1982 John Deere 317

[wahayes]

Hi All

Well I finally got my 317 over from my father in laws house to my shop

. Plan on doing a full restoration. Any tips or suggestions are welcome. I have no idea if it runs yet and for some reason it seems to tilt to the right in the front. I’ve worked on cars my whole life but this is a first for me .

Where should I start? It appear to be complete minus some knobs here and there. I know I need to get a hold of some manuals and get familiar with it. Hoping I have the series 2 motor.

 

[744k]

I have a 318 that does the same thing. The pivot bolt is rusted so the axle won't pivot

 

[wahayes]

Ok so I was able to do some disassembly today. Unfortunately I believe I have a series one motor as there’s no oil filter I can find. Also I may be doing an engine rebuild as this thing has zero oil in it at all which is not surprising but it sure would’ve been nice albeit a bit delusional to see a full stick of oil on it haha. Apparently the hood bolts that hold the hinge must’ve broke at some point bc it has bolts going through the hood to hold the hinges so I’m thinking that was a homemade solution as I haven’t seen that one before. Also bone dry on hydraulic fluid which again, I’m not all that surprised by. No idea how long she has sat for. Surprisingly lots of poop but no nests so that’s a win lol

 

[Mark-Ia]

If I remember correctly, The series 1 or 2 didn't have a oil filter. Series 1 had the oil pump pickup in one side of the engine, causing the engine to throw a rod when driving on a ditch bank opposite of the location of the pickup. The Series 2 had it in the center of the engine so it would pick up oil when driving on slopes.

 

[used red MN]

Looks to me like you already goofed up the first step in your restoration. I’d say it should have got the wet treatment at the local car wash before you kicked it off if the trailer. I am also going to say that posting this on the Garden Tractor forum might be more helpful than here, maybe on the John Deere forum would be just as good.

 

[Jim.ME]

Garden tractor forum would be best.

 

[wahayes]

Looks to me like you already goofed up the first step in your restoration. I’d say it should have got the wet treatment at the local car wash before you kicked it off if the trailer. I am also going to say that posting this on the Garden Tractor forum might be more helpful than here, maybe on the John Deere forum would be just as good.

Well that would have been ideal yes lol however I live in the middle of nowhere so the nearest car wash would’ve been 20 min in the opposite direction of where we were headed . I do have a pressure washer though . Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to roll it out and spray her down

We were moving another old tractor I have (1958 ford 1841 ) that had all but one flat tire that same day and it was HOT HOT . By the time we finished getting that thing extracted and moved I just wanted to be done for the day lol

 

[wahayes]

Garden tractor forum would be best.

Mods can yall move this to the garden tractor forum? I missed seeing that one

 

[Jim.ME]

Mods can yall move this to the garden tractor forum? I missed seeing that one

@NormanSavesTractors

 

[NormanSavesTractors]

Welcome to the Garden Tractor Forum! Looks like you have some work to do on that 317! I once made a half track tractor from a John Deere 317. You likely have a series 2 KT17 engine.

You could say I have lots of experience with the John Deere Garden Tractors, let us know if you have more questions and share your progress.

Welcome to the forum and enjoy the process!

 

[wahayes]

Welcome to the Garden Tractor Forum! Looks like you have some work to do on that 317! I once made a half track tractor from a John Deere 317. You likely have a series 2 KT17 engine.

You could say I have lots of experience with the John Deere Garden Tractors, let us know if you have more questions and share your progress.

Welcome to the forum and enjoy the process!

Yea I’m super excited about it. I know nothing about them at the moment but that’s part of the fun. I definitely will be sharing progress and have no fear, there will be plenty of questions

That half track is awesome!

 

[wahayes]

You likely have a series 2

How can you tell this ?! Lol

 

[NormanSavesTractors]

How can you tell this ?! Lol

Is the engine tag still on there? You can tell by serial number. You can get the service manual free online on the Kohler website.

Look up iSaveTractors on YouTube, that's me and use to be my business. Lots of good info and inspiration for you.

Have fun!

 

[504]

As long as the engine is free you will save it(maybe)look for a broken frame where the the rear end bolts to it. I have seen several broken, a piece of angle iron and they are an easy fix.