scrap or restore?

[Mnethercutt]

I would also chime in and mention that whether you restore it or not, don't consider scrapping it. On the one hand you will make vastly more profit by parting it out, and on the other if you scrap it you're destroying quite a number of likely usable parts that haven't been produced in many, many years. Every one of these tractors scrapped instead of parted out shortens the life of the remaining ones as parts wear out on the ones still in use.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

one hole in hood is for the missing muffler, what is the other hole for?

I would say the hole is for the starting tank, but I'm not sure if the Super A came as a distillate model. Petroleum distillate was a waste byproduct of the refinement process that could be bought cheaply and used as tractor fuel, but the tractor had to be warmed up on gasoline before it would run on the distillate. The tractor would be started from gasoline in the starter tank, then switched over to distillate.

From your pictures, the tractor is going to need a manifold and a starter just to see if it will run. That's assuming that the engine is not stuck, and not including any work/parts for the magneto or the carburetor. You'll be $300-400 further into it before you know if it runs, unless you can find a nearby source for used parts.

People have different ideas of "restored" and "scrapped." People use restored to describe anything from getting a tractor running and driving, to a new coat of paint, to a full-on teardown to bring the tractor to as-new condition. People use scrapped to mean parted out, or actually sent to the scrapyard where the tractor is broken into pieces and sent off to a foundry where it is melted down. So what are your goals here?

 

[Mcrafty1]

OP hasn't been back since yesterday, He's likely gathering up parts and is too busy to report back

 

[NDIHC]

Wow ......so the vast majority of folks are telling you to scrap it . My goodness, on an antique tractor forum. That's really sad,in my humble, useless opinion. We bought this '45 A ( no hydraulics , even more useless) for $300. Drove 300+ miles to get it home. Hadn't run in decades, motor was stuck from sitting. Got it home , pulled the head,pulled the pistons and sleeves. Got everything apart,honed the sleeves,new rings. Reassembled it and it's officially my favorite tractor. Gets used nearly every day. Oh ......we have a couple days of work in it and maybe, maybe $500 in parts ......but ,sure ,scrap yours ,haul it to the junk yard, part it out. Or fix it and run it. In Alabama or Mississippi a running,not pretty super A is $2000 ish. You won't have that in yours .

I have to agree with Gpa L. If the engine isn't rusted solid to the point there's no hope of ever getting it loose and the cylinders are so pitted up it will never have compression, what's the harm in giving it a go? Sometimes it's more about the adventure and satisfaction of bringing something that's been dead for years back to life. I've done that just to prove it can be done without buying everything new and sending everything to the machine shop to make it the same as new. The 283 in my 56 Chevy 3/4 ton was a worn out pos that would barely run and had so much blow by it looked like a smoke machine out the road vent tube. I know the cylinders were out of spec and the crankshaft should have been turned. So I cleaned it up, honed it out, threw in a set of rings and bearings, new timing chain and gaskets. That was in 1995 or so. It was my trailer puller for about 10 years and ran and pulled just fine. Used very little oil and got 13 mpg no matter what.

 

[AZglide]

I’m brand new at this new passion.

I was in Mississippi visiting mom after military retirement and an old farmer said his brother was going to restore this Super A? A 1950 from serial number.

Anyway, he was taking it to the metal scrap yard for a little over $200. My brother in law said I could sell the wheel weights for 1/2 that so I gave $200 and could still scrap it. Plus, he also gave me a pile of cultivator plows spades and discs. Presently, it’s a cool lawn ornament at mom’s



Help me decide if it’s worth restoring:

It was outside with no muffler and a plastic tote over the hood with bricks on it. Manifold looks rusted away, tires flat and badly weather cracked, Starter missing Seat gone..probably a bar stool Looks like an extra hole in hood?

Rotted radiator hood

Rock arm repaired with bolt welded as patch in middle.

No pulley

No front steel rod for cultivators

No battery Box

No knob on shifter

Oil gauge broken

Radiator cap missing

Rear lift pieces missing?

Brake & clutch pedals have no resistance Mag or distributor looks bad Plug wires bad Engine condition unknown Front grill has rusted hole.

Switches & ignition bad, no battery.

What else do you see?

Is this one a bad one to try to restore, cost prohibiting? It has no family sentimental value. I can probably find a running one for $800-$2200 around the area.

Thoughts?

Would I be better removing the weights and recovering my $200 at the scrap yard? Seems a shame.

Restoration would be an undertaking but there are still a lot of usable parts on it. You could easily recover your money as there are always people looking for hard to find parts, especially if you are willing to ship them. There wouldn’t be much left to scrap after some of the people I’ve dealt with finished with it. Maybe it’s just me but I hate to see anything melted down. They ain’t making them anymore.

