Tractor Project

[PHPaul]

Can't remember if I posted about this before or not. If I did, I can't find it.

I grew up on a small farm in the 50's and 60's and have been around tractors since I was in diapers. Once I joined the Navy, that sort of went away except on rare occasions when I was home on leave.

Since retiring from the Navy in 1990, I've had one or more tractors around the place. I only have 4 acres, but a compact tractor is just so dang handy for so many things that even SWMBO can't complain. I started with a John Deere 750 that I bought new in 1988 and ran until 2015 when I decided to trade up to a slightly larger tractor with a cab, heat, AC, power steering and live PTO. I'm running a Kubota B2650 now.

I've bought, fixed up and flipped several others over the years. I just really enjoy working on them as the older ones are dead simple. The oldest was a 1938 Farmall F-14. Kept that for several years and finally sold it a couple years ago... for about 1/4 of what I had invested in it.

Current stable consists of the 2650, a Pasquali P986, an LX178 lawn tractor (bought new in 1995 and still running strong) and the (finally...) subject of this post: A John Deere 455 that has become FrankenTraktor.

Basically a 455 with a blown Yanmar engine and generally in deplorable shape, revitalized with the engine out of a Shibaura SD1400B with a blown rear end.

If there's any interest, I can do a pictorial review of the project from starting point to current status. Be warned, there is basically NO machining-related stuff here beyond a little welding and some sheet metal work.

 

[JimDawson]

Pictures or it never happened Looking forward seeing the projects.

 

[KP1]

Ive been going through my mid 70s MF 165. it's like a Zen garden. I just get lost in it. Lets see it.

 

[john.oliver35]

Can't remember if I posted about this before or not. If I did, I can't find it.

I grew up on a small farm in the 50's and 60's and have been around tractors since I was in diapers. Once I joined the Navy, that sort of went away except on rare occasions when I was home on leave.

Since retiring from the Navy in 1990, I've had one or more tractors around the place. I only have 4 acres, but a compact tractor is just so dang handy for so many things that even SWMBO can't complain. I started with a John Deere 750 that I bought new in 1988 and ran until 2015 when I decided to trade up to a slightly larger tractor with a cab, heat, AC, power steering and live PTO. I'm running a Kubota B2650 now.

I've bought, fixed up and flipped several others over the years. I just really enjoy working on them as the older ones are dead simple. The oldest was a 1938 Farmall F-14. Kept that for several years and finally sold it a couple years ago... for about 1/4 of what I had invested in it.

Current stable consists of the 2650, a Pasquali P986, an LX178 lawn tractor (bought new in 1995 and still running strong) and the (finally...) subject of this post: A John Deere 455 that has become FrankenTraktor.

Basically a 455 with a blown Yanmar engine and generally in deplorable shape, revitalized with the engine out of a Shibaura SD1400B with a blown rear end.

If there's any interest, I can do a pictorial review of the project from starting point to current status. Be warned, there is basically NO machining-related stuff here beyond a little welding and some sheet metal work.

Would love to see it! I have a couple of '38 Twin City KT's and a Minneapolis M5 that are on my list to rebuild if I ever slow down from work

 

[Shootymacshootface]

My 1958 Cub. I built the loader from scraps.

 

[Norseman C.B.]

My 8n project

 

[PHPaul]

Whoa! More interest in the old relics than I thought!

Nice job on the One-Armed Cub Killer, Shooty! Ford is looking good too, Norseman.

A little background then.





My first project tractor was this 1938 Farmall F-14. Spotted it sitting in the tree line when I was out on a computer job (I used to do in-home IT work). Completely and utterly dead. The only good thing about it was that the rear tires still held air. Over the 10 years or so I owned it, I completely rebuilt the engine (including replacing the badly cracked block) replaced the bent frame rails, added a Behlen roadgear, fenders, power lift, electric start and a new radiator and clutch. Eventually tired of it being such a miserable Esso Bee to start and sold it.



Found this Satoh S650B in the weeds behind a barn when I was bush-hogging for an older couple. Wound up swapping my labor for the tractor. Hadn't run in years but the engine was free and again the rear tires held air. At some point the gent had pulled the distributor (4 cylinder gas Mitsubishi engine) while troubleshooting...and lost it. I was lucky enough to find one in a ag junkyard in Ohio. Other than that and some front tires, it was just a matter of cleaning it up and changing fluids. It also came with a 3 point hitch mounted log splitter with it's own Prince pump. Overall, I had a bit under $1000 invested in getting it running (plus hours of fun!) and sold it for $2500. Not bad for a few hours of bushhogging!



