Bryce Burden
Active member
Went on a little tractor buying trip last weekend. Originally went down there to by a 1946 H, as we were loading the H, the guy asked me if I would be interested in a 1940 M with a loader that his friend had for sale a few blocks away. We went down and looked at it and long story short it came home with us as well. Originally bought it for the loader and the decent rear rubber, but after we got it home figured I'd tinker with it a little and see if I could get it to run. I was able to get it to run, needs some carb work to run right, but I did hear it make noise so there's hope for that. But I had an issue where the engine wouldn't turn over unless the clutch was depressed. After a few hours of disassembly, we had our first look inside the rear half of the tractor, where we found a combination of 80 year old goo, water, rust, and a few seized bearings. By this point I was ready to throw in the towel, pull the loader off to put on my 51 M at a later date, stick the two good rear wheels and tires in the barn for safekeeping, and part out the rest of the tractor.
But I think in the process of all this, my wife must have gotten attached to the old M, because much to my surprise she gave me the go ahead to split the tractor and completely rebuild the transmission and final drive, even though we both know that we will have way more money in the old girl than what she will ever be worth. Now I just need to find somewhere I can get it inside for the winter and get busy splitting it and getting a parts list together.
Soon as I can find a way to resize pictures on my computer I'll post some pictures of the tractor and the mess we found when we opened her up.
But I think in the process of all this, my wife must have gotten attached to the old M, because much to my surprise she gave me the go ahead to split the tractor and completely rebuild the transmission and final drive, even though we both know that we will have way more money in the old girl than what she will ever be worth. Now I just need to find somewhere I can get it inside for the winter and get busy splitting it and getting a parts list together.
Soon as I can find a way to resize pictures on my computer I'll post some pictures of the tractor and the mess we found when we opened her up.