 

[johnnmr]

Depends on what you want out of life.

Will it useful in your daily life? Probably not

Will it be expensive? Probably so

Will it be a quick process to get it running? Probably not

Will it be fun? Definitely!

 

[560Dennis]

I’d like to see it all together with cultivators mounted up on it .

 

[grandpa Love]

One day you will need "drum roll" something off a parts tractor. My 100 would still be dead if not for a "drum roll" parts tractor. Parts tractors have saved a many tractor. I will let a tractor set for years waiting on a deal for parts off a parts tractor. The hydraulic pump gear broke on my 100 it took out the timing gears it took 5 years till I found a deal on a hydraulic pump. Its one of my favorite tractors I am still not gonna wine and dine it with expensive parts.

Down the road I built the engine it was slap worn out I brought a 140 engine off ebay from a honest seller it came off his tractor. I used the good parts off it Head, cam, crank in my 100 block all this for $50. I have needed a front booster, rear bull gear assembly, fuel tank and associated cultivator parts all came off a parts tractor. This is tobacco country farmers did not buy them to look at. You can still go to big farms and find 5 to 20 farmall offsets so its not like they are extinct. I look at it a little different when you buy one local more than likely its had hard life.

I have a couple parts tractors. I have also walked away from junk tractors....some are too far gone. It's almost impossible on this forum to make a decision based on a few pictures......

 

[rustred]

anything can be done, if you have the money. so why ask, if your up to it get her done.

 

[Athol Carr]

I would say the hole is for the starting tank, but I'm not sure if the Super A came as a distillate model. Petroleum distillate was a waste byproduct of the refinement process that could be bought cheaply and used as tractor fuel, but the tractor had to be warmed up on gasoline before it would run on the distillate. The tractor would be started from gasoline in the starter tank, then switched over to distillate.

From your pictures, the tractor is going to need a manifold and a starter just to see if it will run. That's assuming that the engine is not stuck, and not including any work/parts for the magneto or the carburetor. You'll be $300-400 further into it before you know if it runs, unless you can find a nearby source for used parts.

People have different ideas of "restored" and "scrapped." People use restored to describe anything from getting a tractor running and driving, to a new coat of paint, to a full-on teardown to bring the tractor to as-new condition. People use scrapped to mean parted out, or actually sent to the scrapyard where the tractor is broken into pieces and sent off to a foundry where it is melted down. So what are your goals here?

The Farmall Super A came with choice of gasoline, distillate or kerosene pistons, mine (1948) was kerosene. The last two versions had the gasoline starting tank, radiator shutters and the hot manifold.

 

[Athol Carr]

I would say the hole is for the starting tank, but I'm not sure if the Super A came as a distillate model. Petroleum distillate was a waste byproduct of the refinement process that could be bought cheaply and used as tractor fuel, but the tractor had to be warmed up on gasoline before it would run on the distillate. The tractor would be started from gasoline in the starter tank, then switched over to distillate.

From your pictures, the tractor is going to need a manifold and a starter just to see if it will run. That's assuming that the engine is not stuck, and not including any work/parts for the magneto or the carburetor. You'll be $300-400 further into it before you know if it runs, unless you can find a nearby source for used parts.

People have different ideas of "restored" and "scrapped." People use restored to describe anything from getting a tractor running and driving, to a new coat of paint, to a full-on teardown to bring the tractor to as-new condition. People use scrapped to mean parted out, or actually sent to the scrapyard where the tractor is broken into pieces and sent off to a foundry where it is melted down. So what are your goals here?

The Farmall Super A came with choice of gasoline, distillate or kerosene pistons, mine (1948) was kerosene. The last two versions had the gasoline starting tank, radiator shutters and the hot manifold.

anything can be done, if you have the money. so why ask, if your up to it get her done.

Here is mine

 

[NDIHC]

I have a couple parts tractors. I have also walked away from junk tractors....some are too far gone. It's almost impossible on this forum to make a decision based on a few pictures......

I've watched some of your adventures in bringing back something many on this forum would have given up for junk. I applaud you for doing that. I've done it myself. Not everyone is planning on bringing an old tractor back to like new condition. Most of us like old tractors to be functional, not necessarily making them like new where we could rely on them to plow 80 acres day in and day out. I'm not in the category that says if it isn't perfect it's not worth doing. My old Ms aren't perfect, but they serve the purpose I intended them to do. If you can get it running and it performes adequately for your purpose, so be it. Very few people are going to resurrect an A, B, C, M or H to be a field tractor, relying on them to be a tractor that they are going to farm with. Most are looking to them to be a fun thing to putz around with and maybe mow or keep a garden with. So they aren't perfect. Who cares as long as they make you happy!