Old School Greene #1.

So I've got his old John Deere stationary engine I've been working on very sporadically for the last couple of years. I finally have it to a point where it starts and runs, so I figured I would start (re)posting its story here with a little more detail.

About 2 years ago, my parents decided they were going to do some traveling / service work. As a result there was a bit of a binge de-junking. For some reason, anything made out of cast iron and coated in a healthy layer of rust somehow found its way 600 miles south to my place. This includes a '48 Dodge B1-B pickup that Great Grandpa bought brand new, bits and pieces of a hand crank forge, parts of an ooollllddd military surplus generator, and several other odds and ends. One of those odds was this:



It's a 1934 John Deere Model E, 1 1/2 horsepower hit and miss engine.

The following has been taken from several different posts in a couple different forums as I went through the engine and got things figured out.



From the initial inspection, it looks like it's had the magnets recharged and a broken... Sparker? fixed. Supposedly just needs to be put back in and it should run. Like that's EVER happened, but it'll be fun to tinker with.

Once I tinkered a bit with it, it seemed to be making power but from what I'd read it seemed somehow the timing inside the mag is off... Had to set the igniter and now it trips when its supposed to but there is a button on the side of the mag that is supposed to drop in at the same time. It drops 10 er 20 degrees after the igniter trips. Still researching that before I try re aligning gears.

Tinkered some more with it tonight and got it to actually run half decent!

Couple of questions though for thems that are in the know...

Seems like my spark may still be a little off. The magneto trips right where I think it's supposed too:



but the igniter doesnt trip until a few degrees later.



I've adjusted it as far as it can go but still pop up to catch on the igniter tab. Do I dare try filing a bit off of the tab to move it retard the timing more?

It seems to run okay but won't start unless I dump a bunch of gas in the igniter hole.



Another worry... Here's the inside after about a minute of run time.





I would have thought there would be a lot more oil sprayed all over the place?

Especially on the piston. Seems really dry on top.





Stay tuned for the next installment!

Going GREENE.

2 weeks of school to go. Been working on what was supposed to be (story of my life) a quick refresh so I could use this mower and sell one of the others.  Pics from the seller:









Been phising for parts and implements for my 314 and this little gem popped up. Owner's sister gave it to him about 3 years ago. He planned on restoring it but was tired of it sitting in his shop. Dickered a bit, oggled his awesome collection of Deere junk, and loaded it up.





Drug it in the shop with the 314 and got busy.



Some "before" and during shots to help me remember where everything goes.



Pulled the motor down today. Oh look! Rod Soup!



To make a long story short, this:



Eventually became this:

.









The motor is ready to bench test.  Complete rebuilt.  Well, mostly.  Brand new standard size piston, rings, and rod, newer block, new gaskets, seals, plug, points, belts, and of course a ton of John Deere green paint and some expensive stickers.  I have quite a bit more info in my thread on the mytractor forum here:  http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=528857

I'm also making really good progress with the rest of the tractor.  Its torn down to almost the bare frame and ready for sanding / paint.  Apparently, I've been bitten my the green bug pretty hard, but in all honesty I came by it naturally-

FUNDED!

My first Donor's Choose project has been FUNDED!  Donors have bought me 2 new vices to replace the 2 that literally fell to pieces at the beginning of the year.  They put up a great fight, and like Atlas have held the weight of the world (okay, the weight of several million hammer strikes) for probably the last 40 years.  Time for some new ones.

And just for fun, a picture.  Apparently, John Deere Green is a pretty bad drug...


1967 John Deere 110 "RF" (round fender).  Came with a snowblower.  Been sitting in a garage for the last 28 years.  

John Deere Green, with a chainlink twist.

Update on my John Deere 314 project.
My brother bought a 4 wheeler that came with a plow, so he lent me his blade. Got it all mounted up just fine.



Even tried it out!



There's a big low spot right there that always turns into a giant puddle. The tractor worked pretty good, still need to do some tuning on the carb it seems. After about 15 minutes of work though, I think I busted the bolt I installed in the drive line. Quit moving and had no hydraulics. Got to pull the pan up and check the bolt. In the meantime I picked up this,



So I can mount it at the same time I pull the pan back off to see what happened with the drive line.

AND! Finally went over to my brothers neighbor and settled on a price for some more attachements. I bought a tiller and a blower from him and he threw in a deck for free. The deck is REALLY rough though so I might not end up using it. Not sure what kind of shape the tiller and blower are in but for the price he asked I really don't care as long as they are complete. Looks like I should have everything I need except the belt director box that hangs under the front of the tractor when you want to use the deck.

A few days later :

Went to our local CAL ranch store. Getting real sick of their crappy hardware selection, and on top of that it hasn't been cleaned, sorted, or RESTOCKED in several months so all of the stuff you would normally need is out of stock. AND- No frickin pens to write down your parts. Almost tempted to go pay the higher prices at Fastenal. *sigh*

Anyways, here's what I finally came up with based on the limited selection they had. Just took an allen bolt and turned down the end, and reused the original set screw on the other side. Seems to be a lot more solid.





Got it installed and loctited, set the pan on with some new bolts, and installed the new seat. Again, CAL ranch didn't have the right stuff so I had to improvise a bit, but it is bolted down and not moving.

Now for the fun stuff. Couldn't bring myself to pay the price for a used steering wheel, and mainly didn't want to wait a week to get it so I sat down this afternoon with some scraps and this is what I came up with.

Wrap some old chain around a 5 gallon bucket and tack weld it.



Note- it WILL melt bits of the bucket...

WELD the back side.



Fabricate some spokes.



Attach spokes to wheel.





Improvise alignment tool to get wheel "pretty darn" straight, and tack weld.





Weld it, sand blast it, and wire wheel it.



Slap a coat of paint on it and Bob's your uncle!



You can see where the square piece busted out the center of the plastic wheel. I reused that on the new one- and its pretty much just an interference fit inside the square tube at the center of the new wheel. Might eventually weld it, we'll see how it lasts.

Installed.





Ran it around pushing dirt / gravel, seemed to work great. Steering wheel is solid, seat is comfy, and I even gouged the blade in hard a time or two and the driveline didn't break! (knock on wood)

Now to get the deck, tiller, and snow thrower down here.