I spotted this Pasquali P986 on the side of the road with a For Sale sign on it. Owner mentioned a price I thought was fair so I grabbed it. 1 cylinder, 20 HP Lombardini diesel, 9 speed (3x3) true 4WD and full articulation. It's a BEAST! I still have it, just popped a battery in it, fixed the exhaust and cleaned up the rims and mounted new tires. In low-low at an idle, you need a stop-calendar to log movement. In high-high and WOT, it'll do 20MPH down the road - if you dare.



Finally, I bought this John Deere 420 crawler from an internet buddy. Long, LONG story but the short version is by the time I got it apart and made a list of everything it needed, I parted it out. Fortunately, there's quite a demand for parts so I did a little better than break even on the deal.

Next installment: On to the original story

 

[PHPaul]

For the "FrankenTraktor" project, I started with this. Found it on Craigslist for a very attractive price. Original plan was to get it running and fixed up and flip it. Rear wheels were locked up. I assumed it was the brakes and I was on the right track. Got it apart and the disc brakes were stuck but the outer axle bearings were also locked up. Spent the time and money to get that all taken care of, fired it up (just needed to be primed with fresh fuel) and found out it STILL wouldn't move.



Further investigation showed that the ring and pinion were completely trashed. Several weeks of searching gave no results. Well, one guy out west claimed he had a set that would work, but wanted $1000 plus shipping. Um...nope. So it went in the back of the barn while I considered my options. Everything else on the tractor was usable and the engine ran like a watch. I started watching Craigslist for a suitable recipient for a "heart transplant".



Meanwhile, I knew of this sad thing. John Deere 455, heavy duty hydro trans, 3 cylinder Yanmar diesel. I've know the guy that owned it for years and worked on it several times. The guy is one of those talented people that can break an anvil with a rubber hammer. It spent it's life running a front mounted power broom and breathed fine dust the whole time. Eventually, the poor Yanmar ingested so much dust it wouldn't even try to start any more. He approached me about rebuilding or replacing the engine and when he got the numbers, he parked it. It sat in the weeds for 4-5 years. It occurred to me that it might be a good candidate for the Shibaura engine, so I talked with him about it and we struck a deal. I listed the mid-mount mower deck and power broom on Craigslist and gave him the proceeds plus a few bucks for the rest of the hulk. I managed to sell the dead Yanmar for parts for a few bucks and I was off to the races!

 

[RJSakowski]

My 8n project

I have an 8N too. I also have weights hanging from the bumper. Our Nortrak 35XT came with eight 10kg weights but we bought the front end loader option and didn't need the weights for it so I tied them together with a long bolt and slung them from the 8N bumper.

 

[PHPaul]

The Yanmar engine was mounted bass-ackwards, with the flywheel in the front and the transmission driven off the crank snout. I presume this was to get the rotation correct. That also puts the radiator between the engine and the operator. Better protected that way, but a tad warm in the Summer I expect.



I hung the Shibaura engine over the frame to eyeball things. Looked like it would fit okay, just needed to fab up some mounts. The Yanmar was bolted to two-piece rubber mounts that bolted to the frame. The Shibaura bolted directly to the frame and was a stressed member of the tractor.

I got some 1/4 x 3 flat stock and made some motor-side mounts to fit the Shibaura where it originally bolted to the frame and welded the motor-side mounts from the Yanmar in the appropriate places. Took a little torch-and-BFH work to get it to fit but it went pretty smoothly.

I was able to machine a spacer and piggy back the crank pulley from the Yanmar onto the crank pully on the Shibaura and much to my surprise was able to use the original driveshaft to the transmission.

With the Shibaura in backwards, pretty much everything was a mirror image - starter, wiring, linkages, water jacket outlets, etc. However, with a little creative plumbing for the radiator and pulling the wiring harness back to the instrument panel and re-running it on the other side of the engine, everything fit. I did have to jack the radiator up a half-inch for clearance for the drive shaft as the Shibaura sits a little higher in the frame for oil pan clearance. Another surprise was that I was able to use the original John Deere wiring harness and the "nanny board" without modification, other than a couple of crimp-on connectors. Glow plug timer, PTO switch and starter all worked as is!

At this point, I was able to start it up and drive it around a bit to be sure everything was going to work. Discovered that the steering was worn plumb out, so ordered up some new tie rods and heim joints to tighten that up a bit. It's still pretty sloppy due to worn bushings in the power steering cylinder mounts. That's a project for this Winter.