Hey, Scotty, it wasn't too bad, BUT....

Hey, Scotty, I think you saved me a bit of frustration by sharing your experience. I didn't have a 13/16" tappet wrench, but I did have a thin 13/16" adjustable metric wrench (as my dad called it) I had just bought in a set of pliars yesterday. (Funny, but I didn't really want the adjustable wrench at the time, but it turned out to be thinner than normal and perfect!) I didn't finish because I decided to go ahead and replace the fan belt while I'm in there, and I'll pick that up tomorrow. I don't think it's gonna be too bad to put back on, though.

HOWEVER, since I had laid the generator back to make room to work, I discovered that the arm from the governor that links it to the carb was extremely loose, with one inch slack travel (at the carb connecting rod). I noticed the throttle seeming loose and I mentioned before that the tractor stutters and dies if a load is put on it, so do I need a governor rebuild or is this one likely worn beyond repair? I know nothing about the governors on these tractors.

Rad

Glad the belt job is progressing.

Re the carb and governor adjustment -- some slack is normal at that point when the engine is stopped, especially f you have the speed control all the back. The slack comes out when the engine turns and the weights in the governor spin up and take up the slack. As far as your power problem, it's possible there's a broken spring or that the thrust bearing in the governor is shot, but it sounds like you might just need to synchronize the governor to the carb, which involves an adjustment to that very rod that you're talking about.

With the engine OFF, disconnect the clevis at the front of that rod by pulling out the pin that connects it to the arm on the governor. There should be a cotter pin or a bent nail or some twisted wire holding the pin in place, and it may take a little fiddling if it's worn, but it will come out. Once the shaft and the governor arm are apart, push your speed control lever (back by the seat) all the way forward. Then push the governor arm all the way toward the rear of the tractor. At the same time push the rod to the carb as far to the rear as it will go. Adjust the clevis (you may have to loosen a jam nut on the rod) by threading it on or off the shaft until the pin will fit back in place when holding both parts toward the rear. Put a new cotter pin in to hold everything together.

Try it like that and see if it fixes the power problem.

Synchronizing the governor and carb like I described is a simple job, and it can't hurt to do it while you're working right there anyway. May or may not fix your problem, but it is the one spot in that whole lever-to-governor-to- throttle plate connection that would keep an otherwise good governor from doing it's job.

To answer the other part of your question, springs and thrust washers for the governor are easily had, and a governor rebuild can be a nice little project, too. Things like weights or the pins they hinge on take a little more scrounging, but they're out there, too, both as salvage and NOS.

BUT, there's a lot of other things that could cause your motor to falter the way you describe. A lot of those things are really simple (obstructed fuel flow would be a good example). These aren't rockets, so even a more intimidating project like tearing down, cleaning and rebuilding a gummed up carb can be done if one has a clean spot on the bench (better yet, the kitchen counter!), a few tools, and the ability to follow directions.

If you've got the linkage adjusted up right, and the motor speeds up and slows back down as you operate the lever back at the seat, I'd say the problem likely isn't in your governor. In fact, it sounds like your governor is working as it should, since it's demanding more fuel for the load, and just isn't getting it. Common causes might be classed as not enough fuel or too much air, either of which has pretty much the same effect, too lean a mixture to pull a load. Obstructions in the fuel line or a dirty carb can do it. A vacuum leak really shows up because a) you pull in straight air above the carb which radically leans out the mixture, which is lean already because, b) the loss of vacuum pulls less fuel through the carb in the first place. There might also be issues of ignition timing or valve clearances.

You need to go through and make sure all those things are squared away before you go tearing into the governor.

Thanks, Scotty, your vagrant thoughts are often helpful and always welcome. I'll try the synchronizing first (later today) and hope that does it. I had cleaning the filter at the carb on my list (I was told about it on another post), but then the belt broke and that was put first. I'll do that next, then go down your suggested list if the problem continues. I gather from other people's posts here that a carb cleaning/rebuild may be the problem, too, but I'm still cleaning that dark brown lump hanging under the manifold that I'm assuming is the carb, so I don't even know which carb it is. I was looking for the block serial number and found some grimey bumps (I still can't read well yet) located behind the oil filter- is that it? Should the chassis number and the block number be the same or at least close? (I think I read that somewhere.) I'm thinking that there has been some major parts-swapping going on, so I don't think this Super A will ever be a show circuit candidate for lack of original, matching parts.

