JD A leaker

[plow hand]

Iam looking at a JD A on craigslist it leaks at the seam the owner thought it it would have to be split is there anything I would have to do with the internal engine parts to split it?

 

[Mike M]

What year A and which seam ?

 

[plow hand]

46 in front of the flywheel by the mag holds the front and rear of tractor together.

 

[Mike M]

Later A's had a big problem in that area leaking not as much on those earlier ones.
I was able to split the late A's by makeing a stand to hold the front frame on the sides. I had to remove the bolts holding the fanshaft to the governor housing,unbolt the connecting rods and shove the pistons as far forward as I could,You are going to have to unhook an oil line that feeds oil pressure to the back of the block ,unbolt ALL the block nuts and bolts then I supported the rear section with a large rolling floor jack under the oil pump area,then unbolted the frame and rolled the back end away to gain enough room to work inbetween.I also had some wires and throttle rods and some other stuff so the back of the hood was freed up too. This was on tractors that had good engines so it was quicker for me to split here just for that block to main case gasket then to pull the block out as then the head will have to come off first. But then you can remove the rods and pistons and block and leave the frame attached not have to worry about supporting the 2 halfs safely if you don't have good equipment to do this.

If your engine is needing any work this may be the ideal time to just pull the head off and block out and get it in top shape ? Only you can decide which way works best for you.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Mike,

That was a good answer to plow hand,you covered it well,and even gave the option of re-building the engine,thus saving not having to split it..

Good job!

~Will

 

[plow hand]

Mike,thanks it's on craigs list Mn. whats your opinion on this tractor for the money?

 

[Mike M]

If it is the $1,500 one listed in Oak Grove,then I'd say it will make someone a good tractor because it appears to have all the shields and lights in place and fenders too. this stuff adds up if buying after the fact. Great looking tires not rusted up or beat up. Alot better than most any I have seen in the Ohio area. If I had it I'd be asking more,but with todays economy who knows ?
I might get $1,500 without the fenders ? so it is likely a good buy.
Just be sure to see if it has a serial tag, all to important these days, runs good and check the bottom of the head and block for any cracks and welds and also check for a loose clutch driver all of these are too commonly found and should effect the value some but I have seen it not effect them at auctions.

I'd have to get a closer look at that leak. Those year A's didn't generally have a big problem with the block gasket like the late A's do.The older A's like this one have more bolts and better support of the block. I'd look close at the governor housing gaskets and kinda by that photo the oil on the ground looks farther ahead and it may just be a bad valve cover gasket ?

If you need another tractor or a project I'd be getting over there and checking it out better if it was close to home. It looks good and used parts should be easy to find for those.

 

[Mike M]

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement !

Sometimes I wonder if my hunt and peck ramblings on here make any sense to others ? I can work on these tractors without giving them a second thought and it does get hard to put it into words.