it was that i went in the Army back in 88. Right now i have a 45 and a 49. I love them both.
Are you kidding me? Fueling with gasoline while the engine is running is a recipe for disaster. Small tank is for gasoline to start then change over to main tank with a fuel similar to kerosene often called “power fuel” designed for low compression engines. Not many BTU per gallon but cheaper than gasoline. Carburetor is probably varnished or shellacked up. Needs to be taken apart and cleaned. Might be rust in the bottom of the tank too. Owners manuals aren’t hard to find. They can be ordered from John Deere.
That’s a John Deere b with factory wide front axle lots of them in western canada/ wheat lands of the us, looks like a mid to late 40s their called the slant dash.