Thanks again for your input, I'll do that stuff this evening and we'll see what happens.

Rad

Well, if the carb is under that much gunk, I'll bet you don't get much out of the carb-synch exercise, but it's still worth checkin' out and good wrenchin' practice. That adjustment usually is reserved for after removing and installin' an existing carb or installin' a new one.

Yep, the line, from the inlet at the bottom of the tank into the sediment bowl, through the screen in the bowl and the screen at the carb inlet, is the first places to look. After that, flow means cleanin' and blowin' out the carb as part of a kit rebuild.

Your block serial number is on the same side but up in the other corner from the oil filter. There's a flat spot machined into the block, at the top edge, just under the head and below the number one plug. It's probably caked up, too, and even when it's clean it's probably also obscured by the rod running from your speed control to the governor. Might need to use a mirror or remove the hood to get a good look at it.

The Chicago-built As and Bs, the serial numbers always matched. While the serial number on the chassis was always very neatly stamped and even, the engine ser # was often very obviously stamped one digit at a time, crooked and at various depths, suggesting it was stamped by hand, perhaps so that it would match up to the chassis number. The Louisville-built tractors, it wasn't unusual for the numbers to stray apart by a thousand or more. If yours is a Louisville tractor, I'd be interested to know how neatly the number is stamped into the block. I've always had this theory that when Louisville began production, they stamped the chassis numbers serially as they went onto the line, and the same with the numbers on the blocks (so, by machine instead of hand), and that where they got apart were engines that were either rejected or were diverted to things like combines or power units.

And as far as the show circuit, I'm no fan of the correct police. Yeah, I like to have the original style hose clamps and things like that when I can get them, but when I restored my BN (a family tractor -- been in the family since it was new and it's the machine I learned to drive on) I wasn't above "restorin" a few bent nails that were put in place of cotter pins for field repairs. Anybody tries to rip you on a serial number or anything else, snend them back over to the green tractor section where they likely came from, or ask where their tractor is, so you can go look to see how it's supposed to be done. I've done that a few times and never once have they had a machine there of their own. He11, I went to a show last summer where there was a van-load of the turkeys, all in khakis with matching polo shirts with their club logo (somethin' or oOther Hose and Ladder Co.), runnin' all over the grounds pickin' apart everything there. I said vanload -- they weren't exhibitors, they were a bunch of frustrated wannabes, and not worth gettin' aggravated about. Laughable in fact.

If you have or can borrow a trailer to get your tractor there (or if not, just wanna go for a looksee) there's a nice little show up (or is it down) from you in Thornton, NH (the Tripoli exit, whichever that is, off of 93, just below Lincoln and Woodstock). It's Satursay the a9th of this month. If you're interested, put a "Hey, Les!) message up over on Tractor Tales. It's his show and he can fill ya in on the when and where. I know he'd be glad to have ya, whether you can get your tractor there or not, And you might find it fun. Les favors workin' tractors, and you'll see verything from wet paint to rust on the machines there.

Scotty, I found the engine serial number and removed the coil for a better view. The number is five digits followed by a "D", and seems to place its origins at late 1940, according to the numbers listed on here. (The chassis number on the under-seat tag is from 1952.) It's likely been switched and swapped alot in its 56 year (68 year?) life.

Anyway, I synchronized the governor and carb like you said, but I had to cut another 1/2" of threads on the rod and leave the locking nut off to get the clevis to match the governor arm position when the carb was all the way back. I re-read your instructions to make sure I didn't get something wrong, and I hadn't. But now the throttle doesn't want to go all the way back to "idle" position. I'm wondering if the springs (on the throttle link-rod, to each side of the governor arm where it attaches) have been switched before, one being shorter and stouter than the other. Which one is supposed to be toward the front, the long one or the short? (I looked at the diagram online, but it didn't show them.) The geometry just doesn't seem to fit, but it got too dark to trace every adjustment down. I guess my first clue that something wasn't right was when I had to add threads to the carb rod, but there was an inch difference in the carb far position and the governor's, and there wasn't that much adjustment left. Besides, what are a few more threads gonna hurt? Anyway, the belts are on and I can always go back and average out the slack if I have to, but I think before I got it, something was put back wrong between the throttle control and the carb', via the governor. Any ideas?

Rad