48 John Deere A

[MTB]

I am trying break lose the stuck engine on a 1948 John Deere A. I am trying to bolt a bar to the flywheel. What is the size of the 2 bolt holes? I am not sure if mine are slopped out, but can"t get a bolt to fit tight.

 

[Paul from MI]

Don't be afraid to take it apart. Far better to remove the head and the block so the pistons can be taken out one at a time. Lots cheaper than looking for the parts you broke trying to force it to turn. Besides the rings are probably stuck so it won't run right until you do anyway.
Paul

 

[wilamayb]

Something to ponder is what will you gain by breaking the engine loose in the tractor? If the engine is truly stuck the block will have to be bored anyway. No reason to pull the pistons out. Pull the rods/pistons/block out together and have the machine shop press them out. It will prevent you breaking things including your jaw that gain you nothing.

 

[Mike N Mo]

I gotta agree with the 2 who already posted about just pulling the head and block. IFFFF you do continue down the road of trying it turn it over, pull the rocker arm assy off, or at least confirm that all valves are free. If there's a stuck valve you'll bend or break something in the valvetrain. Mike

 

[jd b puller]

I think he's heard all these "success stories", where people broke them loose and got them running. The part that he didn't hear was "I sold it to some sucker at auction".

Wilamayb, I'm with you 100%, take it apart and do it right.

Wilamayb, please e-mail me, I might have something for your A project. (nothing crazy).

 

[Dave_from_Texas]

I finally got mine broke lose. I used a chain hoist and had the weight of one side of the tractor on it. Ran it a year after that with no power. I finally rebuilt it last year. I have about $3000 in it. I have several Farmalls that were not stuck that bad that I have been running years with plenty of power. You never know until you try.

 

[primerk5]

Ok, Here's my .02 Cents, and its long winded

I just broke my 48 A loose last night. Well let me rephrase that. I found that it wasn't actually stuck.. [u:ae345fa604][b:ae345fa604](I got lucky)[/b:ae345fa604][/u:ae345fa604] Before I knew it wasn't stuck, this is the path I was taking with the intention of doing what you are trying to do.. Pulled valve cover and checked valves. I found that my intake valves were free but both exhausts were stuck. My down pipe from the muffler to the manifold had rusted away so much that I broke it out easilly. I taped up the manifold without looking in it Pulled the tape off and found a pile of large rusty peices in it. I then decided to pull the manifold. To get that off the radiator, upper radiator pipe, and fan shaft had to come off. After I destroyed my manifold, (It was cracked and had a hole in it anyway) I found that the Exhaust ports in the head were full of rusty material. It turns out that my Valves were closed and nothing got though them to the cylinders. At that point I decided that the valves would need work so I took the head off. Cleaned up the exhaust ports with a vacume and a screw driver so that I could see the valves. I managed to get them loose after that so that they would move pretty free. One still sticks but I had to get that rust out of the ports so it was a good thing to remove the head.

Last night I opened the crank case cover back up to figure out which direction I would spin the motor first. The bolt holes you are asking about in the fly wheel. I'm not good with thread sizes. I think its 9/16 standard but that might be a bit big. Could be ½. Lets just say the head of the bolt that I stuck in mine takes 3/4 wrench. I put a bolt in either hole and put a bar between and let the weight of the bar do the work. Fortunatly for me my engine really wasn't actually stuck. Its just tight, and I can't turn it by hand. Probably because it hasn't had any oil running though the bearings in a long long long time.

My problem with my tractor turned out to be the belt pulley. The part of the clutch that the fork is in and pushes on the dogs on the belt pulley was seized to the First reduction gear cover. The clutch was froze in the engauged position as well. It was holding everything.

I would definatly suggest if you haven't already pull the valve cover and check the valves. Possibly look in the manifold for loose rust. If your tractor has spent signifigant time outside you may similar rust issue like I had. I doubt you will be as lucky as I was though with the stuck issues. If your engine has gotten stuck due to water in the cylinders, your probably going to have valve problems. Which will mean you'll have to pull the head anyway.


Good luck with your 48.

 

[Drew]

"I sold it to some sucker at auction"

Sounds a lot like my 60 I bought on ebay 3 years ago. Item listing said "some blowby". "Some blowby" was an understatement. When the engine finally came apart last fall, the ringlands and rings on one piston were busted up, and there was heavy rust pitting in the bottom of that cylinder. It had all the appearences of bust it loose to get it running...but they busted more loose than they bargined for.

Then there was the loose clutch driver that negelected to get mentioned in the item listing too.......

 

[Mike M]

Don't bother with those bolt holes. I did that one before and broke out the fylwheel there.
Best way I have tried is loop a light chain through one of the holes and then hook a come-a-long to that in such a way as it wraps around the outside of the fylwheel then go back with the other end to like the drawbar frame.
I have loosened up several 2 cylinder engines with good luck. All had cast iron pistons though. I have had ZERO luck with newer tractors. Between alum. pistons and no good place to turn them from.
I would always recommend trying to free one up first and if you free it get it running and see what you got before tearing it clear apart. And when you do go apart it is WAY easier to get them apart if you can turn them over.
There is a right way to start out too. Pull the valve cover,remove the push rods and rocker arms. Then see which valves are stuck. Pull the carb. and exh. pipe. Suck any water out of the cylinders then put plugs back in and fill it up to the top through the exh. and intake with your favorite brew. I have used diesel in the past because I had plenty of it around and it used to be really cheap. Soak the valve stems too. PB blaster is good here.
Next WALK AWAY and let it soak. Keep filling it up more and try to see if it loosened up any. I don't get too much pressure on them until they sit for a week ? more or less ? Try going both ways. If you see it start to move then it will free up. Just keep it full of fliud and work it back and forth. You will at some point have to remove the spark plugs to let the engine turn more. You can work on the valves after the pistons move. Any badly stuck valves if you can tap them down and can't get them pulled back shut with a pry bar you can tap them shut some with the pistons.
If nothing wants to budge anywhere then a tear down is in order. But I say nothing ventured nothing gained. You really won't lose much time trying to free one. Your just that much closer to a tear down. If you get it all freed up post back and I'll give the tips to a successful start up.

 

[wilamayb]

puller,

I sent you a message.

 

[MTB]

A little more info. The tractor ran fine for many years, longer than I have been alive, but has not been used hard for a few years. A couple of years ago when I tried to start it in the spring the engine was tight. After filling the cylinders with Mystery Oil, I was able to get it free by turning the flywheel backward. I kept it loose, but didn't have time to get it running. The next spring it was stuck again due to a rusted out exhaust pipe, I assume. The valves are free, so I am trying to get the engine loose without competely tearing it down.